"Eucontamination: Disgust Theology and the Christian Life" with Paul Hoard, PhD, and Billie Hoard

Feb 27, 2026

Billie Hoard, a trans high school teacher sharing lived experience and theological reflection. Paul Hoard, counseling psychology professor exploring theology and psychology. They discuss how disgust shapes relationships, purity politics, nationalism, and church practices. They talk about Jesus inverting contamination logic and practices like communion that challenge exclusion.

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INSIGHT

Eucontamination Reverses Contamination Logic

Eucontamination flips contamination logic so love and holiness are the transforming contaminant rather than sin being dominant.
Paul and Billie coined the term to keep disgust's sting while insisting love must risk and change the lover and beloved.

INSIGHT

Disgust Protects But Becomes Binary Harm

Disgust is an evolved protective mechanism that keeps us from disease but becomes harmful when over-applied to people.
Paul highlights dose insensitivity: disgust treats any contact as fully contaminating, making it binary and socially destructive.

INSIGHT

Jesus Inverts Purity To Sanctify The World

Jesus inverts purity/disgust logic rather than abolishing it: the holy contaminates and sanctifies the world despite appearing vulnerable.
Paul argues this inversion fixes the theological error that sin is stronger than holiness.

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How often do we think about disgust? Yet it shapes our choices, relationships, and even our faith every day in ways we rarely notice.

In this episode of the Allender Center Podcast, Dr. Paul Hoard and Billie Hoard discuss their new book, "Eucontamination: Disgust Theology and the Christian Life," exploring how this powerful, often overlooked force influences us.

Drawing from theology and psychology, they examine how disgust—originally designed to protect us—can become a tool for exclusion when applied to people rather than pathogens. From purity culture to nationalism to everyday relational divides, they consider how "contamination logic" forms the world around us.

But the heart of their work is hopeful: Jesus doesn't abolish disgust—he inverts it. In Christ, holiness is not fragile. Love is stronger than sin. What looks contaminating does not defile him; instead, his presence transforms from within.

This conversation invites us to reflect on where disgust may be shaping our reactions, relationships, and theology—and to imagine a discipleship formed by more courageous, more transformative love.

About the Allender Center Podcast:

For over a decade, the Allender Center Podcast has offered honest, thoughtful conversations about the deep work of healing and transformation. Hosted by Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen, MDiv, this weekly podcast explores the complexities of trauma, abuse recovery, story, relationships, and spiritual formation. Through questions submitted by listeners, stories, interviews, and conversations, we engage the deep places of heartache and hope that are rarely addressed so candidly in our culture today. Join the Allender Center Podcast to uncover meaningful perspectives and support for your path to healing and growth.

At the Allender Center, we value thoughtful dialogue across a wide range of voices, stories, and lived experiences. In that spirit, our podcast features guests and hosts who may hold differing perspectives. The perspectives shared on this podcast by guests and hosts reflect their own experiences and viewpoints and do not necessarily represent the views, positions, or endorsements of the Allender Center and/or The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology.

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