The texts that make up the Old and New Testaments were written over the span of a thousand years, by multiple authors, in multiple languages, and across a variety of places. Yet, the texts that form the sacred Scriptures for both Jews and Christians, more than two millennia after they were written, continue to hold importance for people of faith, they continue to be published and printed, continue to be referenced in public discourse, and continue to be taught in institutions of higher learning.

But should they?

Should the Bible be relegated to museum displays and library shelves as artifacts of the past; or does the Bible hold relevance for societies, including universities, today and in the future?

Jason Riley, PhD hosted this conversation on why people might invest their time in reading and studying Christian scripture today.

Jason, an OSU alum, received his PhD in Old Testament from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2018, where he served as an adjunct and affiliate professor from 2013 until 2021.

He is currently the General Manager of an advanced manufacturing company in Columbus, OH, and has served 23 years as a Marine Corps officer.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

You might be aware that Carmen House is an emerging Christian Study Center on the doorstep of OSU.

A key marker of a Christian Study Center is that it would be a welcoming place for faculty to let down their guard, share a table and a conversation, and talk about what truly matters. 

Our unity in Christ supersedes whatever preconceptions we may hold… as we host the executive director of the recently established Michigan Christian Study Center, and author of “Academically Speaking”, Dr. Rick Ostrander. 

This event provided a time to meet other faculty and staff interested in connecting Christian faith to university life, to learn about the Christian Study Center movement, and our hopes and dreams for a similar expression at Ohio State.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

We’re used to seeing Jesus as a figure for the afterlife, but we rarely talk about his insights for this life. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, there’s no denying the legacy of the life and teachings of Jesus in our world.

A widely respected historian and Bible scholar, Jonathan Pennington (PhD, St. Andrews), hosted this conversation on the possibility of Jesus as the ultimate philosopher. Consider this a masterclass on the ancient art of human flourishing.

Jonathan Pennington (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews, Scotland), has been a professor of New Testament Studies for over 20 years in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of many books including Reading the Gospels Wisely, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing, and Jesus the Great Philosopher: Rediscovering the Wisdom Needed for the Good Life.

He is a popular teacher, preacher, and speaker who travels extensively throughout North America visiting college campuses, churches, and as a visiting professor.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

Many have noted today that we constantly feel pressured to live fragmented lives. Faith seems to be relegated to the private sphere, quite separate from our public lives. This experience can be felt in the field of healthcare, as much as any other field of work in our society. Many people of faith are left confused about how their faith is relevant to their work. Attempts at integrating faith with our public lives can sometimes be misguided, if not harmful.

Hear from Joy Walton, MD, an OSU alum and former professor in the College of Medicine at Ohio State, as she discusses the pressures of fragmentation that can be faced with her work in healthcare, and what it might mean to pursue an integrated life today.

Dr. Joy Walton is a dual board–certified physician with over 15 years of experience. She earned her BS in biology and medical degree from The Ohio State University in 2007 and completed her Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency training at the University of Rochester.

She spent over a decade at Nationwide Children’s Hospital caring for children and adults with complex medical conditions while also practicing as an adult hospitalist.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Walton transitioned to medical education, serving as Associate Program Director and launching a nationally recognized health equity clinic in west Columbus.

Dr. Walton is married and has three children.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

Christians tend to use the word vocation interchangeably with one’s job. But is there more to it?

Hear from Dr. Steven Garber, author of Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, as we discuss what it means to have a vocation in God’s world.

Dr. Steven Garber has been a teacher of many people in many places for many years, a professor for undergraduates, graduates, and people at work in the world.

The founder of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture, he now serves as the Senior Fellow for Vocation and the Common Good for the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Senior Advisor for the Economics of Mutuality and Senior Fellow for the Institute for Marketplace Transformation; and for several years was the Professor of Marketplace Theology at Regent College, Vancouver BC.

The author of several books, his most recent is Hints of Hope: Essays on Making Peace with the Proximate. With his wife Meg, they are the parents of children and grandchildren, and have long lived in Virginia among family, friends and flowers.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Winter Symposium event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

In our increasingly polarized culture, bitterness and resentment can seem not only justified, but appropriate. When we have been offended or harmed by another we tend to turn a cold shoulder, if not scheme to pay them back. Our circles are increasingly made up only of those we perceive are safe enough not to hurt us. 

This is not new. Followers of Jesus in antiquity likewise lived in a cultural context that exhibited retribution rather than forgiveness. And yet, these early Christians discovered and embodied a new and distinct way of life.

Dr. Timothy Norman explores how the early church experienced and extended forgiveness in ways that transformed the world as they knew it, while pondering the implications of the New Testament’s teaching on forgiveness for the 21st century.

With a Ph.D. in Theology (Bristol) and as an OSU alum, Dr. Tim Norman frequently speaks on college campuses and at conferences across the country. Tim invests in training leaders across the globe and teaches graduate courses in South Asia and Africa on the New Testament, Theology, Leadership, and Biblical Interpretation and Communication.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

We live in an age that sanitizes death. For many of us death seems like a distant concept, so far on the horizon of life that it feels unreal. We live in the moment by ignoring our mortality. But perhaps there are others of us that have gone through deep heartache, so many dark thoughts, that death feels like a fog hanging over us. What if remembering our mortality could be more than a downer, more than an escape, but a means to a life well-lived?

Join us as Dr. Marlena Graves explores the Christian spiritual practice known as Momento Mori.

Dr. Marlena Graves is assistant professor of spiritual formation at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY. She received her PhD in American Culture Studies with a competency in American social history from Bowling Green State University. Dr. Graves received a Master of Divinity from Northeastern Seminary in 2007. Marlena has been on the pastoral staff at several churches, worked at non-profits, been on the residence life staff at a university, and worked for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) – for and with migrant farmworkers in the Midwest and South and the minority community in Toledo, OH. She continues to labor alongside others for justice, for human rights. She has authored several books and articles, including The Way Up Is Down: Becoming Yourself by Forgetting Yourself.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

When we look at the world around us, and even our own lives, we have the sense that all is not right. We are eager to name injustices and to alleviate suffering. And yet, in our polarized society we can have competing stories of what exactly is wrong with the world. How did the world become so broken? The severity of all that is wrong can leave us confused or despairing.

Join us as we explore how Christian Scripture might have resources to name what is wrong, while providing a vision for becoming and being agents for good in God’s world.

Dr. Ingrid Faro (PhD, MDiv) is Professor of Old Testament and Coordinator of the MA in Old Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. She previously served as Dean of Academic Affairs at Northern, Dean of Theology at the Scandinavian School of Theology, and Director of Masters Programs at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where she also taught Hebrew and Old Testament. Among other books, she is the author of Demystifying Evil: A Biblical and Personal Exploration.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

When it comes to encountering people that are different than us, and in the midst of our societal turmoil, it is easy to feel anxiety. In light of the presence of those from other cultures and places, some might wonder if life as they’ve known it is at stake. Is there more to the story?

Former OSU business law professor and founding pastor at Vineyard Columbus, Rich Nathan, will examine some key passages from Christian Scripture on God’s heart for immigrants among us.

Rich Nathan is the founding pastor of Vineyard Columbus. Prior to becoming senior pastor, Rich taught business law at The Ohio State University for five years. He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and received his Juris Doctorate with honors from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1980.

This was recorded live during a Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.

As many Christian practices increasingly focus on the "happy" elements of the faith, Good Friday observances are in danger of becoming nothing more than a nominal holiday: a fleeting thought that occurs roughly two days before Easter egg hunts. Why is such a trend troubling, why might this trend be taking place, and what do Christians stand to gain from a renewed interest in Good Friday?

To answer these questions, musicologist Dylan Crosson investigated some of the ways in which Christians have historically observed Good Friday and discussed how their practices might reinvigorate one's investment in the Friday we call "Good."

This was recorded live during the Carmen House Speaker Series event on the campus of The Ohio State University.