What If Jesus Was Serious About Conspiracies? Understanding QAnon & Truth - - w/ Skye Jethani

Aug 17, 2020

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How the Voxology community can respond to the growing influence of conspiracy thinking through faithful discipleship, critical reflection, and a fresh understanding of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. In this powerful installment of the Sermon on the Mount Series, Mike Erre and Tim Stafford welcome Skye Jethani—author of “What If Jesus Was Serious?”—to unpack the growing grip of conspiracy theories like QAnon among Christians, why evangelical subculture is vulnerable to them, and how Jesus' call to truth radically challenges our need for control and hidden knowledge.

This episode weaves biblical theology, psychology, and cultural critique into a vital conversation about how fear, spiritual immaturity, and a history of anti-intellectualism have paved the way for misinformation and mistrust to spread like wildfire in Christian communities.

Key Takeaways: • Why conspiracy theories thrive on fear, control, and the human impulse to find patterns—and how this mimics religious thinking. • A deep dive into QAnon as a cultural and religious phenomenon—and why many white evangelicals are drawn in. • How a misreading of the end times, spiritual warfare, and persecution narratives fuel conspiratorial thinking. • What Jesus actually said about truth, evil, and trust, and how a Christ-centered worldview resists conspiracy by choosing love, wisdom, and humility. • Positive practices disciples of Jesus can adopt to respond to misinformation and uphold truth in today's polarized environment.

Guest Highlight: Skye Jethani – Author, pastor, and co-host of The Holy Post podcast. Skye shares deep insights from his new book, “What If Jesus Was Serious?”, and helps listeners wrestle with how we can take Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount seriously in the age of conspiracy culture.

Resources Mentioned: • “What If Jesus Was Serious?” by Skye Jethani – Buy from Moody Publishers • QAnon and The Atlantic article – The Atlantic: “The Prophecies of Q” • Matthew 5–7 – The Sermon on the Mount Read Online

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Music by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to hello@voxpodcast.com, and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy