Freestyle Theology

Bradley Melle
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  • Christianity
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The Christian Faith is more mysterious and, quite frankly, weirder than we think. But the way we talk about it is often insipid and inaccessible, using tired words and ideas from the 16th century that nobody uses anymore. Freestyle Theology is a space for us to wonder freely out loud, to take our faith seriously in *this* time and place, and to wander down all sorts of fascinating rabbit holes. Get ready for another out of the box conversation about Christianity with Brad Melle and friends! Freestyle Theology is sponsored by Daily Breadth, the Christian meditation app that works. Learn more at dailybreadth.app or try it for free by downloading it in the Apple App Store or on Google Play.

  1. 7 hr ago

    Let's Talk About: The Disastrous 1300s

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! Let’s Talk About: The Disastrous 1300s What happens to a civilization's relationship with the body when a third of it perishes in a few short years? In part two of my ongoing conversation with journalist, playwright, and opera singer Ngofeen Mputubwele, we enter the catastrophic 1300s: the Avignon Papacy, the Western Schism, and - of course - the Black Plague. I argue that the plague marks one of the great unacknowledged turning points in church history: the moment Western Christianity's understanding of suffering shifted from purgative (cleansing, reparative) to punitive (the raw rage of God poured out on human flesh). Along the way, Ngofeen brings his remarkable personal stew - Congolese Catholicism, the historic Black church, white Reformed evangelicalism, opera, and ballet - to bear on Western Christianity’s suspicion of emotion, movement, and the body itself. We talk Carnival, Calvin's Geneva, the Danse Macabre, rotting tomb sculptures, La Traviata, Hillsong-era worship anxieties, and why there would have been no Reformation without the Plague. Topics discussed in this episode: What’s the West’s deal with emotion? How a high school music course planted a new questionAmazing Grace in white church vs. Black church, and Hillsong-era suspicion of embodied worshipCalvin's Geneva: the theocratic city-state that explicitly outlawed dancingHow the Carnival festival survived: preserved by Black communities in the colonized Americas but not by EuropeansNgofeen's family history: a Jesuit mission in Congo, Gregorian chant and rumba in one household, and the discovery that "the rules of the body are not universal" Emotion as “movement outward”: why cultures of correct doctrine fear what arises without consentThe medieval church as a sin-management system and why Hell felt farther away for a medieval peasant than for a ProtestantCarnival, inversion, and mockery: what the church tolerated and whyThe traumatic 1300s: the Avignon Papacy, three rival popes, the Black Plague and Catherine of Siena's prophetic confrontationThe Black Death as theological rupture: from purgative suffering to divine punishmentWhy there would have been no Reformation without the PlagueThe Danse Macabre: the dance with Death that no one - rich, poor, or pope - could refuseDeath dances in opera: La Traviata, Carmen, and the "fallen woman" who must dieRotting bodies on tombs: the transi and the post-plague obsession with mortality, wounds, and blood Ebola, Mpox, COVID, and the modern imagination of "bad death"Questions or Comments?   Follow Freestyle Theology on Instagram: @freestyletheology Send me a message directly through the podcast: tap the link at the top of the episode descriptionHave a question or topic you want us to take up in a future episode? Message me and let me know!New to the series? Go back and listen to Part 1: "Let’s Talk About: The Medieval Body"

    1hr 2min

  2. 3 Jun

    Let's Talk About: The Medieval Body

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! Playwright, journalist, and podcaster Ngofeen Mputubwele is writing a play about a deceptively simple question: when did white people stop dancing? What began as a conversation about medieval bodies quickly became something much large: a history of how Western Christianity came to distrust its own flesh, and how that distrust got exported around the world. In this first conversation, Ngofeen and I trace the origins of the Western church's conflicted relationship with the body: the fall of Rome as a civilizational 9/11, Augustine's personal war with his own desire becoming the theological architecture of an entire tradition, and the earthy, embodied fusion of Augustinian theology with the "indigenous" place-based spirituality of ancient Europe that gave medieval Christianity its sensory richness (the relics, pilgrimage, a whole cabinet full of ways to do something with your shame) Then the Reformation arrives and strips it all bare. What's left when you take away the rituals? You turn inward, which has huge implications for the body.

    1hr 2min

  3. 13 Apr

    Let's Talk About: Other Religions

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! Dr. Bradley Melle sits down again with Fr. Joash Thomas -  priest, author of The Justice of Jesus, and descendant of the ancient St. Thomas Christians of Kerala, India - for a conversation that reframes everything Western Christians think they know about neighbours of other faiths and the afterlife. Why Western Christianity's fear-driven posture toward other religions is historically contingent (it didn’t have to be that way!) and what the 2000-year-old Indian church reveals about a different wayThe Synod of Diamper (1599): how the Portuguese Empire burned the ancient documents of the St. Thomas Christians and declared their form of Christian universalism heresy, because it wasn't Christian supremacist enough to serve colonial interestsThe "Law of St. Thomas" a form of Christian universalist eschatology that predates modern universalist theology by over a millennium, and what its suppression tells us about whose theology gets to count as orthodoxWhat happened to Western Christian theology when Columbus encountered the Americas after 1492 and why the discovery of hundreds of millions of "unevangelized" souls created a psychological and theological crisis that Western Christianity still hasn't fully processedThe Reformed tradition's version of Christian supremacy - more sophisticated, less loud, but structurally the same problemA 15-year-old Brad in suburban Edmonton, a Qigong class, and the moment genuine curiosity about other traditions got shut down, and what that costKerala, India: the first Indian state to eliminate extreme poverty, with near-100% literacy and what centuries of interfaith minority Christian witness had to do with itThis isn't really a conversation about tolerance. It's a conversation about what Christianity looks like when it was never the dominant power, and what the West might learn from that.  For anyone who has ever wondered whether there's a Christianity that doesn't require fear of its neighbours (or fear for them...!) to function.

    56 min

  4. 25 Mar

    Let's Talk About: Threat & Theology

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! Brad is back down the rabbit hole, and this time, Augustine is the way in. Why Augustine of Hippo is arguably the real founder of Western Christianity, and what that means for everything you think you know about Paul, original sin, and the gospelThe difference between the historical Paul and Augustine's Paul and why most Western Christians have been reading one through the filter of the other without knowing itTheology as historically contingent: what it means that Augustine's system was shaped by his ambition, his mother, his psychology, and his North African Roman world, not just by scriptureThe meadow vs. the perfume bottle: why extracting doctrine from the gospels might be missing the point entirelyWhy the gospels function more like cinema than philosophy and what it would mean to encounter them that way again, in community, without needing a final wordWhy the threat response to historical theology is worth examining and what it's actually protectingThis isn't a tidy episode. It's Brad thinking out loud about Augustine, interpretation, and what it might mean to do theology honestly in 2026. For the historically curious, the theologically restless, and anyone who has ever felt vaguely crazy for asking hard questions about what the gospel actually means.

    46 min

  5. 19 Mar

    Let's Talk About: Where Am I?

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! Brad is back, and this episode is an honest account of where he's been. After months of silence, Brad returns to the mic to share what's kept him away: the death of his mother in late October, a brutal flare of his ulcerative colitis, and his daughter's unexpected health issues, all compressed into the same brutal stretch of monthsHe reflects on grief that is "clean but massive." The ache of losing someone you genuinely liked, not just lovedWhy he couldn't bring himself to theologize at his own mother's funeral, and what that revealed about Christianity's complicated relationship with sitting in painThe slow thaw from creative hibernation: the precipitation cycle that froze, and what it feels like as it starts againA shift in posture: from authoritative teacher to honest processor, and why he no longer needs to cap every thought with hopeThis one isn't a history episode. But it is human. And it might be what you need to hear if you've also been somewhere dark and quiet lately.

    52 min

  6. 12/08/2025

    Let's Talk About: Power

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! Jesus gave away power. What does that actually mean...? What does it really mean to have power—and what happens when we hoard it? In this thought-provoking conversation, historian and theologian Dr. Bradley Melle (Freestyle Theology) sits down with international human rights advocate Rev. Joash Thomas to explore the anatomy of power: why it’s hoarded, how it corrupts, and how Jesus’ life offers a radically different way to use it. Together, we trace power from ancient empires to today’s oligarchs, unpack the fear and fragility behind political and economic dominance, and ask why “more” never feels like enough. Joash shares global perspectives from his work defending the poor from violence, while Brad draws on church history—from the early Christians caring for plague victims in North Africa to the ways Christianity has too often blessed empire instead of resisting it. We wrestle with big questions: Why do the powerful seem so insecure?How does fear drive greed, colonialism, and endless expansion—whether into land, markets, or even outer space?What does it mean when Jesus “gives away” power?How can the church recover the courage to stand with the untouchable and marginalized?This episode blends history, theology, and activism to challenge the way we think about power, from the Roman Empire to Elon Musk, from settler colonialism to the Gaza crisis. It’s a call to move from fear-based hoarding to Spirit-empowered liberation, rooted in love, justice, and the conviction that no one is truly secure until we all are.

    1hr 9min

  7. 01/07/2025

    Let's Talk About: Meditation

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! Can meditation heal spiritual wounds? In this episode of Freestyle Theology, Brad and Brielle unpack their journeys with depression, anxiety, meditation, and spiritual growth. They explore how mindfulness, breathwork, and even sung Scripture can help Christians reconnect with their bodies and cultivate a gentler, richer spiritual rhythm, all while healing from religious trauma.  Whether you’re in therapy, deconstructing, or simply craving a more authentic connection with God, this conversation will invite you to explore meditation as a practice that bridges faith and nervous system healing—without the baggage of fear-based theology. We also share how meditation helped us rediscover the beauty of prayer, embrace embodied spirituality, and let go of religious perfectionism. Plus, a hint about a resource we've created to help you bring calm, clarity, and connection back into your spiritual life. Tune in and discover a different kind of Christian practice.

    1hr 15min

  8. 12/06/2025

    Let's Talk About: Today's Evangelical Tantrum

    What do you think? Text me and let me know! In this raw and wide-ranging episode, Brad is joined again by Rev. Joash Thomas to explore the emotional and spiritual roots of what Brad calls the “evangelical tantrum”—the reactive, fear-fueled backlash of white conservative Christianity in the face of cultural change. Why do some Christians in America act as if they’re being persecuted, even while holding power? What are they so afraid of losing—and have they even lost it? Together, Brad and Joash dive into history, theology, trauma, and personal stories. Joash opens up about his past as a rising political consultant in Georgia’s Republican Party, his moment of reckoning, and the journey that brought him to international human rights work and ordained ministry. Along the way, the two reflect on the immaturity of much of Western Christianity, the seductive illusion of cultural dominance, structural racism, and the healing power of surrendering control. If you’ve ever felt disoriented by white evangelical fragility or longed for a more mature, liberating Christianity—this one’s for you.

    1 hr
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About

The Christian Faith is more mysterious and, quite frankly, weirder than we think. But the way we talk about it is often insipid and inaccessible, using tired words and ideas from the 16th century that nobody uses anymore. Freestyle Theology is a space for us to wonder freely out loud, to take our faith seriously in *this* time and place, and to wander down all sorts of fascinating rabbit holes. Get ready for another out of the box conversation about Christianity with Brad Melle and friends! Freestyle Theology is sponsored by Daily Breadth, the Christian meditation app that works. Learn more at dailybreadth.app or try it for free by downloading it in the Apple App Store or on Google Play.

Information

  • Creator
    Bradley Melle
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Freestyle Theology
  • Show Website
    Freestyle Theology

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