Theology Beer Camp was an amazing three days of fermented fun. I was extremely grateful that James Younger, executive producer of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman on the National Geographic Channel, was able to join us for a special screening and a live Homebrewed Podcast.

You will here James discusses his journey from British scientist, to journalist, to producing a popular religion series with Morgan Freeman. Along the way he shares his thoughts as an outsider on American religion, politics, and the shifting shape of spirituality. Plus he lets us know just how his mind has changed over the course of the series.
As part of beer camp we not only had delicious SoCal beer throughout, but Chapman Crafted brought two special beers in honor of the one and only Morgan Freeman. There was the IPA called “The Voice of God” and the dIPA called “The Rumble of God” in honor of Morgan’s most luscious pipes.

While James was hanging with us he recorded a number of other interviews that will be showing up on the inter webs. You can go ahead and check out his conversation with Nathan Gilmour of the Christian Humanist podcast HERE and his time on the Newsworthy with (Luke) Norsworthy podcast HERE.

If you aren’t hip to the news make sure you are subscribed to Barry and I’s companion podcast to the show – The Story of God-cast. 

Does God exist and can we know it?

This question has occupied so many people across time and cultures. In the final episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman on the National Geographic we see a bunch of different responses to the question.

During the episode you will hear me and Barry chat it up about divine intervention, divination, ice-box meditation, the Burning-Man and Ground Hog Day cross-over celebration, religious aesthetics, beautiful math, and a couple pretty awesome stories from Barry. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we enjoyed the show. Until next season keep it zesty!

Nothing brings the people together like discussing heaven and hell? Well if Morgan Freeman is involved it does.

Get ready for me and Barry to rock out our discussion of episode 2 – Heaven and Hell – from The Story of God with Morgan Freeman on the National Geographic Channel.

In this episode we discuss the role of ancestors, emergence of the afterlife, anxiety about death, exorcisms, speaking in tongues, Charles Taylor, Mayan caves into heaven, learning from the enchanted world of the past and how not to believe in heaven.

Enjoy!

In the first episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman this season things take a different trajectory… Morgan goes on a search for ‘The Chosen One.’ Almost every faith has a figure believed to be chosen by God and some of them are alive today. The episode centers around Morgan’s interaction with a number of different ‘chosen ones’ and the different shapes they take across the globe and religions.

Barry and I catch up in order to discuss the episode and a number of insights inspired by the show. If you haven’t watched the episode get on it!

Episode includes…

• Jalue Tsegyal – reincarnated Tibetan lama in MN
• Former North Korean missionary Kenneth Bae – held prisoner for 2 years for leading Christian prayer group
• Historian of Islam, Sajjad Rizvi
• Kamya Arora
• Mandeep Kaur Samra, a Sikh historian
• Sociologist Dr. Andreas Schneider 
• Karudee Chotithamaporn is a representative from the Bang Liao Dou Mu Gong Shrine – a center for Taoist worship
• Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the chosen one of the Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota tribes – His latest battle is in South Dakota, protesting an oil pipeline being built under the Missouri river.

The second season of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman kicks off this week on Monday night, January 16th. I am pretty excited about the National Geographic Channel picking the show back up. I have enjoyed the show and all the conversations Morgan and friends have inspired. We are living in a time where awareness and understanding of the diversity of religions across the globe is needed and this show puts it on display.

Barry Taylor and I will be bringing back the Story of God-cast

where we discuss, unpack, and get nerdy about each episode. If you have yet to subscribe (or leave a nice review) do it!

We also share a bit about our upcoming online class this February – Questions for the Believing Skeptic. You can sign-up for the fun today.

If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here.

This is the first in a trinity of podcasts exploring the intersection of Jesus and film. Think of these as companion podcasts to help you unpack all of the cinematic and theological nuggets.

Round one is Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. Before diving into the movie, Tripp, Ryan, and Barry talk about Jesus films in general, what it means to interpret a film (especially about Jesus), culture, hermeneutics, and:

• Why take movies seriously?
• How not to watch a film about Jesus
• Why do watching movies affect you differently than other art forms?

Spoiler alert: this episode contains significant discussion of several scenes from the movie.

If you are like Tripp and have never actually seen The Last Temptation of Christ then you can rent it digitally right now and nerd out with your screen out.

Want to watch bits on youtube?

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) – Christ and Pilate

jesus meet saint paul —-from temptation

Judas Betray Last Temptation of Christ

Here’s other thought provoking treats: Martin Scorsese on The Last Temptation of Christ & Lord Williams in Interview on Nikos Kazantzakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ,

On this special edition of the Story of God-cast you will hear from the one and only Morgan Freeman! It is kind of like talking to the voice of God about God.

He joined fellow producer of The Story of God on the National Geographic Channel, Lori McCreary, for a conversation with Tripp about the series. 

Afterwards Barry and Tripp dig into the sixth and final episode of the series on Miracles. Over the course of the discussion miracles are used to unpack divine action, chance, and the power of the mind. We tackle the rather amazing segment of the show on the passover, the Vatican’s investigation into the miraculous, gambling in Ancient Rome, the early harmony of science and religion in Islam, Barry’s time as a feng shui rider, the connection of prayer to healing, Tripp’s problem with David Hume, and most importantly [hint sarcastically] how “life is like a journey filled with pot holes.”

If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here.

Sharing is caring & it makes God happy. 

The problem of evil has occupied humanity ever since it realized it was born to suffer, kill, and die. Every religious tradition has to deal with this reality and today we are gonna discuss it. In this episode we talk about the fifth episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman – Evil.

In this week’s podcast Barry, Tripp, and Princess Alice discuss eternal conscious torment, original sin, the evolution of religion, theodicy, elf on a shelf, the origins of evil, tattoos, and the possibility of moral capitalism after the death of god.

Plus Barry and Princess Alice became friends and she went with him on a trip to Ireland. Upon return we will hear just how much fun they had.

If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here.

Sharing is caring & it makes God happy. 

Who doesn’t want to know the story of the story of God with Morgan Freeman? It is super meta and fascinating.

In this episode Barry Taylor and I talk to the show’ producer James Younger. We cover all sorts of topics and get some fascinating insights about the process of creating the National Geographic Channel series.

If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here.

Religion, science, faith, God, history, anthropology, prayer, and a few other topics all solicit questions. At least a few of them get tentative answers this week.  In this episode we talk about the fourth episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman – Creation.

In this week’s podcast Barry and Tripp discuss bones, ancestor veneration, SoCal pseudo-religion, Adam’s hidden bone under Golgotha, the Vatican’s poor science PR, Islam’s preservation of the West’s best thought, the sneaky snake in the garden, Mayan beheadings, corn deities, large cosmic rivers of creation and extremely generic ‘come together’ conclusions to religious pluralism.

Plus Barry mentions a bunch of ACDC tunes. Tripp also decides not to stab his face after hearing the question everyone with philosophy graduate degrees student loans hates – “If God made the universe, who made God?”

If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here.

Sharing is caring & it makes God happy. 

Who is God? That’s a question that’s easy to ask, hard to interpret and never quite answered.  In this episode we talk about the third episode of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman – about God.

In the episode we will discuss the blues, the diversity and universality of God-talk, the emergence of polytheism and monotheism, Stonehenge and This is Spinal Tap’s Stonehenge, the role of culture in religious experience, divine manifestation in the brain, and the Osteen effect on America religion.

Barry mentions two books you will want to check out. Oprah: Gospel of an Icon by Kathryn Lofton and God: an itinerary by Regis Debray.

If you love us make sure to go to iTunes & subscribe/rate the show. It is also on Stitcher (Tripp’s favorite podcast app), and you can go old school and grab the feed directly here.

Sharing is caring & it makes God happy.