Why Smart People Still Fall For Cults

Why Smart People Still Fall For Cults

You think you’d never fall for a cult. Most people do. But the truth is, cults don’t prey on stupidity, they rely on something far more dangerous: intelligence, commitment, and the human need for certainty. This piece explores why smart people aren’t immune to manipulation, how belief systems become self-sealing, and why the real threat isn’t deception from the outside; but the stories we learn to defend from within. Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. At 18 I decided I wanted to be a pastor. There was one problem. While I grew up in church, I didn’t have a clear understanding of how I thought about God. So, I spent 20 years pursuing that. This framework is the result of those 20 years. You can get it in 40 minutes. The Theology Made Workshop: https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/RqeAzfaY [https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/RqeAzfaY] Get full access to Theology Made at substack.theologymade.com/subscribe [https://substack.theologymade.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Science vs Religion Is a Myth? What Darwin Actually Changed

In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species—and many believed it marked the end of faith. Science had won. Religion had lost. But that story isn’t history. It’s a myth. In this episode, we break down the real relationship between science and Christianity—unpacking the famous Darwin debate, the origins of the “science vs religion” narrative, and why historians now reject it. You’ll discover: * Why the Darwin vs Christianity conflict is largely invented * The truth behind the 1860 Oxford debate * Famous Christian scientists you’ve never heard about * What Darwin actually challenged (and what he didn’t) * Why evolution doesn’t disprove God From Gregor Mendel to Francis Collins, from Augustine to modern theology—this episode explores how faith and science have always been more connected than we’ve been told. Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. At 18 I decided I wanted to be a pastor. There was one problem. While I grew up in church, I didn’t have a clear understanding of how I thought about God. So, I spent 20 years pursuing that. This framework is the result of those 20 years. You can get it in 40 minutes. The Theology Made Workshop: https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/RqeAzfaY [https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/RqeAzfaY] Get full access to Theology Made at substack.theologymade.com/subscribe [https://substack.theologymade.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The First Christians Didn't Try to Change the Empire

The first Christians lived under the most powerful political system the world had ever seen. They didn’t lobby it, campaign against it, or try to capture it. They fed the poor, buried the dead, and built a community so stubbornly different that three centuries later, the empire couldn’t explain what had happened. This episode looks at how the earliest church related to power, not by ignoring it, but by operating on an entirely different logic. We trace what it meant to call Jesus “Lord” in a world that already had one, why political strategy wasn’t the church’s instrument of change, and what got quietly lost when the faith began to assume that influence and control were the same thing. Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at substack.theologymade.com/subscribe [https://substack.theologymade.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Bible Wasn't Meant to Be Read Alone

Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. For most of Christian history, almost no one read the Bible alone. Scripture was heard and read aloud in packed rooms, interpreted together, argued over in real time by people who shared a life, not just a reading plan. This episode traces how the Bible moved from the ear to the eye, from the community to the individual, and what quietly shifted when it did. We look at first-century literacy, the oral culture behind Paul’s letters, and the centuries-long transformation that turned a communal text into a private devotional and ask what that change might still be costing us. If you’ve ever felt like theology is harder than it should be, you’re not alone and you don’t have to stay stuck there. I created a short workshop called “Faith Without Fear: Learning Theology with Confidence” to help you finally make sense of it all. In just under an hour, I’ll walk you through a simple framework that makes theology click—without the overwhelm. https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/RqeAzfaY [https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/RqeAzfaY] Get full access to Theology Made at substack.theologymade.com/subscribe [https://substack.theologymade.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The First Christians Didn’t Go to Church. Here’s Why.

For the first 300 years of Christianity… there were no church buildings.No services. No “going to church” the way we think of it today. So what were the first Christians actually doing? In this episode, we step into the world of the early church and uncover how something that started in homes and shared meals eventually became something very different. Because the real surprise isn’t that church looked different back then. It’s how much our assumptions about it have changed. Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at substack.theologymade.com/subscribe [https://substack.theologymade.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]