In All Things Podcast: Recent Episodes
Justin Ariel Bailey
Welcome to the In All Things Podcast, where we host conversations with diverse voices about living creatively in God’s created world. Hosted by Justin Ariel Bailey, this podcast complements the creative content found at inallthings.org, the online journal for the Andreas Center at Dordt University.
In episode 75 of the In All Things podcast, Dr. Dave Mulder and Dale Zevenbergen interview Jordan Raynor, bestselling author and leading voice in the faith and work movement, to explore a renewed vision of work as participation in the unfolding goodness and restoration of creation.
Raynor will also be a keynote speaker at Dordt University’s At Work in the Garden conference, where he and other speakers will further explore themes of faith, work, and vocation.
In episode 74 of the In All Things podcast, guest host Dr. Gayle Doornbos, professor of theology at Dordt University, interviews Dr. Justin Ariel Bailey, dean of chapel at Dordt, and discuss his most recent book, Discipling the Diseased Imagination.
In episode 73 of the In All Things podcast, guest host Dr. Gayle Doornbos, professor of theology at Dordt University, interviews Howard Schaap, professor of English at Dordt and author of Brooding Upon the Waters: A Memoir of Farming, Fishing, and Failure in America's Lost Landscape.
As part of a recent series on the In All Things blog, Doornbos and Schaap discuss disappearing landscapes, rural communities, rich histories, and the unexpected beauty that comes from committing to a place, inviting us to consider how faithful attentiveness deepens our sense of belonging in the places to which we are called.
In episode 72 of the In All Things podcast, guest host Dr. Dave Mulder and Paul Matthews, Australian teacher, consultant, author, and TEDx speaker, discuss what it means to teach and learn creatively in an AI-driven world.
Their conversation invites us to rethink creativity, explore purposeful uses of AI, and pursue growth and kingdom impact over convenience or efficiency.
In episode 71 of the In All Things podcast, guest host Sarah Moss invites In All Things blog contributors Donald Roth and Dr. Michael Kearney to discuss what it means to live with discernment in a world marked by complexity and tension.
Together, they reflect on how to challenge our blind spots and confront the idolatry that often grows out of our assumptions. Drawing from their recent essays for the In All Things blog, Roth and Kearney invite us to pay closer attention to the contradictions we carry and to pursue a faithful life in the midst of them.
Read their full essays from the In All Things blog "Modern Idols" series at the following links:
- https://www.dordt.edu/in-all-things/making-sense-of-modernity
- https://www.dordt.edu/in-all-things/on-the-other-hand-the-unity-of-contraries-in-a-world-of-conflict
On this 70th episode of the podcast, I sit down with two friends to talk about the podcast itself - because this is my final episode as the host! Some of the topics we discuss:
- How the podcast started and how it kept going
- Statistics, highlights (top moment!), and most downloaded episodes
- The logic behind the books and authors chosen
- All that goes into producing and hosting a podcast
- How hosting a podcast has formed me as a host
- What I've learned about asking better questions
- What surprised me along the way
Thanks for tuning in over these 70 episodes!
Why I'm hanging up the headphones: https://www.dordt.edu/news/justin-bailey-dean-of-chapel
On this episode of the podcast, we interview one of my most trusted teachers, Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer (who also happens to be a world class theologian!) It’s a conversation about what it means to read the Bible “transfigurally”: to take seriously the literal meaning of the text but also to make sure we follow the text as it leads us to see and savor Jesus Christ. Among the questions we discuss:
- How do we take each passage of Scripture on its own terms while also being attentive to the way it points us to Jesus?
- Is there value in a "step-by-step" method for reading the Bible?
- What does it mean (and not mean) to take the bible "literally"?
- What are some of the bad reading habits we've picked up and what are some better ones?
- What does it mean to be "biblical"?
Get the book: https://zondervanacademic.com/products/mere-christian-hermeneutics
More from Dr. Vanhoozer: https://www.kevinjvanhoozer.com/about
On this episode of the podcast, I speak with Simon Kennedy about his buzzy new book Against Worldview. It’s a book that is provocative in the best way, especially for anyone who has used the phrase “Christian worldview,” in an educational context. It asks what we mean when we say worldview and whether the concept has been pressed beyond its usefulness. Among the topics we discuss:
- The ways that "worldview" can go wrong, especially when used as an organizing principle for Christian education.
- Why worldview can lead to "painting by the numbers" instead of the placing of tiles in a mosaic
- Why the biblical concept of "wisdom" may offer a better way forward, and why it is better to build towards worldview (inductively) than from it (deductively)
- Tensions in the concept of wisdom and whether there is a parallel to general vs. special revelation
- Whether the real problem is the modern push for uniformity
- Why Christian institutions need to double down on doctrine and catechesis, insisting that we look "at" what Christians believe and not just "through" the world view lens
Get the book: https://lexhampress.com/product/305968/against-worldview-reimagining-christian-formation-as-growth-in-wisdom
Justin's note: I wrote a review of this book for Christianity Today, and we bring up points of that review a few times during the podcast. The review is here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/02/against-worldview-wisdom-simon-kennedy-abraham-kuyper-christian-education/
On this episode of the podcast, I speak with Jeremy Lundgren about his new book on a theology of safety. It’s a conversation about the uniquely modern way that we pursue safety and what it means to hold the value of safety in tension with other virtues like courage, and in light of the call of discipleship. Among the topics we discuss:
- On the “tokens of safety” that fill our world and what it says about our values
- How Covid manifested and accelerated our pursuit of safety.
- The history of our pursuit of safety in three stages: humanity against the gods, humanity against nature, and humanity against itself.
- Three core elements of the modern pursuit of safety: predicting the future, using technology to control the material world, and developing uniform procedures to ensure safety.
- How the call of discipleship situates and sometimes challenges the pursuit of safety
- What Christian parents might hope for their children when it comes to safety
Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/the-pursuit-of-safety
On this episode of the podcast, I have a live conversation with visual artist Matt Doll about art and faith. It’s a conversation that we got to have in front of a live audience of around 40 students. I found it energizing and inspiring, especially when Matt reads a poem part of the way through. Among the topics we discuss:
- The sometimes fraught relationship between artists and the church and how we can do better
- Why Christians may struggle with the arts
- The relationship of creativity and limits
- The process of making and whether it is more a matter of inspiration or "perspiration"
- What artists need to hear from or about the church and what the church needs to hear from or about artists.
Matthew Doll is a painter, graphic designer, gallery director, and has been the Program Director of the Gordon IN Orvieto semester program since 2011.
More from Matt: https://matthew-doll.squarespace.com/
On this episode of the podcast, we bring you a live interview in collaboration with the co-hosts of the Hallway Conversations podcast. Our featured guest is Dr. David Mulder, who has written a new book: Always Becoming, Never Arriving. This episode is a conversation about the craft of teaching and what it means to "teach Christianly". Among the topics we discuss:
- Some of the biggest misconceptions and surprises about teaching
- What it means to develop a "teaching imagination" and to say that teaching is a calling.
- The relationship between play, improvisation, and technique in the classroom
- How to take our work seriously without taking ourselves seriously
- How to teach "who we are" while also taking into account what students need and what the material requires
- Why most definitions of what it means to teach Christianly are incomplete
Even if you're not working in Christian education, it's a great opportunity to look over the shoulder of a master teacher who is passionate about his craft.
Get the book: https://www.drdavemulder.com/teaching-is-a-journey/
David Mulder's website: https://www.drdavemulder.com/
On this special bonus episode, I'm joined by two other members of the theology faculty to update our listeners on the Calvin's Institutes project, in which about 60 faculty and staff are spending the academic year reading through The Institutes of Christian Religion. At the midpoint of the journey, we took some time to reflect on our experiences thus far and to encourage readers to keep going. Among the topics we discussed:
- What has stood out to us and our groups as we've read Calvin together
- The most under-appreciated aspects of Calvin's theology
- Why Calvin is known primarily for the doctrine of predestination even though it hasn't shown up yet in the reading
- Favorite passages thus far
- How Calvin's ideas show up concretely in Reformed churches and institutions
- Encouragement for those who are finding the reading difficult to keep going
Additional resources:
Our original podcast discussion before starting the Institutes
Our reading schedule: https://shorturl.at/Yow8x
Calvin's Institutes (2 volume Battles edition)
Calvin's Institutes (1 volume Beveridge edition)
Calvin's Institutes online edition (CCEL/Beveridge)
On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Dr. Norman Wirzba about his new book, Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis. It’s a conversation about the nature of hope, especially in the midst of darkness, where no hope can seem to be found, and how learning to love moves us forward. Among the topics we discuss:
- Why asking "what gives you hope?" may not be the best question and why "what do you love" is a better one
- Why it is so important that hope reckons with evil in its most disheartening forms
- Where joy might be found in the midst of the brokenness of the world
- How we can fight the impulse of paralysis or exhaustion
- The importance of recognizing our interdependence within creation
- What it means to say that love is "improvisational" and a "dance"
Get the book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300272659/loves-braided-dance/
On this episode of the podcast, I interview journalist and author Collin Hansen about his new book titled Tim Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. The conversation explores a prominent model of evangelism and cultural engagement by a Reformed pastor in contemporary times. Among the topics we discuss:
- The process of writing a different sort of biography of Tim Keller, focused on the people who influenced him
- Notable influences on Keller's ministry, with familiar and unfamiliar names (Kathy Keller, Jonathan Edwards, C.S. Lewis, R.C. Sproul, Elizabeth Elliot, Ed Clowney, Jack Miller, Barbara Boyd)
- What to make of the (recent) online backlash against Keller
- An updated assessment of the "young, restless, and reformed" movement from the person who helped coin the term
- The relationship of "Reformed" and "evangelical" and how they could be a source of renewal for each other
- How the work of journalism might be redeemed as a way of telling stories about the way that God is at work in the world.
Get the book: https://www.zondervan.com/9780310128700/timothy-keller/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, about his new book Calvin for the World. Dr. Rosario makes what might be to some a surprising argument: that beyond the smaller circles where Calvin is revered, the real Calvin casts a capacious vision for our troubled times. Among the topics we discuss:
- Dr. Rosario's story of his life with Calvin, and how Calvin made a difference growing up in Puerto Rico, studying in NY, pastoring in a rural community, and now teaching at a Jesuit University.
- Assessing Calvin's legacy and responding to his detractors
- "Liking" Calvin vs. respecting and appreciating Calvin
- The parallels and divergences between Calvin and liberation theology
- Calvin (and Calvinism) responding to the experience of exile and the phenomenon of refugees
- Calvin's transnational ecclesiology and what we can learn from him today
Get the book: https://bakeracademic.com/p/calvin-for-the-world-rub-n-rosario-rodr-guez/553612
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Shirley Mullen about book Claiming the Courageous Middle: Daring to Live and Work Together for a more Hopeful Future. Drawing from over four decades of experience in Christian higher education, Dr. Mullen explores what it means to be called to the middle, especially in times of deep polarization. Among the topics we discuss:
- What it means to say that the middle can be a place of courage, imagination, and hope
- When "not fitting anywhere" can be a gift and a calling
- Christian universities as middle spaces and the responsibility to steward trust while embracing complexity
- Counsel for teachers in the classroom and for the local church
Get the book: https://bakeracademic.com/p/Claiming-the-Courageous-Middle-Shirley-A-Mullen/542817
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Lanta Davis about her new book, Becoming by Beholding: The Power of the Imagination in Spiritual Formation. It’s a conversation about art, beauty, and the riches of the Christian tradition – about how we might put ourselves in a place where we can be surprised and transformed. This conversation was a treat since we were able to do it live and in-person, which gave the conversation a special energy. Among the topics we discuss:
- Why the imagination is so powerful and why it's not enough to turn away from bad inputs
- How our neglect of the imagiantion weakens our powers of discernment
- Examples of the riches of the Christian imaginative tradition
- On medieval bestiaries and the importance of learning the names of things
- The balance between meeting people where they are and taking them to strange new places
- Why transformation doesn't happen magically and how we might become more attentive to what is forming us.
Get the book: https://bakeracademic.com/p/becoming-by-beholding-lanta-davis/542815
More from Lanta Davis: https://www.lantadavis.com/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Wesley Vander Lugt about his new book, Beauty is Oxygen. It’s a conversation about how our souls crave beauty, and how we need beauty both to help us breathe and to help us build. Among the topics we discuss:
- What it means to say that "beauty is oxygen"
- The way beauty meets those who are "buffered", "battered", and "bored"
- Criticisms of the concept of beauty as too narrow
- The relationship between the beauty of the world and the beauty of God (or, why John Piper might be wrong about it)
- The relationship of beauty and justice
- How we might grow in attentiveness and awe
Get the book: https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802883254/
More on Dr. Vander Lugt: https://www.wesleyvanderlugt.com/
On this special bonus episode, a group of theology faculty discuss a project that we’re about to start here at Dordt University, in which we spend the academic year reading through John Calvin’s Institutes of Christian Religion. To orient everyone for the well-over thousand page journey that is the Institutes, we talked a bit about:
- Calvin's biography
- Our first exposure to Calvin and the Institutes
- Common (mis)conceptions about Calvin - on TULIP, austerity, and the execution of Servetus
- A brief history of the Institutes, how they are organized and introduced
- Helpful tips for reading the Institutes
If you are interested in reading along during this academic year, here are some resources:
Our reading schedule: https://shorturl.at/Yow8x
Calvin's Institutes (2 volume Battles edition)
Calvin's Institutes (1 volume Beveridge edition)
Calvin's Institutes online edition (CCEL/Beveridge)
On this episode of the podcast, I talk with David Bahnsen, author of the book Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life. Bahnsen argues that rather than seeking to “balance” work with life, we should see work as a vital component of life, something be received and offered as a gift for the good of neighbor and the glory of God. Among the topics we discuss:
- Why we operate with a low, transactional view of work
- The effects of the fall on the way we experience work
- The relationship of money and meaning, and of success and significance.
- What it means to say that all honest work is "full time ministry" or "kingdom service"
- The relationship of work to ambition and to rest
- The future of work, especially in light of emerging technologies
More about the book: https://www.fulltimebook.com/
On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Professor Nancy Pearcey about her new book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes. It’s a rich conversation that draws on a wealth of social scientific and historical research about masculinity. Among the topics we discuss:
- The diagnosis of "toxic masculinity" and when the diagnosis itself becomes an attack on men
- The cultural perception of what it means to be a "good man" vs. a "real man"
- The significant divergence of research findings when it comes to committed Christian men and nominal Christian men
- Historical roots of the masculine crisis in industrialization and social Darwinism
- The significance of the rise of "alpha male" influencers like Andrew Tate
- Counsel for families, parents, and pastors in addressing the crisis of masculinity
Get the book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-War-Masculinity-Christianity-Reconciles/dp/0801075734
More on Professor Pearcey: Nancy Pearcey's latest book is The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes. Her earlier books include Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality, The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and two ECPA Gold Medallion Award Winners: How Now Shall We Live (coauthored with Harold Fickett and Chuck Colson) and Total Truth. Her books have been translated into 20 languages. She is professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. A former agnostic, Pearcey has spoken at universities such as Princeton, Stanford, USC, and Dartmouth. She has been quoted in The New Yorker and Newsweek, highlighted as one of the five top women apologists by Christianity Today, and hailed in The Economist as "America's pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual."
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Abigail Favale about her book The Genesis of Gender. It’s a conversation that seeks clarity about contested questions including feminism, womanhood, and gender identity. Among the topics we discuss:
- Dr. Favale's story of her journey from conservative evangelicalism to gender studies scholar to Catholic convert
- What it might mean to be a "feminist" and the distinctive characteristics of the four "waves" of feminism
- A clear definition of what it means to be a woman
- What it might mean to disagree with the gender paradigm while also caring for persons who have adopted it
- Wrestling with the contemporary issue of pronoun use
- What Dr. Favale would say to young women in contemporary society
Get the book: https://ignatius.com/the-genesis-of-gender-ggp/
Follow Dr. Favale: https://abigailfavale.wixsite.com/home
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Fellipe do Vale about his book Gender as Love. Gender is a topic of ever-increasing complexity, and that complexity requires a guide who can take us into the weeds with conviction and compassion. Among the topics we discuss:
- What it means to pursue a non-reductive account of gender, that takes the body seriously as well as the ways we live socially and culturally.
- Why it is attractive but also problematic to see gender purely as a social construct
- Why solidarity and justice requires some sort of gender essentialism
- How the category of love can help organize the way that we think about identity, gender, and social goods
- Whether disability is an adequate category for dealing with difficulties in gender
- On what it might mean to move towards "friendship" with our bodies in the midst of the forces of sin and death
Get the book: https://bakeracademic.com/p/Gender-as-Love-Fellipe-do-Vale/516474
More on Dr. Fellipe do Vale: https://www.redeemer.ca/resound/god-at-the-centre/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Kaitlyn Schiess about her book The Ballot and The Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used And Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here. Among the topics we discuss:
- Distinguishing between better and worse ways of reading ourselves into the biblical story
- Uniquely American habits of reading the nation into the biblical story, taking every promise or command as directed towards national life.
- Worries about the wide range of political perspectives that are credited to the Bible
- What we might learn from comparing presidents' speeches at the National Prayer breakfast
- What it means to cite Scripture in a diverse, religiously pluralistic society
- The faithful use of politics in the pulpit and in public life
Get the book: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/492154
Follow Kaitlyn Schiess: https://kaitlynschiess.com/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, about his newly released book on Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks is the Key to Our Well Being. Among the topics we discuss:
- What it means to say that giving thanks is the key to our well being
- The relationship between the spontaneity of "feeling thankful" and the intentional practice of "cultivating gratitude"
- How we might learn from others in our lives or biblical characters as an "apprenticeship" of gratitude
- The difference between the biblical virtue of gratitude and gratitude as "self-improvement"
- Gratitude in the Reformed tradition and other streams
- Counsel for those who struggle to be grateful and where we might start.
Get the book: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/gratitude/414400
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
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
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
On this episode of the podcast, I talk with two members of the band The Ruralists, Luke Hawley and Laremy Devries, about their new album, Trying. You may recognize the name and their music from the intro and the outro of this podcast. This was the 40th episode of the podcast, and we recorded it live on the stage of the B.J. Haan auditorium at Dordt University, with a small studio audience. They play three songs off the new album (lyrics below) and we discuss, along the following topics:
- The story of the band, the name of the band, and the name of the album
- What "ruralism" is and what it means to celebrate and advocate rural life
- How teaching and spending time with college students shapes the songs
- What it means to use faith as "a lens and not a hammer"
- What it means to say that song is a "Dooyeweerdian" song
- What it means to say that songs should be more like sermons and less like prayers, and the relationship is between making claims and exploring possibilities
Get the album: https://fullyruralized.bandcamp.com/album/trying
Listen to the album: https://www.fullyruralized.com/trying
More on the band: https://www.fullyruralized.com
Special thanks to Alex Priore, Jack Underwood, and the production arts team who made the event happen with excellent quality and stellar style.
Lyrics to "Murmur"
You’re a murmur of starlings
Darling
All your ever-shifting parts
A work of modern art
That I cannot understand
And I can’t look away
Or convey
All my slip-sliding thoughts
All twisted up in knots
Explaining how I feel
So I’ll keep writing you all these love songs
All my life long
Trying to get it right
And you’ll keep asking me
Why I do it
Why I can’t quit
But I just don’t know how
It’s just like breathing now
I’m an old tv set
Trying to get
The picture to come in
With strips of kitchen tin
Wrapped around my ears
But it’s mostly just snow
Even though I’m giving it my best
I just haven’t got it yet
As clear as it can be
So I’ll keep writing you all these love songs
All my life long
Trying to get it right
And you’ll keep asking me
Why I do it
Why I can’t quit
But I just don’t know how
It’s just like breathing now
There’s a word that I learned
From a friend
About saying what you’ve got
By saying what it’s not
Possible to say
So then all that I know
I suppose
Of language and of rhyme
Of being and of time
Means nothing without you
Lyrics to "Mother Mary"
I keep trying to see the face
Of mother mary full of grace
In an apple core
In a sticky bun
In a stretch of clouds
In the setting sun
But all that’s there is just the flesh and peel
Just the carmeled crust and the pink and teal of harvest dust
I keep trying to tell you how
I have always loved you like I love you now
But my tongue gets thick and my brain brain goes slack
And all these words come out bric-a-brac
And all that’s there is just the metaphor
It’s not the whole of you
It’s not the crux and core
It’s not the through and through
I keep trying to understand
How a dram of atoms makes the man
And the woman too
Is that the whole of us?
Just a clump of dirt?
Just a cloud of dust?
And that’s there is just some chemistry
The arithmetic of you and me
And the human heart is just a fine machine
Not a work of art filled with kerosene
Not a mystery of colossal scope
Not a duffel bag of fear and hope
Not a megaphone of love and hate
Not a talisman to keep us safe
Not a rattletrap always breaking down
Not a spiderweb
Not a shantytown
Not a creaking bridge
Not a tank brigade
Not an oracle
Not a masquerade
Just a thing that bangs and beats and pounds
And throbs and churns and wails and sounds
And maybe all we are is dust
Maybe that’s the whole of us
But maybe we are magic too
Impossible and completely true
Through and through
Lyrics to "People are People Too"
People are people too
Just like me and you
From the tops of our heads
To the foot of our beds
People are people too
You seem to think they’re not
You seem to think they’re not
You treat them like things
And not human beings
But people are people too
Of course it’s the same for me
Of course it’s the same for me
It’s hard to admit
But I often forget
That people are people too
So then what can be done
So then what can be done
Just what do we need
For us to agree
That people are people too
People are people too
Just like me and you
From the buds of our tongues
To the air in our lungs
People are people too
People are really strange
People are really strange
We do what we won’t
And believe what we don’t
But people are people too
Sometimes they drive you nuts
Sometimes they drive you nuts
So we try to negate
With our labels and hate
But people are people too
Time here is really short
Time here is really short
So let’s make up a plan
To be as kind as we can
Because people are people too
On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Dr. Jeff Liou about his new book Christianity and Critical Race Theory. There are few topics more contentious than CRT, but in this conversation, we simply seek to demystify the discourse, to understand CRT, and to ask where there might be openings and oppositions for Christian discipleship as we seek to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Among the topics we discuss:
- What is CRT, and why has it become such a lightning rod? How can we demystify it to engage it in a meaningful way?
- How does the CRT concept of "community cultural wealth" connect with a Christian account of creative diversity?
- How does the CRT claim that "racism is ordinary" connect with the Christian doctrine of pervasive sin?
- What should we make of the criticisms of CRT that it redefines the terms of racism to see racism in everyone and everything, that it is nebulous and totalizing, and that it creates a new sort of fundamentalism that is light on grace?
- What are the greatest points of tension between Christianity and CRT?
- How might this conversation connect for Reformed Christians, specifically?
- How do we learn to see power, without power becoming the only thing we see?
Get the book: https://bakeracademic.com/p/Christianity-and-Critical-Race-Theory-Robert-Chao-Romero/436007
On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Dr. Alan Noble about his new book, On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living. Getting out of bed may seem like a simple thing to do, but for many who struggle with mental affliction, getting out of bed is an act of faith and defiance against despair, a testimony to that fact that life is worth facing. Among the topics we discuss:
- The difference between the categories of "mental suffering" and "mental illness" and why there might be a danger in over-relying on the category of mental illness
- Why the younger generation in particular seems to struggle to get out of bed, and what might give them courage to do so.
- How literature, especially The Road by Cormac McCarthy offers us an embodied answer to the question of getting out of bed.
- Counsel for those who walk with loved ones who struggle with more debilitating mental illness
- Hope for those who struggle to believe that the grace of Christ (rather than suffering) is the deepest reality
We hope that whether this is your testimony, or whether you walk with those who struggle to get out of bed, that you find this conversation helpful.
Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/on-getting-out-of-bed
About Alan Noble: https://www.oalannoble.com/
On this episode of the podcast I talk with Dr. David Taylor about his new book, A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of Our Physical Bodies in Worship. For those of us who tend to think about worship as primarily a matter of the mind or heart, it’s a reminder about the role our physical bodies play in worship. It's an essential conversation, not least after the the upheavals and bodily deprivations of Covid. Among the topics we discuss:
- Why worship is just as much a matter of the body as the head or the heart.
- What it means to worship God "in Spirit and in Truth" (John 4)
- The idea of "body knowledge" and how it shapes us over time
- Surprises from church history about body postures in worship
- How to navigate debates over "originalism" and "the regulative principle" in light of cultural difference in the way we use our bodies in worship.
- Counsel for worship planners to engage the body in an authentic way
- Why it seems like worship doesn't always seem to work.
- How technological shifts towards online services shape the way we think of our bodies in worship
Get the book: https://bakeracademic.com/p/A-Body-of-Praise-W-David-O-Taylor/466164
More about David Taylor: https://www.wdavidotaylor.com/
On this episode of the podcast, we are speaking with Dr. Kathryn Wehr, about her new annotated edition of Dorothy Sayers’s The Man Born to Be King, a series of 12 radio plays broadcast and published 80 years ago during the Second World War. It is a fascinating conversation of the unique complexities and tensions of adapting the gospels for dramatic production. Among the topics we discuss:
- Who was Dorothy Sayers? What are some of her works that we should know?
- The controversy that surrounded the original production of the radio plays and how it drove publicity and affected the final forms of the plays.
- Which characters were the most challenging to depict and which creative decisions were most successful
- How Sayers sought to write plays with ecumenical appeal, for the whole church rather than merely for a particular denomination.
- What Sayers might have to say to creative artists today.
We hope the conversation will encourage everyone to pick up a copy of the plays for themselves, or at least to allow this conversation to lift the film of familiarity from the great and true story that is the gospel.
Get the Wade Annotated Edition: https://www.ivpress.com/the-man-born-to-be-king
Listen to the plays: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Born-Be-King-Collection/dp/B09HSM8FJ9
Other works by Dorothy Sayers mentioned in the conversation
Lord Peter Wimsey series (15 book series)
Introduction and Translation of Dante's Divine Comedy (Penguin classic)
The Zeal of Thy House
"The Mind of the Maker"
"The Lost Tools of Learning"
Other authors and books and authors mentioned in the conversation:
Gina Dalfanzo, Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis
Ronald Gurner, We Crucify!
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
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
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
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
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
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/
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/
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/
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/
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
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
On this special 25th episode of the podcast, we collaborated with the hosts of Hallway Conversations podcast to produce a joint episode! Our conversation centers on my new book, Interpreting Your World: Five Lenses for Engaging Theology and Culture. Among the topics we discuss:
- What it means to become incisive interpreters, not just of Scripture, but also of culture.
- What it means to discern cultural idolatries, starting with our own
- How we can empower students to move beyond "reputation management" and "slacktivism" to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.
- What it might mean to take aesthetics seriously in schools, churches, and society.
- How we can model "non-reductive curiosity" as we engage culture.
Get the book: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/interpreting-your-world/410460
About Dave, Matt, and Abby at the Hallway Conversations podcast (https://hallwayconvos.podbean.com/):
"We are three friends who have been teaching for quite a while, but we still have lots of questions about education. This is our place for thinking out loud about topics we think are important for Christian educators to consider. We regularly have face-to-face hallway conversations, and this podcast is our way of inviting you in to our reflections on contemporary education.
Our deep hope is that you would find these conversations an opportunity for your own reflection–that you would be challenged and encouraged in your work as an educator, and that you might even chuckle along as we think on our feet and stumble through trying to answer each others questions about what it means to take our faith seriously as we consider our work as educators.
Feel free to drop us a line at hallwayconvospod@gmail.com."
Follow Dr. Dave Mulder's substack: https://drdave.substack.com/
Follow Dr. Matthew Beimers: https://twitter.com/beim_m
Follow Abby DeGroot: https://twitter.com/DeGrootAbby
On this episode of the podcast, Ruth Clark and I chat with Katelyn Beaty about her new book, Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church. Among the topics we discuss:
- Why celebrity culture is a uniquely modern phenomenon.
- What it means to say that celebrity is a "feature, not a bug" of the evangelical movement, and the spiritual implications
- What it might mean to resist the values of celebrity culture in the church and in the Christian publishing industry
- Why obscurity and ordinary faithfulness are so important for followers of Christ
Get Katelyn's book: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/celebrities-for-jesus/406890
To read Ruth Clark's review: https://inallthings.org/reckoning-with-status-and-realigning-our-hearts-a-review-of-celebrities-for-jesus/
On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by returning guest co-host Kayt Frisch, and together we chat with Dr. Ethan Brue about his new co-authored book, A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers. Among the topics we discuss:
-
How we can place technology, engineering, and design in the wider Christian story
-
How technology tends to make itself "invisible" and the implications of that?
-
What it might look like to design a home thermostat with more than just temperature in mind
-
How we can move towards a definition of "flourishing" the goal of good design
-
A fascinating case study about the rise and fall of the electric vehicle in the late 1800s/early 1900s.
-
How we can navigate between technological optimism and pessimism, and what every Christian engineering student should know.
Get the book: https://www.ivpress.com/a-christian-field-guide-to-technology-for-engineers-and-designers
To read Dr. Kayt Frisch's review: https://inallthings.org/how-is-your-technology-use-shaping-you-today-a-review-of-a-christian-field-guide-to-technology-for-engineers-and-designers/
On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by Dr. Vince Bacote, a professor of theology and author. The conversation focuses on two recent pieces by Dr. Bacote: a chapter on Kuyper and Race in Calvinism for a Secular Age and a short book entitled Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News. Among the topics we discuss:
- Dr. Bacote's testimony of his encounter with Abraham Kuyper's theology and racism, marked by delight, dissonance, distress, and decision.
- Why it is so important to listen to the testimonies of those who have struggled to reconcile evangelicalism's promise with its failures
- Why Dr. Bacote has decided to stay within the evangelical movement and what resources are available for reckoning with race and renewing the movement
- Why we must take culture seriously as we interpret Scripture
- The most important resources from Kuyper and what other thinker Kuyperians should get to know.
Resources mentioned in this podcast:
Dr. Bacote's article, "Gifts from Father Abraham": https://comment.org/gifts-from-father-abraham/
Learning from a Legend by Jared Alcantara: https://wipfandstock.com/9781498226097/learning-from-a-legend/
Follow Dr. Bacote: https://twitter.com/vbacote
On this episode of the podcast we are joined by professor and author Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, to talk about her new book, The Scandal of Holiness. Together we discuss how reading good books can renew our imagination, allowing us to keep company with "literary saints." Among the questions we discuss:
- What makes a character a literary saint, and why should we spend time in their company?
- Why do we have such a hard time trusting holiness, and what do we miss if we lose sight of it?
- Should we seek suffering? How do we distinguish between asceticism and masochism?
- How do various means of engagement (literature, art, contemplation) shape our imagination?
- Who are some lesser known authors that Christians should read?
Books mentioned in our conversation:
Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston
Silence by Shūsaku Endō
On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr.
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
A Lesson Before Dying A Gathering for Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos
Other authors mentioned in our conversation:
C.S. Lewis
George MacDonald
Randy Boyagoda
Walker Percy
Flannery O'Connor
Get the book: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-scandal-of-holiness/407181
Dr. Wilson's website: https://jessicahootenwilson.com/
Follow Jessica Hooten Wilson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HootenWilson
Kelly Latimore 's "literary icons": https://kellylatimoreicons.com/
On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by guest co-host Dr. Tara Boer (professor of social work). Together we interview Dr. Diane Langberg, an internationally recognized psychologist, counselor, and speaker, who is also the author of the book Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church (Brazos, 2020). Among the topics we discuss:
- How do we define power, vulnerability, and abuse? How can we identify "spiritual abuse" in a church context?
- Why have some Christians been resistant to the #metoo or #churchtoo movements? Are false accusations a legitimate threat?
- What does it mean to redeem power? What safeguards can be put in place, especially in male-dominated settings?
- How do we support victims and help them heal?
- How have you, during a 50+ year career dealing with these difficult issues, found the courage and hope to continue?
Dr. Tara Boer's review at In All Things: https://inallthings.org/the-power-within-us-a-review-of-redeeming-power/
Dr. Langberg's website (lots of resources): https://www.dianelangberg.com/
American Bible Society: Trauma Healing: https://ministry.americanbible.org/trauma-healing/about-trauma-healing
On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by guest co-host Dr. Jeff Ploegstra (professor of biology). Together we interview Dr. Josh Reeves, Director of the Samford Center for Science and Religion at Samford University, and author of the book Redeeming Expertise, Scientific Trust and the Future of the Church (Baylor, 2021). Among the topics we discuss:
- How to make sense of the crisis of expertise in which we find ourselves - is there a way to redeem expertise?
- Distinguishing three forms of expertise, and placing scientific expertise in perspective
- How knowledge is always a communal project, requiring us to trust others and to cultivate communities of critical thinking.
- On the possibilities and limitations of science, what science does well and what it can't do
Dr. Ploegsta's review: https://inallthings.org/scientists-arent-hostile-alien-priests-a-review-of-redeeming-expertise/
Follow Dr. Reeves: https://twitter.com/joshareeves
Buy the book: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481316156/redeeming-expertise/
On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Jessica and Robert Joustra, about the new book they've coedited, Calvinism for a Secular Age: A Twenty-First Century Reading of Abraham Kuyper's Stone Lectures. Among the topics we discuss:
– How can we distinguish between all the varieties of Calvinism and Neo-Calvinism?
– Why should North Americans living in the 21st century be interested in lectures on Calvinism given by a 19th century Dutch polymath?
– When it comes to continuing an intellectual tradition, what is the relationship between looking back and looking forward?
– How should we think about Kuyper's flaws, and how should we complicate his legacy?
– What can the Kuyperian tradition learn from the wider Christian world?
– Why might Kuyper's vision be especially appropriate for "a secular age"?
To read a short piece in which the authors introduce their book: https://inallthings.org/can-calvinists-save-the-world-a-review-of-calvinism-for-a-secular-age/
On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by guest co-host Erin Olson, and together we talk with April Fiet about her new book, The Sacred Pulse: Holy Rhythms for Overwhelmed Souls (Broadleaf Books). Among the topics we discuss:
– How those of us who are adept at "managing our time" may actually just be better at "hiding our weariness"
– How we can find holy rhythms in the midst of a culture and time where we are able and encouraged to "work anywhere and everywhere and at any time"
– How we can add practices in a way that is life-giving and sustainable instead of "one more thing" on the to do list
– On the way that felt futility of living intentionally, the difficulty of friendship as an adult, and ways to normalize grief and messiness
– One thing to know, and one thing to do if we want to change
To read Dr. Erin Olson's review of April Fiet's book: https://inallthings.org/reimagining-rhythms-a-review-of-the-sacred-pulse/
On this episode of the podcast, I am joined by guest co-host Kayt Frisch, and together we talk with sociologist Dr. Felicia Wu Song about her new book, Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in a Digital Age. Among the topics we discuss:
– How our devices (phones and computers) are more than mere tools, and what it means to evaluate them as cultural artifacts, the results of complex processes, driven by diverse influences
– What Christian designers and programmers can do to as they work in digital spaces
– How we should think about counter-cultural movements like "digital minimalism" and how the Christian story offers something distinct
– Why it is so difficult for us to change our digital habits and whether there are better ways to approach our counter-formation
– One thing to know, and one thing to do if we want to change
To read Dr. Kayt Frisch's review of Dr. Song's book: https://inallthings.org/corrupted-comforts-a-review-of-restless-devices/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with theologian and historian Rev. Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt about the relationship between science and theology. Together we discuss:
– How the narrative of a conflict between faith and science developed, and how this story of obscures important historical realities, especially during the Reformation
– The relationship between science and theology as well as between God’s two books: the book of creation and the book of Scripture.
– How we think about scientific investigation given the tension between suspicion (because of human sin) and confidence (because of the divine image and the reliability of human faculties)
– “Epistemic trespassing” and how pastors can live with the burden of being expected to weigh in on scientific issues, and how they build bridges between science and theology.
Books mentioned in this podcast:
History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science by John William Draper (1874)
A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology by Andrew Dickson White (1896)
Science and Theology in the Reformation by Charlotte Methuen (2008)
Since the Beginning: Interpreting Genesis 1 and 2 through the Ages ed. Kyle Greenwood (2018)
Follow Jennifer Powell McNutt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jpowellmcnutt
Here is a link to Dr. McNutt’s First Mondays talk at Dordt University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-NTB-m2BQM
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with singer-songwriter, author-beekeeper Andrew Peterson, about his new book The God of the Garden: Thoughts on Creation, Culture, and the Kingdom. Together we discuss:
– How the Covid-lockdown forced AP to put down roots after being on the road for the last 25 years, and the sort of creativity that being rooted in a physical place can produce.
– Why trees have so captivated AP's imagination and anchored his memory.
– How working with our hands connects to working with words, music, and art.
– On planting seeds of hope amidst seasons of sadness, and what it means to remain open and vulnerable instead of hardening our hearts
– On telling stories that are deeply (not necessarily overtly) Christian, and how AP navigates the tension between Fall and Redemption.
– On practices that nourish ordinary creativity among artists and non-artists alike.
The podcast includes a short reading of the opening pages of the book (12:36).
Order The God of the Garden from The Rabbit Room: https://store.rabbitroom.com/products/the-god-of-the-garden
Follow Andrew Peterson: https://www.andrew-peterson.com/
Bible Project Podcast on Trees (mentioned at 11:50): https://bibleproject.com/podcast/humans-are-trees/
Here is a link to Ruth Clark's IAT review of The God of the Garden: https://inallthings.org/for-the-beauty-of-the-earth-a-review-of-the-god-of-the-garden/
Production note: this is the first episode we were able to record in person. Special thanks to tech genius Alex Priore for making it happen.
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Dan Stringer, a pastor and team leader for InterVarsity in Hawai'i. He is also the author of a new book, Struggling with Evangelicalism: Why I Want to Leave and What It Takes to Stay. Together we discuss:
- How Dan's background as a "third culture kid" who lived in five countries on three continents + being a part of 9 (!) different denominations gave him unique lenses to see evangelicalism's strengths and weaknesses.
- How to define "evangelicalism," and the difference it makes when approaching evangelicalism as "brand" vs. a "space"
- Four stages of struggling with evangelicalism: awareness, appreciation, repentance, and renewal
- What it means to make evangelical spaces "better than we found them."
Order from IVP: https://ivpress.com/struggling-with-evangelicalism
Follow Dan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RevDanStringer (@RevDanStringer)
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Terry Wildman, founder of Rain ministries and head of the translation team for the First Nations Version, an indigenous translation of the New Testament that involved a council of 12 and over 50 representatives from the native peoples of North America.
See the website here: https://firstnationsversion.com/
Order from IVP: https://www.ivpress.com/first-nations-version
My co-host for this episode is Dr. Gayle Doornbos, professor of theology at Dordt. Together we discuss:
- The story behind this indigenous translation of the New Testament and the many contributing scholars
- The history of colonialism and how the translation team handled English words with negative connotations for native peoples (e.g., sin, kingdom)
- The unique practice of translating names by what they mean, so that Jerusalem is rendered "Village of Peace" and Paul is "Small Man".
- What it might mean for the larger body of Christ to receive this new translation as a gift from the native peoples of North America.
Terry also reads a beautiful passage of Scripture for us (from Hebrews 1).
Here is my written reflection on the translation (which I use in part to introduce the episode): https://inallthings.org/gained-in-translation-a-review-of-the-first-nations-version/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Danté Stewart about his new book, Shoutin' in the Fire, a memoir about being Black and Christian in America. My guest co-host is Dr. Howard Schaap, professor of English at Dordt. Together we discuss:
- What it means to "shout in the fire," holding onto an honest, vulnerable, and resilient faith amidst pain, anger, and despair.
- How his sense of the gospel of Jesus has been clarified and complicated over the course of his journey.
- The importance of "keeping our eyes on the body" as we live in this world.
- Literary and theological sources for the Black prophetic imagination, and how Danté found his writing voice.
Here is a link to Howard Schaap's review at our online journal: https://inallthings.org/the-prophetic-and-black-and-pentecostal-voice-a-review-of-shoutin-in-the-fire/
As mentioned in the intro, Danté mentions no less than 30 authors, and we have pulled together a list below:
Books mentioned by Danté:
Jesmyn Ward, Men We Reaped
Kiese Laymon, Heavy
Imani Perry, Breathe: A Letter to My Sons
Sarah Broom, The Yellow House
Darnell L. Moore, No Ashes in the Fire
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Nothing Ever Dies
Shawn Copeland, Enfleshing Freedom
Austin Channing Brown, I’m Still Here
Saidiya Hartman, Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments
Steven King, On Writing
N.K. Jemisin, The City We Became (fiction)
Robert Jones, Jr., The Prophets (fiction)
Octavia Butler, The Parable of the Sower (fiction)
Articles mentioned by Danté:
Elizabeth Alexander, “The Travon Generation”
Imani Perry, “Racism Is Terrible. Blackness Is Not.”
Authors mentioned by Danté:
James Baldwin
Toni Morrison
Deesha Philyaw
Maurice Ruffin
Jason Reynolds
Nikki Giovanni
James Cone
Kevin Quashie
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Willie James Jennings
Ashon Crawley
Gwendolyn Brooks
Zora Neale Hurston
Elizabeth Alexander
June Jordan
Amiri Baraka
Terrion Williamson
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with psychologist and researcher Elizabeth Hall about the psychology of doubt. This episode is in response to Dr. Hall's article, "Teaching Students to Doubt Well: The Roles of Intellectual Humility and Uncertainty Tolerance" (published in spring 2021 issue of Christian Scholar's Review). My co-host for this episode is Dr. Channon Visscher, professor of chemistry and planetary science at Dordt. Some topics we discuss:
- What do we gain from paying attention to the psychological dimensions of doubt?
- How can we think of faith and doubt in a way that takes rational, intuitive, and relational knowing into account?
- What is "intellectual humility" and "uncertainty tolerance," and how do we develop these traits?
- What are some strategies and practices for helping people "doubt well"?
To read the article: https://christianscholars.com/teaching-students-to-doubt-well-the-roles-of-intellectual-humility-and-uncertainty-tolerance/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with theologians Richard Mouw and Matthew Kaemingk about a new book, edited by Matt and dedicated to Rich - Reformed Public Theology: A Global Vision for Life in the World (Baker Academic, 2021). The theme question of the episode: "why does theology matter for public life?" Some topics we discuss:
- What do you mean by "Reformed"? What is "public" theology? And what is the unique contribution of the Reformed tradition to public theology?
- In a book with 20+ authors of different nationalities, vocations, and denominations, what are the common threads these authors share?
- As we seek to live in a pluralistic world, how do we learn to listen genuinely and to speak gently, with firm conviction?
- What are some characteristic flaws or blind spots of the Reformed tradition that this book celebrates?
- What does Reformed public theology have to say when it comes to institutional power, institutional sin, and institutional reform?
- What does "every square inch" really mean? Why doesn't it mean Christians "taking over"?
If you'd like to read more, In All Things is hosting a four-part review of the book, which will be posted here as they become available:
Part One: https://inallthings.org/an-unlikely-story-a-review-of-reformed-public-theology/
Part Two: https://inallthings.org/neo-calvinism-for-the-nations-reviewing-part-2-3-of-reformed-public-theology/
Part Three: https://inallthings.org/the-academy-and-aesthetics-a-review-of-reformed-public-theology/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez about her NYT bestselling book Jesus and John Wayne (Liveright, 2020). The theme question of the episode: "what have we lost in our desire to win?" Some topics we discuss:
- What surprised Kristin in her research and in the book's reception
- Who is an evangelical? Who gets to say what is mainstream to evangelicalism and what is on the fringe?
- How "Reformed" communities who have traditionally been "evangelical adjacent" fit into the picture.
- What to do when we realize how much popular culture shapes Christian identity, and what it takes to resist, repent, and repair.
- Areas for further research (the need for ethnographic studies!) and where the conversation can go from here.
If you'd like to read more you can check out the In All Things review of Kristin's book (written by my guest co-host, Scott Culpepper): https://inallthings.org/what-has-jesus-to-do-with-john-wayne-a-review-of-jesus-and-john-wayne/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with J. Todd Billings, a theologian and author, about his book The End of the Christian Life (Brazos, 2020). Our theme question: what does it mean to embrace our mortality? Among the topics we discuss:
- On being immersed in the cancer community after a terminal cancer diagnosis
- How Western culture works to obscure the reality of our mortality
- How we can live in the tension between our smallness and the grand calling to make/change culture
- On what a "good funeral" looks like and what the Christian hope actually is
- How the Covid pandemic has brought our mortality (and denial) into sharper relief.
If you'd like to read more you can check out our review of the book (written by my guest co-host, Todd Zuidema) here: https://inallthings.org/memento-mori-a-review-of-the-end-of-the-christian-life/
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Chandra Crane, a writer and leader in multiethnic ministry initiatives, about her new book Mixed Blessing (InterVarsity Press, 2020). Our theme question: what does it mean to see, steward, and celebrate multi-ethnicity? Among the topics we discuss:
- How multiethnic (mixed) people process questions like "where are you from?" and "what are you?"
- The blessing that mixed people are to the church and the world
- Ways to think about distinctions between ethnicity & race, "cultural appropriation" vs. "cultural appreciation", and cultural stereotypes vs. "cultural prototypes".
- Why it is important to talk about ethnicity as part of talking about our identity in Christ (and the identity of Christ!)
If you'd like to read more you can find an excerpt of Chandra's book here: https://inallthings.org/whole-people-wholly-reliant-on-jesus/
On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by a guest host, Jeremy Perigo, and together we talk with Cory Willson about his new book (coauthored with Matthew Kaemingk) Work and Worship (Baker Academic). Our theme question: what does it mean to reconnect our worship to our work? Among the topics we discuss:
- If work and worship are meant to be connected, how did they get disconnected? What sort of theologies have fueled this divide, and how do we heal it?
- Why is a focus on practices and rituals critical, rather than just having a good "theology of work"?
- How do we bring out work into the place of worship, and how do we bring worship into our place of work?
- Is there a hidden assumption that our work will always be meaningful and fulfilling? How do we include those whose experience of work is full of pain?
- How has the Covid-19 pandemic shifted our understanding of gathered worship and gathered work?
If you'd like to read our review of the biography, written by Dr. Jeremy Perigo, you can find that here: https://inallthings.org/whole-life-worship-a-review-of-work-and-worship/
On this episode of the podcast, we are joined by a guest host, Gayle Doornbos, and together we talk with James Eglinton about his new biography of Dutch theologian and polymath Herman Bavinck. Our theme question: what does it mean to live with a faith that is rooted in the past, yet responsive to the challenges and questions of the present? Among the topics we discuss:
- How we remember the past: the difference between "critical" and "commemorative" biography
- The relationship of the two monumental figures from the Dutch Calvinist tradition: Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck
- How Bavinck might respond to the idea of "always reforming"
- How Bavinck managed to maintain friendship and to integrate so many voices across ideological virtues
- Why Bavinck was pessimistic about the future of Calvinism in America, and what he meant when he said, "Calvinism is not the only the truth."
If you'd like to read our review of the biography, written by Dr. David Westfall, you can find that here: https://inallthings.org/twin-poles-a-review-of-bavinck/
If you haven't yet gotten ahold of a copy of the biography, we are giving away three copies. You can enter the drawing by sharing or re-tweeting this episode; leaving a review of the podcast will get you three bonus entries! (tag us or let us know to make sure your name is included). Or you can follow this link: https://kingsumo.com/g/w0xegx/in-all-things-podcast-bavinck-giveaway
Thanks again for tuning in!
Twitter: @in_all_things
On this episode of the podcast, we are talking to A.J. Swoboda, a pastor, professor, and writer, about his new book After Doubt. Our theme question for the episode: what does it mean to question our faith without losing it?
- Discerning between honest and dishonest questioning
- How to honor the communities that nurtured us while also acknowledging their limitations
- Counsel for those who are doubting, as well as for those who are trying to walk with doubters (parents & teachers)
- The importance of the local congregation when it comes to holding onto faith
As we’ve done with previous episodes, we are giving away five copies of A.J.'s book. You can enter the drawing by following In All Things on Social Media, sharing or re-tweeting this episode; leaving a review of the podcast will get you three bonus entries! (tag us or let us know to make sure your name is included). Thanks again for tuning in!
Twitter: @in_all_things
On this episode of the podcast, we have a feature conversation with acclaimed artist Makoto Fujimura about his new book, Art + Faith, and what he calls the "theology of making." Topics we discuss:
- The connections between creating art and the beauty of the gospel
- Why children seem to know how important creativity is, and what has gone wrong for the rest of us
- Why a liberal arts education matters more, not less, in an increasingly technological world
- Ordinary creativity for those who are not artists
- How we can cleanse our cultural imagination and move forward in a polarized world.
During the two weeks after this episode is released, we are giving away five copies of Mako's new book, Art + Faith. To enter that giveaway, follow this link: https://kingsumo.com/g/z5wjkr/in-all-things-podcast-art-faith-giveaway
For more information about In All Things, you can find us at inallthings.org or follow us on Twitter: @in_all_things
On this inaugural episode of the podcast, we have a feature conversation with author Tish Harrison Warren about prayer and about waiting for God. We talk about "praying other people's prayers" and how being connected to the larger church offers us resources beyond ourselves. We also discuss quiet grief, and how being a believer changes the experience of waiting for God.
We also have a short chat with Channon Visscher, the director of the Andreas Center about the vision of In All Things and the plan for this podcast.
During the first two weeks of the podcast, we are giving away five copies of Tish's new book, Prayer in the Night. To enter that giveaway, follow this link: https://kingsumo.com/g/dgkoxe/in-all-things-podcast-prayer-in-the-night-giveaway
For more information about In All Things, you can find us at inallthings.org or follow us on Twitter: @in_all_things