53. Dr. Samantha Bise (Lutheran, ELCA): Tongue in Church, a Liberating Primer on Christian Vocabulary
What if the Christian words you have heard your entire life do not mean exactly what you were taught?
Dr. Samantha Bise joins Alexis Rice to unpack the history, translation, culture, and power hiding inside familiar words like virgin, salvation, gospel, Savior, and born again.
An author, educator, researcher, and adult convert to Christianity, Samantha studies how language shapes belief. Her new book, Tongue in Church: A Liberating Primer on Christian Vocabulary, asks Christians to slow down and learn what our own words have meant across thousands of years, cultures, empires, and translations.
Together they explore:
• How “young woman” became “virgin” in the story of Mary
• Why questioning Mary’s virginity does not have to unravel your faith
• How salvation became primarily about escaping hell, even though its biblical roots include healing, liberation, safety, and freedom from oppression
• Why Lord, Savior, Son of God, and gospel were politically charged words in the Roman Empire
• How “born again” became an identity marker in American evangelicalism
• What mission trips can teach us about Christianity, colonization, and conversion
• Why churches that control women often disregard the earth too
• The difference between faith that manipulates through fear and faith that makes room for mystery
• Why “the Bible is clear” is rarely as clear as people claim
Samantha also shares her unexpected path from outspoken atheist to ELCA Lutheran, the church that fed Appalachian Trail hikers without trying to convert them, and the painful altar call at her grandmother’s funeral that inspired this book.
This is not a conversation about tearing down scripture. It is an invitation to take scripture and its language seriously, loosen our grip on false certainty, and discover a faith spacious enough for questions.
As Samantha says, “There’s not one pure Christianity.” From the beginning, Christians have debated, negotiated, wrestled, and wondered. That wrestling is part of the tradition.
✨ Guest
• Dr. Samantha Bise: Author, educator, researcher, professor, co-host of Church Chatter, and ELCA Lutheran | IG: @dr.bise
📚 Book & Resources Mentioned
• Tongue in Church: A Liberating Primer on Christian Vocabulary by Dr. Samantha Bise | @thepilgrimpress
https://thepilgrimpress.com/products/tongue-in-church-a-liberating-primer-on-christian-vocabulary
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America @elca
• The Sin of Certainty by Pete Enns @peteenns
• Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes by Daniel Everett
• Marcus Borg on salvation
#TongueInChurch #Christianity #Deconstruction #Exvangelical #ProgressiveChristianity #Bible #ELCA #Faith
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About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.
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