The new film, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (Angel Studios) is drawing Christian audiences around the world, but does it get the depiction of its title character right?

Dr. Myles Werntz (professor of theology at Abilene Christian University) says it does not...and that Christians should view the movie with caution. In this interview, Werntz talks about the critical review he published about the film (perhaps the most widely read and quoted review out there).

He also talks about the real Dietrich Bonhoeffer and where Christians can look for the most accurate and insightful information about him.

Link to the Marc LiVecche film review (and critique of Werntz's review) from World Magazine (quoted in the interview)

Links to Bonhoeffer resources that Dr. Werntz recommends:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eberhard Bethge

From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Vision for Christian Life Together by Dr. Myles Werntz

The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon: Portraits of a Protestant Saint by Stephen R. Haynes

Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906 - 1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Introduction to His Thought by Sabine Dramm and Thomas Rice

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Christian Chronicle Podcast partner Freed-Hardeman University sponsored this special episode on a crisis that is emerging under our noses: screen addiction.

In this conversation, Freed-Hardeman University president David Shannon shares some of the latest research on how (much more) young people are using devices and how dramatic increases in "screen time" over the last few years correlates to a rise in anxiety, depression and suicide among emerging generations in and out of the church.

Shannon offers insight on how churches, educators, ministers and parents can respond with better awareness and and greater habits and practices. He also shares how Freed-Hardeman University is working to make an environment where its faculty, staff and students are putting healthier screen habits into practice.

Link to The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (referenced several times in the interview)

Link to the 2024 World Happiness Report (referenced in the interview)

Link to research on the correlation of anxiety, depression and suicide to smart phone and social media use among young people

Learn more about our sponsor for this episode, Freed-Hardeman University

Dr. Bill Pink, a Church of Christ lifer (and outstanding song leader) is president of 10,000-student Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.

In this episode, he talks about how he practices Christianity while being a faithful public steward of a secular, tax-funded university where all faiths (and no faiths) have a place. Dr. Pink:

• Talks about the trends that are shaping higher education in the 21st century (and how universities like Ferris State might respond)
• Why Christians have a place (and, indeed, a Commission) to study and work at public universities
• Argues against Christians in places of public authority using that authority to "mandate" Christianity
• Makes the case that his generation of Christians may owe future generations an apology for failing at civility and kindness
• Explains how he can be supportive of professors and students whose beliefs and practices are not in line with his own Christian beliefs and practices
• Talks about how he and his administration are preparing for the possibility that the federal government may try to deport Ferris State employees and students

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s profile of Church of Christ member Ryan Walters, superintendent of public instruction for the state of Oklahoma, referenced in this interview

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Since it opened almost 119 years ago, Abilene Christian University (ACU) has been educating, forming, and training Christian evangelists who spread the news of Jesus Christ around the world.

This year, however, the university is launching something that has the potential to change the world and save lives in a surprising new way.

ACU is building and preparing to fire up an experimental nuclear reactor that is cheaper, cleaner, safer and more scalable than any other kind of nuclear technology available in the world today. And it has the potential to cure cancer, eliminate existing nuclear waste and provide energy to the poorest regions of the world.

In this episode, you'll hear form lifelong Texas oil man (and nuclear convert) Doug Robison, who is on the ACU board of trustees and a principal investor in the university's nuclear experiment. He explains both the how and the why of ACU's nuclear turn and how this is an extension of the university's Christian mission.

Link to the American Nuclear Society's report on the ACU nuclear reactor

Link to the NEXT Lab at Abilene Christian University

Link to Natura Resources (the company Doug Robison founded to invest in the ACU nuclear experiment)

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This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Brother Jerrard Davis (Spencer Church of Christ, Spencer, Oklahoma) and vocal arrangements by Praise & Harmony.

This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Jonathan Storment (Pleasant Valley Church of Christ, Little Rock, Arkansas) and vocal arrangements by Praise & Harmony.

This Christmas special features a message of "good news of great joy for all the people" (Luke 2:10) by Lads to Leaders luminary Benjamin Adams (College Avenue Church of Christ, DeFuniak Springs, Florida) and vocal arrangments from Praise & Harmony.

In Episode 104 (Part One of this double feature), Jerri Anne Blankenship and Mindy Lancaster (Whites Ferry Road Church of Christ, West Monroe, Louisiana) tell the story of how God rescued them from darkness and the downward spiral that happened after their father went to prison for the murder of their mother.

In this episode, Jerri Anne and Mindy describe how they accepted an invitation to tell their story to the women on the inside at a Louisiana state prison. Unsure at first, they found themselves caught up in in a mighty work of God, allowing themselves to be part of baptizing hundreds of women a year in a place that most of the world forgets or ignores.

Just in time for Christmas and long rides in the car to spend the holidays with family and friends, Jerri Anne and Mindy tell the second part of their story here.

Link to Episode 40 featuring Al Robertson

Link to Heartfelt Ministries

Link to Episode 30 featuring Joneal Kirby of Heartfelt Ministries

Link to One Kingdom Ministry 

When Jerri Anne Blankenship and Mindy Lancaster (Whites Ferry Road Church of Christ, West Monroe, Louisiana) were young teenagers, their father received a life sentence in prison for murdering their mother. The trauma of this event sentenced Jerri Anne and Mindy to their own kind of prison, as they struggled for years in bitterness, confusion, darkness and oppression. But in a turn of events that could only come from the eternal faith, hope, and love of God, they are their father were born again into the life, light and love of the Christ.

Just in time for Christmas and long rides in the car to spend the holidays with family and friends, Jerri Anne and Mindy tell the first part of their story here.

Link to Episode 40 featuring Al Robertson

Link to Heartfelt Ministries

Link to Episode 30 featuring Joneal Kirby of Heartfelt Ministries

Link to One Kingdom Ministry 

Catechism is a word that Church of Christ folks may often associate with Catholicism, but its practice - which comes from the Greek catechesis (Greek for "instruction") - is happening all the time in Church of Christ congregations.

Author Dr. Brad East (associate professor of theology at Abilene Christian University) not only makes a case that catechism is part of every congregation's life, but that Church of Christ congregations and members might benefit from a fresh exploration and understanding of what they instruct and model for emerging generations.

To that end, East recently published Letters to a Future Saint: Foundations of Faith for the Spiritually Hungry (Eerdmans). The book, which was runner-up for Christianity Today's Book of the Year in 2024, places emerging generations of Christians in the great arc of God's story starting "in the beginning," passing through ancient Israel, and tracing 2,000 years of Christian history and tradition.

Drawing from his experience teaching honest young Christians (and those who are considering Christianity), East puts forward a fresh catechesis for these times.

Link to Letters to a Future Saint: Foundations of Faith for the Spiritually Hungry

Link to Dr. Brad East's author page

Link to The Christian Chronicle Podcast Episode 64: Brad East on Christian nationalism

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