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Did God pay a ransom to the devil to save humanity? Or did Jesus defeat the powers of evil through his death and resurrection? In this video, we explore two of Christianity's oldest understandings of the cross: Ransom Theory and Christus Victor. We'll look at how these theories developed in the early church, how C.S. Lewis illustrated Ransom Theory in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and why some theologians began to question the idea that God needed to negotiate with or trick the devil. We'll also explore the biblical language of ransom, redemption, and liberation, and how the words we choose shape the way we understand what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Ultimately, these theories remind us that the atonement isn't just about forgiveness. It's about freedom. This video is part of an ongoing series exploring the history, theology, and biblical foundations of Christian atonement. Read the full essay and explore the series on Substack: https://prodigalgospel.substack.com Subscribe for more conversations about Jesus, theology, and the Christian faith. #Atonement #ChristusVictor #RansomTheory #ChristianTheology #Jesus #TheCross

In this episode of Prodigal Pastor, Jonny continues exploring the history and diversity of atonement theology with one of Christianity’s earliest theories: recapitulation. Drawing on the second-century theologian Irenaeus, he explores the idea that Jesus enters the human story, succeeds where humanity has failed, and opens a renewed story for us to participate in. Along the way, we’ll talk about Gnosticism, the importance of Jesus’ embodied life, why all theology is contextual, and what The Lord of the Rings can teach us about atonement. Most importantly, we’ll explore why recapitulation offers a vision of salvation that isn’t simply about what Jesus saves us from, but the kind of life Jesus invites us into. Read post here.

What if one of the most important practices of faith isn’t having the right answers, but learning to ask better questions? In this episode, Jonny talks with author and leadership coach J.R. Briggs about his book The Art of Asking Better Questions and why curiosity, humility, wisdom, and courage matter for our relationships, leadership, and spiritual lives. They explore the questions Jesus asked, the difference between efficiency and fruitfulness, how leaders build trust and bring hope, and why the questions we’re most tempted to avoid may be the ones we most need to ask. Along the way, they wrestle with what healthy ministry actually looks like, why good leadership sometimes feels inefficient, and a deceptively simple question: What would you do differently if you had just 10% more courage?

What do we actually mean when we talk about “atonement”? In this episode, Jonny explores what the cross accomplishes—and why Christians have never agreed on exactly how it works. From the biblical metaphors of ransom, reconciliation, victory, and sacrifice to the different theories Christians have developed throughout history, we’ll explore why atonement is bigger and more beautiful than any single explanation. And through it all, we’ll return to a simple center: the cross reveals the love of God and makes us at-one with God.

David Fitch has spent decades helping the church imagine a more faithful way of being in the world. In this conversation, we explore the journey that shaped his theology—from Wall Street to church planting, from academic writing to accessible books like Faithful Presence, The Church of Us vs. Them, and Reckoning with Power. Along the way, we talk about what it means to be a "neo-Anabaptist, Pentecostal, holiness theologian," why the church needs practices more than programs, and how followers of Jesus can navigate a post-Christendom, politically polarized culture without retreating into fear or grasping for power. This episode is both theological and deeply practical. Whether you're a pastor, church leader, or simply wondering what faithfulness looks like in our cultural moment, this conversation offers a compelling vision of a church centered on the presence of Christ rather than performance, politics, or personality. David's Substack: Fitch's Provocations David's Facebook community: Fitchest

In this episode of Prodigal Pastor, Jonny sits down with theologian, church planter, and Yale professor Matthew Croasmun for a wide-ranging conversation about Scripture, theology, sin, emergence theory, and what it means to live a life worth living. Together they explore how asking difficult questions about the Bible can actually deepen faith rather than destroy it, why Scripture is less like a rulebook and more like a place of encounter with the living God, and how charismatic spirituality shapes the way we read and discern Scripture in community. The conversation then turns toward Matt’s groundbreaking work in The Emergence of Sin, unpacking Paul’s language in Romans, the “body of sin,” and the idea that sin is not only individual but also systemic, social, and even cosmic. Along the way they discuss racism, addiction, responsibility, the church’s tendency to oversimplify complex realities, and why recovering a richer understanding of sin might also help us recover a bigger, more beautiful vision of the gospel itself. Matthew Croasmun's Website Yale Center for Faith and Culture

In this episode of Prodigal Pastor, Jonny sits down with New Testament scholar Jennifer Garcia Bashaw to explore how we read the Bible—and how it reads us. Drawing from her books Serving Up Scripture and Scapegoats, Jennifer shares her journey from growing up in a Southern Baptist context to pursuing biblical scholarship after confronting limiting interpretations of Scripture around women in ministry. Together, they unpack her powerful cooking metaphor for biblical interpretation—showing how reading Scripture is both an art and a process shaped by our stories, cultures, and assumptions—and discuss how Jesus’ life consistently centers those pushed to the margins. Along the way, they explore scapegoat theory, the role of overlooked voices in interpretation, and why returning to Jesus is essential for making sense of Scripture’s many perspectives.

After a full stretch of conversations on atonement, this week’s episode of Prodigal Pastor takes a different turn—into rest. In the week following Easter, we practice Sabbath as a community at Missio Dei, making space to breathe, reflect, and “rest into resurrection.” This episode is an extension of that rhythm. Jonny sits down with his friend and fellow pastor Scott for a wide-ranging, unhurried conversation about fly fishing, spirituality, discipleship, and the kinds of practices that form us over time. What begins as a conversation about being on the water becomes something deeper—a reflection on presence, patience, and the quiet ways God meets us in the ordinary. This isn’t a typical episode—and it’s not meant to be. It’s slower. More spacious. Whether you fish or not, this conversation is an invitation: to step away, to pay attention, and to receive rest in whatever wilderness space you can find. We’ll be back soon with more episodes in our atonement series. For now—take a breath, and enjoy the conversation.

In this episode, Jonny sits down with theologian and pastor Greg Boyd to explore one of the most transformative ideas in contemporary theology: what if God truly looks like Jesus—crucified? Together, they trace Greg’s journey from academic theology into pastoral ministry, and into a lifetime of wrestling with Scripture, violence, and the character of God. The conversation centers on what Greg calls a “cruciform hermeneutic”—reading the entire Bible through the lens of the cross—and how that reshapes everything from troubling Old Testament passages to the nature of the kingdom of God. They also dive into: Why the cross is the “center of the center” of Christian faithHow to read difficult or violent biblical texts without dismissing ScriptureWhat a cross-shaped (cruciform) kingdom actually looks like in everyday lifeRethinking atonement beyond punishment toward restoration and healingHow the church can embody a nonviolent, self-giving love in a fractured world

In this episode, Jonny sits down with New Testament scholar Michael Gorman for a rich conversation about atonement, the cross, and the new covenant. Together they explore what atonement means, what many popular models miss, and how the death of Jesus is not only the source of salvation but also its shape. Along the way, they talk about participation, transformation, reconciliation, and why the cross matters not just for individuals, but for communities and the whole life of faith.

In this episode, Jonny sits down with theologian and seminary professor Dr. Mark Baker to talk about the cross, the atonement, and why the way we tell that story matters—pastorally, biblically, and ethically. Mark shares the story of becoming a scholar shaped by mission work in Honduras, where poverty, violence, and “toxic theology” forced deeper questions: Who is the God we believe in? What kind of God does our atonement story portray? From there, we explore what atonement means (“the saving significance of the cross and resurrection”), why Christians often collapse a wide biblical vision into a narrow framework, and how the New Testament offers a multiplicity of images—liberation, shame and welcome, redemption, union with Christ, and Christus Victor triumph over powers. This is a conversation about more Jesus and more cross—not less. Atonement isn’t a single metaphor. It’s the heart of the gospel told in many faithful languages, for many kinds of human need. For more, check out Mark's website.

Jonny talks with Jeremy Duncan about reading Revelation well—through Jesus, not fear. Together they unpack rapture culture, empire, and apocalyptic despair, and explore why Revelation is less about predicting the future and more about forming a hopeful, nonviolent people in the present.

Jonny sits down with Dr. R. Dennis Edwards—New Testament scholar, longtime pastor, and Jonny’s former professor—to talk about how leaders and everyday Christians can read Scripture with more depth and humility. Dr. Edwards shares his journey from a storefront church where questions were discouraged to a life of ministry, church planting, and teaching, then explores what’s changed today: growing skepticism toward “experts,” thinning Bible literacy, and the way modern content habits shape faith. Together they unpack what it means to read the Bible in community—with the historic tradition, with present-day voices across cultures and social locations, and with special attention to the margins—so we don’t settle for “whatever it means to you,” but learn to read faithfully with wise guides and a wider church.

In this episode, Jonny sits down with Old Testament scholar Dr. Ingrid Faro (Northern Seminary) to talk about her book Redeeming Eden, where she with deep but accessible scholarship helps us reread the story of women throughout the Old Testament. Dr. Faro shows us what we get wrong, especially concerning how women in the Bible have been vilified, sexualized, marginalized, or misread through cultural lenses that aren’t actually the Bible’s and how their stories are actually essential to redemptive history. Resources Mentioned Redeeming Eden (Ingrid Faro) Tell Her Story (Nijay Gupta) Paul and Gender (Cynthia Westfall) Nobody’s Mother (Sandra Glahn)Ingrid Faro’s website

In this conversation, Dr. Tim Geddert (biblical scholar and longtime professor) shares why reading the Bible as a storychanges everything—from how we handle ethics, history, and “hard texts,” to how we understand discipleship and the role of the Old Testament. We talk about why people today are often persuaded by experiencing Scripture rather than “solving” objections, why “story” doesn’t mean “fiction,” how Jesus both affirms and re-reads the Old Testament, and why the church should never draw a straight line from Israel’s national wars to modern nationalism. Along the way, we explore Scripture as a drama we’re invited to participate in—improvising faithfully as we follow Jesus in the middle of God’s big plot: creation, Jesus, new creation. Key themes Why biblical engagement shifted from apologetics to lived, communal plausibilityWhat it means to say “the Bible tells a story” (without flattening genres)The dangers of “spiritual nuggets” and reading characters as moral heroesCreation → Jesus → New Creation as the non-negotiable story spineStory vs. drama: we’re in the last act, and our choices matterWhy the Old Testament is our story (and how Jesus reads it)Violence texts, judgment, and the honest tension of a Jesus-shaped God-imageCovenant people vs. nation-state: a direct challenge to Christian nationalismImages of God (portrait gallery) vs. abstract doctrines (Plato problem)Walter Brueggemann, Texts Under NegotiationGospel references: Matthew 5; Mark 2; Acts 15Themes referenced: “creation / new creation”; “God’s will on earth as in heaven”; Christian nationalism critiques About the guest Dr. Tim Geddert is a biblical scholar (known especially for work on Mark and reading the Old Testament as story) and a longtime teacher of pastors and church leaders.