The Two Cities

In this episode we're kicking off a Summer series on Jesus films! Today we're joined by Matthew Page to talk about his new book, 100 Bible Films (published by The British Film Institute with Bloomsbury). In our conversation, Matthew talks about the history of movies according to Bible films. He highlights the ways that Bible films can teach us about cinema more broadly rather than strictly about t...

In this episode we discuss the legacy of the famous German resource of Rabbinic parallels to the New Testament, referred to often as Strack-Billerbeck. For this we’re joined by Jacob Cerone, who is a doctoral candidate at the Friedrich Alexander Universität, in Erlagen, Germany, and General Editor and one of translators of the English translation of Strack-Billerbeck (published by Lexham Press). I...

In this episode we discuss the relevance of empire criticism for understanding Paul’s letter to the Ephesians with Dr. Justin Winzenburg, who is Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek, and the Director of the Honors Program at Crown College (St. Bonafacious, Minnesota). Dr. Winzenburg is also the author of the forthcoming volume that we discuss in this episode, Ephesians and Empire (Mohr S...

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Matthew Novenson, who is Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Edinburgh, to talk about his new book, which is a collection of essays on Paul’s writings, entitled, Paul, Then and Now (published by Eerdmans). Dr. Novenson explains that this collection is meant to be more meta, considering the way we approach Paul hermeneutically. As part of this p...

In this episode we debrief a recent conference on socio-scientific approaches to religious enmity that Dr. Chris Porter organized at Trinity College, Melbourne. For this conversation we are joined by two keynote speakers from the conference: Dr. Sam Perry, who is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma, and Dr. Elizabeth Shively, who is Senior Lecturer in N...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Dennis Edwards to talk about the interpretation of Philemon. Dr. Edwards is Associate Professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, and the author of Might from the Margins: The Gospel’s Power to Turn the Tables on Injustice (Herald Press) with a forthcoming book on humility coming out soon. In our conversation, Dr. Edwards talks abou...

In this episode we’re talking about Trauma Studies and the Gospel of John with Dr. Cory Marsh, who is Professor of New Testament at Southern California Seminary and the Director of SCS Press. Dr. Marsh recently completed a PhD thesis at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary entitled, “In This World You Have Affliction: A Johannine Theology of Christian Suffering” and has a forthcoming article in...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Karen Swallow Prior to discuss Reading and Reflecting on the Classics. Dr. Karen Swallow Prior is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the host or Jesus and Jane Austen, and the editor of a series that we’re discussing today, which provide critical introductions to classic texts called Guides fo...

In this episode we’re once more talking about the new book, Theology and Black Mirror (published by Lexington and Fortress Academic, imprints of Rowman & Littlefield), that was edited by team members from The Two Cities podcast, Dr. Amber Bowen and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Joining us for this conversation are four additional contributors to the volume, who each discuss what they would like to s...

In this episode we’re talking about the new book, Theology and Black Mirror (published by Lexington and Fortress Academic—imprints of Rowman & Littlefield), that was edited by team members from The Two Cities podcast, Dr. Amber Bowen and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Joining us for this conversation on our favorite technological dystopian show on Netflix are four contributors to the volume, who each...

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim to talk about the Invisibility of Asian American Women. Dr. Kim is Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion and the author of Invisible: Theology and Experience of Asian American Women (published by Fortress Press). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Kim explains that the concept of invisibility gets at the marginalization that...

(CW: Sensitive Themes). In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Karen O’Donnell to talk about Theology and Reproductive Loss. Dr. O'Donnell is Program Leader for Contemporary Spirituality Studies at Sarum College and the author of The Dark Womb: Re-Conceiving Theology Through Reproductive Loss (published by SCM Press). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. O’Donnell explains how important it is to...

(CW: Sexual Content). In this episode we are joined again by Sheila Wray Gregoire, the author of The Great Sex Rescue , to talk about her two newest books, The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex and The Good Guy’s Guide to Great Sex (both published by Zondervan). In our conversation, Sheila explains why she was motivated to revise her Good Girl’s Guide from ten years ago, and why she wanted to add a c...

In this episode we’re joined by Aimee Byrd for the fourth time to discuss her newest book, The Sexual Reformation: Restoring the Dignity and Personhood of Man and Woman (published by Zondervan). Over the course of the conversation we talk about how the core ideas of Aimee’s new book stem from her reading of the Song of Songs, which she interprets in a typological fashion akin to various readings o...

In the final episode of our Christian Anti-Judaism series (which began with our introductory episode [Episode #106] on 02/02/2022), we turn to discuss Jewish-Christian relations and interfaith dialogue with Larry Behrendt, who is an attorney and treasurer at his synagogue, having been involved in inter-religious dialogue for over ten years, and Dr. Anthony Le Donne, who is professor of New Testame...

In the penultimate episode of our Christian Anti-Judaism series, we turn to discuss Christian theology in the wake of the Holocaust and the Shoah with Rev. Dr. Mark Lindsay, who is Joan F. W. Munro Professor of Historical Theology at Trinity College, Melbourne, and an Anglican Priest in the diocese of Melbourne. In our conversation, Rev. Dr. Lindsay begins with the determination at the Second Vati...

In this episode of our Christian Anti-Judaism series we have another discussion on supersessionism, following last week’s look at supersessionism in Paul. For this conversation we turn to Hebrews with Dr. Madison Pierce, who is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the author of Divine Discourse in the Epistle to the Hebrews: The Recontextualization of Spo...

In this episode of our Christian Anti-Judaism series, we take a closer look at supersessionism. Specifically, we discuss whether Paul was a supersessionist with Dr. J. Brian Tucker, who is Dean of Faculty and Professor of New Testament at the Plymouth campus of Moody Theological Seminary (Michigan), and the author of Reading Romans After Supersessionism (published by Cascade). In our conversation,...

In this episode of our Anti-Judaism series we turn to discuss the nature and purpose of Israel’s election. Specifically, we discuss how this may have been understood by the Apostle Paul relative to the kinds of understandings that we find in the Hebrew Bible. Joining us for this conversation we have Dr. Joel Kaminsky, who is Morningstar Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion at Smit...

Joining us for a conversation on Anti-Judaism and the Gospel of John, we are joined by Professor Adele Reinhartz, who is Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. She is also the general editor of the journal of biblical literature, the president of the Society of Biblical Literature, and the author of a number of studies on the representation of Je...

Carrying on with our Christian Anti-Judaism series, we discuss the early reception of John the Baptist as a key figure for the “parting of the ways” between Christianity and Judaism. Joining us for this discussion is Dr. Nathan Shedd, who is the author of A Dangerous Parting: The Beheading of John the Baptist in Early Christian Memory (published by Baylor University Press). In our conversation, Dr...

As we close out Black History Month, we wanted to highlight how the topic of our present series on Anti-Judaism intersects with Anti-Blackness. Joining us for this conversation is Liz Loeb, who completed a PhD in Law and Society from NYU, worked as a Civil Rights Attorney, and is presently a Community Organizer for an interfaith organization called Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light. Speaking fr...

In the second installment of our Christian Anti-Judaism series we discuss the Pharisees with Prof. Amy-Jill Levine, who is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies and Jewish Studies at Hartford Seminary, as well as University Professor of New Testament Studies and Jewish Studies Emerita, Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita, and Professor of New T...

Kicking off our series on Christian Anti-Judaism, we are joined by Dr. Matthew Thiessen to discuss Jesus & Ritual Purity. Dr. Thiessen is Associate Professor of New Testament at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and the author of the book we’re discussing in this conversation, Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospel’s Portrayal of Ritual Impurity Within First Century Judaism (publish...

In this episode we kick off our brand-new series on Christian Anti-Judaism. Here we introduce the key topics of the conversation, and provide some context for why we regard this conversation as an ethical imperative for Christians, since our collective history is steeped in anti-Judaism. Along the way, we define some of the key terms, including anti-Judaism, which we distinguish from anti-Semitism...