It’s a strange thing to hear about people talking about your convictions—not just challenging them, but labeling them. Lately, I’ve found myself placed into a couple boxes by some have been critical of things I’ve shared: Let’s call them drifting and grifting. Then there’s a label I would use of my process, which is shifting.

One of the most common discussions points I’ve had about the podcast is about what I mean when I use the term fundamentalism. I unpack what I mean by fundamentalism – and why I’m trying not to be one – in episode two. But it seems a bit more clarification might be helpful.

In a recent conversation about the podcast with a Southern Baptist leader, I used a metaphor from C.S. Lewis that seemed useful. Lewis once compared Christianity to a great house. The central hallway is the shared core of the faith—belief in Christ, the creeds, the big essentials.

In this podcast, I oultine a few ways we drift into fundamentalism using Lewis' house metaphor.

Welcome to the Flip Side. If you rode along for Why I'm Not — my experiment in verbal processing and theological reflection on my journey in, and through Christian fundamentalism — then buckle up, because like any good vinyl record, there's always a Side B. Side B is filled with some reflections on the journey.

Rumors of my deconversion are greatly exaggerated.

I’ve had some folks I’ve worked with in the past speculate I’m walking away from faith. I heard it through the grapevine. Trust me, it’s not true. As if.

Some of y’all need to take a chill pill.

They’ve said that’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion. I’m not. I’m losing their fundamentalist version of it. And I’m glad to see it go.

So today, I want to say this plainly, calmly, and without apology. I may be over fundamentalism. But I’m not getting over Jesus.

1. What Will Happen in Churches When All the Baby Boomers Are Gone? (Church Answers)
2. The Coming Silver Tsunami: A Volunteer Crisis in Aging Congregations
3. The 2022 Data on the Southern Baptist Convention is Out (Ryan Burge)
4. Why Is the SBC Membership Declining? (Ryan Burge)

1. Dr. John Stott on annihilationism: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1232&context=pd
2. Three Christion Views of Hell (Dr. Preston Sprinkle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-DfzRSLFP8
3. Conditional Immortality (Dr. Preston Sprinkle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nemKBJoCoKI
4. Debate between Dr. Albert Mohler and Chris Date on annihilationism. Link: https://www.premier.plus/unbelievable/podcasts/episodes/should-christians-rethink-hell-dr-al-mohler-amp-chris-date-debate-the-traditional-amp-conditionalist-concept-of-hell-replay
   • You might need to set up a free account to listen. I had to.
   • You can judge for yourself, but this debate was a bit of tipping point for me in taking a serious look at annihilationism as the arguments for it are far better than what are given against it, which mostly consists of doubling down on the fact the ECT is the traditional view wihtout much substantive arguments. I would encourage you to look for places where instead of dealing with the arguments for annihilationism, they are simply dismissed as not being "the normal reading of the text."
5. Kirk Cameron video on hell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RflbA8Vt_Y
6. Ray Comfort's response to Kirk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1BAU7cdh8Y
7. Kirk Cameron's response to all the pushback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NrwM3Qy-5w
8. Kirk Cameron and a panel of experts talking through this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds3UbUsIaQs
9. This website is a repository of articles, videos, and publications on the topic: https://rethinkinghell.com

Some doctrinal positions require so much cherry-picking you’d think we were baking a pie. We’re all capable of it. That’s why sensitive topics deserve honest engagement with all the relevant texts—not just our favorites.

Because of the complexity of the biblical texts, and the theological whack-a-mole way conservatives handle it, I'm really not big mad about people who might disagree with me.

SHOW NOTES:

1. Danvers Statement on Biblical Complimentarianism: https://cbmw.org/about/the-danvers-statement/
2. Baptist Faith and Message 2000: https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/
3. Who Killed Junia: https://juniaproject.com/who-killed-junia-part-one/
4. Junia, a Woman Apostle: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1561521
5. (BRILL) Two Minor Textual Variants in Romans 16:7"Tne variant is Ἰουνίαν (“Junia,” feminine)and the other Ἰουλίαν (“Julia”). It has become clear in recent decades, however,that only “Julia” is a genuine textual variant to the (unaccented) Ἰουνιαν; that the masculine form, “Junias,” is a non-existent name and must be discarded; and that the feminine form, “Junia,” must be restored in the text" (emphasis mine).Another quote from this article regarding the eventual change back to the femine version of Junia: "This change was long overdueand fully justified, for the Apostle Junias (male) was the creation of certainmale scholars – exegetes, lexicographers, and grammarians – and churchmenin Europe, Britain, and North America, who, as is apparent (and occasionallyon their own admission), found it difficult to admit that a woman in earliest Christianity could have been an apostle . . ."
6. Junia – A Woman Lost in Translation: The Name IOYNIAN in Romans 16:7 and its History of Interpretation"Both male interpretations lack evidence to support their existence. The female form, on the other hand, is widely attested outside of the New Testament and, consequently, is not just the wishful reading of female scholars like Brooten but the most natural reading of the text. In light of this evidence, there is not just no good reason to replace the known female name Junia for a hypothetical male name Junias, there is not even the slightest reason to even mention a male alternative to Junia."
7. Video: N.T. Wright on women in ministry
8. I find that a compelling argument against egalitarianism can be made from church history and the Global Church outside of the West. Gavin Ortlund makes a good case for that here. This point that keeps me from changing my position: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X-Q_ew-u-Zg

I still have nightmares about a movie my fundamentalist church made me watch as a kid: A Thief in the Night. It was a groovy 1970s horror film built on bad theology—and a lot of fear.

That theology was dispensationalism, a system invented in the 1800s by John Nelson Darby and later popularized in the 1900s in America by C. I. Scofield through his reference Bible. Scofield didn’t just explain the text; he smuggled Darby’s ideas into it. Literally. Some critics joke it should be called the Darby Bible because of the level of plagiarism.

In this episode, I'll describe why a theology that sees Palestinian Christians as an obstacle to God's work should be left behind.

NOTES:

1. N.T. Wright's article “Farewell to the Rapture”: https://ntwrightpage.com/2016/07/12/farewell-to-the-rapture/
2. While I say Darby invented dispensationalism, it can be argued it was more due to the way his views were developed by his followers. To further explore this, here's an interesting interview by Dr. Albert Mohler with Dr. Crawford Gribben from Queen's Colelge about his book, "J.N. Darby and the Roots of Dispensationalism":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow9bN5RXVa4
3. You can read more about the displacement of Palestinians here:https://bylinetimes.com/2024/01/17/the-palestinians-and-israel-a-modern-day-trail-of-tears/
4. Here's the Faith on the Road episode I mentioned where we interviewed Palestinian theologian John Munyaer:https://open.spotify.com/episode/1oVKrJmDKrkiggq7TswBlb?si=umPaoeJCQYSfbhmDpsnAIA
5. Opinion piece on why Christians tolerate Israel's genocide against Palestinians:https://politicstoday.org/why-do-evangelical-christians-support-israels-genocide-against-palestinians/
6. Replace Theology is a Heresy by Jack Sara:https://www.comeandsee.com/view.php?sid=1453

I've heard people bark in the Spirit. I've seen people roll in the Spirit. I've also sat in Baptist churches that might not know the Spirit if He slapped them in the face.

What's a Christian to think?

In this episode, I unpack why I no longer buy into arguments that the gifts of prophecy and tongues have ceased. While avoiding extremes and spectacles, we should expect these gifts to function until Jesus returns—even if that makes us a bit uncomfortable.

SHOW NOTES:

Tom Schreiner article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/cessationist/

Sam Storms article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/continuationist/

Sam Storms on spiritual gifts throughout church history: https://www.samstorms.org/enjoying-god-blog/post/spiritual-gifts-in-church-history--1-