The Two Cities

CW: generational trauma, genocide Dr. Karen O’Donnell is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Worship and Human Community at Westcott House at the Cambridge Theological Federation. She is the author of Broken Bodies and The Dark Womb , and the co-editor of Feminist Trauma Theologies and Bearing Witness . (Bonus note: Her co-editor is next week’s guest Katie Cross.) In this episode we explore trauma theol...

CW: domestic and family violence In this episode we explore an important source of trauma for many: family and insecure attachment. For this conversation we're joined by Aundi Kolber is a licensed professional counselor, and the author of ⁠⁠ Strong Like Water ⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠ Try Softer ⁠⁠ . Aundi defines attachment and we explore some typical attachment “styles.” We also talk about how secure attachment...

Revd Dr. Chuck Degroat is a licensed therapist, as well as a Professor of Pastoral Care and Christian Spirituality, and Executive Director and Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Western Theological Seminary . He is the author of many books, including When Narcissism Comes to Church , Leaving Egypt , and Toughest People to Love . In this episode we begin our series on “trauma” with an int...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Jeremiah Coogan, who is Assistant Professor of New Testament at the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University, and he’s a co-author of Encountering AI: Ethical and Anthropological Investigations which is a book-length special issue of the Journal of Moral Theology , which we discuss in this episode. Our conversation focuses on the contemporary matters...

In this episode we debrief our experiences in San Antonio for the 2023 annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). In the first half of the episode we talk about the papers that our team members presented, and then we shift to reflect on some of our major highlights from the conference. After our own comments and reflections conclude, we shift to our live recordings in the book sta...

Celebrating our 200th episode, we engage listener feedback with a variety of content, including: answers to your theological and practical questions, Logan singing in Hebrew, bloopers, and the new music that we will be using for the next 100 episodes. Cheers to you, and thanks for listening! Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthon...

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Fellipe do Vale, who is Department Chair & Assistant Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and he’s the author of Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds (published by Baker Academic). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. do Val...

CW: References to self-harm. In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Isaac T. Soon, who is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Crandall University in New Brunswick, and the author of A Disabled Apostle: Impairment and Disability in the Letters of Paul (published by Oxford University Press). Drawing upon the cultural model of disability, Dr. Soon explains that Paul likely had three kinds of dis...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Matthew Thiessen, who is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and he’s the author of the new book that we discuss in this episode, A Jewish Paul: The Messiah’s Herald to the Gentiles (published by Baker). Over the course of our discussion we talk about where the Paul within Judaism reading fits within other readin...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. J. Christopher Edwards, who is Professor of Religious Studies at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, to talk about his new book, Crucified: The Christian Invention of the Jewish Executioners of Jesus (published by Fortress Press). The present conversation addresses a very difficult topic, but an important one, about how early Christians came to blame the...

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Sean McGever, who is Area Director for Young Life in Arizona and an adjunct professor in theology at Grand Canyon University, to talk about his new book, Evangelism: For the Care of Souls (published by Lexham Press). Over the course of our conversation we talk about what is unique in a “care for souls” approach to evangelism over against other evangelistic meth...

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Tomas Bokedal, who is Lecturer in New Testament at University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and Associate Professor in New Testament at NLA University College (Bergen, Norway), and the author of the book that we discuss in this episode, Christ the Center: How the Rule of Faith, the Nomina Sacra, and Numerical Patterns Shape the Canon (published by Lexham Press). Over...

In this episode we’re talking about Artemis of the Ephesians with Dr. Sandra Glahn, who is Professor of Media Arts and Worship at Dallas Theological Seminary, and the author of the book that we’re excited to discuss on this episode, Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament (published by IVP). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Glahn talks with us about how...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Bryan Dyer, who is senior acquisitions editor at Baker Academic and the co-author with Stanley Porter of the book that we’re excited to discuss today— Origins of New TestamentChristology: An Introduction to the Traditions and Titles Applied to Jesus (published with Baker Academic). Over the course of our conversation, we discuss where this book fits within broad...

In this episode we’re joined by Professor Joshua Jipp to talk about PaulineTheology as a Way of Life. Professor Jipp is Professor of New Testament and Director of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL), and the author of the book that we’re excited to talk about in this episode, Pauline Theology as a Way of Life: A Vision of...

In this episode we are joined by Professor Kevin Hector, who is Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor of Theology and of the Philosophy of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School, to talk about his new book, Christianity as a Way of Life: A Systematic Theology (published by Yale University Press). Over the course of our conversation, Prof. Hector explains how his systematic theology i...

In this episode we are joined by Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne, who is priest-in-charge at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Mishawaka, Indiana, to talk about his new book, Josef Pieper on the Spiritual Life: Creation, Contemplation, and Human Flourishing (published by Notre Dame University Press). Rev. Dr. Warne explains that he came to the work of Pieper, a scholar of Thomas Aquinas, by way of his own res...

In this episode we give a joint review of the two Summer movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer. Over the course of our conversation we talk about the themes that emerge when the two ostensibly different films are juxtaposed and interpreted together, including: death, existential angst, technology, feminism, and power, and we have a lot of fun along the way. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities...

In this episode we’re closing out our short mini-series on Children's Bibles and Children's Books by chatting with Natasha Kennedy, who is a freelance designer, graphic novelist, and illustrator of the FatCat Series, and Dr. Todd Hains, who is Associate Publisher of Acquisitions and Development for Lexham Press at Faithlife, andauthor of the books in the FatCat Series. The FatCat Series is...

In this episode we talk with Dr. Brian Wright about the Children’s Book series on the Minor Prophets that he’s been helping to produce called God’s Daring Dozen (published by Christian Focus). Dr. Wright is a church-planting pastor in Pensacola, Florida of Redeemer Community Church, and he studied under Dr. Mike Bird at Ridley, College in Melbourne, Australia for his PhD in New Testament. In our c...

In this episode we talk about why it’s important to teach the Old Testament to children with Dr. Kaz Hayashi, who is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN) and Shelley Henning, who is the Co-founder and CEO of GrowFamily, which provides family resources for parents and church leaders, the Children’s Ministry Catalyst for the Reformed Church in America, and one of ou...

In this episode we talk with Dr. Chris Gooding about the process ofrehabilitating from human trafficking. Dr. Gooding is Assistant TeachingProfessor in the Theology Department at Marquette University, a member of the Mennonite Church USA, and the author of the new book that we discuss in this episode, Beyond Slavery: Christian Theology and Rehabilitation from Human Trafficking (published by Cascad...

In this episode we talk about the Bible really has to say about “biblical womanhood” with Dr. Philip Payne, who has served as a missionary, pastor, and professor in a number of settings, and is the author of several studies on the Bible’s teaching about women in ministry, including the new book that we discuss in this episode, The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: How God's Word Consistently Affir...

In this episode we’re joined by Zachary Wagner to talk about Non-Toxic Masculinity. Zach is editorial director for the Center for Pastor Theologians, a doctoral candidate in New Testament at the University of Oxford, and the author of the book that we discuss in this episode, Non-Toxic Masculinity: Recovering Healthy Male Sexuality (published byIVP). Over the course of our conversation, Zach expla...

In this episode some of our team members get together to talk about the new season of one of our favorite TV shows, Black Mirror. The newest season (season 6) of this dystopian anthology just came out on Netflix last month and we discuss it all here. We start with some quick thoughts on the new season as a whole, followed by discussion on each of the five episodes in order. At the very end of the...