On Second Thoughts...

In this episode, I talk with Dr Marty Folsom about his new book, The Psalms: A Sanctuary for the Soul, the first in a five‑volume series inviting readers into a relational, creative, and immersive encounter with the Psalms. Marty shares the 30‑year journey behind the project, his approach to relational theology, the garden metaphor that shapes the book, and how poetry, Scripture, art, and guided reflection come together to help readers experience the Psalms as a living space of dialogue with God.

The Psalms: A Sanctuary for the Soul (Volume 1)

For other books from Marty, including the Face to Face trilogy and his Karl Barth series, check out his official website: https://drmartyfolsom.com/

[Mentioned in the interview is my piece on C.S. Lewis’s Reflections on the Psalms.]

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Rev Dr Tania Harris is a pastor, author, practical theologian and the director of God Conversations, an organisation that helps people hear and respond to God’s voice. In this conversation, we discuss Tania’s book, Hearing God’s Voice: Towards a Theology of Contemporary Pentecostal Revelatory Experience. Our conversation begins with discussing how I came to learn about Tania and her work. From there, we explore some questions around how we can understand whether God is really speaking to us.

History shows that all kinds of evil have been committed by people claiming that God told them to. I was reminded of this through watching a true crime television show a couple of years ago. The show was called Under the Banner of Heaven, starring Andrew Garfield and Sam Worthington. In it, almost every bad thing that happened was associated with a claimed divine revelation, including the murders that were the focus of the plot. Surely there are some things that a God of love would not command people to do. With her wisdom and experience, Tania helped me through some of the specific questions prompted by my reflections on that television show.

You can learn more about Tania at the God Conversations website, where you can also find links to her books and publications.

For more on Tania’s story and the topic of whether God speaks through dreams, visions and prophecy, I recommend checking out her appearance on Unbelievable.

If you’re interested in seeing what I have written on violence, war, justice, what it means to be a man, and several other topics, I recommend taking a look at my series inspired by watching popular movies:

https://onsecondthoughts.substack.com/t/film-series

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Dr Jared Neusch is a Bible scholar who earned his PhD in New Testament from King’s College London. With years of experience teaching in both university and local church settings, Jared is passionate about equipping others with a deeper understanding of Scripture. His recent contribution, “Nonviolent Hermeneutics”, featured in the Handbook on Postconservative Theological Interpretation, was the topic of our conversation.

This was a deep conversation about biblical violence and how our interpretation of these texts impacts our lives today. After establishing some terms and laying out a couple of reading approaches from two prominent contemporary scholars, we attempted to see how these approaches translate into specific texts. I went first, offering my reading of Exodus 32, where Moses commands the slaughter of three thousand people. From there, I asked Jared to offer an interpretation on Acts 5 and the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira.

Links below for the key references discussed:

Cross Vision (Greg Boyd)

Flood and Fury (Matt Lynch)

For some basic background on a couple of things mentioned in the interview, you may want to check out the Wikipedia articles for Marcionism and the Phinehas Priesthood.

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Dr. JD Lyonhart is a Canadian theologian, philosopher, pastor, and author. In this conversation, we discuss his book, MonoThreeism: An Absurdly Arrogant Attempt to Answer All the Problems of the Last 2000 Years in One Night at a Pub, which combines deep theological and philosophical exploration with an engaging narrative that unfolds in a lively pub dialogue on Christmas Eve.

In this conversation, we delve into the themes and ideas of MonoThreeism and the creative approach that the book takes. Dr. Lyonhart shares his insights on faith, philosophy, and the human condition, offering a fresh and accessible take on profound questions about existence, meaning, and the Trinity. Whether you're curious about theology or enjoy pondering life's mysteries, you may find this an interesting conversation.

For more information on Dr Lyonhart, you can check out his website, where you’ll also find links to his books: https://www.jdlyonhart.com/

MonoThreeism: An Absurdly Arrogant Attempt to Answer All the Problems of the Last 2000 Years in One Night at a Pub

Also, check out Jonathan’s soon-to-be-released book:

The Journey of God: Christianity in Six Movements

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Chris Magnussen is an Associate Lecturer in Theology at Alphacrucis University College. He is involved in teaching and assisting with courses related to ministry, theology, and higher-degree research. Additionally, he serves as the subject coordinator for the course "Introduction to Theology", which explores foundational Christian doctrines and their application to life and mission.

I met Chris when I first began my post-graduate studies in theology and took my first class on Christian Worldview. I had an experience during one of the tutorials that has stayed with me and prompted me to write a series of theological reflections on film. In our conversation, we discuss that moment and explore the role that art, and film in particular, has in opening us up to the divine. We talk about some controversial portrayals of Jesus in movies, even one that was banned in many places.

For the post I wrote on film portrayals of Jesus, see Not Gladiator II

If you’re interested in taking a class with Chris, I recommend checking out the courses on offer at Alphacrucis University College (https://www.ac.edu.au/)

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Dr. Steven Félix-Jäger is an artist and academic whose work deals primarily with the intersection of faith and culture. Steven is currently an associate professor of theology & worship and director of academic research at Life Pacific University. In this conversation, we discuss his latest book, The Problem and Promise of Freedom: A Public Theology for the Church.

Our conversation begins with discussing how Christian public engagement is often undergirded by certain eschatological systems; as Richard Middleton has famously said, “Ethics is lived eschatology”. From there, we explore the implications for 21st-century Christians before briefly touching on some of the most difficult topics related to ethics and handling sacred texts.

You can learn more about Dr Félix-Jäger on his website, where you can find links to his art, music, podcasting, and books.

For anyone interested in my reflections on war movies that are mentioned in the interview, see: What do we do in times of war?

If you have never seen the photos from Nagasaki, I encourage you to visit: Atomic Bombing in Nagasaki and the Urakami Cathedral, where 10,000 Christians out of 15,000 lost their lives.

For anyone interested in Marius Nel’s book that is mentioned, see Pacifism and Pentecostals in South Africa: A new hermeneutic for nonviolence

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Joshua S. Porter writes books and also does other things. The other stuff is pretty interesting; Josh has been the frontman for the experimental punk-rock band Showbread for many years. These days, he is a pastor at a church in Vancouver, Washington and is an advocate for better engagement with art and entertainment. I learnt about Josh through his book on the topic, which is the basis of much of our conversation. You can learn more about Josh at his website: https://www.joshuasporter.com/

Here are also links directly to his books and another couple that came up in our conversation:

Death to Deconstruction: Reclaiming Faithfulness as an Act of Rebellion

With All Its Teeth: Sex, Violence, Profanity, and the Death of Christian Art

God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music

Abraham's Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God

Click here for my writings on the music of Blind Willie Johnson.

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Dr. Steven Félix-Jäger is an associate professor of theology & worship and director of academic research at Life Pacific University. Steven is also a visual artist, musician, and Christian minister. His work deals primarily with the intersection of faith and culture, especially regarding the church.

Steven and I talk about Christian engagement with culture and, in particular, our shared attraction to the aesthetics of rock music. In our conversation, we touch on faith deconstruction and the need for depth when dealing with the messiness of the world that we live in.

You can learn more about Dr Félix-Jäger at his website, where you can find links to his art, music, podcasting and books. I was prompted to reach out to Steven after reading his book: With God on Our Side: Towards a Transformational Theology of Rock and Roll.

For anyone interested in my writing on the music of Willie Johnson that is mentioned in the interview, see: https://onsecondthoughts.substack.com/t/willie-johnson-series

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Dr Jared Neusch is a biblical scholar who has co-authored a book about Jesus for kids. In this conversation, Jared and I discuss his journey from Bethel Church in Redding, California, across the pond to the UK and into Christian academia. We also talk about the motivations that led him to author a book about Jesus for kids with his friend Connor Shram.

Jesus vs. the Bad Guys: A Story of Love and Forgiveness is a fun book, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone with young children. If you are a Christian parent looking for an imaginative approach to engaging with your kids about the way of Jesus, this may be just what you need.

In the interview, Jared shares that he pursued studying for a PhD because he wanted to explore how the revelation of Christ affects our reading of the Old Testament. We delve into the details surrounding this a little; in particular, we discuss how this impacts our understanding of ethics and our reading of violent passages in the Old Testament.

The story of Samson comes up, and if you’re interested in my thoughts on that story, you can check out the piece I wrote back on Valentine’s Day earlier this year here.

Otherwise, if you’d like to find out more about Jared, you can find him on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jaredneusch/

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Recently, I was able to sit down to have a conversation with Dr. Marty Folsom. Marty is a theologian who is committed to nurturing relationships and interested in the quest for intimacy. For Marty, this is all about personal relationships with God and other humans.

Marty and I discuss music, which for me will always be my comfort zone when it comes to the arts. We also step into literary spaces, discussing a couple of authors who lean into the theological dimension of music. Much of our conversation also focuses on the work of 20th-century Swiss theologian Karl Barth. Dr Folsom is one the leading scholars when it comes to Barth and has thus far published two books in a series of “Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone”.

For more on Marty and his work, I encourage you to check out his website and his books:

https://drmartyfolsom.com/

Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone, Volume 1: The Doctrine of the Word of God

Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics for Everyone, Volume 2: The Doctrine of God

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit onsecondthoughts.substack.com