Theology Unpacked

Theology Unpacked

By London Jesuit CentreEducation
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Theology Unpacked episodes

  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 21: Things fall apart even more

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores how growing tensions within the late medieval Church, particularly the sale of indulgences, prompted Martin Luther’s challenge to papal authority and his emphasis on salvation through faith and God’s grace.

    As reformers placed scripture at the centre of Christian life and developed different approaches to worship and church governance, the religious unity of Western Christianity began to unravel, giving rise to distinct Christian traditions.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    24 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 20: Things Fall Apart

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores how European expansion, papal authority and Renaissance humanism reshaped Christianity in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries.

    As classical learning challenged established traditions and reformers questioned the Church’s wealth, practices and authority, the foundations were laid for the Protestant Reformation.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    16 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 19: “Restoration and Reform” - the 15th Century

    Apologies to lovers of Italian epic for inadvertently putting Dante in the wrong century in this episode!

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores the restoration of papal authority and the movements for religious and intellectual reform that reshaped Western Christianity during the 15th century.

    The recovery of the Greek New Testament and a growing emphasis on reading Scripture in its original context opened new ways of understanding Christian faith, laying the intellectual and spiritual groundwork for Martin Luther’s critique of the Church and the coming Reformation.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    21 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 18: Popes, Councils and the end of Unity

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores the growing clashes between Kings, Emperors and Popes during the later Middle Ages, as political rivalries and disputes over authority challenged papal supremacy.

    Through figures such as Dante and William of Ockham, Dr John examines the growing desire for Church reform, alongside the emergence of new forms of personal devotion following the Black Death.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    23 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 17: Genesis of the future – Christian Storytelling (Sample 4)

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores how Bonaventure takes Joachim’s approach in a new direction, placing Christ at the centre of his interpretation of Genesis.

    Bonaventure reveals a millennium of Christian history hidden within the narrative of the seven days, tracing patterns that connect biblical events with the unfolding life of the church.

    📣 Register for "The Future of RE in Catholic Schools" Book Launch on 8 October.

    19 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep16: Ages Foretold – Christian Storytelling (Sample 3)

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores two medieval approaches to the end time, both of which read contemporary events as part of God’s plan for history.

    A seventh-century Syriac apocalypse foretold that a king of Rome would reclaim Jerusalem before Christ’s return. Joachim of Fiore instead described an emerging “age of the Spirit”, in which contemplative communities offered a glimpse of a more spiritual church, an idea that later inspired movements seeking church reform.

    📣 Register for "The Future of RE in Catholic Schools" Book Launch on 8 October⁠.

    17 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 15: Spirituality and the Spirit (Part 2)

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores how the medieval Church sought to tolerate and tame the Spirit, distinguishing accepted forms of personal revelation from prophetic movements that threatened its teachings and structures.

    Through Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, he examines how vivid visions of divine love could be tested, guided and brought within the boundaries of ecclesiastical authority.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    17 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 14: Spirituality and the Spirit (Part 1)

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores Christian prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit, tracing how medieval Christians understood prayer as an encounter with God that could transform both the intellect and the will through consolation, love and spiritual discernment.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    17 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 13: Spirituality and Ordinary People

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores how medieval Christianity was communicated and experienced through the everyday lives of ordinary people, offering glimpses of 14th-century society in Chaucer's colourful cast of characters alongside the Church's official vision of salvation.

    He highlights the crucial work of the friars, whose preaching, drama, art, and pastoral presence brought Christian teaching into towns and marketplaces, while simple devotions such as the Rosary and the Angelus offered accessible forms of Christian mindfulness that helped ordinary believers enter more deeply into the story of Christ's incarnation, passion, and resurrection.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    14 min
  • To the Ends of the Earth | Ep 12: Encountering the sacred: official and unofficial

    In this “Theology Unpacked” episode, Dr John Moffatt SJ explores how ordinary medieval Christians encountered the sacred through both the Church’s official sacramental life and the rich world of popular devotion, where relics, pilgrimages, charms and local traditions often existed alongside formal theology.

    📚 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore the wide range of reading materials⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in the Heythrop Library

    🤓 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join online or in-person courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at the London Jesuit Centre

    If you find our podcasts helpful, please consider ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠donating to the London Jesuit Centre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

    16 min

About Theology Unpacked

From the publisher's feed

Designed for RE teachers and open to all listeners, to explore and navigate Christian theology within the new RE curriculum directory for Catholic Schools, Academies and Colleges in England and Wales.