TheoDisc Podcast

On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny chats with Prof John Walton about the BIG questions: Who are we and where did we come from? What happened at the beginning? And what is Genesis actually trying to tell us? This discussion unpacks the human condition, 'cultural rivers', and original sin, to name but a few of the themes that emerge when one has a chat with John Walton. Enjoy! SHOWNOTES John’s lates...

Beholding Christ with Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined by Dr Grace Hamman, who is an expert in medieval studies and recently published her first book, Jesus through Medieval Eyes, a fascinating look at how Christians in the Middle Ages viewed and depicted Jesus through art and literature, and what we can learn from them today. In thi...

On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined by Rev Dr Kate Coleman who, in her latest book, Metamorph, asks us to consider transformation at the heart of leadership as revealed in the Scriptures. What we mean by ‘results’ and ‘success’ can shift our priorities and result in leadership that can disconnect what we do from who we are. They had a conversation about healthy leadership that focuses on...

On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined again by Prof Scot McKnight who has written and taught extensively around the question: "What if we have got the Pharisees, and Jesus, wrong?" Scot argues that’s exactly what’s happened, and a more complete understanding of 1st Century Jewish tradition and culture contradicts much of what Christians have taught and believed about the Pharisees, shieldin...

On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined by political theologian, Dr Roger Haydon Mitchell, whose starting point when reading the gospels, or indeed the whole Bible, is in a joining together of politics and love. This episode highlights a number of current issues facing the church today, from talking politics at the dinner table to living our lives in a Christlike manner, and Roger certainly d...

Have we made spritual disciplines a lifehack? On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny's guest Kyle Strobel, invites us to consider that importing ancient practices of "spiritual formation" or "spritual disciplines" into our current cultural moment isn’t straightforward, and we need to be wary of the propensity in our time to market or refashion our spirituality into a cheaper, individualised, idealised...

On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined by Kyle Hughes, who has detailed a journey of discovery in his book, ‘How the Spirit Became God’, and we’ll be talking not just about the development of a doctrine, but about how our understanding of the Spirit affects our practice and our experience of being drawn into the very life of God. Our belief in the Holy Spirit as the divine third person of th...

A look at Kant, knowing God, and finding our identity The question ‘who are you?’ has a whole set of assumptions behind it, and if we see identity as a key issue for our time now, then Immanuel Kant’s influence provides some explanation for how we have gotten here. Our guide through this philosophical and theological journey is Peter Hartwig, our guest for this episode of TheoDisc. Peter teaches T...

In this episode of TheoDisc, Jennifer Powell-McNutt unpacks Mary Magdalene’s story and the way it has been told incorrectly, and helps us to see the powerful witness that she is to the resurrection of Jesus. Mary Magdalene is one of the most prominent figures in the gospel narratives, but is also one of the most misunderstood. Our perception of Mary’s character, story, and influence has often been...

On this episode of TheoDisc, Kenny talks with Sarah Shin and Shin Maeng about their new children’s book, ‘The Deliverer Has Come’ an advent story that takes the fulfilment of Israel’s story in Jesus’ birth seriously while communicating effectively to children. We’ll also touch on some of the wider issues of communicating biblical truth to children. We hope you enjoy this fascinating episode! Dr Sa...

Welcome to TheoDisc episode 46, where Kenny is joined by Danielle Strickland! She is the founder of Boundless Enterprise which has launched multiple creative exploits. She hosts 'The Right Side Up' Podcast, and is the author of multiple books including 'The Liberating Truth' and 'The Other Side of Hope'. You can find out more about Danielle at her website daniellestrickland.com In this episode we...

In this episode of TheoDisc Podcast we are looking at Old Testament Foundations for Worship with Dr Freddy Hedley. Often when we look at worship in the Old Testament, it can seem highly ritual, centred on external action, and more focussed on the inaccessibility of a holy God. There’s also a lot of blood which can be difficult to study. But Freddy contends that the foundation of worship in the Heb...

In episode 44 of TheoDisc, Kenny's guest is is Jack Levison, who has recently released a revised edition of his book Fresh Air. He brings some provocative questions to those of us who are charismatic, about the myriad of ways in which the scriptures describe spirit, both divine and human, and how we experience the work and presence of the Spirit of God in our lives. We hope this conversation will...

Welcome to this special edition of the TheoDisc podcast which was recorded live at the WTC residential in September 2024. Our Residential is a time when students from all of our Hubs around the UK and Northern Ireland gather together for a week of worship and learning, and we thought it would be fun to record an episode of TheoDisc with our student body as a live audience.  Our guest was Ben Black...

In episode 42 of TheoDisc, Kenny chats with AJ Swoboda about his own experiences and wisdom around the topic of 'Desire'. He is genuinely someone who has wrestled with these things and is eager to help others walk in healing and renewal. In his book, The Gift of Thorns, he helps us to see that desire is actually fundamental to our humanity as God created us. This issue is disordered desire that ne...

In episode 41 of TheoDisc, Kenny chats with Jared Michelson, who says that his journey into theological study not only saved his faith, but gave him tools with which to minister to people in the midst of the difficulties they face. Theological study made him a better pastor. It’s certainly what we believe at WTC where we aim to build up the church by equipping people for life work and ministry thr...

For this standalone TheoDisc episode, we are re-releasing a previous episode where Kenny and Lucy Peppiatt had a chat with Tim Mackie from  BibleProject a couple of years ago in Belfast. They found out more about his journey from being purely a biblical scholar, to gaining a deeper understanding of Systematic Theology and Christology, while looking at the early church fathers and mothers, and how...

In episode 40 of TheoDisc, Kenny chats with Dr Tamara Knudson about oaths and vows in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible), particularly in the stories of key women figures like Ruth, Hannah and Abigail. Tamara helps us understand the difference between an oath and a vow and how they hold profound and transformative potential as we recognise them in the Scriptural story. Show Notes Read Tamara’s thesi...

In episode 39 of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined by Rev Dr Dennis Edwards, who says humility has been misunderstood, manipulated or marginalised, such that it’s been hidden away in a dark corner. But in his book, Humility Illuminated, Dennis wants to recover the biblical roots of humility, its importance for the character of the church, and the way it can bring healing and unity. That is the topic of th...

In episode 38 of TheoDisc, Kenny chats with Dr Nijay Gupta, who would say that weirdness was actually what made the early church attractive. Nijay’s latest book, Strange Religion, talks about how the First Christians were weird, dangerous and compelling. They spoke about how understanding the way these Christians navigated their world with the message of the gospel can help us in our present time...

In episode 37 of TheoDisc, Kenny had a really insightful and helpful conversation with Terran Williams on Paul’s instruction in his first letter to Timothy, commonly translated in our English Bibles as ‘I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man’. They focussed in on what is happening in 1 Tim 2 concerning women teaching and leading in the church. We hope you find it helpful for...

In episode 36 of TheoDisc, Kenny is joined by Prof Murray Rae, and they address the question: "Why is the resurrection of Jesus important?" Murray works from the narrative of scripture to explore the ways the resurrection influences our understanding of Christ, salvation, the future, mission, the church, and the unfolding purpose of history. They discuss the proclamation, rather than the proving,...

In episode 35 of TheoDisc, Kenny chats with Dr Amy Brown Hughes about a topic that has often been left for Youth groups to discuss nervously - that’s the topic of Virginity. In her work in historical theology, Amy has explored the ways that, for the church, virginity has historically been about more than just sexual abstinence, but was a calling, an identification with Christ and the church, and a...

In episode 34 of TheoDisc, we ask the question: "Are there signs in the west that attitudes towards God and faith are shifting?" That’s the hope presented by our guest for this episode, Justin Brierley. Justin has been hosting and leading conversations for some time around Christian apologetics, inter-faith dialogue, theological debate, and the place of Christianity within western culture. Kenny a...

In episode 33 of Theodisc, we’re thinking about ‘kingdom’ as the overarching theme of the whole biblical story - this idea that if you step back and observe the entire sweep of the Scriptural narrative, the image of God as the coming king becomes evident. Kenny had a chat with Dr Stephen Dempster, who has just written a book called ‘The Return of the Kingdom: A Biblical Theology of God’s Reign’ an...