Matt Sanderson is the author of I Wonder: Notes on Spirituality without the Supernatural. My conversation with Matt is poignant and vulnerable touching on his loss of faith, the loss of his mother and his search for meaning without dogma and the supernatural.

Matt tells us his faith journey from an atheist upbringing into evangelical/charismatic Christianity, drawn by community and an intense prayer experience, then later unraveling beliefs after being challenged, doubling down, and gradually deconverting through wider reading (philosophy, neuroscience) without a dramatic exit. Matt explains the book began as an attempt to sort through accumulated ideas, intensified after his mother’s death and his reflections on grief without belief in an afterlife. He discusses religious experiences as common human phenomena (via William James), religion’s techniques for evoking awe, non-reductionism, meaning as created (influenced by Viktor Frankl), the value and challenges of secular community, and joy/comedy as truth-telling. He frames wonder as both questioning and awe.

https://mattsanderson.co.uk

https://mattsanderson1.substack.com

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I Wonder: Notes on Spirituality without the Supernatural

https://link.amazon/B0dtMgo6T

Show Notes

https://gracefulatheist.com/2026/10/13/matt-sanderson-i-wonder/

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Deconversion

https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Secular Grace

https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Author Stella McCormick has written a powerful memoir, Deliver Us From Mother: Faith, Fear, and the Family Cult That Broke Me. The story she tells in the book and shares with us on the podcast is one of surviving a single family cult, purity culture, sexual assault and desconstruction.

Stella is more than a survivor. She has thrived. Today she is a sexual assault advocate for the Army where she helps other victims of sexual assault process their experience.

Stella on TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@stella_mccormick

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Amazon Commissions Earned:

Deliver Us From Mother: Faith, Fear, and the Family Cult That Broke Me

https://amzn.to/4yzxb0Y

Show Notes

https://gracefulatheist.com/2026/09/14/stella-mccormick-surviving-a-single-family-cult/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group!

Support the podcast

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Paypal: paypal.me/gracefulatheist

Deconversion

https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Secular Grace

https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/

Karis Burkowski and ​David Fitzgerald have written an amazing book called Clearly Written by Boys: A Woman’s Guide to the Bible. The book takes this question seriously:

Clearly Written for Boys is a book about the Bible, and Christianity, and the problematic relationship both have had with women throughout their histories. Karis and David come from Christian backgrounds and are “cleaning up their own house.”

Join me in hearing from these two amazing authors and the critical message they have about women in Biblical history and for women of today.

https://www.clearlywrittenbyboys.com

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Amazon Commissions Earned:

Clearly Written By Boys: A Women's Guide to the Bible

https://amzn.to/4wf8NAk

Show Notes

https://gracefulatheist.com/2026/07/20/steve-ghikadis-humanism-from-the-heart/

Join the Deconversion Anonymous Facebook group!

Support the podcast

Patreon https://www.patreon.com/gracefulatheist

Paypal: paypal.me/gracefulatheist

Deconversion

https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/

Secular Grace

https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/