Kwok ’n’ Roll

In this July 4th special, U.S. Army veteran, former attorney, and Villanova theologian Byron Wratee shares his journey from a small South Carolina town to the battlefields of Afghanistan — and what he learned about faith, citizenship, and the America worth believing in. He traces his family's military service back to the Civil War. He recounts the peacebuilding work that doesn't make headlines: bu...

Most people who talk about AI and theology have read about AI. Alexander Chow actually studied it — he holds a degree in computer science and spent a decade as a software engineer before becoming a theologian. Last week, he launched the Oxford Handbook of Digital Theology — the most comprehensive academic reference on this field ever assembled. I wanted to know: what does someone who has stood on...

The Pope issued a sweeping warning about artificial intelligence — but what does it actually say, and was he right? In this first episode of the AI & Theology series, I sit down with Dr. Tracy Trothen, professor of ethics at Queen's University, Canada, to unpack the Vatican's intervention, the rise of grief bots, and what AI means for how we make meaning, face death, and define what it means t...

What does it mean to practice erotic justice in a time of political crisis? Christian social ethicist Marvin M. Ellison joins Faithful Provocations to explore the intersection of faith, sexuality, and public life — from his upbringing in the American South wrestling with his family's history in slavery, to his critical work on same-sex marriage activism, to what his congregation in Maine has done...

Can you search for life on Mars — and still believe in God?  An Episcopal priest and NASA astrobiologist, Pamela Conrad spent years working on rover missions designed to look for signs of life on Mars. In this conversation with Kwok Pui Lan, she makes the case that faith and science are not enemies — they are two different lenses pointed at the same reality. Topics covered: Why curiosity is at the...

Postcolonial theologian Kwok Pui Lan dialogues with Indian ecofeminist theologian Aruna Gnanadason — former director of the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation program of the World Council of Churches — to ask the question no one in faith circles wants to answer: Is India sliding toward authoritarianism, and what does the church do about it? From the uncanny parallels between Modi and Trump,...

Peter Carlson grew up evangelical — fluent in scripture, certain of God's love, but told by his church a very different story. Today he's a queer theologian and editor of the Queer Lectionary, inviting queer people — and everyone — to reclaim the Bible on their own terms. In this conversation, Peter shares what it means to read scripture through a queer lens, why Zacchaeus may be the queerest stor...

In this episode of Faithful Provocations, theologians Kwok Pui Lan and Mary E. Hunt take on one of the most urgent questions of our time: What happens when the boundaries between church and state collapse? Drawing on theology, history, and contemporary politics, they examine the roots of Christian nationalism, the dangers of a state-sponsored faith, and what faithful resistance looks like in today...

What does the Bible really say about the tyrants — and what happens when a world-class biblical scholar has lived the abuse of power herself? Gale A. Yee — the first Asian American and first woman of color to serve as president of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) — joins Kwok Pui Lan for a conversation that spans scripture, power, racism in academia, and the urgent question of tyranny in o...

In this episode of Faithful Provocations, Kwok Pui Lan and Mary E. Hunt dissect the DOJ's new report on "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias" — and reveal what it's really doing: imposing white Christian values on everyone. They discuss: • The DOJ report's three chilling next steps — Christian sermons at the Pentagon, faith-based housing discrimination against LGBTQ people, and churches endorsing poli...

#LiberationTheology #LatinAmericanTheology #PostcolonialTheology #DecolonialFaith #Theology #Christianity #SocialJustice #ChristianThought Is liberation theology still a radical force — or has it been domesticated? Nicolás Panotto, theologian, human rights activist, and director of the civil society organization Otros Cruces, argues that the real gift of liberation theology isn't a set of doctrine...

What happens when the people who preach peace practice violence? From the Washington Hilton assassination attempt to the hidden abuses of celebrated religious leaders, Kwok Pui Lan and Mary Hunt ask the hard questions faith communities don't want to face. In this episode of Faithful Provocations, Kwok Pui Lan and Mary Hunt begin with the moral shock of gun violence at the White House Correspondent...

What does it mean to be the first non-White General Secretary of the world YWCA? How does an African woman break the glass ceiling — not just once, but repeatedly — to lead global organizations and reshape the landscape of Christian theology? Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro from Kenya is one of those rare leaders. She served as the founding coordinator of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, cha...

Is peace a feminist issue? In the first episode of Faithful Provocations, theologians Kwok Pui Lan and Mary E. Hunt challenge the assumption that men — popes or presidents — speak for all of us on war and peace. As Pope Leo XIV and Donald Trump clash over the Iran war, and the first female Archbishop of Canterbury prepares to visit the Vatican, two feminist theologians ask the questions the headli...

Is there such a thing as a "just war"? For centuries, Christian theology said yes. Today, the Church isn't so sure. In this conversation, Dr. Kwok Pui Lan discusses with Dr. Kyle Lambelet one of the most urgent questions in Christian ethics: has Just War Theory run its course? Drawing on Catholic teaching from Augustine to Pope Leo XIV, and the growing movement toward nonviolence within the Church...

The debate between Pope Leo XIV and Trump over the Iran conflict has put American Catholics in a difficult position. Many back the Pope's call for peace — but does that mean we should defer to him on all moral issues? Is Pope Leo XIV progressive on war and peace, yet conservative on gender? And what do we make of JD Vance warning the Pope to "be careful" when speaking on morality? Dr. Kwok Pui Lan...

President Trump's criticism of Pope Leo XIV as  “weak on crime" and too liberal has ignited a firestorm — and Catholics are fighting back. Trump's Truth Social post drew sharp rebukes from Catholic leaders across the country, including three American Cardinals, who called his remarks deeply disrespectful of the Pope — the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. Meanwhile, Catholic mem...

What if everything you learned about God's power is incomplete — or even wrong? In this conversation, Kwok Pui Lan sits down with Thomas J. Oord to explore one of the most provocative questions in contemporary theology: is God truly all-powerful? Drawing on open and relational theology and process theology, they challenge the traditional doctrine of divine omnipotence and ask what it means to reim...

In an era of intense conflict, the intersection of Jewish identity and feminist principles has become a battleground. This video explores the unique challenges facing Jewish feminists — from reinterpretations of scripture to the political weaponization of antisemitism. In this conversation, Dr. Judith Plaskow, a pioneer in Jewish feminist theology, discusses the origins of Jewish feminist theology...

Why does the Christian Right call the war against Iran a “Holy War” – and what does that reveal about the soul of White Christian Nationalism? In this conversation, Dr. Carter Heyward – feminist theologian, pioneer of lesbian theology, and one of the first women ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church, USA –  breaks down the Seven Deadly Sins of White Christian Nationalism, including the lust...

She made history as Canada's first Indigenous female Moderator of the United Church of Canada — and her journey to get there was anything but easy. In this powerful conversation, Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne opens up about her personal story: from struggles with substance use to answering a call to ministry. Her path is one of resilience, faith, and radical transformation — and it has everything to d...

Dr. Martin Nguyen is a professor of Religious Studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut. He is a scholar of Muslim theology and Islamic studies. He discusses the roots of U.S. Islamophobia and its impact on the American impression of the Middle East and the war in Iran. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis, Americans have had negative reactions to the theocratic regime. Se...

John and Samuel Munayer are brothers and younger Palestinian theologians living in Jerusalem. They have coedited The Cross and the Olive Tree. They shared what life is like living in Jerusalem during the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. The war has disproportionately affected the Palestinian communities because they may not have bomb shelters. John and Samuel shared their stories of how they became in...

Dr. Peter C. Phan is the Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University and a Vietnamese-American Catholic theologian. In this episode, he shares how his personal experience as a migrant has shaped his theology. In the book Christianity and Migration, Dr. Phan explores the overlap between migration studies and Christian theology. His theology of migration offers new wa...

Dr. Septemmy E. Lakawa teaches mission studies, trauma theology, and feminist theology at Jakarta Theological Seminary. She interviewed women who have experienced violence and responded to the sexual abuse of Chinese women in Indonesia. To do justice for the abused victims, she urges us to address their ruptured lives and the wounds that remain. She believes that love is still possible for these v...