Cultural Sanctification & the Church Fathers, with Stephen Presley - The Sower Episode 92 (audio)

A paradigm for Christian leadership & engagement with the secular world. Josh Bowman interviews Dr. Stephen O. Presley, the Director of Education and Engagement at the Center for Research, Culture, and Democracy (CRCD) as well as a Senior Fellow for Religion and Public Life. The CRCD was one of the Tullia Sponsors for the Ciceronian Society’s 2026 conference in Omaha, and a long time partner and friend. Looking at two of Presley’s recent books, we specifically consider the role of the church in biblical theology, and the notion of “cultural sanctification” as a paradigm for Christian engagement in the secular world. ====== The Center for Research, Culture, and Democracy: https://crcd.net/ Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church (Eerdmans, 2024): https://www.eerdmans.com/9781467468343/cultural-sanctification/ https://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Sanctification-Engaging-World-Church/dp/0802878547 Biblical Theology in the Life of the Early Church: Recovering an Ancient Vision (Baker, 2025): https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/9781540966414_biblical-theology-in-the-life-of-the-early-church https://www.amazon.com/Biblical-Theology-Life-Early-Church/dp/1540966410/ Dr. John Wilsey: https://www.sbts.edu/faculty/john-d-wilsey/ ====== 0:00 Introduction to The Sower Episode 922:02 What the CRCD Is7:12 Why These Two Books, and Why Now 11:31 Why We Should Care About the Early Church15:44 Today's vs the Ancient Church, Similarities & Differences20:28 What "Ecclesial Biblical Theology" Means25:10 What "The Church" Is29:04 How This Method Can Be Extended to Pagan Texts32:44 Leadership & Sanctification, Virtue & Faith37:16 Why We Need Christian Intellectuals47:19 "Grieving the Loss of Christendom"54:24 Real Hope or Fool's Hope?58:53 Stephen Presley's Next Projects ====== The 2026 Fall Symposium: “Scholars and Educators in a Brave New World”, Oct 22-24 in Holland, MI The 2027 Spring Conference in Virginia Beach, VA, March 11-13 Proposals due Sept 1, 2026: https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference-spring/call-for-conference-papers/ To learn more about the Ciceronian Society, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ Check out our other weekly podcast, Cicero On Duties: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1B7f66VCvfaF3PYETBIJG4AGMpanUNE3 Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction to The Sower Episode 92(00:02:02) - What the CRCD Is(00:07:12) - Why These Two Books, and Why Now(00:11:31) - Why We Should Care About the Early Church(00:15:44) - Today's vs the Ancient Church, Similarities & Differences(00:20:28) - What "Ecclesial Biblical Theology" Means(00:25:10) - What "The Church" Is(00:29:04) - How This Method Can Be Extended to Pagan Texts(00:32:44) - Leadership & Sanctification, Virtue & Faith(00:37:16) - Why We Need Christian Intellectuals(00:47:19) - "Grieving the Loss of Christendom"(00:54:24) - Real Hope or Fool's Hope?(00:58:53) - Stephen Presley's Next Projects