Theology in the Raw

Latest Episodes:

Sexual Desire, Singleness and the Beauty of Christian Sexual Ethics: Andrew Bunt Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

If you want to access our extra innings conversation, become a member of the TITR community here

Request a free copy of Heroic Faith here:

Andrew Bunt is the Content Director at Living Out, a UK based ministry that equips the church in matters related to sexuality and gender from biblical perspective. (living out.org). Andrew is a pastor, speaker, and author who’s written several books including his latest book: Getting God’s Perspective: A Short Christian Introduction to Worldviews, Sexuality & Gender. In this conversation, we discuss questions about the Christian sexual ethic—is it beautiful or oppressive and harmful? Why a Christian worldview is essential for understanding the Christian sexuality ethic. How a Christian view of freedom and progress are important for understanding sexuality. And then, in our "extra innings" portion of this conversation, we discuss, once again, whether Christians should “identify” as gay (and what the term “identity” even means).

Time Stamps

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:12 The Beauty of Christian Sexuality & God's Design

00:06:33 Why the Secular Story About Sexuality Falls Short

00:14:17 Talking with Young People About LGBTQ Friends & Biblical Boundaries

00:22:58 Living with Unmet Sexual Desires and Spiritual Growth

00:27:15 Singleness, Loneliness, and the Community Jesus Envisioned

00:34:30 The Importance of Deep Friendship and Belonging in the Church

00:45:00 Why Worldview Matters for Conversations About Sexuality & Gender

00:55:00 A Christian Worldview of Progress and Living Faithfully in a Changing Culture

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Everything You Need to Know About the Book of Job: Dr. Ellie Paley Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

Request a free copy of When Faith is Forbidden here.

Dr. Ellie Paley received her Ph.D. from Cambridge University, where she studied the book of Job, and she’s currently pursuing a post-doc at Bar-Illan University in Israel. Ellie literally memorized the entire book—in Hebrew…in 6 months! Job is her gig and she knows more about the book than anyone I know. In this episode, Ellie gives a master class on the book of Job, discussing its date, the setting, the meaning of “The Adversary” (hasatan, or Satan?), the purpose of the prologue (Job 1-2), the content of purpose of the dialogue cycle of Job’s 3 friends, the purpose of the transitionary wisdom poem of Job 28, the role and function of Elihu’s speech and why she thinks he’s a rather presumptuous young buck who thinks he knows better than he really does, God’s response to Job, and how the book resolves in the latter chapters. We end by reflecting on Job’s contribution to the question of theodicy and the problem of evil. To follow Ellie’s work, check out her Substack “Compulsively Contemplative” here.

Time Stamps

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:05 Why Memorize the Book of Job? (Hebrew, Theology & Spiritual Formation)

00:12:30 Who Wrote Job? Date, Setting & Historical Background

00:24:28 Is Job Historical? Debating the Origins of the Book of Job

00:28:10 Satan in Job: Understanding the Divine Adversary

00:38:42 God's Speeches & the Meaning of Suffering in Job

00:43:57 What’s up with Job’s friends? Retribution Theology Explained

00:55:14 Who Is Elihu? His Role in the Book of Job

01:01:05 God Answers Job from the Whirlwind

01:06:41 Job's Repentance, Restoration & the Ending Explained

01:16:05 Theodicy: Job on the Problem of Evil, Suffering, and Trusting God

01:23:17 Ellie Paley's Ministry, Writing & Substack.

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Everything You Need to Know About the Book of Job: Dr. Ellie Paley Jul 13, 2026

Show notes

Click here for your free copy of When Faith is Forbidden by Todd Nettleton

Time Stamps

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:05 Why Memorize the Book of Job? (Hebrew, Theology & Spiritual Formation)

00:12:30 Who Wrote Job? Date, Setting & Historical Background

00:24:28 Is Job Historical? Debating the Origins of the Book of Job

00:28:10 Satan in Job: Understanding the Divine Adversary

00:38:42 God's Speeches & the Meaning of Suffering in Job

00:43:57 What’s up with Job’s friends? Retribution Theology Explained

00:55:14 Who Is Elihu? His Role in the Book of Job

01:01:05 God Answers Job from the Whirlwind

01:06:41 Job's Repentance, Restoration & the Ending Explained

01:16:05 Theodicy: Job on the Problem of Evil, Suffering, and Trusting God

01:23:17 Ellie Paley's Ministry, Writing & Substack.

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Q&A on Women in Leadership and From Genesis to Junia Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

If you want to watch the full Exiles Conference on demand, you can get access to the whole thing—including all the breakout sessions—for just $49 here.

In today’s episode, I’m working through some of the top upvoted questions from my conversation with Sandy Richter at Exiles 26 about women in leadership and my new book, From Genesis to Junia. If you haven’t listened to that conversation yet, I’d encourage you to go back and start there, since this episode really picks up where that one left off.

Thanks so much for all the thoughtful questions—and sorry it took me a month to get to them. I’m grateful for how engaged you all were in this conversation, and I hope this follow-up is helpful.

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Bonus Preview: Patreon Only Q&A for July Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

To listen to the full episode, join the Patreon Community for as little as 5 dollars a month! You'll also get access to Zoom chats, Live Q&A's, Exiles Content, and more!

Here's the questions answered in the full episode:

0:46 You mentioned you have a complicated relationship with church. However, as a trained Bible scholar, what do you view your responsibility is to the local church?
8:52 Is regular sexual intimacy necessary for marriage? I am thinking about a mixed orientation marriage or a marriage where one or both partners are asexual.
14:04 Thoughts on lay people going to seminary? If we can’t find good theological training/space to discuss from local church, where to get it in person(not online)?
19:03 What Bible verses would you reference when a Christian college student asks why it's sinful to have sex before marriage?
28:24 Most churches lack women leaders and training for women— how do we collectively get more female pov heard and taught at church?
34:22 What do you think of IVF and egg freezing?
35:40 What do you think makes a healthy church? ( from your experience being exposed to so many different churches)
45:37 Fiscal conservatism is a hallmark of the political Right. Is a conservative financial approach consistent with the bible as it describes how we relate to money?
54:20 What are your thoughts on usage of social media as Christian— with the rise of Christian contents/pastors on social media using as platform?
58:55 What has your experience been like or thoughts on building community or friendships— in church or outside of church/faith community that felt flourishing?
1:01:25 Whose job is it to gatekeep a closed communion? Should clergy stop people from taking communion, or is it up to the individual?
01:05:30 Thoughts, insight or advice? I sometimes feel more drawn to read about the Bible than read the Bible or more drawn to those drawn to Jesus than Jesus himself.
01:09:19 Matthew Vines referenced your discussion on the Hebrew word "kenegdo" in a conversational debate with David Bennet: how would you respond to his pushback?
01:13:58 Hypothetically, with humility about our own blind spots, what warning can we give about what Jesus might say on Judgment Day to supporters of the Gaza genocide?
01:17:46 Is there anything uniquely troubling to you about Trump, or do you see him as just another flawed leader of a flawed Babylon?

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Women in Leadership: Live Dialogue from Exiles 26 with Dr. Sandy Richter Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

Watch the full Exiles Conference On Demand and get access to the entire conference—including all breakout sessions—for just $49.

At Exiles 26, my friend Dr. Sandy Richter joined me for a panel discussion and Q&A about my new book, From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Actually Says about Women in Leadership. Once we got going, we ended up talking longer than expected and only had about three minutes left for audience questions.

So to make up for it, we’re releasing the full conversation here, along with a follow-up episode where I respond to the top upvoted questions from the event. That follow-up episode drops on Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy this conversation.

You can find more from Dr. Richter at sandyrichter.org.

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How Should Christians Think about Sports and Fandom? Dr. Paul Putz Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

To listen to our extra-innnings conversation, where we talk about LGBTQ Pride Night at major league baseball games, become a member of the Theology in the Raw community at patreon.com/theologyintheraw.

Dr. Paul Putz is Assistant professor of Christianity and sports and director of the Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor’s Truett Seminary. He's the author of The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big-Time Sports (Oxford University Press, 2024), and the forthcoming Jesus and James Naismith: A History of Basketball and Christianity from Origins to the NBA (Eerdmans. 2027).

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Work, Calling, and the Challenge of Leading as a Woman: Brittany Dicus Jun 29, 2026

Show notes

Brittany Dicus is a sales and marketing director for a beverage company, a master's student at Talbot School of Theology, and serves on the teaching team at Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, MN. With one foot in the corporate world and another in the church world, Brittany has thought a lot about viewing her work as mission.

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An Israeli Settler and Palestinian Christian Become Friends. Fares Abraham and Daniel Klein Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

Fares Abraham is a Palestinian Christian and Daniel Klein is a Jewish Christian. Both Fares and Daniel grew up minutes from each other in the West Bank, and yet they were worlds apart—Fares lived in occupied Palestine and Daniel live in an Israeli settlement. Both of them share about their very different journies, which end up in similar places, culminating in a friendship, which offers a glimpse of what peace between Israelis and Palestinians could look like: not through politics or slogans, but through the reconciling power of Christ, honest truth-telling, mutual dignity, and a shared commitment to justice, mutual flourishing, and peace for all who call the Holy Land home. Daniel is the author of My Freedom from Zionism and Fares leads Levant Ministries.

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Sexuality, Celibacy, Marriage, and Gay Identity with Dr. David Bennett Jun 22, 2026

Show notes

To listen to the extra innings portion of this episode, where David discusses why it's okay for faithful Christians to identify as gay, head over to https://patreon.com/theologyintheraw to become a member of the Theology in the Raw community.

Dr. David Bennett (DPhil, Oxford) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Associate Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall. He is the author of the bestselling memoir A War of Loves --the story of his journey from atheistic gay activist in Sydney to celibate gay Christian—and a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s College of Evangelists. His Oxford doctoral thesis, Queering the Queer in Contemporary Theology: An Augustinian Ethics of Same-Sex Desire and Gay Celibacy, is in press with T&T Clark/Bloomsbury (2027), as is his second popular-level book, Beyond Compromise: Reclaiming a Biblical Vision of Love, Sexuality, and the Kingdom of God (Tyndale House).

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