Theological Healing with Dr. Marty Folsom

In this episode, the phrase “theology matters” is not a slogan but a warning. The ways we imagine God shape the ways we live in the world, how we see the world around, how we see the people around us.

At the moment, political leaders are explaining a real military conflict in theological language. One side denounces religious fanaticism while, at the same time, voices within its own ranks speak about war as part of God’s plan for Armageddon. It raises an unsettling question: what kind of theology leads people to speak about violence this way?

In this conversation we explore a different theological path.

Our guest is Dr. Marty Folsom, whose writing makes the work of Karl Barth more accessible to modern readers. Through Barth’s theology, Folsom points toward what might be called theological healing. Instead of beginning with fear, separation, and the need to draw hard lines between insiders and outsiders, Barth begins with something else; the hospitality of God.

Creation, in this vision, is not the act of a distant ruler but the act of a host who makes space for relationship. Humanity exists not primarily as isolated individuals but as people created for connection, with God and with one another. Even freedom, in this account, is not freedom from others but freedom for relationship, responsibility, and love.

It is a very different starting point than the kinds of theological ideas that so often dominate the public arena.

When theology becomes distorted, the consequences can be enormous. But good theology—clear, thoughtful, grounded in the character of God—can also heal.

And perhaps, in a world where bombs still fall and religious language is used to justify violence, that kind of theological healing is needed more than ever.

 

Prior Conversations with Marty Folsom:

Vol 2 in Marty’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone – The Doctrine of God

Vol 1 in Marty’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone

Marty also has a new book out on the Psalms, The Psalms: A Sanctuary for the Soul

 

References:

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to Press” March 3, 2026

“US troops were told war on Iran was ’all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges”, The Guardian, March 3, 2026

Brian Zahnd, on war before Christ returns, March 3, 2026