Melissa Spoelstra is a Bible teacher and has written study guides for many books of the Bible. She's also written about hope, spiritual stamina, and more. She recently published a study, "Angels: Finding Hope in God Who Reign Over Heaven and Earth," and joins the show to talk about it: https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/angels-bible-study-book-with-video-access-P005850829Melissa discusses:What are angels?What can angels do?What is a guardian angel? What is the angel of the Lord?

Dr. Teubner (PhD, University of Cambridge) is research faculty at the program on Human Flourishing in the Institute of Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, where he leads the AI and Flourishing Initiative. 

He also currently runs a data analytics startup called Filterlabs.AI. 

Dr. Teubner’s early career focused not on AI and technology but on theology. In addition to his technical interests, he’s written several books about theology, focusing on Augustine, Gustave Gutierrez, and more.  

In this conversation, Will Bennink (MDiv Candidate, Harvard Divinity School) asks Dr. Teubner about how Christians should approach AI and emerging technologies. 

Should we be afraid of AI? 

Is AI a positive or a negative force?

Is AI evil? 

Is Peter Thiel right about the anti-Christ?

Dr. Teubner’s website: https://jonathanteubner.com

Prayer after Augustine: https://www.amazon.com/Prayer-After-Augustine-Development-Historical/dp/019876717X

Human Flourishing Project: https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu

Gary Thomas is a bestselling author and international speaker and joins the show today for the second time.

He has a master’s degree in systematic theology from Regent College in Vancouver and is currently a teaching pastor at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. 

Gary recently released a new book, called The Life You Were Reborn to Live Dismantling 12 Lies that Rob Your Intimacy with God. 

Among these lies are the need for control, entitlement, apathy towards church, and others and I think contains some real wisdom for grappling with these kinds of problems which Christians face every day. 

Dr. Roger Finke is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Religious Studies at Penn State University and Founder of the Association of Religion Data Archives.His PhD is from the University of Washington and his current work is a series of projects that explore the relationship between religion and the state. Dr. Finke co-wrote a widely read with Dr. Rodney Starke called “The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy.” This book is the focus of today’s episode and remains an incredibly valuable resource for tracing the history of Christianity in North America. It’s popular for many people to look back at America’s past with rose-colored glasses and to imagine a time where everyone went to church and cared deeply about Christian values. This, it turns out, is simply wrong. Finke and Stark used archives, census data, church denomination reports, and other primary sources to reveal a much different picture. The truth is that in America’s early days, very few people were involved with organized religion at all, and church attendance steadily grew for most of American history, peaking in the 1980s.

Dr. Adam Miglio is professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College and makes his second appearance on TheologyU.

His PhD is from the University of Chicago and his research focuses on the Old Testament, Ancient Mesopotamia, and the places where those two interact. Dr. Miglio recently published a book I had the honor of reading the manuscript for when I was Dr. Miglio’s student, called “The Gilgamesh Epic in Genesis 1-11: Peering into the Deep.”Dr. Miglio has already talked about the Gilgamesh epic on this show.Today, we focus on the creation story and its counterpart from the Ancient Near East, the Babylonian Creation Epic “Enuma Elish.”There seems to be 2 creation stories in Genesis. What’s going on there?What is Enuma Elish? When was this written?What are similarities with the Genesis account? What are the differences?Did the authors of Genesis know this other story? Were the Babylonians right about some things?#theology #genesis #enumaelish

Dr. Greg Carey is professor of New Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary and a pastor at Life Church in Lancaster, PA. Dr. Carey has an MDiv from the southern Baptist theological seminary and a PhD from Vanderbilt. He’s written or co-edited 12 books, including the recently published “rereading Revelation: Theology, Ethics, and Resistance.” In this episode, Will asks Dr. Carey what he thinks about the rapture, what it means to call Revelation an apocalypse, and what he thinks Revelation and John, its author, is actually trying to communicate.

What is Revelation about?

What is the rapture?

Is the rapture happening soon?

How do I read the book of Revelation?

Dr. Andrew Remington Rillera (PhD, Duke University) is assistant professor of Biblical studies and Theology at the King’s University in Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. Rillera is the author of a very influential book which came out last year called “Lamb of the Free: Recovering the Varied Sacrificial Understandings of Jesus’s Death.” It’s generated significant buzz, particularly after John Mark Comer recently called it a final biblical exegetical knockout blow to penal substitutionary atonement. Penal substitutionary atonement is the idea that Jesus bore the penalty of our sins when he died on the cross as a substitute, or in our place. Dr. Rillera argues against this atonement theory and argues it lacks solid Biblical evidence. Penal substitution remains a popular atonement theory, endorsed by Dr. Gavin Ortlund @TruthUnites , William Lane Craig, and many others. TheologyU, hosted by Will Bennink (BA, Wheaton College, Mdiv, Harvard University), hosts conversations with Christian academics and authors to discuss their work for a general audience. How does sacrifice in the Old Testament work? How does Jesus relate to the Levitical system? Is Passover a sacrifice?Is Penal Substitution a helpful atonement theory?

Dr. Aubrey Buster is associate professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. She earned PhD from Emory University and focuses most of her research on the Psalms, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Daniel, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Dr. Buster's forthcoming commentary on the book of Daniel, co-authored with Dr. John Walton, "The Book of Daniel, Chapters 1-6" releases in November 2025. Is the book of Daniel historically accurate? When did Daniel live? Who is the Son of Man? Who wrote the book of Daniel?

Dr. Wesley Hill is associate professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary. He earned a BA from Wheaton College before earning a PhD from Durham University in England. 

Dr. Hill is an Episcopal priest and is the author of several books, along with regular contributions to Christianity Today, the Living Church, and other publications. 

In this episode, we focus on “Why Can’t Men Be Friends?” from Christianity Today and Dr. Hill's book “Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian.”

Reverend Dr. Christopher R. J. Holmes is associate professor in systematic theology and head of the theology program at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is the author of over 50 book chapters and journal articles, along with 6 books. Dr. Holmes is a systematic theologian from the Anglican tradition, and today’s episode focuses on his doctrine of Scripture, or the Bible. More specifically, what is the Bible, and who wrote it? How can it be written by humans and also inspired by God? At TheologyU, we’re always trying to keep theology accessible for regular people. If you don’t understand every word or theological term in this episode, don’t be discouraged, but listen for Dr. Holmes high respect for both God and the Bible.