In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Valerie Hobbs (@vhobbs5), Senior Lecturer in the School of English at the University of Sheffield and author of No Love in War: A Story of Christian Nationalism (@MayflyBooks). In this episode we discuss Dr Hobb’s autoethnographic book about growing up in Christian Dominionism and the violence she witnessed and experienced, as well as the ways these ideologies continue to inflict harm. We also discuss the power of sharing...
In this episode we’re talking about Christianity and Conspiracy Theories with Dr. Mike Austin (Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University), who is the co-editor (with Dr. Gregory L. Bock) of the new book, QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross: Christianity and Conspiracy Theories (published by Eerdmans). Joining him we also have three of the many contributors who wrote essays for the volume: Dr. Marlena Graves (Assistant Professor of Spiritual Formation at Northeastern Seminary), Dr. Dru...
In this conversation we’re taking about American Gun Culture with Prof. Carly Crouch and Prof. Christopher B. Hays. Prof. Carly Crouch is Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Ancient Judaism, and Chair of the Department of Textual, Historical and Systematic Studies of Judaism and Christianity at Radboud University Nijmegen, and Prof. Christopher B. Hays is D. Wilson Moore Professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. Together they are co-editors...
In this episode of The Two Cities podcast we talk with Dr. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, professor of history at Calvin University, about her book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted A Faith and Fractured A Nation (Liveright, 2020). Over the course of the conversation Dr. Du Mez tells us about some of the most shocking findings from her book, how Jesus and John Wayne fits within her longstanding research interests in militant...
As another installment in our series on faith and politics, we discuss abortion and single issue voting in the United States. Joining Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Brandon Hurlbert, Tim McNutt, and Dr. Chris Porter for this discussion is our special guest, Jennie Riley, who recently submitted her PhD thesis in Theology at Durham University (England), focusing on the relationship between Evangelical Christianity and Medial Practice. As she explains in the episode, for her doctoral research...
Continuing our conversation on the role of faith in our political discourse and political engagement, in the present episode Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Brandon Hurlbert talk with Michael Spalione about his doctoral research on the topic of war within political theology. Having just recently passed his viva in pursuit of a PhD in political theology from Trinity College, Bristol through the University of Aberdeen, Michael helps us think about the topic of war from...
The Johannine epistles have a lot to say about group boundaries and who is in and who is out. It is in 1 John that we get the enigmatic and confusing saying that ‘those who went out from us did not belong to us because if they had, they would have remained with us…’ These sort of statements on group boundary markers have often caused significant confusion and hurt in the church, especially when utilised...
My life is a series of ridiculous, over the top, unlikely stories. I’ve confronted a neighbor on meth whose reply to me was, “The shadow people are coming.” As a kid, I was chased down by a teenager in a car who, in his own words, was hell-bent on killing us. The first time I ever got into college happened because several people decided to donate a total of about $12,000. I have an uncanny...
Self-mastery, ordered love, and self-examination are key elements to a life of character and virtue. In this post, I will unpack the myths and kernels of truth in each of these elements. Self-Mastery Self-Mastery is not akin to “finding oneself.” I heard a story of a young woman who was headed to medical school but deviated to live in Israel in a commune to “find herself” before she began at the institution. This is ridiculous but...
What is Fundamentalism? Christian fundamentalists (think R.A. Torrey, A.C. Dixon, or recently, John Piper, Norman Geisler, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, Wayne Grudem, etc.) are part of the movement in Evangelicalism that originated in 1910s America. This phrase has been used to connote religious bigotry, abuse, and close-mindedness, but fundamentalists are merely Evangelicals with a complex (we will see whether this complex is merited further on). This was the branch of American Christianity that found its roots...
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