Episode 145 Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials.

In this episode of Still Unbelievable Matthew is in conversation with Michelle Van Loon, a writer with a Jewish upbringing who converted to evangelical Christianity as a teen. She gives her perspective on both traditions. Hear what drew her towards Christianity, what she carried from Judaism, and what she thinks people often misunderstand about Jewish identity and practice.

They discuss:

- her experiences inside evangelicalism, including patterns of spiritual abuse. Are these isolated situations or symptoms of deeper issues around evangelism and revival culture, that protect harmful behaviour.

- religious trauma, what led Michelle to seek counselling, and how others might identify and recover from similar experiences.

- What churches might need to let go of, how “downsizing” can compliment deconstruction and how a downsized community might look.

- And of course her favourite bible character

1) Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials

https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802884626/downsizing/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224465982-downsizing

https://bobonbooks.com/2025/09/15/review-downsizing/

https://amzn.eu/d/6VE2CxW

2) Follow Michelle

https://michellevanloon.substack.com/

https://thesageforum.com/about-us

3) Michelle's other books

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/383322.Michelle_Van_Loon

4) Deconversion Anonymous

https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion

5) Religious Trauma

https://www.empathyparadigm.com/religioustrauma

https://therapist.com/trauma/religious-trauma/

https://resilientmindcounseling.com/10-signs-you-may-be-experiencing-religious-trauma/

6) Jewish Chosenness

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-quot-chosen-people-quot

Still Unbelievable! book: https://amzn.eu/d/fmsN1Cw

Apostate book: https://amzn.eu/d/9RIUZYx

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https://hollykirstensongs.com/

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