In All Things Podcast

FINDING Messiah with Jennifer Rosner (ep. 35)

On this episode of the podcast, we are speaking with the Dr. Jennifer Rosner, about her book Finding Messiah: A Journey into the Jewishness of the Gospel. Dr. Rosner is a Jewish believer in Jesus Christ, and in this episode, she tells us her story, as well as the story of how these two deeply intertwined religious traditions have been torn apart, and what it might mean to weave them back together. Among the topics we discuss:

• Dr. Rosner's story about finding Jesus and rediscovering her Jewish roots
• The sad history of Jewish and Christian relations
• How we can remember the Jewishness of the New Testament
• Some of the ways that well-meaning Christians perpetuate negative stereotypes about Judaism
• How Judaism can help us resist dualism through rediscovering the embodied character of faith and worship
• Some of the more encouraging developments in Jewish-Christian scholarship

For more about Dr. Rosner: https://www.jenrosner.com/

Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/finding-messiah

 

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Mark S. Kinzer, Jerusalem Crucified Jerusalem Risen

Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines

NT Wright, Surprised by Hope

 

STRETCHING the Poetic Imagination with Drew Jackson (ep. 34)

On this episode of the podcast, we interview poet Drew Jackson about his recently published collection of poems (God Speaks Through Wombs and Touch the Earth) in conversation with the gospel of Luke. Among the topics we discuss:

• The role of imagination as a pastor and as a poet
• How the Christian faith requires all of us to develop poetic imagination
• The process of writing poetry based on the biblical text
• Honoring the poetic voices that formed us in writing new poetry
• The process of writing poetry for sound and playing with structure
• The relationship of poetry and prayer

A highlight of this episode is when Drew reads two of his poems so that we can hear them in his voice. 

Get the new collection: https://www.ivpress.com/touch-the-earth

Get the previous collection: https://www.ivpress.com/god-speaks-through-wombs

Other poets and authors mentioned in the podcast:

Rainer Maria Rilke

Langston Hughes

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Kiese Lamon

Paul Louis Dunbar

Mary Oliver

Margaret Atwood

Barbara Holmes

Howard Thurman

Tony Hoagland

Sharon Old

Joey Graham

Jericho Brown

Mary Oliver

Elizabeth Alexander

Cheryl Sanders

UPDATING Calvinism for the Modern World with Cory Brock and Gray Sutanto (ep. 33)

On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Cory Brock and Gray Sutanto about their new book, Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction (Lexham Press). We know that our listeners come from many different theological traditions other than our own, and although this discussion may at times go into the weeds, the larger conversation is about what it means to work out of a historical tradition, retrieving while also reimagining. Among the topics we discuss:

• What is Neo-Calvinism? What makes it "neo"? Is it broad or specific?
• What does it mean to restore and renew instead of to "repristinate" a tradition?
• How do we value the unique calling & perspective of a particular tradition while also recognizing the larger body of Christ? 
• What does it mean to say that "grace restores nature"?
• How do we answer the charge that "every square inch" leads to triumphalism, or even Christian nationalism? What's the difference?
• What is the nature of our hope for "re-creation"? What do Neo-Calvinists believe about the age to come, the renewal of all things, and the "beatific vision" (encountering God face-to-face)?

We will also be running a series of reviews on the book, going chapter by chapter, which are available here: https://inallthings.org/

Get the book: https://lexhampress.com/product/224276/neo-calvinism-a-theological-introduction 

Cory and Gray's podcast, Grace in Common: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grace-in-common/id1609942093 

SLOWING Down to Hear Creation’s Song with Kristen Page (ep. 32)

On this episode of the In All Things podcast, we speak with Dr. Kristen Page about her new book, The Wonders of Creation: Learning Stewardship from Narnia and Middle Earth. In this conversation, ecology and fantasy literature come together to train our imagination, practices, and pace. Among the topics we cover:

• How time spent in imaginary and literary worlds can slow us down and train our attention, helping us to become better stewards of creation.
• How learning to appreciate the beauty of creation empowers us to protect it.
• Why lament matters when it feels like our efforts are largely in vain
• What sort of practices can be cultivated and what other authors help us slow down and see

In All Things link (transcript available): https://inallthings.org/podcast-slowing-down-to-hear-creations-song-with-kristen-page-2/ 

Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/the-wonders-of-creation

Read Hannah Landman's review: https://inallthings.org/active-imaginations-a-review-of-wonders-of-creation/ 

Read Dr. Carl Fictorie's review: https://inallthings.org/embracing-ecology-and-fantasy-a-review-of-the-wonders-of-creation/ 

Authors mentioned in this podcast:

C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

Richard Powers, The Overstory

Robin Wall Kimmer, Braiding Sweetgrass & Gathering Moss

Wendell Berry (anything)

Robert McFarland, Landmarks 

Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac

Jean Carolyn Craighead George

FORGIVING as a Form of Grief with Matthew Ichihashi Potts (ep. 31)

On this episode of the podcast, I speak with Matthew Ichihashi Potts about his new book, Forgiveness: An Alternative Account. During the conversation, we consider the biblical teaching about forgiveness in the face of lingering grievance and ongoing harm. Among the topics we cover:

• How some demands for forgiveness might actually do more harm to those who have been hurt.
• How we can escape the binary of "remember or retaliate" or "forgive and forget"
• What forgiveness looks like that is rooted in grief or mourning
• Why literary works might hold special value for helping us grasp the complexities of forgiveness
• On what we may hope for forgiveness when it comes to the end of all things (eschatology)
• When it comes to forgiveness, what we are being asked to do, and what we are not being asked to do

Get the book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300259858/forgiveness/

REPENTING and Renewing with Esau McCaulley (ep. 30)

On this episode of the podcast, our guest is Dr. Esau McCaulley. Our conversation revolves around two books, his critically acclaimed book Reading While Black and his brand-new book Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal.

This thirtieth episode was special because we recorded it in-person in front of a live audience, who you may sometimes hear in the background. In any case, the conversation was an absolute joy, and you won’t want to miss Dr. McCaulley reading from his book near the end of the podcast, a moment that brought tears to my eyes. Among the topics we discuss:

• The connections between Dr. McCaulley's two books, one which introduces us to a vital interpretive tradition (Black biblical interpretation) and one which introduces us to a vital liturgical tradition (the church calendar). 
• On how we can honor, inhabit, and integrate multiple traditions simultaneously with integrity
• On how to read Scripture so that it can surprise us and can tell us what we don't already know
• On what difference observing the liturgical season of Lent might mean for the disinherited

Get Dr. McCaulley's new book: https://www.ivpress.com/lent-fts 

More about Dr. McCaulley: https://esaumccaulley.com/ 

Read my review of Reading While Black: https://inallthings.org/exercising-hope-a-review-of-reading-while-black/ 

 

LOWERING our Expectations with David Zahl (ep. 29)

On this episode of the podcast, I speak with David Zahl about his new book, Low Anthropology. It’s a conversation about the expectations we set on ourselves and others, and how recognizing and reckoning with human limitation, doubleness, and self-centeredness opens up space for both grace and growth. Among the topics we discuss:

• How burnout, loneliness, and “us vs. them” are signs of a high anthropology
• How low anthropology alleviates "imposter syndrome" and sets us free from the "fantasy self we are failing to become"
• Why communities organized around vulnerability and weakness are healthier and more hopeful than communities organized around strength and success.
• How low anthropology responds to contemporary phenomena like celebrity culture and cancel culture
• How sermons, churches, and discipleship look different when we operate on the priority of the heart rather than the head.

Get the book: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/low-anthropology/410250

Check out Mockingbird Ministries: https://mbird.com/ 

DEVELOPING a Personality with Marjorie Lindner Gunnoe (ep. 28)

On this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by a guest co-host Dr. Mark Christians, and together we interview Dr. Marjorie Lindner Gunnoe about her new book The Person in Psychology and Christianity: A Faith-Based Critique of Five Theories of Social Development. Among the topics we discuss:

• Why ordinary people might be interested in developmental psychology
• Why these five (Erikson, Bowlby, Skinner, Bandura, and Evolutionary Psychology) were selected for the book.
• Dr. Gunnoe's "faith-based working model of the human person"
• The relationship of psychology and religion and why we should learn from others who do not share our faith
• The implications of things like attachment theory for discipleship

Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/the-person-in-psychology-and-christianity

Dr. Mark Christians's review: https://inallthings.org/of-psychology-and-christianity-a-review-of-the-person-in-psychology-and-christianity/

DISCERNING Cultural Wisdom & Foolishness with William Dyrness (ep. 27)

On this episode of the podcast, I had the special treat of interviewing my doctoral supervisor, William (Bill) Dyrness about his new book, The Facts on the Ground: A Wisdom Theology of Culture. I tell the story of how I came to study with Bill, and talk shop with him about our shared interest in theology and culture. Among the topics we discuss: 

• Bill's story – which includes work as a missionary, study with Dutch scholar Hans Rookmaaker, theologizing about visual art, and theological reflection on numerous topics – what ties all of these interests together?
• On why it is so important that we deal with "the facts on the ground" and learn to discern "cultural wisdom" as we engage the world in which we live.
• On how we deal with the critique that in our desire to discern God's work within culture, we might be overly optimistic, giving God credit for the wrong things
• On what criteria we might use to discern wisdom from foolishness.
• On how Bill connected with the Kuyperian tradition, what he appreciates about it, and what he thinks we need to critique. 
• The difference between cultural theology and public theology, and what he hopes culturally attuned theologians will give their attention to.

Get Bill Dyrness's new book, The Facts on the Ground: https://www.amazon.com/Facts-Ground-Wisdom-Theology-Culture/dp/1725299631

Get Bill's earlier book, Poetic Theology: https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Theology-Poetics-Everyday-Life/dp/080286578X 

EQUIPPING for Political Engagement with Stephanie Summers (ep. 26)

On this episode of the podcast I talk with Stephanie Summers, the CEO of the Center for Public Justice about Christian political engagement as love of neighbor, and engagement that goes beyond presidential politics. Among the topics we discuss: 

• Stephanie's story of deepening her youthful activism with theological roots
• What is "public" justice, and what does the Center for Public Justice do?
• How does CPJ approach a problem like poverty?
• How do we move forward in a deeply polarized time?
• What does it mean for ordinary people to be politically engaged beyond just voting every few years?
• How do you find hope amid the political cynicism of our time?

To learn more:

Center for Public Justice: https://www.cpjustice.org/public/page/content/homepage 

Shared Justice: https://www.sharedjustice.org

Unleashing Opportunity book: https://www.sharedjustice.org/unleashing-opportunity 

More about the Hatfield Prize: https://www.sharedjustice.org/apply

Follow CPJ on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cpjustice