After a three-year interim, Dad and I finally return to Reinhold Niebuhr's magisterial work, The Nature and Destiny of Man, first delivered as the Gifford Lectures in 1939, then revised and published in 1943. In this episode on vol. 2, we discuss what Dad cribbed from Niebuhr upon his first reading this book 55 years ago (!), the question of metanarratives and what we can (and can't) know about history, why the atonement is necessary, and of course, Sarah's favorite topic, the Parousia of Christ. This year of podcasting ends not with a whimper, but a bang!

Looking toward an EIGHTH year of Queen of the Sciences?

Notes:

1. Related episodes: Niebuhr on the Nature of Man, Resurrection according to Macrina and Nyssa, Before Auschwitz, Doctrine to Bible (and Back Again), Cybertech and Personhood, Propaganda, The Image of God

2. Antti Raunio, "Martin Luther and Love"

3. Need more on communism? Try this very digestible approach in Sarah's memoir, I Am a Brave Bridge, about the Hinlicky family's year in Slovakia just after the fall of the iron curtain

4. Need more on the Parousia? Sarah's Forty Facets of the Ascension is now out on all platforms! And, guess what, lots on the Parousia in her Seven Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration, too!

This oft-overlooked little epistle of the New Testament is very likely the first extant work of Christian literature—characterized by the apostle Paul's intense pastoral love for his congregation in Thessalonica and comforting hope in the return on the clouds of the Lord Jesus. In this episode Dad and I dig into both these themes, the abundance of family language (some of it startling, to say the least!), explore non-creepy ways to affirm the Parousia, and note early themes of Paul that will stay the course as well as undergo development on the way to his late Epistles.

We're in our SEVENTH year!

Notes:

1. Sarah's book Forty Facets of the Ascension is available now!

2. Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians

3. Malherbe, Paul and the Thessalonians: The Philosophic Tradition of Pastoral Care

4. Related episodes: Apostleship Envy, Triple Predestination, Galatians 1, Galatians 2, Philemon, Romans

There is plenty puzzling about the doctrine of the resurrection, no matter which way you slice it. But it's extra puzzling if you prioritize the immortality of the soul over the resurrection of the body, and if you prioritize the resurrection of the body over the resurrection of the dead. In this episode Dad and I warmly invite Cappadocian father Gregory of Nyssa and his accomplished sister Macrina the Teacher to show us all the good impulses toward a doctrine of the resurrection, along with all the bad ways to defend it. Sometimes theology is best helped by bold mistakes!

We're in our SEVENTH year!

1. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Soul and Resurrection

2. You can pre-order my book, Forty Facets of the Ascension!

3. Related episodes: Gregory of Nazianzus, Perpetua and Felicitas, Heaven Hell and the Life to Come, The Resurrection

Sarah talks with Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom of The Pastor's Table about hard-won lessons in gospel and ministry!

Sarah talks with the hosts of the Narrative Lectionary Podcast about the Book of Revelation, and especially the six lessons appointed for this year.

After our last episode on Pastoral Preaching, I had a brainwave. Dad and I talk about it.

Most church services include preaching... but why? What should be the focus of a sermon? For that matter, what should not be the focus of a sermon? And is any genre more or less compatible with law-gospel preaching? Plus: Sarah shares the worst sermon she ever heard. And a few other doozies besides.

We're in our SEVENTH year!

Notes:

1. Iowa Preachers Project

2. Related episodes: Law and Gospel Part 1, Law and Gospel Part 2, How to Hack the Law, Reflections on Tokyo Ministry

3. Luther, A Brief Instruction on What to Look for and Expect in the Gospel

4. Crossings Community template for law-gospel preaching

5. Augsburg Confession Article 5

5. Seven narrative sermons by Sarah

6. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ

7. Zahl, The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience

Dad and I are back on Enter the Bible to discuss whether and to what extent Christians are obligated to obey the laws found in Scripture.

Dad and I both moonlight on Enter the Bible to discuss whether faith is our work or God's work. Or maybe that's the wrong question...?

What's worse, a Christianity exceedingly well aware of the devil... or a Christianity totally unaware of it? What's worse, the devil you know or the devil you don't? Did the devil make you do it? or did God in disguise? In this episode Dad and I undertake a historical survey of Christian understandings of the devil, where it's gone wrong, and (if such a thing is possible) how to speak of the devil aright.

We're in our SEVENTH year!

Notes:

1. Related episodes: Nenilava, the Blumhardts, Jacques Ellul, Powers and Principalities, Howard Thurman

2. Ziegler, God's Adversary and Ours

3. Žižek and Milbank, The Monstrosity of Christ