Wild Theology: Recent Episodes
Phil Wyman
Christian Pastor Phil Wyman visits the weird and wonderful world of people, places, and beliefs. Stonehenge on the Summer Solstice, Burning Man, the Witches of Salem during Halloween, and traveling with Rubber Tramps and Hippies. Full of philosophy, theology, the grittiness of life, humor, and an occasional pint.
The Following poems were read at the RS Thomas Literary Festival as part of a competition and open reading on September 18, 2022:
The Learner’s Eisteddfod
Siarad Cymraeg?
Ydw, I say. But, it’s barely true
One clumsy American. 100,000 Celtic warriors…faces painted blue. Or so I imagined.
But it’s only Taid a Nain and snotty Johnny Bach crying in the rain.
Dewi lifts his cup. Baptize the night in Bitters. Rhiannon dons the holy national garb... Wellies and short–shorts. A squabble of pubescent poets whistle and squawk around Rhiannon as she floats on mud and plastic pavements.
Despite the chiming of her birds, no one living slept that night.
The rains came hard. Sanctified our canvas homes, and everything we owned
was dipped in wind and water. This is my immersion, a festival of song and strange
tongues, far from my home of sun and surf.
In the Pavilion, a domesticated rebellion, a dream of crowns and thrones. We clap
the sword of peace. Does Bakhtin observe bemused from heaven as we inaugurate
this formal carnival with robed and solemn clowns?
Back at the old Welsh capel, their prayers break upon me, not just for these few hours,
nor for the days, but for the years…for eternity.* This is my home now…my Jerusalem.
Yet I will wake tomorrow, still that other, a stranger in this land of song and hwyl
and soft sorrows framed in yr hen iaith hir.
Siarad Cymraeg?
Ydw, I say. Leaning in.
- paraphrased from RS Thomas ‘The Other’, t. 457
Sonnet #5
In response to R.S. Thomas ‘The Lesson': “Return migrant, so your listeners arising on some May morning of the spirit may hear you whistling again softly…”
This God unseen, He hides beneath the robes
of cloud and sky and cracking thunderous nights
Behind the starry skies and sun’s stiff light
and winds that blow toward edge of curve of globe
He ever moving hides and then disrobes
a ghost who moves from in to out of sight
He hides I seek. I hide He seeks each night
and then upon hope’s door I pierce my lobe
I slave my ear to hear, my eye to see,
my mouth to cry in supplicating groans
I go to search, but stay to find my way
in paradox: in slavery I am free
to see, to hear, to cry these baleful moans
which celebrate the loss, the find, each day
In this episode entitled "The One Who Names Himself", I look at the frantic search for a meaning and fulfillment. Kanye West's declaration at Glastonbury that he was the greatest rock star on the planet and the Self-Help Movement are discussed as examples of this phenomenon.
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can find the video version at https://youtu.be/oAZH34Zh4os
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
John W. Morehead from MultiFaith Matters and I talk about the my new book Love Big or Go Home. He asks me about the origin story to this book, and I rehearse tales from my own nomadic travels and lessons learned through my time with nomads and assorted travelers.
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can find the video version at https://youtu.be/ozAkhGyK37Y
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
You can donate to the ongoing mission (which as of 2022 will be based in Wales) at the following secure PayPal link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NM7DT9LMXLC2C
In this Wild Theology Podcast, I consider the Pre-Easter vigil of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Christianity is framed by the idea that life comes from death, and suffering leads to growth and "glory".
Also, in this podcast, I introduce a song pulled form the archives of my life. I write this a number of years ago. It's not a great recording, but I do a touch of Logic Pro mastering magic should make it sound reasonable (a bit like an old Nick Drake recording, I suppose).
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can find the video version at https://youtu.be/pRK8rC77Jsg
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
This podcast looks back two years to the first podcasts I started doing. The audio is overdriven and scratchy, but the beginnings of my newly released book Love Big or Go Home were also being scratched out. So, here is a taster of my new book that outlines my Wild Theology about the gospel itself. This book was forged on the road with nomads, hippies, and the "motorhomeless", and in studies on ancient Christianity and the anthropology of developing American and UK homelessness and nomadism.
You can purchase Love Big or Go Home on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VRNB6MC
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can see the video version at https://youtu.be/h9DsSyBglfY
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
May 4th, 2022 (God willing) I will be moving somewhere near Caernarfon Wales. This is a dream come true, and includes another one of my wild ideas. Join me on this podcast as I share about my dream to live in Wales, and to spend a year and a day walking around the country, staying with the locals, getting to know the land, and speaking no language but Welsh for the entire time.
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can see the video version at https://youtu.be/Hzn1DlWPgec
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
In this Wild Theology Podcast Flashback, I look back to September 2019, and a recording I did with John Robinson. John is the founder and director of Lingua Christi, a non-profit in Wales, which focuses upon bringing the gospel to minority languages throughout Europe. John talks about the importance of sharing in the gospel in the language of a person's heart. This is at the center of my own upcoming mission to Wales. John's work among minority languages has been instrumental in influencing people to learn the languages of the places they go to hare their faith. If you have a heart for missions, his wisdom is worth your time.
You can support this podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/PhilWyman
Connect with me at:
https://www.facebook.com/philwyman https://twitter.com/PhilWyman https://www.philwyman.com https://www.BurningReligion.com https://www.SalemGathering.com
Once again, looking back a few years to this first of my podcasts, and realizing that these issues seem even more applicable today than they were when I first posted them. This is part three of a Flashback to Wild Theology Podcasts.
In this third episode of the Obscene Hermeneut, I discuss the issues of confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance, and I ask whether calling confirmation bias on others is evidence of it in ourselves, and wether we will be able to continue peacefully as a nation if things continue the way they are going now.
You can support this podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/PhilWyman
Connect with me at:
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This is the second episode looking at the subject I call The Obscene Hermeneut, and we ask whether it is possible that we are being polarized against our own neighbors. Have we begun to see evil where it does not exist?
You can support this podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/PhilWyman
Connect with me at: https://www.facebook.com/philwyman https://twitter.com/PhilWyman https://www.instagram.com/phil_wyman/ https://www.philwyman.com https://www.BurningReligion.com https://www.SalemGathering.com
In this episode I am returning to the very first podcasts of Wild Theology. This short episode, which is the first part of a series I did a few years back seems as appropriate as ever. Here is part 1 of the Obscene Hermeneut.
Everyone is a Hermeneut - an interpreter of the events around us and the things we see and read. Philosophers have talked about the Hermeneutics of Suspicion for decades. In this first episode of the Wild Theology Podcast, I discuss how we have moved from interpreting the world around us with suspicion to interpreting the actions of others with obscenity. We assume obscenity about others who hold wildly differing beliefs, but perhaps we need to ask ourselves what this means about us.
You can support this podcast at: https://www.patreon.com/PhilWyman
Connect with me at: https://www.facebook.com/philwyman https://twitter.com/PhilWyman https://www.instagram.com/phil_wyman/ https://www.philwyman.com https://www.BurningReligion.com https://www.SalemGathering.com
Shaily Patel is the Associate Professor of Early Christianity in the Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech. Her Doctoral Thesis was on the subject of Magic in Early Christian Traditions, and that's the topic of this podcast. We discuss the ways in which the early Christian writers delineated the difference between miracles and magic, and we look at how some people have seen both Jesus and Peter as Magicians.
Pastor Phil freaks out and needs his crucifix for this episode, which is weird because he actually doesn't own one. And Shaily shares her one big fear about things supernatural, which Phil is like "Yeah whatever, Let me at 'em, Let me at 'em!" But maybe he's just a like the Cowardly Lion. Find out on this episode of Wild Theology - Magic and the Early Church.
You can follow Shaily on Twitter @vox_magica
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
Between transitioning my mom to elder care after caring for her full-time through the first 18 months of COVID, to traveling, to working through Salem's monthlong Halloween, this is the first podcast in months. So, Hello all! Thanks to John W. Morehead for making this one happen.
In this podcast, I'm a guest on the Multifaith Matters Podcast hosted by John W. Morehead. We talk about the concept of liminality as it relates to the Christian witness in the world.
"Liminal" describes occupying a space at a boundary or threshold. John and I talk about occupying those spaces in our relationships with others.
You can find John Morehead on Podbean at: https://johnwmorehead.podbean.com
The Multifaith Matters website is www.multifaithmatters.org
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman
You can find the video version soon on YouTube
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
Lindsay Walker from Anglesey, North Wales talks about her new film, The Welshman. It covers a turbulent time in Welsh history, and covers the season of the building of the Trwyeryn reservoir, and the drowning if the Welsh village Capel Celyn.
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman
You can find the video version at: https://youtu.be/7ycMoiNASA4
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
Trigger Warning! This episode may challenge some of your most deeply held beliefs! :-)
But, of course, that's why you come to Wild Theology. Right? In my first episode with David Bennett, we talked about the origins of the Altar Call. This episode we look at the origins and theology behind the Sinner's Prayer. Dr. David Malcolm Bennett is concerned that the Sinner's Prayer represents an unhealthy shift in Evangelical theology. Find out why...
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman
You can find the video version at: https://YouTube.com/pkwyman
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
Shawn Welch did his doctoral thesis on the influence of American Evangelicalism upon the school of philosophy called Pragmatism. We talk about Jonathon Edwards and Charles Finney and their latent pragmatisms. Along the way we consider how pragmatic Evangelicals have become.
Interested in reading his doctoral thesis? You can download it at: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/155035
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman You can find the video version at https://www.youtube.pkwyman
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
In this podcast, I talk with David Malcolm Bennett in Australia. His Masters and Doctorate work have included topics such as the origin and history of the Altar Call, and of Left Behind Theology. Here we look at the Altar Call, and ever so briefly at the end, at the Sinner's Prayer. We ask where these came from, how they became fundamental to Evangelical praxis, and ponder potential ramifications.
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman
You can find the video version at: https://youtu.be/l2yZm37jb6E
Also connect with me at: https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
In this podcast, John W. Morehead from MultiFaith Matters and I discuss the blowback we sometimes receive for befriending people who come from positions radically different than our own Evangelical worldview.
We talk about developing friendships with Hindus, Mormons, Witches, and Satanists. Not everyone in the Christian church thinks this should be done, and we disagree. Find out why.
You can support this podcast at Patreon.com/PhilWyman
Diana Greenfield, the Goth Vicar of Glastonbury, is doing her doctoral work on the character of Brigid. Is this Irish 5th to 6th century woman (if she existed) a Pagan goddess or a Christian saint? Or is there another story to tell?
Diana gives us the skinny on her developing doctoral work on this topic.
Diana is an Anglican minister in the colorful town of Glastonbury, England. She has developed friendly relationships with the Pagan and Magickal community there, and offers us a view of Brigid that bridges the difficult gap between Pagan and Christian, and provides us with a way of speaking with one another.
Phil Wyman and Loren Sandford discuss the "Trump Prophecies", and what went wrong with the Christian Charismatic Prophetic Movement during the season of Trump's run for President and the years of his Presidency? Loren briefly joined the chorus voices declaring that Trump would be elected a second term, and when it didn't happen, he was among the few who apologized for doing so. Too see Loren's apology go to https://youtu.be/31weV5-GwlE
Loren discusses the opposition he received from apologizing, and the problems he sees within the movement.
You can support this podcast at https://Patreon.com/PhilWyman
Also connect with me at:
https://Facebook.com/PhilWyman https://Twitter.com/PhilWyman https://BurningReligion.com
I talk with my friend Christian Day from New Orleans. Christian is a Warlock and Occult entrepreneur. He owns a number of Witchcraft shops, and festivals. We discuss the fact that people believing and promoting the wild QAnon conspiracy theories are found in both Christian and Pagan circles.
Although we don't have the similar beliefs, we do find that there are places where we have similar struggles within our respective faith systems. Who would have thought that today's Paganism and Magickal circles would be struggling with this issue in much the same way American Evangelicalism is?
You can find out more about Wild Theology and Phil Wyman at:
BurningReligion.com Facebook.com/PhilWyman Twitter.com/PhilWyman Youtube.com/PKWyman
And you can support this podcast at:
Patreon.com/PhilWyman
British author and meta-demonologist S. Jonathon O'Donnell talks with Pastor Phil about the subject of Spiritual Warfare in 21st century America. Their book Passing Orders: Demonology and Sovereignty in American Spiritual Warfare offers a post-colonial critique on the Neo-Pentecostal and Independent Charismatic activity of spiritual warfare.
We talk about Christian demonology, the rise of the Qanon conspiracy, spiritual warfare as a means of boundary maintenance, the symbology of Jezebel in Charismatic circles, the rise of spiritual warfare in national politics, and abuses that occur to people who are accused of demonic motivations.
You can support Wild Theology at Patreon.com/PhilWyman
Phil Wyman can also be found at: Facebook.com/PhilWyman, Twitter.com/PhilWyman, and YouTube.com/pkwyman
