Faith Seeking Understanding

Oct 31, 2026 #FaithSeekingUnderstanding #FaithAndReason #Theology

Season 1: Global Shadows, Apostolic LightDr. Jide Komolafe · Pastor. Scholar. Apostle.Can your faith survive an honest question? Not a polite one, but the one you have never said out loud in church.Picture a young woman caught between two rooms. In a church Bible study, her sincere question is treated as a lack of faith. In a university seminar, her faith is treated as a lack of thinking. Two rooms, two kinds of silence, and both assume the same thing: that faith and honest inquiry are rivals, and that you must eventually choose.In Episode 101 of Faith Seeking Understanding, Dr. Jide Komolafe opens Season One, "Global Shadows, Apostolic Light," by challenging that assumption. Christian faith is not credulity, and it is not the enemy of reason. It is trust in the God who has made Himself known, supremely in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. That trust loves Him with the whole person, including the mind; it examines what it hears, gives reasons for its hope with gentleness, and at the edge of understanding bows in worship.In this episode:• Questions from the Journey: Is "faith first" just believing what you want? Does "fit bodies, fat minds" leave out people who never went to school? What if my questions don't go away?• Jesus' call to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28–34), and the Bereans who "searched the Scriptures daily" (Acts 17:10–12)• A debate that began in North Africa: Clement, Tertullian, and Augustine on faith and reason, and the famous misquotation of Tertullian• The skeptic's strongest case, W. K. Clifford's "Ethics of Belief," stated fairly and answered honestly• Four kinds of doubt (intellectual, experiential, wounded, and mixed) and what each one actually needs• Giving a reason for our hope "with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15–16)• The table of many teachers: wisdom from the global Church through Lamin Sanneh, Kwame Bediako, and Andrew Walls• From understanding to worship and obedience (Romans 11:33–36)For believers, pastors, scholars, and seekers, and for anyone quietly carrying a question they have been afraid to ask.📖 Key Scriptures: Mark 12:28–34 · Acts 17:10–12 · 1 Peter 3:15–16 · Romans 11:33–36▶️ New here? Start with Episode 0, "The Prologue."⏭️ Next time, Episode 102: "When God Is Good, Why Is Life So Hard?" We take the faith we examined today into the hardest room of all, the room of suffering, through Jesus' words in Luke 12.🎧 LISTEN EVERYWHERE:Prefer audio, or listening on the go? Faith Seeking Understanding is also on:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0341846lokYS...Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fait...Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5eac511f...—#FaithSeekingUnderstanding #FaithAndReason #ChristianApologetics🌐 ccranetwork.orgHosted by Dr. Jide Komolafe — Pastor. Scholar. Apostle.Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss an episode. Share your questions in the comments; they may shape a future "Questions from the Journey."Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.#FaithSeekingUnderstanding #FaithAndReason #ChristianApologetics🔔 Subscribe:    / @ccranetwork  📖 Season 1 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/feed/playlistsA CCRA production#FaithSeekingUnderstanding #Theology #ChristianPodcast

Faith and understanding were never meant to be enemies. Before Season 1 begins, Dr. Jide Komolafe lays the foundation: what this podcast is, what it is not, and how we will talk about God in an age of outrage and polarization.

In this prologue, we explore the ancient conviction Fides Quaerens Intellectum ("faith seeking understanding") from Anselm and Augustine to Jesus' call to love God with heart, soul, and mind. We name a danger the contemporary Church rarely diagnoses: fit bodies, fat minds. We also guard against the opposite ditch, where knowledge replaces worship. Then we look at why the Gospel belongs to every nation, tribe, people, and tongue, and why this conversation must be Local Roots. Global Reach.

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37, NKJV)

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome into the journey

03:00 What this platform is not

07:00 Faith Seeking Understanding: the mind as worship

12:00 The danger we must name: the fat mind

18:00 The submitted mind: reason as stewardship

24:00 Local Roots. Global Reach.: the mission before us

28:00 The invitation: heart, soul, and mind

THREE DISCIPLINES TO START THIS WEEK

1. Re-examine one strongly held belief. Look at the reasons for it, not only the feeling of certainty.

2. Read one passage slowly enough to take notes.

3. Have one conversation with someone who sees things differently, and restate their view fairly before you respond.

SCRIPTURES

Matthew 22:37 | 1 Corinthians 8:1 | Revelation 7:9

FURTHER READING

- Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion

- Augustine, Confessions

- Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994)

- Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind (1963)

- Os Guinness, Fit Bodies, Fat Minds (1994)

- J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind

- John Stott, Your Mind Matters

- Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines and Renovation of the Heart

- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

- Kwame Bediako, Theology and Identity

NEXT EPISODE

Episode 101: "The Sovereignty of God and the Scale of Scarcity"

Faith Seeking Understanding is a production of CCRA (Consortium for Christian Renewal and Advancement).

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Keep seeking. Keep learning. Keep believing.

COMING SOON

Welcome to Faith Seeking Understanding, a Christ-centered podcast and ministry of the Consortium for Christian Renewal and Advancement (CCRA).

A new theological conversation is about to begin.

Every episode explores Scripture, theology, history, culture, and mission with biblical depth, intellectual integrity, and pastoral warmth. Drawing from both Global South and Global North perspectives, our mission is to equip believers, pastors, students, scholars, and thoughtful seekers to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37–39), think faithfully, and live courageously for Jesus Christ.

Whether you're wrestling with difficult questions, seeking a deeper understanding of God's Word, or desiring to integrate faith with everyday life, Faith Seeking Understanding invites you into conversations that are deeply biblical, historically grounded, intellectually engaging, and spiritually transforming.

🎙 Launching Soon

Be among the first to join us as we explore topics such as:
• The Sovereignty of God and the Scale of Scarcity
• Beyond Ancestors: The True Anatomy of Evil
• The "Big Man" and the Basin: A Theology of Power
• Tribalism, Racism, and the Blood of the Cross
• Deconstruction or Reformation?
• Recovering a Christ-Centered Vision for the Church and the World

Follow the podcast today so you never miss an episode.

Join a growing global community committed to renewing the church, advancing the gospel, and cultivating a faith that seeks understanding—and an understanding that leads to faithful discipleship.

Faith Seeking Understanding

A ministry of the Consortium for Christian Renewal and Advancement (CCRA)

Local Roots. Global Reach.

#FaithSeekingUnderstanding #ChristianPodcast #BiblicalTheology