Join co-hosts Jonathan Fuller and Seth Roseman as they talk about Bible stories, laugh a little, and try to answer two fundamental questions: What's the story? What's the point?
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Christian Nationalism has, unfortunately, not gone away since Jonathan and Seth discussed it last on the podcast. It grew slowly, insidiously, for years and will take similarly sustained work to prune it from religious and political spheres. In this episode, Jonathan and Seth do a close reading of Psalm 33:1-12. They argue that it is a particularly strong starting point to critique Christian…
The Holy Trinity is both one God and a community. Scholars have often reflected on this by exploring the ways people should live in communities. They have said that, like God, people are not meant to be alone. People should work together and simultaneously be one. In this episode, Jonathan and Seth talk about the community that exists within us. We have multiple selves, differing perspectives even…
Everyone has a skill they bring to our world. Some skills, however, are more highly prized. This was the case in Corinth when Paul wrote his letter to the burgeoning Christian community there, too. The Corinthians wanted to speak in tongues and emphasized speaking in tongues to the detriment of the other gifts in the community. Jonathna and Seth talk about gifts that are over-emphasized today, the…
In John's Gospel, before Jesus' crucifixion, he prays a long prayer. Sometimes called "The High Priestly Prayer." It is rather meandering, but one theme is that the disciples are one as Jesus and the Father are one. What does that solidarity look like? As federal, state, and even local programs are stripped of funding, what does solidarity that sustains us in the hard times look like? What would…
Before Jesus leaves, he promises an "advocate." But what is an advocate? How would Jesus' disciples have heard this term? What does it look like to try to block out what we know about the Holy Spirit, or think we know, and hear about this advocate anew? Jonathan and Seth try to do just that. They ask what the role of the Advocate is and what might be the role of people who advocate for others…
Returning from Jerusalem to Emmaus, two of Jesus' disciples talk to a man they do not recognize about the "things that have happened there in these days" (Luke 24:17). When they invite him to stay with them, he breaks bread, and they recognize him as Jesus. It's a story about a transition from doubt to faith, from confusion to action. The other appointed lectionary texts are also about…
The Sunday that follows Easter always has the same appointed lectionary text regardless of the liturgical year: "Doubting" Thomas. This year, Jonathan helps us focus on our vulnerabilities, our wounds, both visible and hidden. Jonathan and Seth talk about some of the physical wounds they carry from childhood, but also how naming and revealing our pains or bruises may help others - and even help…
Does resurrection feel foreign to you? To Jonathan and Seth, it feels alien right now. It's like it comes from a completely different planet. In a strange way, it does. It comes from outside of us, from a tomb, from God who walks and talks and dies like us. Jesus' resurrection also changes how we should live in community. So, Jonathan and Seth talk about what the Church should look like after this…
As the official name of this Sunday implies, it is meant to hold much of the Jesus Story. It starts triumphantly but ends with Jesus crying out in a loud voice and breathing his last (Matthew 27:50). In most worship services, this turn takes roughly an hour. Jonathan and Seth, constrained by their episode length, try to do it in half that by talking about what links the two stories. Jonathan…
Ezekiel is shown a valley of dry bones. They look further away from life than almost anything imaginable. But God tells him that they can live. And of course, they do! Connective tissue appears along with muscles, organs, and flesh. The news reports also show valleys of dry bones. We don't have to travel to see them; they're available for viewing in our living room or on our phones. In an episode…
