The Pastor Theologians Podcast

Our June episode on books we're reading. We are joined by CPT fellow Paul Morrison.  We discuss the following:Scot McKnight & B.J. Oropeza, eds. – Perspectives on Paul (2020)St. Augustine – City of God (early 5th century)Graham Greene – The Power and the Glory  (1940)Francis Fukuyama – Liberalism and Its Discontents (2022)

How does technology relate to our human desire for connection and relationship? What types of technology extend our human capacities and creativity? What types of technologies limit and compromise our humanity? How does this relate to the new world that God is making in Christ? We are joined on this episode by Andy Crouch to discuss his new book – The Life We're Looking For:  Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World. 

CPT Fellow and Souther Baptist pastor Danny Slavich joins the podcast to discuss recent events and turmoil in the Southern Baptist Convention. We begin by discussing some of Danny's story of faith, education, and ministry, including his time serving as a pastor at a majority black church and the formative impact this had on him. We then pivot to discuss the recent report on sexual abuse and cover up in the Southern Baptist Convention. Danny helps us understand the mechanics of church polity in the SBC and where the institution has fractured and caused these grievous failures. Danny also offers some reason to hope for the future of the largest Protestant denomination in America.

What can pastors in America and in the West learn from house church pastors in China?  What place does the sermon hold in the history of theological reflection? What are the unique challenges and opportunities of ministry in the Chinese setting? Hannah Nation serves as the Managing Director of the Center for House Church Theology, an organization that publishes pastors and leaders in China’s urban house churches for the benefit of the global church. Hannah shares on this episode a bit about her story and how she became passionate about this work.

How is God at work in our stories and our suffering? How does human will relate to divine will? Dr. Mark Talbot, Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College, joins the podcast to share his story, including suffering a major, paralyzing accident as a young man and going on to study philosophy as a Christian. Dr. Talbot also discusses his book When the Stars Disappear, the first in a four-book series on suffering and the Christian life.

On this episode we are joined by Steven Sandage, Professor of Psychology of Religion and Theology at the Boston University School of Theology. Dr. Sandage consulted with the CPT for a meeting of one of our ecclesial theologian fellowships on virtue formation and hope. In this conversation we discuss the relationship between hope, lament, and pastoral ministry.

We continue our conversation with CPT fellow Neil Martin, picking up with his DPhil research at the University of Oxford. What was the Apostle Paul's attitude towards the Torah, paganism, and the differences and similarities between Jews and Gentiles? Neil's research seeks to reconcile and integrate emphases of traditional Protestant readings and the so-called New Perspective on Paul.

We're joined on this episode by CPT Fellow Neil Martin, who serves as Ministry Assistant at Oxford Presbyterian Church and as the Director of B Less Oxford. Neil tells the story of growing up, studying at Cambridge, and beginning a promising career in marketing design in London. A sudden, unexplained illness debilitated Neil, setting him on a new trajectory for his life.

We continue our conversation about Herman Bavinck with Gayle Doornbos and Gray Sutanto. How did Bavinck's intellectual curiosity show in his writing? How did he work to produce and rearticulate Reformed theology for his own context? How did he wed orthodox theological confession with modernist and scientific movements of his day? What can pastors and theologians learn from how Bavinck on how to engage with others' ideas and writing? How can pastors unfamiliar with Bavinck's work begin to explore what he's written?

Our March bonus episode on books we're reading. We are joined by CPT fellow Paul Morrison.  We discuss the following:Dale Allison – The Resurrection of Jesus (2021)Chinua Achebe – Things Fall Apart  (1958)Adonis Vidu – The Same God Who Works All Things (2021)Michael Budde – Foolishness to Gentiles (2022)