Scott shares his transformative faith journey from rigid evangelical beliefs to a more open-minded perspective. He discusses the struggle between foundational teachings and personal convictions, emphasizing the need for critical thinking. The conversation delves into the complexities of Jesus' identity and the implications of his teachings while exploring themes of love and forgiveness. They also challenge traditional views on heaven and hell, advocating for creating a 'heaven on earth' through our actions. Embracing doubt and flexibility in beliefs is highlighted as key to spiritual growth.
Scott and Luke reflect on their shared journey of evolving from fundamentalist backgrounds to a more liberal and questioning faith, emphasizing the significance of individual exploration.
The podcast highlights the nature of belief as a spectrum, encouraging listeners to embrace doubts and uncertainties as integral to spiritual growth and understanding.
Discussion centers around Jesus' humanitarian teachings and the call for collective action in social justice, framing it as an essential aspect of meaningful faith.
Deep dives
Faith Transformation Journey
Both hosts share their personal journeys of faith, highlighting how their beliefs have evolved from fundamentalist backgrounds to more liberal interpretations. They discuss the impact of their formative years within evangelical communities and how experiences have led them to reconsider traditional doctrines. This transformation involved grappling with conflicts between personal beliefs and established teachings, prompting deeper introspection. Ultimately, they convey that their current faith looks vastly different from what it was during their teenage years.
Questioning Certainty in Belief
The podcast delves into the nature of belief and faith, emphasizing that it exists on a spectrum rather than as a binary system of certainty and doubt. One of the hosts reflects on personal experiences where faith fluctuates between affirmation and skepticism, likening it to a journey rather than a destination. They argue that a healthy relationship with faith recognizes the complexity and ambiguity of beliefs, allowing for growth and change. This perspective encourages individuals to embrace doubt and questions as essential parts of their spiritual development.
The Role of Jesus in Faith
A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the figure of Jesus, particularly his humanity and teachings as central to the Christian faith. The hosts explore how perceptions of Jesus have shifted over time, especially regarding his messianic role and the implications of his life and death. They emphasize the humanitarian aspects of Jesus' teachings, portraying him as a revolutionary who promoted love, forgiveness, and nonviolence. This understanding positions him as a model for action in the pursuit of justice and compassion in the world today.
Exploring The Nature of God
The hosts actively engage in a philosophical discussion regarding the nature of God, debating whether God exists outside of time and space, and how to approach understanding divinity. One presents the view that God can be a starting point for belief rather than a conclusion reached through rational argument. They contemplate the idea that belief in God is fundamentally a journey filled with paradoxes rather than neatly packaged answers. This exploration encourages listeners to reflect on their own understanding of God and how it shapes their worldview.
Faith as a Collaborative Effort
A final key point is the call for a collaborative effort among all individuals, regardless of religious affiliation, to create a positive impact on the world. The hosts suggest that caring for the environment and striving for social justice are integral to a meaningful faith practice. They advocate for movements that promote healing and connection, framing these efforts as extensions of Jesus' teachings. By fostering unity in pursuit of a better world, they highlight the importance of collective action in addressing societal challenges.
Scott unpacks the journey he’s been on, and the very un-Evangelical and very unorthodox faith he now holds.
Three weeks ago, Luke sketched out what his faith looks like now, after completely deconstructing and reconstructing the one he grew up with. This week it was Scott’s turn!
We first traced out the common path we’ve both been on. Both of us spent our pre-teen years in a church-world that was largely irrelevant to us because it was imposed on us by our parents. But we then both dove headfirst into a very Fundamentalist Evangelical faith of our own during out late teens and early twenties. But our inquiring minds and adventurous spirits took us down a path that constantly reevaluated that faith … we were on that metaphorical “slippery slope” … eventually finding ourselves decades later with a much more liberal faith that looks nothing like that Fundamentalist Evangelical one. It was NOT that we had neglected our faith and just simply let it grow cold: instead, we actively pursued our faith and belief system, and it died slowly by a thousand cuts. Many other people, including many of our listeners, have walked that very same path. A path that ends at a fork in the road: a decision that one must either reject faith entirely, or find an entirely new faith that is sustainable, meaningful and rewarding.
Scott then unpacked what he believes (and doesn’t believe) now.
First, God. Scott begins with accepting the existence of God as a given rather than looking for or requiring evidence or logic to prove that existence before moving forward. Luke then pushed Scott on the hiddenness of God, whether God insists on a blind faith, whether God must be transcendent (completely beyond space and time), God’s aseity (existing of and from itself), Panentheism, Process Theology, and even Deism.
Next, Christianity and Jesus. Scott talked at length about the humanity of Christ: a Jewish rabbi, with human limitations, an extraordinary individual who lived in an obscure place and time, but nonetheless had an incredible impact on human history, and even a Messianic figure. When pushed to talk about Christ’s divinity, Scott admitted to a lot less precision here, but felt he could at least say that Jesus channeled Godhood and God-awareness in a unique way, and that the face of God is the face of Christ. And what about the meaning or ‘purpose’ of Christ’s death? After briefly talking about the Moral Influence theory, about Jesus needing to die in order to light a fire within his followers, and Substitutionary Atonement, Scott landed more firmly on Christus Victor theory of atonement (overcoming through love and suffering). We noted that humans are learning to emulate his example (Moral Influence theory again?), overcoming and finding liberation through passive resistance, love and suffering (Ghandi in early 20th century India, and the civil rights march at Selma Alabama in 1965) rather than the vicious cycle of violence (Israel and Hamas today).
With only a few minutes left, and so much more to talk about, Scott briefly touched on the nature of faith, and some talk about heaven.
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