New Creation Conversations Episode 073 - Dr. Hank Spaulding on Campus Ministry, Reading Paul Politically, and Iconoclastic Sex

Welcome to episode seventy-three of New Creation Conversations. It’s a joy for me today to get to have a conversation with one of my favorite young scholars and ministers, Dr. Henry Spaulding III – better known to his family and friends as “Hank.” Hank is the Associate Campus Pastor and Assistant Professor of Theology at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. He’s an alum of Trevecca Nazarene University, has Master’s Degree in Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School, and has a PhD in Christian Ethics from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. 

Hank and I talk about the unique challenges of campus ministry, but we also talk about his two writing projects – one out and one in process. The project that is out is The Just and Loving Gaze of God with Us: Paul’s Apocalyptic Political Theology (published by Wipf and Stock). This book is an edited version of Hank’s dissertation work and is an interesting look at the recent interest in the Apostle Paul by non-Christian political scholars and reflects on what they get right but also what they often misunderstand about Paul’s political theology. The project that is forthcoming is Iconoclastic Sex – it is a quantitative and theological study of the problem of sex trafficking and Christian sexual ethics. Both are interesting works, and both are deeply connected to the vision of a new creation.

It is always encouraging to me to get to connect with young scholars. I’m deeply thankful for those like Hank who have a passion for deep theological reflection and for church ministry. I’m thankful that people like him are picking up the baton and carrying it forward.