What happens when a pastor can no longer believe the message he has spent his life preaching? In Part Two of our conversation with Dr. Todd Phillips, former megachurch pastor and creator of “The Deconstructed Pastor,” Todd continues his journey out of evangelical Christianity. After years of building his life around the Bible, he began confronting difficult questions surrounding his faith in the Bible, Jesus, and even God. Eventually, he reached a point where he could no longer reconcile what he was discovering with the beliefs he had once preached. Todd shares what happened as his faith unraveled following the conclusion of his nonprofit work. He describes the devastating experience of losing his relationship with God, and realizing he could no longer preach. His journey eventually led him to TikTok and social media, where he began sharing his story as “The Deconstructed Pastor.” Today, Todd hopes to help other “ex-vangelicals” navigate religious deconstruction and “shorten the pain curve” for those going through it themselves. Todd and John also discusses his changing views on hell, divine hiddenness, faith vs truth, religious psychology, morality without religion, and whether humanity needs religion. He reflects on valuing truth over community comfort, and his relationship with believers he once influenced. Dr. Todd Phillips is a former evangelical pastor who served at McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C., and Lakepointe Church in Dallas. He also ran a nonprofit called The Last Well, which worked to bring clean water and Christianity to the people of Liberia. Today, he works in AI consulting while building his platform as “The Deconstructed Pastor.”: https://www.youtube.com/@drtoddphillips Todd's donations links and social accounts can be found here: https://linktr.ee/drtoddphillips?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=b30ac671-570e-4094-aea9-750d75b9d636 Also, as a special gift for Mormon Stories listeners, Todd has offered 2 FREE gifts - his "Deconstruction Guide" and "You Don’t Need to Fear Hell" course. Together, these resources are usually $34, so we are grateful to Todd for sharing these with our audience! https://stan.store/drtoddphillips/p/deconstruct-without-fear-2-free-guides Watch Part 1 of Todd's interview here: https://youtu.be/TmTPw_XX4y4 Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here: https://www.mormonstories.org/megachurch-pastor-turned-agnostic/ Timecodes: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:32 - Deconstruction emerges 00:12:53 - Problem with God’s character 00:19:07 - Polygamy in the Old Testament 00:26:01 - Bible is not eyewitnesses accounts 00:34:25 - Dark night of the soul 00:40:14 - Getting TikTok 00:52:42 - Social Media 00:56:09 - Critiquing old sermons 01:15:48 - Divine Hiddenness 01:26:30 - Truth over community or comfort 01:34:48 - Moral framework 01:43:32 - Not here to de-convert anyone 01:52:03 - Final tips 01:55:20 - Support Dr. Todd Phillips ___________________ At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals. Our overall mission is to: 1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology 2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis 3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions 🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join Our Platforms: 🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories ✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF Contact us: 📧 MormonStories@gmail.com 📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117