The Pastor Theologians Podcast

Author Katelyn Beaty joins the podcast to discuss her recent book,  Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Profits, and Platforms are Hurting the Church.  We discuss the history of evangelicalism as it relates to the use of mass media, as well as how the wider cultural phenomenon of celebrity relates to the evangelical movement. How has celebrity shaped pastors' sense of vocation? What are the...

CPT fellow Danny Houck joins for the second part of our conversation on Thomas Aquinas and original sin. In this episode Danny traces three challenges he sees in the evolutionary narrative of human origins for a Christian understanding of human fallenness. He suggests that Aquinas' account of human nature and renewal can be put into productive dialogue with these challenges and create new pos...

CPT fellow Danny Houck joins for a conversation about original sin from his research of Thomas Aquinas' theological anthropology. What is the relationship between philosophy and theology? How does Thomas Aquinas help us navigate this tension? Danny also traces the history of the doctrine of original sin from Augustine to Aquinas, showing that the story of this doctrine in not as simple or cle...

Michael Wear, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, joins CPT President Todd Wilson for a conversation on theology, politics, and the intersection between the two. What is the purpose of the separation of church and state? What is at root of the various problems of Christian political engagement and witness in our day? How can and should Christian virtues shape politica...

Our May episode on books we, the CPT staff, have been reading. Richard V. Reeves – Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It (2022) Cormac McCarthy – The Road (2006) Jim Belcher – Cold Civil War: Overcoming Polarization, Discovering Unity, and Healing the Nation (2022) Angela Dienhary Hancock – Karl Barth's Emergency Homiletic, 1932-1933: A Su...

Why do so many seminary grads have a hard time retaining their knowledge of the biblical languages? What are some of the shortcomings of traditional language learning models and how can we improve upon them? Biblingo co-founder Nick Messmer joins Zach Wagner to discuss the difference between a grammar and translation method and a reading fluency method for language acquisition. What are the advant...

Professor Kimlyn Bender joins the podcast to share share about his farmers' town upbringing, how he first became interested in studying Karl Barth, and the importance of ecclesiology working out the tension between the academy and the church. Dr. Bender argues that Barth is the most important Protestant theologian to engage from the 20th century and that central to Barth's intent for the...

Author Trevin Wax joins the podcast to reflect on his upbringing in the church and the idea behind his recent book  The Thrill of Orthodoxy . What does it mean to rediscover the exciting and wonderful truth claims of Christianity and the Bible? In a cultural context in which so much about Christianity is taken for granted, how do pastors and theologians underscore the power and influence of our fa...

CPT fellow Jarrod Longbons joins the podcast to discuss his upbringing in the space between the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions. He shares about his varied interests as a young person and how things like acting and theater connected to his pursuit of theological education and pastoral calling. He then shares his story of PhD with John Milbank, with specific emphasis on Maximus the Confess...

CPT fellow Dillon Thornton joins the podcast to discuss his story of life, faith, education, and ministry. How does an early calling into ministry unfold over the years of young adulthood? Why is it important for scholars and pastors to study the Pastoral Epistles? How can pastors deal with struggling to find time for writing projects they'd like to pursue? All this and more on this episode....

Rev. Dr. Jacob Rodriguez joins the podcast to share his story of life, faith, and education. He reflects on his feelings of rootlessness and how transience theologically shaped him. He also shares his early exposure to theology and ancient languages that created an early passion for careful study of the biblical texts. Jacob spent time as a missionary in Ethiopia, and in this conversation he notes...

On this episode the CPT staff discusses a new grant initiative from the CPT in partnership with the Lilly Foundation. We discuss the evangelical theology of preaching, the place of the sermon in ecclesial theology, and a preview of what we'll be up to at the CPT for the next three years. Join us at the CPT Conference

Joel Lawrence and Felicia Wu Song discuss the sociological, cultural, and theological issues around technology and spiritual formation in the 21st century. What fractures in our society were revealed by Covid? How has the pandemic shifted our thinking around community and embodiment? How does the pervasive presence of technology re-arranged our pastoral and discipleship priorities? This conversati...

CPT Executive Director Joel Lawrence interviews Dr. Justin Bailey, Professor of Theology at Dordt University. They discuss Dr. Bailey's story of faith, education, and ministry. They also discuss his new book  Interpreting Your World: Five Lenses for Engaging Theology and Culture.  How do we define culture? What are shortcomings of existing book-treatments? What does non-anxious cultural engag...

On this week's episode, Zach Wagner is joined by Gerald Hiestand and Eric Redmond to discuss their contributions to a newly published volume of essays on racial injustice. These chapters were adapted from the presentations at the CPT's 2021 theology conference. The book can be purchased here: https://wipfandstock.com/9781666737349/confronting-racial-injustice/ And here: https://www.amazo...

On our final episode of 2022 the CPT staff has an extended conversation about some of our top books from our reading in the past year.  Join us at the CPT Conference

For this Advent/Christmas episode, we are featuring a sermon given by CPT fellow Cory Wilson at the beginning of the season of Advent. Merry Christmas, everyone! Join us at the CPT Conference

CPT fellow Cory Wilson joins the podcast to share a bit about his life and ministry. At City Church, a diverse and eclectic congregation on the east side of Cleveland, he and his ministry team have sought to use liturgical and church calendar rhythms in service of congregants' formation into Christlikeness for the sake of others. How can Christian traditions learn from one another? What is th...

CPT Fellow Neil Martin rejoins the podcast to discuss his newly release book  Galatians Reconsidered: Jews, Gentiles, and Justification in the First and Twenty-First Centuries . This conversation also includes an overview survey of trends in Pauline scholarship over the past 50-plus years. What was the key insight Luther offered about Paul's gospel? What things might have been skewed in Luthe...

We are joined on this episode by Rev. Dr. Neal Presa, who is a member of the CPT's St. Augustine Fellowship. We hear from Neal about his life of faith, education, and how he discerned a call to ministry as he grew and matured. Neal also shares about his ministry experiences and his current work with the World Council of Churches, including how the evangelical church can engage in and learn fr...

How does the incarnation relate to our theology of gender? What does it mean that we describe God as "Father" and "Son"? What significance, if any, do we assign to Jesus' maleness? How should orthodox Christians engage with critical and post-Christian feminist scholarship? What can we learn about masculinity and femininity from the biblical narrative? Amy Peeler joins the...

CPT Podcast co-hosts Todd Wilson, Joel Lawrence, and Zachary Wagner reflect on the 2022 CPT theology conference, Reconstructing Evangelicalism. What role can relational connectivity and diversity play in the future of the American church? How do we navigate tension resulting from diversity? How do we define evangelicalism? What historical axis do we use? How does Christian triumphalism intersect w...

CPT fellow Doug O'Donnell joins for the second half of his story of faith, education, and ministry calling. What are the differences and similarities between academic and pastoral ministry vocations? Is the pastoral calling a lifelong calling? How do denominational structures and personal wiring relate to our sense of calling and vocation? All this and more in this wide ranging conversation....

In this episode we are joined by CPT fellow Douglas Sean O'Donnell. Doug serves as senior vice president of Bible editorial at Crossway. In this conversation, he shares the first part of his story of faith, family, and education. Doug grew up Irish Catholic and had multiple dramatic life events that set him on a path towards a dramatic conversion experience as a young person. He describes his...

CPT Fellow Dan Brendsel joins the podcast to discuss his story of faith and education. How do the pastors we sit under shape our vision for the life of the mind? How can we stay connected and engaged in the life of the local church while studying theology academically? How does the life of the church shape theological reflection? Dan traces his journey from Minnesota to Moody, to Gordon Conwell, t...