with Jeremy Abrahamson

Update: 2025-01-09

Description

Lutheran, Fantasy Writer, Imperfect Human Being.

This episode of Lutheran Answers features Jeremy Abrahamson, a Lutheran author and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS). Jeremy discusses his upbringing as the son of a long-serving pastor, his own educational journey, and his experiences as a writer. He introduces his new book, a dark fantasy novel titled Eight Witch Hunters, blending themes of tragedy, Christian theology, and gothic storytelling. Jeremy elaborates on the book's inspiration, mentioning influences like Cormac McCarthy, Glenn Cook, and Tolkien, as well as his approach to integrating subtle Christian themes into a violent, brooding narrative.

The discussion also touches on broader themes such as the nature of writing, the balance of faith in storytelling, and the challenges of staying authentic as an author. Jeremy shares anecdotes about his influences and his writing process, including his motivations, inspirations, and the theological and philosophical underpinnings of his work.

Check Out Jeremy's Stuff

Jeremy's X

Jeremy's Linktree

Eight Witch Hunters

The Chain - and other short stories

Other Things We Discussed

Parting Thoughts

Don’t shy away from challenging material—whether in literature, faith, or life itself. Growth often comes through grappling with what’s difficult, sitting with it, and letting it refine your understanding. Resist the urge to skip past the hard parts; instead, return to them with patience and curiosity, trusting that perseverance brings deeper wisdom and insight.

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Transcript

[00:00:00 ] Remy: Welcome to Lutheran Answers. Today I am joined by Jeremy Abrahamson. Jeremy, how you doing, bud?

[00:00:13 ] Jeremy: Doing all right yourself?

[00:00:14 ] Remy: I'm doing well, thank you. Thank you. How is it being the son of Abraham?

[00:00:21 ] Jeremy: It has been the source of many jokes throughout my life, and I hope that eventually, when God blesses me with children, they do not cease.

[00:00:28 ] Remy: Excellent, Wonderful. That's good. That's good. But, like, you'll be joking on them, and they will be joking back on you.

[00:00:35 ] Jeremy: See, my thought is, what was the scribe's name?

I need to name one of my kids Baruch because of my name. And then we'll just keep it going.

[00:00:48 ] Remy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great. Wonderful.

So, Jeremy, tell me about yourself. You're a Lutheran?

[00:00:58 ] Jeremy: Yep, I am a Lutheran. I'm a member of the ELS Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Northwest.

I am the son of Joseph Abrahamson, who has served in the ministry for about 20 years and runs a article on pagan holidays and.

Or claims of pagan sourcing for holidays and debunking those.

The.

As far as that background, most. Most of our careers are very different because he's educated and I am not. I am somebody who likes to read, and education never sat well with me, so I never got into it.

[00:01:46 ] Remy: Okay, so you're the second ELS guy I've had on.

Tony Pittenger is an ELS pastor who wrote a book on Handel's Messiah. That's a wonderful, wonderful companion to seeing it live.

[00:02:02 ] Jeremy: I have listened to that episode.

[00:02:04 ] Remy: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:02:05 ] Jeremy: And I do not know if Tony knows me, but I have met him on a few occasions.

[00:02:10 ] Remy: Excellent. Yeah, it's. I tell you, I mean. Well, he'll know you after this. I mean, I don't know if you know, but this is the big leagues here.

[00:02:19 ] Jeremy: So, honestly, welcome color. That's probably the big sign. He knows. He knows my dad for sure.

Because the ELS is so small that everything. Everybody knows. If you served in the ministry at all, everybody has strong opinions on everybody else. So the moment they see my name and my hair, they'll know who I am.

[00:02:38 ] Remy: So the els, that's the only group in fellowship with the Wells, huh?

[00:02:44 ] Jeremy: Yep.

We left the lcms. My understanding is when they kept fellowship with the people who became the elca, and then since you guys parted ways, we never got back in touch.

[00:02:59 ] Remy: That was us.

They. Yeah, they maintained fellowship with the. I think the ALC and then the AALC.

[00:03:10 ] Jeremy: The. Because when the ELCA went off the rails in the 870s or 80s, my history is not great on that era, but you guys eventually parted ways with them, but we had already broken fellowship between our two Senates, and we just haven't gotten that smoothed out yet.

[00:03:28 ] Remy: Yeah, yeah. We.

The ELCA, the LCA, ALC merger was in 1986 to form the ELCA, and the AALC was formed out of 12 churches that abstained from that merger.

And then I want to say it was in 88 or 89, two or three years afterwards that we were able to establish a fellowship with the lcms.

[00:03:58 ] Jeremy: Okay.

The. And Jordan. You say you're in the same fellowship as Jordan Cooper, then?

[00:04:04 ] Remy: Yes. Yep, yep, yep. I. I hope I get to meet him one day.

[00:04:09 ] Jeremy: He.

[00:04:10 ] Remy: He seems very nice.

[00:04:13 ] Jeremy: I hope you tell him every single class you have.

[00:04:18 ] Remy: He's taught me a few times. He's taught me a few times.

[00:04:21 ] Jeremy: So my. My main video Luther. I guess technically you'd call him Luther now, but video game guru that I follow, that I mentioned in your chat room the other day, Razor Fist just wound up in a conversation with Dr. Cooper on the application of the papacy. And I was like, that is one of the most surreal events.

[00:04:43 ] Remy: I never thought I would expect crossovers you don't expect to see.

[00:04:47 ] Jeremy: And it was like, yeah, there's a cordial conversation. They understood each other, knew what they were talking about.

[00:04:52 ] Remy: That's amazing. Yeah. And. And, you know, that's really. That's also a testament to that gentleman's intelligence, because every time I've ever talked to Dr. Cooper, I'm going to be honest with you, I have no idea what we're talking about. He is really smart, and he makes me feel not very smart at all.

[00:05:10 ] Jeremy: So I assume his social skills are better than that from his podcasts.

[00:05:16 ] Remy: His socials. No, his social skills are amazing. I'm an idiot. See, that's the problem. I'm dumb.

[00:05:21 ] Jeremy: Well, then with me, you're in. Good.

[00:05:26 ] Remy: So you wrote a book that will be releasing sometime around the same time as the. As this episode, so people will be able to buy it and read it, tell me about it.

[00:05:42 ] Jeremy: So I dared. I. I've been writing off and on for a dec. Better part of a decade now, mostly. I published one collection of short stories about 10 years ago or about nine, eight years ago. Somewh