How do we reconcile the goodness of Jesus and the violence of the Old Testament that is seemingly attributed to God? In this episode, we begin a 2 part series exploring Holy War with pastor and author Josh Butler. 

We have an obsession with stories about robots and artificial intelligence think about movies and books like Terminator, AI, the Matrix, Transcendence and  I Robot. And if you watch/read them you’ll notice that with a few expectations, the plot of most of these stories revolves around the dangers of robots and Artificial Intelligence. Somehow the machines develop a conscious and the will to act, and for whatever reason, they decide that humans are a threat and in the case of the Matrix a resource. 

Right now in SLC, UT state officials are conducting a large scale operation to close and open new homeless shelters and relocate the homeless population to new areas around the state. Regardless of what you think about the state's plan and its success and failures, it reminds us of the difficult situation our homeless neighbors live in every day. In Episode 10 of The Peoples Theology we interview Fred Liggin president of 3e Restoration a nonprofit that works to equip, empower, and encourage churches to equip, empower, and encourage homeless and displaced neighbors. 

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?

We live in strange days. It's not hard to see because the reality can be felt in nearly every domain of life and culture, but it can be hard to name why things seem so strange. For many of us we feel it in our political climate, for others we see it in our churches and religious environments, and for others the feeling pervades our neighborhoods and workplaces. Regardless of where it comes from, we are all trying to figure out why the world is as it is and more importantly, what we should do about it. 

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? 

The last two episodes have revolves around a conversation about hell with author and pastor Josh Butler. We were hoping to make it to three episodes with him but realized, we just don't have enough content. So, instead of trying to stretch it we are releasing it as a bonus content. A short 10 minute conclusion to our conversation with Josh. 

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?

Ability is the power to make something of the world, the power to steward God’s gifts, and seek the flourishing of the world around you. Ability may be power to image God and fulfill the culture mandate, but actually fulfilling the culture mandate is a responsibility. But, what happens when ability and responsibility are separated, one overcoming the other? 

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.