Language of God

When faced with something completely new, how will our theology help us to respond? Willie James Jennings helps us to look back into history at a time when colonialist settlers came into contact with new land and new people and found in their theology a justification to bring order to the world they found. Our theology today is built upon the idea that the hollow places of the earth are filled with treasures for our taking, rather than the idea that the earth is a hallowed place that glorifies God in all its treasures. 

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Reading the news these days can make it seem like the world is coming to an end. And reading scientific journals, especially regarding climate, biodiversity loss and other environmental issues, can give a similar feeling. Jonathan Moo is a professor of New Testament and environmental studies and he helps break down how Christians might respond to the bleak picture that is sometimes painted of the world. He helps us to look specifically to the biblical account of end times to understand how to put this in perspective with our own times. We find not only darkness in a conversation about apocalypse but hope and the need for a more radical faithfulness. 

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There are a range of ways that people have thought about original sin, Adam and Eve, and the spread of sin throughout the world. Scientific knowledge, including the science of human evolution has contributed to that conversation but science has not identified a correct position. Loren Haarsma lays out several different approaches in his book When Did Sin Begin and talks with us in the episode about those approaches and the benefits and theological challenges of each approach.

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Francis Collins and Phil Vischer sit down to talk about science and faith and the new BioLogos Integrate curriculum.

Learn more about BioLogos Integrate.

Watch the promo video for Integrate.

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With his 1989 book The End of Nature, climate activist Bill McKibben launched the contemporary movement against climate change. In the several decades since its publication, he has continued informing the public about the status of our climate and advocating for necessary mitigation measures. McKibben is also a Christian who sees his activism as a natural result of his ardent faith. In this episode, he discusses how we got to our current situation, including why he thinks many Christians have historically avoided or actively opposed their Biblical mandate to be stewards of the Earth, as well as why the Christian Church may be the only institution with the power to effectively confront the dominant culture of apathy on this issue. These discussions inevitably confront political commitments, yet McKibben makes a strong case that our Christian responsibilities take precedence over political affiliations. 

Learn more about Third Act on their website

Check out Bill McKibben’s books here

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For an episode released during Holy Week, it seemed appropriate to have a conversation with the theologian who has written what many consider to be the seminal work on Jesus’ resurrection, The Resurrection of the Son of God. N.T. Wright is a New Testament scholar of high regard and we talk to him about the resurrection: this miraculous, earth shattering event which changed the course of history. We also hear a bit about how he came to be a theologian and writer who has split his time between academia and ministry. 

Find N.T. Wrights free ebook, Preaching the Cross in Dark Times here. 

The music in this episode is by Joseph McDade

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In this episode, Jim Stump is joined by Tim Mackie, one of the founders of BibleProject. Tim’s transformation from West Coast skateboarder, to Bible student, to video producer may seem surprising, but his unorthodox journey to faith has given him a unique perspective and passion for the Bible. Tim discusses the history of the Bible, explores the context in which it was written, and demonstrates what it looks like to bring the Bible into relevance for people today.

Tim Mackie is a writer and creative director for BibleProject, an animation studio that produces videos to help make the story of the Bible accessible to everyone. He has ahis Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

BibleProject YouTube Channel
BibleProject Website

This episode was originally aired on September 17th, 2020.

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Makoto Fujimura is a world-renowned artist often counted among the preeminent figures in the “slow art” movement. Yet Fujimura also has a deep connection to the sciences: he double majored in animal behavior and art during his undergraduate degree at Bucknell University and his father Osamu Fujimura was an influential speech scientist. In this live episode recorded at the 2022 BioLogos Faith & Science Conference, Fujimura reminisces on the roles of art, faith, and science in his childhood; discusses the relationship between these practices today; and presents his vision on how caring for culture can help revive our sense of enchantment with the world by bringing together disparate ways of knowing God’s world. 

Images from the live recording are available at our website.

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The problem of evil has confounded people of faith as far back as Job. And the knowledge of the world that has been brought about by science has not made it any easier to answer the question of why a good and powerful God would let bad things happen. Tish Harrison Warren confronts the problem of evil in her book, Prayer in the Night. In the book she asks the question, how can we trust God at all when we can’t trust that God will keep bad things from happening to us? In the episode, we talk about how praying the compline prayer helped her to find an answer to that question and we talk about what prayer is and what it does. We also discuss COVID 19, broaching the topic of returning to in-person church, which she has written about in some recent newsletters in the New York Times.

Original music in this episode is from Carp.

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Our best scientific models make it clear that society needs a big change at a global scale in order to limit irreversible damage—what good can individual actions and attitudes do in the face of this immense problem? Today’s guest, Debra Rienstra, argues that the right relationship with the Earth can actually make all the difference and that new worlds of hope are built in hidden refuges amidst the surrounding devastation. Genuine lament and grief help reorient us toward the beauty and majesty of creation. Only once this groundwork has been laid can we truly repent for what we have done—and begin the work of hope for a better future.

Learn more about Debra’s new book

Read April Maskiewicz Cordero’s article on climate conversations

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