Frequently Asked Questions
You have questions, we have answers. Maybe. Hopefully.
Q: What is this podcast about?
A: Faith Adjacent is a podcast where we try to understand the modern dynamics of faith through a combined commitment to uncomfortable honesty, authentic weirdness, and critical thinking.
Q: What more is there to understand? It’s the Bible.
A: Right, we get that. Completely. It’s just…
Q: Wait hold up are you about to “It’s just…” the Bible?
A: We would never. Truly. The only thing we’re saying is that sometimes conversation around the Bible and Bible stories is fraught and defensive to the point that it has made the stories and characters inaccessible to us. And we think that those stories and characters are so rich and beautiful and poignant particularly in the modern lens.
Q: Nice save.
A: Thank you. It was really touch and go there for a second.
Q: So how does an episode work? Is it like a sermon?
A: None of us have any pastoral training or talent so it’s extremely conversational. We take a central story (or in some seasons, we focus on a single character and the stories around their life) and we cast all the characters with actors and celebrities to help the listener visualize the story.
Q: Isn’t that sacrilegious?
A: We’re not trying to be sacrilegious. We’ve just found that it makes it easier to articulate a common visual idea of a character as opposed to asking people to all uniformly envision some vaguely ancient Old Testament dude. Isn’t easier to just think of Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham?
Q: Is that an example of one of your casting decisions?
A: Yeah.
Q: That’s really good.
A: Thank you. We cast Lot to be played by Dax Shepherd as well.
Q: I don’t hate it.
A: We don’t either.
Q: Where can I find all of your other casting decisions?
A: We have an entire casting gallery right here where you can find everything from Selena Gomez as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil all the way to Paul Rudd as Job.
Q: I noticed that there are a few recasts. What happened there?
A: While the majority of our celebrities are walking the straight and narrow, every once in a while one of our cast members proves that they need to be taken out of the spotlight and given time to reflect with notes app. We can’t predict the future though. I mean who could have anticipated that Kid Rock would have been problematic?
Q: So what happens if one of you does say something biblically incorrect or accidentally sacrilegious?
A: We have a fail-safe in the form of an actual Bible Scholar. She listens to each episode and then replies with her rebukes of anything we got wrong or misrepresented.
Q: What if I’m not a Christian? What if I don’t know the Bible or don’t trust it? Can I still listen?
Absolutely! We say it at the beginning of every episode; Faith Adjacent isn’t meant to be evangelical for non-Christians or adversarial to Christians. We just want to talk about awesome stories in a different way to see what applications to modern life we can find.
Q: There are a ton of different episodes. Can you explain that to me?
A: As you go through our back catalog, you’ll notice that we have four different types of episodes: The Classic, Favored or Forsaken, Faith Adjacent, and Sacred Cinema. Here’s a quick rundown on a few that you’ll hear semi-frequently:
- The Classic: This is where we recap a story in the Bible and then hear from our Bible Scholar Erin Moon who answers our questions and gently rebukes our interpretation.
- Favored or Forsaken: Because the Bible Binge mostly looks backwards, Favored or Forsaken is devoted to looking to the present and future as we consider current events through a religious lens to decide if those things are favored or forsaken.
- Sacred Cinema: Here we deep dive movies to remember them, rebuke them, and extract faith elements from them. We are currently going through the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe in chronological order.
Q: I heard you mention a farewell season. Should my palms be sweating?
A: While this technically is a farewell season, we named it that because we wanted to have one eternal season. We ran out of ideas for neat, tightly packed six-episode seasons, so this allows us to explore themes and characters that may not be able to fill an entire season. We have since renamed it our “Junk Drawer” season. Rest assured, we currently have enough episodes outlined to get us through at least a few more years.
Q: I want to study the Bible like you do, but I just don’t know where to start. Can you help me out?
A: Yes! We have our resource page that you can find here, but the best starting place is going to be the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. This is an essential tool for any aspiring Bible scholar.
Q: So how do I listen to a podcast?
A: If you’re new to podcasting, here’s the 411:
- A podcast is like a radio show that comes to your ears via the internet. Faith Adjacent isn’t live, so you can listen while you’re driving, while you’re working out, or while you’re “watching” your children. Any time is the right time. Plus, podcasts are free.
You can listen two ways:
1. Stream through our website. Click the play button on any episode post to listen.
2. Download episodes to your phone, tablet, or computer. For iPhones and iPads, many folks use the free Podcasts app that is already on your device. Open the app, search for “Faith Adjacent,” and hit subscribe.
For Android phones and tablets, consider using the Stitcher app. In Stitcher, search for “Faith Adjacent” and click the plus sign (+) to add it to your Favorites List. Now go to the Favorites List. Tell it to download new episodes by clicking the gear in the upper right corner.
Other Podcast Apps People Love- Downcast (iOS)
- Overcast (iOS) *we both use this app and love it!
- Podcast Addict (Android)
- Beyond Pod (Android)