The Two Cities

In this episode we talk about the presentations we gave at the 2024 SBL & AAR conferences in San Diego and reflect on some of our highlights. We also took the mic around the book stalls for short interviews with various people, including: Prof. Steve Walton, Dr. Andy Judd, Dr. Holly Beers, Dr. Joshua Mobley, Dr. Jonathan Lett, Hakeem Bradley, Dr. Melissa Tan, Victoria Nay, Michael Thompson, an...

This episode is a Live recording with audience of a discussion about genre with Professor Jeannine Brown and Dr. Andy Judd. The event was sponsored by Bethel Seminary, Ridley College (Melbourne), and The Two Cities podcast. Following up on our episodes on genre with each of them, we answer audience questions and dig deeper into the topic. Professor Jeannine Brown is David Price Professor of Biblic...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Sydney Tooth, who is Director of Postgraduate Studies & Lecturer in New Testament and Greek at Oak Hill College in the UK, a beloved co-host of this here Two Cities podcast, and the author of the book that we’re excited to discuss in this episode, Suddenness and Signs: The Eschatologies of 1 and 2 Thessalonians (published by Mohr Siebeck). Over the course of...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Jesse Nickel, who is a member of the Faculty of Biblical Studies at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, British Columbia and the author of the new book, A Revolutionary Jesus: Violence and Peacemaking in the Kingdom of God (published by Fortress). Over the course of our conversation, we talk about Jesus’s non-violent kingdom and his call to peacemaking, noting...

In this episode we’re joined by Kaitlyn Schiess, who is a Doctoral Student at Duke Divinity School, the Co-host of the Holy Post podcast and host of the Curiously Kaitlyn podcast, and the author of The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Her (published by Brazos). Over the course of our conversation, Kaitlyn shares with us how she’...

In this episode we react in real time to the results of the US Elections at the end of Election Day on November 5th. We use this time to debrief openly and honestly, as well as pray and read Scripture together as we reflect on what the results mean for us, for America, and for the Church. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Adishian, Dr. John Anthony Dun...

In this episode we’re joined by Professor Sam Perry, who is Sam K. Viersen Presidential Professor at the University of Oklahoma is the Department of Sociology and the author of several books, including two on the topic of Christian Nationalism, Taking America Back for God  (with Andrew Whitehead, published by Oxford University Press), and  The Flag and the Cross  (with Philip Gorski...

 In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Yii-Jan Lin, who is Associate Professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School and the author of the forthcoming book,   Immigration and Apocalypse: How the Book of Revelation Shaped American Immigration (with Yale University Press). Over the course of our conversation we discuss the conflation of America with the New Jerusalem in political rhetoric...

In this episode we’re talking about Preaching and Politics with Professor Matthew Kim and Dr. Paul Hoffman. Professor Matthew Kim is Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Leadership and the Holder of the George W. Truett Endowed Chair in Preaching and Evangelism at Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University, and Dr. Paul Hoffman is lead pastor of Evangelical Friends Church in Newport, Rhode Is...

In this episode we’re joined by Rev. Dr. N. Gray Sutanto, who is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, and the author or editor of several books on Neo-Calvinism and the theology of the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck, including translating into English some of his previously untranslated works. Over the course of our conversation we talk ab...

In this episode, we're joined by Br. Christian Matson, Ph. D., who is a Hermit in the Catholic Diocese of Lexington and the director of a theatre company focused on suicide prevention called Earendel Theatricals (earendelonstage.com). Over the course of our conversation, Br. Matson tells us about his unique journey to religious life, first as someone who converted from Protestantism to Catholicism...

In this episode we're joined by Rev. Dr. Isaac Augustine Morales, OP, who is Associate Professor of Theology at Providence College, an ordained Catholic priest, and a member of the Order of Preachers. Over the course of our conversation, Fr. Morales tells us about his journey in joining the Order of Preachers, what is distinct about the Dominican Order within the various branches of Religious Life...

Carrying on in our series on monasticism and religious orders, in this episode we’re joined by Br. John Baptist Santa Ana, who is a monk in the Benedictine Order at St Andrew’s Abbey in California, and a student at the University of Notre Dame studying Greek Patristics. Over the course of our conversation, Br. John Baptist talks with us about his personal journey into becoming a Benedictine monk,...

In this episode we’re joined by the Rev. Dr. Greg Peters, who is Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology in the Torrey Honors College of Biola University, an Anglican priest, and the author of several books on Monasticism, including The Monkhood of All Believers: The Monastic Foundation of Christian Spirituality (published by Baker) and The Story of Monasticism: Retrieving an Ancient Traditio...

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Crispin Fletcher-Louis, who is a Fellow at the University of Gloucestershire and the author of the book that we’re discussing in this episode, The Divine Heartset: Paul’s Philippians Christ Hymn, Metaphysical Affections, and Civic Virtues (published by Cascade). Over the course of our conversation, we talk about Dr. Fletcher-Louis’s massive volume on the Christ...

In this episode we’re joined by Professor Jeannine Brown, who is David Price Professor of Biblical Foundations at Bethel Seminary, a member of the NIV translation committee, and the author of a number of books on Hermeneutics and the Gospels as well as the book that we’re excited to discuss in this episode, Embedded Genres in the New Testament: Understanding Their Impact for Interpretation (publis...

In this episode we’re joined by Rev. Dr. Andrew Judd, who is Deputy Principal and Lecturer in Old Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia, and the author of the book we’re discussing in this episode, Modern Genre Theory: An Introduction for Biblical Studies (published by Zondervan Academic). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Judd talks with us about the weird ways that scholars...

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Valerie Hobbs (@vhobbs5), Senior Lecturer in the School of English at the University of Sheffield and author of No Love in War: A Story of Christian Nationalism (@MayflyBooks). In this episode we discuss Dr Hobb’s autoethnographic book about growing up in Christian Dominionism and the violence she witnessed and experienced, as well as the ways these ideologies c...

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Winn Collier (@winncollier), Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Christian Imagination and Director of the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary (@westernsem) and author of A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene Peterson (@authenticmedia). In this episode, we talk about the life of Eugene Pet...

In this episode we're joined by Lucy S. R. Austen (@LucySRAusten) writer, editor, and author of the biography Elisabeth Elliot: A Life (@crossway). Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the process of biography writing and how one seeks to tell the story of a complex and influential person like Elisabeth Elliot. We explore the various cultural and relational influences on Elliot’s life a...

CW: suicide and mental health In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Charles Marsh, Commonwealth Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Project on Lived Theology (@LivedTheology) at the University of Virginia and author of Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (@AAKnopf) and Evangelical Anxiety: A Memoir (@HarperOneBooks). In this conversation we discuss the art of life-writing, e...

In this episode we’re joined by Jeremiah Gibson and Julia Postema, licensed psychotherapists and certified sex therapists based in Utrecht, The Netherlands, hosts a podcast called Sexvangelicals. As we talk about in our discussion with them, their specialization as therapists is helping couples coming out of negative religious backgrounds. In our conversation we talk about their perspective on top...

In this episode we’re joined by Prof. James McGrath, who is the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University and the author of the book that we’re discussing here, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist (published by Eerdmans). Over the course of our conversation, we talk about biographical details that we can glean about John the Baptist, whether and ho...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Scott Coley, who is Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University, and the author of the book we’re discussing in this episode: Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right (published by Eerdmans). Over the course of our conversation, we talk about the inner workings of the religious right and the kinds...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Sean McGever, who is Area Director for Young Life in Phoenix and teaches at Grand Canyon University, and who is the author of Ownership: The Evangelical Legacy of Slavery in Edwards, Wesley, and Whitefield (published by IVP). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. McGever informs us about the relationship that three prominent evangelists from the 18th century...