Faith Improvised

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.

I offer a few observations and reflections from the past week, I recommend Seth Dowland's fascinating book, Family Values and the Rise of the Christian Right, and I talk about the Household Code in Ephesians 5-6 as an instance of how modern Bible readers can misread an apparently clear passage when they don't understand ancient and modern historical contexts.

I reflect a bit on evangelical faulty logic that keeps us from loving our neighbors, I talk about a wonderful resource for understanding Mark in its Jewish context, and I conclude my series on Mark's Gospel.

I talk about the statement issued by SBC seminary presidents rejecting Critical Race Theory and why that signals a resistance to the difficult but life-giving work of gospel-oriented justice. I also talk about Beth Allison Barr’s upcoming book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood, which is a brilliant analysis of how evangelical patriarchy uses the Bible to endorse gender hierarchies that the gospel...

I offer a few reflections and observations from the past week, I recommend Luke Timothy Johnson's new book on Paul's letters and theology, and I talk about the narrative dynamics of what is going on in chapter 14 of Mark's Gospel.

I talk about some events of the recent week, along with offering a few other random thoughts, I recommend Scot McKnight's book, Reading Romans Backwards, and I explore some of what is going on in Mark 13, which has huge implications for being Christian while a pandemic is raging.

I share some thoughts about the bizarre nature of the past week, I commend Esau McCaulley's excellent new book, Reading While Black, and I talk about some of the narrative dynamics of Mark 11-12.

I share some reflections from the past week's events, respond to an interesting question about relating to God, talk a little about Grand Rapids Theological Seminary where I teach, and I draw out some of the narrative dynamics up and running in Mark 8-10.

I reflect a bit on events of the past week, I recommend Jill Lepore's excellent and insightful work, These Truths: A History of the United States, and I talk about the narrative dynamics of Mark 4-8.

I recommend Jeannine Brown's excellent new book on the Gospels and I continue talking about the subversive Gospel of Mark, focusing on how Jesus's parable of the sower and the seed in 4:1-20 sets the table for the rest of the narrative.

I talk about Matthew Avery Sutton's brilliant book, American Apocalypse, which is now the standard work on the history of modern fundamentalism / evangelicalism in America, and I start a series exploring Mark's mystifying and thoroughly unsettling Gospel.

I share some random thoughts and reflections, answer a few emails, talk about Harry Frankfurt's brilliant book, On Bullshit , and wrap up a discussion of how cruciformity determines the identity of Christians.

I share some reflections, including a lament about the Cubs' early departure from the baseball postseason, I talk about Pankaj Mishra's excellent and insightful book, Age of Anger, and I continue describing the way Scripture constructs Christian identity, focusing on cruciformity.

I offer a few random observations, recommend Robert P. Jones's excellent new book, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, and begin a series about Christian identity, focusing on cruciformity.

I share a few random observations, I talk about a lovely book I've read recently, and I elaborate on the larger theological framework that shapes my engagement with cultural criticism and gives some background as to why I think Critical Race Theory is so helpful for Christians.

I respond to an interesting question about my posture toward the church, I talk about probably my all-time favorite book, and I elaborate a bit on Critical Race Theory, why evangelical leaders are sowing fear about it, and why Christians have nothing to fear about this or any other analytical tool for discerning power dynamics of oppression in our culture.

I respond to a question about the nature of salvation, I talk about Nijay Gupta's great new book on how Paul uses "faith" language in his letters, and I reflect on how the resonance among white evangelicals with the current president's campaign slogan reveals something fundamentally problematic about the culture of white evangelicalism.

I catch up on some discussion and questions about evangelism, talk about Tom Nichols's wonderful book, The Death of Expertise, and I reflect a bit on the character of humility and arrogance.

In this episode, I reflect on the role that "the Great Commission" plays in evangelical culture, I talk about Sarah Posner's brilliant new book, "Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump," and I share a conversation with my friend Steve Watkins. He's a former Navy SEAL whose experience and study has changed his thinking about the military and violence. We also talk about...

A conversation with Kristen Johnson on the surprising history of the phrase that has been so central to evangelical identity, mission, and practice. It's perhaps time to reassess the outsize role Matthew 28:19-20 plays in our thinking, and just as importantly, to actually look at what the passage says!

This week, I respond to a few questions about individualism, I talk a little about Bruce Longenecker's book, In Stone and Story , and I have a discussion with Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of the new book, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

In this episode I respond to some questions I received, commend the super-fun book Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness, by Melissa Dahl, and talk about the idolatrous notion that America is a Christian nation.

In this episode I share a few ideas in response to a question asking what we can do about our individualized gospel, I recommend Lee Camp's sparkling new book, Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians, and I elaborate some of the dynamics of the Kingdom of God in Scripture that conservative white evangelicals are missing, captive as that culture is to a shrunken version of t...

In this episode I respond to some questions I received about evangelism from the first episode, I talk about Kristin Kobes Du Mez 's wonderful new book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation , and I share a conversation I had about race with Max Botner , my New Testament colleague at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary . We hit a few things we've learne...

In this first episode, I explain why I’m jumping into podcasting and what I hope to explore. I talk a little about Chanequa Walker-Barnes’s new book, I Bring the Voices of My People , and I explore a bit further how I came to change my thinking about a Christian posture toward others, both at an individual level and cultural one.