Crackers and Grape Juice

Our friend, Dr. Ken Jones, the Gerharde Forde Professor of Theology at Grandview University, joins Jason, Johanna, and Teer to reflect on the crucifixion.

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Our guest this week is my friend Sarah S. Scherschligt, pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Virginia.
She comes on the pod to talk about climate change, despair and hope, and her new book chronicling her work to pastor during the pandemic.
In March 2020, when COVID-19 changed our world, Washington D.C.-based pastor and writer Sarah Scherschligt posted a brief, thoughtful reflection on social media to comfort her reeling community. The next night, she did it again.
For thirteen months, during the exceptional stretch of days from March 2020 to April 2021, Scherschligt published her reflections daily, offering deep spiritual insights as a progressive Lutheran pastor and mother. For the members of her community and congregation who read them in real time, Scherschligt’s reflections were an anchor and balm—a nightly benediction, offering comfort, wisdom, and hope.
Her reflections are now compiled into a book, God Holds You: A Pandemic Chronicle. Part memoir, part social commentary, part Biblical interpretation, God Holds You addresses not only faith during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the social upheaval of the time, including the struggle for racial justice, the January 6th insurrection, and the deepening environmental crisis. With wit and wisdom, Scherschligt also recounts familiar aspects of daily life during that lock-down year, such as virtual kindergarten, countless Zoom meetings, and vigorous handwashing.
God Holds You: A Pandemic Chronicle adds depth and meaning to our collective remembering, encouraging readers to examine their own experience of the pandemic and to consider questions like: “Where did I find grace? How did my faith change? And how does the pandemic still affect me?” Pastors and preachers will appreciate Scherschligt’s creative application of Scripture. Church groups will use her insights as the basis for adult education sessions on how the pandemic affected communities of faith. And although she writes from a progressive Christian perspective, readers of all backgrounds and faiths will benefit from revisiting this remarkable time with Sarah Scherschligt as a guide.

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Here is the latest session of our online study of Chris Green’s new book, Being Transfigured, in which we talked about doubt.
Here are some of the quotes from the chapter that we cited and discussed:
• Grace cannot save us without first losing us, which means grace always makes things awkward.
• Not all questions are faithless. And sometimes, in fact, the only faithful response to truth is confusion.
• If we’re honest, we’ll have to admit that much of what passes for doubt is nothing but honest hesitation, the inevitable upshot of generations of poor or bad teaching, teaching which trades in simplicities and cheap certainties, often eschewing pain at all costs, leaving us to feel that our salvation depends not on the mystery of faith, sustained by God’s devotion to us, but on our own grasp of our own beliefs or on the intensity of our desire for religious experiences.
• We have to be saved from “simple faith.” But not so that we might have “great faith.” That, too, always proves false. We need, instead, “the faith of God,” which is what is left of our faith after it has been purged by the Spirit.


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What happens at the end of our lives and of the course of history? Will God bring about a just and peaceful world? What lies beyond this realm, and what can we know of the beings who dwell there? In Death, the End of History, and Beyond, our guest Greg Carey offers resources for understanding multiple, even conflicting, ways that the Bible imagines these ultimate realities. Carey opens the Scriptures with a breadth of insight that acknowledges its diversity of viewpoints about what lies beyond the veil, centering hope in God’s action to bring good out of evil in our lived realities, in our personal journeys through death, and in visions of resurrection and justice restored. An appendix on preaching also invites clergy to help their communities imagine when and how eschatology can inform our lives today.

Greg Carey is Professor of New Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary. Greg’s research interests include the book of Revelation and ancient apocalyptic literature, the Gospel of Luke, and public biblical interpretation. He is the author or coeditor of several books, including Using Our Outside Voice: Public Biblical Interpretation, Stories Jesus Told: How to Read a Parable, and Apocalyptic Literature in the New Testament. Greg is frequently invited to speak on ancient apocalyptic literature, sexual ethics, and the use of the Bible in moral reflection.

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit crackersnjuice.substack.com/subscribe

Our guest this week is Dr. Desmond Alexander, author of the new book, Face to Face with God: A Biblical Theology of Christ as Priest and Mediator.

“Desi” is senior lecturer in Biblical Studies and director of postgraduate studies at Union Theological College, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The author of many books and articles, Desi is a former chair of the Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical and Theological Research, and his research interests lie primarily in two areas: the Pentateuch and Biblical Theology.

Timely for the last weeks of Lent, Desi joined us to talk about how the New Testament, specifically the Book of Hebrews, understands Christ as our Great High Priest.

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Session 3 with Chris Green on his new book, Being Transfigured.

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Our guest today is Marty Folsom. Marty lives in the state of Washington. He completed his PhD at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has taught in New Zealand and in several Seattle area schools for 20 years. He has maintained a counseling practice for over a decade. He is an academic who believes that learning needs to be made accessible and practical. His new book is “Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone, Volume 1---The Doctrine of the Word of God: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners and Pros.”

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Here is session two with Chris Green from our Monday night online sessions on Chris's new book, Being Transfigured.

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Our guest today is Liel Leibovitz, a writer for Tablet magazine and host of the popular podcast, Unorthodox. Liel is an Israeli journalist, author, media critic and video game scholar. Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv, immigrated to the United States in 1999, and earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2007. In 2014, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University. You can read his recent editorial in Tablet here: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/you-people-warning-secular-jews

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