Nomad Podcast

Jewish blogger, Robert Cohen is back on the show, sharing with us lessons from his faith journey. So if you’re interested in knowing more about the connection between faith, ancestry and land, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, interfaith marriage, what a Jew makes of church, and what a true prophet looks like, then this is the episode for […]

Eve Tushnet is a freelance writer and blogger. And she’s gay, Catholic and celibate. So we asked Eve to tell us the story of how she went from atheist lesbian, to Catholic and celibate. And what she learnt about love, friendship and what it means to commit to the Church. Image provided by Eve Tushnet. Used […]

With yet another terrorist atrocity in the news – this time leading to the deaths of at least 38 people in Tunisia – people are again asking, ‘Is Islam inherently violent?’ We ask Carl Medearis, an international expert is Muslim-Christian relations who has lived, worked, and traveled in the Middle East for the last 30 years, […]

Tom Wright is unquestionably one of the most influential NT scholars of our generation. It’s hard to overestimate the influence he has had on the Church’s understanding of Jesus and Paul. But what makes this great man tick? We asked you what you’d like to know about the man behind the theology. As a result, we ended up […]

It’s quite popular these days to refer to yourself as an activist. But Alastair McIntosh is the real thing. Not only is he a respected academic and writer, but he’s taken on major corporations, and won! Why? Because he believes that much of the modern world is threatening our sense of place, which is so vital for human […]

In this episode we talk to Rachel Held Evans about her journey from a conservative evangelical faith, through a period of wrestling with questions, doubt, cynicism and despair, to the emergence of a new kind of faith. And we discuss the trials and tribulations of embarking on this journey under the gaze of social media. Image provided by HarperCollins. […]

[Science] Mike McHargue describes himself as a Christian turned atheist turned follower of Jesus. That’s right, Mike was a fully-fledged conservative evangelical Christian, but then he read the whole Bible and his faith crumbled away. He then found himself in the rather awkward position of being in Church leadership while no longer believing in God! […]

What on earth are we meant to do with those passages in the Bible where God commands genocide, the stoning to death of rebellious children or poems about dashing the heads of babies on rocks?! Well, according to theologian, author and artist, Derek Flood, the answer is pretty straight forward, we just read the Bible like […]

Another General Election is upon us. Levels of apathy and disillusionment are at an all time high, and popular figures like Russell Brand are urging us to have no part in what he sees as a corrupt system. So the question we’re wrestling with is: Why Bother Voting? To help answer this we’ve turned to […]

The Rapture is a curious doctrine, as it’s not in the Bible, anywhere! But let’s pretend it’s real, and you missed it! How would you survive the collapse of civilisation? Lewis Dartnell‘s day job is to search for life on Mars, but for fun he wrote The Knowledge: How to Rebuild our World from Scratch. It may […]

Jesus told us to love our enemies. But surely not the monstrous soldiers of Isis? With an almost constant stream of stories of burnings, beheadings, and mass slaughter, what could love possible look like in this context, and what good would it do?! Rick Love is President of Peace Catalyst International, and Associate Director of the […]

Mike Stygal is a shaman (i.e. he whips himself up into an altered state of consciousness in order to hang out in the spirit world). He also happens to be the president of the Pagan Federation. Oh, and he’s married to a Christian. So he seems like the right guy to talk to about what Christians […]

Apparently, Britain is set to become the first country to have three parent babies! It’s all to do with genetically modifying an embryo to prevent certain inherited diseases. But as with many scientific advances folks like us are left worrying about the scientific and ethical implications. Professor Denis Alexander is the Emeritus Director of the Faraday […]

Dave Tomlinson is effortlessly interesting and seems to effortlessly attract interesting people. He mentors the leaders of the now global atheist church, he took the funerals of two of the countries most notorious criminals, and his church is so cool even Bono turns up from time to time. But what we find even more interesting […]

Wendy is passionate about creating ‘generous spaces’ in churches, where people with different understanding of sexuality can meet together without judgment, listen to each others stories and to seek Jesus together. Sounds great! But is it realistic? Have a listen and find out! Image provided by Wendy VanderWal Gritter. Used with permission. BOOKS Generous Spaciousness: […]

Just in case you’re suffering withdrawal symptoms from our 12 Days of Christmas series, and are slumped listlessly in front of your now empty mp3 player, we’ve got one final Christmas treat for you. We asked standup comedian and BBC comedy scriptwriter, Paul Kerensa, to record a wee Christmas Day message for you… Image provided […]

Nomad made a commitment a while back to have a lot more women on the show. So we thought it was about time we looked at the theology behind that decision. Jenni Williams lectures in Old Testament Studies in Oxford, is an Associate Minister in the Anglican Church, and wrote God Remembered Rachel: Women’s Stories […]

Alister McGrath is the master of apologetics. With three doctorates under his belt and ranked among the ’20 most brilliant Christian professors’, he’s publically locked horns with the likes of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. But is there still a place in our culture for what many now see as an ‘old school’ overly rational […]

Richard Rohr is a Catholic priest and a Franciscan Friar. He is well connected and respected across Christian traditions (including the emerging church), so he seemed like the perfect person to speak to about what Protestants can gain from Catholic spirituality. Image provided by the Centre for Action and Contemplation. Used with permission. BOOKS The […]

The late Phyllis Tickle had her finger on the pulse of the emerging church like no one else. So if you’re interested in why the emergence of a new kind of church is both inevitable and necessary, and the vital role of the Holy Spirit in this, then tune in. And stay tuned after the closing […]