Introducing Myself to the Patheos Community

Hey Patheos Community! Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Matthew Distefano and for the past 4 years, I’ve been involved in this crazy thing called preaching the Gospel. Perhaps you’ve come across my work at The Raven ReView or on the Unfundamentalist Christians blog, or perhaps you’ve even picked up one or more of the three books I’ve written, but if you haven’t, I wanted to take a moment of your time to introduce myself and what we are going to be exploring on this blog.

First off, a word about me.

I’m 35 years old, live in a quaint little town called Chico, Ca, am very happily married, and have one ridiculously talented daughter. Honestly, she is one of the best 7-year-old dancers I’ve ever seen. Okay, I’m probably biased—as well as not very versed in the world of dance—but still, she’s dang good.

Now, as tempted as I am to turn this into a blog about how amazing my little girl is, that’s probably not what you all are looking for. You are probably looking for some juicy theological meat. You are probably looking for some content that challenges your views, that asks difficult questions, and that hopefully provides an answer or two along the way. Well, that is exactly what we are going to try to do here on this blog. And I hope I don’t disappoint.

So, what is going to be our specific focus here at All Set Free?

Good question.

Pretty much everything is on the table. My journey has been such that I’ve learned to question everything. Literally. I grew up fairly fundamentalist, deconstructed my faith to where there was no furniture left in the apartment (to use comedian Pete Holmes’ analogy), and have come back full circle to the very world of faith I once left. Only now, I’ve left my fundamentalist days behind me.

Phew!

That said, there are things I like to talk about more than others.

First, I love discussing how theology relates to our direct experiences, how our belief in God (or lack thereof) affects the very real world around us. Because for my money, if our theology doesn’t lead us to experience life to the fullest—i.e., if it brings death to our doorstep as well as our neighbors’—then it probably ain’t worth having. On the flipside, if our faith brings light to our lives and the lives of those around us, then it seems we are on the right track. To that end, we’ll constantly be discussing how theology, good and bad, directly relates to the human experience (i.e. anthropology, sociology, psychology, etc.)

Second, I’m fascinated with the Bible. I think it is a brilliant piece of literature, so I really like talking about it an awful lot. Contrary to what some evangelicals have claimed about me, I value it and treasure it bigly. In fact, every time I play “Desert Island,” the Bible is always on the list. And so, most of my entries will include a score of biblical references. But please, don’t think I won’t also critique the Bible and, more specifically, the method in which many of my interlocutors appropriate what is said in the Good Book. I’ve never been shy about that before and I don’t plan on starting now.

Lastly, I would like to say that although I’m a convinced Universalist—I know, boo, hiss!—I am always open to being wrong. Like I said, every question is on the table, and that includes the question of why I believe, in the end, that God will get God’s way in reconciling the cosmos to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). If I didn’t allow myself to be questioned with regards to what I openly affirm, then I am being dishonest in saying that my mantra is indeed “Question Everything.” That said, given the nature of the journey I’ve been on, it’s going to take a lot of convincing to get me to believe that some of y’all (or perhaps even myself) are going to be forever lost. I just don’t see it. But hey, I’ve been wrong before.

So, that is the sort of stuff we are going to talk about here. I think it’s healthy to do so, and given our fascination with the God and the afterlife, it seems we should never shy away from these kinds of discussions.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts as well as my personal anecdotes with you, and hope that we can all use this opportunity to grow together. After all, we are all on a journey so we might as well share in the process. Speaking of which, please sign up for the newsletter so that you can keep up with me on here.

Peace and love, and may the Force be with you.