
- Language of God
- Episode 19
Jonathan Merritt | Reimagining Sacred Conversation
It is all too easy to fall into the myopic assumption that our faith words are universal, that everyone has a shared understanding of what these words mean. But often this is not the case. Many times our sacred words—words like grace, mercy, wisdom—are painted with different hues on other peoples’ interpretive palates. Author Jonathan Merritt joins Jim on this episode of Language of God to discuss this decay of common meaning—and how to revive it.
Watch Jonathan’s presentation at the 2019 BioLogos conference here.

Featured GuestJonathan Merritt is an award-winning writer on religion, culture, and politics. He currently serves as a contributing writer for The Atlantic and contributing editor for The Week. Jonathan has published more than 3500 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. As a respected voice, he regularly contributes commentary to television, print, and radio news outlets and has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, Fox News, and CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Jonathan is author of several critically-acclaimed books, including Learning to Speak God from Scratch, Jesus is Better Than You Imagined, and A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars, and has collaborated on or ghostwritten more than 50 additional books, with several titles landing on the New York Times, USA Today, or Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. Additionally, he trains hundreds of young writers through his Write Brilliant course.
Named one of “30 young influencers reshaping Christian leadership“ by Outreach Magazine, Jonathan is a sought after speaker at colleges, conferences, and churches. He holds a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Theology from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.
Jonathan Merritt
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At BioLogos, “gracious dialogue” means demonstrating the grace of Christ as we dialogue together about the tough issues of science and faith.