Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves.

We’re picking up your questions on marriage since Biblical times and tying up loose ends from our last few episodes.

We explore Jesus’s teaching on divorce and how we should read that today. We’ll be unpicking ideas like ‘soul ties’ and ‘becoming one flesh’ - the implication that sex between two people creates an eternal spiritual bond.

Charlotte and Simon also get chance to share their thoughts on our episode with Lauren Jackson - Talking with young people about sex. They reflect on some important ideas Lauren raised, including ‘should’ stories and ‘emotionally safe’ sex.

Coming up

Episode 5 – We need to talk about patriarchy – is released on Monday 22 December. Patriarchy is the invisible thread that has run through all of our conversations so far. Can our relationships ever be truly equitable under a patriarchal system?

About A God We Could Believe In:

A frank and honest look at Christianity as we find it today. We’re examining the things the church says and does that are embarrassing, confusing or even downright offensive. In other religious contexts, your questions might be forbidden but not here. So whether you’re a lifelong churchgoer with the scars to prove it, or you’ve never entered a church and are just interested in the debate, this is a safe space for you.

New episodes are released every other Monday.

Support the project by sharing it widely and join our Substack community for bonus episodes and reflections at agodwecouldbelievein.substack.com

Stay in touchEmail: agodwecouldbelievein@gmail.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/agodwecouldbelieveinInstagram: www.instagram.com/agodwecouldbelievein

If not the Bible, where do our ideas about marriage come from? We take a jog through 2,000 years of church history, charting the evolution of Christian marriage to the institution we know today.

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves.

Has the Church always cared about marriage? When did marrying for love become the norm and how does commonlaw marriage fit into the picture? How has marriage been used as a tool in religious power struggles?

Simon explains all, along with a few important ideas from the past few millenia that have shaped our view of relationships.

Coming up

Our next Q&A episode is on Monday 8th December, so if you’d like to ask a question on anything you’ve heard from the podcast so far, then make sure you get your question to us by Friday 28 November to feature. Contact us via email, social media or our Substack page.

Episode 5 – We need to talk about patriarchy – is released on Monday 22 December. Patriarchy is the invisible thread that has run through all of our conversations so far. Can our relationships ever be truly equitable under a patriarchal system?

About A God We Could Believe In:

A frank and honest look at Christianity as we find it today. We’re examining the things the church says and does that are embarrassing, confusing or even downright offensive. In other religious contexts, your questions might be forbidden but not here. So whether you’re a lifelong churchgoer with the scars to prove it, or you’ve never entered a church and are just interested in the debate, this is a safe space for you.

New episodes are released every other Monday.

Support the project by sharing it widely and join our Substack community for bonus episodes and reflections at agodwecouldbelievein.substack.com

Stay in touchEmail: agodwecouldbelievein@gmail.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/agodwecouldbelieveinInstagram: www.instagram.com/agodwecouldbelievein

In this special bonus episode we meet Lauren Jackson, a sex educator who shares her experiences of preparing our young people to navigate the world of sex and relationships positively and safely.

Content warning: This series covers issues of sexual relationships, abuse, gender and identity, so listener discretion is advised. Please look after yourselves.

Lauren shares her valuable insights into what our teenagers think about sex, and some ways parents and youth leaders can begin to approach the topic of sex and relationships with the young people in their care.

Resources

Lauren has put together some helpful resources for navigating sex and relationships here. If you have any questions for Lauren about anything covered in the episode, or for further advice, please pop us an email.

Coming up

Episode 4 – The binfire rages on – is released on Monday 24 November. Simon will be picking up the baton and running headlong through two millenia of Church history to explain how we arrived at our present day conception of marriage.

About A God We Could Believe In:

A frank and honest look at Christianity as we find it today. We’re examining the things the church says and does that are embarrassing, confusing or even downright offensive. In other religious contexts, your questions might be forbidden but not here. So whether you’re a lifelong churchgoer with the scars to prove it, or you’ve never entered a church and are just interested in the debate, this is a safe space for you.

New episodes are released every other Monday.

Support the project by sharing it widely and join our Substack community for bonus episodes and reflections at agodwecouldbelievein.substack.com

Stay in touchEmail: agodwecouldbelievein@gmail.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/agodwecouldbelieveinInstagram: www.instagram.com/agodwecouldbelievein