The Collective Table
Love Is Good Religion: Trey Ferguson on Faith, Scripture, and Nonviolence
What does it mean to make love the lens through which we understand God, scripture, justice, and the way of Jesus? In this episode of The Collective Table , Jason Coker sits down with pastor, activist, and author Trey Ferguson to discuss his new book, Love Is Good Religion . Trey shares how his own journey into ministry shaped his understanding of faith and explores what it might look like to reimagine familiar Christian stories through a theology rooted in love. The conversation dives into competing understandings of the gospel, penal substitutionary atonement, the human fingerprints found throughout scripture, the role of imagination in faith, and the difference between retributive and restorative justice. Jason and Trey also explore how love might challenge our assumptions about violence, power, and what it means to follow Jesus in a world that often treats cruelty as necessary. Along the way, Trey offers a compelling definition of love as a commitment to the wholeness and flourishing of another—and invites us to consider what changes when we take that definition seriously. Love Is Good Religion is more than a devotional; it is an invitation to read scripture differently, ask better questions, and imagine a more loving way of being in the world. The Collective Table Podcast is a production of the Oceanside Sanctuary, a progressive Christian community in Oceanside, California. Learn more about the Oceanside Sanctuary and our work at oceansidesanctuary.org .
