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jonathan_foster


5:6 Church: Is it Still Helpful? (along with Libby Teder Hugus) EPISODE 46

On this episode I respond to questions about moving forward with the church. One young person put it this way: “What is even the point? Given how many people have been hurt, is church even helpful any longer?” So I give some open and relational theological thoughts, some stuff that’s been influenced by those who are influenced by Bill Hegel, some stuff to rethink omnipotence, mystery, and the misguided but oft-parroted phrase, “everything happens for a reason.” I also talk a bit about my own personal journey of trying to figure out theology and ecclesiology (i.e., church) after we went through the intense event of losing our daughter. Yeah, that event pretty much colors everything in my life. -And then I take the discussion about church further with my friend, the Rev. Libby Teder Hugus. She’s a pastor at https://www.thetablecasper.org in Casper, WY. (Sorry, I think I said Idaho in the podcast!) There’s a couple minutes with Libby here, but then I talk longer with her on my patreon page which is at… https://www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster For as little as three bucks a month you can get access to that interview, others, and a whole bunch of other helpful stuff. So, check it out. -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and of course sign up for my newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. -The open and relational resource I want to highlight this week is “Face of the Deep” by Catherine Keller. Dr. Catherine might label herself more process than ORT, and for sure, she would call herself a feminist theologian, but either way, I love this book and all her writing. She says more in one sentence than I do in a whole chapter. -The main music for this season’s show is from Velveteen and is called “Losing It." It comes to us by way of www.epidemicsound.com, though, strangely, I didn’t use it on this episode. Instead, I went with some stuff I made and/or downloaded at www.Landr.com. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org

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All Episodes
Episode 12
Season 2: Introduction (Peter Rollins)
Welcome back to another season of the podcast! We’re obviously in a very difficult time in the life of our world right now. I hope that some of the stuff I offer up here will help you shift or re-think your role or God’s role in the middle of all that is going on. These episodes weren’t created with Corona Virus in mind, but I do think there’s thinking here that might help the Christian faith be more sustainable now and in the future. In this introduction episode, I lay out some of the thinking going into season 2 and introduce some of my guests. I’m grateful each of these folks has allowed me to take bits and pieces of audio and spread them out over a few episodes. Dr. James Alison, http://jamesalison.co.uk Cindy Wang Brandt, https://cindywangbrandt.com Dr. Julia Robinson Moore, https://pages.uncc.edu/julia-marie-robinson Dr. Peter Rollins, https://peterrollins.com I hope you find time to look into each of these people. I’ve been reading James and Peter, if I can call them by their first names, for 3-5 years now. Their writings and talks have helped me shift and re-shift my theology toward something which I consider much healthier. I can’t recommend them enough. Cindy and Julia are newer friends. Cindy is an author and podcaster. She has an online conference called https://www.parentingforwardconference.com that I highly recommend. And Julia is an author, professor and speaker that you will find has keen insight. As always, like, share, review, follow, or whatever you do on your particular podcasting platform. Feel free to track me down with questions and comments you might have. And if you’ve read this far you should know about our non-profit organization LQVE. LQVE is a really interesting relationship that has developed with Haitian people, for Haitian people in some of the poorest areas of the Western Hemisphere. Learn more at www.LQVE.org. Obviously, the Corona Virus could potentially be bad anywhere, but I can’t even imagine what would happen if it hits such a densely populated area like Port au Prince. I’m praying for them and for all of us. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 13
Season 2:1 Condition Requiring Illusions (James Alison, Cindy Brandt, Julia Moore, Peter Rollins)
This is the first of a two part episode (1 and 1A) that begins to lay out ideas about why we feel the need to pretend but why pretending is pointless! It's the greatest news. That's right, grace wrecks the illusion we have to be better than we are. And grace wrecks those who perpetuate the condition that requires illusions. And who might they be? Sigh, mostly, the church. I know, it's wild. Thanks to my guests who appear here and on a handful of different episodes this season... Dr. Peter Rollins, https://peterrollins.com Dr. James Alison, http://jamesalison.co.uk Cindy Wang Brandt, https://cindywangbrandt.com Dr. Julia Robinson Moore, https://pages.uncc.edu/julia-marie-robinson I hope you find time to look into each of these people. I’ve been reading James and Peter, if I can call them by their first names, for 3-5 years now. Their writings and talks have helped me shift and re-shift my theology toward something which I consider much healthier. I can’t recommend them enough. Cindy and Julia are newer friends of mine. Cindy is an author and podcaster. She has an online conference called https://www.parentingforwardconference.com that I highly recommend. And Julia is an author, professor and speaker that you will find has keen insight. As always, like, share, review, follow, or whatever you do on your particular podcasting platform. Feel free to track me down with questions and comments you might have. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 14
Season 2:1A The Condition Requiring Illusions continued (Rollins, Alison, Brandt, Moore)
1A is a continuation of the episode 1 that begins to lay out ideas about why we feel the need to pretend but why pretending is pointless! It's the greatest news. That's right, grace wrecks the illusion we have to be better than we are. And grace wrecks those who perpetuate the condition that requires illusions. And who might they be? Sigh, mostly, the church. I know, it's wild. Thanks to my guests who appear here and on a handful of different episodes this season. They are authors, speakers, professors, podcasters and people who are doing a lot of great work. Dr. Peter Rollins, https://peterrollins.com Dr. James Alison, http://jamesalison.co.uk Cindy Wang Brandt, https://cindywangbrandt.com Dr. Julia Robinson Moore, https://pages.uncc.edu/julia-marie-robinson I hope you find time to look into each of these people. I’ve been reading James and Peter, if I can call them by their first names, for 3-5 years now. Their writings and talks have helped me shift and re-shift my theology toward something which I consider much healthier. I can’t recommend them enough. Cindy and Julia are newer friends of mine. Cindy is an author and podcaster. She has an online conference called https://www.parentingforwardconference.com that I highly recommend. And Julia is an author, professor and speaker that you will find has keen insight. As always, like, share, review, follow, or whatever you do on your particular podcasting platform. Feel free to track me down with questions and comments you might have. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 42
5:2 Meaning Making (along with Lauren Kilber)
Episode 2 is all about meaning making. In most of Americanized Christianity, it’s too often just assumed that once you pray the prayer (e.g., get God inside of you, get saved, do the thing, drink the juice, or whatever) that meaning will just naturally show up. Turns out, meaning making is much more difficult. And I personally don’t think God is just going to fix it for you. Because God is a relational God, which among other things, means S(H)e’s not going force anything upon you. God is love. And love doesn’t control. Don’t forget to join me with my licensed counselor friend, Lauren Kilber over at www.Patreon.com/jonathan_foster. If you don’t find what she says helpful, email me, so I can reply with a shocked face emoji. Resources and some sites that I mention on this episode… -PEW Research on Meaning: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/11/20/where-americans-find-meaning-in-life/ -Christopher Nolan’s film, The Prestige. As I mention, if you’re looking for a director that brings mimetic thinking into his shows? Yeah, Nolan is your man. -For more on the Girardian neologism, “individuality” see, The Genesis of Desire by Jean-Michel Oughourlian -This week’s open and relational/process book I want to highlight is Process-Relational Philosophy An Introduction to Alfred North Whitehead by Robert Mesle. -Some philosophical/psychoanalytic people I try to listen to/read include my friend Tim Suttle. Check his stuff out at timsuttle.com. I also read Peter Rollins, and yeah, I think I’ll just include Peter as a friend. I mean, he was on my podcast once. Why not? Also, I try and learn as much as I can from The Why Theory Podcast with Todd McGowen and Ryan Engley. Neither Ryan nor Todd is my friend. Sad. -And my new book is coming out in October of ’22 with SacraSage Press called A Theology of Consent: Mimetic Theory in an Open and Relational Universe. Thanks everyone! Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. The main music for this season’s show is from Velveteen / “Losing It” / by way of epidemicsound.com A bunch of the samples and other music comes from landr.com or me. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 44
5:4 Deconstruction (along with Tim Suttle)
Today our topic de jour is deconstruction. I don’t even scratch the surface of this subject, but I imagine you’ll get some stuff here that you might not with most low budgets podcasts. Ha, cuz that’s what this is! Yeah, we talk a bit about Girard and deconstruction as well as some of my frustrations with the church’s approach in general (surprise, surprise) all while giving some input regarding deconstruction when it comes to the bible and prayer. -And… the best thing is, I take the discussion further with my friend and intellectual, Tim Suttle. Tim is a great resource in this area. But, you’ll have to go to www.patreon.com/Jonathan_foster to find that video. It’s worth it! You can also find out more about Tim at timsuttle.com. -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and of course sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. -The open and relational resource I want to highlight this week is “Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes” by Charles Hartshorne. It's a small but good one. And I suppose I should start highlighting Girardian works as well. Since “Theology of Consent,” which gives a nice overview of mimetic theory is not yet out, I’m going to suggest you head over to ravenfoundation.org. There’s a lot of great Girard stuff there. -The main music for this season’s show is from Velveteen / “Losing It” / by way of epidemicsound.com. A bunch of the samples and other music comes from Landr.com or me. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 45
5:5 Church: How'd We Get Here? (along with Letiah Fraser)
On this episode I took a group of questions I got recently about church and boiled ‘em down to one: How did we get here? There are a handful of different topics to work through in order to answer that question well, but here’s a bit of my take filtered as it is through mimetic theory, open and relational theology. So, we’ll talk about Omnipotence some, plus the scapegoating mechanism, some evangelicalism and Donald Trump, control, sacrifice, immutability, and a bunch of other super fun topics! -And don’t miss my conversation with my friend, Rev. Dr. Letiah Fraser on the subject of the church at https://www.patreon.com/jonathan_foster -Helpful sources and/or things I cite… -Paper on Panentheism and Panexperientialism for Open and Relational Theology https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9783957437303/BP000019.xml?language=en -Open and Relational Theology https://www.amazon.com/Open-Relational-Theology-Introduction-Life-Changing/dp/B096WM4PQN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1UT60AGDLIUDA&keywords=open+and+relational+theology&qid=1660654400&sprefix=open+and+relational+theology%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-1 -R,.T. Mullins Podcast Page: https://www.rtmullins.com/podcast Kristen Du Maze John Wayne and Jesus, https://kristindumez.com/books/jesus-and-john-wayne/ -Feel free to leave a review, share it with a friend, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter at jonathanfosteronline.com. -The main music for this season’s show is from Velveteen, entitled, “Losing It,” and on this episode there’s a tune from OTE called “Riding Lower.” Both of those songs come to us by way of epidemicsound.com. And then a bunch of the samples and other music comes from Landr.com or me. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 49
5:9 Parenting: Connection over Correction (along with Ryan & Jess Lambros)
Questions about parenting within the paradigm of uncontrolling love is the theme of this episode. It’s a super important subject. I hope to bring a few ideas to the conversation, and a bit of my time with Ryan and Jess Lambros, but also point you to the full zoom dialogue I had with (as well as my conversation with Libby Tedder-Hugus) on my patreon page. Just search for www.Patreon.com/jonathan_foster. What all these young parents are talking about is important. I hope you’ll check it out. -Ryan is a life coach with www.thetablecoach.com and working through his doctoral dissertation in open and relational theology and Jessica, LPC, is the owner and clinical director of Stories Counseling. www.storiescounseling.com. -This week’s open and relational/process book I want to highlight is Rob Bell’s “Everything is Spiritual.” It’s true, Bell isn’t necessarily an ORT theologian, however, this book as much or more than any other he has written, fits really well with ORT themes. It’s my favorite Rob Bell writing. -Thanks everyone! Feel free to leave a review and/or share this with a friend. Meanwhile, don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter at www.jonathanfosteronline.com. -The main music for this season’s show is from an artist known as Velveteen. The song is called “Losing It.” It comes by way of www.epidemicsound.com. And a bunch of the samples and other music comes from landr.com or me. j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 79
Why it's a Good Time to go Open/Relational with Andrew Davis
Really fun to have Dr. Andrew Davis on the podcast today. Andrew is an author, theologian, and process philosopher and a reknowed expert in all things Alfred North Whitehead. Most importantly, Andrew is a friend! Please check out his website at andrewmdavis.info and don't forget to subscribe to his youtube channel at @AndrewMDavis-yo3mm. I loved this conversation and I can prove it to you because I first heard Andrew talk along these lines almost two years ago. That's right, in the summer of 2022 I heard AD give a presentation on Whiteheadean transitions and I've not forgotten it. So, when I decided to do an entire season around open and relational theology, I knew I wanted to kick it of with this conversation. These are the ten transitions we talk about and all of them have huge implications: From exception to exemplification from being to becoming from mechanism to organism from independence to mutual imminence from force to persuasion from dogmatism to dynamism from passivity to creativity from decadence to adventure from pessimism to possibility from solitude to divine world loyalty Meanwhile, if you like the show, great, let your podcasting community know about it! Share, subscribe, give it stars! Also, find out what I'm up to at jonathanfosteronline.com. Want to hang with me at Persuade Conference in April? ORTcon in July? Theology Beer Camp in Oct? Then click the links. BTW, if you're going to Theology Beer Camp use the promo code: FOSTERFRODO to get some money off your ticket. How great is that? Thanks everyone. Peace! j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 80
The Dynamism of Open/Relational Theology with Thomas Jay Oord and Libby Tedder Hugus
Hey, my podcast listening friend, thanks for tuning in today as we have the one and only Dr. Thomas Jay Oord back on the show to talk all things open and relational. We live in a day and age that is ripe for a new approach to theology, and I think ORT is that new approach! I I hope you'll check out Tom's site at c4ort.com and all of his resources, including his latest book, The Death of Omnipotence and the Birth of Amipotence. My co-host and conversational partner for this episode is the Rev. Libby Tedder Hugus. Libby is a mental fitness//mental flourishing coach at resonatenow.live, a pastor, writer, communicator, wife, and mom. I've had her on in recent seasons and really enjoyed having her back with Tom and me. As you'll hear, she brings something very dynamic to the table, I mean, to the mic. If you haven't signed up for my substack and/or patreon newsletter, well, you should do it. Just go to jonathanfosteronline.com and click the appropriate links. It'd be great for us to stay connected in that way. Also, speaking of connected you should come to the Persuade Conference in April, or ORTcon in July, or Theology Beer Camp in October. Regarding that last one, make sure to use the FOSTERFRODO promo code to get $25 off when you register. :) Don't forget to like, subscribe, give stars for this show and podcast because it just helps spread the word. Thanks everyone! J j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org
Episode 88
Open & Relational Theology and My Muslim Friends: Saida Mirsadri & Jared Morningstar
With it's emphasis of relation over substance and possibility over predetermined endings, open and relational theology provides a way forward for both Muslims and Christians. I became even more convinced is the reality as I was editing a recent SacraSage Press book entitled Open and Relational Theology and its Social and Political Implications: Muslim and Christian Perspectives. Two of the contributors to the book, Saidi Mirsadri and Jared Morningstar join me today to talk about all things ORT related, the Islamic faith, what they wish Christians knew about Muslims, and more. It was an honor to interact with these two human beings. Saidi is an writer, thinker, and Research Associate at the University of Bonn and Jared is also a writer, and the Communications Director at the Center for Process Studies and Operations Assistant at the Cobb Institute. For more information, see jaredmorningstar.com Meanwhile, if you like the show, subscribe and leave some stars and reviews! And if you want to hear more, feel free to support this show and a handful of other podcasts that are doing progressive, liberating, affirming work within a network called the QuoirCast by supporting our Patreon page here. Hope to see you checking in at jonathanfosteronline.com. That's where you'll find more about what I'm up to, books, cartoons, and even our work in Haiti , which is probably the most important thing my family and I are involved in. But yes, find me there and then sign up for my newsletter ! Peace, j_f substack j_f insta lovehaiti.org