David Gushee - author, ethicist and global influencer - returns to talk about his new book entitled The Moral Teachings of Jesus: Radical Instruction in the Will of God. Professor Gushee, like Ken, interacts with many folks of all ages and stages who have become disillusioned with Christianity - particularly the evangelical version that has become identified with political conservatism. Often, while deconstructing religion, these same people will report - Jesus’ life and teaching remain relevant and compelling. Ken takes the opportunity to ask some questions he’s had for a long time: Why did my tradition focus way more on Paul than Jesus? Since the four gospels were written years after Jesus, how can we rely on them as an accurate account of the teachings of Jesus? Has the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28 been misrepresented and misunderstood to justify colonialism? Imperialism? To make the world like us? What about Matthew 25? Was Jesus influenced by the community at Qumran? Ken and Dr. Gushee review a collection of Jesus’ teachings that are surprisingly relevant today. They include a review of Gushee’s graduate school mentor, Glen Stassen’s reading of the Sermon on the Mount, “no one can serve both God and mammon;” the “Golden Rule;” the house built on a rock; the rich man, Lazarus and “eternal conscious torment;” the woman caught in adultery; the Samaritan woman at the well, and more. Dr. Gushee finishes with a surprisingly powerful conclusion. SHOW NOTES
The Moral Teachings of Jesus: Radical Instruction in the Will of God
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Dr. David Gushee returns to continue the timely discussion of his new book, The Moral Teachings of Jesus. Ken and David expand on the Golden Rule. Gushee’s doctoral work at Union Seminary focussed on ethics and the Holocaust. His work on the horrors of torture got the attention of Christianity Today when the horrific American abuses against prisoners held at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay came to light. Christian military officials asked the magazine for guidance. In reponse, David was commissioned to write CT’s extensive cover story. In it, he clarified, “the prohibition on torture in international law admits no exceptions,” and then offered an ethical treatise rooted in Jesus’ teaching. Dr. Gushee expands on Jesus’ emphasis on what we do over what we say - “By our fruit” we will be known. He points to the heavy implications that relate to money and wealth in Jesus’ direct challenge. No one can serve both God and money. “Where your heart is, there will your treasure be.” It’s a lively, insightful conversation filled with wisdom, humor and common sense - especially valuable for those sorting out the demands of toxic religion from the potent, life-altering teachings of the Rabbi from Nazareth. SHOW NOTES
The Moral Teachings of Jesus: Radical Instruction in the Will of God
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The growing movement of post-evangelicalism highlights an opportunity to elevate and center the moral teachings of Jesus. So many of those who identify as Christian intuitively know that their old version of faith is no longer working, and they feel a theological vacuum. David P. Gushee has been a leader in recent years for those ready to move on to a more examined and robust faith. Now, in The Moral Teachings of Jesus, Gushee examines forty teachings of Jesus, drawn from all four New Testament Gospels, to clarify exactly what Jesus said about the moral life.
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Ethicist, author and professor, Dr. David Gushee returns to the podcast to talk about his new book: Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies. They begin talking about what many have called "the Nones," but Gushee calls Conscientious Objectors like Tim Whitaker and Pete Briscoe. (Ken includes himself.) Many of those "Nones" - those who claim to have no religious affiliation - actually find themselves in moral conflict with a religion that has violated its own moral standards. For Gushee (who is a committed Christian) democracy must be defended. Too many Christians are actively and aggressively attacking our democratic institutions all in the name of their God and their Bible. This is not new, and not limited to the United States. Dr. Gushee traces the challenges to democracy in France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary and Brazil. He recognizes Christian Nationalism as a threat but prefers his own label: Authoritarian Reactionary Christianity. Adolph Hitler, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orbán, and Jair Bolsonaro all invite comparisons to Trumpism in the United States. Ken and David talk about characters and players like Pastor Greg Locke, firebrand Tucker Carlson, theologian James Cone and Gushee's mentor, Dr. Glen Stassen. The good professor draws from Baptist history, the Black Church and the biblical teaching around Covenant to invite us all to defend the democracy that guarantees our freedom to exercise our conscience in practicing the religion (or non-religion) of our choice. SHOW NOTES
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American democracy is in danger. How do we protect it from authoritarian reactionary Christianity?
On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Americans stormed the Capitol to prevent the certification of their political opponent’s election. At the forefront were Christians claiming to act in the name of Jesus Christ and his supposed representative on earth, Donald Trump. How can this have happened?
David P. Gushee tackles the question in this timely work of Christian political ethics. Gushee calls us to preserve democratic norms, including constitutional government, the rule of law, and equal rights for all, even as many Christians take a reactionary and antidemocratic stance. Surveying global politics and modern history, he analyzes how Christians have discarded their commitment to democracy and bought into authoritarianism. He urges us to fight back by reviving our hard-won traditions of congregational democracy, dissident Black Christian politics, and covenantal theology.
Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies makes a robust case for a renewed commitment to democracy on the part of Christians—not by succumbing to secular liberalism, but by drawing on our own best traditions. Any concerned Christian will leave its pages with eyes wide open to the dangers of our current form of political engagement. Readers will gain insight into what democracy is truly meant to be and why Christians once supported it wholeheartedly—and should do so again.
REPRISE: The first episode of Season 3, Ken brought back friend of the podcast, Dr. David Gushee. He had just released a new book - Introducing Christian Ethics (release date - January 2022 ). David has just been named Senior Research Fellow at International Baptist Theological Study Centre at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. David will present a scholarly lecture entitled "Defending democracy from its Christian enemies." Ethics defined: Critical reflection on Human Morality. It's not just an academic exercise. It's for us all. Gushee addresses creation, patriarchy, white supremacy, abortion, sexuality, marriage, politics, crime, and more. It's not just what we don't believe, it's about what we affirm. David identifies covenant as a core ethical value - in both public and private life. David addresses race. Howard Thurman's work, Jesus and the Disinherited gives David a renewed sense of the identity of Jesus and a sensitivity to the marginalized - and the relationship of all this to the Kingdom of God. SHOW NOTES
Original Release: Jan 1, 2022
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For the first episode of Season 3, Ken brings back friend of the podcast, Dr. David Gushee. He has just released a new book - Introducing Christian Ethics (release date - January 2022 ). David has just been named Senior Research Fellow at International Baptist Theological Study Centre at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. David will present a scholarly lecture entitled "Defending democracy from its Christian enemies." Ethics defined: Critical reflection on Human Morality. It's not just an academic exercise. It's for us all. Gushee addresses creation, patriarchy, white supremacy, abortion, sexuality, marriage, politics, crime, and more. It's not just what we don't believe, it's about what we affirm. David identifies covenant as a core ethical value - in both public and private life. David addresses race. Howard Thurman's work, Jesus and the Disinherited gives David a renewed sense of the identity of Jesus and a sensitivity to the marginalized - and the relationship of all this to the Kingdom of God. SHOW NOTES
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Season 1 - 63 episodes
Season 2 - 100 episodes
TOTAL: 163 episodes
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The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com
Recorded: November 30, 2020; Posted: December 4, 2020.
Ethicist Dr. Gushee returns to the podcast and continues the discussion of his most recent book, After Evangelicalism, The Path to a New Christianity. We talk about the election, the Biden victory, and the 70 million voters who embrace the Trumpian version of reality. He calls it a moral crisis. Gushee remembers Rachel Held Evans, and gives honorable mention to Blake Chastain and Brad Onishi; we talk about high profile Trumpian evangelicals Paula White, Jerry Falwell, Jr., Robert Jeffress, and Eric Metaxas. Gushee takes issue with Metaxas' version of Bonhoeffer. After a review of the Georgia Senate races, we focus on Gushee's proposal for a new Christian Humanism. With David's permission, Ken reads a passage from David's new book about Martin Luther (the dominionist) and Erasmus (a Christian humanist). SHOW NOTES.
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by David P. Gushee
What does it mean to be a Christian in today’s turbulent world? After every disillusionment and debate, what convictions survive? Dr. David P. Gushee is an influential voice in American religious life as an ethicist, pastor, and activist. He’s advocated on issues ranging from torture and climate change to truth in politics and LGBTQ inclusion. He co-authored the pivotal Kingdom Ethics, a Jesus-based ethics textbook, and has written numerous books and hundreds of opinion pieces on what Christianity has to say about how we should live. Now, in this ambitious new book, Gushee sums up his many years of teaching and experience to provide a definitive, comprehensive vision of the Christian moral life.
With twenty-five easy-to-digest chapters, plus audio and video versions that readers can access from links in each chapter, Introducing Christian Ethics offers readers a way to understand how to situate moral reasoning not only in scripture, but also in tradition and human reasoning. It offers a focus on Jesus and the disinherited, and a nuanced rethinking of the kingdom of God and its meaning for Christian ethics. Drawing on Gushee’s own work and life story but also a richly diverse set of sources, it covers general principles like virtues, truthfulness, love, and justice. And it discusses issues like creation, patriarchy, white supremacy, abortion, sexuality, marriage, politics, crime, and more.
This new book is groundbreaking in its breadth. Written for seminary students, educators, pastors, small groups, and Christians everywhere, this is the first time in his long publishing career that Gushee has offered both audio and video versions along with each copy of the book. The multimedia elements were recorded at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, where Gushee is the Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics. The book also includes a complete discussion guide with questions conveniently organized by chapter.
Recorded: SEPT 18, 2020
Part I Posted: SEPT 25, 2020
Part II Posted: OCT 2, 2020
Ken welcomes Dr. David Gushee, professor, author, lecturer and distinguished ethicist. While they focus on Gushee’s most recent book (just released), After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity, they share war stories growing up in the wide world of evangelicalism and Gushee’s academic track - leading up to his earned Ph.D. at Union Seminary. They share a deep concern over the current identification of evangelicalism with Trumpism. They discuss what Ken calls “Gushee’s Lament.” Here in Part I, they review Dr. Gushee’s upbringing, his activism, his influence on the movement, the influence of Ron Sider. SHOW NOTES
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In Part II, Dr. Gushee addresses the influence of (Neo) Reformed Theology on evangelicalism as a movement. He surveys the history that has unfolded for decades but remains resolutely conservative as a political, more than theological force. We talk about Kristin Kobes DuMez’s book and her critique of toxic patriarchalism and we explore Gushee’s path to a new Christianity. It includes a conversation around the Bible, the atonement, and apocalyptic eschatology. We also explore purity culture and Trumpism. Ken reads “Gushee’s Lament.” SHOW NOTES.
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Dr. David P. Gushee (PhD, Union Theological Seminary, New York) is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University.
Dr. David P. Gushee (Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary, New York) is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, Chair of Christian Social Ethics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Senior Research Fellow at International Baptist Theological Study Centre.
Gushee is the elected Past-President of both the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Christian Ethics, signaling his role as one of America’s leading Christian ethicists.
He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of over 25 books and approximately 175 book chapters, journal articles, and reviews. His most recognized works include Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, Kingdom Ethics, and The Sacredness of Human Life, and more recently, Changing Our Mind, Still Christian and After Evangelicalism. Over a 28-year career, he’s been a devoted teacher, scholar, and activist on such issues as climate, torture, and LGBTQ inclusion. Dr. Gushee and his wife Jeanie live in Atlanta. You can connect with him and subscribe to his newsletter at davidpgushee.com or follow @dpgushee on social media.
Official Web Site – www.davidpgushee.com
by David P. Gushee
A building crescendo of developments, culminating in evangelical support for the Trump presidency, has led many evangelicals to question the faith they inherited. If being Christian means rejecting LGBTQ persons and supporting systemic racism, perhaps their Christian journey is over.
David Gushee offers a new way forward for disillusioned post-evangelicals by first analyzing what went wrong with U.S. white evangelicalism in areas such as evangelical identity, biblical interpretation, church life, sexuality, politics, and race. Gushee then proposes new ways of Christian believing, belonging, and behaving, helping post-evangelicals from where they are to a living relationship with Christ and an intellectually cogent and morally robust post-evangelical faith. After Evangelicalism shows that it is possible to follow Jesus out of evangelical Christianity, and more than that, it’s necessary.
with David Gushee and Jeremy Hall
More Pending
