We live in tension. We wake up and breathe the air tension every day and the question most of us will ask is, “what do we do in the tension?” Can we fix it? Make it better? Resolve it? These are questions we’ve been asking for all of human history. Questions that have driven our most significant culture projects. Our institutions, governments, and inventions begins with the recognition that, “all is not right” in the world but while at the same time innately believing that it can be better. We see a problem and build, dream, and experiment to solve it believing that tension can be resolved, that the world can be better. But, what happens when we overestimate our ability to solve the tension?

Today in the podcast we explore three questions that, whether we realize it or not, tend to shape the way we see and understand the world and our role within it. At first glance, you might be thinking these three questions are politically motivated but they aren't. These questions are bigger than that. Yes, they influence our politics but they also influence the way we think things get done in this world. 

Most of us, if we’re honest, have a weird relationship with the bible. The Chief question underneath all of it, is can it be trusted? Does it have some kind of authority and if so,  where does it come from? What does it mean? What do I do with it? 

How do we deal with the tension between the goodness of God and the presence of hell in the Biblical narrative? For so many of us, this is one of our biggest obstacles to trusting the God of the Bible. And honestly, it makes sense but maybe, we've been missing something really important about God and the story of hell. 

When we talk about God there are certain questions that, for many of us, come to mind. One of the most important questions is, is God good? It's an important question, and it exist and presses in on us for a lot of really good reasons. History bares witness to horrendous events attributed to God and that does't even include the difficult events we have to wrestle through in the Bible. Above all of this, the issue that calls God's goodness into question the quickest, is often, the question of hell. How can a good God send billions of people to a place of torment and pain forever?

In order to read the Genesis 1 and 2 narratives we need to insert ourselves into their context. But, what is the context of Genesis? If these stories are not in conversation with our stories and understandings of the universe, than who or what are they in dialogue with? In this episode we continue our conversation with Dr. Tim Mackie. 

On our very first episode of The Peoples Theology we are exploring the Bible's creation narratives. To believe in them do we have to reject evolution? Or if we believe in evolution, do we have to reject the creation narratives? And, more importantly what if we've been missing it all along. With Speceial Guest, Dr. Tim Mackie.