Jesus After Christianity

About Jesus After Christianity

What if the things Jesus was doing and saying before Christianity—before the creeds, the power structures, the purity codes—are the same things that provide a path out of this critical, chaotic moment we're in now - As Christianity collapses? NOT Jesus as the singular solution to every problem, as confessional religion has taught for centuries. Instead: Jesus is the posture and playbook through which we run our problems. Not because it will solve them all, but because it will shape us to approach them with empathy, kindness, compassion, justice, and mercy—rather than fear, anger, violence

Publisher

Ben Collins

Category

religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

17 Nov 2025

Latest episode

1 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

18 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Jesus After Christianity. - Episode 16

   Episode 16: The Coming of the KingdomThe final episode of Block Four. Religious leaders had the answer to "when will the kingdom come" locked down for centuries: someday, so keep watching for signs. Jesus says something completely different — the kingdom isn't coming with signs to observe. It's already among you. It's not a future event. It's a present practice.Ben and Jo dig into the mustard seed parable, what it actually means for the kingdom to grow "from below" instead of descending from above, and why that idea is more dangerous to religious control than anything else in this block — if the kingdom shows up wherever people share, include, and organize together, nobody needs a priest, a temple, or a gatekeeper to get there. Jo makes the connection to primary succession (life rebuilding after a wildfire) that even surprises Ben mid-conversation, and they talk honestly about fear, control, and what it actually looks like to stop waiting for God to fix things and start organizing with 3 to 5 people around you.This closes out the confrontation building since Episode 13 — wealth, hierarchy, permanence, and now religious control itself. Next up: the road toward execution by the state - the cross.A better understanding of Jesus, and a better way to solve our problems.🔗 Join a Listening Session at jesusafterchristianity.com🎧 Practice and belonging over purity and belief.

2. 

   25 Aug 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 15

   The time is fulfilled" wasn't a prophecy. It was a threat. Jesus watched Rome claim eternal power, the temple claim divine permanence, and religious leaders preach patience — and he said all of it was collapsing, now. Not someday. Not when God finally decides to fix things. Now.Ben and Jo Collins get into why urgency itself was revolutionary — why naming a system's collapse is more dangerous than any theology — and what that means for us, living through our own version of that same crisis. Jo brings her scientist's read on misinformation and "ground truth," and the two of them dig into the difference between acting with urgency and acting with panic, why so many people wait for permission that's never coming, and why Jesus never asked anyone to believe in him — only to follow him.The system says be patient. Jesus says the system is beyond self-correction. Act now, or go down with it.A better understanding of Jesus, and a better way to solve our problems.🔗 Join a Listening Session at jesusafterchristianity.com🎧 Practice and belonging over purity and belief.

3. 

   18 Aug 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 14

   Episode 14: The Kingdom and PrestigeLast time Jesus went after wealth. This time he goes after status. Ben and Jo Collins dig into prestige, rank, and religious hierarchy — the whole system of who's above and who's below, who gets the good seat, who gets ignored.Jesus's answer is blunt: whoever wants to be first must be last of all, servant of all. Not humbler leadership. Not kinder hierarchy. No hierarchy. Ben and Jo talk through what that actually costs — Jo pushes back hard before coming around, and pulls from her own experience in classrooms and healthcare to ask why we keep rebuilding the same pyramid even when we know it doesn't work. They also get into how Christianity, within a few centuries, recreated the exact status system Jesus dismantled — clergy over laity, bishops over priests — and why he put a child, someone with zero status, at the center of it all instead.A better understanding of Jesus, and a better way to solve our problems. 🔗 Join a Listening Session at jesusafterchristianity.com 🎧 Practice and belonging over purity and belief.

4. 

   11 Aug 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 13

   Episode 13: The Kingdom and MoneyJesus didn't ask for generous charity. He demanded redistribution. In this episode, Ben and Jo Collins dig into one of the most uncomfortable things Jesus ever said: you cannot serve God and wealth. Not "be generous." Not "give when you can." Give it away — all of it.They walk through the rich young ruler, the camel and the eye of the needle, and a line from the Gospel of the Hebrews that never made it into your Bible but hits just as hard. Along the way, Jo pulls from her own work across healthcare, retail, and education to talk about what money actually does to how people see each other — and why "charity" so often just protects the system instead of challenging it.The confrontation between Jesus and the powers of his world — and ours — starts to get real.A better understanding of Jesus, and a better way to solve our problems.🔗 Join a Listening Session at jesusafterchristianity.com🎧 Practice and belonging over purity and belief.

5. 

   4 Aug 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 12

   Episode 12: Political DiscipleshipIf Jesus wasn't political — if his kingdom was just "spiritual" — why were all the charges at his trial political and economic? Ben and Jo close out this block by naming what's been true all along: economic sharing, solidarity with the oppressed, and resistance to domination aren't personal spiritual practices. They're political acts.This episode traces how "my kingdom is not of this world" got mistranslated into permission to stay safely uninvolved — when what Jesus actually organized was an alternative economy, an alternative community, and an alternative authority that put Caesar on notice. Christianity chose the version of Jesus that was safe for empire. This one isn't that.It's the final episode in the confrontation arc — Sabbath, hypocrisy, the temple, and now the politics underneath all of it — before the teaching turns toward the kingdom itself.A better understanding of Jesus, and a better way to solve our problems.🔗 Join a Listening Session at jesusafterchristianity.com🎧 Practice and belonging over purity and belief.

6. 

   2 Jun 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 11

   In Episode 11 of Jesus After Christianity, we revisit one of the most misunderstood—and most revealing—moments in the Jesus story: the temple incident. The tables. The disruption. The public confrontation. Not a random outburst, but a deliberate act that exposes what happens when spirituality becomes a marketplace and power hides behind “holiness.” This episode explores the temple not just as a religious site, but as an economic and political machine—an institution that could bless the system while burdening ordinary people. We talk about what Jesus was actually targeting: exploitation wrapped in sacred language, gatekeeping disguised as devotion, and a religious order that made access to God feel expensive, conditional, and controlled. We also wrestle with the implications for today. What does it mean to follow Jesus if his clearest act of anger wasn’t aimed at “sinners,” but at religious profiteering and spiritual manipulation? What kinds of modern temples still trade in fear, shame, and status—while calling it faith? Episode 11 is about holy disruption: the courage to confront institutions that harm, the clarity to separate God from the systems that claim to represent God, and the possibility that liberation sometimes starts with flipping the script—right in the center of what’s considered sacred.

7. 

   19 May 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 10

   In Episode 10 of Jesus After Christianity, we name what so many people have felt but were taught not to say out loud: religion can be oppressive. Not just personally painful, but socially and spiritually controlling—especially when it’s used to police bodies, silence questions, enforce conformity, and protect power. This episode explores what it means to confront religious oppression without losing your soul in the process. We talk about how fear-based faith gets manufactured, how shame becomes a tool of obedience, and why “unity” in many religious spaces often means compliance. We look at the ways religious authority can demand access to your conscience, your identity, your relationships, and your future—and how hard it can be to untangle God from the systems that claimed to speak for God. But this isn’t just critique. It’s a path forward. We discuss what liberation can look like after spiritual control: reclaiming your agency, trusting your intuition again, finding language for harm, and rebuilding community without coercion. We ask how the teachings of Jesus might function not as a weapon used against people, but as a mirror held up to domination itself. Because confronting religious oppression isn’t about becoming cynical. It’s about telling the truth—so healing can actually begin.

8. 

   5 May 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 9

   In Episode 9 of Jesus After Christianity, we explore Sabbath as far more than a spiritual self-care practice. Sabbath is a direct confrontation with power. In a world that trains us to measure worth by output, Sabbath says you are not a machine. You are not what you produce. You don’t have to earn your right to rest. And that message isn’t neutral—it threatens every system built on extraction, burnout, and endless consumption. When rest is treated like a reward for the “deserving,” the powerful stay powerful. But when rest becomes a shared, protected practice—especially for the exhausted, the overlooked, and the overworked—it starts to look like liberation. This episode traces how Sabbath disrupts the empire logic of scarcity and control. We talk about why constant productivity keeps people compliant, why exhaustion makes solidarity harder, and how intentional rest can become a kind of rebellion. Not escapism. Not disengagement. But a refusal to let the system define what’s normal, what’s valuable, and what’s possible. Because Sabbath isn’t just a pause. It’s a protest. And it just might be one of the most powerful practices we’ve forgotten how to keep.

9. 

   21 Apr 2026

   Jesus After Christianity - Episode 8

   In Episode 8 of Jesus After Christianity, we pull back the curtain on one of the most effective tools of control: division dressed up as “truth.” The political divide can feel inevitable—like it’s natural, permanent, and impossible to cross. But what if much of its power is perceived? What if the lines are intentionally reinforced because they keep us isolated, reactive, and easier to manage? This episode is an invitation to cross the barrier with us. Not by erasing differences or pretending everything is fine, but by refusing the script that says our differences must make us enemies. We talk about what it actually means to bridge the political divide—how to stay grounded, how to stay human, and how to build relationships that don’t collapse under disagreement. We also zoom out across history to remember something we’re often made to forget: revolutionary moments exist across the timeline, and they’re rarely powered by perfection. They’re powered by people. Community. Inclusion. The slow, stubborn work of choosing each other anyway. These aren’t soft ideals—they’re practical tools that change what’s possible. Episode 8 explores how to expose the false power of “us vs. them,” rebel against the made-up frameworks that keep us separate, and practice a love big enough to hold complexity. Because our differences shouldn’t be weapons. They should connect us.

10. 

    7 Apr 2026

    Jesus After Christianity - Episode 7

    In Episode 7 of Jesus After Christianity, we sit with one of the most quoted teachings of Jesus—and one of the most avoided in practice: love your neighbor. Not the easy neighbor. Not the neighbor who votes like you, looks like you, or makes you feel safe. Even the one you were taught to fear. This episode pushes past definitions and into the uncomfortable territory of action. Because “neighbor” isn’t a label you assign—it’s a way you show up. And loving your neighbor gets complicated when your neighbor has been framed as an enemy, a threat, a problem to manage. We explore how that framing doesn’t happen by accident: every system built on “us vs. them” depends on the boundary staying in place. The moment that line blurs, the system loses its favorite tool—division. So what does love do in a world that runs on separation? It doesn’t ignore harm or pretend conflict isn’t real. It refuses dehumanization. It interrupts the scripts we’ve inherited. It makes room for courage, accountability, and connection where fear wants distance. Because love—real love—doesn’t just feel warm. It dissolves the boundary.

11. 

    24 Mar 2026

    Jesus After Christianity - Episode 6

    In Episode 6 of Jesus After Christianity, we bring “the kingdom of God” down from the clouds and back into real life. The kingdom isn’t far away. It happens wherever people practice goodness together—where grace plants the seed, and shared practice helps it grow. This episode explores a faith that doesn’t start with scarcity, fear, or competition. Instead, it dares to say: there is enough to share. And it reframes the kingdom as more than something God delivers from above—it’s also something we build with our hands, our choices, and our communities. We talk about what it looks like to stop waiting for the system to fix itself and start practicing the kingdom now. Not someday. Not somewhere else. Among us—whenever people choose sharing over hoarding, inclusion over exclusion, and solidarity over isolation.

12. 

    10 Mar 2026

    Jesus After Christianity - Episode 5

    In Episode 5 of Jesus After Christianity, we challenge the assumption that what matters most can be measured. Some of the most meaningful things—healing, therapy, liberation—don’t fit neatly into metrics, profit, or productivity. This episode reframes restoration as more than comfort. Restoration is about creating space where people can be fully themselves—safe, dignified, and unafraid. And it forces a sober question: when systems consistently fail the most vulnerable, what does that reveal about what those systems are designed to do? We talk about the cost of “normal” life in an extractive economy—when sickness becomes bankruptcy, groceries become debt, and participation requires sacrificing your freedom and future. If survival demands that kind of trade, is it really freedom? Episode 5 follows that line all the way to a simple, disruptive claim: freedom begins where repayment ends.

13. 

    24 Feb 2026

    Jesus After Christianity - Episode 4

    In Episode 4 of Jesus After Christianity, we explore a different starting point for faith—one that isn’t about escaping the world, but changing it. Not everything meaningful can be proven, and sometimes faith looks less like certainty and more like trust—especially when hope feels thin. We talk about why trust is contagious, and how practicing it together can transform more than belief ever could. When you meet people with different lived realities—really meet them—your assumptions shift, your empathy deepens, and what “faith” even means can get rewritten. This episode reframes spirituality away from purity and perfection and toward something more grounded and honest: faith isn’t unlocked by correct belief. It’s awakened through solidarity, belonging, and lived practice. In the end, spirituality is revealed not in what we claim, but in how we treat people.

14. 

    10 Feb 2026

    Jesus After Christianity - Episode 3

    In Episode 3 of Jesus After Christianity, we take on a hard truth: compassion isn’t a brand—it’s a practice. And real compassion doesn’t just comfort people; it confronts the systems that keep harming them. If faith is meant to be good news, it should lighten burdens, not add to them. People deserve to be seen, supported, and not further weighed down. This episode draws a clear line between sympathy and solidarity. Solidarity isn’t performative kindness or distant concern—it’s shared struggle and shared hope. We unpack how we’ve often been taught to offer aid without questioning the system that keeps creating the need. Charity can treat the symptoms; justice asks why the wound exists in the first place. Along the way, we name the deeper divides that shape our world—beyond left vs. right—and explore how economics influences far more than we’re told. Solidarity tells the truth about power, exposes what it tries to conceal, and—when practiced—can actually change what’s possible. Another way is possible.

15. 

    27 Jan 2026

    Jesus After Christianity - Episode 2

    In Episode 2 of Jesus After Christianity, we zoom out to the world Jesus actually lived in: a society shaped by empire, surveillance, and state terror designed to crush hope and collective resistance. If you want to understand what Jesus was saying, you have to understand Rome—and what it did to ordinary people. This episode asks a provocative question: what if Jesus wasn’t offering an escape route, but a way through? Not a promise to leave the world behind, but a practice of liberation and belonging in the middle of it. We explore “the kingdom of God” not as a distant destination, but as a lived alternative—an embodied way of being where everyone belongs, where extraction isn’t inevitable, and where solidarity is a choice we make together.

16. 

    13 Jan 2026

    Jesus After Christianity - Episode 1

    In this first episode of Jesus After Christianity, cohost Jo Collins joins host Ben Collins for an honest, wide-angle conversation about what it means to keep (or rediscover) the heart of community after leaving traditional faith spaces. Together, they explore the kind of humanity that isn’t gated by doctrine—how people find belonging, rebuild trust, and stay connected to what’s good and life-giving. Along the way, they dig into inclusivity as a lived practice, not a buzzword: who gets centered, who gets left out, and what it looks like to create spaces where more people can exhale and be fully seen.

17. 

    25 Nov 2025

    Jesus Before Christianity & After

    In this first teaser video, Ben shares a little bit of his evangelical Christian background and how Albert Nolan's book Jesus Before Christianity changed his life and faith with an introduction to the historical Jesus. Get a taste for what's coming in the Jesus after Christianity podcast.

18. 

    17 Nov 2025

    Jesus After Christianity - Teaser 1

    In this first Jesus after Christianity teaser, cohost Jo Collins talks to host Ben Collins about community, humanity and inclusivity.

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