Currents in Religion

Today, we are bringing you a rerun from our very first season. Dr. Chaves' research is a strong reminder of the migration experience and how it shapes religious life.In this episode, Dr. João Chaves discusses what he learned from years of research on Brazuca Baptist churches, that is, Brazilian American Baptist churches. These congregations reveal the way the experience of migration shapes theology and religious life and raise questions for what the landscape of religious life in America might look going forward. This research is the topic of João's 2021 book with Baylor University Press, ⁠Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora⁠⁠João Chaves⁠ is Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Mission at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He earned his PhD from Baylor University's Department of Religion in 2017. Follow João on Twitter, @JoaoB_Chaves.

Enjoy this rerun from the Fall 2023 season! What an excellent episode.-------------------------Welcome to our Fall 2023 season! In this episode, Zen speaks with Amy Carr and Christine Helmer about their brand new Baylor University Press book ⁠Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice.⁠ Amy Carr is Professor of Religious Studies at Western Illinois University.Christine Helmer is Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Humanities at Northwestern University.Here's some of the book's blurb:Christians in the United States and around the world are politically polarized today, unable to speak to one another across deep divisions regarding urgent social issues. Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice addresses this dire reality by offering a theological framework for Christian justice-seeking. Amy Carr and Christine Helmer draw on Paul’s theology to center the idea of justification by faith in Christ as the primary ground of Christian belonging and community.This approach yields a theology of ordinary faith that resists the temptation to equate Christian identity with the performance of a heroic "here I stand" posture against moral and political positions felt to be inimical to a properly Christian life...Carr and Helmer articulate ways that justification by faith grounds Christian practices of affective listening and storytelling, even on the most contentious ethical questions today, with the hope that mutual conversation in and through the Beloved Community can get Christians who disagree oriented towards each other again for the good of the world.

In this episode, Zen speaks with Katherine Ellis about gettinga PhD in Baylor's Religion Department. We talk about the various stages of the program, from course work to dissertation. We talk about funding and what it's like to be at an R1 institution in Waco. Katherine also confirms that I am the most fun person in the Department. This episode will be of interest to prospective students who would like to know more about our doctoral program. If you still have questions, you can email the new host at [email protected] Ellis is an alumni from Baylor University's Religion Department. She has a Ph.D. in theology.

Are you applying to PhD programs in religion? Or thinking about it? This episode is for you.In this episode, Zen shares about the process for applying to Baylor's graduate program in religion. He speaks with current students, Lanie Walkup and Tyler Fulcher, and Carlos Cardoza-Orlandi, a graduate faculty member. They discuss how to write a strong application and how to survive the process.The episode also includes a promo for "The End of Civility" by Ryan Andrew Newson, a new book from Baylor University Press. Learn more here.