Critical Faith

Junior Member Julia Henderson joins the Critical Faith team to start a new series on philosophy as a spiritual exercise. In this series she'll be talking with folks about how philosophy, faith, and our everyday lives intersect with one another in meaningful ways. This first episode is a conversation with Junior Member, teacher, and coffee roaster Joe Watson about how he first got into philosophy,...

Back in the spring, we talked with Dr. Jeffrey Dudiak , ICS alum and Professor of Philosophy at The King's University in Edmonton, while he was enjoying a sabbatical. We walked, chapter by chapter, through some of the guiding questions of his short book Post-Truth? Facts and Faithfulness  (Currents in Reformational Thought Series, Wipf and Stock, 2022) and got a bit of a glimpse into his forthcomi...

In today's episode, Héctor Acero Ferrer recently spent some time in conversation with Executive Director of Shalem Mental Health Network, Jennifer Bowen . You'll hear them reflect on the shared history and institutional connections between the Institute for Christian Studies and Shalem, as well as on the topic of how to navigate difficult conversations. On the occasion of Shalem celebrating their...

In today's episode, we welcome new member of the Critical Faith team, Jimmy Ronald! Jimmy had a chance to chat with ICS Senior Member Bob Sweetman about some of his thoughts on tradition as authority or a "right place to start," story vs. argument, and some of the writing projects Bob has on the horizon. Have a listen to this and other episodes with Bob from the Critical Faith archive! *** Critica...

After an extended break, we're back! And we're planning to bring you some more regular content again in the new year. In today's episode, ICS President Ronald A. Kuipers talks with our guest Eric Van Giessen about their respective histories in the Christian Reformed Church and their responses to the CRC's recent synod vote to affirm the 2016 Human Sexuality Report. Along the way, they explore alte...

In this series finale, Andrew asks a handful of Critical Faith crew members, ICS Junior Members, alums, and colleagues to respond to the previous interviews in the series. So this episode features guest responses from Theoren Tolsma, Samir Gassanov, Abbi Hofstede, Kevin Huinink, Danielle Yett, Mark Standish, Hector Acero Ferrer, and Andrew himself. Thanks for following along as we thought -- and c...

How can Indigenous peoples and their histories not simply be seen as "additions" to society but rather help to transform its very structures? Recently, Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo joined Andrew to reflect on what the past year has brought to light for him about Indigenous experiences. Jonathan knows well the long work of truth-telling, open-hearted listening, and deep community transformation. He is a...

Our series on some of the challenges facing philosophy and faith in the wake of 2020 continues. Recently, Andrew was joined by Edith van der Boom , Associate Professor of Philosophy of Education and Practice of Pedagogy at ICS and the Director of MA-EL Program. Here, Edith shares some of her experiences both as a learner and a teacher working toward more inclusive and growth-oriented classroom env...

Rev. Dr. Cheri DiNovo, CM joins Andrew for the next instalment in our series on some of the challenges facing philosophy and Christian faith in the wake of 2020. Cheri is the author of the book Qu(e)erying Evangelism: Growing a Community from the Outside In  (Pilgrim Press, 2005) and, most recently, her memoir The Queer Evangelist: A Socialist Clergy's Radically Honest Tale  (Wilfrid Laurier Unive...

How can Christians learn to acknowledge abuses of power? Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins Andrew and ICS Junior Member cohost Abbi Hofstede for the next instalment in our series on some of the challenges facing philosophy and Christian faith in the wake of 2020. Kristin is the author of the provocative book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (Liveright,...

Our series on some of the challenges facing philosophy and Christian faith in the wake of 2020 continues! Today, Andrew is joined by The Magnificast  cohosts Dean Dettloff (ICS PhD candidate and sessional lecturer) and Matt Bernico (independent journalist and scholar in media, politics, and religion). Together, Matt and Dean offer a constructive critique of Christianity and politics, inviting us t...

We’re embarking on a new series about some of the challenges facing philosophy and Christian faith in the wake of 2020. Today, series host Andrew Tebbutt starts close to home with guests Ronald A. Kuipers (Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Director of the CPRSE, and President of ICS) and Gideon Strauss (Associate Professor of Worldview Studies and Academic Dean at ICS). Together they...

Can the Bible continue to speak to us today? In this final episode of our series on reading the Bible with ICS Senior Member in theology Nik Ansell , special guest Mike Wagenman joins us to ask Nik some lingering questions. Join us as we dig deeper into a consideration of Genesis 1 and evolution, the ramifications of fear and possibilities of wisdom, the pursuit of friendship with God in Job, and...

How is our agenda for theology related to our gender? This is the third episode in our series on reading the Bible with ICS Senior Member in theology Nik Ansell . This week, Danielle invites Nik to explore in more detail some of the topics of one of his current courses, God/Sex/Word/Flesh. So have a listen to dig deeper into some of the implications our embodiment, gender, and sexualities have on...

"For freedom Christ has set us free..." but what is freedom for?  We're continuing our series on reading the Bible with ICS Senior Member in theology Nik Ansell . So for the next few weeks, we'll keep tackling some hot topics and burning questions. This week, Héctor joins Nik to discern some dynamics of law and liberation in the Bible, and to consider the stakes of freedom.  If you're keen to see...

In the beginning... where to begin? We're excited here at Critical Faith to begin a new year with a new series on reading the Bible with resident ICS Senior Member in theology Nik Ansell . For the next few weeks, we'll tackle some hot topics and burning questions. We pack a lot into this episode, all by first asking the vital question: How do we even start? If you're keen to see the Bible in a new...

Want a better grasp of what the giant of capitalism means? This winter semester, Dr. Michael DeMoor (Associate Professor of Social Philosophy in Politics, History, and Economics at The King's University and cross-appointed faculty at ICS) and Samir Gassanov (ICS PhD student) will be co-teaching a course called Capitalism(s) in the West: Intellectual History, Core Institutions, and Architectonic Cr...

Dr. Andrew Tebbutt , ICS sessional lecturer and Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Centre for Philosophy, Religion, and Social Ethics joins us to talk existential phenomenology and to tell us more about the course he'll be teaching this winter called Body, Language, Power: The Question of the Human in 20th Century French Philosophy . Starting January 13, the course will meet virtually every We...

We're back with a new season of Critical Faith! Before we dive into our new content for this season, we have one more Fall course you're going to want to check out. Today, Dean Dettloff , sessional lecturer and ICS PhD candidate, and CPRSE Associate Director Hector Acero Ferrer join us to talk about Dean's upcoming online 6-week intensive course on liberation theology called God of Solidarity: Lib...

Summer's nearly over and we have one more fall course to feature on the podcast before the semester begins in mid-September! Today,  Rebekah Smick , Senior Member in Philosophy of Arts & Culture, joins us to talk about her course  The Aesthetics of Compassion  which reflects on the place of compassion in Western philosophy, theology, and art. Starting September 17, the course will meet virtually t...

As we start gearing up for the start of the semester at ICS, we're spending a few weeks with some of our Senior Members as they prepare for their upcoming online courses in the fall. So for this episode, we welcomed Bob Sweetman , ICS Senior Member in history of philosophy, back onto the podcast to talk about his latest course offering starting in September: Nietzsche, Foucault, and the Genealogic...

As summer draws to a close and we start gearing up for the start of the semester at ICS, we're going to spend a few weeks with some of our Senior Members as they prepare for their upcoming online courses in the fall.   Today, we're welcoming Nik Ansell , ICS Senior Member in theology, back onto the podcast to talk about one of the two courses he'll be teaching online. On Monday evenings, he’ll be...

ICS recently hired Dr. Edith van der Boom as the new Senior Member in Philosophy of Education and Practice of Pedagogy and as the Director of the MA (Phil) in Educational Leadership Program . So we invited Edith onto the podcast to introduce herself and give us an idea of some of her hopes and plans for the MA-EL program and its students.  For more about Edith and the MA-EL program, visit  www.ics...

We're announcing a recent change the next upcoming course ICS is offering for our  Summer Online Learning Initiative : In light of the ongoing anti-racism protests taking place around the world and the growing outcry against targeted police brutality, ICS Junior Member  Dean Dettloff  will be offering an updated intensive version of his course  Set the Prisoners Free: Christianity and Prison Aboli...

Here at ICS, we're embarking on a Summer Online Learning Initiative , which means we have a number of exciting new courses in the works for the next few months. So we wanted to give you a sneak peek at these courses with the people involved in making them happen. This week, Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin joins us remotely for a conversation about her upcoming course  Faith in Art: Spirituality and Liv...