It's a common term used in songs and sermons, but what does it actually mean to be holy? How is God holy? In this episode we dive into the definition and meaning of Holiness.

Part 4 of our series on the ecumenical councils. This will conclude the series. (Apologies if you previously saw this episode posted and the audio was off. We had a slight issue that was totally Linley's fault, not Jonathan's at all.) 

In this episode we have Peter Englert join who is the Adult Ministries Director at Browncroft Community Church in Rochester, NY. Peter is also the co-host of the podcast "Why God Why?" where they explore a myriad of topics and questions that may not be commonly addressed on Sunday mornings.

In this episode we discuss making space for tough questions as well as how to be effective in our Christian faith outside of church where God has us in our everyday lives.

You can check out Peter's podcast here:

https://www.whygodwhypodcast.com/

In this episode we discuss the Council of Ephesus (431 AD) and Council of Chalcedon (451 AD).

In this episode we cover the first two of the Ecumenical Councils.

You may have heard of various church councils, but what were they exactly? Why were they formed and what did they accomplish? We're beginning a short series on the councils from up to 2,000 years ago and how they framed and shaped much of our theology today. In this episode we'll do a general overview and get more into specific details on specific councils in the coming episodes.

In this episode we'll discuss what it means to worship God. It is a term commonly used to describe a type of music and singing, yet there is much more Biblical depth and purpose to worship.

Accidentally never posted: This is part 2 of 7 in our short episode series on Great Christian Thinkers. This episode covers the Theologian Origen. 

The second of two episodes about Jesus. This one will focus on the divinity of Jesus. What it meant, what it means, and what we may have incorrectly attributed to the Son of God.

The first of two episodes about Jesus. This one will focus on the humanity of Jesus. What it meant, what it means, and what we may have incorrectly attributed to the Son of Man.

We conclude our series on Great Christian Thinkers with the Swiss theologian Karl Barth. But don't worry, he was really smart even if he spelled Carl wrong.

Part 6 of 7 in our series on Great Christian Thinkers. This episode is about Friedrich Schleiermacher, who was a German theologian and largely considered the founder of modern Protestant theology. Bonus points to the listeners who can spell his name without cheating.

Part 5 of 7 in our series on Great Christian Thinkers. This episode is on Martin Luther. Maybe you've heard of him?

Redemption is a term we hear a lot in Christianity, but what does it fully mean? Was it a one time act, or is it ongoing? What are we redeemed from, and what are we redeemed for? We discuss all of these ideas in this episode. 

Does God exist? It's a question argued for centuries. Yet most of the arguments we see and hear (especially in comment sections) seems to be the same rhetoric used over and over. In this episode we discuss what it means to have a valid argument, and we use the existence of God as the topic. Obviously we believe God exists, but even for those who do not we wanted to explore a bit on how arguments can be more effective and how our conversations can move from the same bullet points to deeper, more fruitful discussions.

We'll be doing some shorter episodes with a quicker survey of an important figure, event, or idea. In this episode, Linley provides a brief overview of the Apostle Paul.

This is part 4 of 7 in our short episode series on Great Christian Thinkers. This episode covers Thomas Aquinas.

This is part 3 of 7 in our short episode series on Great Christian Thinkers. This episode covers the Theologian St. Augustine of Hippo. 354 AD to 430 AD.

In today’s podcast we want to discuss the “deconstruction” of one’s faith.  Deconstruction is a deeply philosophical idea which been applied to architecture, art, poetry, and a host of other disciplines.  Terminologically, it  has been incorrectly applied to watching movies or anything one wants to analyze and in today’s podcast to the area of faith. All analysis is not deconstruction.  Deconstruction is a particular form of analysis tied to a postmodern paradigm.  Nonetheless, rightly or wrongly from a technical perspective, It has become something of a popular and mildly meaningful process to take apart the faith as a whole and evaluate its constitutive components in hopes of finding what is real and relevant for our times. It is a self-seeking process not surprising prefigured in the works of the Pre-Socratic philosopher, Protagorus.  He is credited with the following statement,

“Our knowledge of all things in the world come from human observation and reflection, and thus it is inherently the only meaningful point from which to begin.”

The result of much Deconstruction is Relativism as evidenced by the goals of the quote by Protagorus.  A self-orientated lens on the world focuses on a human view rather than a divine perspective. Goals, Purposes, Rules, Individualism, renewed analysis of existing doctrines and ideas, etc., are not given as truths, let alone absolute truth.  What is truth?  All ideas are up for review in the deconstructionists purvey. In 2005 Pope Benedict decried this Cafeteria mentality of Christians. He expressed the need to keep the faith as we enter the 3rd millennium of Christianity.  The church cannot maintain its integrity and cohesion as a body with an overly diverse set of theological ideas. What would the even look like?

So today, we discuss Deconstruction touching on Relativism and Post modernity.

This is two episodes combined into one about Søren Kierkegaard. These episodes first aired on Jonathan Tony Podcast on 11/9/20 and 4/12/21. Below are the episode descriptions.

Episode 1:

Soren Kierkegaard is someone you may have heard of but don't know much about. It turns out he was a pretty big deal and his thoughts and teachings still have a profound impact today. This is a bit of a different episode and my first time having a small panel on the show, and I really enjoyed it. Linley Ali and Kevin Krumei answer my questions and discuss the ideas that Kierkegaard wrote about, and then we also discuss why it matters to our lives today. This one has some big words and big ideas, but I think you'll get a lot out of it like I did.

Episode 2:

Kierkegaard is back and this time it's personal! - Sorry, I was just trying to hype it up like a movie sequel. But this is part 2 of the Kierkegaard discussion we had a few weeks back with Linley Ali and Kevin Krumei. In this episode, Linley and Kevin have brought in their friend Dave Boehmer to add to the discussion. So buckle up, nerds.

If you're like me, you've probably just heard the name Soren Kierkegaard and a quote or two of his. But he is a figure who has been widely influential for ages, and even still today whether we realize it or not. This episode is a bit different, and yes it is dense. But I would challenge you to listen and treat it like your head and heart are getting a workout. It's good to dive into subject matters that stretch us, and that's partly why I find this discussion valuable to share with the listeners. But there is a lot to unpack here so I won't waste any more time with you reading this description of it.