Theology Nerd Throwdown

The problem of evil has occupied humanity ever since it realized it was born to suffer, kill, and die. Every religious tradition has to deal with this reality and today we are gonna discuss it. In this episode we talk about the fifth episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman – Evil. In this week’s podcast Barry, Tripp, and Princess Alice discuss eternal conscious torment, original sin, the evolution of religion, theodicy, elf on a shelf, the origins of evil, tattoos, and the possibility of moral capitalism after the death of god. Plus Barry and Princess Alice became friends and she went with him on a trip to Ireland. Upon return we will hear just how much fun they had. If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here. Sharing is caring & it makes God happy.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Religion, science, faith, God, history, anthropology, prayer, and a few other topics all solicit questions. At least a few of them get tentative answers this week.  In this episode we talk about the fourth episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman – Creation.   In this week’s podcast Barry and Tripp discuss bones, ancestor veneration, SoCal pseudo-religion, Adam’s hidden bone under Golgotha, the Vatican’s poor science PR, Islam’s preservation of the West’s best thought, the sneaky snake in the garden, Mayan beheadings, corn deities, large cosmic rivers of creation and extremely generic ‘come together’ conclusions to religious pluralism. Plus Barry mentions a bunch of ACDC tunes. Tripp also decides not to stab his face after hearing the question everyone with philosophy graduate degrees student loans hates – “If God made the universe, who made God?” If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here. Sharing is caring & it makes God happy.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who is God? That’s a question that’s easy to ask, hard to interpret and never quite answered.  In this episode we talk about the third episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman – about God. In the episode we will discuss the blues, the diversity and universality of God-talk, the emergence of polytheism and monotheism, Stonehenge and This is Spinal Tap’s Stonehenge, the role of culture in religious experience, divine manifestation in the brain, and the Osteen effect on America religion. Barry mentions two books you will want to check out. Oprah: Gospel of an Icon by Kathryn Lofton and God: an itinerary by Regis Debray.   If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here. Sharing is caring & it makes God happy.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tripp and Barry are taking you to the end of the world…at least as they know it. In this episode we talk about the second episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman – Apocalypse. In the episode we will discuss the politics of apocalypse, the 1 century Jewish sect known as the Essenes, the role of the Temple in contemporary Israel, the whole 666 = ? thingy, radicalization of monotheism, the Mayan prediction, cyclical views of time, enlightenment, faith in crises, and a number of other goodies. Barry also drops some wisdom bombs about secular apocalyptic fantasies involving zombies and vampires. You will enjoy that if you enjoy using your brain.   If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here. Sharing is caring & it makes God happy.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here it is! The first episode of a brand new podcast. On the Story of God-cast Tripp Fuller and Barry Taylor will be unpacking, exploring, and expanding the conversation Morgan Free starts. The National Geographic Channel produced a six part series called The Story of God with Morgan Freeman and we plan to dig deep into each one here for your listening pleasure. The first episode is titled Beyond Death. It tackles near death experiences, technological means to immortality, and the Day of the Dead. Morgan takes a trip to Jerusalem, the Ganges, Mexico City and a science lab. That’s not all, but it gives you a taste of what you get in just one episode. In this episode Barry and Tripp tackle a number of questions including… Why would a series on God start with an episode about death? What is the difference between life and death? Is it a state of existence, a thin veil, a hard transition or a problem to be fixed? Have human beings evolved to a healthier relationship toward death or have we just rearranged the symbols and upgraded our technology? If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It makes God happy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am very excited to announce the launch of a new podcast – the Story of God-Cast! Friend of the podcast and down right zesty scholar Barry Taylor will be joining me on this companion podcast to the brand new National Geographic Channel show, The Story of God with Morgan Freeman.  It is a 6 week mini-series in which Morgan exploring the most basic questions human being have been asking. Each episode is simultaneously a travel documentary to sacred spaces, an investigation into the history of each topic and a rich comparative examination of the world’s historic wisdom traditions. You will see a diversity of answers and expressions from all sorts of cultures and texts, from the Mayan Temple to Joel Osteen in Houston to Jerusalem. Sunday Nights on the National Geographic Channel starting April 3rd you can join the fun (or set your DVR if Zombies and Dragons are on). Then make sure to check out the new podcast episode here. Here is a teaser podcast episode. The show will answer all sorts of questions but here are twenty you won’t find during it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prepare yourself for some live theological goodness from the Subvert the Norm conference. In this episode you will hear Tripp and Jonnie talk with Catherine Keller about her newest book Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement among other subversively inspired topics. Then Jack Caputo arrives to settle a significant disagreement with Peter Rollins about the nature of humanity. It was simultaneously nerdy and hilarious, so do not listen until you are prepared to rub your chin while laughing. This podcast was done under the influence of some spectacular beverages brewed by Oklahoma’s Mad Farmer Brewing master – Charlie Sheldon. He not only can brew it up with the best of them, but he is the God Father of the Homebrewed Deaconate.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Khora is not reading Dad’s book! It is time for some Jesus fun! I recently published the Homebrewed Christianity Guide to Jesus: Lord, Liar, Lunatic or just freaking Awesome!   Here’s the thing. When you release a book you have to promote it. I did some book tour fun across the country, like the goodness you can hear fro the OKC. But I also kicked it off with a 5 hour non-stop online tour across a host of bloggers. This episode (and the next) are some of the best conversation of the 5 hours. I hope you enjoy it and tell your peeps about my book. On this podcast you hear from Bobby Shirley, Teresa Pascale, Tony Jones, James Matichuk , and Trevor Malkinson. Click those links for the videos! This podcast episode and the 5 hour live blab stream was developed in partnership with The Speakeasy.  If you like free books and blogging about zesty texts then just holla at Mike and get on the Speakeasy email list. Want a super sweet deal?  Well here it is. If you get all 10 volumes of the Homebrewed Christianity Guide series at the lowest price possible, then I am gonna give you a giant stack of free goods. On top of super cheap texts, free shipping and sticker fun, you will get a special email digitally delivering some enticing downloads including… 1. Radical Theology with Tripp Fuller and Peter Rollins (6 90-minute sessions)  2. Christ(ology): In the Wake of an Event with Tripp Fuller and Peter Rollins (6 more 90-minute sessions)  3. Atheism for Lent with Tripp Fuller and Peter Rollins (6 90-minute sessions)  4. Religion & Science with Tripp Fuller and Philip Clayton (6 90-minute sessions)  5. Paul: Rupture, Revelation, and Revolution (6 90-minute sessions)  6. Theology Nerd Bootcamp with Tripp Fuller and Scott Paeth (5 hours of excitement)  7. Varieties of Postmodern Theology (4 90-minute sessions)  8. Revelation of Darkness (6 Small Group Video Sessions with Rob Bell, Barry Taylor & Peter Rollins) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Khora is not reading Dad’s book! It is time for some Jesus fun! I recently published the Homebrewed Christianity Guide to Jesus: Lord, Liar, Lunatic or just freaking Awesome!   Here’s the thing. When you release a book you have to promote it. I did some book tour fun across the country, like the goodness you can hear fro the OKC. But I also kicked it off with a 5 hour non-stop online tour across a host of bloggers. This episode (and the next) are some of the best conversation of the 5 hours. I hope you enjoy it and tell your peeps about my book. On this podcast you hear from the one and only Bec Cranford, Mike Morrell, John Contabile, Heather Goodman, and your favorite Lutheran Clint Shentcloth. Click those links for the videos! This podcast episode and the 5 hour live blab stream was developed in partnership with The Speakeasy.  If you like free books and blogging about zesty texts then just holla at Mike and get on the Speakeasy email list. Want a super sweet deal?  Well here it is. If you get all 10 volumes of the Homebrewed Christianity Guide series at the lowest price possible, then I am gonna give you a giant stack of free goods. On top of super cheap texts, free shipping and sticker fun, you will get a special email digitally delivering some enticing downloads including… 1. Radical Theology with Tripp Fuller and Peter Rollins (6 90-minute sessions)  2. Christ(ology): In the Wake of an Event with Tripp Fuller and Peter Rollins (6 more 90-minute sessions)  3. Atheism for Lent with Tripp Fuller and Peter Rollins (6 90-minute sessions)  4. Religion & Science with Tripp Fuller and Philip Clayton (6 90-minute sessions)  5. Paul: Rupture, Revelation, and Revolution (6 90-minute sessions)  6. Theology Nerd Bootcamp with Tripp Fuller and Scott Paeth (5 hours of excitement)  7. Varieties of Postmodern Theology (4 90-minute sessions)  8. Revelation of Darkness (6 Small Group Video Sessions with Rob Bell, Barry Taylor & Peter Rollins) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who is God? What is God? How… I am sure there are other ways of asking the question and even more ways to answer the question. In this episode we discuss the a host of theologians answer the question in a stack of different ways. Hopefully we are able to unpack the answers, assumptions, insights and perspectives in the episode. During the episode we mention: The upcoming Theology Nerd Bootcamp with Joerg Rieger February 17 in Dallas before Progressive Youth Ministry. Joerg Rieger’s excellent text Christ and Empire. Victor Anderson’s most amazing book Beyond Ontological Blackness Laurel Schneider’s exploration of polydoxy and multiplicity. Donna Bowman‘s book on Barth and Whitehead & her upcoming book in the HBC series. The Enfolding Theology Conference at the Hatchery in LA this coming March. You should check out Nathan’s Common Cause Community project and most importantly say hi to him on twitter… he loves tree. Elder Tony Jones’ book Did God Kill Jesus? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices