A Pastor and a Philosopher Walk into a Bar

Scot McKnight, a New Testament scholar and author, joins newcomer Tommy Preson Phillips, a pastor, to discuss their book 'Invisible Jesus.' They dive into faith deconstruction, positioning it as a necessary exploration rather than a failure. Highlighting issues like power abuse and rigid beliefs, they advocate for a faith that feels genuine. Their conversation tackles how many Christians are seeking a deeper connection to Jesus outside traditional institutions, raising crucial questions about the future of the church and the need for inclusivity and meaningful faith conversations.

Text us your questions!This is one of our favorite interviews we've ever done. Nicholas Ma (son of famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma) is a filmmaker best known for producing the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? about Fred Rogers. We speak with him about his latest documentary Leap of Faith, which follows a group of Christian pastors from diverse sociocultural and demographic backgrounds in the Grand Rapids, MI area for a year as they attempt to form community across theological and social dividing lines. The film is a challenging and raw exploration of vulnerability and what it means to practice Christian faith in our political moment. Nicholas himself is a gentle, kind, empathetic, and almost preternaturally wise person who made us a bit more hopeful about our situation. We also get a chance to discuss Mister Rogers and what we can learn from him in this moment.The video clip of Nicholas playing piano with his dad on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as a child can be seen in part here.We had intended to release this episode at Christmas, but life got in the way. Somehow it seems even more fitting to release it today, when we remember Martin Luther King Jr. as we simultaneously inaugurate the most divisive and authoritarian President in our nation's history. We know that conversations like this can sometimes feel trite in contexts like that, like putting a band-aid on a hemorrhage. But Nicholas helps us refocus, to think not about what's insurmountable, but about what is manageable in our particular context. To look, as Fred said, for the helpers, and to ask again what it means to love our neighbor.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!This is a re-release of an episode from our first season: our first conversation with Kristin Kobes Du Mez, which happened to fall just after January 6, 2021. It seems fitting to revisit it now.=====In this episode, we chat with Kristin Kobes Du Mez about her book that's been making waves and is brilliantly titled Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.  This book is probably our favorite of 2020 and is a must-read. During the course of this interview, we chat about everything from toxic masculinity and power hungry religious leaders to Amy Grant and Tiffany. Seriously.Content note: this episode contains some mild profanity.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!Brian Zahnd is back with us to discuss his favorite novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Brian is starting a public online course going through the book, which is notoriously philosophically and theologically rich, so we thought it would be fun to have him on to discuss its major themes and why it has been so influential in his life. We cover Dostoevsky's famously powerful presentation of the problem of suffering, the implications for theodicy, how Jesus features in the book, Dostoevsky's personal history, his influence as an author and psychologist, and more.There's still time to join Brian's 10-week study of the book, which begins in January. Get tickets (donation of any amount) here.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!Jonathan Merritt joins us to discuss his children's book My Guncle and Me. We also discuss what it was like to grow up with a dad who was the president of the SBC, his experience being involuntarily outed, and how to maintain relationships across serious ideological and personal divides.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!This episode was recorded live at Theology Beer Camp 2024. We sat down with Brian McLaren and Tim Whitaker (from The New Evangelicals podcast) to discuss Brian's history in the emerging church movement, the current progressive religious movement (of which we're a part), the Christian nationalist backlash, and our political moment. For those of us who think of ourselves as progressive Christians, it's tempting to feel like we're carving a brand new space out of the ashes of evangelicalism, but of course there's a long history to what's happening now. Brian helps us think about where we've been, where we are now, and what might come next. This conversation was very impromptu, off the cuff, and occasionally raw. There are warnings but also hope and (from Brian at least) wisdom. We hope it's meaningful to you.The books mentioned in this episode are:Prequel by Rachel MaddowA Fever in the Heartland by Timothy EganCheck out the (unedited) video of this conversation here.Content note: This episode contains profanity.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!Jeff Cook is back with us to dive deeper into our conversation from a while back about the soul and why Kyle is a materialist (and why Randy thinks he's silly for it). We discuss the difference between the claim that God is non-physical and the claim that humans are, Jeff's reservations about materialism, the mystery of the Incarnation and Christ's dual natures, reduction in science, and a lot more.If you'd like to ask a question about a recent episode to be featured on one of these bonus segments, email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!After more than three years, Kristin Kobes Du Mez is back on the show to discuss her new short film For Our Daughters, which examines the connection between the culture of submission and sexual abuse within the evangelical church and the Christian nationalist effort to influence the 2024 presidential election. It tells harrowing stories of survival and coverup and puts a spotlight on the theological and ecclesial structures that facilitate abuse and wield enormous power in our society. Randy and Elliot chat with Kristin about the film, as well as what she's been up to with the explosion of Jesus and John Wayne since our last conversation.=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!More Jim Stump!We hope you loved Part I of our conversation with Dr. Jim Stump as much we did. Here's Part II! In this one, we talk about the problem of evil and more about AI. Also...aliens! Seriously.Cheers!=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Text us your questions!Are Christianity and evolution compatible? Can a person trust God and trust science at the same time? Jim Stump wrote a book called The Sacred Chain: How Understanding Evolution Leads to Deeper Faith, and we are very much here for it.In this interview, we chat about the Bible, science, evolution, the soul, afterlife, and many other juicy topics. We actually had so much to talk about that we had to make this a two-parter. Stay tuned!Cheers!=====Want to support us?The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!