Spiritual Misfits Podcast What if 'picking and choosing' is actually fine? (James McGrath, Beyond Deconstruction)
What if the beliefs you were taught don't all have to stand or fall together? James McGrath, a New Testament scholar who went through his own faith reconstruction, joins Will to talk about what comes after deconstruction. Using the metaphor of DIY home renovation, James explores how we can take ownership of rebuilding our worldview without guilt - recognising that even the most conservative Christians are already "picking and choosing," doing it thoughtfully is what matters. We discuss the time machine thought experiment that revealed what's actually load-bearing in James' faith, why certainty and conviction are fundamentally different things, and how early Christian apologists actually sought to integrate the best of secular philosophy rather than argue against it. James makes the case that the most basic question about God — does ultimate reality exist? — is actually less debatable than we think, freeing us to focus on the more important questions about attributes, meaning, and how we live.
Order James's book: Beyond Deconstruction: Building a More Expansive Faith Available February 3, 2026 https://eerdmans.com/9780802884596/beyond-deconstruction/
Connect with James:
Blog: Religion Prof (patheos.com/blogs/religionprof)
X/Twitter: @ReligionProf
Instagram: @jamesfmcgrath
TikTok: @ReligionProf
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