In Good Faith

Harold Koenig discusses how patients' religious beliefs and practices significantly impact their health and recovery, a realization that stemmed from his days as a nurse and later reinforced during his medical and psychiatric practice. Harold Koenig is Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology & Health and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University. He is the lead author of the Handbook of Religion and Health, the seminal research text on the relationship between theistic religion, interfaith worship, and meditative prayer, which is the most cited of all references on religion and health. He has published 65 books on the subject. In 2022 he was ranked 1st in the world by ScholarGPS in the academic discipline of spirituality. Dr. Koenig will present at the upcoming Faith & Science conference: https://www.faithandscience.eu/

Rabbi Adina Allen discusses the profound connection between creativity, spirituality, and healing. She emphasizes that art and creativity are divine acts; the spiritual practice of creative expression is essential to understanding God. Rabbi Adina Allen is cofounder and creative director of Jewish Studio Project (JSP), an organization that sees creativity as a force for spiritual connection and social transformation. Based on the work of her mother, renowned art therapist Pat B. Allen, Adina developed the Jewish Studio Process, a methodology for unlocking creativity, and is the author of The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom (Ayin, 2024).

Robert Hesse, PhD., talks with Steve about a mystical experience that deeply affected his life and outlook. Hesse also describes his journey back to faith after years away, inspired by Thomas Merton's writings. Robert Hesse is a Catholic deacon and Chairman and Co-Founder of interfaith Contemplative Network. He is a practicing mystic and author of Faith and Science: A Journey into God’s Mystical Love. He holds a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. He has co-authored neuroscience research studies on improvements in quality-of-life associated with interfaith contemplative prayer. Check out details for the Faith & Science Conference at https://www.faithandscience.eu/.

Zeyneb Sayilgan is a Muslim woman who grew up in Germany as the daughter of Turkish immigrants, where she faced discrimination and challenges due to her faith. She speaks about her move to the United States, where she found a more accepting environment. Zeyneb Sayilgan is the host of the Podcast On Being Muslim: Wisdom from the Risale-i Nur. Her work has appeared in scholarly and popular journals like DIALOG, Religion News Service, Covenant, U.S.Catholic, in German media outlets like Qantara, MIGAZIN, IslamIQ, Islamische Zeitung and Turkish publications like Perspektif.

Lex Rofeberg and Dan Libenson talk to Steve about their organization Judaism Unbound. Lex Rofeberg is Senior Jewish educator for Judaism Unbound -- a digital, Jewish non-profit organization and oversees Judaism Unbound's UnYeshiva (a digital center for Jewish learning and unlearning), produces and co-hosts its weekly podcast, and facilitates regular forms of communal gathering, via Zoom, for Jews and Jewish-adjacent non-Jews. Dan Libenson is President of Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah, which is dedicated to helping Jews and fellow travelers apply Jewish wisdom to thrive and shape a better world. He is also the co-host of the Judaism Unbound podcast, as well as The Oral Talmud, a streaming video show soon to be released in podcast form. Dan teaches classes on Judaism and Jewish wisdom at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Zelikow School of Nonprofit Management. Dan is the translator of The Orchard, a novel about the early days of Rabbinic Judaism, by renowned Israeli novelist Yochi Brandes.

Curtis Chang of Redeeming Babel shares his journey of becoming a Christian from a non-Christian family, his youthful challenges of integrating faith with secular life, and his various roles bridging the worlds of theology and secular institutions. Curtis Chang is the founding executive director of Redeeming Babel and host of the Good Faith podcast. Over the course of his career, he has bridged the worlds of secular institutions and theology. In the former world, he is the founder and CEO of Consulting Within Reach (CWR), a firm serving nonprofits and government agencies. His consulting work has won an award in social innovation from the Obama White House, and he teaches strategic planning as a faculty member of American University’s School of International Service. In the Christian world, he is a consulting professor at Duke Divinity School and a Senior Fellow at Fuller Theological Seminary. Curtis is also a former senior pastor of an Evangelical Covenant Church in San Jose, California. He is the author of the book The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry Is the Doorway to Your Best Self and co-author of The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics.

Michael Sabet, editor of The Journal of Bahá’í Studies, shares how religious law teaches him the depth of God's love for him personally and the rest of us, too. Michael Sabet is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto. His research involves putting a Bahá'í framework for governance into dialogue with political philosophy. He is a lawyer by training, having practiced constitutional litigation in Ottawa after clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Jason Shelton describes how his family's religious experiences and membership in the AME Church influenced his research for his latest book, “The Contemporary Black Church: the new dynamics of African American religion.” Dr. Jason E. Shelton is Full Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for African American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington. His research interests concern the sociology of religion, as well as the intersections of race, class, and attitudes about various political and social issues in contemporary America.

Daisy Khan of WISE returns to talk to Steve about her latest book, 30 Rights of Muslim Women. Daisy Khan is an award-winning author, public speaker, and media commentator. She founded the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE), a global network promoting peacebuilding, gender equality, and human dignity. Dr. Khan's publications, WISE Up: Knowledge Ends Extremism, Born with Wings, and 30 Rights of Muslim Women, debunk Islamophobic myths and demystify hardline extremist views of Muslim women’s rights. Featured in major media outlets, she has received numerous awards, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award and recognition in TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” list.

Nijay Gupta of Slow Theology joins Steve for a chat about Tell Her Story, Gupta's exploration of women preachers, prophets, and leaders in the Bible. Nijay Gupta co-chairs the Pauline Theology seminar of the Institute for Biblical Research and serves as a senior translator for the New Living Translation. He also co-hosts the podcast, “Slow Theology: Simple Faith for Chaotic Times”. He is the author of Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. He has co-edited The State of New Testament Studies, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters (2nd ed.), and The State of Pauline Studies. His most recent book is Strange Religion: How the First Christians Were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling (2024).