The Pastor Theologians Podcast

Michael Wear, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, joins CPT President Todd Wilson for a conversation on theology, politics, and the intersection between the two. What is the purpose of the separation of church and state? What is at root of the various problems of Christian political engagement and witness in our day? How can and should Christian virtues shape political discourse?

Our May episode on books we, the CPT staff, have been reading.Richard V. Reeves – Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It (2022)Cormac McCarthy – The Road (2006)Jim Belcher – Cold Civil War: Overcoming Polarization, Discovering Unity, and Healing the Nation (2022)Angela Dienhary Hancock – Karl Barth's Emergency Homiletic, 1932-1933: A Summons to Prophetic Witness at the Dawn of the Third Reich (2013)

Why do so many seminary grads have a hard time retaining their knowledge of the biblical languages? What are some of the shortcomings of traditional language learning models and how can we improve upon them? Biblingo co-founder Nick Messmer joins Zach Wagner to discuss the difference between a grammar and translation method and a reading fluency method for language acquisition. What are the advantages of language fluency for pastoral ministry?

Professor Kimlyn Bender joins the podcast to share share about his farmers' town upbringing, how he first became interested in studying Karl Barth, and the importance of ecclesiology working out the tension between the academy and the church. Dr. Bender argues that Barth is the most important Protestant theologian to engage from the 20th century and that central to Barth's intent for the Dogmatics was that it would be a resource for pastors. With particular emphasis on volume of Church Dogmatics, Dr. Bender describes his project of helping pastors engage Barth and his work's relevance for the church today.

Author Trevin Wax joins the podcast to reflect on his upbringing in the church and the idea behind his recent book The Thrill of Orthodoxy. What does it mean to rediscover the exciting and wonderful truth claims of Christianity and the Bible? In a cultural context in which so much about Christianity is taken for granted, how do pastors and theologians underscore the power and influence of our faith? What is the relationship between our modern church culture's pragmatism and the stable truths of the Christian faith? Are doctrine and contextualization at odds in the church's mission?

CPT fellow Jarrod Longbons joins the podcast to discuss his upbringing in the space between the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions. He shares about his varied interests as a young person and how things like acting and theater connected to his pursuit of theological education and pastoral calling. He then shares his story of PhD with John Milbank, with specific emphasis on Maximus the Confessor's theology of the doctrine of creation. The conversation concludes with Jarrod's reflections on ministry and his unique angles to the discipline of theology through his temperament and experiences.

CPT fellow Dillon Thornton joins the podcast to discuss his story of life, faith, education, and ministry. How does an early calling into ministry unfold over the years of young adulthood? Why is it important for scholars and pastors to study the Pastoral Epistles? How can pastors deal with struggling to find time for writing projects they'd like to pursue? All this and more on this episode.

Rev. Dr. Jacob Rodriguez joins the podcast to share his story of life, faith, and education. He reflects on his feelings of rootlessness and how transience theologically shaped him. He also shares his early exposure to theology and ancient languages that created an early passion for careful study of the biblical texts. Jacob spent time as a missionary in Ethiopia, and in this conversation he notes how Western Christians can learn from the long tradition of faith in Ethiopia and that church's recent experiences of persecution. Finally, we discuss his PhD research on gospel writing and what makes the canonical gospels unique among the other stories about Jesus that emerged in the first centuries of Christian history.

On this episode the CPT staff discusses a new grant initiative from the CPT in partnership with the Lilly Foundation. We discuss the evangelical theology of preaching, the place of the sermon in ecclesial theology, and a preview of what we'll be up to at the CPT for the next three years.

Joel Lawrence and Felicia Wu Song discuss the sociological, cultural, and theological issues around technology and spiritual formation in the 21st century. What fractures in our society were revealed by Covid? How has the pandemic shifted our thinking around community and embodiment? How does the pervasive presence of technology re-arranged our pastoral and discipleship priorities?This conversation is occasioned by the release of the CPT's new edited volume Techne: Christian Visions of Technology and Song's Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age.