Is the American Evangelical Church worth saving? Or is it beyond repair? Many ex-vangelicals are ready to let it die and build something new in its place, but in this episode, we chat with Tim Whitaker, creator of The New Evangelicals, about how he’s fighting to rebuild the American Evangelical Church in a more loving, Christ-like image, despite great pushback from within the Church itself.Follow Tim on Instagram (@TheNewEvangelicals) and Twitter (@NewVangelicals), and check out his podcast.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/does-evangelical-church-need-to-die-new-evangelicalsFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).

After growing up in the south in the heyday of purity culture, Blair of @TalkPurityToMe recognized that she needed to relearn how to relate to herself and others. Once she healed from the harm she endured through purity culture, she decided to start speaking out against it so that others could heal, too. We talk with Blair about how she came to recognize how unhealthy purity culture had made her, how she healed, and what hope she has for the future of sexual education in the evangelical church.Follow Blair on Instagram, on Twitter, and on TikTok (@TalkPurityToMe)!If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏Show notes: http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/why-purity-culture-doesnt-work-talk-purity-to-meFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).

If you’ve ever been told not to speak up so you don’t “hurt the witness of the Church,” or if you’ve been discouraged from calling out toxic behavior because Christians are supposed to “bring light and joy and not negativity,” this episode is for you. After years of devoting herself to serving her church, Julia, aka @ThatLoudDeconstructingOne, finally decided she wouldn’t be silenced anymore. We talk with her about what started her deconstruction, why she's finally proud to be loud, and how she started her platform in order reclaim her voice to advocate for victims of abuse.Follow Julia on Instagram (@ThatLoudDeconstructingOne), on Twitter (@ThatLoudDecon1), and on TikTok (@ThatLoudDeconstructing1)!If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).

“God’s got this!” “Let go and let God.” “Everything will be okay in the end.” Despite being great bumper stickers, these sayings actually cause more theological problems than they solve. Today we’re chatting with Dr. Thomas Jay Oord, an open and relational theologian, about what God can and can’t do, what God does and does not know, and how we may have gotten God’s nature wrong for centuries.Follow Dr. Oord on Instagram and on Twitter (@ThomasJayOord) and check out his new book, Open and Relational Theology: An Introduction to Life-Changing Ideas!If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).

Women of the Christian faith eventually have to confront one really big question: Why stay in a system that actively works to silence women and keep them from following their callings? For today’s guest, Kelly Lamb, that question led her on a quest for the essence of faith. We talk with her about what she found, how her faith is different, and how she’s making space for women.Follow Kelly on Instagram and on Twitter (@kellyroselamb) for updates on her podcast!If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge (currently accepting new clients: josh.mudge09@gmail.com).

Can God only be experienced through the Church? Or is God revealed and able to be experienced elsewhere? Dr. Belden C. Lane, professor emeritus of theological studies, believes our experience of God is too limited and has thus spent many years cultivating the spiritual discipline of solo wilderness backpacking. In our conversation with him, we discuss why we need the wilderness, how being taken to the edge physically also pushes us spiritually, why we need “dangerous” books, and his deep admiration of the desert mothers and fathers.Find Dr. Lane’s books on Amazon.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes, as well as a spot in our brand new course on the Bible! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

What happens when you realize your religion does everything except foster wholeness, flourishing, and love? For Flamy Grant and Ben Grace, two of the four hosts of Heathen Podcast, it meant searching for belonging, liberation, and authenticity beyond the confines of religion. We chat with them about what they found, where they found it, and what truly unconditional community and acceptance looks like.Follow Heathen on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (@HeathenPodcast), check out Heathen Happy Hour on YouTube, and listen to their podcast.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes, as well as a spot in our brand new course on the Bible! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

As one half of the hosting team at Heathen Podcast, Anissa Nishira and Karyn Thurston are done with shame. Despite their vastly different upbringings, they each were taught a religion of shame, conformity, and certainty. In this episode, we talk with them about how they are now on a quest to drop the shame and helps others do so, all while building a faith that’s based on love. We also touch on deconstruction, birthing justice, microaggressions, being a Black woman in predominantly white spaces, and the meaning of community. (And don’t miss next week’s episode with Flamy and Ben, the other two hosts of Heathen!)Follow Heathen on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (@HeathenPodcast), check out Heathen Happy Hour on YouTube, and listen to their podcast: https://www.heathenpodcast.com/If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes, as well as a spot in our brand new course on the Bible! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

Fed up with superficial religion but also feeling empty from pursuing pleasure as the highest virtue, Reina Rose (host of the Roku TV show Soul Nutrition) began searching for a new way to fill her soul. In our conversation with her, she tells us what she discovered on her journey, how she nourishes her soul, and what spirituality looks like for her today, as well as offers some tips for how to find spiritual nourishment when the Church is no longer a safe option.Follow Reina on Instagram (@reina_rose_tv), Twitter (@reinarosetv), and Facebook (@reinarosetv), and check out her show: https://reina-rose.com/show.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes, as well as a spot in our brand new course on the Bible! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review 🙏To church or not to church, that is the question—at least for those of us who no longer claim the evangelical label. And if we do decide to stay, what do we do when we disagree with things being taught or supported either by the church or by our fellow churchgoers? We sat down with Joey, the host of Dismantle Pod, to talk about why he’s chosen to not only stay in church, but even serve in many different capacities, and how he’s learned to handle differences.Check out Dismantle Pod and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (@dismantlepod). Email Joey at dismantlepod@gmail.com.For show notes, click here or go to www.holyheretics.org.Follow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyhereticsAdvertising inquiries: podcast@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon and get early access to episodes, as well as a spot in our brand new course on the Bible! https://www.patreon.com/holyhereticsThis episode was produced by The Sophia Society.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.