We recorded this episode earlier in the week, before the murder of George Floyd by (now former) Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. On Friday, we quickly recorded a special introduction to briefly address that injustice and the ensuing organization for justice in Minneapolis, where Fr. Shay. A big part of that for us, as white guys, is to listen to and follow the lead of Black organizers. We share some of that in the episode and below. We’ll talk in more depth about this in next week’s episode.

Organizations mentioned in the “pre-show”

• Minnesota Freedom Fund
• Reclaim The Block
• Black Visions Collective
• MPD 150
• Find a chapter of Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) near you
• or how to start one if there isn’t one near you
• Anti-Racism Resources for White People
• The Color of Violence by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence

Happy Pentecost! In today’s episode, we answer a reader/listener question that was sent via Tumblr about heaven, hell, and satan. This reader was also wondering if NOT believing any of this would automatically cancel out your Christianity? If you’re interested to know our thoughts around that, then stay tuned. 

We also queer this week’s text from Acts 2:1-21 and we share our love for this passage. We also share how this passage is very relatable for queer folks and the work that we do. There’s so much that we’ve unpacked in this episode and we’re excited to dive into it with all of you.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Fr. Shay’s life updates: reading books and cooking on an instant pot [0:40]
• Brian’s current book read: Autoboyography [2:00]
• Queering the Bible course update [2:57]
• Shoutout to Jodi Hasel [4:03]
• Tumblr listener/reader question about the afterlife [4:32]
• Reacting to conservative understandings of heaven and hell [5:44]
• Can you still be a Christian if you don’t believe in the afterlife? [6:35]
• What does “believing” really mean? [8:09]
• We queer a text from Acts 2:1-21 [9:53]
• Why does Brian love this passage? [10:18]
• On bringing our WHOLE self to this passage [11:11]
• A sense of community [12:15]
• What are we being emboldened to say right now? [14:12]
• Pentecost and LGBT Pride festivals [14:53]
• Check QueerTheology.com/queerbible to stay on the loop [16:31]

Articles mentioned in the podcast:
Is It All About Getting Into Heaven?
Holy Flamers: Pentecost Sunday 2013
The Power Of Community

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology

If you’d like to be featured in future episodes, email your question or Bible passage suggestion to connect@queertheology.com 

Acts 2:1-21

When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages. They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!” They were all surprised and bewildered. Some asked each other, “What does this mean?” Others jeered at them, saying, “They’re full of new wine!”

Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

    Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

    Your young will see visions.

    Your elders will dream dreams.

    Even upon my servants, men and women,

        I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

        and they will prophesy.

I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above

    and signs on the earth below,

        blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.

The sun will be changed into darkness,

    and the moon will be changed into blood,

        before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Photo by Andrej Lišakov