Theology Made Podcast

Thomas Aquinas spent forty years building the most ambitious intellectual project in Western history, a single unified framework to explain God, creation, evil, the soul, and everything in between. Thousands of pages. Hundreds of arguments. A system so rigorous that the Catholic Church made it their official theology for seven centuries.Then, on December 6th, 1273, he stopped writing. Mid-sentence. Mid-project. And when his secretary begged him to continue, he said: “Everything I have written seems like straw compared to what I have seen.”Not incomplete. Not a rough draft. Straw.In this episode of Theology Made, we trace what Aquinas was actually attempting and what it means that the most disciplined theological mind in history reached the edge of what reason could hold, and found that the edge wasn’t the end.For anyone who has ever understood a great deal about God and still felt like something essential remained just out of reach.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this episode left you wanting more than information about God, the Faith Without Fear workshop gives you a theological framework for actually interpreting your life, your doubt, and the world around you. It’s not more content to consume, it’s a lens that changes how you read everything. Workshop Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

In 1004 AD, a Byzantine princess arrived in Venice with a scandalous piece of gold luggage: a two-pronged fork. To the local clergy, this wasn’t high fashion—it was a theological rebellion.How did a simple tool for eating become “The Devil’s Pitchfork”? This week, we explore the “Trial of the Fork,” a forgotten war between human innovation and Divine design. We’ll follow the fork from the scathing rebukes of Saint Peter Damian to the pasta-fueled revolution of the Renaissance, finally uncovering how a “satanic” luxury became a mandatory standard of Christian “cleanliness.”It turns out, the history of how we eat is actually a history of how we view God.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this episode left you wanting more than information about God, the Faith Without Fear workshop gives you a theological framework for actually interpreting your life, your doubt, and the world around you. It’s not more content to consume, it’s a lens that changes how you read everything. Workshop Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

In the Roman Empire, the first Christians weren’t persecuted for believing too much. They were persecuted for believing too little.When we hear the word “atheist” today, we think of someone who denies the existence of the divine. But to a 2nd-century Roman, an atheist wasn’t someone who lacked an inner belief—it was someone who lacked a public practice.In this episode, we dismantle our modern assumptions about religion and return to a world where “God” was woven into every marketplace, military oath, and political assembly. We explore why the Roman system—which was famously tolerant of thousands of local deities—could not tolerate the exclusive worship of Jesus.Theology Made is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this episode left you wanting more than information about God, the Faith Without Fear workshop gives you a theological framework for actually interpreting your life, your doubt, and the world around you. It’s not more content to consume, it’s a lens that changes how you read everything. Workshop Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Did you know the modern weekend exists because of theology? In this episode, we explore how the Jewish Sabbath, the Christian Lord’s Day, and the Industrial Revolution collided to create the two-day weekend we take for granted today. From Constantine’s 321 AD decree to labor movements and the modern digital economy, this episode uncovers the surprising religious roots of our “time off.”Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this episode left you wanting more than information about God, the Faith Without Fear workshop gives you a theological framework for actually interpreting your life, your doubt, and the world around you. It’s not more content to consume, it’s a lens that changes how you read everything. Workshop Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

How did a global movement survive without a handbook? We live in a print-first world where authority is “final draft” and footnoted. But the early Church had no chapters, no verses, and no agreed-upon list of books.This week, we’re deconstructing our “90s red-letter” assumptions to look at the oral, lived reality of the first Christians. From Paul’s letters being heard as “events” to the “reversal” that the Church actually recognized the Bible into existence, we discuss why treating the Bible as a standalone object might be limiting its power. It was never meant to be a reference manual; it was meant to be a story that shapes us together.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this episode left you wanting more than information about God, the Faith Without Fear workshop gives you a theological framework for actually interpreting your life, your doubt, and the world around you. It’s not more content to consume, it’s a lens that changes how you read everything. Workshop Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

We’ve all heard the story: A small, persecuted sect made a shady deal with Emperor Constantine, traded its soul for power, and took over the world by force. It’s a tidy narrative that fuels modern cynicism, but it has one major problem: It isn’t true.In this episode, we dismantle the myth of the “Christian Conquest.” We explore why the Roman Empire (a world saturated with gods, hierarchy, and power) wasn’t looking for a Savior, and why the early Christians were viewed not as heroes, but as dangerous “atheists” and social disruptors.Inside this episode:• The “Atheist” Christians: Why refusing to burn incense was considered an act of treason.• Pliny’s Dilemma: The survives letters of a Roman governor who couldn’t find a crime, yet still ordered executions.• The Radical Table: How slave and free, man and woman, reshaped the meaning of “human” in a stratified world.• The Constantine Reality Check: Why the Emperor didn’t “create” Christian influence, but merely finally recognized it.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this episode left you wanting more than information about God, the Faith Without Fear workshop gives you a theological framework for actually interpreting your life, your doubt, and the world around you. It’s not more content to consume, it’s a lens that changes how you read everything. Workshop Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Headline: The Church is dying. (At least, that’s what we’ve said since 100 AD.)It feels like we are living through a unique collapse. Attendance is cratering, trust is fractured, and the cultural influence of the Church seems to be evaporating in real-time. But what if this isn’t the end? What if it’s a pattern?In this episode, we take a long view of history, from the “atheist” accusations of the second century to the fall of Rome and the fractures of the Reformation. We explore how every generation mistakes the loss of familiarity for the death of faith.We discuss:• The Augustine Option: How to stop confusing the City of Man with the City of God.• The Power Paradox: Why Christianity is often at its most corrupt when it is most powerful, and most alive when it is most marginal.• The Gift of Disentanglement: Why the current “deconstruction” might actually be a necessary stripping away of cultural baggage.History suggests that the Church doesn’t survive because it is protected; it survives because it is resilient. Join us as we move past the panic of decline and ask the more uncomfortable, hopeful question: What is being stripped away so that something truer can remain?Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Once a year, St. Patrick becomes a mascot.Green hats. Parades. Beer labels. Snakes chased into the sea. The problem? Almost none of that has anything to do with the real man.In this episode, we strip away the myth and recover the historical St. Patrick—not the cheerful Irish icon, but the traumatized former slave, reluctant missionary, and deeply insecure Christian whose faith was forged under pressure, not polish.Patrick wasn’t Irish. He didn’t start strong. He didn’t feel called so much as cornered by obedience. Kidnapped as a teenager. Enslaved for six years. Converted slowly through fear, hunger, and isolation. And then—against every instinct—sent back to the very people who broke him.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

In the red corner, Thomas Jefferson. In the blue corner, Benjamin Franklin. In June 1776, a single editorial change shifted the foundation of American history. Jefferson originally wrote that our rights were “sacred and undeniable,” grounding them in a divine Creator. But Franklin the “Maestro of Reason” crossed them out, opting for the famous phrase we know today: “Self-evident.” In this episode, we step into the ring with two Founding Fathers to settle the score. Was Franklin right that human rights can be proven through logic alone? Or does the harsh reality of biology and history prove that without a “sacred” foundation, the idea of equality falls apart?Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Everyone says it. Politicians, activists, corporations, and even churches. We’re told to stay on “the right side of history,” but we rarely stop to ask: Why does history have a side at all?In this episode of the Theology Made Podcast, we deconstruct one of the most popular secular phrases of our time. Most people assume history is an arrow moving toward progress, but for most of human history, no one believed that. From the cyclical time of ancient Greek philosophy and Hindu yugas to the narratives of decline in Rome, the ancient world saw history as a wheel to be endured, not a story to be won.The “Right Side of History” only makes sense if the Bible is true. We explore how the Judeo-Christian worldview introduced linear time, moving from Creation to a final Judgment. Without a “Moral Accountant,” the “right side” is just whoever is loudest or strongest. With the Bible, the “right side” is a matter of ultimate justice.Theology Made is a listenerreader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Every time you check the date, you’re stepping into a story you didn’t choose. The year on your phone, the seven-day week, even the emotional rhythm of the seasons all exist because of biblical theology, whether you believe it or not. In this episode, we trace how a sixth-century monk quietly dethroned Roman emperors by dating time from the life of Jesus, why the seven-day week has no scientific reason to exist, and how failed attempts by Rome, revolutionary France, and the Soviet Union prove that Scripture shaped time itself. Calendars aren’t neutral. They tell you what matters, where history starts, and where it’s going.We also explore how Christianity rewired humanity’s understanding of the future, turning history from endless cycles or inevitable decline into a forward-moving story of hope, justice, and restoration. Advent, Easter, Sabbath, even the idea of “progress” didn’t come from modern optimism; they came from the Bible. You may live in a post-Christian world, but your calendar hasn’t caught the memo. Time has been catechizing you all along. And once you see it, you’ll never look at a date the same way again.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

For the first 300 years of Christianity, the most recognizable symbol of the faith today was almost entirely absent. No crosses on walls. No crucifixes in worship. No jewelry shaped like Calvary. That wasn’t because early Christians were ashamed of Jesus, it’s because the cross, in the ancient world, was an execution device so brutal and humiliating it was closer to an electric chair than a religious emblem. To Romans it was vulgar. To Jews it signaled a curse. To Greeks it mocked any idea of divine dignity. Leading with the cross would have ended Christianity before it began.In this episode, we explore why ancient Christians avoided the cross, what symbols they used instead (the fish, the anchor, the Good Shepherd, the Chi-Rho), and how persecution shaped Christian imagination and art. We look at Roman attitudes toward crucifixion, Paul’s insistence on the scandal of “Christ crucified,” early graffiti mocking Christian worship, and the slow, careful theological work it took for the Church to reinterpret the cross as victory rather than horror.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this episode left you wanting more than information about God, the Faith Without Fear workshop gives you a theological framework for actually interpreting your life, your doubt, and the world around you. It’s not more content to consume, it’s a lens that changes how you read everything. Workshop Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Before movies, projectors, or IMAX screens, medieval cathedrals were the most immersive storytelling spaces in the world. In this episode, we explore how Gothic cathedrals used architecture, stained glass, light, and sound to teach Christian theology to a largely illiterate society. Pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses weren’t just engineering breakthroughs, they made space for massive stained-glass windows that functioned as a visual Bible. These towering churches became theological classrooms where Scripture was preached through color, scale, and awe, turning worship into a fully embodied, cinematic experience centuries before modern media.This episode reveals why medieval cathedral design still matters today. Cathedrals weren’t built to inform; they were built to form. Every column, window, echo, and shadow carried meaning, shaping belief through beauty and immersion. At a time when modern Christianity often relies on screens and sound systems, medieval architecture reminds us that truth can be built, not just spoken. If you’re interested in church history, Christian theology, Gothic architecture, or the hidden innovations that shaped how faith was taught, this episode shows how the Church once made theology unavoidable and breathtaking.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

A thousand years before Bach, Mozart, Beyoncé, or your Spotify playlist, a Benedictine monk quietly invented the entire system that makes Western music possible. Staff lines, Do–Re–Mi, sight-singing, the logic of melody—none of it exists without Guido of Arezzo. This is the story of how a frustrated choir teacher gave the world modern music… all because he wanted monks to sing on pitch.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If you love discovering the hidden stories of the Church, you’ll love this course. Theology Made Simple gives you the tools to make sense of complex ideas just like we do on the podcast: https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/4WzxaJoz Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Step into Oxford in the year 1096: muddy streets, cramped halls, chickens underfoot… and the sound of students shouting Latin at the top of their lungs. It wasn’t polished, but something revolutionary was being born.This episode uncovers the surprising truth: the university is a Christian invention.Before Oxford or Paris ever had quads and lecture halls, the Church built the only places in the world where ordinary people (not nobles, not monks) could pursue knowledge openly. Cathedral schools, monastic libraries, and Christian convictions about truth, reason, creation, and the human mind laid the foundations for:* The scientific method* Academic freedom* The liberal arts* Law, medicine, and theology as unified disciplines* The very idea of a “universitas” — a community of learnersDiscovered the profound way Christianity shaped modern education.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.And if this opens your eyes to how deeply Christianity shaped our world, you’ll love the Theology Made course, it is built to teach you the way the first universities taught. Click the link to start learning today: https://theologymade.mykajabi.com/offers/4WzxaJozway Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Before hobbits, elves, or rings, there was a pew.In this episode, we go beneath the surface of The Lord of the Rings and into the mind that built it, J.R.R. Tolkien, a man formed not primarily by Oxford, war, or philology, but by Catholic faith. Tolkien didn’t write an allegory, and he wasn’t preaching through fantasy. He was doing something far more interesting: letting theology shape the imagination.We trace how Tolkien’s orphaned childhood, sacramental worldview, and fierce loyalty to the Church formed the creative soil of Middle-earth. From the cosmic music of the Ainulindalë to the Augustinian view of evil as distortion, we explore why creation in Tolkien’s world feels enchanted, meaningful, and morally coherent.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

This Christmas week, we’re going to Oxford—into the quiet study of J.R.R. Tolkien, where a young father and future literary giant spent twenty years writing letters from “Father Christmas” to his children.But these weren’t cute holiday notes.They were battles with goblins, polar bears on the brink of disaster, and hand-drawn worlds shimmering with meaning.And behind it all was a theology Tolkien rarely stated but always lived: that imagination is an echo of the Incarnation itself.In this episode, we trace the hidden gospel inside The Father Christmas Letters, explore Tolkien’s idea of “sub-creation,” and discover why the Creator stepping into His own story is the ultimate myth become fact.If you’ve ever wondered how fantasy, faith, and Christmas intersect—this is your invitation to see the season through Tolkien’s eyes.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

On Christmas Eve, 1914, in the trenches of World War I, guns fell silent.Across the frozen front lines, soldiers from opposing sides began to sing the same carol “Silent Night.”In this episode, we trace the unlikely journey of the world’s most beloved Christmas hymn: from a small Austrian village in 1818 to the muddy battlefields of Europe, where it became a moment of impossible peace.You’ll hear how a broken organ, a humble priest, and a melody written for guitar gave birth to a song that has outlived empires and why its quiet message still disarms hearts today.Go deeper this Advent with The Gift of Waiting a devotional for the season of holy anticipation.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Before Christmas was a countdown, it was a cry for God to come.In this episode, we rediscover Advent; not as a warm-up to Christmas, but as a sacred season of longing. Long before lights and carols, the early Church called December a second Lent: a time to fast, pray, and remember why the Light had to enter the darkness.From ancient cathedrals in Gaul to modern living rooms lit by a single candle, this episode traces the forgotten history and theology of waiting. You’ll hear how Advent began as a “double horizon” looking back to Bethlehem and forward to Christ’s return and why slowing down may be the most countercultural act of faith in a hurried world.If you’ve ever felt weary, restless, or like God is taking too long, this is your invitation to rediscover the holiness of the in-between.Want to go deeper? Explore The Gift of Waiting, a devotional written for this very season.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Before there was Santa Claus, there was a saint, a fourth-century bishop named Nicholas of Myra.He didn’t live at the North Pole or slide down chimneys… but he did throw bags of gold through windows, rescue the desperate, and—according to legend—once punched a heretic at the Council of Nicaea.In this episode, we trace the true story behind one of the most beloved figures in history from persecution under Rome to defending the deity of Christ and discover how the real Saint Nicholas turned Christmas generosity into a living picture of the Incarnation itself.Listen to rediscover:* The origins of Saint Nicholas and his acts of hidden generosity* The truth behind “the slap heard ’round Nicaea”* How his story became the foundation for Santa Claus* The deeper theology of giving, waiting, and AdventTheology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Every November, one bird takes center stage on millions of tables and somehow, it’s not the bald eagle. The wild turkey, awkward and unmajestic, became America’s sacred symbol long before parades and pumpkin pie. But how?In this Thanksgiving deep dive, Theology Made traces the strange story of the turkey from the forests of New England to Benjamin Franklin’s letters and Lincoln’s proclamation. Along the way, we uncover what this humble bird reveals about providence, gratitude, and the theology of ordinary things.Why did early settlers see turkeys as proof of divine care? Why did Franklin call it the “respectable bird” of virtue? And how did it become the centerpiece of a national ritual of gratitude?This episode explores the intersection of faith, food, and history showing that even the bird on your table is preaching a quiet sermon: grace often arrives in the most ordinary form.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

When we think of Thanksgiving, we picture peace — family tables, roasted turkeys, gratitude lists, and pumpkin pie. But the real story of America’s national day of thanks began not in abundance, but in blood.In 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving. The Union was fracturing. Thousands were dying. And yet, in the middle of the nation’s darkest hour, Lincoln dared to call America to give thanks.This episode explores the theology behind Lincoln’s Thanksgiving — how a grieving president and a persistent editor helped create a holiday of covenant humility, not sentimentality. Discover how Lincoln’s faith in divine providence transformed gratitude from a feeling into an act of defiant faith.Because Thanksgiving didn’t begin at a feast.It began at an altar.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

We all think we know the story of the First Thanksgiving, Pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a peaceful feast over turkey and pumpkin pie. But the truth is far more complex and theological.In this episode of Theology Made, we uncover the real story behind the First Thanksgiving; a story not of cozy tradition, but of starvation, survival, providence, and covenant faith. The Pilgrims who gathered in 1621 had buried half their colony. They didn’t see their survival as luck, but as divine mercy. Their gratitude wasn’t sentimental, it was theology lived out in suffering.We also explore the Wampanoag worldview, their spirituality of the land, and how two very different theologies of gratitude, Puritan providence and Native American reciprocity, met around one fragile table.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Step aboard the Mayflower and into the stormy origins of American faith. The Puritans and the Birth of American Theology explores how covenant, Scripture, and suffering at sea shaped not only a colony, but the very DNA of American religion. From the English Reformation and Calvinist theology to the Mayflower Compact and John Winthrop’s vision of a “city upon a hill,” this episode traces how the Puritans carried their theology across the Atlantic and planted seeds that still shape American identity today. Discover how covenant theology forged families, towns, and governments—and how its legacy of courage, discipline, and controversy continues to echo in debates about faith, freedom, and national destiny.If you’ve ever wondered how the Pilgrims’ perilous voyage and the Puritans’ covenant vision gave birth to the earliest expressions of American theology, this deep-dive is your guide. Perfect for history lovers, theology enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the spiritual roots of the American story.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Halloween didn’t start with candy, costumes, and haunted houses. Long before pumpkins glowed on porches, the night belonged to bonfires, monks, and saints. In this deep-dive episode,we trace the story of October 31st—from the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the medieval church’s vigil of All Hallows, to Luther’s hammer on the church door, to the immigrant streets of America.Along the way, we’ll see how the saints once claimed Halloween, reshaping it from a night of fear into a night of hope. And we’ll ask the deeper question that has haunted every version of Halloween across history: What do we do with death?This isn’t only history, it’s theology, culture, and the gospel colliding in one unforgettable night.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

The Jesus People and the Electric GuitarIn the late 1960s, no one expected a revival to break out among America’s hippies. They were supposed to be lost to drugs, protests, and free love. Instead, they found Jesus, on beaches, in coffeehouses, and through songs strummed on battered guitars.This is the story of the Jesus People movement: baptisms in the Pacific surf, barefoot worship circles, and music that rewired the soundtrack of Christianity. From Larry Norman’s rock anthems to the rise of Calvary Chapel and Vineyard, the Jesus People reshaped the church in ways still felt today.It’s a tale of rebellion and renewal, wildfire passion and messy fallout, irony and legacy. A countercultural revival that became the very establishment it resisted.If you’ve ever sung worship with a guitar, joined a seeker-friendly church, or streamed Hillsong, Bethel, or Elevation, you’re living in the world the Jesus People built.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

“Amazing Grace” may be the most famous hymn ever written — sung at funerals and protests, in cathedrals and stadiums. But its origins are stranger, darker, and more powerful than most people realize. Born from the pen of John Newton, a former slave trader turned pastor, the hymn’s journey from an obscure English parish to a global anthem of hope is a story of sin, redemption, and the surprising ways theology goes viral. In this episode, we trace how a simple song crossed oceans, fueled revivals, was adopted by enslaved communities, and became the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s the story of how one man’s confession became the world’s hymn.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

In the 1800s, a quiet Augustinian friar in a monastery garden uncovered the laws of heredity, decades before anyone knew what DNA was. His name was Gregor Mendel, the “godfather of genetics.” This episode explores how his faith shaped his science, why his work was ignored in his lifetime, and what his story teaches us about hiddenness, legacy, and the fingerprints of God in creation.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

What comes to mind when you picture the devil? Horns. A pitchfork. Red tights.But that image isn’t biblical, it’s medieval.In this episode, Jordan traces the surprising story of how one saint’s imagination, a few desert monks, and centuries of theater and art gave Satan his face. From serpents in the catacombs, to horned hybrids borrowed from Pan, to the booming devils of mystery plays, this is how evil got branded.The devil you know today? He’s less Scripture and more stagecraft. And that may be his greatest trick of all.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

In 1925, a small-town courtroom in Dayton, Tennessee became the stage for one of the most famous trials in American history. The “Monkey Trial” wasn’t really about Darwin, evolution, or even a $100 fine. It was about dignity.When Clarence Darrow grilled William Jennings Bryan on the witness stand, the courtroom laughed. Newspapers printed cartoons of monkey-preachers. And in that laughter, evangelicals—who had once stood at the center of American life, suddenly felt mocked, humiliated, pushed to the margins.This episode tells the real story of the Scopes Trial: not as science vs. faith, but as a turning point in cultural psychology. It was the moment American evangelicals shifted from confident insiders to defensive outsiders. From mainstream to subculture. From leading the nation to building a world of their own.Nearly a century later, we’re still living in its shadow.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Empire of Relics: When Bones, Blood, and Bread Became the Currency of the SacredWhat happens when faith turns material? In the Middle Ages, relics were more than devotional objects, they were power. The finger of a saint could draw pilgrims across Europe. A vial of blood could bankroll a cathedral. A splinter of the “true cross” could legitimize an empire.In this episode, we step inside the strange economy of holiness: where churches competed for body parts, kings went to war over bones, and ordinary believers risked everything to touch a fragment of the sacred.Was it faith or fraud? Devotion or desperation? By the end, you’ll see how relics shaped not only medieval spirituality but the very map of Europe itself.If you thought crypto was volatile, wait until you hear about the black market for saints’ teeth.Theology Made is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

We all picture angels with white feathers, halos, and harps, but the Bible never describes them that way. In Scripture, angels show up as messengers, warriors, and servants of God’s will but never as winged ornaments. So where did the wings come from?This episode traces the surprising history of how angels grew wings: from the throne guardians of Isaiah and Ezekiel, to pagan gods like Nike and Hermes, to Byzantine mosaics, medieval theater, and Renaissance masterpieces. Along the way, we’ll see how desert monks reshaped the devil, how mystery plays fixed wings into the popular imagination, and how art from, Gislebertus to Botticelli to Bosch sealed the image we still carry today.By the end, you’ll discover the fascinating truth: angels don’t need wings to carry God’s message. The real story is stranger and more awe-inspiring than the myths we’ve inherited.Theology Made is a listener/reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

In the 16th century, a bitter, dark drink swept into Europe from the Muslim world and panic followed. Priests called it “the invention of Satan.” Rumors claimed it fueled heresy, addiction, and political unrest. Some feared it might even replace wine in Christian life.The controversy reached the Pope himself. What happened next would transform coffee from a suspicious foreign vice into the drink of choice for priests, scholars, and theologians, and turn coffeehouses into the “penny universities” of the Christian world.This is the strange, true story of how a hot cup of controversy became a catalyst for conversation, culture, and even the Church’s mission.Theology Made is a reader/listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Rome, 897.On a gray January day, the streets of the Eternal City fill with bakers, monks, and merchants, all walking toward the Lateran Basilica. Inside, beneath flickering candles and the scent of incense, a corpse sits on the papal throne. What follows is one of the strangest trials in church history: a pope on trial months after his death.This is the story of the Cadaver Synod. A mix of political revenge, theological controversy, and public outrage that forced the Church to answer a question still relevant today: Does the validity of a sacrament depend on the holiness of the person who gives it?Theology Made is a reader/listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

They didn’t just pray for the sick, they stayed.While the rest of the world fled plagues, early Christians moved toward the dying.They didn’t wait for governments to act. They built something entirely new: the hospital.In this episode of Theology Made, we trace the radical roots of medical care not to ancient Greece, Rome, or science alone, but to the revolutionary compassion of the early Church. You’ll meet Bishop Basil the Great, see how monasteries became medieval trauma centers, and discover why the first hospitals weren’t sterile institutions, but small cities of mercy.This is the story of how theology turned into infrastructure.And why, even in a world of advanced medicine, we still need a theology of compassion.Theology Made is reader/listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

We’ve all heard the story of the Salem Witch Trials, but most of what we know barely scratches the surface. This episode unpacks the deeper forces behind one of America’s most infamous chapters: political instability, religious fervor, social vendettas, and the terrifying power of unchecked accusations. More than a tale of superstition, Salem reveals how fear and groupthink can turn neighbor against neighbor, and how justice can vanish when reason is abandoned. What happened in 1692 isn’t just history. It’s a warning.Theology Made is reader/listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Before the councils. Before the creeds. There was Macrina. She never wrote a book or held a title, but her faith, intellect, and quiet influence shaped two of the most important theologians in church history: Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. This episode tells the powerful story of the woman behind the Trinity as we know it and why her fingerprints are still on our faith today.Theology Made is listener/reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this post helped you see God or the world a little more clearly, you can keep the coffee flowing and the ideas coming by supporting me here. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Before William Carey. Before Adoniram Judson. Before the mission boards and the maps, there was George Liele. A formerly enslaved Black man who preached with power, crossed an ocean, and planted churches before the modern missions movement even began. He had no passport, no denomination, and no platform. Just a Bible, a burning conviction, and the courage to go where no one had gone. So why isn’t he in the textbooks?This is the story of the first American missionary, forgotten by history, remembered by heaven.Theology Made is listener/reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this post helped you see God or the world a little more clearly, you can keep the coffee flowing and the ideas coming by supporting me here. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

In 1962, a 22-word prayer changed American history. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t controversial, at first. But when Engel v. Vitale reached the U.S. Supreme Court, it ignited a national firestorm over religion, freedom, and the role of faith in public life.Was this the moment God got kicked out of the classroom?Or was it a courageous defense of religious liberty?In this episode of the Theology Made Podcast, we unpack the courtroom case that still echoes through today’s culture wars. You'll hear the forgotten story behind the lawsuit, why Cold War fear shaped the debate, and what this case reveals about the danger of cozying up faith with political power.Theology Made is reader and listener-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.If this post helped you see God or the world a little more clearly, you can keep the coffee flowing and the ideas coming by supporting me here. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Before hashtags, hot takes, and going vliral meant a million views, there was the medieval pilgrimage. In this episode, we explore how spiritual journeys to places like Canterbury and Compostela became the original social network. Pilgrimage was not just a religious ritual. It was a medieval mix of Twitter threads, TikTok trends, Amazon storefronts, and reputation management. Along muddy roads and crowded shrines, people traded stories, relics, gossip, and grace. This is the story of how walking shaped belief, collapsed social classes, and curated a spiritual feed long before the internet. What if our digital networks are just faster echoes of something ancient? And what might it mean to recover the slowness of sacred travel today?Theology Made is listener/reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Imagine a document so powerful it gave the pope divine authority over kings and no one questioned it for 700 years. It claimed to be from Constantine the Great himself. It was quoted, revered, and used to justify centuries of papal rule.There’s just one problem: It was completely fake.In this episode, we uncover the wild true story of the Donation of Constantine, the most influential forgery in Church history, and the unlikely hero who exposed it: a Renaissance linguist named Lorenzo Valla.No sword. No protest. Just a pen, a sharp eye, and the courage to ask: “Who really wrote this?”Theology Made is listener/reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe

Written and narrated by Jordan ValeMusic by Epidemic SoundCopyright, Theology Made/Jordan Vale, 2025References Daniell, D. (1994). William Tyndale: A biography. Yale University Press.Mozley, J. F. (1937). William Tyndale. The Macmillan Company.The British Library. (n.d.). William Tyndale. https://www.bl.uk/people/william-tyndaleReformation.org. (n.d.). Tyndale’s final words. https://www.reformation.org/tyndale-final-words.htmlThe Tyndale Society. (n.d.). Home. https://www.tyndale.orgKing James Bible. (1611). Preface to the reader. (Original work published 1611)Bebbington, D. W. (1989). Evangelicalism in modern Britain: A history from the 1730s to the 1980s. Unwin Hyman. Get full access to Theology Made at theologymade.substack.com/subscribe