The Uncensored Unprofessor

He came through a resolutely Baptist upbringing. In that context he was taught that the gifts of God's Spirit ceased with the time of the Apostles. So he was shocked when, attending a revival meeting at the Toronto Airport Vineyard, Clark Pinnock was dramatically healed of an eye affliction. It spurred him to go on and write an entire systematic theology about the Holy Spirit. What'd he emphasize in the doing? What about his systematic theology makes me (and many others), as a theologian, uncomfortable? What do I admire about what Pinnock wrote? In this show I also talk about whether Christians are to be 100% submitted to the state. I also work through some remarks made by a 25-year experienced exorcist.

How is God present in and for His creation? Traditionally, that has been addressed through Christological categories. Our theologian for this episode, Wolfhart Pannenberg, presses us to consider that it is God's Spirit who is immanent (in, with, for, to) regarding creation. What does that look like? Is it biblically based? We also examine Pannenberg for his eschatological (end times) perspectives on Holy Spirit. Pannenberg was an intersting and courageous man; he stood for objective truth all-the-while he taught inside of ardently secular German universities. At the show's beginning I talk about a recent ban of Hillsdale College, share my reflections on the 2024 total solar eclipse, and reflect on what a Holy Spirit-driven earth care might look like compared to today's religious Green movement. Come think and laugh with me!

While he was a young man Jürgen Moltmann was conscripted into the Germany Air Force. After an Allied bombing of his city Moltmann then spent 3 years in a Scottish prison. While there he encountered the Gospel. But his own dramatic experience became foundational seedbed for his own theological career. What did that mean for his theology? What did that mean for his teachings about God's Spirit? In this episode I explore all of that, celebrate what I appreciate about Moltmann's scholarship, and describe what and why I reject some of his theological formulation. Along the way I also re-vist how American Church leaders were manipulated by the Federal Government when Covid 19 was hitting the planet. What did those Church leaders do that is grotesque? Why did they do what they did? What can we learn about the power of narratives? What does this all reveal about the power of power among the powerful?! Come laugh and think with me!

Christianity is grounded in God's revelation, and so in theology, and so in doctrine. But Christianity is not mere doctrine. It is a life, a life that can be felt and experienced. J. Rodman Williams was a Presbyterian theologian who experienced the profound presence of God's Spirit. He articulated what that meant for believers. I explain the whats and the whys of speaking in tongues (glossolalia) from the New Testament and for our twenty-first century context. Moreover, I explain why I pray in tongues. Along the way I also ask, "is Tik Tok the devil?" Why is our government seeking to ban Tik Tok? We also probe NYC's having installed the National Guard down in their subway system; what is going on with that? Oh, and did you see the State of the Union address? What kinds of things did we learn through that speech? Join me in this episode and examine all of reality, reality which falls under the Lordship of Christ.

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a beautiful soul. He wanted to bring the grace and light of God to bear on all areas of life: families, schools, and societal institutions. And he even spent four years as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands working to implement the grace of God inside his Danish culture. Later, as a theologian, he had important things to say about the Holy Spirit. I unpack his two specific emphases, interact with those, and offer some critique. In the podcast's opening minutes I recount my attendance at a recent NGO meeting in downtown Boise. What'd that gathering provoke me to consider?

Theology walks a razor's edge: it seeks to be true to God's revelation in history but it brings that revelation to each successive culture. German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher did not like that his own 19th century culture was destroying Christian religion. So what'd he do? He made a very clever shift to invite that culture in for a conversation. It was a move that not only helped to burn the house of Christianity down to the ground, it established foundational roots for today's popular Christianity. In this episode I also unpack what NGOs do, what is down inside the Vatican's secret crypt, what Pope Pius XII did for the voiceless during the Holocaust, and what we've learned thus far in our ongoing series on God's beautiful Holy Spirit. Come laugh and think with me!

Praise God for salvation, right? But there's still more: God wants us to become like him. Traditionally that call to personal transformation is called sanctification: the gradual process both of loving what God loves and turning away from sin. John Wesley (1703-1791) taught that instantaneous sanctification—a full and complete turning away from sin—can happen in a moment. The Spirit of God comes, Wesley held, to make us like Jesus, and that can happen in a crisis moment. In this, third, episode on the work of God's Spirit we examine Wesley's position in its historical, biblical, and theological context. I also offer a reflection on Lent, our time to walk through the wilderness, and pray a prayer for those living inside spiritual wilderness. This episode also has a Cloward-Piven update and a quick though-piece on what belief means for our minds. Come and laugh (and sing) with me!

What happens when one person's interpretation of a bible verse goes off the rails? What happens when that same person claims to be operating in the presence or power of God's Spirit? In this, second, episode on Pneumatology (a study of God's Spirit) we look at some old errors in order to learn from them for today. The Anabaptists were radicals. Radical in the way they read their Bibles, radical in their view of history, and radical in their view of what constituted the Church. But they got some important things right. What were those? In this show's opening I reflect on Tucker Carlson's two-hour interview of Vladimir Putin. Just what on earth is going on in the Ukraine war? I also offer a Cloward-Piven update: what would a $50 per hour minimum wage do to the Golden State's economy? Come laugh and think, and pray, with me.

A new series! The theology of God's Spirit, first through the emphases of Martin Luther. Who was Luther? What was he doing? Why was he doing? What were his emphases about Holy Spirit? Why do I think we need a 21st century Reformation? How am I praying for that? What do too many contemporary Protestants do with Luther's emphases on the Holy Spirit? What can we learn from Luther? How do I critique Luther's emphases? All questions asked and answered on this "Theological Soaking in God's Spirit" episode. I also start the show with a devotional from Isaiah 40, "rise up on eagle's wings." Come think and laugh with me.