Homebrewed Christianity

In this episode I am joined by the Norwegian philosopher and theologian Dr. Jan-Olav Henriksen. He is the Professor of Philosophy of Religion in MF Norwegian School of Theology, Norway, and Professor of Contemporary Religion at Agder University, Norway. I absolutely loved his recent trilogy of books and was thrilled to have him return to the podcast!

In the conversation we talk about...

• the pragmatic dimension of theology
• the symbol-deficit disorder of contemporary theology
• the connection between religious studies, philosophy of religion, and confessional theology
• "God doesn't need to exist to have an impact on people's lives"
• religion as a lived mode of being in the world
• how to understand the ambiguities of religion
• how religious symbols and metaphors function
• the narrative nature of the self
• getting over the super ego God
• reframing nature symbolically in order to survive on this planet
• the semiotics of nature

Check out Henriksen's first visit to the podcast where we discuss Christology & Postmodern Philosophy. Dr. Henriksen's Recent Books

• Christianity as Distinct Practices: A Complicated Relationship
• Religion as Orientation and Transformation: A Maximalist Theory
• Relating God and the Self: Dynamic Interplay
• Religious Pluralism and Pragmatist Theology
• Representation and Ultimacy: Christian Religion as Unfinished Business
• Resurrection: Texts and Interpretation, Experience and Theology

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This is one wild and crazy episode with three friends. Sarey and Dan (You Have Permission Podcast) join me and Mason (a People's Theology Podcast) to launch a spectacular resource for those going through a faith transition - So You're Deconstructing. You will definitely want to check out the site and book mark it to share with friends when the time comes.

PS. This episode is not normal and definitely not safe for work or kids. If you don't like very inappropriate humor about religion, purity culture, youth group, and other elements of evangelical culture don't listen. You can go participate in the launch of So You're Deconstructing in a very serious way on You Have Permission where we tell serious stories of faith. If you want super nerdy goodness go check out Mason and I discussing all things process on a People's Theology.

Just don't listen to this and tell me I used potty words, made religious sex jokes, and was too flippant with serious things. Remember I made The Road to Edmond and had a character have heart felt break through while smoking a joint rolled in a page from the Bible. #PuffPuffPassLeviticus

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This episode is #Zesty.

Ever since I first started reading Dr. Jennings' work I have wanted to get him on the podcast and it did not disappoint. We discuss Christian animism, the nature of whiteness, the hidden supersessionism in the Religion-Science dialogue, theological education, and more. Enjoy.

Dr.Willie James Jennings is the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. His book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging

 

Awesome Books We Discuss in the Conversation

• Beyond Nature and Culture by Philippe Descola
• How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human by Eduardo Kohn
• The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, NonHumans, and the Living Landscape by Mari Joerstad
• The Relative Native: Essays on Indigenous Conceptual Worlds by Eduardo Viveiros de Castro

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This is a special episode where I share an audio version of my written response to Joerg Rieger's book Jesus vs Caesar. If you haven't read the book I imagine you can still follow along, especially if you listened to my recent interview with Rieger about it HERE. The main reason I am sharing this is to lure you to join myself and friend of the pod Grace Ji-Sun Kim as we engage Rieger in a public conversation about the book. It is part of the "Christ Among the Disciplines" online conference.

PS. There's also a session toward the end of the event on my new book Divine Self-Investment featuring four friends of the pod and scholars more brilliant than me - Donna Bowman, Jeffrey Pugh, Jacob Erickson, and Tom Oord.

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I just saw Tom Oord’s tweet that Terence Fretheim passed away while I was reading his new book God So Enters into Relationship That… It is always shocking to hear how a live conversation partner you deeply value must shift to the page and these recordings. I can’t exaggerate Frethiem’s role in my own intellectual development. While at Wake Forest University’s Divinity School I took a Biblical Theology seminar with Phyllis Trible (a legend) and she had us each write 25 pg papers and present on a different Biblical theologian. I choose Fretheim and sent him the paper I wrote. He replied with a kind, encouraging, and detailed response, suggesting I consider PhD work given my ability to connect threads in his writing he hadn’t noticed. Dr, Trible gave me a B-, my worst grade in grad school. When I mentioned that Fretheim responded so positively to the paper and encouraged my work she said, “Terry takes the relational nature of love so seriously it may cloud his judgement.” What a compliment!

You can check out all his books here.

Dr. Terence E. Fretheim was the Elva B. Lovell Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minn., where he taught for over forty years.

I just saw Tom Oord's tweet that Terence Fretheim passed away while I was reading his new book God So Enters into Relationship That... It is always shocking to hear how a live conversation partner you deeply value must shift to the page and these recordings. I can't exaggerate Frethiem's role in my own intellectual development. While at Wake Forest University's Divinity School I took a Biblical Theology seminar with Phyllis Trible (a legend) and she had us each write 25 pg papers and present on a different Biblical theologian. I choose Fretheim and sent him the paper I wrote. He replied with a kind, encouraging, and detailed response, suggesting I consider PhD work given my ability to connect threads in his writing he hadn’t noticed. Dr, Trible gave me a B-, my worst grade in grad school. When I mentioned that Fretheim responded so positively to the paper and encouraged my work she said, “Terry takes the relational nature of love so seriously it may cloud his judgement.” What a compliment!

You can check out all his books here.

Dr. Terence E. Fretheim was the Elva B. Lovell Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minn., where he taught for over forty years.

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When we observe a tension between Jesus and Caesar, we acknowledge that a fundamental tension remains at the heart of Christianity. The tension is not between religion and atheism or secularism. Nor is it between organized religion and personal spirituality or between Christianity and other religions. The tension is located within the heart of Christianity itself because it is a radical conflict between faith that is life-giving for all and faith that is damaging and destructive of people and the earth. In our conversation and his book Jesus vs Caesar,  Rieger powerfully guides us into this tension.

Joerg Rieger is Distinguished Professor of Theology and the Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair of Wesleyan Studies. He is also the founding director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice.

For more than two decades he has worked to bring together theology and the struggles for justice and liberation that mark our age. His work addresses the relation of theology and public life, reflecting on the misuse of power in religion, politics, and economics. His main interest is in developments and movements that bring about change and in the positive contributions of religion and theology. His constructive work in theology draws on a wide range of historical and contemporary traditions, with a concern for manifestations of the divine in the pressures of everyday life.

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Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is founder and co-director of The Activist Theology Project, is a nonbinary transqueer activist, Latinx scholar, and public theologian living and working in the American South. Henderson- Espinoza, who teaches at Duke Divinity School, is author of Activist Theology (2019). Follow them on Twitter at @irobyn.

Dr. Bass is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America’s most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality.  Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world – a passion that ranges from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, and writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently.

Don’t miss out on Diana’s excellent and regular newsletter – The Cottage. 

Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community.

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Dr. Bass is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America’s most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality.  Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world – a passion that ranges from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, and writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently.

Don’t miss out on Diana’s excellent and regular newsletter – The Cottage. 

Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community.  

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Dr. Reggie Williams is the Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at McCormick Theological Seminary and author of Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus:Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance.

Here's Reggie's previous visit to the podcast: Reggie Williams: Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus

Dr. Bass is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America’s most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality.  Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world – a passion that ranges from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, and writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently.

Don’t miss out on Diana’s excellent and regular newsletter – The Cottage. 

Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices