Seminary Dropout

About Seminary Dropout

Interviews with Christian authors, leaders, and thinkers.

Publisher

Shane Blackshear: Interviews with N.T. Wright, Christena Cleveland, Greg Boyd & More!

Category

religion & spirituality · religion & spirituality · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Nov 2016

Latest episode

13 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

2 of 102 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   13 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Rich Villodas on the subversive way of Jesus

   Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large, multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Queens, NYC. His award-winning book, The Deeply Formed Life, was released in September 2020, followed by his second book, Good and Beautiful and Kind. His most recent book, The Narrow Path, released July 2024. He and his wife, Rosie, have two beautiful children and reside in Long Island, New York. You can connect with Rich through his website, www.richvillodas.com (https://www.richvillodas.com/). (https://www.amazon.com.au/Narrow-Path-Subversive-Jesus-Satisfies-ebook/dp/B0CZQWLX4R) We live in a culture that wants it all. More is seen as better – whether it’s more money, social media fame, more choices, or power. For those chasing this way of life, ‘narrow’ seems negative. Who wants to narrow their options, or be seen as narrow-minded? Which is why the most well-known talk in history – the Sermon on the Mount – is also the most paradoxical. In it, Jesus holds up the narrow path as the most spacious … and the broader path as the more confining one. Rich Villodas, bestselling author of The Deeply Formed Life, helps us to diagnose whether we are following the broad or narrow path, in order to help us pursue the way of Jesus more deeply. The Narrow Path reintroduces the counterintuitive wonder of Jesus’s timeless wisdom for this age, one fraught with anxiety, depression, polarizing politics, and online vitriol. The path of Jesus is most certainly narrow, but it is the only one filled with the ever-expanding life of God . . . and it is available now for all who want it! Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seminary-dropout/id582049752?mt=2) Get 40% off Shane’s book Go and Do: Nine Axioms on Peacemaking and Transformation From the Life of John Perkins. (https://shaneblackshear.com/discount-code/)

2. 

   13 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Erin Moniz on how our intimate relationships reflect our theology

   Rev. Erin F. Moniz is a deacon in the Anglican Church in North America and associate chaplain and director for chapel at Baylor University, where she disciples emerging adults and journeys with them toward healthy, gospel-centered relationships. She is a trained conciliator, mediator, and conflict coach. She enjoys playing music, being outdoors, and narrating the inner monologue of her two cats. She lives in Waco, Texas, with her husband, Michael. You can see more of Erin at her website, erinfmoniz.com (https://www.erinfmoniz.com/). (https://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Being-Known-Intimate-Relationships/dp/1514010038) “I can live without sex, but I can’t live without intimacy.” In today’s landscape of digital interactions, many people long for deeper connections. We have a desire to move from being lonely and disconnected in our relationships to be seen, known, and wholly loved. From friendships to romantic relationships, meaningful and genuine personal connections remain our heart’s desire. College chaplain Rev. Erin Moniz is deeply attuned to the questions and concerns of today’s emerging adults. In Knowing and Being Known, she explores the essential elements of healthy relationships, addresses the complexities of intimacy, and shines a light on the barriers that can impede genuine connection. With her compelling storytelling and expert insights from her research with emerging adults, she emphasizes the significant role of identity and self-worth in fostering meaningful relationships. This comprehensive resource goes beyond the subject of sex, providing a holistic perspective on intimacy that resonates with single emerging adults and married couples alike. Begin to experience healthy relationships and transform your relational world as you ask better questions to get better answers. To know that we are loved by God is to know our identity in Christ. And this knowing provides us the tools and the path to a healthy, sustainable intimacy that allows us to be at home in our fullness in the gospel and with each other. Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seminary-dropout/id582049752?mt=2) Get 40% off Shane’s book Go and Do: Nine Axioms on Peacemaking and Transformation From the Life of John Perkins. (https://shaneblackshear.com/discount-code/)

3. 

   12 Apr 2025

   Beth Felker Jones on the Theology of Sex

   Beth Felker Jones (PhD, Duke University) teaches theology at Northern Seminary, and loves to write for the church and the academy. She lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband Brian, four kids, two dogs, and Dwight, her theology cat. (https://shaneblackshear.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Seminary-Now-Multi-Teacher-Image.png) To participate in Dr. Jones Seminary Now course and many others, go to seminarynow.co/blackshear (http://seminarynow.co/blackshear) for a 25% off discount! (https://www.amazon.com/Faithful-Theology-Sex-Ordinary-ebook/dp/B00L0SZICQ/) Many believers accept traditional Christian sexual morality but have very little idea why it matters for the Christian life. In Faithful, author Beth Felker Jones sketches a theology of sexuality that demonstrates sex is not about legalistic morals with no basis in reality but rather about the God who is faithful to us. In Hosea 2:19-20 God says to Israel, “I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.” This short book explores the goodness of sexuality as created and redeemed, and it suggests ways to navigate the difficulties of living in a world in which sexuality, like everything else, suffers the effects of the fall. As part of Zondervan’s Ordinary Theology series, Faithful takes a deeper look at a subject Christians talk about often but not always thoughtfully. This short, insightful reflection explores the deeper significance of the body and sexuality. From the Publisher (https://www.amazon.com.au/Practicing-Christian-Doctrine-Introduction-Theologically-ebook/dp/B00J7R5MWI/) This introductory theology text helps students articulate basic Christian doctrines, think theologically so they can act Christianly in a diverse world, and connect Christian thought to their everyday lives of faith. Written from a solidly evangelical yet ecumenically aware perspective, this book models a way of doing theology that is generous and charitable. It attends to history and contemporary debates and features voices from the global church. From the Publisher Subscribe/Rate/Review Seminary Dropout on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/seminary-dropout/id582049752?mt=2) Get 40% off Shane’s book Go and Do: Nine Axioms on Peacemaking and Transformation From the Life of John Perkins. (https://shaneblackshear.com/discount-code/)

Inside a recent episode

Rich Villodas on the subversive way of Jesus

Published 13 Mar 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] And I think each of those, if taken independently, can lead to some really disjointed spirituality that leads people not formed, I think, in the full way that Jesus is inviting us into. As always, reading the books, I kept having this memory of there's some, in one of Thomas Merton's books, he talks, it's just kind of like a side thing that he mentions in passing. But like the idea that there were people, there were men in the monasteries who'd been there for decades who still had like a terrible temper and a short fuse. And so they were literally religiously, they're practicing prayer and meditation and all this stuff, but they were like failing to be transformed. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

361 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 53 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

80

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

67

Contact Seminary Dropout

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  Ask NT Wright Anything

• 

  Theology in the Raw

• 

  Good Faith

• 

  The Russell Moore Show

• 

  The Holy Post

• 

  The BEMA Podcast

Questions about Seminary Dropout