In All Things Podcast

RECONSIDERING C.S. Lewis with Mark Noll (ep. 50)

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with a living legend, historian Mark Noll. Dr. Noll is best known for work in American church history, especially The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. In this conversation we talk about a new book about C.S. Lewis’s reception in America, using it as a lens for understanding American culture, then and now. Among the topics we discuss:

• Have American Christians always loved Lewis? How does the reception of Lewis among Catholics, Protestants, and the mainstream press shed light on American religious culture, then and now?
• Why were evangelicals the slowest to appreciate Lewis, and what accounts for the change? How does evangelical enthusiasm for Lewis connect to the "scandal of the evangelical mind"?
• Is there anything interesting about reception of Lewis among the Reformed, Kuyperians and others?
• Could there be another C.S. Lewis in our time? Should we even be looking for such a figure?
• As a historian looking at our contemporary times, what are some reasons for discouragement and what are some reasons for hope?

Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/c-s-lewis-in-america 

FACING Evil with Ingrid Faro (ep. 49)

On this episode of the podcast I talk with Dr. Ingrid Faro, an Old Testament scholar and the author of a new book on evil in the Bible, Demystifying Evil: A Biblical and Personal Exploration. Among the topics we discuss:

• Why it is important to not separate Bible study from life but to do biblical reflection together with our deepest questions.
• Some of the most significant discoveries about the way that Scripture talks about evil, including one group of words that appears with the word "evil" about 2/3 of the time.
• Questions from my students: why even include the tree in the garden? And why let the serpent roam free? Doesn't this set up humans to fail?
• Counsel on how to name evil in the world and in other humans while also remembering the dignity of our fellow image bearers.
• How we can take responsibility for the evil we've suffered without becoming defined by it. 
• In a world that regularly exposes us to global injustice and atrocity, how do we keep from being overwhelmed?

Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/demystifying-evil

REFUSING Partisan Identity with David French (ep. 48)

On this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by commentator and NYT columnist David French, to talk about politics and his recent book Divided We Fall. We talk partisan polarization, public witness, and I even ask him to give some predictions for the election cycle ahead. Among the questions we discuss:

• David's journey to becoming "a man without a party" and whether this marginalizes him on both sides or gives him a unique opportunity
• The shifting discourse from "the other side is wrong" to "the other side is evil"
• The possibility of the breakup of the American republic ("Calexit" and "Texit")
• Postures that are necessary to weather the upcoming election cycle
• How to discern "dangerous ideas" and to engage in public witness with compassion and conviction

Get the book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250201973/dividedwefall

Included music on this episode: "People Are People Too" from the Ruralists album "Trying." Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/  

INVENTING Art and Learning to See with Katie Kresser (ep. 47)

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with an art historian, Dr. Katie Kresser, about how art can train our imaginations to look at our neighbors and the world with dignity and love. She is a writer I follow closely, and her book, Bezalel's Body is the most thought-provoking book I’ve read in the last year! I was thrilled to have the chance to ask her some questions about it. Among the topics we discuss:

• "When God died, art was born." How the Christian story - of the death and resurrection of God the Son - made art possible 
• How art can train the imagination to look at the world in the right way, recognizing dignity and not reducing others to ourselves.
• The consequences when we neglect to disciple our imaginations, and some of the unintended results of the Reformation turn from the visual towards the verbal.
• The burden of living in the contemporary "society of the spectacle," where we feel that we must make ourselves.
• What makes something art, what makes for "good art," and how to build bridges between artists and the church.

• “Our destiny is the product of the real work we do amid the secret life of the universe with God’s providential help. We are too foolish to see it. But love sees it.” (201)

Get the book: https://wipfandstock.com/9781532645648/bezalels-body/

Included music on this episode is "Murmur" from the Ruralists album "Trying." Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/  

 

MARKING Meaning with Ritual with Amy Davis Abdallah (ep. 46)

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Dr. Amy Davis Abdallah about her new book, Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between. It’s a conversation about the power of ritual and how rituals help us find meaning and direction as we face endings, middles, and new beginnings. Among the topics we discuss:

• Why some people fear and might be suspicious of "ritual" 
• How we already ritualize (though we may not call it that)
• Fascinating psychological research on the power of rituals, and how even calling something a ritual may increase its potency.
• How our rituals may go wrong and become "empty"
• What sorts of things we should ritualize, and what it means to create powerful rituals.

Dr. Abdallah shares a powerful story about living in NY during 9/11, and the role rituals played in the aftermath. She also takes time to lead us in an exercise at the end. 

Get the book: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/516480

Follow Dr. Abdallah: https://www.amydavisa.com/ 

Included music on this episode is "HereNow" from the Ruralists album "Trying." Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/  

 

 

GUIDING the Good Life with Meghan Sullivan (ep. 45)

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Dr. Meghan Sullivan about her book The Good Life Method. The book, which is based on a wildly popular course at the University of Notre Dame, prescribes philosophy as care for the soul, teaching us to ask stronger questions about God and what makes for a good life. Among the questions we discuss:

• The disconnect between the contemporary practice of philosophy and the deep philosophical crises many are having
• What philosophy can offer that happiness studies or design theory can't
• How to ask stronger questions that move towards contemplation rather than control
• Love as a virtues that requires a greater capacity for attention than action
• How students are wrestling with faith and counsel for parents who worry about them
• The essential task of facing sadness and suffering

About 33 minutes in, Dr. Sullivan reads a passage from the book that is worth the price of admission. Get the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624476/the-good-life-method-by-meghan-sullivan-and-paul-blaschko 

Included music on this episode is "In Between" from the Ruralists album Trying. Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/ 

 

PRACTICING Christian Theology with Kevin Hector (ep. 44)

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Dr. Kevin Hector about his new book Christianity as a Way of Life. The book is an unusual and illuminating approach to writing a systematic theology, explaining Christianity in terms of practices rather than merely an account of beliefs. Among the topics we discuss:

• Why understanding Christianity as a way of life (including practices, beliefs, and experiences) requires a systematic theology
• How to do justice to the diversity of Christian tradition while also emphasizing attention to particular traditions 
• A practical doctrine of Sabbath that understands rest as more than just a cessation of work
• A practical doctrine of creation that starts with a way of caring for creation as God's gift
• The crucial practice of seeing God's image in others
• Why our practices fail, and what we may hope as we practice Christian faith

Note: in the podcast, Dr. Hector references "tongsung kido" a Korean Christian practice of praying aloud at the same time as others.

Get the book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300244090/christianity-as-a-way-of-life/

Included music on this episode is "Before We Know" from the Ruralists album Trying. Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/ 

ENGAGING Artificial Intelligence with Jason Thacker (ep. 43)

On this episode of the podcast, we talk with ethicist Jason Thacker about engaging artificial intelligence. The explosion of AI tools like ChatGPT, has led to both grand visions and grave concerns about the future, including the future of education and the future of work. In this conversation we seek to define the terms and seek biblical direction for our anxieties, hopes, and tech practices. Among the questions we discuss:

• How AI was already present in our everyday experience prior to the new tools
• A range of definitions and distinctions: narrow AI vs. general AI, superintelligence vs. the singularity
• The structure and direction of AI, and how the image of God can guide our engagement
• What we should and shouldn't worry about and what we should and shouldn't celebrate
• Counsel for students and teachers when it comes to AI

Follow Jason Thacker: https://jasonthacker.com/

Included music on this episode is "Mother Mary" from the Ruralists album Trying. Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/  

LOCATING Human Uniqueness with Mary Vanden Berg (ep. 42)

On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Mary Vanden Berg about her book Aquinas, Science, and Human Uniqueness: An Integrated Approach to What Makes Us Human. The conversation considers what makes humans unique in the face of a scientific culture (that tends to treat humans as mere animals) and technological advancement (that appears to reproduce intelligence artificially). Among the questions we discuss:

• Are humans nothing more than advanced animals?
• Is human intelligence of the same sort as the artificial intelligence we find in computers?
• Can we base human uniqueness in "intellect" without diminishing those cognitive disabilities?
• What does it mean to say that humans are a "body-soul complex"? Can we speak about a "soul" without diminishing the body?
• What is the practical or pastoral significance of discussing human uniqueness?

Get the book: https://wipfandstock.com/9781725267770/aquinas-science-and-human-uniqueness/

Included music on this episode is "Strange Machines" from the Ruralists album Trying. Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/ 

EXAMINING the Evangelical Imagination with Karen Swallow Prior (ep. 41)

On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Karen Swallow Prior about her new book, The Evangelical Imagination. It’s a conversation about the stories, images, and metaphors that have shaped evangelical Christianity. Whether or not you consider yourself part of that movement/brand/space, you're invited to join us in examining what stories and images are shaping us. Among the topics we discuss:

• Why the imagination matters and what it means to speak of "the evangelical imagination" and why the cover of the book is "kitschy"
• How the evangelical desire to engage culture (shared by some varieties of Reformed Christianity) has meant that faith is captive to cultural currents
• Why the metaphor of being "born again" has such purchase on the American evangelical imagination, for good and ill
• What it means to engage in "examination as an act of love" not just a work of criticism or deconstruction
• How we might discern the difference between building faithful institutions and building empires
• Counsel for those who teach as well as for those who find themselves discouraged by the state of things

Get the book: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/492150

Follow Dr. Prior: https://karenswallowprior.com/ 

Included music on this episode is "(dis)appear" from the Ruralists album Trying. Find lyrics and more here: https://www.fullyruralized.com/