Currents in Religion

In today’s episode, I am joined by Mark Giszczak(Geese-check) to speak about his book Perpetual Fire: Temple, Ritual, and Biblical Theology with Baylor University Press. Levitical law commands the priests to keep a fireperpetually burning on the altar of sacrifice. Why? This book seeks to answer this question by first exploring the ritual meaning of the perpetuity of the fire on the altar, and the...

In today’s episode, I am joined by Darren Middleton from theBaylor Religion Department to discuss his book Rastafari and the Arts . Drawing on literary, musical, and visual representations ofand by Rastafari, Darren J. N. Middleton provides an introduction to Rasta through the arts, broadly conceived. The religious underpinnings of the Rasta movement are often overshadowed by Rasta’s association w...

In today’s episode, Claire is joined by Tyshawn Gardner to discuss his Baylor University Press book I Heard the Preaching of the Elder . Kelly Miller Smith, Sr. is noted as preacher extraordinaire,civil rights leader, theology professor and assistant dean, and pastor. Born and raised in the all-Black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Smith stands apart as one of only twelve African Americans to de...

Welcome to Season 12! In this episode, Claire is speaking with Philip Jenkins about hisnew book through Baylor University Press, American Empire, American Faith: Conquest, Christianity, and the Shaping of a Nation . The subject of empire and empires is now one of the mostactive fields of historical writing, and that is especially true in the context of religion. Throughout history, religions and r...

In today’s episode, Claire meets with Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell to talk about his book Justo L. Gonzalez: Missionary of Hispanic Theology in the United States . Two of celebrated Hispanic theologian Justo L. González’s major works,   The Story of Christianity  and   A History of Christian Thought , continue to be used as primary textbooks in undergraduate and seminary programs throughout the Unit...

In today’s episode, I am speaking to Alicia Myers about herarticle titled “Jesus’ Apotropaic Theophany: Guarding and Sanctifying Believers in John’s Gospel.” It speaks about how Jesus makes God’s presence available in his physical form. While Jesus’ physical protection is apotropaic, there is asuperior protection that comes after Jesus’ death and resurrection through the gift of the Holy Spirit. T...

In today's episode, Claire meets with Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias to discuss their book, Reading the Bible on Turtle Island , and North American Indigenous lenses for interpreting the Bible. In Reading the Bible on Turtle Island, Indigenous scholars Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias explore what it means to read the Bible from the lens of Indigenous peoples in North America. Explor...

In today’s episode, Claire is speaking with Dr. Ashley Moyseabout his book Resourcing Hope for Ageing and Dying in a Broken World Wayfaring Through Despair which came out in 2024.  For those captive to the broken world of late modernity,wherein ageing and dying persons become vulnerable to despair, this book offers a diagnostic of such despair. It also resources the practices of a realistic, human...

In today's episode, Claire is joined by Dr. Briana Wong Smoak to discuss the “civilizing mission” associated with French Catholic missionary activity in West Africa through the often-obscured experiences of Indigenous midwives who worked within, alongside, and sometimes beyond the mission of Francis Aupiais. Briana Wong Smoak started at Baylor as a Lecturer in the World Religions area in Augus...

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 th...

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. C...

Today's guest host is Joao Chavez and he speaks with BSIR scholars Paul Fiddes and Raimundo Baarreto on everyday christianity with global voices. João B. Chaves joined the Department of Religion at Baylor University in the fall semester of 2023. His research focuses on the history of religion in the Américas, the influence of U.S. Protestantism in Latin America, and the development of Latin Am...

In today’s episode, Claire is joined by Bruce Chilton to discuss his book Aramaic Jesus with Baylor University Press. Bruce Chilton’s  Aramaic Jesus  is a groundbreaking study in pursuit of this "Aramaic Jesus," a pursuit that requires awareness of the kind of Aramaic in play. In the past, sorting out dialects and types of Aramaic relied on sources composed well after the time of the New...

In today’s episode, I am joined by Eric H. Cline, an archaeologist and ancient historian at George Washington University. He speaks about the time of innovation and change that comes as the Bronze Age collapses and the Iron Age emerges in his book After 1177BC: The Survival of Civilizations . At the end of the acclaimed history  1177 B.C. , many of the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean a...

In today’s episode, Claire is joined by Ruben Buhner to talkabout his book Negotiating Jewishness: Paul's Ethnicity Between Continuity and Discontinuity . The assertion that Paul remained a Jew throughout his liferequires little further justification. However, questions remain, including: How can his relationship with Judaism be positively articulated? How was that relationship influenced by P...

In today’s episode, I am speaking with James "Jim" Nogalski and Mark Biddle about their book Murder in the Tidwell Building . This is a rare treat for us as one of our very own Baylor Religion professors has written a crime novel set in the Religion Department’s building. A skeleton is found in 2020 in Waco, Texas, on the campus ofBaylor University during the renovation of the Tidwell Bi...

According to some of the most influential thinkers of the modern era, it is madness to subordinate all one’s aims to one end. Such thinkers believe that the church in particular should limit itself to matters of religion, spirituality, and moral values, but in other areas of life submit itself to modern society. Madness, Theocracy, and Anarchism contends instead that the church should refuse to mi...

In this week's episode, Claire is joined by Elizabeth Backfish and Cynthia Shafer-Elliott to discuss their book  Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context That Formed Ancient Israel . This book combines archaeology and theology to better understand the everyday life of ancient Israelites and how it shaped their relationship with God. Congratulations Dr. Shafer-Ellio...

In this conversation, Gillian Chu, an assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, shares her journey from a career in accounting to academia, focusing on Hong Kong Christianity. She discusses her experiences at the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable, the global perspective of Hong Kong Christianity, and her research on migration and family dynamics. GIllian emphasizes the role of t...

What if our well-intentioned efforts to promote mental health inadvertently perpetuate systems that cause mental unwellness? What if the resilience we encourage only equips individuals to  endure  rather than  challenge  structures detrimental to their well-being? Why do mental health experiences vary so drastically across cultures, with Western societies seemingly posing the greatest challenges f...

In today's episode, Philip Ziegler joins the podcast to talk about his new Baylor Press book  God's Adversary and Ours . Ziegler leads us on a cautious but determined biblical-theological exploration of the identity, ontology, and agency of "that old serpent," the Enemy, whose image becomes most discernible and salient in direct contact with the person and work of the Savior. Fix...

In this conversation, Beverly and Jamie discuss their new books, exploring themes of Pauline theology, the concept of 'theology on the run', and the interplay between apocalyptic and pastoral elements in Paul's letters. They delve into the cosmic implications of sin, death, and God's glory, emphasizing the transformative power of the gospel and its relevance to contemporary issues....

In this episode of Currents in Religion, a panel of graduate students from Baylor University shares their experiences and insights on applying to PhD programs and navigating graduate school. They discuss the importance of organization, seeking advice, handling rejections, and the emotional support needed throughout the process. The conversation also highlights the excitement of interviews, the cha...

When applying to different PhD programs, prospectivestudents will hopefully make it to the interview process at multiple schools. While each school has its own procedure, Baylor’s Religion Graduate School hosts Preview Weekend. In today’s episode, Michelle Hunt and Madde Ely join me to talk about Preview Weekend, what to expect, and more. Michelle Hunt is a doctoral candidate in the Religion Depar...

Are you applying to PhD programs but not sure where to start? In today's episode, Susan Benton joins Claire to talk about choosing schools, the statement of purpose, and more to help you prepare for the PhD process. Susan E. Benton joined the faculty in Religion in Fall 2023 as a Lecturer and member of the Ministry Guidance team. Susan’s recent research focuses on examining inscriptions featur...