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Purity culture didn’t just teach rules about sex — it reshaped how we see ourselves.

In this episode of Slutty Grace, we explore the lasting impact of evangelical purity culture — from sexual shame and fear-based teaching to the deeper loss of self-trust and identity.

Jeromy sits down with Mattie Jo Cowsert for an honest, unfiltered conversation about what purity culture took: self-worth, agency, and the ability to trust your own body. Together, they unpack how teachings around “purity” shaped relationships, distorted desire, and left many feeling disconnected from themselves long after leaving the system.

This isn’t just about sex.

It’s about shame, identity, and the long process of healing.

If you’ve ever felt like your worth was tied to your behavior…or struggled to trust yourself after deconstructing your faith…this conversation will likely hit close to home.

Topics include:

• purity culture and evangelical sexual teaching
• sex, shame, and self-worth
• losing and rebuilding self-trust
• deconstruction and healing after toxic religion
• relationships shaped by religious conditioning

If this episode resonates, you might also connect with:

• The Death of Pastor Dave — on shame, addiction, and identity
• You Don’t Deserve Love—the lie that shaped me and the God who never agreed.
• Did I Fail as a Youth Pastor? — deconstructing inherited beliefs

Mattie Jo Cowsert's Website

Buy Mattie Jo’s Book, Sex, God, and Rich People

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Grace doesn’t hold back. She breaks the rules, softens hearts, and loves without apology. The open, universal, unapologetic love of God. Together we’re building a braver, more honest space. Thanks for your support and for listening.

1. Got a story, question, guest suggestions, or topic idea? Email me.
2. Please share if you believe this show and its message of grace is important in our time—keep it spreading!
3. Be sure to follow on whichever podcast platform you use.

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Episode written, hosted, edited and produced by Jeromy Johnson.

Maybe the problem wasn’t God… maybe it was my theology.

This episode is part of a short journey we’re exploring on the podcast — moving from fear-based faith toward freedom. Enjoy the series!

In this episode of Slutty Grace, Jeromy Johnson sits down with Del Burnett for a conversation about what happens when the beliefs you once defended with certainty begin to fall apart.

For Jeromy, Del became one of the unexpected voices who helped unravel the theology he inherited from evangelical Christianity—a framework shaped by fear, control, and rigid doctrine. But what felt like losing faith turned out to be something very different.

It was the beginning of discovering a bigger gospel, a deeper grace, and a kinder vision of God.

Together they explore the tension many people face during faith deconstruction: what happens when the version of Christianity you were taught no longer holds up? Is questioning your theology the same thing as losing God?

This conversation dives into religious deconstruction, grace-centered theology, and spiritual reconstruction, examining how fear-based beliefs about hell, judgment, and salvation have shaped modern Christianity—and how the message of Jesus might point us toward something far more hopeful.

If you’ve ever wrestled with losing your faith, rebuilding your spirituality, or healing from toxic theology, this episode offers an honest reminder that sometimes faith doesn’t die when theology collapses.

Sometimes it finally begins.

Because sometimes the most important discovery on the spiritual journey is this:

God was never the problem.

Our theology might have been.

Next week we continue the journey…

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_______________________________________________________

Grace doesn’t hold back. She breaks the rules, softens hearts, and loves without apology. The open, universal, unapologetic love of God. Together we’re building a braver, more honest space. Thanks for your support and for listening.

1. Got a story, question, guest suggestions, or topic idea? Email me.
2. Please share if you believe this show and its message of grace is important in our time—keep it spreading!
3. Be sure to follow on whichever podcast platform you use.

Slutty Grace Facebook Group

Episode written, hosted, edited and produced by Jeromy Johnson.

Before Slutty Grace was a podcast, it was a journey. My journey.

In this special episode, Jeromy Johnson shares the story behind his own faith shift as a guest on Leslie Nease’s podcast, Honoring the Journey. Many listeners have asked how Jeromy moved from evangelical ministry and certainty into the world of faith deconstruction, progressive Christianity, and radical grace—and this conversation explores that road honestly.

Jeromy and Leslie talk about the questions that began to surface inside traditional theology, the struggle with fear-based beliefs about hell, salvation, and God’s judgment, and the slow discovery that grace might be far bigger than he was taught to believe.

If you’re navigating faith deconstruction, spiritual doubt, or life after evangelical Christianity, this episode will feel like sitting down with a fellow traveler who understands the tension between holding onto God while letting go of certainty.

Because sometimes the journey of faith isn’t about finding all the answers.
It’s about discovering that grace was bigger than the questions all along.

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Support the show

_______________________________________________________

Grace doesn’t hold back. She breaks the rules, softens hearts, and loves without apology. The open, universal, unapologetic love of God. Together we’re building a braver, more honest space. Thanks for your support and for listening.

1. Got a story, question, guest suggestions, or topic idea? Email me.
2. Please share if you believe this show and its message of grace is important in our time—keep it spreading!
3. Be sure to follow on whichever podcast platform you use.

Slutty Grace Facebook Group

Episode written, hosted, edited and produced by Jeromy Johnson.