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Ever wonder what happens when a trans Jewish theological activist and a cisgender Baptist hunger activist walk into a Bible Bashing podcast and talk about Biblical stories? Listen in each month as host, Liam Michael Hooper - a justice-seeking gender theorist, trans educator-advocate, and author - meets with (new) co-host, Don Durham - a hermit-ish farmer, podcaster, and transitional coach - share their thoughts about Biblical stories. After discussing a given text, Liam or Don will share a non-Biblical text for us to hold in reflection. Don Durham laughingly describes himself as a peace and justice loving, hermit-like mendicant farmer and cantankerous curmudgeon. As a person working with the land to address hunger, he runs a small farm where he grows food to give away and hosts a podcast about what other people are creatively doing to end hunger. Don is a trained organizational change and transition consultant and strategic coach helping clients be who they want to be and accomplish what they want to accomplish. Don lives in North Carolina. Liam Hooper is a justice-seeking gender theorist, theological activist, trans educator-advocate and consultant living in North Carolina. He is the author of Trans-Forming Proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence and a contributor to three trans anthologies. Liam is also the director of Ministries Beyond Welcome, an interfaith collaborative-collective of trans clergy and lay leaders rabble-rousing for change locally, regionally, and nationally. To learn more about Liam and Don visit: www.BibleBashPodcast.com
Episodes

Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Don Durham--Other Texts
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
There is no easy way to share this news, but Don Durham, co-host of Bible Bash unexpectedly and suddenly died of natural causes at home last month. Bible Bash producer Peterson Toscano put together this episode with outtakes from recording sessions. He also includes recordings Don sharing "Another Text" from several episodes since he first started co-hosting with LIam Hooper.
Liam is taking time off to regroup after losing a best friend. He and Peterson will consider the next steps for the podcast. In the meantime, as you join us in mourning the loss of Don, we hope hearing his voice will be a way remember him and his deep warm love, his big heart, and his wide open mind.
If you would like to share a remembrance or a word of comfort, feel free to email Liam and Peterson at ministriesbeyondwelcome@gmail.com
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster took turns presenting the text. They then discussed. In addition, each episode they presented another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast has been a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
The theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, Liam & Don: ministriesbeyondwelcome@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Peterson @p2son
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Giants in the Land Face a Different Spirit--Numbers 13, 14
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
After a summer holiday, the Bible Bash team has returned! This month, Liam takes a look at the story in Numbers 13 and 14 - the story of the Hebrew scouts, which reveals the reason the people were destined to wander for 40 years before entering the promised land.
Liam raises important questions:
- Is this story of the scouts a story of failing faith, as we are so often told, or is it something more?
- What about Caleb’s “different spirit”?
- Is a brave and unfettered “different spirit” the way into the promised land for all of us?
Don offers a reading from Feminist thinkers Rosemarie Tong and Tina Fernandes Botts. Don’s reading is found in the book, Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction
Featured music Beyond the Rainbow by Polor Nights from Epidemic Sound
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If you like Bible Bash podcast, you will LOVE Liam Hooper's latest book!
In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Peterson @p2son
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Shame, Pride, and Saying NO to Self-Doubt
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Liam and Don are taking a little break over the summer to research, relax, and reboot. In this episode you will hear Another Text shared by Pastor June. You will hear an excerpt from a recent Pride Service.
In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. You also heard They Won't by Jonatan Mollberg and Song for Maeve by American Legion from Epidemic Sound. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Peterson @p2son
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Saturday May 28, 2022
Thomas the Movement Skeptic--John 20: 19-29
Saturday May 28, 2022
Saturday May 28, 2022
This month, Don takes a look at the story of Thomas, the disciple often referred to as “doubting Thomas,” in the gospel according to John. In his reading of this story, Don presents a rather revolutionary interpretation of Thomas and his reaction to the disciples’ claim that they have seen their teacher, Jesus.
Through his refreshing take on the story, Don invites us to consider the Thomases among us, now. We can question: are we like Thomas? Liam, for one, energetically, if not sadly, claims to be a Thomasite. Give a listen and find out why.
Following the discussion, Liam offers a reading - a prayer, in fact - from the Jewish Mishkan T’filah for Travelers, A Reform Siddur (or prayer book). Produced by the Central Conference of American Rabbis
I begin with a prayer of gratitude
for all that is holy in my life.
God needs no words, no English or Hebrew,
no semantics and no services.
But I need them.
Through prayer, I can sense my inner strength,
my inner purpose,
my inner joy, my capacity to love.
As I reach upward in prayer,
I sense these qualities in my Creator.
To love God is to love each other,
to work to make our lives better.
To love God is to love the world God created,
and to work to perfect it.
To love God is love dreams of peace and joy
that illumine all of us
and to bring that vision to life.
In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. You also heard From A to Me by Frank Johnson on Epidemic Sound. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Peterson @p2son
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Friday Apr 29, 2022
Esther: A Liberative Gathering of Women, Exiled Jews, and Eunuchs
Friday Apr 29, 2022
Friday Apr 29, 2022
Is the story of Esther the first documented intersectional justice uprising?
In this month’s episode, Don and Liam join the Saturday morning Torah study class at Liam’s Shul, where they curate a rousing liberation-themed discussion of the Book of Esther. After all, it is the season of Purim.
In the first of what Don and Liam hope will be more “live” shows of the season, Liam invites us to consider the justice-seeking implications in a story that turns on the combined efforts of a whole cast of outcast, marginalized, and vulnerable characters.
In the process, Liam offers us an enlightening look at ancient understandings of gender, including a look at the eight accepted gender classifications in Talmudic discussions.
--------------------------------
In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. You also heard First Moon by Cerulean Skies. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Peterson @p2son
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Paul in Acts--A Self-Professed Thug for Jesus?
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
This month, for our Bible Bash entertainment and considerations, Don takes us on a trip through the Christian book of Acts. Don’s chosen task: to reflect on the complicated person we know as Paul, based on his behavior throughout these chapters describing the early formation of Christianity.
In this journey, Don points us to a Paul who may have experienced a call to conversion, yet nonetheless continues to act (pun intended) as if he is still working for the emperor. We are left to question, is the possible adage “once an imperial thug, always a thug” true … or is Paul simply a good example of a regular, deeply flawed, privileged fellow who has perhaps noble dreams for spreading the gospel?
His question prompts at least one other underlying consideration: how do we “read” people - and then respond to them - who claim to seek growth, yet seem so unable to achieve it? Or who claim God speaks to them then act in disturbing ways that call that claim into question?
The Other Text
Liam offers a Sufi parable from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s book, Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer.
“There is a story about Juna’id, the ninth-century Sufi master. He has twenty students who each wants to be his successor, and they are arguing among themselves and pressing him for a decision. He is getting older, so finally he says to them, “You go out and each bring a live bird, and I’ll tell you what to do.” So they each come back with a live bird, and he says, “Now go find a place where no one can see you, kill the bird, and come back.” They all go off, and nineteen of them come back with dead birds, but the bird of the twentieth is still alive. So Juna’id makes an angry face. “Why didn’t you kill the bird!”
The disciple says, “Master, I couldn’t find a place where no One can see me.”’
--------------------------------
In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. You also heard First Moon by Cerulean Skies. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Peterson @p2son
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Saturday Feb 26, 2022
Bisexual Lovers in the Hands of a Peevish God -- I Samuel 18
Saturday Feb 26, 2022
Saturday Feb 26, 2022
Peterson Toscano Zoom bombs the podcast to talk about the love between Jonathan and David, but really he is mostly curious about God in the story. The story of King Saul, Prince Jonathan, and future king David is one filled with desire and jealousy. We hear a lot about Saul’s jealousy over David. There is fear of being replaced and of no longer being the big man. A younger, shinier thing captured the people’s eyes. And this is exactly what God feels towards Saul when it turns out the people were tired of Judges leading through God and instead wanted a king. God begrudgingly gives them Saul and then slams Saul through the Prophet Samuel over and over.
Also, something of note: Verse 20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. According to “Michal is the only woman in the Bible of whom it is said that she loved a man.” The Book of All Books by Roberto Calasso
Liam brings “The Other Text” with a beautiful reading of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.
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In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. You also heard Soothing Nature from Epidemic Sound. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Peterson @p2son
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Saturday Jan 29, 2022
Midwives: Beautiful, Splendid Leaders of Resistance -- Exodus 1:15-22
Saturday Jan 29, 2022
Saturday Jan 29, 2022
We begin the new year, in 2022, with a close reading of the story of the midwives in Exodus 1: 15-21. Liam offers us an invitation to recognize Shifrah and Puah as revolutionary resistors and so much more: namely, co-creators with G-d, The Potter of earthen vessels. Along the way, Liam and Don offer, for our consideration, the idea that we are all potentially midwives of a sort. Even, perhaps, revolutionaries. Following their discussion of the story - including thoughts about changing diapers, and digging up mud for throwing clay - Don offers another text.
Don’s Other Text: From “Soul Among Lions: Musings of a Bootleg Preacher” by Will D. Campbell © 1999, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky. pp. 8-9.
When you write rare books for a living, paydays are sometimes sporadic
Some years ago my wife said one of us had to get out and find a real job. I sensed a preference. Waylon Jennings, a neighbor and old friend, gave me the prestigious position of cook on his tour bus. Waylon is not noted for excessive piety, but I learned an important lesson from him. Late one night I said, “Waylon, what do you believe?”
“Yeah,” he answered. On an overnight stagecoach, a conversation need not be rushed. After a long silence I asked, “Yeah? What’s that supposed to mean?” Quiet again, until Waylon said, “Uh-huh.” That ended my prying into the state of ole Waylon’s soul.
Today we are bombarded with a theology of certitude. I don’t find much biblical support for the stance of God told me and I’m telling you, and if you don’t believe as I do, you’re doomed,” A sort of “My god can whip your god” posture. From Abraham, going out by faith not knowing where he was being sent, to Jesus on the cross, beseeching the Father for a better way, there was always more inquiring faith than conceited certainty.
It occurs to me that the troubadour’s response that late night might have been the most profound affirmation of faith I had ever heard. “Yeah. I believe. Don’t bother me with all the baggage.’ Recently he wrote a song about that long ago conversation. “In my own way I’m a believer,” he sings.*
Maybe that’s as close as any of us ever get.
* From “I Do Believe” by Waylon Jennings. © Waylon Jennings Music.
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In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. You also heardMusic: Poets by Ciaran Delany. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Thursday Dec 30, 2021
Jesus and the Glory Seekers: Mark 10: 35-45
Thursday Dec 30, 2021
Thursday Dec 30, 2021
For his December Bash, Don takes a close and insightful look at Mark’s gospel and Jesus’ interactions with James and John, who wish to be seated at Jesus’ side and share in his glory. Or, so they say when they ask Jesus to do something for them.
In his reading, Don peels back the layers of this story to expose what appears to be a first-century, discipleship power-grab. And, of course, Don has some thoughts about this, as well as Jesus’ revealing response to James and John.
After some lively discussion, Liam shares another text: a reading from Steven Charleston’s Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage (Broadleaf Books, 2021).
From Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder’s Meditations on Hope and Courage:
Justice does not just happen. Compassion is not a spectator sport, but something I have to exercise as I roll up my sleeves to do my part in creating a better community.I need to put in my hours as a volunteer. I have to join the prayer crew and put my life on the line to make a difference. The world will change not by wishes, but by the labor of love we call faith. Spirituality is not a spa, but a construction site, where we build hope one heart at a time.
...we need to remember we are here to serve others. This is not all about us and it never has been. It is about community. It is about the tribe of the human beings. We have a constituency as people of faith. There are other human beings and other life forms we work for.
They are listening. The poor are listening for the word of justice to give them hope. The lonely are listening for the sound of a caring heart. The abused and broken are listening for the healing sound of mercy. The fearful are listening for a word of truth that can set them free. Many people listening, but what are they hearing? Break their silence with the sound of the words the Spirit has given you. Speak hope and mercy, speak justice and truth, say what you believe that will heal and help. Now is not the time to be quiet, for there is an ocean of listening all around you, waiting for the word of life.
What made my ancestors strong, what allowed them to survive, was faith. A faith practiced every day, recreating reality one step at a time.
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In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. You also heard One More Moment by Indigo Days. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
Follow on Twitter
Liam @LiMHooper
Don @RealDonDurham
Bible Bash Podcast is part of the Rock Candy Network
Bible Bash logo was designed by Diana Coe at Crone Communications
Check out other Rock Candy podcasts
- Brown Suga Diaries
- Blessed are the Binary Breakers hosted by Avery Smith
- Sacred Tension by Stephen Long
- Bubble&Squeak by Peterson Toscano
- Eleventylife by EleventySeven
- Common Creatives
- Hot Tea Hot Takes
- The Pickle and Boot Shop Podcast
- Magnify the Pod

Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Whose Fall Is It Anyway? Eve & the Serpent -- Genesis 3
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Diving into Genesis stories again, in this episode, Liam offers us a different view of the so-called Fall story found in Genesis 3. Reading the encounter between Eve and the serpent in a new way, and drawing on Rashi and his commentary on the story, Liam invites us to see the story as a trauma story, first, and then poses the question of who really sinned, Eve or the Serpent.
As often happens, Don and Liam raise more questions through the conversation. Still, they invite us to look deeply at our relationship to creation, our relationships with one another, and how we respond to those among us who have suffered the fracturing of trust.
Then, as is the Bible Bash custom, Don closes with another text. This time, he shares thoughts from a wise Quaker elder, Dorothy H. Hutchinson.
A Painful Discrepancy
The basis of Friends’ social concerns is the same as the basis of Quakerism as a whole – the belief of the within-ness of God. This is not original with Friends. Many other groups have believe that God is within, as well as above and beyond us. However, the emphasis on the within-ness of God in all human beings, in the capacity of the individual to communicate directly with God, to experience the spirit of Christ and express it in every aspect of life has led us to adopt patterns of behavior which may be considered distinctively Quaker.
This is the spiritual basis of the Friends’ distinctive form of meeting for worship – waiting in the Light for direct revelation of God’s will for us. It is the basis for the distinctive for of meeting for business – seeking unity in the Spirit. And it is the basis for all the social testimonies. For centuries Friends have been exploring the application of this belief in the within-ness of God in all of us to the problems of human relations and the end is certainly not yet.
A Quaker social concern seems characteristically to arise in a sensitive individual or very small group – often decades before it grips the Society of Friends as a whole and as much as a century or more before it appeals to the secular world…
The concern arises as a revelation to an individual that there is a painful discrepancy between existing social conditions and what God wills for society and that this discrepancy is not being adequately dealt with. The next step is the determination of the individual to do something about it – not because they are particularly well fitted to tackle the problem, but simply because no one else seems to be doing it.
Dorothy H. Hutchinson: The spiritual basis of Quaker social concerns, 1961, pp. 1-2.
Friends General Conference
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In Trans-Forming Proclamation, Liam Hooper tenderly explores gender and the Bible. This book actually defies genre. With rich patches of poetry, memoir, and devotional, Liam weaves together inspiring literary insights with grounded, original, and informed scholarship. Trans-Forming proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence is new wine in a new wine skin. It is Inventive, artful, and liberating. Available on Amazon and published by Otherwise Engaged.
About US
In each episode of Bible Bash Podcast, , Liam Michael Hooper, a white trans Bible scholar and Don Durham, a white, cis, heterosexual farmer, minister, and podcaster take turns presenting the text. They then discuss. In addition, each episode they present another text, a non-Biblical text of note--religious or secular--that may or may not correspond to the Bible text.
Bible Bash Podcast is a collaborative project created by Liam Hooper, Don Durham, and Peterson Toscano.
Our theme song is Playbill by The Jellyrox. It is available on iTunes, Spotify, or through Rock Candy Recordings. The show is edited by Peterson Toscano.
To share your questions, comments, requests for passages to be discussed, or suggestions for guests who can talk about texts, email Liam & Don: convos@biblebashpodcast.com
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