More than a Myth: A Brain-Stimulating Look at the Historical Jesus with John Thatamanil

"Netanyahu Is Distorting the Bible: My Interview with Rabbi Andy Kahn"

Rabbi Andy Kahn leads the American Council for Judaism — one of America's oldest anti-Zionist Jewish organizations. In this conversation, we go deep: the Jubilee debt-forgiveness laws in Hebrew Scripture, the difference between the "Old Testament" and the Hebrew Bible, Netanyahu's weaponization of Amalek and the Book of Esther, and why the genocide in Gaza must be understood through a political economy lens. Kahn argues that Judaism's theological tradition demands integration, not nationalism — and that conflating Jews with Israel is antisemitism, even when Jews do it themselves. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

"Ross Brubeck Is Walking Until the Spirit Says Stop."

Ross Brubeck is a Quaker activist launching an open-ended National Peace Walk across America on May 16, 2026. Starting from the Brooklyn Bridge, he has no fixed terminus — the walk may continue all year, potentially crossing the entire country, following the Spirit wherever it leads. He'll visit Quaker meetings and intentional communities along the East Coast and beyond. Ross participated in the 2025 Quaker Walk from Flushing, Queens to D.C., delivering the historic Flushing Remonstrance, and created the "PeaceWard" YouTube series interviewing Quaker elders on peace activism. His philosophy: walking as ceremony, community as survival, and witnessing for peace at a God-centered pace. Donate and follow at QuakerWalk.org. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Father John Dear — Universal Love and the Surrender That Changes Everything

Father John Dear has spent decades on the front lines of nonviolent resistance — arrested more than 75 times, expelled from the Jesuits, mentored by Archbishop Tutu and Thich Nhat Hanh, and now living in California. His latest book, Universal Love, distills a lifetime of activism into something simpler and more demanding than any political program: the daily, total surrender of personal will to the God of peace. This conversation came at the right moment for me. After the February 22 Historical Jesus event at Fifteenth Street Friends Meeting — which produced some real theological friction alongside its genuine inspiration — I found myself carrying unresolved questions about ego, expectation, and what it actually means to do this work without needing it to go your way. John Dear answered those questions, not with argument, but with testimony. What he described is not passivity. It is the opposite. Gandhi's campaigns, King's marches, Romero's pastoral letters, Dorothy Day's hospitality houses — none of it, John argues, was primarily strategic. It was the fruit of people who had gone deep enough into surrender that their actions flowed from something other than their own ambition or grievance. Andrew Young told him the civil rights movement was not planned the way history remembers it. It was prayer, and training in nonviolence, and showing up every day to ask what God required. We talked about his book's structure — three movements through meditation, nonviolence practice, and the personal and political consequences of actually living in union with the God of universal love. We talked about Will, the young man whose encounter with John during the pandemic changed his career, his vocation, and his understanding of what he was for. We talked about the kingdom of God — whether it is something we build or something we recognize and welcome, already present, already moving. On Ched Myers: his core argument is that Jesus was deliberately building a movement — organizing, sending people out, campaigning for social transformation. John Dear loves Luke 10 for the same reason: the sending of the seventy-two is not a metaphor, it is a mobilization. Both men read the Gospels as a blueprint for mass nonviolent action in the world. Where they differ — and where our conversation lived — is in the question of whose will is driving that action. Myers emphasizes the political and organizational intelligence of Jesus. Dear keeps pulling it back to surrender: the campaign only works if the campaigners have emptied themselves first. We also talked about Christian nationalism, the war in Iran, and the evangelical community's silence on "love your enemies." John did not flinch from any of it. But his consistent answer was the same: the work begins inside. You cannot nonviolently resist what you have not yet faced in yourself. The reign of God is already here. The question is whether you are willing to stop blocking it with your own agenda. For me, this episode is a marker. What John Dear gave me is a cleaner way to hold the work — less gripping, more open. Surrender to the God of peace who is already present, already moving, already inside you. That is the beginning. Everything else follows from there, or it doesn't follow at all. Father John Dear is the author of more than 35 books on peace and nonviolence. His latest, Universal Love, is available now. He hosts the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast — his most recent episode, a conversation with Daniel Hunter, is here: https://beatitudescenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Podcast-S2E64-with-Daniel-Hunter.mp3 [https://beatitudescenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Podcast-S2E64-with-Daniel-Hunter.mp3]  Reach him at https://johndear.org [https://johndear.org/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Was Jesus Gay? Discovering the Historical Truths, with The Jesus Movement’s Andrew Springer

Was Jesus Gay? Andrew Springer — Post-Christian thinker, co-founder of NOTICE News, and writer of The Jesus Movement newsletter — joins Monks and Punks for a fearless conversation about Jesus, history, and the narratives institutions have fought to control. How did a prophet of radical peace become a figure invoked in the service of violence and state power? And what happens when controversial scholarship resurfaces — including the work of Columbia historian Morton Smith, who reported discovering a letter describing a “Secret Gospel of Mark,” interpreted by some as suggesting an intimate, possibly erotic dimension to Jesus’ relationships, and rejected by others as disputed or inauthentic? Beneath the controversy lies a deeper question: Who shapes the historical memory of Jesus — and to what end? Springer brings the perspective of a veteran news executive turned religious critic, helping us examine whether recovering the disruptive edges of Jesus might unsettle the alliances between religion, nationalism, and coercive power. Expect a rigorous, provocative, and wide-ranging dialogue. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

More than a Myth: A Brain-Stimulating Look at the Historical Jesus with John Thatamanil

More Than a Myth: A Brain-Stimulating Look at the Historical Jesus Monks and Punks host Sander Hicks, joined by co-monk Luisa Giugliano, sits down with John J. Thatamanil—one of the most incisive theologians working today—for a sharp, accessible conversation on the historical Jesus. We explore Jesus as a movement figure, not a mythic abstraction—and why that matters now. The conversation ranges from Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus and the Disinherited (Howard Thurman) to Paul Tillich, liberation theology, and the moral stakes of faith in an age of empire, violence, and institutional collapse. Thatamanil brings deep scholarship without jargon. The result is a genuine brain-stimulator for anyone serious about spirituality, justice, or history. Thatamanil is a former president of the North American Paul Tillich Society and the founding chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Theological Education Committee. He teaches at Union Theological Seminary and lectures widely in churches, colleges, and universities. Listen here: https://shows.acast.com/monks-and-punks/episodes/more-than-a-myth-a-brain-stimulating-look-at-the-historical Hear Rev. Dr. John J. Thatamanil live—beyond the podcast—at the following event in NYC and on Zoom: LIVE EVENT — February 22 Let Us Stand With Jesus Against Violent Power A half-day micro-conference rooted in the radical tradition of the historical Jesus, convened in the spirit of Friends. Jesus did not found an empire-friendly religion. He launched a poor people’s movement grounded in nonviolence, truth-telling, solidarity with the oppressed, and resistance to imperial power. That fire has been dimmed by institutions that bless war, nationalism, and state violence in his name. This gathering asks a direct question: What would it mean now to stand with Jesus against violent power—not symbolically, but practically and collectively? Together we will: * Examine Christianity’s entanglement with empire * Reclaim Jesus as a nonviolent movement leader * Explore how faith communities can organize with moral clarity amid genocide, militarism, and eroding credibility Speakers * Rev. Dr. John J. Thatamanil (Union Theological Seminary) * Amanda Daloisio (Catholic Worker) * Marah Sarji, Palestinian feminist liberation theologian, Christians for a Free Palestine Short talks. Q&A. Small-group discussion. Activist sharing. Sunday, February 22 | 1–4 PM Free (NYC + Zoom) Complimentary Middle Eastern lunch at 12:30 PM Location 15 Rutherford Place, NYC 10003 15th Street Monthly Meeting (Quakers) Sponsored by the Speaker Events Committee Please RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/let-us-stand-with-jesus-against-violent-power-tickets-1980704296871?aff=oddtdtcreator ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.