Multifaith Matters

June Everett is Campaign Director for the After School Club, and an ordained minister of The Satanic Temple. In this conversation she shares her personal journey, discusses the After School Satan Clubs, and responds to our prior podcast with Lydia Kaiser of Child Evangelism Fellowship and their Good News Clubs.

After School Satan Club: https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/after-school-satan

For a good academic discussion of TST see Joseph Laycock's "Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion" (Oxford University Press, 2020). https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Devil-Satanic-Changing-Religion/dp/0190948493

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Lydia Kaiser, Corporate Communications Specialist for Child Evangelism Fellowship talks about the Good News Clubs in schools, and also responds to the controversy raised by the response of The Satanic Temple to the Clubs and their efforts at putting After School Satan Clubs in schools where the Clubs are present.

Podcast with Lucien Greaves on After School Satan Clubs: https://johnwmorehead.podbean.com/e/lucien-greaves-of-the-satanic-temple-on-after-school-satan-clubs/

For a further exploration of these topics:

Stephen Bradford Long on The Satanic Temple: https://youtu.be/bg7TalPZ_Rs

For a good academic discussion of TST see Joseph Laycock's Speak of the Devil: How The Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion (Oxford University Press, 2020) https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Devil-Satanic-Changing-Religion/dp/0190948493

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In recent decades many people have begun following Christ while remaining a part of their non-Christian religious communities. These "insider" Muslims, Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, and other followers of Christ have generated much interest and controversy, particularly in Western mission agencies and churches. Darren Duerksen is our guest who discusses this topic as part of his new book "Christ-Followers in Other Religions: The Global Witness of Insider Movements." Along the way he defines things like "insider movements" and "contextualization," and "alternative missiological imaginaries," addresses questions about the definitions of "religion" and "culture," and comments on the realities of hybrid religiosity and syncretism.

Darren Duerkesen is Associate Professor of Intercultual and Religious Studies at Fresno Pacific University.

Christ-Followers in Other Religions: The Global Witness of Insider Movements

Beyond Contextualization: Rethinking Religious and Cultural Boundaries

Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, is the heart of the fastest growing new religious movement in the Americas and the West. Andrew Chesnut is our guest who shares his research on the topic. Chesnut is Professor of Religious Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (Oxford University Press, 2012), the first academic study of this topic in in English.

R. Andrew Chesnut: https://vcu.academia.edu/AndrewChesnut

Additional resources on Santa Muerte: https://skeletonsaint.com/

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Massimo Introvigne discusses the Korean cultural context of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly known as the Unification Church, as well as various developments within the church, its mention in the news in connection with the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Japan, as well as questions related to deprogramming and brainwashing.

Introvigne is an Italian sociologist, the managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), in Torino, Italy, and the author of some 70 books in the fields of new religious movements and pluralism.

“The Unification Church: Studies in Contemporary Religion” by Massimo Introvigne https://www.amazon.com/Unification-Church-Contemporary-Religion-Religions/dp/1560851457/

“The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?” by Eileen Barker https://www.amazon.com/Making-Moonie-Choice-Brainwashing/dp/0631132465

CESNUR: https://www.cesnur.org/

Christians recognize and emphasize monotheism in the Bible, but on closer look at appears to have developed over time. This is important not only for a more careful understanding of the Bible and the Christian faith, but also as we develop arguments and critiques of other religions on their view of God such as the Latter-day Saints. In this episode we discuss the development of monotheism with Kenneth Seeskin, a Jewish scholar.

Seeskin is the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor Emeritus of Jewish Civilization. After receiving his PhD from Yale in 1972, he joined the faculty of Northwestern and has remained there ever since. He served for nearly 20 years as Chair of the Philosophy Department and with the start of the 2010-11 academic year, served as Chair of Religious Studies. He has won several teaching awards since coming to Northwestern and served as the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence from 1995-1998.

Seeskin is best known for his interpretation and defense of the rationalist tradition in Jewish Philosophy, including such figures as Maimonides, Spinoza, and Cohen. His most recent books include the Cambridge Companion to Maimonides (CUP, 2005), Maimonides on the Origin of the World (CUP, 2005), Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy (CUP, 2001), and Searching for a Distant God: The Legacy of Maimonides (OUP, 2000). The latter was awarded the Koret Jewish Book Award in 2001. The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture, co-edited with Judith Baskin, is scheduled to appear in 2010.

His published articles dealing with religious themes are wide-ranging including studies on the Book of Job, the meaning of the Holocaust, negative theology, the concept of holiness, and recent studies on the role of reason in Jewish philosophy, the role of miracles in Jewish philosophy, and the Greek background to Jewish Philosophy. He is currently working on a book on messianism that will take up issues pertaining to evil, rationality, and the philosophy of history.

Kenneth Seeskin: https://religious-studies.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/emeritus-faculty/kenneth-seeskin.html

Related journal article by Dr. Seeskin: "When Did the Bible Become Monotheistic?" at TheTorah.com: https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-did-the-bible-become-monotheistic

For a discussion that connects the dots between a careful discussion of monotheism in relation to Mormonism see the chapter by Carl Mosser, "Classifying Mormon Theism:" https://www.academia.edu/219780/_Classifying_Mormon_Theism_

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#HebrewBible #monotheism #Mormonism #apologetics

Public theology seeks to articulate a theology beyond church and academy for the broader public and the common good. Ted Peters helps us understand how this can be done in light of the credibility challenges the church faces in America and the West. Dr. Peters teaches systematic theology and ethics at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He co-edits the journal, Theology and Science at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. He is the author of God-The World's Future: Systematic Theology for New Era, and God in Cosmic History: Where Science and History Meet Religion. He is co-author of Evolution from Creation to New Creation. Along with colleagues he has edited, Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Life, as well as Astrobiology: Science, Ethics and Public Policy.

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#publictheology #TedPeters

Popular culture and the internet help resource various fiction-based religions. In this episode Zoe Alderton discusses one such religion known as Snapewives or Snapeism, a new religion taking inspiration from the literary work of J.K. Rowling and the book and film franchise of Harry Potter and a character within it, Professor Severus Snape.

The Bahá’í Faith teaches that throughout history, God has sent to humanity a series of divine Educators—known as Manifestations of God—whose teachings have provided the basis for the advancement of civilization. These Manifestations have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muḥammad. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, explained that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God. Bahá’í’s believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future of society and of the nature and purpose of life. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh.  

Mahrooz Maddela and Barbara Lachmar help us understand the Bahá’í Faith. Maddela was born in Iran to a Bahá’í family and moved to the US when she was twelve. She is a member of the Bahá’í community in Salt Lake County, Utah. Lachmar is a former Roman Catholic who became a Bahá’í when she was twenty in Omaha Nebraska. She lives in Cache County, Utah. 

The Bahái Faith official website: https://www.bahai.org/ 

In the 1960s and 1970s the Hare Krishnas were known for wearing saffron robes, chanting in the streets, and raising money at airports. Many people feared them and considered them a cult. A lot has changed in the over fifty years since the founding of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Anuttama Dasa discusses ISKCON's origins, history, beliefs and practices, lived culture and more. Anuttama Dasa is the Minister of Communications for ISKCON. He has been a member of ISKCON since 1975. He has served as a member of the Governing Body since 1999. Originally from Michigan, he studied political science at Michigan State University and University of Michigan before leaving his studies to pursue a religious and spiritual quest. He lives in Rockville, Maryland.

The Hare Krishnas: Celebrating 50 Years magazine -  https://www.iskconcommunications.org/resources/iskcon-50th-anniversary-magazine/file

#ISKCON #HareKrishna #AnuttamaDasa