Join theologian Jude Mills for conversations with people who've been f****d up by their faith. Be prepared for stories of church harm, religious alienation and spiritual abuse, but also for beautfiful stories of hope, healing, reconciliation and forgiveness. In the bonus series 'UNFKD' Jude tackles theological (and adjacent) ideas that are harmful, misunderstood or... just plain wrong! Content is unapologetically progressive. Conservatives probably won't like it.
In this special Winter Solstice episode of Fkd Up byFaith: UNFKD, recorded on the solstice, in darkness, in the Galloway Forest Park in Scotland, I explore the meaning of the longest night of the year — a threshold between darkness and returning light. I share reflections on the spiritual depth of darkness. There is a gentle invitation to reflect, to rest, to embrace stillness and the hidden beauty of unknowing. A gentle seasonal reminder that darkness is not the end, but the beginning of hope.
Galloway International Dark Sky Park
https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/forest-parks/galloway-forest-park/dark-skies (https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/forest-parks/galloway-forest-park/dark-skies)
Last Year’s Solstice episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/5hlxXgHtTYK2heqMzVs9KT?si=xTCncuzzQO2hwtHOF8om2A (https://open.spotify.com/episode/5hlxXgHtTYK2heqMzVs9KT?si=xTCncuzzQO2hwtHOF8om2A)
Music Credits: “Better Day” by Penguin Music,“Decemder” by Music Word, and “At the Farthest Land” by HarumachiMusic — all royalty-free via Pixabay. Donations made to artists where possible.
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by K Jason French on Bandcamp. Paid download.
4 Aug 2025
UNFKD Episode 18 - LOVE
"No hate like Christian love" - was the prompt for this episode. A comment on a social media post was met with this response.
And I get it.
Recorded in the calm before storm Floris from a campervan on the west coast of Scotland, I share a brief reflection on love from a Christian theological perspective. My take is that we are compelled, as Christians, to love. And for me, this means praxis or love in action.
However, this is contextualised with awareness that some people have been deeply wounded by Christianity.
Bible References
John 13:34-35 (NRSV)
Matthew 22:36-40 (NRSV)
Theological resources
Jeanrond, Werner G. A Theology of Love. London, T & T Clark, 2010.
Jeanrond, Werner G., ' Love', in Nicholas Adams, George Pattison, and Graham Ward (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Theology and Modern European Thought (2013; online edn, Oxford Academic, 3 June 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199601998.013.0012 (https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199601998.013.0012),
Music
“Better Day” and “Nebula” by Penguin Music on Pixabay https://pixabay.com/users/penguinmusic-24940186/ (https://pixabay.com/users/penguinmusic-24940186/)
“Echoes of Heaven Meditation” by Leigh Robinson (https://pixabay.com/users/natureseye-18615106/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=186652) from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/music/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=186652)
7 Jul 2025
UNFKD Episode 17 - HELL
In this episode of UNFKD I tackle one of the most 'harmful,misunderstood and just plain wrong' concepts in theology - HELL. It's one of those projects that, as a theologian, you kind of wish you'd never started. Thank God that there are some wonderful theologians and historians whose work I have relied on in this episode.
I took as my starting point the phrase - oft repeated in my Scots childhood - 'Hell Mend Ye!' and I explore why the idea of hell might be a compelling one for religious and non-religious people alike.
References
Brock, M.D. (2016). Satan and the Scots : the Devil in Post-Reformation Scotland, c.1560-1700. Abingdon, Routledge.
Brown, D. (2023). Hell. St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology. [online] Available at: https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/Hell (https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/Hell).
David Bentley Hart (2019). That All Shall Be Saved : Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation. Yale University Press.
Music
“Better Day” and “Nebula” by Penguin Music on Pixabay https://pixabay.com/users/penguinmusic-24940186/ (https://pixabay.com/users/penguinmusic-24940186/)
“Echoes of Heaven Meditation” by Leigh Robinson (https://pixabay.com/users/natureseye-18615106/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=186652) from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/music/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=186652)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
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