Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Christopher Southgate is a biochemist turned influential theologian...who just happens to be a well published poet.  (Read this powerful one... when it is safe to cry). Southgate is a Professor at Exeter University in the UK and part of the 'God and the Book of Nature' project I am working on. Since recording this interview I have had the chance to spend time with him and am enthusiastic to introduce him to many of you.

In this conversation we discuss...

• • The changing shape of the religion and science conversation
  • how has the scientific study of religion itself shaped a scientifically engaged theology from a particular tradition
  • the problem of evil and suffering in nature
  • the free will defense in the face of natural evil
  • the "lazy default in Christian thinking"
  • Irenaeus wasn't Irenaean?
  • the Christian need to recover immanence
  • what is divine glory?
  • the Biblical protest of God and the need for its presence in worship
  • "humankind cannot bear much of reality"
  • theologizing with Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotics
  • trauma and the community of faith

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Dr. Sallie McFague is a theological legend, a pioneer feminist theologian, and one of the most powerful thinkers in my own theological development. We learned that she passed away this weekend. Over the course of the podcast I have had the honor of interviewing her twice and since hearing the news of her passing I… Read more about Sallie McFague on Loving God and the World: in Memoriam

Dr. Sallie McFague is a theological legend, a pioneer feminist theologian, and one of the most powerful thinkers in my own theological development. We learned that she passed away this weekend. Over the course of the podcast I have had the honor of interviewing her twice and since hearing the news of her passing I have received a bunch of messages asking for the interviews themselves. After I found them I started listening and remembering how powerful they were. I knew that if anyone was interested in hearing the voice of this powerful theologian for themselves it should be as easy as possible. That is the main reason I started HBC years ago!!

While going back through the two episodes I decided to edit them together to make access easy. The biggest surprise I found was this amazing selection in which Dr. McFague reads the end of her last text. It is was moving then, but even more so now. I knew it needed to be shared on its own, so Elgin (11 year old son) created this little video.

Dr. McFague was the Distinguished Theologian in Residence at the Vancouver School of Theology in British Columbia, Canada. Prior she taught for thirty years at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. In the podcast we cover a lot of ground, including how Sallie became a theologian (which includes a kindergarten revelation), her focus on religious language, radical love, kenosis, panentheism, and even some member submitted questions, including:

1. How does her concept of wild spaces address privilege
2. In the revival of radical theology recently, how do you understand the reality of God?
3. Where should one start with feminist theology?
4. What do you think about the increased usage of the term Anthropocene?

And don’t forget to check out Sallie’s books, Blessed Are The Consumers and Models Of God. These two texts changed my mind in significant ways.

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It is time to NERD OUT with your GEEK OUT!

In this episode I am joined by my colleague and friend Dr. Sarah lane Ritchie. She was on the podcast this past summer and since moving to Edinburgh we've been planning to record again, so here it is.

At the beginning of the episode Sarah answers a question a number of you sent in about the different Religion and Science degrees offered here at the University of Edinburgh. Here's info for the online Philosophy, Science and Religion Masters, the on campus taught Masters, and research based Masters and PhD Degrees.

Dr. Sarah Lane Ritchie is Lecturer in Theology and Science at the University of Edinburgh. She has a PhD in Science and Religion from the University of Edinburgh, where her doctoral work focused on the question of divine action in the human mind. A Michigander by birth, Sarah also holds a BA in Philosophy and Religion from Spring Arbor University, an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an MSc in Science and Religion from the University of Edinburgh. Her published work focuses on questions arising from the intersection of theology, philosophy, and the various brain-related sciences. Sarah’s research interests include divine action, philosophy of mind, naturalism, cognitive science of religion, and the psychology of belief formation.

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I am super pumped to have Philip Goff on the podcast and give a gigantic endorsement of his new book Galileo's Error: foundations for a new science of consciousness - now available in print, digital, and AUDIO. Goff is a leading philosopher of mind and advocate for a panpsychist account of mind. This new book is successfully written for a wider audience and should not be missed. If you want the super dense philosophical argument check out his text Consciousness and Fundamental Reality. 

It was a complete blast to finally get to talk to someone I have enjoyed reading and I hope you all enjoy it half as much as I did.

In the conversation we discuss...

• the hard problem of consciousness
• what is a Russellian monist?
• the failures of materialism and dualism
• what exactly is Galileo's error
• here's the article where Goff discusses religious fictionalism
• what neuroscience can and can't tell us about consciousness
• the power of a panpsychist argument
• Tripp mentions Alfred North Whitehead's Modes of Thought and the chapters Nature Lifeless and Nature Alive.
• what is consciousness? how is does it vary across reality?
• why electrons DO NOT have existential angst
• contrasting micro and macro panpsychism
• does panpsychism move towards a religious or spiritual worldview?
• here's talk Goff gave about the anthropic principle Tripp brings up
• you can tell Tripp is having fun when he decides to bring up more Process connections
• what is religious fictionalism? Here's the article in which Goff discusses it.
• Goff's symbolic affirmations that leads to his embrace of the Christian (fictional) faith - Crucifixion: 1)inversion of worldly powers & 2)inevitability of the bad guys winning / Easter: the hope against all odds, that the corrupt powers don't ultimately get the last word.
• what is the problem of 'Cosmic Alienation'?
• what would it mean to 'make rigorous'

Make sure you check out Philip Goff's very excellent website with tons of resources. Dr. Goff is an excellent twitter follow.

This episode is sponsored by our friends at The Pilgrim Press.

For everyone asking deep questions and chasing after God’s beauty in the world, The Pilgrim Press is a spiritual companion and resource. Those who love justice can turn to "Courageous Faith" by Emily Heath to nurture their spirits for the work of resistance. Those who love a bit of saucy biblical wisdom can learn from "Jesus and Those Bodacious Women" by the late great Linda Hollies. And those with the heartbreaking task of explaining death to children can lean on "Water Bugs and Dragonflies" by Doris Stickney, an all-time bestseller from The Pilgrim Press. These titles and many more are available through thepilgrimpress.com. The Homebrewed Christianity community can save 10% on orders by using the code HOMEBREWED at checkout.

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Who is Jesus Christ for us today?  Is there a way to even attempt to answer the question with intellectual credibility?  One of Germany’s greatest theologians, Michael Welker, is on the podcast discussing his new book God the Revealed: Christology.  In the book and on the podcast we discuss the quest for the historical, theological engagement with the natural sciences, the cultural shifts in the church, atonement theories, our shared love of Whitehead, and a bunch of other nerdy bits of goodness.

Professor Michael Welker is a Senior Professor at the University of Heidelberg (since 2013) and Director of the Research Center International and Interdisciplinary Theology (FIIT, since 2005) and an Honorary Professor at Seoul Theological University.

He is a member of the Heidelberg Academy and Corresponding Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and received the Medal of the University of Heidelberg. Karl-Barth-Preis award in 2016.

For lots of info on Dr. Welker check out his website HERE.

Want to check out Dr. Welker's Gifford Lectures? Head over here and you can find the videos, audio, and written responses. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community.

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In this podcast Erin Law joins Tripp and Robyn to talk about her work in Somatics. They discuss… Why Erin Law is awesome. “Gender Trouble” as the Sermon on the Mount for humanity degrees… also Judith Butler is sometimes called J Buts. the nature of gender and sexuality what’s the deal with Christianity and bodies? how… Read more about Called to be Prophets: Erin Law, Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Steed Davidson, and Brian McLaren

In this podcast Erin Law joins Tripp and Robyn to talk about her work in Somatics. They discuss...

• Why Erin Law is awesome.

"Gender Trouble" as the Sermon on the Mount for humanity degrees... also Judith Butler is sometimes called J Buts.

the nature of gender and sexuality

what's the deal with Christianity and bodies?

how friendship can become the place of resistance

the oppressive technology of separation

you should get Activist Theology -there is now an AUDIO version.

Then Steed Davidson and Brian McLaren join the fun as we discuss...

Dr. Steed Davidson is a post-colonial scholar of the Hebrew Bible at McCormick Theological Seminary.

Tripp takes advice from a Homebrewed Community Member and gets Brian to talk to Steed about the role of post-colonial thought for the future of the church.

the role of politics and empire in the Reformation translations of scripture

King James... of the authorized version KJV Bible translation was gay

the language of 'slavery' is used in expanding Protestantism as a spiritualized metaphor for everything but actual slavery

"if what you are saying is true... the next thing you are gonna tell me is that Jesus didn't preach the Roman Road."

the prophetic persona is a political persona

the forgotten prophetic power and possibility within the church

what's up with the word 'God' and does it have a future?

God is like the world's greatest tee-ball coach

the problematic nature of our culture of anxiety creation and management

 

If you are wise you will get inspired to check out Robyn’s new book. If you do… we got a bunch of goodies from Robyn to send you when you pre-order their new book Activist Theology. That’s right, when you pre-order the book just forward the receipt to goactivistheology [at] gmail [dot] com and we will send you our class Theologies of Resistance and Robyn’s lecture from Theology Beer Camp. 

This episode is sponsored by the #1 selling study Bible - The New Life Application Study Bible. 

Whether you’re new to the Bible or a lifelong reader, this study Bible includes clarifications that help you understand the language, advice on how to apply the Bible’s teaching to everyday life, descriptions of the context and setting, profiles of key Bible people, guides for finding what you’re looking for and more. That’s what makes it a Bible for all times and the bestselling study Bible in the world.

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Justin L. Barrett joined the School of Psychology in 2011 as Thrive Professor of Developmental Science and served as director of the Thrive Center for Human Development from 2011 to 2014. He is currently the chief project developer for the Office for Science, Theology, and Religion Initiatives (STAR) and, from January to September 2018, also… Read more about Justin Barrett: This is Your Brain on God – Cognitive Science and the Naturalness of Belief

Dr. Jonathan Jong is a Research Fellow at Coventry University, and Deputy Director of the Brain, Belief and Behaviour group there. He is also a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford. Most of his current research is on the psychology of religion and the philosophical issues associated with the scientific study of religion. The Doctor is also a Reverend and Associate Priest at the parish church of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford and the Web Editor for the St Mary Magdalen School of Theology.

In this conversation we talked about...

• what is the scientific study of religion?
• what of religion is available to science?
• the role of humility in theological speculation
• how does cognitive science describe the origin of religion?
• what are the two big approaches to understanding the evolutionary origin of religion?
• how the relationship of our cognitive mechanisms and culture work together
• the role and function of culture in shaping humanity's religious disposition
• the problem of assessing a Christian account of theism with cognitive science
• how does a historically situated account of revelation impact the way you understand revelation?
• we discuss the role of reading and ritual experience in shaping the content of faith
• how the manner in which you engage the scripture changes the text itself
• what does cognitive psychology teach us about passing on the faith?
• is God real?
• "I think the church leadership has not woken up to the fact we don't live in the Middle Ages anymore."
• what are the ethical challenges raised by the cultural appropriation of mindfulness meditation?
• what is terror management theory?
• what is a death cafe?

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