This is the second half of our conversation with Dr. John Maiden of The Open University. We continue discussing the global nature of charismatic Christianity, hear a favorite anecdote from his work Age of the Spirit , and learn about some of his favorite books on this topic.

This is the first half of our conversation with Dr. John Maiden of The Open University. We discuss the story behind his new book, Age of the Spirit (Oxford University Press), the distinction between charismatics and pentecostals, and the advantages of a transnational approach to studying these movements.

Jump in for the second half of our conversation with Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg where we discuss how dance shows us continuity and discontinuity between the medieval and early modern periods, the dancing of Herodias's daughter, the possible sin of birthday parties, and lots of book recommendations. 

This is the first half of our conversation with Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg of Anderson University. We learn about her academic journey, advice for doing a PhD, and then jump into our main topic: the fraught relationship between Christianity and dance, and how a niche topic like this actually opens a window into broader questions of lived religion, gender, and the church's relationship to women. 

In this second half of our discussion, Dr. Samantha Kelly of Rutgers University describes what contact was like between medieval and early modern Ethiopian and European Christians. She invites us to consider ways that studying non-Western forms of Christianity can expand our understanding of the faith, and gives us insight into a fascinating book project she's working on involving Ethiopian pilgrims in the early modern period. 

Join us as we talk to Dr. Samantha Kelly of Rutgers University, a leading scholar in late medieval and early modern Ethiopian Christianity and Ethiopia-Europe contact during this period. In the first half of our discussion, Dr. Kelly tells her fascinating story of pivoting mid-career to study Ethiopia, including why she was drawn to this shift and the various opportunities that made such a shift possible.

In part two of this introductory conversation to Season 2, we talk about how the 'expanded narrative' of Christian history has shaped our own teaching, research, and faith. We then give an overview of the upcoming episodes and guests we'll be interviewing.

In this episode we introduce our second season, themed around "Expanding the Narrative" of the history of Christianity. We discuss the 'traditional' narrative, how we each imbibed it, and how we came to realize that it was too small to fit the reality of church history.

This is part 2 of our conversation with Justo González. We begin by discussing the metaphor of theological education as a series of irrigation holes rather than a pipeline. We then talk about writing scholarship for the church and the changing needs of the laity in theological education. Our conversation concludes with Dr. González explaining some of the ways in which studying church history has changed and deepened his own faith, as well as advice he would give to young scholars of Christian history. 

This is the first half of our conversation with Justo González, one of the most prolific church historians and theological scholars of our time. We discuss how Dr. González's interests in church history developed through his interest in theology, his work in promoting Hispanic theological education, the role of church history in global theological education, and how to write and present church history for a popular audience.

Books mentioned on this episode:
Justo González, The Story of Christianity, volume 1 & volume 2
Justo González, A History of Christian Thought