Pragmatic Christian Podcast

Mason Mennenga returns to discuss podcasting, Twitter, theology, and Christian identity.

In this episode, we discuss Robert’s atheist background and talking people out of their faith, pentecostalism, speaking in tongues, ethnic diversity in the Bible, pluralism, “black” theology vs. “real” theology, and much more!

Political philosopher David Rondel comes on the show to discuss his book, Pragmatist Egalitarianism. We discuss the philosophy of equality and justice, pragmatism, William James, John Dewey, Richard Rorty, and much more.

Theologian Thomas Jay Oord returns to the show to discuss the reception of his book, God Can't, answer more questions about his theology, and respond to some criticisms.

Michael Graziano is professor of Psychology and Neurology at Princeton University. His work focuses on awareness, and he has been working on a theory of consciousness for the past ten years. His theory is called the Attention Schema Theory of consciousness, which takes a brain-based approach to the problem of consciousness.

In this episode we discuss his latest book, Rethinking Consciousness. We talk about consciousness, artificial intelligence, simulations, the reality of God, and much more.

Jeffrey Howard is the founder and editor in chief of Erraticus, an online publication that takes a pragmatic approach to ideas, and seeks to empower individuals and communities to flourish. In this episode, we talk about Jeff’s mormon upbringing, pragmatism, founding Erraticus, education, and much more!

Mark Nelson joins the podcast to discuss his new book, Reframation.

In this episode we talk to philosopher Robert Talisse about his latest book, Overdoing Democracy.

Sean McCoy is the host of the Come To The Table Podcast. In this episode, Hayden joins Sean to catch up and discuss how they’ve developed since the last time they’ve talked.

Theologian Thomas Jay Oord joins the show to talk about his latest book, God Can't.

Henrik Rydenfelt is a pragmatist philosopher who joins the show to discuss the father of pragmatism, Charles Peirce, and normativity in science.

In this episode, Alan Bean discusses his experience as a progressive Baptist, his experience at seminary, pastoral ministry, as well as his work in criminal justice reform.

Ulf Zackariasson is a philosopher whose work centers on American pragmatism and philosophy of religion. Zackariasson teaches at Uppsala University in the Department of Theology and received his doctorate at the same institution in 2002 with the dissertation, Forces By Which We Live: Religion and Religious Experience from the Perspective of Pragmatic Philosophical Anthropology. His research interests mainly concern American pragmatism (both classical pragmatism and neopragmatism) and the possibilities it offers to process philosophical problems that arise from the human phenomenon of religion, such as questions about the role of religion in the public sphere, religious experience and moral religious criticism.

Andrew Jasko is a religious trauma activist and spiritual transition coach. He raises awareness about the psycho-spiritual harms of fundamentalist religion and provides resources to facilitate transition into secular life and spirituality.

In this episode we discuss some alternatives to fundamentalist Christianity, and how our fundamentalism can carry into our post/ex-evangelical lives.

Andrew Jasko is a religious trauma activist and spiritual transition coach. He raises awareness about the psycho-spiritual harms of fundamentalist religion and provides resources to facilitate transition into secular life and spirituality.

Tim Keefe joins us again for part 4 of our ongoing series in American Pragmatism. The Neopragmatists were (are) a group of philosophers who appropriated pragmatist themes and helped revive American Pragmatism in the late 20th century.

William James is known as the “Father of American psychology," as well as one of the most influential philosophers to ever come out of the United States. After citing Charles Peirce’s pragmatic maxim in a lecture on religion, James became the leader of a movement in philosophy known as Pragmatism.

"Pragmatism asks its usual question. "Grant an idea or belief to be true," it says, "what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone's actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth's cash-val;ue in experiential terms”

-William James, Pragmatism: A New Name For Some Old Ways Of Thinking

American Pragmatism was born out of the conversations of a small group of men who called themselves “the Metaphysical Club”. It was a group made of lawyers, scientists, and philosophers, who shared an interest in Darwin, as well as a common conviction that beliefs have consequences.

It was in this club where William James first heard Charles Peirce read his “pragmatic maxim”: “Consider what effects, which might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object”.

In this episode, Tim Keefe joins the show to talk about the most influential ideas of the Metaphysical Club, as well as Charles Peirce’s “pragmatic maxim”.

Tim Keefe joins the show to discuss his life-long study in philosophy, and to help set the stage for our series on the history and ideas of American Pragmatism.

Adam Hansen joins us for Part 3 of our “Two Atheists and a Christian” series.

Jared Byas is an author and business advisor, and co-hosts The Bible For Normal People with Pete Enns.

Chris Johnson is a worship pastor, and comes on to discuss Christian worship--its past forms, as well as some new ways of thinking about it.

Jordan Levine is the host of Transliminal, where he explores the role of culture, cognition, and belief in contemporary global issues. In this episode we discuss a wide range of topics including religion, belief, personality, culture, meaning, and much more.

David Greene discusses his experience growing up in the church, going to Bible college, and struggling with mental health.

In this episode Todd talks about his experience as a new church planter in Flint during the Flint water crisis, as well as his thoughts on missions and evangelism in a pluralistic culture.

Mason Mennenga is a writer, Master of Divinity student, and the host of Religionless Church, a podcast where he interviews theologians and innovative Christian thinkers, while featuring new bands and musicians. The concept “Religionless Church” is an expansion on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concept of religionless Christianity, a concept that envisions a faith outside the constraints of institutionalized religion.

In this episode I talk to Mason about his faith background, religionless christianity, as well as his thoughts on process theology, pyrotheology, and his involvement as a youth worker at Solomon’s Porch church, in Minneapolis.

Hayden is a guest on Andrew Meintzer’s youtube channel, Mindgasms, accompanied by Ed Kennedy (aka: Sam’s Bulldog). Andrew and Ed are both atheists, and want to get to the bottom of Hayden’s “pragmatic Christianity”.

This is Part 2 of a conversation about Christianity, atheism, relativism, deism, pragmatism, and much more.

Hayden is interviewed by Andrew Meintzer about Christianity, Pragmatism, Postmodernism, and Mixed Mental Arts.

Jeffrey Pugh talks about his background with extreme End times groups, as well as his books on Bonhoeffer and his latest book, The Homebrewed Christianity Guide To End Times.

Teresa Blythe is a Spiritual Director, minister, and author. Her latest book is Spiritual Direction 101: The Basics of Spiritual Guidance.

Dr. Vance Morgan tells his story, his fundamentalist upbringing, his deconstruction, time with the charismatics, and his attempted atheism. He could never quite shake God, and relied heavily on his intellectuality until one day he experienced something he never had before. We talk about his love for teaching and what he's learned from his students, as well as some of the lessons he's learned about religion, prayer, and authentic faith.

Simone and Malcolm Collins are the authors of the new amazon best seller, The Pragmatist’s Guide to Life: A Guide to Creating Your Own Answers to Life's Biggest Questions.

Today's guest is Benjamin Vyverberg. Benjamin tells his story about growing up in the church, his relationship with Hell, and how his faith has evolved by reframing problematic past beliefs.

Todd Korpi is pastor of The Cathedral in Flint, and author of The Life-Giving Spirit.

Rate and review us on iTunes, and give us your feedback on twitter, (@pragmaticchrist) , and on the episode pages in the comment sections.

Please consider supporting us through our patreon, and telling your friends about the podcast.

In this episode Hayden talks to old friend, Drew Borowsky, about Christian Culture, Bible Movies, Taboos, Charismatic Christians, Prayer Tunnels, and moving to Detroit.

Andrew is a Christian turned “militant” atheist, turned open agnostic. We discuss his upbringing as a Minister’s kid, how he dropped religion, and why he started to pick it back up again.

Welcome to the first episode of the Pragmatic Christian Podcast! Hayden talks to longtime friend, Chris Johnson, to discuss their upbringings and how their cultures influenced their lives.