Queen of the Sciences

It's easy, too easy, to blame the past for not knowing what we know now. Much more useful is to examine how the past arrived at its conclusions, and see if we can discern what led in fruitful directions and what led to disaster. In this episode, Dad and I review the contents of his book, also called Before Auschwitz, examining what led Christian theologians to support, denounce, or try to avoid taking a stand on the rise of Nazism. It's a master class in theological method when the stakes were never higher—and a small step toward the long process of repentance for Christian anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism.

Notes:

1. If you read no other book by Dad, be sure to read this one: Before Auschwitz

2. Related episodes: Luther and the Jews, The Relationship between the Old and New Testaments

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Never pass by a nice round anniversary! On this 100th full and regular episode of the podcast, Dad and I reminisce about the origins of Queen of the Sciences, reveal the secrets of how we prep and record, share statistics and fan reviews, tell which are our favorite episodes (and yours!), and look onward to many more episodes to come.

Notes:

1. Ten most downloaded QotS episodes, from #10 down to #1: Bonus episode on Law and Gospel Part 1, Hannah Arendt, Luke Part 1, Critical Social Theory, Bonhoeffer's "Life Together," Learning to Love Leviticus, Holy Communion: Discipline, Powers and Principalities, The 8th Commandment in Cancel Culture, What Is Theology and Who Needs It?

2. Sarah's favorites: Theology & Experience Part 2, James Epistle of Straw?, Private Public and Propagandistic, How to Hack the Law, Pastoral Authority, Poor Anselm, Illness and Healing, An Unlikely Marriage, What is a Person?, The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas

3. Dad's favorites: Abraham Lincoln Theologian, Postmodernism for the Perplexed, The Land, The Earth, Outer Space, Nietzsche Is Peachy, Sermon on the Mount, Athanasius Against the World, Jonah

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Dad talks to Chad Kim of the History of Christian Theology podcast about his book, Divine Complexity.

Continuing our quest for the quest for the historical Jesus, in this episode we take a look at the Jesus Seminar, and in particular representative scholar Marcus Borg. Dad as usual is the very picture of responsible scholarship. I manage to be not quite as snarky as in the last episode, but given the choice between Borg's milquetoast mystic and Schweitzer's apocalyptic nut, I'm with the latter. Fortunately, it is not a choice we need to make, which should be your takeaway from these two episodes!

Notes:

1. Wright and Borg, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions

2. Weiss, Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

3. Related episodes: Quest for the Historical Jesus, Resurrection

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Modern techniques and approaches to the discipline of history were inevitably turned on Jesus. But you may be surprised to learn that, at the origin, the desire was not to deconstruct but to shore up belief in Jesus, if not all the subsequent doctrinal accretions around him. In this episode, Dad walks us through the early history of the quest for the historical Jesus, its findings, what it gave and what it took away, and what any of it has to do with classic christology. Meanwhile, I essentially play the role of Waldorf and Statler, the grumpy guys up in the balcony of "The Muppet Show."

Notes:

1. Kant, Conflict of the Faculties and Religion within the Limits of Mere Reason

2. Schleiermacher, The Life of Jesus

3. Strauss, The Christ of Faith and the Jesus of History

4. Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus

5. Heschel, The Aryan Jesus

6. Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth

7. Troftgruben, "How Not to Fall for the Next Big Jesus Exposé," Lutheran Forum 52/4 (2018): 45–50.

8. Related episodes: Martin Luther King, Howard Thurman, Miracles, Elisabeth Behr-Sigel

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John Drury of the Fresh Text podcast and I (i.e. Sarah) discuss John 11 at great and enthusiastic length!

If you enjoyed this episode, by all means subscribe to Fresh Text! John discusses a lectionary passage each week with a great array of scholars and preachers. Highly recommended!

Martin Luther King is revered. But is he revered for the right reasons? In this episode we counter the domestication of King as only an advocate of civil rights, and instead encounter him as the prophet and preacher who called America to be born again in costly love toward the racially other. We also survey his range of theological convictions and insights, connecting him with his famous namesake, in pursuit of a Beloved Community for our time.

Notes:

1. The Essential Martin Luther King Jr.

2. King, A Gift of Love

3. Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain (I listened to this audiobook edition—it's excellent)

4. Carson, Martin's Dream

5. Lischer, The Preacher King

6. West, The Radical King

7. Related episodes: Thurman, Niebuhr

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Martin Luther King is the famous preacher of the civil rights movement (and indeed, we'll be getting to him in the next episode). But behind King, and crucial to him, is pastor and theologian Howard Thurman. In this episode, Dad and I immerse ourselves in Thurman's great work of spiritual theology, Jesus and the Disinherited, its portrait of Christ, and the challenge to all believers to take up the cross of radical love.

Notes:

1. Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited

2. Related episodes: Jefferson, Lincoln, The Land, What Is a Person?, Propaganda

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On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Dad and I turn to the insightful critical comments of Orthodox theologians around the world, and share our own takes on the situation.

Notes:

1. A Declaration on the "Russian World" (Ruskii Mir) Teaching

2. Hovorun, Is the "Russian World" Condemnable?

3. Bintsarovskyi, On Some Misconceptions about Russia's War against Ukraine

After the broad overview last time, in this episode we dive into some Matthew-specific detail, from the genealogy to parables to the zombie apocalypse, I mean resurrection of the saints of Jerusalem.

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