Episode 112: The uncontrolling God - Simon Cross and Thomas Oord

05/19/25 • 61 min

What if God wasn’t all-powerful? What if you already held a theology that the mainstream Church saw as heretical? What are Process Theology and Open and Relational Theology?

Simon Cross and Thomas Oord join us for this episode to talk about a theology that, in a sense, rejects the images of God that don’t make sense in the light of God’s goodness. One part of that is seeing God as emotional, and not all-powerful.

Jonty and Laura talk to them about their ideas about God, about dealing with people with abhorrent ideas and about the conference Simon and Thomas are contributing to in June 2025.

We don’t agree on everything, but we’re surprised at how much we do agree on.

You can get tickets to the conference The Uncontrolling Love of God here while stocks last.

If you’re interested in whether God is in control or not, and if you want to hear Laura getting increasingly uncomfortable with Jonty arguing with a guest, this one is for you.

What if God wasn’t all-powerful? What if you already held a theology that the mainstream Church saw as heretical? What are Process Theology and Open and Relational Theology?

Jonty and Laura talk to them about their ideas about God, about dealing with people with abhorrent ideas and about the conference Simon and Thomas are contributing to in June 2025.

We don’t agree on everything, but we’re surprised at how much we do agree on.

You can get tickets to the conference The Uncontrolling Love of God here while stocks last.

If you’re interested in whether God is in control or not, and if you want to hear Laura getting increasingly uncomfortable with Jonty arguing with a guest, this one is for you.

Previous Episode

Episode 111 - Dan McClellan - the Bible, TikTok and right-wing identity politics

Dan McClellan is a different kind of biblical scholar. He has a cult following on TikTok, regularly engages with conspiracy and misinformation content to debunk it, and isn't afraid to speak about politics. Many of us have come to welcome Dan's "alright, let's see it" on stitches of lurid and ridiculous pseudo-religion online, and along the way, we've learned a lot about what the Bible is and isn't.

Dan's takes are challenging not just to right-wing conspiracy theorists, but to many traditional Christian assumptions. What's nice is that he recognises that, and that he has no particular agenda aside from presenting data and academic consensus as an alternative to dogma and misinformation.

Jonty caught up with Dan a few months ago to talk about the Bible, its misuses and our misunderstandings about it.

Among other things, Dan shares the best and worst Bible translations, the biblical 'position' (such as it is) on abortion, and how an academic got onto an app for Korean teenagers to troll politicians.

You can find more from Dan McClellan at his blog and also at the Data Over Dogma podcast.

Dan McClellan’s new book, The Bible Says So is out in April 2025.

Follow Dan on socials by finding his handle: @maklelan

An edited version of this interview appears in Issue 2 of S(h)ibboleth magazine. It’s a good issue. You should buy it.

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