A High Stakes Question - Proper 16A (August 23, 2026)

Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with actual pastors to argue about the lectionary gospel — and the comedians usually turn out to be the serious ones.

It's a Short Take this week: Resident Comic Theologians Abby Evans (@itsabbye) and Erick Williams (@comicaledubs) join Bob and Eric to unpack Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi — the gap between "who do people say that I am" and "who do you say that I am" — and what Jesus actually meant by handing the church the power to bind and loose.

• Evil-twin gaslighting over who's really Abby and who's really Eric
• Hades, Gehenna, and Sheol — why Jesus' vocabulary for "the bad place" is more specific than most English translations let on
• Molech, mass graves, and the pagan gods the Bible casually name-drops
• A whole subgenre of movies you didn't know existed: Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter
• The Supreme Court gets dragged into a conversation about ecclesial authority
• Figuring out, with the help of The Good Place, whether Peter just skipped a grade

"Peter's the who's-on-first of the Bible."

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Matthew 16:13–20 (NRSVue)

[13] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” [14] And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” [15] He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [16] Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” [17] And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. [18] And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. [19] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” [20] Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Hosted by Pastor Eric Damon and Pastor Bob Schaefer.

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Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.