Sarah Hinlicky Wilson has never doubted that God loves her. (She’s doubted whether God exists at all—but she’s always assumed that if there is a God, God is loving and kind.)
So what does she do with the devil and hell? How does she understand what the atonement is all about?
Spoiler alert: she says don’t start with any of those questions.
Sarah is a Lutheran pastor and theologian, founder of Thornbush Press, and co-host of Queen of the Sciences, a podcast she makes with her dad, theologian Paul Hinlicky. She is also one of Katie’s closest friends.
The conversation covers “aura salve,” why high-demand religion is frivolous about sin, what Paul actually means by justification, how little the Bible says about the afterlife, and a Japanese convert who explained hell better than any theologian.
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the episode and guest Sarah Wilson
01:53 The difference between threat-based and grace-based faith
04:00 Understanding sin, death, and the devil as conditions, not caricatures
06:52 The evolution of Lutheran beliefs and the center of the gospel
10:01 The atonement: from cosmic debt to healing and restoration
18:11 Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as the core of Christian hope
21:51 Reframing salvation: from getting in to being healed
29:57 The nature of heaven and the life to come
34:59 The concept of the devil and evil spirits in scripture
39:50 Hell: a place of refusal of healing and estrangement from God
50:13 Trusting in God’s love and the sturdiness of the gospel
56:02 Faith after faith: testing, loss, and renewal
57:00 Conclusion: God’s grip, not ours, sustains faith
Resources
- Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, sarahhinlickywilson.com
- Sarah Hinlicky Wilson and Paul R. Hinlicky, Queen of the Sciences
- Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, Pearly Gates: Parables from the Final Threshold (Thornbush Press)
- John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667)
