Knowing Faith

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley are joined by Dr. Ray Ortlund to talk about the reconciliation of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33.  Questions Covered in This Episode: Is this for real? After all of what Jacob has done, is this the reaction you expect from Esau? What’s going on here? Who steps up with nobility and virtue? Is this a pattern in the Bible? Is this typical brother behavior? Does a...

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley step into the ring to discuss the significance of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32.  Questions Covered in This Episode: What have you typically heard as a takeaway from this story? If this is God, is God not stronger than Jacob? (Genesis 32:25) What is the point of this? How does Jacob respond to this moment? Why does God ask Jacob for his name? How do...

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley continue their discussion on the book of Genesis by looking at chapters 27-32.   Questions Covered in This Episode: Jacob steals the blessing: Is this just a messy story or is there a hero and a villian? What is the blessing? Why is Jacob’s dream significant? So Jacob gets to Laban’s house to find a wife and he falls in love? Jacob begins to work for Laban a...

On this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss Genesis 23-26. This text wraps up the story of Sarah and Abraham, continues with the story of Isaac, and introduces Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau. Questions Covered in This Episode: In Genesis 23 we hear that Sarah dies… Is there significance in the place of Sarah’s tomb? What is Abraham's request in Genesis 24? Is the story at the well we...

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. James Hamilton to discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Specifically answering the question, did the Holy Spirit indwell Abraham? Questions Covered in This Episode: Did the Holy Spirit indwell Abraham? One of the roles of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is keeping God’s people. How were the people of the Old Testament kept if not for the power...

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley look at Genesis 21-22 to discuss the birth and sacrifice of Isaac. Questions Covered in This Episode: Is the Sara story a proto-Mary story? There is a sweet moment until the story is spoiled a bit by Sarah’s contempt isn’t it? How do we see the character of God in this story? How does God specifically care for Hagar? What is the significance of his treaty wi...

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. Gregg Allsion to discuss what the early church believed about creation. Questions Covered in This Episode: What was the early church asking about the doctrine of creation? How did God create? When did God create? What was God doing before creation? When were the angels created? What was the culture that the early church fathers were negotiating with as they discussed t...

In this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley are joined by Gavin Ortlund to discuss how we can benefit from theological triage. Questions Covered in This Episode: What is theological triage? What are some tangible benefits of theological triage? Can you give me an easy example of a situation where you see a failure on the part of the church or Christians to practice theological triage?...

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. Adam Howell to discuss Hebrew emphatic statements and how they can help us understand Genesis. Questions Covered in This Episode: How do Hebrew emphatic statements in the story of Abraham help us understand the concept of offspring in that story? Helpful Definitions: Meod (Hebrew): Very or exceedingly The Infinitive Absolute: A unique hebrew construction that takes an...

In this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley dive into Genesis 17-19 to discuss why Sarah laughs, a Christophany?, and what really happens at Sodom. Questions Covered in This Episode: So the Lord appears to Abraham and they begin a conversation about Sarah. This sounds like the beginning of Genesis 17, is this the same encounter from a different angle or is it a different event? Why is...

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. Don Whitney to talk about what Abraham’s prayer for Sodom teaches us about prayer. Questions Covered in This Episode: What does Abraham's prayer over Sodom show us about intercession? This kind of persistence in prayer, is that something that pesters God? Is it a distrust to continue to bring more specific requests to God? Does Abraham change God’s mind? Does intercess...

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley continue with the story of Abraham by taking a look at Genesis 16-17. Questions Covered in This Episode: So after God cuts covenant with Abraham, Abraham immediately starts behaving righteously right? Who is Hagar? Where has she come from? Are Abraham’s and Sarah’s actions wrong here? What are we to make from the angel's interaction with Hagar? Why can’t Ish...

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. Bruce Ware to discuss if Abraham changed God’s mind in Genesis 18.  Questions Covered in This Episode: When Abraham intercedes on behalf of Sodom in Genesis 18, does Abraham's prayer change God’s mind? What would we lose if prayer changed God’s mind? Guest Bio: Dr. Bruce A. Ware is T. Rupert and Lucille Coleman Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Th...

In this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley take a look at Genesis 15 and discuss the Lord’s covenant with Abraham. Questions Covered in This Episode: What does God tell Abraham he is going to do? What is Abraham's hang up with this? Let's talk about Genesis 15:6 “he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” What was the role of sacrifice in covenant ceremonies? Wh...

Kyle Worley is joined by Dr. Dominick Hernández to answer the question, “how does understanding levirate marriage help us understand the story of Judah and Tamar?” Gust Bio: Dr. Hernández currently serves as an assistant professor of Old Testament Interpretation and the Director of the Online Hispanic Program at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY).  Helpful Definitions: Levi...

What’s the big deal about Melchizedek? In this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley take a look at the events in Genesis 14 and discuss the significance of Melchizedek.  Questions Covered in This Episode: Is Genesis 14 the first time we start to realize that the nations, kingdoms, and rulers have multiplied? Why does Lot keep getting mentioned? How would you characterize Abraham’s actio...

Kyle interviews Dr. Hershel York from SBTS. Hershael has served as the 11th dean of Southern Seminary’s School of Theology since 2018, and as the Victor and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching since 1999. Since coming to Southern in 1997, York has authored two books on speaking and preaching and has written dozens of articles in journals and online publications. His preaching has been f...

In this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley talk about Abraham's family drama found in Genesis 12-13. Questions Covered in This Episode: Why are Old Testament families so jacked up? What genre are we reading? Is the text descriptive or prescriptive? Is Abraham a bad guy? What is the significance of Abraham and Lot negotiating the boundaries of the land?   Resources Mentioned in This Ep...

In this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English and Kyle Worley discuss Genesis Chapter 12 and introduce Abraham. More specifically they take a look at where Abraham comes from, the components of the call of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, the significance of election, and God’s presence, place, purpose and people.    Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Genesis 12, 15, 17, 1 Peter 1:1, Romans 9-11 “ Progressiv...

Season 6 of the Knowing Faith podcast begins on 2/4/2021. In this episode Jen Wilkin, JT English and Kyle Worley give you a preview of what is to come in Season 6 as they cover Genesis 12-50. They discuss the importance of studying the book of Genesis, the author, the audience, the setting, some of the key people in the text, and what questions they will be asking and answering. If you’d like you...

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley took questions from our "Super Fan" tier on Patreon and tried to answer as many as we could! Questions Covered in This Episode: If Knowing Faith was a character on The West Wing, who would it be? Is American Civil religion a problem? What is the difference between the way that Jesus intercedes on our behalf and the way that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us?...

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley answer listener questions.  Questions Covered in This Episode: When you say that we’re asking Genesis questions that it’s not asking itself...is that literal? How would I apply that to other books of the Bible? For example, what question is Judges asking? And how would I discern that? How would you describe/define the imago dei in light of disability? Who’s...

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley continue exploring Genesis 1-11 and wrap up Genesis 1-11 by looking ahead. Questions Covered in This Episode: Recap: How does the story of Genesis start? What major themes have stood out to us? What major questions have been asked and answered? How did we get here?  Why are we here? What’s the problem? What's the solution? What lingering question(s) do you h...

This episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley are joined by Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin to discuss some hard questions.  Questions Covered in This Episode: What do we do when we are asked a hard question and we don’t know the answer?  How does your training in literature relate to how you handle the scriptures? What is the best way to respond when someone asks a hard question? Lots of hard quest...

This episode Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley are joined by Tish Harrison Warren.  “We shout truths about God in the light so we can stand on them in the dark.” Kyle Worley Questions Covered in This Episode: Prayer in the Night - What made you want to write this book? Is it possible to find God in a dark world? Could God be good given that the world is dark? How can we pray when we feel dou...