What does it look like to integrate our emotional and mental health with our faith? We've likely all experienced, or ourselves said some things in this area that are unhelpful and even hurtful. On this episode we talk to theologian John Swinton and psychologist Peace Amadi to hear their thoughts on fruitful ways to consider our mental health in relationship to our minds, bodies, God, and others. Tune in to find out what we can learn about being human by paying attention to our emotions and the lives of those with mental health challenges.

John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. He is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland who for more than a decade worked as a registered nurse specializing in psychiatry and learning disabilities. John is the author of many books including Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of Christians with Mental Health Challenges. 

Peace Amadi is Associate Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Hope International University. She is the founder of The Pink Couch to empower women and The Ruby Project for survivors of trauma and abuse. Peace is the author of Why Do I Feel Like This?: Understand Your Difficult Emotions and Find Grace to Move Through.

On this episode we begin to unpack what we mean by the term human sexuality, what desire is from a theological point of view, and how we can practice solidarity with those who identify, live, or think differently than us. Jeff and Emily are joined by theologian David Bennett and psychologist Mark Yarhouse.

David Bennett is a theologian living in Oxford, England. As a celibate Christian, Dr. Bennett is seeking to be a fresh voice on the topics of love, desire, and sexuality in order to show how people can live and flourish through Christ’s teaching. David is the author of A War of Loves: The Unexpected Story of a Gay Activist Discovery Jesus

Mark Yarhouse is Professor and Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Endowed Chair in Psychology and the Director of the Sexual & Gender Identity Institute at Wheaton College. Dr. Yarhouse specializes in conflicts tied to religious identity and sexual and gender identity. Mark is the author of many books including Costly Obedience: What We Can Learn from the Celibate Gay Christian Community

On this episode we talk about how violence and injustice affect our humanity, and about the possibility and practice of peacebuilding and reconciliation. Jeff and Emily are joined by Nina Balmaceda and Michael Battle.

Dr. Nina Balmaceda is a scholar-practitioner whose work focuses on civic leadership development and education for peace and reconciliation. Nina is president of Peace and Hope International, a nonprofit that works through local organizations in Latin America to prevent and confront violence and other forms of injustice against the most vulnerable.

Rev. Dr. Michael Battle is the Herbert Thompson Professor of Church and Society and Director of the Desmond Tutu Center at General Theological Seminary. In his PeaceBattle Institute he works on subjects of diversity, spirituality, prayer, race and reconciliation. He is the author of many books including his latest Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa’s Confessor. You can also join Dr. Battle on trips to learn more about the life and work of Tutu.

Please note that this episode references situations of sexual violence.

Migration is a reality of humanity and Scripture. Listen as Jeff and Emily discuss human migration in history, our current context, and what we learn about God, humanity, and migration in Scripture with Biblical scholar Daniel Carroll and professor of Chicana/o Studies Robert Chao Romero.

Daniel Carroll is Scripture Press Ministries Professor of Biblical Studies and Pedagogy at Wheaton College. Dr. Carroll is an Old Testament scholar whose research focuses on the prophetic literature and Old Testament social ethics. He has recently published a major commentary on the book of Amos and a book on the prophetic voice for today. He is the author of many books including Global Migration and Christian Faith: Implications for Identity and Mission

Robert Chao Romero has been a professor of Chicana/o Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA since 2005. Dr. Romero has published more than 20 academic books and articles on issues of race, immigration, history, education, and religion. One of his recent books is Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity

Is a cyborg a human being? How might technological enhancement or therapy help us more fully participate in being human? In this episode we talk with theologian Victoria Lorrimar and neuroengineer Chris Rozell about artificial intelligence, human enhancement, and the questions this raises for us as human beings. 

Victoria Lorrimar is a lecturer of Systematic Theology at Trinity College Queensland. Her research focuses on theological anthropology and how a theological understanding of what it means to be human can engage the prospect of technologies that promise to enhance human characteristics and abilities.

Chris Rozell is currently the Julian T. Hightower Chair and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Rozell is an educator and researcher developing technology to enable interactions between biological and artificial intelligence systems.

We're on our phones and laptops constantly, and we talk about how technology is all around us--but what is it? Is it about our devices or something deeper? On this episode Jeff and Emily talk to sociologist Felicia Wu Song and theologian David Gill about technology, and how it shapes what it means to be a human being in the world--especially as we relate to others.

Felicia Wu Song is Professor of Sociology at Westmont College and a cultural sociologist who studies the place of digital technologies in contemporary life. She is the author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence and Place in the Digital Age and Virtual Communities: Bowling Alone, Online Together.

David W. Gill is a writer and speaker based in his hometown, Oakland. California. He recently retired from the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton and Boston, Massachusetts, where he served as Mockler-Phillips Professor of Workplace Theology & Business Ethics and Director of the Mockler Center for Faith & Ethics in the Workplace. He is the author of many books including  Becoming Good: Building Moral Character and Doing Right: Practicing Ethical Principles.

What do we learn about being human by listening to those who are suffering or experiencing structural injustice in society? How do we live together with those who are different than us? In this wide-ranging conversation we end by discussing important virtues to help us come together as a society with attention to these questions.

In this episode we talk to Dr. Morgan Liu and Dr. M Shawn Copeland. Dr. Liu is Associate Professor in Anthropology and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at The Ohio State University. He studies the globalization of economic elites in Central Asia, Muslims in former Communist countries, informal social networks as formations of power in Central Asian societies, emergent complexity of interactions between corporation/state/and non-state actors, urban space, and Islamic ideas of social justice.

Dr. M Shawn Copeland is Professor Emerita of Systematic Theology in the the Department of Theology and the Program in African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) at Boston College. Professor Copeland the author of several books including  Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Religious Experience and  Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being.

What is the place of work in our lives? How does work shape our worship and vice versa? What does the way we work say now about what we think it means to be a human being? Join Jeff and Emily as they talk to theologian Cory Willson and sociologist Carolyn Chen about their research on work in the world.

Cory Willson is the Jake and Betsy Tuls Associate Professor of Missiology and Missional Ministry at Calvin Theological Seminary. He is the co-author of Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy

Carolyn Chen is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.  She is the author of several books including Getting Saved in America: Taiwanese Immigration and Religious Experience and Work, Pray, Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley. 

In this episode Jeff and Emily talk about the stories we hear and tell, and how that shapes the way we see ourselves and others in the world. To dig into the question of identity, we talk to two storytellers, practical theologian Joy J. Moore and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen.

Dr. Joy J. Moore is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, a Professor of Biblical Preaching, and she also serves as the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. She describes herself as an ecclesial storyteller, seeking to encourage theologically framed biblically attentive, and socially compelling interpretations of scripture so that we can understand the critical issues influencing our formation and contemporary culture.

Dr. Nancy Wang Yuen is a sociologist and an expert on race and racism in Hollywood. Nancy is the author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism. She's also the co-editor of a book called Power Women: Stories of Motherhood, Faith and the Academy. She's the host of the Disruptor's podcast and she's currently writing a book about her life through the films and television shows she grew up watching.

Find out more about the Emerging Scholar's Network and their current discussion series on their website. They have a new spiritual formation group for post-docs forming, as well!

Human Flourishing is a growing topic of conversation in theology and the church. What do we mean exactly? What makes up human flourishing? In this episode Jeff Liou and Emily Hill talk to a public health scholar and practitioner, Dr. Jennifer Wortham of the Harvard Human Flourishing Project, and theologian Dr. Nadia Marais. We talk about what contributes to human flourishing, what inhibits our flourishing, and the role of church practices and church leaders.

We do want to notify our listeners that there is a brief mention of clergy abuse in the context of Dr. Wortham's research about moral injury.

Dr. Nadia Marais is a professor of Systematic Theology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

Dr. Jennifer Wortham has a doctorate in Public Health and is a religion, spirituality, and forgiveness research associate for the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. She is the author of a memoir on forgiveness titled A Letter To The Pope: The Keeper of the Nest.