234. What’s Your Spiritual Story: Mark Groleau On God, Process, And Change GOD: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher

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234. What’s Your Spiritual Story: Mark Groleau on God, Process, and Change

10d ago 40:40

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Welcome to What’s Your Spiritual Story: a new series from God: An Autobiography, The Podcast, featuring candid conversations with people whose spiritual lives have been reshaped by direct encounters with the divine.

In this first installment, Jerry L. Martin speaks with pastor and podcaster Mark Groleau, who returns to the show exactly 100 episodes after his original appearance.

Mark’s story is one of radical transformation. Raised in a strict Oneness Pentecostal tradition, he was trained to preach, taught to defend doctrine, and discouraged from asking questions. But once he began studying literature and scripture through a critical lens, everything changed. What followed was a deconstruction of his inherited faith, a period of atheism, and an eventual reawakening through a more expansive vision of God.

This episode follows Mark’s evolving relationship with the divine, from the static, all-powerful deity of classical theism to a God who suffers, listens, and grows. Influenced by thinkers like John Caputo, Jacques Derrida, Greg Boyd, and Terence Fretheim, Mark now embraces process theology, which sees God not as removed from the world but as intimately involved in its unfolding.

Jerry and Mark reflect on what it means to believe in a God who changes. They discuss suffering, divine vulnerability, and the tension between doctrine and experience. Mark also shares why Jesus’ teachings have become central to his life, and why many Christians, ironically, ignore them.

From Hebrew grammar to the Big Bang, from seminary classrooms to Buddhist temples in Korea, this is a conversation for anyone rethinking their faith and seeking something more relational, honest, and alive.

If you’ve ever wrestled with the question of who, or what, God really is, this conversation offers a starting point for something deeper.

Mentioned in this episode:
Creation Untamed by Terence Fretheim, Not Sure by John Suk, #JesusIsMyGuru, Process Theology, Open Theism, Wikigod Podcast, Bereshit, Patripassianism

Other Series:

The podcast began with the Dramatic Adaptation of the book and now has several series:

Life Wisdom Project: How to live a wiser, happier, and more meaningful life with special guests.
From God To Jerry To You: Calling for the attention of spiritual seekers everywhere, featuring breakthroughs, pathways, and illuminations.
Two Philosophers Wrestle With God: Sit in on a dialogue between philosophers about God and the questions we all have.
What's On Our Mind- Connect the dots with Jerry and Scott over the most recent series of episodes.
What's On Your Mind: What are readers and listeners saying? What is God saying?

Stay Connected

Share your thoughts or questions at [email protected] 📖

Chapters

1. 234. What’s Your Spiritual Story: Mark Groleau on God, Process, and Change (00:00:00)

2. Introduction to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast (00:00:17)

3. Mark Groleau Returns: 100 Episodes Later (00:01:11)

4. Interviewing Readers, Not Celebrities: Jerry’s Why (00:02:06)

5. From Skeptic to Seeker: First Reactions to the Book (00:04:00)

6. Leaving Fundamentalism: A Personal Deconstruction (00:06:08)

7. From Atheism to Wonder: Culture, Korea, and a Freer Faith (00:09:00)

8. Seminary, Hebrew, and Rethinking God’s Nature (00:11:30)

9. What Is Process Theology? Caputo, Derrida, and Divine Vulnerability (00:13:30)

10. A God Who Changes: Open Theism and Evolving Relationship (00:16:30)

11. Suffering, Evil, and Patripassianism: The Hardest Questions (00:20:05)

12. Creation as Ongoing Process: Big Bang, Bereshit, and Divine Surprise (00:24:12)

13. Jesus Appears: Ethics, Teachings, and Modern Misunderstanding (00:28:13)

14. Taking Teachings Seriously: Jesus, Other Traditions, and a New Calling (00:34:37)

15. The Kingdom of God Is Here Now (00:37:44)

16. Outro and Contact: Stay Connected (00:39:02)

235 episodes