This episode is a checklist of why young adults bounce. We tell the story of a would-be missionary crushed by the hell doctrine, trace early Christian views that weren’t eternal-torment, and drag the hypocrisy of flag-waving “martyr” talk. Finally, we map out how to rebuild—open-handed spirituality, evidence-honoring skepticism, and a supportive digital community that doesn’t pass the plate or police your beliefs.

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If the Bible were a Netflix show, this episode would come with a “viewer discretion advised” warning. Ruth takes the lead, flips gender roles, and all under the cover of darkness. Turns out the Bible’s big sex scene is also one of its most feminist. It’s possibly the sexiest, most subversive story in Scripture—and it pushes back hard against purity culture’s shame game. This is an episode you don't want to miss.

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What if you stripped faith down to its essence—no megachurch stage lights, no fear-based sermons, no evangelical gatekeeping? That’s what Brian McLaren does in his new novel set on Mars. We talk about how families fight over religion, why the fight doesn’t have to mean dehumanizing, and how spirituality survives once the institutional scaffolding is gone.

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The gospels aren’t journalism—they’re theology. Dr. Helen Bond helps us dig into what the stories of Jesus’ final hours really meant to the earliest Christians. Along the way, we uncover the often-overlooked women who followed Jesus, the strange ending of Mark’s gospel, and what ancient burial customs can tell us about Good Friday.

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New Insights to the New Testament Online Conference

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The “historical Jesus” isn’t the same as the Sunday school Jesus. Dr. Mark Goodacre shows us why there’s so little hard evidence, how scholarship challenges evangelical readings, and why most pastors never share this from the pulpit. Plus: Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet and the one book you need to make sense of the gospels.

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New Insights on the New Testament Conference

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New Insights on the New Testament Conference

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If you grew up thinking Pharisees were hypocrites and Jesus was all about purity culture, buckle up. Dr. Amy Jill-Levine joins us to dismantle the myths: Pharisees were good people, the Bible doesn’t record “what happened,” and the New Testament has space for asexuality, transgender identity, and radical body positivity.

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New Insights into the New Testament Conference

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People aren’t leaving the church because they “hate God.” They’re leaving because the church keeps begging for cash, propping up patriarchy, justifying abusive marriages, and trashing LGBTQ people. In this episode, we talk about the real reasons people walk away and how to stay rooted in spirituality through safe, inclusive community that actually exists.

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Virginity isn't real. We unpack how purity culture weaponized the concept of virginity to control women, why the biology doesn’t back it up, and how the shame attached to sex has wrecked entire generations. Bonus: we share some memes that are funnier than your youth pastor’s abstinence sermon.

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