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Episode 75: Celene Ibrahim - Women in Sharia Law and the Qu'ran
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with Celene Ibrahim about how the Qur’an portrays women, the role of interpretation in understanding Islamic scripture, and the misconceptions that shape public perceptions of Islam. Exploring the Qur’an’s teachings on spiritual equality, women’s financial autonomy, and family rights, Celene examines the gap between religious ideals and social realities, explaining how historical context and interpretive traditions influence the application of scripture today. She also unpacks the meaning of Sharia, challenging the ways it has been politicized and associated with oppression and extremism, while highlighting the diversity of Muslim beliefs and practices. Through stories of Mary and the Queen of Sheba, Celene reveals unexpected connections between Islamic, Jewish, and Christian traditions and invites listeners to approach interfaith relationships with curiosity, generosity, and a willingness to learn from one another without sacrificing their own religious identities.
Episode 74: Grace Hamman - A Medieval Mystic’s Vision of God’s Love
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with writer and scholar Grace Hamman about Julian of Norwich, her mystical visions, and her radically intimate understanding of God’s love. They explore Julian’s depiction of Jesus as a mother, her approach to suffering and hope in the aftermath of the Black Death, and her insistence that “all shall be well” is not a simplistic promise that everything will turn out fine, but a hard-won hope in the midst of suffering. They also consider what Julian’s example can teach those navigating deconstruction, questions of authority, and the tension between personal spiritual experience and institutional tradition, inviting listeners to embrace a more nuanced way of engaging faith, Scripture, and the wisdom of the past.
Episode 73: Ciarra Jones - Who Gets to Decide What The Bible Means?
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with theologian Ciarra Jones about who gets to decide what the Bible means and how our identities, experiences, and social locations shape the ways we interpret Scripture. Drawing on her own journey from Pentecostal Christianity to Black, queer, womanist, and liberation theology, Ciarra explores how dominant interpretations of the Bible have been used to justify slavery, white supremacy, sexism, and the marginalization of LGBTQ+ people. She also introduces the practices of biblical refusal and biblical reversal, challenging the idea that some interpretations are objective while others are merely subjective, and invites listeners to see deconstruction not as abandoning faith but as a process of reorientation, reconstruction, and discovering a more expansive and intimate understanding of God.
Episode 72: Roberto De La Noval & Jordan Wood - How the Early Church Read the Bible (Reissue from Bonus)
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared talks with Roberto de la Noval and Jordan Wood about the church fathers, the development of doctrine, and how early Christians approached the Bible. They explore how figures like Augustine and Origen understood Scripture as something meant to transform people rather than simply provide literal answers, and why “problem passages” were often seen as invitations to think more deeply. Together, they invite listeners to see Christian tradition not as static or simplistic, but as a long, creative conversation about how to make sense of God, Scripture, and human experience.
Episode 71: Jared Stacy - The Evangelical to Conspiracy Theory Pipeline
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with theologian and ethicist Jared Stacy about the rise of conspiracy thinking, especially within American evangelicalism. Drawing on his research, Jared Stacy explains how conspiracy theories tap into fears of cultural decline, offer a sense of control, and become spiritually charged narratives about good and evil. He also explores opportunities for people to recognize these patterns and consider more grounded, truth-seeking ways of engaging faith and public life.
Episode 70: A Holiday Roast
Greetings, beloved audience! Podcast producer Brittany and audio engineer Joel have joined forces to bring you the third annual installment of our favorite tradition -bloopers from this past year. Enjoy some silly behind-the-scenes content from your favorite episodes of Season 9 of The Bible for Normal People and Season 3 of Faith for Normal People. From all of us here at The Bible for Normal People, we wish you happy holidays and a wonderful new year. See you in 2026!
Episode 69: Diana Butler Bass - Resisting Christmas (And Why the Christian Calendar Still Matters)
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Diana Butler Bass to talk about the Christian calendar. Diana walks through the history of how the Christian calendar came to be, what levels of importance different traditions give it, and how the Christian calendar can serve as a symbol of resistance against other timelines that might be dominated by capitalism and imperialism.
Episode 68: Kristin Kobes Du Mez - A Modern Church History of Toxic Masculinity (REISSUE)
In this episode of Faith For Normal People, Pete and Jared revisit a conversation with Kristin Kobes du Mez, author of the bestselling book Jesus and John Wayne. The conversation explores the history of “toxic” masculinity in both the church and American pop culture, and how Christians in 2025 can be part of the resistance efforts against harmful cultural structures. This is a reissue of The Bible for Normal People Episode 170 from June 2021.
Episode 67: Liz Charlotte Grant - The Gift of an Unclear Text
In this week’s episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete is joined by Liz Charlotte Grant to talk about using the Bible as a springboard for curiosity, inquiry, conversation, and community. This episode explores how art, imagination, and the practice of midrash can open up new ways of engaging scripture when literal readings don’t speak to what we see in the world today.
Episode 66: Angela Patterson - The Faith of Gen Z
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared sits down with media psychologist Dr. Angela Patterson to discuss the trends she studies in the spiritual lives of Gen Z, or people born between 1997 and 2012. Angela explains how the typical timeline of faith progression has become much less linear with Gen Z, and encourages parents, church leaders, and older generations to create a space for young people to ask tough questions, wrestle with doubts, and find new ways of living out faith. This episode also includes a special ending segment in which anonymous members of our Gen-Z cohort share their thoughts on faith.
Episode 65: James Kimmel, Jr. - This is Your Brain on Revenge
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with lawyer, lecturer, and author James Kimmel, Jr. about our primal desire for revenge against the people we feel have wronged us. James shares the science behind the belief that revenge is an addiction tied to gratification, and offers alternative strategies to break the revenge cycle and move towards a forgiveness-oriented approach to living.
Episode 64: Drew G. I. Hart & Jarrod McKenna - Creative Resistance & the Joy of Nonviolence
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Drew G. I. Hart and Jarrod McKenna to talk about rethinking power and nonviolence. Through practices inspired by Anabaptism, the Black church, and the teachings of Jesus, Drew and Jarrod explore how Christians can contribute to social change through their own nonviolent resistance as individuals and communities.
Episode 63: Mariko Clark - Helping Kids Grow an Expansive Faith
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Jared and Jennifer Garcia Bashaw sit down with Mariko Clark to explore how adults can help kids encounter the Bible in ways that move beyond rigid rules and binaries. Together they discuss practices that cultivate curiosity, imagination, and a more expansive vision of God and faith.
Episode 62: Zach W. Lambert - The Lenses Through Which We Read the Bible
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared are joined by Zach Lambert to talk about the journey from biblical literalism to a more liberative approach to scripture. They explore four harmful interpretive lenses—literalism, apocalypse, hierarchy, and moralism—and offer four healthier alternatives focused on Jesus, context, flourishing, and fruitfulness.
Episode 61: David P. Gushee - Living the Teachings of Jesus
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared talk with David P. Gushee about what it means to take seriously the moral teachings of Jesus. They dig into how Jesus’s teachings are anchored in cultural context, yet still speak to real-life questions about freedom, forgiveness, status, and what it looks like to live well and love others.
Episode 60: Beau Underwood & Brian Kaylor - Christian Nationalism Across the Political Spectrum
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Beau Underwood and Brian Kaylor join Pete and Jared to explore the history of how mainline Protestants have contributed to Christian nationalism in the United States. They explain how patriotic worship practices, uncritical support for the state, and assumptions about the nation’s “Christian” identity have shaped the movement—and how churches today can begin to untangle faith from nationalism.
Episode 59: Malcolm Foley - The Connection Between Racism and Greed
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Malcolm Foley to explore the connection between racism and greed in American history, and the calling of Christians to live differently. Drawing from his book The Anti-Greed Gospel, they discuss how economic self-interest has fueled racial injustice, how the church has been both complicit and resistant, and what it means to practice economic solidarity rooted in the life of Jesus.
Episode 58: Adis Duderija - The Diversity of Islam
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete and Jared sit down with Adis Duderija to discuss the rich diversity of belief within Islam. Adis outlines various expressions of the faith, challenges the idea of Islam as monolithic, and explores some of the history behind how these iterations came to be.
Episode 57: Janet Williams - What We Can (and Can’t) Say About God
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete Enns and Anna Sieges Beal talk with theologian Janet Williams about apophatic theology, a tradition that emphasizes the mystery of God by acknowledging the limits of human language and understanding. Janet explores how describing God by what God is not—rather than what God is—can open up a deeper, more expansive experience of the divine.
Episode 56: Wylin D. Wilson - Womanist Wisdom for a Wounded World
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, nerds-in-residence Anna Sieges-Beal and Dr. Angela N. Parker talk with Dr. Wylin D. Wilson about the intersection of faith, justice, and healthcare through the lens of womanist bioethics. They explore how Black women’s lived experiences reveal deep ethical gaps in the medical system and how centering the most vulnerable offers a path toward collective healing and solidarity.