Homebrewed Christianity

Douglas Ottati joins the podcast for his 5th visit to discuss his new book, A Theology for the Twenty-First Century. This is one of the most significant Protestant Systematic Theologies in years. I absolutely loved it. Of course, I talk about Ottati's Christology in my recent book so I am a bit of a fan. Ottati is the Craig Family Distinguished Professor in Reformed Theology and Justice Ministry at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. In our conversation we discuss:

• the nature and role of piety for Christian theology
• the historicity of religious traditions
• CS Pierce and the practice of musement
• how the enlightenment has shaped our engagement with the world
•  the power of market & religious liturgies
• why Jonathan Edwards gets a bad wrap
• the task of being in a living tradition
• how monuments work with history
• theological anthropology
• reasons to keep a thick doctrine of sin
• why Schleiermacher is so awesome for thinking Christ & community
• thinking theologically about the fissures and tensions in the life of the church and culture
• how pastoral questions & challenges lead to economic and political critique
• the problematic relations between church & academy

Previous Visits to the Podcast

•  Douglas Ottati on a Liberal Christian Christology

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This is a special crossover episode with Chase Tibbs from the Faith and Capital podcast. In our conversation, Chase gives 5 reasons to go 'Christian Socialist.' Most theology nerds know that the overwhelming majority of theologians in the 2oth century were socialists. Barth, Tillich, Niebuhr, Guiterrez and more were all committed Christian socialists, and yet today, many Christians wrongly assume the two are incompatible. I doubt everyone is going to be persuaded, but I hope more people will come to see how Chase's faith deeply informs his politics.

OHHH Chase's pod is celebrating its 2nd birthday. If you haven't listened to it before and are interested in a show inviting Christians to participate in the struggle for emancipation, then give it a listen.

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How do you become a hippie socialist Jesus Freak? Well, this is the story of one of them.

Very excited to have Kevin Max on the podcast!

Kevin is a four-time Grammy-winning vocalist, whose work began in DC Talk and has since explored a host of different genres from spoken-word, electronica, and rock. Currently, he is launching a new indie rock band - Sad Astronauts. You can find out how to participate in the band's first project by heading over to their kickstarter page.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Kevin shares about the birth of DC talk, the Christian music industry, his time at Liberty University, his faith deconstruction story, his friendship with Larry Norman (this awesome tribute album), and a number of fascinating stories.

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We continue a hardcore lockdown here in Scotland, so I talked two of my co-workers into joining me digitally to answer some of your questions. Just think of it as an audio simulation of a staff lounge conversation.

Dr. Joshua Ralston is a Reader in Christian-Muslim Relations here at the University of Edinburgh. He recently published Law and the Rule of God: A Christian Engagement with Shari'a and was part of launching this new free online class on Christian-Muslim Relations. You should really sign-up.

Dr. Sarah Lane Ritchie is Lecturer in Theology and Science at the University of Edinburgh. You can check out her other visits to the podcast here.

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Friend of the podcast and theological super-star John Thatamanil is back on the podcast to talk about his ohhh sooo good new book Circling the Elephant. We had a bunch of nerdy fun and discussed...

• the task of comparative theology and its relation to constructive theology
• why the category of religion is problematic
• the patronizing skills of Radical Orthodoxy
• the story of the blind elephant
• JT throws shade at those Process peeps with multiple ultimates
• moving beyond the mono-logics of Barthian revelation and Rahner's Trinity
• a fun excurses into Paul Tillich on Pluralism
•  "If God can speak through a dead dog, then God can surely speak through a Hindu"
• pre-validating the mystery of the other
• "There is no way of moving towards the mystery of God without moving towards the mystery of your Neighbor"
• the Father Bracken book I mention The Divine Matrix: Creativity as Link Between East and West

• Theology Without Walls with John Thatamanil
• John Thatamanil on Non-duality, Polydoxy, and Christian Identity

• Circling the Elephant: A Comparative Theology of Religious Diversity
• The Immanent Divine: God, Creation And the Human Predicament: God, Creation, and the Human Predicament
• Theology Without Walls: The Transreligious Imperative 

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Dr. Andrew Davison is a lecturer in the Divinity Faculty of the University of Cambridge, and a fellow at Corpus Christi College, where he is also the Dean of Chapel. He is a regular contributor to Church Times and the Times Literary Supplement. Since 2014, he has been the Canon Philosopher of St Albans Cathedral.

We had one wonderful conversation and touch on a bunch of different topics including.

- how one relates to the tradition - how a person doubts and questions versus a tradition doubting and questioning - the task of preaching within an academic community - exploring the concept of “participation” - contesting Harnack’s Hellenization thesis - how to be a metaphysical realist - the nature of the “gift” & being constituted as receivers - Aristotle’s four causes and contemporary science - the extended evolutionary synthesis - role of philosophy for theologians - materialism without disenchantment - virtue ethics and participation - participation and atonement - intra-finite participation - how to be a “particularity mystic” - quantitative and qualitative finitude

Davison recommends these two books -  The Human Wisdom of St. Thomas and An Augustine Synthesis.

• Participation in God: A Study in Christian Doctrine and Metaphysics
• The Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy for Theologians
• Why Sacraments?
• Imaginative Apologetics: Theology, Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition
• Blessing (Faith Going Deeper)
• Amazing Love: Theology for Understanding Discipleship, Sexuality and Mission

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Excited to have Dr. Alister McGrath on the podcast. He is a public intellectual, a scholar of science and religion, a prolific author, and the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University.

In the conversation we discuss:

• the relationship of religion and science
• Alister's own testimony of faith
• Dawkins' fluffy and boring atheism
• evolutionary accounts of religious origins
• the role of wonder for the intellectual quest
• the human quest for meaning
• the religious instinct
• the relationship between empirical and meaningful accounts. - value and meaning
• the cultural internalization of Descartes, Hume, and friends
• how one's faith is shaped by others
• the nature of the theological task and its relationship to the community of faith
• how the 'New Athiest' movement changed the public conversation about religion
• McGrath's on-going relationship with CS Lewis and Einstien
• McGrath's advice on being a better atheist
• what is human nature?

• Born to Wonder: Exploring Our Deepest Questions--Why Are We Here and Why Does It Matter?

• C. S. Lewis -- A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet

• Theology: The Basics

• Christian Theology: An Introduction

• Science & Religion: A New Introduction

• A Theory of Everything (That Matters): A Brief Guide to Einstein, Relativity, and His Surprising Thoughts on God
• Narrative Apologetics: Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith
• Richard Dawkins, C.S. Lewis and the Meaning of Life

This episode is sponsored by a brand new podcast from Christian Theological Seminary.

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In this Big God Questions live stream Thomas Jay Oord joins me to tackle a stack of questions people just like yourself sent in. If you enjoyed this, then you should click on to OpenAndRelationalTheology.com and join our upcoming class Becoming Christian. In the class we will be going line by line through the ancient Apostles' Creed from an Open and Relational perspective. It is a 'pay-what-you-can' class, so there's no need to miss out for financial reasons.

• The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis

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January 6th 2021 needed a theological debrief. I brought two friends of the pod and recent partners for reading groups, Adam Clark and Jeffrey Pugh. Recently Dr. Pugh and I hosted a Bonhoeffer reading group and Dr. Clark and I put on together on Black Theology. The topics and questions we cover were sent in by the members from these reading groups. If you missed out and want to get the content from the groups, the easiest way is by joining the Homebrewed Community.

Dr. Jeffrey C. Pugh recently retired as Maude Sharpe Powell Professor of Religious Studies and Distinguished University Professor from Elon University in North Carolina. The author of six books ranging from Barth, religion and science, and the apocalyptic imagination to Bonhoeffer, Pugh’s work has focused on Christian complicity in the Holocaust and the lessons that can be applied to instruct future generations. His latest work, a chapter on his reflections while he was participating in the clergy resistance at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville is found in Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theology, and Resistance. He and his wife Jan, a retired United Methodist minister, make their home in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Dr. Adam Clark is Associate Professor of Theology at Xavier University. He is committed to the idea that theological education in the twenty first century must function as a counter-story. One that equips us to read against the grain of the dominant culture and inspires one to live into the Ignatian dictum of going forth “to set the world on fire.” To this end, Dr. Clark is intentional about pedagogical practices that raise critical consciousness by going beneath surface meanings, unmasking conventional wisdoms and reimagining the good. He currently serves as co-chair of Black Theology Group at the American Academy of Religion, actively publishes in the area of black theology and black religion and participates in social justice groups at Xavier and in the Cincinnati area. He earned his PhD at Union Theological Seminary in New York where he was mentored by James Cone.

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Dr. Helene Russell is an Associate Professor of Theology at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. Russell has published the book The Pluralism Within: a Reconstruction of Theological Anthropology based on Soren Kierkegaard and Luce Irigaray and edited Creating Women’s Theology: A Movement Engaging Process Thought. She has also co-edited Augustine and Kierkegaard, with Kim Paffenroth.

On top of being a super scholar, Helene is a friend. When you hear this you will probably want to hang with her too.

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