Denver Brew Theology

Date: Thursday, September 4 @ 7:00pm
Location: Strange Craft Beer Company
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83219357817
Curriculum: Coming Soon!
Password: brew

When we think about theology, we often imagine big systems, cosmic truths, and sweeping histories of creation and salvation. But theology also lives in the small spaces: in our families, in local traditions, in meals and stories passed down around tables—or shared over a pint. Karl Rahner famously wrote that “the Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all,” pointing to an everyday mysticism rooted in ordinary experience. Gustavo Gutiérrez, father of liberation theology, insisted that God is revealed in the lived histories of marginalized communities, not just in abstract doctrines. James K.A. Smith, in his work on “cultural liturgies,” reminds us that the rhythms of our ordinary practices—from meals to neighborhood rituals—train our desires and open us to God.

Jewish thought also underscores the holiness of the everyday. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that “the Bible is not man’s theology but God’s anthropology,” stressing that God’s presence is encountered in the lived patterns of human time, especially in practices like Sabbath that sanctify ordinary life.

In Hindu philosophy, Ramanuja emphasized that devotion (bhakti) is not detached from daily life but woven into it—ordinary acts like cooking, farming, or sharing food can become offerings to the divine.

These “small histories” may not make it into every textbook or sacred writing, but they shape how we experience God. Could it be that the personal, local, and cultural stories we carry are themselves a kind of sacred revelation?

There is no better way to further interrogate the question than over a delicious beer at Strange Craft Brewing Co in Denver - see you there!

Date: Thursday, September 11 @ 7:00pm
Location: Station 26 Brewing Company
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83219357817
Curriculum: Coming Soon!
Password: brew

Join us this week for a remix of our topic - Big Theology & Tiny Stories. This will be more discussion on the same topic from September 4. Not able to join us last week? No problem, we will have some notes to catch you up!

When we think about theology, we often imagine big systems, cosmic truths, and sweeping histories of creation and salvation. But theology also lives in the small spaces: in our families, in local traditions, in meals and stories passed down around tables—or shared over a pint. Karl Rahner famously wrote that “the Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all,” pointing to an everyday mysticism rooted in ordinary experience. Gustavo Gutiérrez, father of liberation theology, insisted that God is revealed in the lived histories of marginalized communities, not just in abstract doctrines. James K.A. Smith, in his work on “cultural liturgies,” reminds us that the rhythms of our ordinary practices—from meals to neighborhood rituals—train our desires and open us to God.

Jewish thought also underscores the holiness of the everyday. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that “the Bible is not man’s theology but God’s anthropology,” stressing that God’s presence is encountered in the lived patterns of human time, especially in practices like Sabbath that sanctify ordinary life.

In Hindu philosophy, Ramanuja emphasized that devotion (bhakti) is not detached from daily life but woven into it—ordinary acts like cooking, farming, or sharing food can become offerings to the divine.

These “small histories” may not make it into every textbook or sacred writing, but they shape how we experience God. Could it be that the personal, local, and cultural stories we carry are themselves a kind of sacred revelation?

There is no better way to further interrogate the question than over a delicious beer at Strange Craft Brewing Co in Denver - see you there!

Date: Thursday, September 18 @ 7:00pm
Location: The Table Public House
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83219357817
Curriculum: Coming Soon!
Password: brew

When we think about theology, we often imagine solemn truths, weighty doctrines, or cosmic struggles between good and evil. But across the world’s religions, there’s also a quieter—sometimes louder—thread: the idea that at the heart of existence is play, joy, and creativity.

In Hinduism, this shines through in the concept of līlā—the “divine play” in which the gods create, destroy, and love not out of necessity, but sheer delight. The world itself is not a grim task but a dance, a story, a game.

And Hinduism isn’t alone: Jewish rabbis “play” with scripture through midrash, Sufis whirl and sing in ecstatic celebration, Buddhists describe reality as the playful dance of emptiness, and Christian theologians like Jürgen Moltmann claim that a “theology of play” is essential to understanding God’s freedom.

This isn't to dismiss theological doctrine across the interfaith spectrum as overly serious distraction. Doctrine has been taken seriously for millenia and it's lasted for a reason. So, the most interesting question becomes how does creativity and play exist within, and interact with, our secular and theological humanity on a personal level, and within a culture?

Tonight, with a delicious beer from the flowing taps at The Table Public House - we’ll explore how different traditions invite us to see theological study not only as a heavy and serious endeavor, but also as divine creativity. Laughter, art, and joy are just as important to our theological lives as doctrine! Lace those shoes up, grab a beer, and let's get on this theological playground!

The two days of Rosh Hashanah usher in the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah), also known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim), which culminate in the major fast day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

If you are interested in learning more about the Days of Awe - here is a handy podcast that is quite accessible to all.