Theology in the Raw

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Fariza Gulomikova grew up in a Shia Ismaili family in Tajikistan. As a child, she saw how much a person could lose by leaving Islam. Then her cousin became a Christian, and the kindness she encountered at his church challenged everything she thought she knew about Christians.
In part three of our Understanding Islam series, Fariza tells Preston about her childhood, her encounter with Jesus at age 11, her family’s response to her conversion, and the challenges of starting over in the United States. She also shares what she wishes Christians understood about their Muslim neighbors.

Chapters
0:00 Fariza’s decision to become a Christian
0:32 Introduction to part three of Understanding Islam
2:23 Growing up in Tajikistan during a civil war
5:31 Sunni, Shia, and Fariza’s Ismaili background
12:22 Growing up as a girl in a Muslim majority country
17:47 The pressures and dangers Fariza saw women face
26:41 Fariza’s people, language, and culture
29:10 Her childhood view of Christianity
31:34 The cousin who changed her view of Christians
33:32 The kindness that drew her toward Jesus
34:30 Fariza’s encounter with Jesus at age 11
36:45 What she was taught about Jesus in Islam
38:44 Fariza’s advice for Christians talking with Muslims
43:39 How her family responded to her conversion
47:33 Starting over in America
52:28 Islam, terrorism, and stereotypes
55:28 Searching for belonging in Christian communities
58:41 Fariza’s final word to Christians
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Join the Theology in the Raw community to hear Preston’s Extra Innings response to this conversation.
How does the Qur’an compare to the Bible? Do Muslims read it the way evangelical Christians read the Bible? And if the Qur’an is Islam’s sacred text, why are the Hadith so important for understanding what Muslims believe and how they live?
In part two of our series on Islam, Preston sits down with Dr. Gabriel Said Reynolds, a Catholic Qur’an scholar and the Crowley Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale University and is the author of The Qur’an and Its Biblical Subtext, The Qur’an and the Bible, and Christianity and the Qur’an.
Together, they explore how Muslims understand the Qur’an, where it came from, how it took shape, and how its form and use compare with the Bible. They also discuss Muhammad’s relationship to the Qur’an, the early Islamic conquests, passages concerning violence and women, and why reading the Qur’an by itself does not necessarily tell you how Muslims will interpret or apply it.
Gabriel’s books explore how the Qur’an engages earlier scriptures and what that relationship can tell us about the emergence of Islam. His latest book, Christianity and the Qur’an, was published by Yale University Press in 2025.
You can find more of Gabriel’s work on his YouTube channel, Exploring the Qur’an and the Bible.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Why reading the Quran alone isn’t enough
00:42 Introducing Dr. Gabriel Said Reynolds
02:15 How Gabriel began studying Islam
05:31 What is the Quran?
09:03 Where did the Quran come from?
12:24 Did Muhammad write the Quran?
14:13 How does the Quran compare to the Bible and Psalms?
19:13 The biggest differences between the Quran and the Bible
21:42 Violence and the early Islamic conquests
27:10 How early Muslims treated Christians and other conquered peoples
32:29 Does the Quran command violence?
39:32 How Muslims interpret difficult Quranic passages
43:28 Is Islam inherently violent?
47:25 What does the Quran say about women?
49:58 Polygamy and the disputed passage about striking wives
52:29 Modesty, honor, and women in Muslim societies
59:07 What are the Hadith, and why do they matter?
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Join the Theology in the Raw community to listen to my "Extra Innings" response to my conversation with Javad.

What do Christians misunderstand about Islam? Is it inherently violent? Was it spread by the sword? What do Muslims believe about Christians, Sharia, women, the Quran, and the Hadith?
In the first episode of our three-part series on Islam, Preston sits down with Dr. Javad Hashmi, a Muslim scholar and PhD candidate in Islamic Studies at Harvard University.
The conversation explores the origins of Islam, what historians can know about Muhammad, the development of the Quran and Hadith, Sunni and Shia Islam, Sharia, early Muslim-Christian relations, Islamic empires, religious violence, ISIS and al-Qaeda, the treatment of women, and how Muslims view Christians and Americans.
This conversation is not intended to settle every question or present one definitive account of Islam. It is an attempt to listen carefully, understand Islam’s internal diversity, and ask difficult questions without reducing an entire religious tradition to slogans or stereotypes.

This is Part 1 of our series, Understanding Islam.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Does the Quran Promote Violence?
00:43 What Is Islam, Really?
05:21 Introducing Dr. Javad Hashmi
06:32 How to Understand Any Religion
12:41 Muhammad and the Origins of Islam
23:40 Early Muslim-Christian Relations
29:16 Was Islam Spread by the Sword?
42:30 Sunni, Shia, and Sufi Islam
49:50 Core Beliefs and Sharia
55:46 The Quran Versus the Hadith
1:04:36 Islam, Violence, and Terrorism
1:15:41 Islam and Women
1:27:03 How Muslims View Christians and Americans
1:32:22 Closing
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Who decided what a “good woman” should look like?

Long before social media, paintings, sculptures, religious images, and other forms of visual culture were shaping our expectations of women. Those images did not merely reflect society. They helped define beauty, sexuality, motherhood, virtue, and even what Christians imagined a godly woman should be.

Dr. Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt is an art historian (Ph.D. from Washington University) and is a professor of art and art history at Covenant College. She’s also the author of two books: the award-winning Redeeming Vision: A Christian Guide to Looking at and Learning from Art (Baker Academic 2023) and her recent book Look Like a Lady: Five Visual Tropes of Womanhood and How to See Ourselves Differently (Brazos 2026), which forms the basis of our conversation today.

Chapters:
00:00 The Desire to Be Desirable
00:41 What Is a Woman?
03:39 Meet Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt
06:16 How Art Shapes Christian Theology
09:58 Why Medieval Jesus Looks Like a Little Man
14:22 Five Images of Womanhood
15:20 The Venus Trope and Sexual Desirability
18:10 Why Women Learn to See Themselves as Objects
23:21 Purity Culture and the Objectification of Women
28:37 Mary, Elizabeth, and a Better Way of Seeing
33:35 The Myth of the Perfect Mother
38:02 How the Reformation Changed Womanhood
43:44 Are Women Competing for God’s Love?
46:27 Infertility, Motherhood, and Female Identity
49:30 “Is Something Wrong With Me?”
52:24 Do Fathers Get More of a Free Pass?
54:45 How Women Become “Monsters”
59:47 Does the Church Still Vilify Women?
63:45 Shaped by Trauma, Not Defined by It
65:36 A Bigger Vision of Christian Womanhood
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Are parents accidentally making their kids more anxious by protecting them from discomfort?
Dr. Chinwé Williams joins Preston to explain why anxiety, depression, loneliness, and social avoidance have risen among young people. They discuss the role of smartphones and social media, the disappearance of real-world community, constant exposure to frightening news, trauma, pornography, and the pressure many kids feel to avoid failure.
Dr. Chinwé Williams is a Licensed and Board-Certified therapist with expertise spanning a variety of domains, including youth and family mental health, parenting & and trauma recovery. Chinwé has served in academic, corporate, school, and faith-based work settings. She’s also the co-author of the best-selling book Seen: Healing Despair and Anxiety in Kids and Teens Through the Power of Connection and her latest book is: Calm, Courageous, and Connected: A Parent's Guide to Raising Emotionally Resilient Kids

Chapters:
0:00 Avoidance Is Feeding Kids’ Anxiety
2:20 Is the Youth Mental Health Crisis Real?
5:30 What Is Causing the Mental Health Crisis?
8:08 What Social Media Is Taking Away From Kids
9:32 Why Kids Need “Third Spaces”
12:41 Are Kids Becoming Afraid to Take Risks?
16:54 Why Teens Struggle With Social Anxiety
20:04 How Avoidance Makes Anxiety Worse
21:15 Building Grit and Emotional Resilience
23:58 How Parents Accidentally Reinforce Anxiety
26:22 How Parents’ Childhood Wounds Shape Their Parenting
29:57 Fear, Bad News, and the “Milk Carton Generation”
35:10 Trauma, Sexual Abuse, and Pornography
43:30 How Parents Can Help Anxious Kids
44:04 Co-Regulation and Connection Before Correction
48:30 Teaching Kids Cognitive Flexibility
51:12 The “Grace Check”
52:42 Healthy Smartphone and Social Media Boundaries
55:41 Who Could Your Teen Call at 2 A.M.?
56:29 Calm, Courageous, and Connected
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