Theology for Our Times

Willie James Jennings, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, joins Dr. Elise Edwards for a conversation about Dr. Jennings's Warfield Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary, which he delivered in March 2026 on the topic: Only Then Will We Build: Forming a Real Doctrine of Creation.

Lauren Jackson, a deputy editorial director at The New York Times and the founder and host of Believing, delves into what she has learned in her reporting on religion, spirituality and artificial intelligence over the past two years. She discusses A.I. as a spiritual technology — and explains how people are engaging with religious apps and chatbot chaplains. She also explores how chatbots are challenging what it means to be human, and why she believes the work of theologians and philosophers is even more urgent now.

Tom Greggs discusses the first volume of his three-volume account of the nature of the church, titled Dogmatic Ecclesiology. You can order the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Dogmatic-Ecclesiology-Priestly-Catholicity-Church/dp/0801097894

Peter Ochs and Joshua Mauldin demonstrate the practice of scriptural reasoning, before discussing its method and history.

Scriptural Reasoning is a form of interreligious engagement that emerged in the late 1990s, initially among Jewish and Christian scholars in the United Kingdom and soon expanding to include Muslim academics. Associated especially with luminaries such as Peter Ochs, David Ford, and CTI’s first director Daniel Hardy, the practice developed as a response to both the limits of purely theoretical dialogue and the realities of religious pluralism in contemporary societies. Rather than seeking consensus or doctrinal agreement, Scriptural Reasoning offers a disciplined, hospitable way for communities of faith to read their sacred texts together while remaining fully accountable to their own traditions.

Theology for Our Times is produced by the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey. On this inaugural episode of the show, host Joshua Mauldin interviews CTI's new Director, Tom Greggs. They discuss Tom's background, his theological influences, his vision for CTI, and much more.