Theology in the Raw - Bonus Q&A Preview (September)

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

September Bonus Q&A EpisodeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Court wants to know, sometimes I think theological labels do more harm than good, like reformed, evangelical, or anything like that. What do you think? Well, court, I am in, I think, full agreement. Let me say most agreement. There might be a place for theological labels, okay? But I agree. Some of these labels, I guess here's the problem. What somebody means by the label that they are using for themselves might be understood. differently from the person hearing that label. The two examples he gave, Reformed and Evangelical are classic examples of this.

If I were to say I'm reformed, I might mean something specific by that. I mean, in the times when I have kind of in passing describe myself as reformed, I mean, in a sense, that could mean I'm a product of the Reformation. I believe in the five solas. I believe that scripture is the ultimate authority. I am a product of the Reformation, like every Protestant is on some level.

Or I might mean something like I believe that divine agency has a priority in salvation. And I do believe that. In fact, my second academic book, Paul and Judaism revisited, which nobody has read, argues that point, that Paul's understanding of salvation prioritized divine agency in a way that was stronger and more pervasive than all the different forms of Jewish expressions of divine agency and salvation are in and around the first century. So in a sense, that that would be a point that quote unquote reform people typically emphasize. But if I were to say I'm reform, somebody might interpret that to mean, oh, so you embrace all that comes with like reform

Christianity's subculture. I'm like, well, no, I don't embrace that. Or, oh, so you believe in double predestination where God ordains some people to the new creation and ordains everybody else to hell. Like, divine agency operates the same way in salvation and damnation. I'm like, well, no, I don't believe that. Oh, so you believe God ordains everything, including human evil in the same way. I'm like, well, no, I don't leave that. I haven't really worked through, you know, all the different theories of predestination. But for a lot of people, when they hear reform, they hear those things where if I say I'm reform, I might mean something different. Evangelical is, I mean, yeah, that term has become really tricky because, yeah, for some people, it simply means I, I'm evangelical in the sense that

I believe in evangelism, which is kind of what the term essentially means, or I believe in the authority of scripture, or I'm an evangelical Christian to distinguish myself from maybe Eastern Orthodoxy or Catholics or even like more liberal Protestants. Unlike those expressions of Christianity, I am an evangelical Christian. In that sense, I feel like I could embrace that term, but evangelical has become so politicized recently. It seems like that in many contexts, if I were going to say I'm evangelical, somebody might hear that as, oh, so you're a right-wing Republican or you're a MAGA or you embrace everything, all the quote-unquote conservative political values that exist in the country I live in. So I'm like, well, no, not necessarily. Like there's, there's, let's, if we want

to talk about that, let's talk about that. But don't just assume all those things apply to me as when I, if I say I'm evangelical. So we, I mean, we can go down the long list of, of labels. And I think with each label

that I can think of, even something like, I'm an Orthodox Christian. Oh, so you're like Greek Orthodox or Coptic or, you know, well, no,

no, no, I believe in the Orthodox creeds of the early church, you know. I don't know. If I went down the list, I don't know if I could think

of a theological label that doesn't have that kind of potential miscommunication embedded into it. So I'm a big fan of rather than ask me, asking me what label I adhere to, ask me a specific theological doctrine and ask me where I stand on that. Hey, friends, I hope you enjoyed this portion of the Patreon-only Q&A podcast.

If you would like to listen to the full-length episode and receive other bonus content like monthly podcasts, opportunities to ask questions, access to first drafts of my research and monthly Zoom chats and more, then please head over to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw to join Theology and Ra's Patreon community. That's patreon.com forward slash Theology and Raan. biggest news stories through a lens of faith every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On the pour over today, you'll hear the same news and headlines as a major outlets, but interpreted in the context of God's sovereignty.

I absolutely love that. You can stay grounded in the midst of chaos with faith forward, engaging summaries that connect current events with eternal perspective. Just search the pour over, okay? Spelled P-O-U-R, like the coffee, on your favorite podcast platform or find the direct linked in our show notes. Thank you.