AUTHENTIC with Shawn Boonstra

AUTHENTIC with Shawn Boonstra

Casual, transparent conversations about life, spirituality and God. AUTHENTIC is a deep-dive into the nature of love, relationships, emotions and self-awareness. Host Shawn Boonstra answers real existential questions—stuff that everybody wonders about: the meaning of life, living with purpose, and understanding how the great philosophers still impact the way you live today.

Episodes

Lord of the Flies

October 31, 2025 • 28 mins
Imagine for a minute that you’re an ambassador of Earth to an alien civilization. You’re asked, “What’s this RELIGION thing all about? Why do you all believe something’s WRONG with your world?” Be honest: would you have answers? In this episode of Authentic, Shawn Boonstra pursues a coherent definition for religion, shining a light on why humanity’s always trying to improve…and why our efforts tend to backfire.
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Who Do You Think You Are?

October 24, 2025 • 28 mins
"You can't tell me what to do!" From crib to nursing home, we all bristle like porcupines at claims of authority. Something in us HATES being commanded. Is it any surprise the Most High God gets massive pushback? But what if, Shawn Boonstra asks, this target is a painted one? Scripture reveals Someone wholly unlike the tyrant of our imagination...
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Outside the Box

October 17, 2025 • 28 mins
Thinking outside the box isn't just for artists and engineers. We can all benefit from challenging assumptions that hold us back. But what happens when "radical = good" becomes an assumption itself? Shawn Boonstra ponders the consequences for a society obsessed with erasing all the lines, boundaries, and principles that built us.
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Do You Really Exist?

October 10, 2025 • 28 mins
It takes a skeptic to prove reality. Shawn Boonstra revisits an old "friend," René Descartes, and his groundbreaking decision to doubt everything and how he concluded, "I think, therefore I am." The way Descartes starkly split mind from matter, though, should trigger our own skeptical instincts.
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Dealing with Anger

October 3, 2025 • 28 mins
What causes YOU to lose your cool? The roots of our anger are deep and varied, but Shawn Boonstra suggests it's usually less about cosmic justice and more about personal injury. So, how to name and tame this dragon of rage? A centuries-old Christian practice may be the key.
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The Problem with Anger

September 26, 2025 • 28 mins
Wrath. It's known as one of the seven deadly sins—and yet Scripture is filled with descriptions of God getting wrathful. So what IS the problem with anger? Shawn Boonstra explores this dynamite emotion and how our personal experiences with anger can cloud our view of heaven's righteous outrage.
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Off the Edge

September 19, 2025 • 28 mins
Some today say that for centuries Christians believed in a flat earth. So what does the evidence say? Join Shawn as he looks into the fascinating history of the connection between the flat-earth theory and the Christian church. The story may be just a tad different from what you’ve learned to believe.
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Holy Dishes

September 12, 2025 • 28 mins
Join Shawn Boonstra for the story of one remarkable redemption at the hands of one VERY unlikely redeemer. All hope and holiness seemed lost when God's people and Temple fell to Babylon. But God had a wild card to play, a king to inspire, and some precious vessels to protect...
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Year of the Rooster

September 5, 2025 • 28 mins
Whether you identify as a total Gemini, take a passing interest in the Chinese zodiac, or regard all horoscopes as ripe for mockery, you can't deny their massive popularity. This week Shawn Boonstra dissects the appeal of astrological signs. Are we seeking a cosmic destiny? Guidance? Order? Whatever it is, we can't help but look up.
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The Prison Yard of Life

August 29, 2025 • 28 mins
Tick. Tock. The clock of life is running out. The shadow of the Reaper’s scythe darkens every minute and every year. Sure feels like we’re all sitting on death row... But what if there was a way to escape that tyrannical clock? What if you could make every moment count—could make sure even the most ordinary life REALLY meant something in the grand scheme of things? This week on Authentic, Shawn Boonstra shares how you can break fre...
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Your Moment on Stage

August 22, 2025 • 28 mins
Many today struggle to understand their true significance and where they fit into this world. Out of this struggle has flowed untold sadness and tragedy. In this week's episode of Authentic, Shawn Boonstra explores how our understanding of our cosmic origins affects the value we place on ourselves and our role in the universe.
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Questioning the Reich

August 15, 2025 • 28 mins
This week we're discussing the disturbing legacy of a different Reich in the 20th century. The sexual liberation movement promised to cast off the chains of oppressive morality—to let "free love" reign and hearts fully flourish. In the radical new thinking of figures like Wilhelm Reich, self-control and boundaries were now dangerous repression. But has the new paradigm truly delivered us from evil? Shawn examines the cost of divorc...
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The Heartache of Beauty

August 8, 2025 • 28 mins
Have you ever been stopped in your tracks by something so incredibly beautiful, it leaves you with a twinge of sadness? Shawn Boonstra explores this perplexing paradox of how experiencing beauty can produce joy and sadness, all at the same time.
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History of the Bible, Part 4

August 1, 2025 • 28 mins
Translating ancient Hebrew and Greek scriptures is hard enough WITHOUT the monarchy and Church coming for your head! Shawn Boonstra relates the astonishing journey of the English Bible, from radical idea to royal-approved release.
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History of the Bible, Part 3

July 25, 2025 • 28 mins
Say you've got a set of well-established Scriptures. How exactly do you come along and add a whole NEW set to it? In this week's encore episode, Shawn Boonstra investigates the origins of the New Testament. Did its authors think they were writing Scripture? And what role do councils play in determining whether texts were inspired?
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The Nature of Evil

July 21, 2025 • 28 mins
In a pain-choked world, we see the face of evil everywhere. And there's plenty of blame to fling around, which we do. Constantly. But maybe it's time, Shawn Boonstra says, for a good long look at the face in the mirror—half in light, half in shadow.
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In the Beginning

July 21, 2025 • 28 mins
The book of Genesis is widely perceived as myth—on the same shelf as Gilgamesh and Zeus. So let's line them up side by side, shall we? Shawn Boonstra weighs the differences and charts strikingly separate worlds of meaning.
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The Failure of Philosophy, Part 4

July 4, 2025 • 28 mins
You slip on a ring, and SNAP! You're invisible. What will you do with this power? This week, Shawn Boonstra turns to an old fable of Plato's to confront who we are in the dark, when no one is looking. But while it's easy to sin in secret, the ancient wisdom of Proverbs reminds us: there's a real cost even in this life...and a REAL path to your authentic self.
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The Failure of Philosophy, Part 3

June 27, 2025 • 28 mins
Crucifixion on its own is horrific enough...but if you believe Jesus' death on the cross was the punishment for our sins, it's even WORSE. Some object and say the cross was about pure love—nothing to do with judgment or wrath. Shawn Boonstra investigates the feelings and reasoning at play, and why the biblical framing of Christ's death still holds such power to both disturb and astound us.
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The Failure of Philosophy, Part 2

June 20, 2025 • 28 mins
Desperate to find the meaning of life? It’s only human. Philosophers and theologians have long invented ideas to build an understanding of the universe. But they’ve reached a dead end. In this episode, Shawn Boonstra traces humanity’s precarious path to nihilism and confronts modern misconceptions about divine justice. To understand God and hell, we must turn to the Bible. The WHOLE Bible.
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