Queen of the Sciences

You know that there is such a thing as "world religions," and you know which ones they are. But why? Where did such a notion even come from? And why are some in but some aren't? Is "religion" even the right word for everything categorized under it? And if not, why has "religious studies" come to dominate, not to say replace, "theology" at virtually every college in America? In this episode Dad and I trace the genealogy of the concept of both "religious studies" and "world religions," take a look at what one might dare to call a crisis of faith within these disciplines, and give some ideas about how religious studies and theology can actually do each other some good.

Notes:

1. James, The Variety of Religious Experience

2. Masuzawa, The Invention of World Religions

3. Shoemaker, Creating the Qur'an

4. Orsi, Between Heaven and Earth

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The more ecumenical dialogues establish agreement, the more they turn up disagreement. Why, 115 years into multilateral Christian dialogue and 60 years into bilateral dialogue, does Christian unity look farther away than ever? Why can't we all just agree? In this episode, Dad and I delve deeply into Lutheran theologian Robert W. Jenson's book Unbaptized God, which posits that the problem isn't disagreement at all—it's disastrous agreement on a faulty premise at the root of the theological enterprise. We agree and disagree with Jenson, both of which reactions prove to be tremendously fruitful.

Notes:

1. Jenson, Unbaptized God

2. Apocalyptic and the Future of Theology

3. Related episodes: Apologetics, Second Peter and the Second Coming, John of Damascus, Chalcedon vs Luther, Bonhoeffer's Christology, A Hegel with all the Fixin's

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Is the apologetic enterprise coercing people outside the Christian faith into a decision on which their eternal fate depends, conceding the terms of the debate to the culture's notion of what's important, or making fruitful contact in ways specific to the person and situation? (I bet you can guess our answer.) In this episode, Dad and I examine some worse ways of making a defense for the faith that is within us en route to some recommendations of a more excellent way. Plus, Sarah complains even more about Tillich.

Notes:

1. Related episodes: The Bible in One Hand and the Newspaper in the Other?, Chalcedon vs Luther, The Resurrection, Good Tillich, Bad Tillich, Niebuhr, Critical Social Theory, An Unlikely Marriage, Luther and the Jews

2. McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict

3. Pannenberg, Jesus: God and Man

4. Tillich, Systematic Theology vol. 1

5. Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine

6. Sarah's book of law-gospel parables, Pearly Gates

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Whose all-time favorite NT epistle is Second Peter? Yeah, I thought so, i.e., nobody's. Terse yet wordy, full of highly developed doctrine yet also threats of judgment, and most likely pseudepigraphal, it's a tough nut to crack. In this episode, Dad and I haul out our exegetical nutcrackers and extract the sweetmeat (to push an already overstrained metaphor too far—though you gotta admit, it fits with Second Peter's prose style), which, oddly enough, proves to be the Parousia of Christ and God's astounding patience, desiring that all, yes all, come to repentance. Plus, more on the Transfiguration!

Notes:

1. Sarah's book on the Transfiguration is now in print and available for general purchase! Get Seven Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration as an ebook and audiobook direct from Thornbush Press, print (or any other format) from Amazon.

2. Bauckham, Jude–2 Peter

2. Schnelle, The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings

3. Harink, 1 & 2 Peter

4. Saarinen, The Pastoral Epistles with Philemon & Jude

5. Related episodes: Jude, The Transfiguration, I Peter, Faith Just Faith

Holy moly! Six years of top-quality theological podcasting! Why not show your support by becoming a Patron?

Sarah talks with Amber Noel of The Living Church Podcast about ... the Transfiguration! If you've skipped all the others on the Transfiguration, listen to this one. The sheer force of our exuberance will bring you around.

Seven Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration is now available in all formats (ebook, audiobook, paperback, hardcover) from Thornbush Press, Amazon, and Bookshop.org!

If you'd like to request it from your library, make sure to furnish your librarian with the ISBN! Ebook 979-8-9899141-1-1 ; audiobook 979-8-9899141-2-8 ; paperback 979-8-9899141-3-5 ; hardcover  979-8-9899141-4-2.

Take a sad song and make it better? In this episode, Dad and I explore the oft-overlooked Epistle of Jude, including theories of authorship, its lavish use of apocryphal sources not included in either Christian or Jewish scriptural canons, its incipient trinitarianism, and the ongoing urgency of its charge against antinomianism. Also, is Jude the middle term between Paul and James?

Notes:

1. Bauckham, Jude–II Peter

2. Schnelle, The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings

3. Saarinen, The Pastoral Epistles with Philemon and Jude

4. Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism

5. My "little book of parables" that Dad referred to is Pearly Gates (my #1 bestseller!)

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The one in which we totally betray our convictions and bargain for material blessings in return for our immortal souls. Oh no wait, that's a different podcast and a different hashtag. In this episode, Dad and I sort out what a blessing actually is and does, how it is that God can bless us but we can also bless God, and the implications for pastoral practice. Along the way, we also discuss the recent Catholic declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on blessing, Fiducia Supplicans.

Notes:

1. Fiducia Supplicans

2. Johannesson, Thérèse and Martin

Holy moly! Six years of top-quality theological podcasting! Why not show your support by becoming a Patron?

My conversation with James Hazelwood, host of the Everyday Spirituality podcast, on... wait for it... the Transfiguration! And more specifically, my book Seven Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration. Get yourself the ebook or audiobook right now from Thornbush Press! Print edition coming next month.

What do women want? For that matter, what do men want? Is it (ever) the same thing? Is sex God's greatest joke on his long-suffering creation? Dad and I entertain these and a number of other notions, as we solve all problems of the war of the sexes in an hour and twenty minutes. Plus, good news: the patriarchy is over. I beat it.

Notes:

1. Related episodes: Seminex, Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, Critical Social Theory, Technique and Propaganda with Jacques Ellul

2. See Dad's articles "Why Women May Be Ordained" in Different Voices/Shared Vision and "Whose Church? Which Ministry?" Other than my book on Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, my main contribution to the conversation is "The Epistle of Eutyche"

3. Manne, Down Girl

4. Douglas, The Feminization of American Culture

5. Harrington, Feminism against Progress

6. Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

7. Solberg, Compelling Knowledge and A Church Undone

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Ruth-exclamation-point, because evidently Podbean won't let you do four-letter titles. Hmm. Well anyway, in this episode Dad and I talk through this absolutely delightful little book of the Old Testament, one of only two named for a woman and the only one named for a Gentile. In particular we explore the necessary and good yet self-contradicting and troubling aspects of the Law, why neither Law nor Love are improved by being reduced to one another, the personal nature of hesed (the Hebrew word for loving-kindness), and why none of it works without... God! God-exclamation-point!

Notes:

1. LaCocque, Ruth

2. Smit and Fowl, Judges and Ruth

3. Related episodes: Joshua, The Saul Saga, How to Hack the Law

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