In this episode we discuss Asian-American Representation in Film with Abel Vang. Abel Vang is an awarded independent film producer, director, writer, and Assistant Professor of Entertainment Producing at Biola University. Some of his major film credits include: What Lies Below, Bedeviled, and the forthcoming, They Live In The Grey. Over the course of the conversation, Abel gives us loads of firsthand insight into the complex challenges that Asian-Americans face in the film industry. He recounts many of the struggles that he has experienced personally, but notes some of the progress that he’s seen in recent years in the industry, and highlights how he puts his hope in God in order to continue persevering in his desire to see more Asian-American representation in film. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Grace Sangalang Ng, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Kris Song. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we revisit the subject of women in the academy with Dr. Beth Allison Barr and Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg. Dr. Barr is Professor of History and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at Baylor University and the author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood (published by Brazos) and Dr. Renberg is Assistant Professor of History at Anderson University, having completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Barr. Over the course of the conversation, Dr. Barr and Dr. Renberg talk about the unique experiences of studying for a PhD as a woman under the supervision of a woman with the unique advantages and benefits that come from that. They also discuss the challenges in academia for women relative to rank and experience, as well as relative to marital status. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we celebrate 100 podcast episodes! In the spirit of celebration, we have an eclectic episode full of feedback from some of our previous guests as well as questions from listeners and responses from all twelve of our podcast hosts. In addition we conclude the episode with a number of bloopers followed by the origin story of our theme music, and the unveiling of our new theme music for the next 100 episodes! Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Grace Emmett, Jennifer Guo, Brandon Hurlbert, Stephanie Kate Judd, Dr. Grace Sangalang Ng, Rev. Daniel Parham, Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Kris Song, and Dr. Logan Williams.  Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's episode we're discussing the topic of Climate Justice in the wake of the recent COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland on October 31 through November 13 of 2021 (the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties). We are joined by three guests from Australia: Pastor Ray Minniecon, Jarrod McKenna, and Dr. Byron Smith. Over the course of our conversation we talk about the severity of the problem of climate change and how it impacts indigenous communities, and the theological necessity to engage ourselves with the work of climate justice as an embodied expression of hope in the resurrection.Pastor Ray Minniecon is an Australian indigenous leader and a descendant of the Kabi Kabi nation, the Gureng Gureng nation of South-East Queensland, and also the South Sea Islander people with deep connections to the people of Ambrym Island. He holds many roles, including as executive member of the Indigenous People’s Organization, Director of Bunji Consultancies, and Honorary Indigenous Minister for Scarred Tree Indigenous Ministries, St. John’s Anglican Church, Glebe. Pastor Ray also recently attended COP26.Jarrod McKenna is the co-host of the Inverse Podcast, the Founder of First Home Project for refugees, was the founding CEO of Common Grace (a Christian advocacy organisation), an initiator of LoveMakesAWay.org.au (a movement for refugees which has become the largest faith based civil disobedience movement in Australia’s history), and was World Vision Australia’s National Advisor for Faith and Activism and a Nonviolent Social Change Educator for World Vision in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.Dr. Byron Smith is an ecological ethicist and Christian minister. His PhD in theological ethics from the University of Edinburgh focused on emotional responses to climate change in the context of Christian identity. His time is split between pastoral ministry in the Anglican church in Sydney, and a speaking/writing ministry helping churches join the dots between ecological justice and faith.Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Stephanie Kate Judd. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we debrief our experiences listening to Christianity Today's podcast series, The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill, which is all about Mark Driscoll's leadership at a megachurch in Seattle from 1996 to 2014. Joining us for this conversation are Aimee Byrd, the author of Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (published by Zondervan), and Dr. Michael Bird, who is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College, Melbourne. You can find the two of them chatting on together on their podcast and YouTube series, "Birds of a Feather." Over the course of the conversation we express our appreciations, discomforts, and main take aways from the lessons of Mars Hill. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Brandon Hurlbert, Stephanie Kate Judd, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams.Sources referenced in the episode:Jessica Johnson, Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor, and Pastor Mark Driscoll’s Evangelical Empire (Duke University Press, 2018), which is based on Johnson's own ethnographic research at Mars Hill from 2006–2008. Cf. also her article in Religion Dispatches on October 1st reviewing the podcast series: https://religiondispatches.org/sharing-many-of-the-same-flaws-as-its-subject-the-rise-and-fall-of-mars-hill-podcast-puts-blame-anywhere-but-where-it-belongs/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we reflect on our experiences participating in the annual biblical studies, theology, and religion conferences that take place every November, including the Society of Biblical Literature, which most of our team participates in, as well as the American Academy of Religion and the Institute of Biblical Research (among others). In our conversation we talk about the papers that we presented, the things that stood out to us about the unique nature of the conference this year because the sessions were held both in person in San Antonio as well as virtually for those who weren't able to come in person, and then also the highlights from the conference including some of our favorite papers. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Grace Emmett, Brandon Hurlbert, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk about what it is like to be a mother, an academic, and a Christian all at the same time. Joining us for this conversation are Dr. Stephanie Chan and Dr. Christina Lee Kim, both of whom contributed to the recent volume, Power Women: Stories of Motherhood, Faith, and the Academy (recently published by IVP). Dr. Chan is Associate Professor of Sociology at Biola University and Dr. Kim is Associate Professor of Psychology at Biola University. Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Chan and Dr. Kim talk about the challenges and the joys of being mothers, academics, and Christians, and delve into many relevant issues at the nexus where these three spheres overlap. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen and Grace Sangalang Ng. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss doubt and deconstructing faith with Dr. A. J. Swoboda, who is Assistant Professor of Bible, Theology, and World Christianity at Bushnell University (Eugene, Oregon), and the author of After Doubt: How to Question Your Faith without Losing It (published by Brazos). Over the course of our conversation we talk about what doubt and deconstruction are, and what healthy and unhealthy versions of each can look like. Dr. Swoboda understands doubt as something precipitated by what happens to us, whereas deconstruction is an active undertaking. Along the way we talk about the role of professors and pastors in the work of disorientation and reorientation, and how faith leaders need to begin by displaying to others how they themselves wrestle with the difficult questions of the faith. Dr. Swoboda tells us about how all of his personal heroes of the faith, including C.S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, and Henri Nouwen, etc., all had serious challenges in their life of faith. Swoboda describes his own doubts as sacred thorns that he gets to share with his students who also wrestle with tough issues.We need to practice the ministry of the ear, as Dr. Swoboda says, and we need to give “spiritual consent” before we respond to someone’s doubts and deconstruction, asking someone confiding to us how they’re inviting us to respond. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss our appreciation of, and enduring fascination with, Netflix's breakout South Korean horror-drama, Squid Game. Over the course of our wide-ranging conversation we discuss the show's critique of capitalism and connect that critique to the historical and theological insights of Albert Hirschman and Kathryn Tanner. We also delve further into the ways that the show portrays how the economic game leverages gender disparities and corrupts religious adherence. And we conclude with a discussion about a fan theory regarding the father of Gi-Hun (aka player 456). Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Sangalang Ng, Dr. Kris Song, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we review the new Dune film by Denis Villeneuve with Matthew William Brake, the series editor for the Theology and Pop Culture series published by Fortress and Lexington Press. Over the course of our conversation we talk about our appreciation of the film, how it did as an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, and how it compares to David Lynch’s much-maligned film version from 1984. Key themes that we dig into include: cultural representation and a lack of other-worldliness in the new film, the relationship of individuals to the larger group, Messiah tropes, prophecy, and “future memories,” and what other films might secretly be set within the Dune universe. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Brandon Hurlbert, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Kris Song. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk about Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein with Dr. Karen Swallow Prior, who is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the author of On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books (published by Brazos), and the editor of a series published by B&H called A Guide To Reading and Reflecting, which includes classics like Frankenstein. Over the course of our conversation we discuss the structure of the novel as well as key themes that the story brings out of relationality, and a desire to belong, and how those themes sync up so well with humanity’s deepest theological questions. We also talk about contemporary ambition and technological aspirations, such as transhumanist pursuits, and what Mary Shelley’s novel has to say to them. In the end we turn to the adaptations of the novel and even the broader reception of the Frankenstein story in popular culture. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss horror films with Dr. Murray Stiller, who is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Redeemer University (Hamilton, Ontario). Over the course of our conversation we talk about why horror movies are so popular and why it’s important to be having a discussion like this. We address the tropes and themes that are germane to the genre of horror in its many iterations across literature, film, and art, and it the way the genre has evolved over the years to reflect the greatest fears of the day. We also address where horror films in particular go too far, and why Christians should consider watching these kinds of films. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we discuss the ministry of women in the New Testament with Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee, who is Stewart Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity College, Melbourne, an ordained priest in the Anglican church, and the author of The Ministry of Women in the New Testament: Reclaiming the Biblical Vision for Church Leadership (published by Baker). In our conversation, Prof. Lee tells us about the shape and scope of the book, which is to provide a somewhat canonical overview of all of the relevant material in the NT about the ministry of women. Specifically, we talk about the various ministry activities of women, as well as some of the crucial passages that are often used to deny that women can participate fully in ministry. Along the way we talk about contemporary ordination of women, how Prof. Lee distinguishes her work from a kind of Sachkritik or a social justice endeavor, and we also note fondly our respective connections to the Free Church of Scotland. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities: Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we’re talking about What Jesus Learned From Women with Dr. James F. McGrath, who is Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, the host of a podcast called ReligionProf, and the author of the book that we’re discussing here, What Jesus Learned From Women (published by Cascade). Dr. McGrath’s thesis is that there are many women in the Gospels who teach Jesus various things. Acknowledging that this is a controversial claim (depending on one’s Christology), Dr. McGrath begins by noting that Jesus obviously learned from Mary, his mother, and that there are other scenes that scholars have pointed to, such as the interaction with the Syrophoenician Woman, as discrete examples of Jesus learning from women. McGrath’s book seeks to build upon those examples and draw together all possible instances of Jesus learning from women presented to us in the Gospels. In our conversation we discuss Mary Magdalene, Jesus' grandmother, the woman caught in adultery, and the woman at the well in particular. When set in modern conversations about gender, Dr. McGrath concludes from this analysis that if Jesus was a feminist at all, he was not a twenty-first century feminist, but rather a first-century Jewish feminist. Thus, Jesus shouldn’t be read as being outside of a patriarchal Jewish perspective. Rather, his views on women arise out of that Jewish context and influence. Team members on episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As our final episode in our Apologetics series, we conclude by discussing apologetics pedagogy, education, and training with three recent graduates of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, which was formerly associated with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries as its training arm. Joining us to talk about the experience of studying there and their ongoing relationship with apologetics in the aftermath of what was revealed about Ravi Zacharias are: Stephanie Kate Judd, who is a lawyer and researcher funded by Anglican Deaconess Ministries in disability and human dignity based in Australia; Lauren Ruef, who is a freelance writer and editor based in the States; and Clare Williams, who is the founder of Get Real, which is an apologetics ministry based in the UK. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the penultimate episode in our Apologetics series, we discuss the need for Urban Apologists in particular to address how Christianity has been whitewashed. For this conversation, we are joined by Pastor Jerome Gay, Jr., who is the founder and pastor of Vision Church in Raleigh, NC, the author of The Whitewashing of Christianity: A Hidden Past, A Hurtful Present, and A Hopeful Future, and one of the contributors to the recent volume on Urban Apologetics (published by Zondervan). As Pastor Jerome explains, whitewashing is the way that Christianity is inaccurately portrayed as being a White religion from the very beginning, including the way that prominent African figures in the early church, including figures like Athanasius and Augustine, are regularly represented as white in Christian art. This is an important issue for many reasons, esp. since it is a hurdle to extending the gospel to black communities. Beyond matters of imagery, Pastor Jerome also speaks to the need to live out the gospel and empathetically enter into the experience of others when doing Urban Apologetics. Team Members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Sangalang Ng, and Rev. Daniel Parham. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we continue our apologetics conversation by specifically talking about the problems throughout Christian history with Dr. John Dickson, who is the Distinguished Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Public Christianity at Ridley College, Melbourne, and the author of a number of books, including most recently, Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History (Zondervan), as well as the host of a podcast called Undeceptions. Apologetics for John is primarily about making Christ known, and thus he prefers to speak of public Christianity rather than “apologetics.” Given John’s recent book, and his expertise as a historian, we primarily discuss the horrors associated with the Crusades and how Christians should think about this terrible part of the history of their faith. For John, the greatest apologetic is the local church, both because no individual can really make the full case and also because when the church rightly sings the tune of Christ, unlike what we see with the Crusades, that will be the most compelling presentation of the Gospel as true and beautiful. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carrying on our conversation on Apologetics, we are joined by Dr. John G. Stackhouse, Jr., who is Samuel J. Mikolaski Professor of Religious Studies at Crandall University in New Brunswick (Canada), and the author of a couple important studies on apologetics, such as, Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today (Oxford University Press) and, more recently, Can I Believe? Christianity for the Hesitant (Oxford University Press). In our conversation Dr. Stackhouse points out how what’s happening in apologetics mirrors what’s happening all around the world with the rise of populism—appealing directly to the masses. Over the course of our conversation we talk about the ethics of platforming and the kinds of motivating impulses that drive the industry, including certain fundamentalist impulses and the nature of Hell. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of our Apologetics series, we’re joined by Lisa Fields, the founder of the Jude 3 Project, whose mission is “to help the Christian community know what they believe and why they believe it. Distinctive in its strong emphasis in equipping those of African descent in the United States and abroad.” In our conversation, Lisa tells us a little bit of her journey, how she first got into apologetics, and why she decided to start the Jude 3 Project. As Lisa explains, part of the reason is to address the unique apologetic concerns of Black Community. Questions like whether God exists is always an important apologetic discussion, but most Black people in America do believe in God and so more germane topic need to be explored, such as whether Christianity is just “a white man’s religion.” Lisa explain that Jude 3 is also partly an attempt to ensure that Black voices are represented on all the common apologetics concerns and issues.  As the conversation progresses we touch on some additional insights that Black Apologetics provides for the broader apologetic enterprise, such as unique insights on the Problem of Evil, drawing upon a history of suffering re: slavery, racism, and systemic oppression. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Rev. Daniel Parham, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carrying on our broader conversation on Apologetics, we are joined by an analytic theologian, Dr. James T. Turner, who is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Anderson University and the author of On the Resurrection of the Dead: A New Metaphysics of Afterlife for Christian Thought(published by Routledge). In this conversation we touch on the nature of apologetics as an enterprise designed to demonstrate that Christianity is not fundamentally irrational. As Dr. Turner contends, this is all apologetics really ought to be, and he goes further to explain that the idea of removing intellectual objections to the faith won’t actually lead people to bow the knee to King Jesus. Another branch of our conversation then delves into the subject matter of Dr. Turner’s book, which is the resurrection and the nature of the afterlife. Dr. Turner is a hylomorphist, which is the view that everything is comprised of matter and form. The soul, then, is the form of all living organisms (humans, plants, trees, dogs). The form thus can’t float free from the matter, and cannot be separated from it. This has huge implications for popular apologetics that point to near death experiences as an argument for God (usually implicitly given in the form of a narrative, such as books like Heaven Is For Real). Dr. Turner explains that he holds this view because he believes that the Bible places all of its hope on the bodily resurrection of human beings, as well as the physical restoration of creation, not on immaterial souls going off to Heaven after the body dies. Team members from The Two Cities on the episode include: Dr. Amber Bowen and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our apologetics series, we are joined by Dr. Justin Bailey, who is Assistant Professor of Theology at Dordt University and the author of Reimagining Apologetics: The Beauty of Faith in a Secular Age(IVP Academic). In our conversation, Dr. Bailey offers his constructive proposal for what apologetics could look like that gets beyond a mere focus on the intellect. Further, he wants to distance his approach to apologetics from what he calls “capital A apologetics,” or magisterial apologetics, which promotes a “sage of the stage” who offers a kind of top-down approach full of defeater arguments. Dr. Bailey is clear that his proposal is not an attempt to get rid of the classical arguments for God’s existence, but rather he wants to open up the realm of what fits into the apologetic enterprise. This expanse needs to include the role of the imagination, which is not infantile or make believe, but rather is oriented towards reality, and specifically what possibilities stand before us, thus helping people see what possibilities are available in the life of faith to those who stand outside of it. And the other key expansive bit is the role of empathy, our ability to entertain the perspectives of others and to recognize what a person needs in that moment of encounter, which might not be a defeater argument. Team members of the episode from The Two Cities includes: Dr. Amber Bowen and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode in our apologetics series we address matters of evidence. What counts as “evidence,” and how do we interpret it? Moreover, what do we do when people interpret the evidence differently, or don’t find it to be relevant to the claim being made? Specifically, how should we understand religious disagreement? How should we understand religious experience? Does that count as evidence of God’s existence, God’s goodness, etc? Joining us to address these types of questions is Dr. Greta Turnbull, who is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University. Dr. Turnbull is an expert on evidence and disagreement, and helps us realize that evidence is messy. She calls our attention to the differences between logical apologetic questions and more existential/pastoral questions, and she points out how sometimes apologetics sticks too rigidly to logical matters when pastoral/existential issues are more pressing for people. In that light, we discuss how apologetics thus needs to expand and adapt to what is most salient for a given person, esp. since its ostensible aim is to bring people into faith, which is an inherently personal aim. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Dr. Grace Emmett. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this installment of our apologetics series we ask the corresponding question to last week’s episode, Does Apologetics Help Us Read the New Testament? For this conversation we are joined by Ian Mills, who is a PhD Candidate in New Testament at Duke University and co-host with Laura Robinson of the New Testament Review podcast. Ian contends that the modern apologetics enterprise both hinders our ability to read the New Testament and makes us worse people. Over the course of our conversation we talk about both of those aspects of Ian’s indictment on the modern apologetics, looking at specific culprits and also specific examples where our reading of New Testament will be negatively impacted. Team members from The Two Cities on the episode include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Rev. Daniel Parham, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our conversation on Apologetics we want to take the next two episodes to ask whether apologetics helps us read Scripture. This week we want to ask that question in relation to the Old Testament specifically. We are joined by Dr. Brent Strawn, Professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School and Professor of Law at Duke University. He is the author of The Old Testament Is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Baker), and more recently, Lies My Preacher Told Me: An Honest Look at The Old Testament (Westminster John Knox). In our wide-ranging conversation, we talk about a number of issues pertaining to the use of the Old Testament in apologetic discussions. We pose several questions to Dr. Strawn, such as, why is it that apologetics makes it hard for us to read our Bibles, why we are perhaps less open to critical scholarship on the Old Testament than the New Testament, and what we should make of apparent contradictions if we aren’t going to feed the apologetic impulse to “tame” or “fix” the problem? Dr. Strawn contends that we need to see the big picture and put everything into perspective relative to central claims of our faith. He suggests that his approach is more compatible with a classic apologetic that is not mired in modernism and modernist constraints about what counts as facticity, historicity, etc. In the end, Dr. Strawn helpfully calls us to read with the grain of the text and to consider Augustine’s position that good interpretation ought to brings us into greater love of God and love of neighbor. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Brandon Hurlbert. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kicking off our brand-new series on apologetics we begin with the end! Our first guest is Dr. Myron Bradley Penner, the author of The End of Apologetics: Christian Witness in a Postmodern Context (published by Baker), and the Rector at the Anglican Parish of Saint Paul in the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. Penner helpfully kick starts this series by asking what the goals of apologetics ought to be? He draws attention to many problems with the modern apologetic enterprise with their goals essentially being to win epistemic standoffs and show a force of rational domination. He highlights that many of the key figures in Christian apologetics are engaged in a project that is ironically secular, drawing as it does upon a modernist frame in order to attempt to win a battle against modernity. In our conversation, we discuss the problems that occur with reducing Christianity to propositions, as is so often done in this mode of apologetics. In our postmodern age, we are rightly skeptical of claims to “objective,” “universal,” and “neutral” knowledge, and so such an apologetic approach is also out of touch in addition to being so often less-than-Christian. Many of the questions that people are asking nowadays are also not the same ones in which classical apologetics first began. For all of these reasons, modern apologetics needs to die; and raised in its place must be something more personal, holistic, relational, and communal. Team members of the episode from The Two Cities includes: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we reflect back on our Cultural Identity series and the things that stood out to us the most. We use the analogy of the table to highlight that these conversations need to happen in an egalitarian way, where we all bring something to the table for others to enjoy. The series began with Episode 68 (May 12th) and concludes with Episode 76 (July 7th). Our series includes episodes on Latin American Theology, Asian North American preaching and biblical interpretation, race relations after George Floyd, Critical Race Theory, Masculinity, and Whiteness. What we tried to stress in this series is there is no such thing as an “un-hyphenated theology,” that we all bring our cultural identities and various intersectional backgrounds to the text with us as we attempt to read it. We hoped to stress that we all have particularities that we need to be aware of, and that we also need to learn from others who have a unique access to the text because of their distinct particularities. We also hope that this series highlights how we do not want to universalize our particularities. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities includes: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Sangalang Ng, Rev. Daniel Parham, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Concluding our series on Cultural Identity, we are joined by Dr. Willie James Jennings, who is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, and the author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale University Press), and, more recently, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans). Dr. Jennings begins by explaining what Whiteness is and isn’t, and specifically how it has nothing to do with phenotype, cultural heritage, bodily characteristics, biology, etc, but rather is a particular way of seeing the world as revolving around the self and as something to be mastered. Over the course of our conversation we talk about how the church and theological education have been ensconced in Whiteness. Given that dynamic, Dr. Jennings relays to us how to call out its particularities, overcome internalized racism in the academy, and addresses what sort of “crucifixion” white evangelicalism might need to experience to be on the side of resurrection. Throughout his book, After Whiteness, Dr. Jennings interweaves anecdotes with poems that he’s written. As a special treat for us, Dr. Jennings reads one of his unpublished poems that didn’t make its way into the book. In the end, Dr. Jennings provide a beautiful vision of hope for the gathering of the multitudes together as the people of God after Whiteness. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities includes: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Sangalang Ng, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this penultimate episode in our cultural identity series we discuss the role of whiteness in New Testament scholarship with Prof. David Horrell, who is Professor of New Testament Studies and the Director of the Center for Biblical Studies at the University of Exeter (England), and the author of Solidarity and Difference: A Contemporary Reading of Paul’s Ethics (T&T Clark, 2005), and, more recently, Ethnicity and Inclusion: Religion, Race, and Whiteness in Constructions of Jewish and Christian Identities (Eerdmans, 2020). Over the course of our conversation, Prof. Horrell talks with us about his new book on the particularities that contribute to the modern state of New Testament scholarship, and specifically the particularities that have contributed to New Testament scholarship on the relationship between Judaism and nascent Christianity, that the former is particular and ethnocentric, whereas the latter is non-particular and universal. Prof. Horrell situates this within a Euro-centric perspective that lauds western liberal values, with many implications that continue to impact New Testament Studies. In our conversation Prof. Horrell also reflects on his former research under this light, particularly his studies on Paul’s ethics, and helps us consider how we can come to see the effects of whiteness on New Testament scholarship as “strange” by de-centering white western perspectives on the text. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Grace Emmett, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we carry on our broader discussion on cultural identity with Dr. Robert Stegmann, who is Research Fellow at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and the author of Contested Masculinities: Polysemy and Gender in 1 Thessalonians (Lexington). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Stegmann explains his work on gender in Paul, in which he contends for multiple possibilities of masculinity in the text rather than a static conception of gender. As he does so from a postcolonial and gender-critical perspective, he is very aware of his own cultural situatedness as a white male New Testament scholar based in South Africa. In drawing attention to his background explicitly and consistently, he provides a great model for what we are trying to stress in this series—self-reflection on our own particularities as we approach the biblical text. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Grace Emmett, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode in the Cultural Identity series we are joined by Dr. Janette Hur Ok, who is associate professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary and the author of the forthcoming monograph Constructing Ethnic Identity in 1 Peter: Who You Are No Longer in the Library of New Testament Studies series. Dr. Ok addresses a number of key issues related to contextualized readings of the New Testament, noting first of all that western biblical scholarship is also contextualized. In other words, there’s no such thing as an a-contextualized reading of Scripture. As such, Dr. Ok tells us a bit about how she developed her own Asian American approach to biblical studies, and we talk about her forthcoming monograph on 1 Peter in particular, which provides an interesting approach to the issue of ethnicity in the letter. As the conversation continues we discuss a range of important topics that help to round out our series, such as various issues of intersectionality, like Asian American feminist scholarship. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Jennifer Guo, Grace Sangalang Ng, and Dr. Kris Song. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our series on Cultural Identity, we are joined by Norlan Hernandez, who is the Director of the Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership at Vanguard University and a PhD Candidate in Intercultural Studies at the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University. Norlan joins us on the podcast for a second episode on Latin American Theology, following on from last week’s more historically-focused episode with Dr. Octavio Esqueda (Episode #71 – “Journeying Through Latin American Theology”). In this episode we discuss more about how cultural identity is crucial to the task of theology. In our conversation we note the importance and inevitability of contextualization, the communal dynamics of Hispanic culture relative to the institutional nature of the church, epistemologies of the South, and the holistic nature of Hispanic theology and spirituality. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities includes Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Rev. Daniel Parham. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our series on Cultural Identity we are joined by Dr. Octavio Esqueda for a discussion on Latin American Theology. Dr. Esqueda is Professor of Christian Higher Education and the Director of the EdD and PhD programs at Biola University. As an expert in higher education and the Spanish Reformation, Dr. Esqueda provides a helpful overview of the history of Latin American Theology as well as some of the key tenets of Hispanic Evangelical Theology, which includes the importance of communal theology, a holistic sense of mission, an inclination towards hope, and an intentional positioning as a theology from the margins. As part of this discussion, Dr. Esqueda helpfully explains that justice is always social, and that Spanish Bible readers are more inclined to recognize this than English readers of the Bible because the key Greek and Hebrew terms translated sometimes as “justice” and sometimes as “righteousness” in English are all translated with cognates related to justice in Spanish. Along the way Dr. Esqueda provides a nice mix of the anecdotal to go along with the historical, incorporating stories about his own personal faith journey growing up in Mexico and also some of the insights he gained while doing his doctoral work on theological education in Cuba. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Grace Sangalang Ng. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our third episode on Cultural Identity, we are joined by Dr. Walter Augustine, who is the Director of Intercultural Education and Research in the Division of Diversity and Inclusion at BIOLA University, to discuss the topic of race one year after the dehumanizing murder of George Floyd. To start Dr. Augustine shares some encouraging developments since last year, but also some of his frustrations. And we discuss whether the guilty verdict given to Derek Chauvin was an instance of justice or accountability, noting an important difference between retributive and restorative justice. This then led us to a discussion on reparations in which Dr. Augustine provides a helpful theological framework in terms of repentance. In appealing to a biblical paradigm, Dr. Augustine looks at Zaccaeus as a great example of restorative justice, and even a kind of reparation. But Dr. Augustine also notes that reparations should not be thought about strictly in financial terms. As the conversation continues we discuss both the fear and fascination of the white gaze upon black bodies, reducing the black experience to “a single story” of physicality; we note examples of this from history, sports, and even American reception of the biblical character Samson. In the end, Dr. Augustine provides some hopeful words for the road ahead, drawing upon Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words about the need for reciprocal mutuality to foster true human flourishing. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Sangalang Ng, and Rev. Daniel Parham. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our series on Cultural Identity, we turn to discuss Critical Race Theory and its potential for intersection with the gospel. In previous episodes on Critical Theory (CT) and Critical Race Theory (CRT), we have primarily focused on the common characterizations and misunderstandings of the movement, the theories, etc. In this episode we are joined by scholars who make use of CRT in an intentionally Christian way. Our guests include, Dr. Nathan Cartagena, who is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College, Dr. Jeff Liou, who is the Director of Theological Formative at Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the co-founder of the Asian American Christian Collaborative, and Dr. Robert Chao Romero, who is Associate Professor of Chicano/Chicana Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA. Over the course of the conversation, Dr. Cartagena, Dr. Liou, and Dr. Romero explain how CRT relates to the goof news of Jesus Christ and how CRT helps the spread of the gospel through evangelism in racially minoritized communities. This episode contains many powerful challenges for the church to boldly engage in the work of antiracism for the sake of the gospel. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Sangalang Ng, Rev. Daniel Parham, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kicking of our series on Cultural Identity, we are joined by Dr. Matthew Kim and Dr. Daniel Wong, the authors of Finding our Voice: A Vision Asian North American Preaching (Lexham Press). Dr. Kim is George F. Bennett Chair of Preaching and Practical Theology at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and Dr. Wong recently retired from his position as Associate Professor of Christian Ministries at Tyndale University (Canada). In our conversation Dr. Kim and Dr. Wong talk to us about various issues pertaining to hermeneutics and homiletics from the bi-cultural perspective of being Asian and North American. We talk about what a distinctly bi-cultural hermeneutic might look like, how the incarnation is a helpful model for thinking about bi-cultural identity, how we become aware of our own cultural influences, the role of honor and shame in Asian North American contexts, and what the broader church can learn from an Asian North American perspective. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Grace Sangalang Ng. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk about the recent scandals committed by major leaders in the church, most notably Ravi Zacharias. For this conversation we are joined by Aimee Byrd, the author of Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (published by Zondervan), and Dr. Michael Bird, who is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College, Melbourne. We wanted to have Aimee and Mike on with us because they have been having robust and lively conversations together on YouTube called "Birds of a Feather," and we wanted to be a part of one of their interesting conversations on The Two Cities. Over the course of our discussion we talk about various reactions to the Ravi Zacharias scandal in particular, and more generally we reflect on the cultural factors in the evangelical world that might lead to abuse and how to have systems set in place within the church and within denominations to properly handle situations of abuse. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Jennifer Guo, Grace Sangalang Ng, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(CW: Adult Themes). On this episode we discuss sexual addiction with Dr. Samuel Perry, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma and the author of Addicted to Lust: Pornography in the Lives of Conservative Protestants (published by Oxford University Press). Our discussion begins by addressing the original claim made by the Atlanta shooter, who said that he was motivated to violence by a "sexual addiction." Dr. Perry, who is an expert on sexual addiction from a sociological perspective, directly addresses that claim, but also looks more widely at how we talk about sexual addiction and lust in the church. In particular, we discuss the way pornography and masturbation are often regarded as the worst kinds of problems in the church, which Dr. Perry calls a “sexual exceptionalism.” Dr. Perry further highlights how gendered this conversation typically is in the church as well, leaving women without any resources or recourse to address these issues in their own lives. The conversation as a whole helpfully contextualizes sexual addiction in many ways. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Emmett, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Concluding our Art & Culture series with our fifth and final episode, we turn to discuss the artistic nature of film with Dr. Kutter Callaway, who is Associate Professor of Theology and the co-director of Reel Spirituality at Fuller Seminary. With the 93rd Annual Academy Awards ceremony (“the Oscars”) just around the corner, we discuss in particular the artistry of the Best Picture Nominees from the past year (spoilers throughout). After discussing why Christians should care about film, and after lamenting our various experiences with Christian approaches to film exemplified by organizations like Plugged In, we turn to chat about key themes across the Best Picture Nominees, and how these films are suited to our current moment. In the end, Dr. Callaway stresses the importance of empathy that films uniquely foster in us. As he says, “Art traffics in empathy,” and thus an “ethic of viewership” requires empathy from us or else the art is “stillborn.” Team members from The Two Cities on the episode include Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Brandon Hurlbert, and Kris Song. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the penultimate episode in our Art & Culture series we are joined by Dr. Greg Thornbury to discuss Art & Cultural Engagement. Dr. Thornbury is Vice President for Development at the New York Academy of Art in New York City and the author of Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music: Larry Norman and the Perils of Christian Rock. Over the course of the conversation we talk about problematic ways of conceiving of “cultural engagement,” bad forms of Christian art, and why the rock star Larry Norman was such a helpful model for what it means to be a Christian in the arts. One of the more intriguing aspects of the conversation is the notion of ”kayfabe,” which comes from the arena of professional wrestling, referring to the illusions of real fighting, but actually isn’t. Dr. Thornbury uses this concept as a fascinating metaphor for dishonest art. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Rev. Daniel Parham, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the third installment of our series on Art & Culture, we are joined by Dr. Matthew Mullins for a conversation on Art & Biblical Literature. Dr. Mullins is Associate Professor of English and History of Ideas as well as Associate Dean for Academic Advising at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Wake Forest, NC), and he is the author of Enjoying the Bible: Literary Approaches to Loving the Bible (Baker, 2021). Throughout the conversation we talk about the importance of approaching the Bible from a literary standpoint in order to understand it at a deeper affective level that goes beyond the cerebral. Team members from The Two Cities on the episode include: Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Emmett, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing our series on Art and Culture, we are joined by Makoto Fujimura, who is the founder of the International Arts Movements and the Fujimura Institute and the author of Art and Faith: A Theology of Making (with Yale University Press). Over the course of our conversation we talk about the relationship of art to modernism, beauty and subjectivity, and the notion of abstract art. As we discuss art from a faith perspective, our discussion turns to focus on reflections on art in the midst of loss and grief and what that teaches us theologically about grieving alongside Jesus (cf. John 11:35) and what the nature of the new creation will be. Team members on the episode include Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Grace Sangalang Ng. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To kick off our series on Art & Culture we are joined by Dr. Esther Meek, who is Professor of Philosophy at Geneva College, and the author of a number of important works on epistemology, including Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People (with Brazos) and Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology (with Cascade). In this episode Dr. Meek addresses the relationship between Art and Knowing. Over the course of our conversation we discuss how modernism has sidelined philosophy along with art, which has really taken away a key facet of what it means to be human in the world. Along the way as we discuss everything from boredom to Harry Potter to the Enneagram and the Night Blooming Cereus, Dr. Meek models a lively and exuberant appreciation for reality and an approach to knowing that is inherently creative, integrative, and beautiful. Team members on the episode include Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we process the horrific events that took place in Atlanta earlier this week in which a twenty-one year old white male attacked three Asian-owned business, including spas and massage parlors in the broader metro area. We also address the narrative that has emerged about the motivation for the murders. Was this a racialized hate crime? Or was it a sexualized crime rooted in the shooter’s “sexual temptation”? We affirm that this is in fact a false dichotomy and that intersectional thinking is required to do justice to the full complexity of the issues at play here. Over the course of the conversation we address the rise of Asian American hate crimes since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, evangelical purity culture, and also the fact that this shooter was a Christian and how Christians have responded too quickly to denounce any significance to that fact. Team members on the episode include: Jennifer Guo, Grace Sangalang Ng, Dr. Josh Carrol, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Brandon Hurlbert, Rev. Daniel Parham, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams.Links to reports and articles mentioned in the episode listed below:Stop AAPI Hate National ReportAlbert Tate's Good News Today - March 18, 2021After “The China Virus” Went Viral: Racially Charged Coronavirus Coverage and Trends in Bias Against Asian Americans by Sean Darling-Hammond, Eli K. Michaels, Amani M. Allen, David H. Chae, Marilyn D. Thomas, Thu T. Nguyen, Mahasin M. Mujahid, Rucker C. Johnson“The Atlanta massacre is yet another reminder we desperately need race-conscious discipleship” by Raymond ChangResponding to anti-Asian Violence with Creativity from the Margins by Dr. Michelle Ami Reyes Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we recap and reflect on the gender series that we’ve been doing since mid-November 2020. The series spans eighteen episodes, beginning with “Paul and Masculinity with Grace Emmett” (November 11, 2020) and ending with “The Great Sex Rescue with Sheila Wray Gregoire” (March 10, 2020). As we explain in this conversation, we regard every episode in between these two episodes as being part of the series, including the ones on racial matters, such as, “Whiteness in Biblical Scholarship with Dr. Ekaputra Tupamahu,” “Critical Theory: Fact, Fiction, or Fallacy? With Dr. Matthew Arbo and Dr. Scott Coley,” and “African American Readings of Paul with Dr. Lisa Bowens.” Over the course of the episode, we debrief some of our highlights from the series, some connections and themes that we noticed across the episodes, some reactions and responses we received from people who tuned in, and we also extended the discussion further to emphasize the importance and implications of these conversations for current events related to violence against women in the light of the murder of Sarah Everard in London in early March 2021. Contributors on the episode from The Two Cities include Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Emmett, Brandon Hurlbert, Grace Sangalang Ng, Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Logan Williams, and our newest contributor, Jennifer Guo, who is a PhD student in New Testament at the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN). Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(CW: Mature Content and Abuse) On today’s episode we talk about sex with Sheila Wray Gregoire, a well-known speaker, blogger, podcaster, and author of several books on sex, including the recently published The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You’ve Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended (with Baker). In our conversation we talk about lies that we tell in the evangelical church about sex, particularly gendered tropes for men and women respectively. Sheila informs us that these lies impact lots of things, including sexual satisfaction in marriage. She was able to determine loads of fascinating information like this from conducting the largest survey of Christian women regarding sexuality (over 20,000 women were surveyed). Along the way Sheila also chats with us about purity culture, vaginismus, evangelical sexual scandals, and more. Team members on the episode include: Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Emmett, Grace Sangalang Ng, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss the concept of “Biblical Womanhood” from a historical perspective. To do so we are joined by Dr. Beth Allison Barr, who is Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of History at Baylor University (Waco, TX), and the author of the forthcoming book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth (with Brazos). In her new book, Dr. Barr contends that “Biblical Womanhood” isn’t biblical at all, but rather is the product of people. She relays to us in our conversation some of the ways that she defends that thesis in her book, some key insights and motivations behind writing the book, and also some of the plans she originally had for certain chapters. Along the way we make reference to Jordan Peterson, whether a concept like “Biblical Womanhood” can be salvaged and reinvested with new meaning, the cultural tensions of patriarchy and feminism, and the implications of Dr. Barr’s new book for recent sexual abuse scandals that have come to light regarding Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Emmett, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode we discuss various topics related to gender and the Trinity, including: the gendered language about the family of God (i.e. “sons”) and the gendered language for the persons of the Trinity (i.e. Father and Son), the representation of God with maternal imagery in the Bible, and the topic of the Eternal Functional Subordination of the Son (EFS), which is a proxy discussion for a complementarian approach to gender. For this discussion we are joined by Dr. Madison Pierce, who is assistant professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, Illinois), and the author of Divine Discourse in the Epistle to the Hebrews: The Recontextualization of Spoke Quotations of Scripture (Cambridge University Press, 2020). After digging into these topics related to God and gender, we close out our conversation with some reflections on gender representation in theological education and Dr. Pierce's Enneagram type. Team members from The Two Cities podcast on the episode include: Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and Dr. Chris Porter. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode we begin the season of Lent with a discussion on ecological grief with our guest, Hannah Malcolm, who is PhD Candidate in Theology at Durham University studying ecological grief as a form of theological knowledge. She is also the editor of Words for a Dying World: Stories of Grief and Courage from the Global Church (SCM Press, 2020) containing essays, poems, and anecdotes related to our ecological crisis. Over the course of the episode, Hannah helps us understand the nature of ecological grief relative to other forms of trauma. We chat about what prevents evangelicals from participating in this process of grieving, noting some important distinctions on this issue in American and British contexts respectively. Hannah also addresses some of the insufficiencies for how the church resources Scripture and how the church often chooses to address the issue collectively. She informs us about gendered components to this issue re: political leadership in helping to ameliorate the problem, whether men or women are more likely to take ecological action, and who is most culpable and also most vulnerable to climate crisis. Team members from The Two Cities on the episode include Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Grace Emmett, and Dr. Logan Williams. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.