slavery – The Two Cities

The Legacy of Slavery in Edwards, Wesley, and Whitefield with Dr. Sean McGever

Jun 26, 2024

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Sean McGever, who is Area Director for Young Life in Phoenix and teaches at Grand Canyon University, and who is the author of Ownership:The Evangelical Legacy of Slavery in Edwards, Wesley, and Whitefield (published by IVP). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. McGever informs us about the relationship that three prominent evangelists from the 18th century had with slavery, namely, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield....

Augustine & The Problem of the Christian Master with Dr. Matthew Elia (Podcast)

Jun 19, 2024

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Matthew Elia, who is assistant professor of theology, race, and environment at Saint Louis University, and the author of The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery (published by Yale University Press). Over the course of our conversation we talk about what Augustine had to say about slavery, as well as how Augustine relates to the master class of his day. Dr. Elia interrogates...

Interpreting Philemon with Dr. Dennis Edwards (Podcast)

Jun 15, 2022

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Dennis Edwards to talk about the interpretation of Philemon. Dr. Edwards is Associate Professor of New Testament at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, and the author of Might from the Margins: The Gospel’s Power to Turn the Tables on Injustice (Herald Press) with a forthcoming book on humility coming out soon. In our conversation, Dr. Edwards talks about the possible backgrounds that occasioned the letter, and how...

African American Readings of Paul with Dr. Lisa Bowens (Podcast)

Jan 20, 2021

In this episode Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Emmett, Grace Sangalang Ng, and Rev. Daniel Parham are joined by Dr. Lisa Bowens, associate professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, and the author of African-American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation, which was published by Eerdmans in 2020. In this episode Dr. Bowens talks to us about her research on the primary sources from the 18th century on through the Civil Rights movement,...

My Essay with Dr. Lynn H. Cohick In New Book on Human Flourishing

Sep 18, 2020

I had the privilege of participating in a symposium put on by the Oikonomia Network back in January 2019 in Dallas, TX. The proceedings from our respective biblical and theological colloquia have now been compiled into a brand new volume published by Wipf & Stock, in their Pickwick imprint, called Human Flourishing: Economic Wisdom For A Fruitful Christian Vision of the Good Life, edited by Gregory Forster and Anthony R. Cross. Here is a link...

The Slave Bible: What Everyone Has Overlooked

Jan 14, 2019

The Museum of the Bible recently opened an exhibit entitled, “The Slave Bible: Let the Story be Told.” The centerpiece is a book called, “Parts of the Holy Bible, selected for the use of the Negro Slaves, in the British West-India Islands” published in 1808. Originally published in London in 1807, this book was apparently used to educate British-owned slaves in both reading and religion. The interesting thing about the work is that it features...

Charlottesville, Nashville, and Calvary

Sep 8, 2017

Where to begin… Charlottesville The world knows of the American embarrassment that is the recent happenings in Charlottesville, Virginia. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists incited violence surrounding the profanely displayed statue of Confederate General and beater of freed slaves, Robert E. Lee. Gen. Lee’s brutality should be condemned along with the then-institution of chattel slavery. However, certain southerners (and unfortunately, many southern Christians) have insisted on the statue remaining and continue to venerate Gen. Lee as a...

Understanding Why I Dressed Up as a Slave Owner

Aug 25, 2017

Thes past few weeks have sucked. By far, I cannot remember a more emotionally draining, politically charged season. I kept looking at the news to see what would happen next; I kept checking Facebook to see what my friends and acquaintances thought about the events that have been unfolding. My heart is so burdened by the amount of ignorance, hatred, and complete lack of empathetic love I have seen at Charlottesville and online. I am...

The Slavery of God

Nov 6, 2013

I used to believe that all evangelical theologians were a gift from God. This is what my Reformed background taught me. My honest confession in this short piece is that I no longer believe that. In fact, evangelical seminaries and Bible schools are turning out a great number of men and women who are anything but such a gift. They are turning out men and women who while they may be intellectually brilliant, are spiritual...