Faith Improvised

I recommend Beverly Roberts Gaventa's wonderful book, When In Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel According to Paul (Baker Academic), and I start talking about Paul's opening rhetorical move in Romans 1:18-32. I also mention the following podcasts and books: "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" "The Ezra Klein Show" Stanley Stowers, A Rereading of Romans: Justice, Jews, and Gentiles (Yale...

In this episode, I recommend Chuck DeGroat's timely and wonderful book, When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse , and I talk about the introduction of Paul's letter to the Romans. I also talk a bit about identity politics, responding to Charles Murray's article, “Identity Crisis: How the Politics of Race Will Wreck America,” published this month i...

In this episode I recommend David Fromkin's masterful and fascinating work, A Peace To End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East , and I give an overview of how I see the major movements of Paul's argument in his letter to the Roman house churches.

I recommend Lisa Bowens's compelling new book, African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation (Eerdmans), and I talk about where I intend to go with the podcast in this third season (and beyond), reporting on my research in Paul's letter to the Romans. 

In this episode, I recommend a great new book by Brian Brock called, Disability: Living Into The Diversity Of Christ's Body , and I talk about social justice, the gospel, and how the church does not merely have some kind of relationship to social justice, but rather, according to Paul, the church is God’s social justice.

I have a discussion with my friend Steve Watkins about a load of stuff, but especially about some of the impulses behind death of God thinkers, which I find really fascinating.

I recommend an excellent new book, Reparations: A Call for Repentance and Repair , by Duke L. Kwon and Gregory Thompson, and I talk about the grammar of the gospel and compare that to the grammar of evangelicalism.

I recommend Ijeoma Oluo’s new book, Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America , and I respond to a question about women in ministry by sort of flipping the script and reflecting on the problem of men in ministry. I also recommend Nijay Gupta's excellent blog series, " Why I Believe in Women in Ministry ," an index to which is found here (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cruxsola/2019/06/wh...

I recommend a magisterial work by Frances FitzGerald, The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America , and I reflect a bit on some recent articles on the cultural dynamics of evangelicalism. I refer to these three articles: Timothy Dalrymple, "The Splintering of the Evangelical Soul: Why We're Coming Apart, and How We Might Come Together Again," Christianity Today, April 16, 2021 . J. Kameron Car...

I recommend Ta-Nehisi Coates's brilliant book, Between the World and Me , an absolutely powerful memoir that’s a personal letter to his son, and I intended to talk about a few recent articles on the contemporary state of American evangelicalism, but ended up extending some thoughts on the sorts of things I routinely re-think.

I recommend Jared Yates Sexton's compelling new book, American Rule: How A Nation Conquered the World but Failed Its People , and I talk about reckoning with the narrative shape of the Gospels, how they theologize about Jesus as a character, and how certain theological conceptions can get in the way of our understanding, especially an assumption about God's "omniscience." I also mention Jeannine B...

I talk about Adam Grant's new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know , and how it sheds light on creative Christian postures of humility and curiosity. I also mention Beth Allison Barr's new release, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth . And I make minor note of Daniel Boorstin's classic work, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events i...

In this short episode I talk about the Cubs' brutal start to the season, the Masters tournament from last week, and I recommend Edward Larson's brilliant book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion .

I reflect a bit about why this is my favorite week of the year, I talk about Molly Worthen’s book, Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism , and I share a personal story about reconnecting with an old friend.

I recommend a powerful new book by Anthea Butler called White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America , and I reflect for a bit about the terms “exvangelical” and “deconstruction.” I also mention a few other books: Adam Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know ; Crystal M. Fleming, How To Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divi...

I share some random observations from the past week, I recommend Educated: A Memoir , which is a brilliant and quite compelling coming of age narrative, and I talk about Paul’s vision of the church as God’s public justice.

I share some thoughts from the past week, I recommend Heather McGhee's brilliant new book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together , in which she elaborates the zero-sum logic that distorts our racial and political imaginations, and I share some ideas from my book, Power in Weakness: Paul's Transformed Vision for Ministry , especially how Paul experienced a conver...

In this episode I share some random observations, I recommend Jason Hickel's brilliant book, The Divide: Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets , and I talk about the politics of abortion and how this issue has shaped the culture of white evangelicalism in America.

In this brief episode, I share some thoughts from the past week and I recommend Jason Stanley's fascinating book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them . 

I offer some reflections on music, sports, and the challenge of self-awareness among athletes, I recommend Daniel Radosh's fun and enlightening book, Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture , and I respond to some questions about what I've been saying about God's sovereignty and what that looks like in our world.

I respond to a bunch of questions I received based on the previous episode, and I recommend Kate Bowler's wonderful memoir, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved , which is a personal and theological reflection on so many of the poor ways Christians have come to think about God in relation to human suffering.

I reflect on the character of antagonism and how patterns in evangelical culture make evangelicals susceptible to being drawn easily into antagonistic postures and patterns in the larger culture. I also recommend Manoush Zomorodi's fascinating book, Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self , and I talk about how the Bible depicts God's sovereignty and...

I have a conversation with my friend Steve Watkins about a variety of topics: how our thinking has developed over the years, what to do about misinformation and conspiracy theories, and we drop some Coen references along the way. I also recommend Anne Applebaum's important new book, Twilight of Democracy .

I offer some ruminations from the past week, I talk about Bruce Longenecker's wonderful book, The Lost Letters of Pergamum , which is one of the best resources for getting into the world of the New Testament, and I reflect on the strategic importance of listening to those our culture *others*, especially when it comes to realities like cruciformity.

In this first episode of season 2, I answer a question about evangelical engagement with the Bible, I talk about my new book, Power in Weakness , which is about Paul as a pastor, and I reflect a bit on current events, especially the attempted putsch on January 6 and what that portends for America in coming days.