[Faith] Episode 57: Janet Williams - What We Can (and Can’t) Say About God

[Faith] Episode 57: Janet Williams - What We Can (and Can’t) Say About God

Author: Peter Enns and Jared Byas May 5, 2025 Duration: 1:04:03
In this episode of Faith for Normal People, Pete Enns and Anna Sieges Beal talk with theologian Janet Williams about apophatic theology, a tradition that emphasizes the mystery of God by acknowledging the limits of human language and understanding. Janet explores how describing God by what God is not—rather than what God is—can open up a deeper, more expansive experience of the divine. Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-57-janet-williams-what-we-can-and-cant-say-about-god/  Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/i4BPhsMg41k ********** This episode is brought to you by Skylight. The Skylight Calendar is here to keep your family organized! This beautifully designed digital display syncs with your existing calendars, making it effortless to track events, appointments, and reminders in one easy-to-see place. Right now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to SkylightCal.com/BIBLE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You’ve probably heard the Bible quoted, preached, and argued about, but how often do you get to explore it with curiosity instead of certainty? That’s the space The Bible For Normal People creates each week. Hosts Peter Enns and Jared Byas-scholars who understand both the academic weight and the everyday weight of scripture-guide conversations that are genuinely engaging and refreshingly human. They aren’t here to provide simple answers. Instead, they sit down with a diverse range of thinkers, from theologians and historians to artists and activists, to ask the complicated questions regular people actually have. In this podcast, you’ll hear discussions that acknowledge the ancient, messy, and profound nature of these texts, all while dismantling the idea that you need a special degree or piety to engage with them. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt on the outside of traditional religious dialogue but remains intrigued by the Bible’s stories, poetry, and enduring influence on culture and personal faith. The tone is conversational and often lighthearted, even when tackling heavy subjects, making deep scholarship accessible and relevant. If you’re looking for a place where doubt is welcome, history matters, and the sacred book is examined with both respect and honest inquiry, you’ve found it.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Bible For Normal People
Podcast Episodes
Episode 133: Pete Enns - The Book of Job [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Episode 132: Joe Gordon - A Conversation About Inspiration [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:51
Joe Gordon is a professor at Johnson University in Tennessee. In this episode, we talk with him about his book Divine Scripture in Human Understanding. We discuss what it means for the Bible to be inspired and how that a…
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Duration: 57:13
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Episode 130: Drew Hart - The Bible, Race, & White Supremacy (REISSUE) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:41
We’re revisiting an episode from Season 1 in which Dr. Drew G. I. Hart shares about the Bible and white supremacy. We get into what exactly white supremacy is and how it has influenced how we read the Bible and our theol…
Episode 128: Matthias Henze -  The Bible & Second Temple Judaism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:31
What happened during the time the writings of the Old Testament stopped and the New Testament writings began? People didn’t stop writing and what they wrote helps us better understand the context of the Bible. On this ep…
Episode 126: Kirsten Powers - The Journey To Grace [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:29
In this episode, Jared and Pete are joined by political correspondent Kirsten Powers, to talk about her journey of faith, her openness to the mystery of God, and how she’s learning to treat others with a higher level of…
Episode 124: Yii-Jan Lin - Immigration & the Book of Revelation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:09
Under the hood of America, we see an interesting history of using the book of Revelation to talk about immigration. Our guest, NT scholar Yii-Jan Lin walks us through the profound impact the book of Revelation has had on…