#348 When “Better” Isn’t Biblical: Rethinking Progressive Bible Interpretations

The Alisa Childers Podcast

Alisa Childers

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, Spirituality

4.8 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the first episode of the New Year, and I'm starting with a deep dive into how progressive Christianity approaches the Bible.In this episode, Natasha Crain and I walk through Better Ways to Read the Bible by progressive Christian pastor Zach Lambert, using it as a case study to examine common progressive claims about Scripture. Lambert argues that the Bible is often read through “harmful lenses” and should instead be read through new “healing” ones. While we agree that the Bible has been misused in real and damaging ways, we explain why his proposed solutions create more confusion than clarity.We discuss the critical difference between:* The nature of Scripture (inspiration, inerrancy, authority)* The interpretation of Scripture (how we determine meaning)* Along the way, we address:* Why “literalism” is often misrepresented in progressive theology* How progressive Christianity reframes hell, sin, and judgment* Moralism vs. legalism—and what Scripture actually teaches about grace* Liberation theology, critical theory, and power-based readings of the Bible* The misuse of “fruit” language to justify affirming what Scripture calls sin* Why progressive Christians still identify as Christian—and why sincerity is not the same as truth* This conversation is not about motives or tone. It’s about theology, presuppositions, and whether the progressive framework is consistent with the historic Christian faith.We’re starting the year by going back to first principles: what the Bible is, how it should be read, and why those questions matter.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, hey, everyone, welcome to the show. I'm Elisa Childers. This is the Elisa Childers podcast, and
0:13.6	happy New Year. I hope everyone had a restful and wonderful Christmas and New Year.
0:20.1	As you may know, if you're a long-time listener of
0:22.6	this podcast, I take a bit of November, all of December, to have a sabbatical to just rest and
0:29.0	focus in on family time. And we just had such a wonderful Christmas and New Year. But I am ready
0:34.5	to get back to it, recording and releasing podcasts, and we have some
0:38.6	really exciting things prepared for you for the new year. Now, a couple of announcements before
0:43.5	we get into today's episode, we are moving our podcast studio. If you have followed from
0:49.3	before the New Year, you know that we're going to be moving our YouTube studio from an office
0:54.0	into our
0:54.9	home, which we've already built that space out. And we just have some equipment to move over,
1:01.0	and it's going to look a little bit different. But we're not quite finished with that process.
1:04.6	But I want to let you know that we have pre-recorded some podcasts from before the new year
1:08.8	that we'll be releasing until our new studio is ready.
1:11.9	And so I'm just really excited to bring you new content and everything that you'll get to see
1:17.3	in our new studio. If you are subscribed on audio platforms, make sure you go over and check out
1:23.4	the YouTube channel because it's going to have a brand new look and we're going to really
1:26.7	try to focus on having more in studio guests. And I'm going to be doing some more solo podcasts. So
1:31.9	really looking forward to a lot of that. Now today's episode, I want to let you know is a,
1:37.3	we're going to replay a bit of my Christmas live stream that I did with Natasha Crane.
1:41.9	So if you're not subscribed to the Unshaken Faith podcast,
1:46.1	I want to encourage you to do so. This is a podcast that I do with Natasha Crane, who is one of the
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