Hey Theology Nerds! On this episode, we’re wrestling with one of those questions that’ll mess with your theology AND your politics – Vincent Harding’s knockout punch of a question: ‘Is America possible?’ I’m talking about the REAL America, not the one on your uncle’s Facebook feed, but the wild, beautiful, messy dream of a multiracial, multi-ethnic, pluralistic, egalitarian democracy that actually, you know, WORKS.
We’re getting into all of it – how democracy and capitalism are duking it out, what Christianity has to say when it’s not too busy blessing the status quo, and why asking better questions might just save us from ourselves. This is about imagination, the kind that gets people in trouble with empire. We’re talking solidarity that actually costs something, conversations that require actual courage (not just Twitter courage), and why your algorithm might be more theologically problematic than that praise band you love to hate.
If you’ve ever wondered whether faith communities could stop playing defense and start building the world we actually need, or if you’re ready to imagine America as something more than a 250-year-old experiment in barely not falling apart – this one’s for you. We’re bringing the theological fire to the most urgent questions of our time, because apparently that’s what we do around here.
Corey D. B. Walker is Dean of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University. As a scholar, he’s committed to a broad vision of human flourishing. His research, teaching, and public scholarship span the areas of African American philosophy, critical theory, ethics, and religion and American public life.
Bill Leonard is the Founding Dean and Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Wake Divinity. Leonard’s research focuses on Church History with particular attention to American religion, Baptist studies, and Appalachian religion. He is the author of over 25 books, including The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to Church History: Flaming Heretics and Heavy Drinkers.
Previous Episodes
- Bill & Corey: Theology in the Age of Anxiety and Algorithms
- Bill & Corey: Losing Sleep Before God
- Welcome to the Post-Christian Century
- the Fundamentalization of American Religion
- Listening Beyond the Times
- The History and Transformation of American Christianity
- Faith and Politics Through Church History
UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS w/ Diana Butler BassJoin us for a transformative four-week Advent journey exploring how the four gospels speak their own revolutionary word against empire—both in their ancient context under Roman occupation and for our contemporary world shaped by capitalism, militarism, and nationalism.Advent marks the beginning of the church year—an invitation to step out of the empire’s time and into God’s time, where the last are first, the mighty are scattered, and a child born in occupied territory changes everything.This course invites you into an alternative calendar and rhythm. While our modern world races through December toward consumption and productivity, Advent calls us to a different time—a counter-imperial waiting, a subversive hope, a radical reimagining of how God enters the world.What will we experience? Each week, we’ll hear one gospel’s unique vision of the birth narrative, allowing Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark to speak in their own voices about what it means for God to show up when empires think they’re in control. We’ll discover how these ancient texts of resistance offer wisdom for our own moment of political turmoil, economic inequality, and ecological crisis.This class is donation-based, including 0. You can sign-up at www.HomebrewedClasses.comThis podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000 other people by joining our Substack – Process This! Get instant access to over 50 classes at www.TheologyClass.com
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