1. “Religion is predicated on the idea that our time here is short and should be shorter, that our job is to bring on the end of days. This is just a veil of tears and guilt and shame. This, the only life we have—the only life we have that contains music and art and literature and solidarity and sex and love—all of this should be swept away. We can’t wait for the end times to come. That’s what they all have to believe.”
  2. Dr. Paulson spends time explaining how Luther and Erasmus approach Scripture.
  3. “We were baffled by climatic and cataclysmic events: earthquakes, tidal waves, storms, lightning. All of this was to us terrifying. Religion works as an attempt, then, to make sense of things. We are pattern-seeking mammals, after all. It’s a good thing that we are, because if we weren’t pattern-seeking mammals, our curiosity would have no outlet and we wouldn’t be capable of the great innovations that have liberated us from so many things, including religion.”
  4. Why is it that wherever Jesus is, there is the party? Because to dine with Jesus is to be at one with Him, and He with us.
  5. Christians Aren’t Good, or Moral. In this episode, we continue to read and discuss Christopher Hitchens’ speech on religion and morality. Does religion delete our need to confront reality?
  6. God is Good… or Not. In this episode, we read and discuss Christopher Hitchins’ speech about religion and morality. What’s the point of attaching the forgiveness of sins to morality?
  7. The God that won’t stay dead. In this episode, we wrap up our discussion of God, Nietzsche, and how Jesus fights against our attempts at self-atonement.
  8. We are answering some more listener questions this week, and both questions we answer today revolve around discontent with the church.