Episodes
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The Theology of the Incarnation and Resurrection with Dr. Paul Molnar
Dr. Molnar discusses the incarnation and resurrection of Christ from the perspectives of Karl Barth, T. F. Torrance, Karl Rahner, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Joh Macquarrie, Paul Knitter, Sallie MacFague, and Roger Haight. We talk about a wide variety of views, from orthodox to much less than orthodox.…
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Understanding Economics Theologically with Dr. Paul Oslington
Paul Oslington discusses key economic emphases in the Bible and how larger Scriptural themes relate to economics including creation, fall, providence, redemption, justice, and new creation. We also talk about wealth and generosity, attitudes towards wealth, the parable of the talents, charging...
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The Church as God's Mission: Witness/Converting Worlds with Dr. Amos Yong
Dr. Amos Yong discusses Acts as foundational in forming the church's understanding of witness and mission as well as the sending and activity of the Spirit in relation to the nature and life of the church. He talks about conversion as a two-way street and also considers hospitality and shared…
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The Theology and Glory of the Ascension with Dr. Ross Hastings
Dr. Ross Hastings leads us through the Ascension of Christ, covering the biblical data, what happened to the body of Jesus, the relationship of the ascended Christ to God, its theological significance, its relationship to salvation and atonement, the nature of humanity, its relevance for the...
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The Radical Culture of the Early Church: "Strange Religion" with Dr. Nijay Gupta
Dr. Gupta looks at Greco-Roman culture, how the Romans saw Christianity, power in weakness, worship, sacrifice, priesthood, Spirit-led ethics, eschatology and ethics, orientation towards time, and more. The book also covers the radical hospitality of the Christian household, personal…
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2 Corinthians: Diving in the Deep End with Dr. George Guthrie (Baker Exegetical Commentary)
Dr. George Guthrie and I take a look at 2 Corinthians including, background, the city of Corinth, structure, unity, purpose and the triumphal parade. The discussion continues with the contrast of old and new covenants, suffering as Paul's apostolic credential, his theology of power in weakness…
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Did the Resurrection of Jesus Really Happen? Evidence for the Resurrection with Dr. Gary Habermas
Dr. Gary Habermas--likely the most qualified expert on the resurrection of Christ--takes us through related topics including the difference between Christ's natural body and his resurrection body, minimal historical facts including Jesus' death on the cross, the disciples experiences, the…
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Doing Church the Vineyard Way with Alexander Venter
Alexander Venter of South Africa discusses his vision for the church, connected deeply to the Vineyard movement. He tells his story of apartheid era interracial intentional community along with his philosophy of ministry, the purpose of the church, the values of the church, and the priorities of...
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The 10 Commandments and Ethical Principles: "Doing Right" with Dr. David W. Gill
Dr. David W. Gill discusses four cover principles: love for God, love for others, freedom, and justice. He covers area principles for each of the ten commandments, showing how they are relevant well beyond their specific wording. I, Dennis, would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment or...
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A Wisdom Theology of Culture: Facts on the Ground with Dr. Bill Dyrness
Bill Dyrness tackles the topics of cultural wisdom, creation theology, general revelation, artistic expression, ethical practice, and especially nonviolence. We also consider divine sovereignty and action, Ancient Near East parallels, wisdom in the OT, NT, and early church, Greek philosophy, and...
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The Theology of Kierkegaard with Dr. Simon Podmore: The Self Before God and Struggling with God
Simon Podmore discusses Kierkegaard's personal background, his relationships with his father, Regine, and the church, his thought on the individual before God, God's attitude towards humanity, Hegel's theology, truth as subjectivity, and nationalism. Podmore also considers Kierkegaard's...
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Did God Command Genocide? Old Testament Violence & "The Crucifixion of the Warrior God" with Greg Boyd
Dr. Gregory Boyd offers his original interpretation of passages in the Old Testament attributing violence to Yahweh. We cover the centrality of Christ and the cross, different approaches to OT violence, literary crucifixes, divine accommodation, the masks of God, Scripture as God-breathed, the...
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The Transforming Fire of God's Love: Scripture, Theology, & Application with Dr. John H. Armstrong
Dr. John Armstrong considers divine love in relation to Scripture, biblical narrative, theology, justice, incarnation, the cross, resurrection, and various misconceptions. We finish up with a look at how to experiencing God's love. I, Dennis, would love to hear from you. Leave a comment or email…
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Salvation Wars: Faith, Works, & Allegiance--Going Beyond Protestant & Catholic Views-- Matthew Bates
Dr. Matthew Bates challenges the soteriology (salvation) of Protestants and Catholics alike as he considers the definition of faith, different stages of salvation, the gospel, the content vs. the benefit of the gospel, Catholic and Protestant understandings of salvation, the Joint Declaration on...
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Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove on God, Life Together, Nonviolence, Formation, and Race
Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove is a spiritual writer, preacher, and community cultivator. He serves as Assistant Director for Partnerships and Fellowships at Yale University's Center for Public Theology and Public Policy. Jonathon lives with his family at the Rutba House, a house of hospitality in...
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Are Creation and Evolution Compatible? EVOLUTIONARY CREATION with Dr. Denis Lamoureux
Denis Lamoureux discusses biblical objections to evolutionary creation as well as scientific objections, particularly the fossil record and intermediate species. Dr. Lamoureux considers Genesis 1-3, young earth creation, progressive creation, deistic evolution, teleological and dysteleological...
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The Trinitarian Theology of Thomas F. Torrance with Dr. Paul Molnar
Dr. Paul Molnar considers such topics as homoousion, perichoresis, the filioque, immanent and economic trinity, Karl Barth, patriology, Christology, pneumatology, incarnation, logos asarkos, grace, nature, and Karl Rahner, liberation theology, and Chalcedonian Christology. I, Dennis, would love…
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Plantinga-Not the Way It's Supposed to Be/Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks Is the Key to Our Well-Being
Dr. Cornelius (Neal) Plantinga discusses sin as the "vandalism of shalom", corruption, perversion, and pollution in his book "Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin". We cover the cumulative effects of sin as well as its parasitic, deceptive, and hypocritical nature--especially as it...
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Desire and the Christian Life--A Theological Approach: "The Gift of Thorns" with Dr. A.J. Swoboda
Dr. A.J. Swoboda looks at desire from a theological perspective. Our discussion covers God's desire, human desire, Satan's desire, fleshly desire, undesired desire, ordering desire, duty and desire, and best practices as they relate to desire. I, Dennis, would love to hear from you. Please leave…
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The Question of Divine Omnipotence: Dr. Katherine Sonderegger’s Systematic Theology
Dr. Katherine Sonderegger discusses divine omnipotence in light of Scripture, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Barth, and process theologians. We look at omnipotence as it relates to God’s benevolence, theodicy, meticulous providence, sovereignty, God’s attributes, holiness, humility, weakness, the...
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Christian Personalist Ethics: More Than Things with Dr. Paul Louis Metzger
Dr. Paul Metzger explains the nature and place of personalist ethics from a Christian perspective. We discuss his understanding of a person, his categories of faith and entangled ethics, hope and eschatological ethics, and love and embodied ethics as well as his metaphysical and methodological...
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Michael J. Gorman's Big NT Theological Ideas: Resurrectional Cruciformity, Missional Theosis, & More
New Testament Scholar Dr. Michael J. Gorman explains his views on significant theological concepts: Paul's narrative spirituality and narrative soteriology, kenosis, justification by co-crucifixion, participating in Christ, resurrectional cruciformity, missional theosis, early Christian ethics,...
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Atonement Theology, Theories, and Models with Dr. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
Dr. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen discusses the atonement in relation to soteriology and reconciliation as well as the concepts of theory, model, and metaphor. We cover Christus Victor, recapitulation, ransom, satisfaction, moral example, and penal substitution models. Kärkkäinen then focuses on the...
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Dr. Alister McGrath--Christian Apologetics: An Introduction--Why Believe in God?
With three doctorates from Oxford and over 50 books to his credit, Dr. Alister McGrath is well-equipped to discuss apologetics including core elements, the inference to the best explanation, Dawkins' demand for a proof, and points of contact including a sense of longing, the beauty of the world,...
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Liberating Those on the Margins: "The Beautiful Gate" with Dr. Bob Ekblad
Bob Ekblad discusses the nature of his ministry to the marginalized, his philosophy of ministry, the theology of the cross, the "outside the gate" concept, the biblical "powers", the church as resisting community, and several stories where he put his faith into action. I, Dennis, would love to…
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Bonhoeffer: Pacifist or Conspirator Against Hitler? Discipleship in a World of Nazis w/ Dr. Mark Nation
Dr. Mark Thiessen Nation discusses the historical orthodoxy which has Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer participating in some way at some level in a plot to assassinate Hitler. Nation challenges this reading of history, arguing that Bonhoeffer maintained his pacifism till the…
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What Should I Believe? ----Curveball: God and the Journey of Faith with Dr. Peter Enns
Dr. Peter Enns discusses his personal story, Wesley's quadrilateral, Rohr's tricycle, orthodoxy, OT biblical stories as something other than history, his critique of conservative biblical interpretation, C.S. Lewis and theosis, science and evolution, and near death experiences. I, Dennis, would...
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Persons: Nature, Thought, Feeling, Perception, Will, Origin: Joshua Rasmussen: Who Are You, Really?
Dr. Joshua Rasmussen discusses various lines of thought related to understanding the nature and origin of the human person. We look at inquiry in terms of introspection, reason, and the scientific method as well as feelings according to eliminativism, reductionism, non-reductive materialism, and...
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Can We Still Believe in God? Answering 10 Contemporary Challenges to Christianity w/ Craig Blomberg
Dr. Craig Blomberg discusses several possible objections to the Christian understanding of God from the perspective of a New Testament scholar. We cover suffering and evil in the world, the notion of hell, and the relationship between slavery, gender roles, and homosexuality. Dr. Blomberg also...
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Israeli-Palestinian War in Gaza: A Christian Perspective with Historical and Theological Background
Dr. Alain Epp Weaver discusses his 11 years in Israel-Palestine, ways not to talk about the conflict, the history of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian Christian experience and theology, Christian approaches to Judaism and Zionism, reasons behind October 7 attack, Israeli…
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Lost World of the Prophets w/ John Walton: Ancient Context, Prediction, Apocalyptic, Eschatology
Dr. John Walton covers prophecy as a subset of divination, Ancient Near Eastern background, prediction, covenant, message categories, message and fulfillment, messianic fulfillment, eschatology, and apocalyptic. I, Dennis, would love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected] Dr.…
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Colossians: Biblical Theology with Dr. Gregory K. Beale
Dr. G.K. Beale discusses OT echoes and allusions, the controversy over "fullness", the nature of the false teaching, food and holy days, "elemental spirits of the world", worship of angels, self-abasement, visions, grace and peace, Christ's supremacy, new creation, reconciliation, eschatological...
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Healing and Evangelism with Brian Blount: Putting Jesus on Display with Power and Love
Brian Blount tells his own story, discusses biblical directives and principles for power evangelism and healing, his look-listen-respond process, how he trains others, and gives amazing and compelling examples of his own ministry involving radical generosity, healings, evangelism, and salvations....
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The Bible Gender Debate: Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian with Dr. Michelle Lee-Barnewall
Dr. Michelle Lee-Barnewall discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both the egalitarian and complementarian views, third way alternatives, 19th and 20th century history of the issue, Scriptures, church, kingdom of God, ministry, marriage, equality, rights, inclusion, servant leadership, concept...
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The Apostle Paul: Voices & Views of Scholars w/ Dr. Ben Witherington III--Pauline Theology & Studies
Dr. Ben Witherington covers Pauline scholarship including Rudolf Bultmann, Ernst Kasemann, Krister Stendhal, E.P. Sanders, the new perspective, covenantal nomism, James D.G. Dunn, "works of the law", William Campbell, N.T. Wright, pistous christou, apocalyptic reading, John Barclay, and Stephen...
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Pentecostals: World War I and Pacifism--Part 2 w/ Dr. Jay Beaman--(Nonviolence, Peace)
Dr. Jay Beaman, using resources from the WWI era including church creedal statements, books, magazines, newspaper stories, Bureau of Investigation records, and draft cards, sheds light on Pentecostals' practice of pacifism when the movement was brand new. We look at the movement of conscientious...
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The Letter to the EPHESIANS: Content and Theology with Dr. Lynn Cohick
Dr. Lynn Cohick discusses background information to the Letter to the Ephesians including authorship and the social and historical situation at Ephesus. We then dive into its core theology, the place of the Trinity, the explication of the gospel, “faith in Christ” vs. the “faithfulness of…
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The Theology of 1 Corinthians with Dr. Kimlyn Bender
Dr. Kimlyn Bender discusses theological Bible commentaries, the theology of 1 Corinthians, Paul's problems in Corinth, apostolicity vs. giftedness, holiness, divisions in the church, the cross, weakness, power, foolishness, wisdom, sexuality, the Lord's Supper, women's head coverings, the gospel,...
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Pentecostals: Pacifism, War, and Peace--Part 1 w/ Dr. Jay Beaman--(Nonviolence)
Dr. Jay Beaman explores early Holiness and Pentecostal churches and their very significant pacifist orientation. We consider the reasons for pacifism, how it was propagated, how widespread it was, and how it was practiced sacrificially during WWI with many going to prison rather than war. Beaman...
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The Thomas Drake Story: Whistleblowing, NSA Mass Surveillance, & Governmental Waste, Fraud, & Abuse
Tom Drake tells his story from inside the NSA as a senior executive, blowing the whistle on corruption, and his struggle to defend himself against the prosecution delivered by the Department of Justice. We then discuss his activism since then, the nature of government surveillance before and…
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The Moral Argument for God's Existence: Dr. Douglas Groothuis and Christian Apologetics
Dr. Douglas Groothuis discusses the cultural and individual varieties of ethical relativism, the dependency and diversity theses, "which culture decides morality?", moral progress and tolerance, the argument from damnation, nihilism, Max Stirner, non-dualistic pantheism and the two truths theory....
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Political Theology with William Cavanaugh---Migrations of the Holy: God, The State and the Church
Dr. William Cavanaugh explores the nation-state, the common good, unity, pluralism, subsidiarity, identity, mobility, and globalization. We then consider the U.S. as a messianic nation, state disciplinary power, the liturgy of state and church, the church as a political body, the visibility of…
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Old Testament CONTROVERSIES: Evolution, Genocide, Homosexuality & Historicity w/ Dr. Tremper Longman
Dr. Longman discusses the creation story in terms of genre, interpretation, theology, history, science, evolution, and Adam's historicity. We then cover the historicity of the exodus and conquest in regard to various views, genre, interpretation, and archeology. We then move onto OT violence,...
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A Case for the Soul Against Materialism: with Dr. Joshua Farris
Dr. Joshua Farris discusses the existence, nature, and origin of the human soul. We consider materialism, human experience and reason, neuroscience, and veridical near death experiences. Farris also examines neo-Cartesianism, substance dualism, and origin theories including materialism,...
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Historical Jesus Research with Dr. Darrell L. Bock (The Historical Jesus: 5 Views)
Dr. Darrell Bock considers the definition, purpose, and history of historical Jesus studies, relationship to apologetics, methods and sources, criteria of authenticity, various contemporary views, and the authority of Scripture. We take a look at seven biblical situations and discuss how they...
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Jesus on the Holy Spirit: An Unconventional God & 7 Secrets of the Spirit-Filled Life: Dr. Jack Levison
Dr. Jack Levison discusses the Holy Spirit according to Jesus, the Spirit’s involvement in the birth narratives of Jesus and John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ baptism and temptation, and how the Holy Spirit is related to Jesus’ teaching, preaching, exorcism, and training of his...
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8 Models of Evangelism: Personal, Liturgical, Prophetic and More with Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison
Priscilla Pope-Levison covers definitions of evangelism and the gospel, the biblical basis for evangelism, plus eight core models of evangelism: personal, small group, visitation, liturgical, church growth, prophetic, revival and media. Dr. Pope-Levison also looks at five qualities of evangelism:...
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The Gospel of Luke with Dr. Nicholas Perrin: Theology, Ethics, Background, and Eschatology
Nicholas Perrin discusses the Gospel of Luke including purpose, audience, social-historical situation, use of the OT, birth narratives, the kingdom of God, political conflict, and conflict with the Jewish religious system. Our talk continues with the socially marginalized, the Sermon on the…
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America's Book: The Bible and 19th Century United States History (1794-1911) with Dr. Mark A. Noll
Dr. Mark A. Noll starts with 1794 and the aftermath of the founding of the United States. Dr. Noll considers Thomas Paine’s works, proprietary and sectarian churches, and the role of Asbury and the Methodists. We discuss how America saw itself as a Hebrew republic, the African-American…
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Are the Gospels Historically Reliable? with Michael Jones from Inspiring Philosophy
Michael Jones makes a case for the historical reliability of the gospels as we consider the genre of ancient biography, eyewitness testimony, Aramaic sources, oral tradition, anonymity and authorship, dating, alleged textual corruption, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the messiahship and...
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Theology, spiritualty, ethics, culture, history, and related pursuits
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dennisrmetzler
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