For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Miroslav Volf has said that every Christian is a theologian. This is important not so much because it demands of an individual Jesus-follower to exert the best of her cognitive abilities, but because it demands of theologians that theology take seriously the experience, perception, and lived realities of human life. As part of our Future of Theology series, Keri Day (Princeton Theological Seminary) joins Matt Croasmun to discuss the purpose and promise of theology today, honing in on this phenomena and the temptation to see theology as an abstract exercise cut off from the particularities of faith. Keri Day is Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary. She’s author of Unfinished Business: Black Women, The Black Church, and the Struggle to Thrive in America as well as Religious Resistance to Neoliberalism: Womanist and Black Feminist Perspectives. About Keri DayKeri Day is Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary. She’s author of Unfinished Business: Black Women, The Black Church, and the Struggle to Thrive in America as well as Religious Resistance to Neoliberalism: Womanist and Black Feminist Perspectives. Production NotesThis podcast featured Keri Day and Matt CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Nathan Jowers and Annie TrowbridgeEpisode Art by Luke StringerA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Jesus's teaching to be in but not of the world (John 17:14-15) has gone from a mode of prophetic witness that could lead to martyrdom, to bumper sticker ethics that either feeds the trolls or fuels the tribe. We're in a moment where the ways that Christianity's influence on culture—and vice versa—are writ large and undeniable. And yet, how are we to understand it? How are we to live in light of it? How does that relationship change from political moment to political moment? In this conversation, ethicist Luke Bretherton (Duke Divinity School) joins Matt Croasmun to reflect on the purpose of theology as a way of life committed to loving God and neighbor; the essential virtue of listening and its role in public theology; the interrelation between Church and World; the temptation to see the other as an enemy to be defeated rather than a neighbor to be loved; and how best to understand secularism and religiosity today.Show Notes Do you call yourself a theologian? “You can't understand the water you're swimming in without understanding something of the theological frameworks that have helped shape it”Where does the idea that our contemporary context is secular come from? “The world is as furiously religious as ever”People think that our modern age is like a shower, that we can just “step into the shower and be washed clean from the foul accretions of superstition and step out enlightened, rational men and women,” but we're actually in a ‘jacuzzi’ of ideasThe internet and plurality of opinionWhat happens when we step away from the institutional framework of the Church?“Who tells the children what Christianity is, who tells the children, what Islam is?”Do you actually want to show up on a Sunday? Then tension between believing and belongingSacrality and its many guises “The many forms of life which we don't necessarily name as religious, but they're functioning in that way”How do we name them? If you talk to an atheist, they feel marginalized in this country, but if you talk to an Evangelical Christian they feel the same way “Everyone feels under threat, whether you're a humanist or an atheist or a Christian or Muslim”“But if you take the victim view, it generates a failure of imagination, a failure of patience, and a failure of paying attention”Churches talk a lot about how to speak but not about how to listen “What does Christian listening look like in a pluralistic context?”Learning something about God by talking to an atheistListening is pointing to what is already there: “We point to what Christ and the Spirit are already doing. And it is a privilege is to participate in that.”What is truth?“It is how well you love God and neighbor. And the apprehension of the truth is measured by the quality of the relationships”“So, I think faith begins with hearing and listening first”What’s right with theology? How can we have a synthesis of tradition and critique? Having a sensitivity to political order and whether it is constructive or destructive is theological work Epistemic humility and interdisciplinary study The beauty in becoming aware of what you don’t know What is the state of the field right now? The overemphasis on the hermeneutics of suspicion, and the world as it is versus the world as it should beCynicism and redundancy“If all we’re saying is that wolves eat sheep, well, we kind of knew that already”What is a realistic hopefulness? What does ‘the world as it should be’ feel, taste, smell like? What is the purpose of theology? It “articulates what it means to heal a particular form of life in the light of who we understand God to be”“There shouldn't be an over-inflation of what theology, as a technical act, does. But neither is it nothing”“It is a cultivation of a faithful, hopeful and loving way of being alive”About Luke BrethertonLuke Bretherton is Robert E. Cushman Distinguished Professor of Moral and Political Theology and senior fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. Before joining the Duke faculty in 2012, he was reader in Theology & Politics and convener of the Faith & Public Policy Forum at King's College London. His latest book is Christ and the Common Life: Political Theology and the Case for Democracy (Eerdmans, 2019). His other books include Resurrecting Democracy: Faith, Citizenship and the Politics of a Common Life (Cambridge University Press, 2015), which was based on a four-year ethnographic study of broad-based community organizing initiatives in London and elsewhere; Christianity & Contemporary Politics: The Conditions and Possibilities of Faithful Witness (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), winner of the 2013 Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing; and Hospitality as Holiness: Christian Witness Amid Moral Diversity (Routledge, 2006), which develops constructive, theological responses to pluralism in dialogue with broader debates in moral philosophy. Specific issues addressed in his work include euthanasia and hospice care, debt and usury, fair trade, environmental justice, racism, humanitarianism, the treatment of refugees, interfaith relations, secularism, nationalism, church-state relations, and the church’s involvement in social welfare provision and social movements. Alongside his scholarly work, he writes in the media (including The Guardian, The Times and The Washington Post) on topics related to religion and politics, has worked with a variety of faith-based NGOs, mission agencies, and churches around the world, and has been actively involved over many years in forms of grassroots democratic politics, both in the UK and the US. His primary areas of research, supervision, and teaching are Christian ethics, political theology, the intellectual and social history of Christian moral and political thought, the relationship between Christianity and capitalism, missiology, interfaith relations, and practices of social, political, and economic witness. He has received a number of grants and awards, including a Henry Luce III Fellowship (2017-18).Production NotesThis podcast featured ethicist Luke Bretherton and Matt CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction & Editorial Assistance by Nathan Jowers and Annie TrowbridgeIllustration: Luke StringerA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Over the past two centuries, colleges have slowly replaced theology departments with religious studies departments. But what happens when theology becomes religious studies? It can produce a more neutral, observational approach that might not fully appreciate the normative claims of religious adherents and their values, commitments, and beliefs.A careful historical and objective study of religious history and the dimensions of religious practice are deeply valuable. But engaging religious texts and voices without a serious appreciation for the normative elements—that is, the things about a theological or religious idea that means your life would have to change—that would be a problem. It would evacuate the true substance and meaning of theological claims as they're experienced by religious adherents. But it would also fail to form students of religion and the humanities in a way that poses significant challenges to their own lived experience. For living a life worthy of their humanity.Today, we share a conversation between Tyler Roberts and Matt Croasmun from November 2016. Tragically, Roberts died at the age of 61 on June 3, 2021. He was Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College. In this conversation, Roberts reflects on the contribution of theology to the humanities, the role of religious studies in a critical examination of theology, and the importance of appreciating the kinds of theological and moral claims that can change your life. May his memory be a blessing. Show NotesWhat happens when theology becomes religious studies? Is serious appreciation missing? How does theology contribute to the humanities? What is going right in Christian theology? Scholars like say what they do ‘is not theology,’ but they have the wrong definition of theology, according to Tyler“We who care about studying religion have ‘dropped the ball’” “It’s helpful to the Church to have external critique”Theology as a straw man What could theology be saying to those outside of the field?“The line between theology as data and theology as something else is pretty blurry” Theology reveals how self-critical religious people are “More interestingly to me is how those of us in religious studies, perhaps the academy more broadly, can learn how to think from theologians” ‘Critical ascent’The humanities can raise great questions, but can they articulate normative positions? Theology and credulity “It’s seemingly either/or, either you’re going to be critical, or you’ll believe anything” How religious people appear credulous in the eyes of the secular But in actuality, theology charts out how we come to our beliefs“There’s nothing particularly blind about this”Hermeneutics of suspicion Students are very good at pointing to the limitations of a textBut how can we engage in texts in ways that make students think about their own lives? “That’s a much harder task, and it’s one that many students, I find, aren’t that comfortable with” It’s hard! “Humanities is about reading not just what was true for the author, but what is true for me” “How can we take these texts as real options for us?”Christian theology has an important role to play in the pluralistic conversationHow does someone think constructively and critically at the same time? How theologians can teach us that Obituary: Tyler Roberts (1960-2021) (Political Theology)Production NotesThis podcast featured Tyler Roberts and Matt CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Nathan Jowers and Luke StringerA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

"Real wars always begin with culture wars." Theologian Aristotle Papanikolaou discusses Eastern Orthodox perspectives on war and violence; the impact of Communism on Eastern Orthodox theology; the complicated ecclesial structures of Eastern Orthodoxy, where bishops, patriarchs, and nation-states interact in unpredictable ways; he reflects on Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia and Ukraine, the ways Christianity is enmeshed and caught up in the authoritarian, nationalist regime under Putin, and the idea of  "Russkii Mir" (the Russian world), which has come to motivate and justify a great deal of violence and aggression in the name of peace and unity.AboutAristotle Papanikolaou is Professor of Theology and the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture at Fordham University. He co-directs the Orthodox Christian Studies Center, and is author of The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy and has edited several volumes of Eastern Orthodox theological and political perspectives.Show NotesThe long, complicated relationship between Eastern Orthodoxy and Communism in the former Soviet UnionDavid Bentley Hart on Orthodoxy and Communism (NYT article)Eastern Orthodoxy on the ethics of war (book: Orthodox Christian Perspectives on War)What's a patriarch? What's a patriarchate?What does that mean for autonomy and power?How does Ukraine factor in Orthodox patriarchates?Autocephalous Ukrainian Church2022 Sunday of Forgiveness sermon. Kirill states: Russia promotes traditional values, Ukraine led astray by western liberals and Nazis.How does theology function in this conversation?"Russkii Mir" as a political idea: we're one people with a common heritage"To be Russian meant to be Orthodox."Russian "Democracy"Heresy of "Russkii Mir""A God given mission to save Ukrainians from themselves."Theology of HistoryFormal and Material levelsChristian faith is a trans-national faithGreece: "So in your country, are you Orthodox?"Saving UkrainiansLong-term implicationsDynamics within Orthodox ChurchThe hope for reconciliation: "that will take decades in my opinion"Culture warsVisit Public Orthodoxy onlineVisit Fordham's Orthodox Christian Studies CenterProduction NotesThis podcast featured theologians Aristotle Papanikolaou and Ryan McAnnally-LinzEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaImage Credit: An Orthodox church in Malyn, Ukraine, northwest of Kyiv, destroyed by Russian warplanes. Miguel A Lopes/EPA, via ShutterstockA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

What is the future of theology? We asked that question of several leading theologians 7 years ago, including today's featured guest, Katherine Sonderegger, The William Meade Chair of Systematic Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary, a priest in the Episcopal Church, and has written widely, covering Creation, Christology, Election, the Jewishness of Jesus...Her approach to theology is beautifully summed up in the following, “There really is no more beautiful thought in all reality than the thought of God. I believe that theology is ultimately just that: thinking the thought of God and worshipping the Reality who is God.”In this conversation, Katherine Sonderegger joins Matt Croasmun to discuss the importance of a free and unapologetic, unembarrassed approach to Christian theology; the interplay of Christian theology with other religious texts and pluralistic perspectives; the practice of peace, listening, and being knit together even in difference; the strong unity and center of theology, which is the capital-R Reality that is God, who is, in Sonderegger's words, "the great hope of theology."Show NotesWhat’s right with theology these days? Women and theology The relationship between Old Testament studies, New Testament studies, and theology“In the major universities, it is an odd thing to be a religious person”Intellectualism, depth and transcendence The relationship between Christianity and JudaismChristianity between Judaism and IslamWhat is central to Christianity? Ties between Christian faith and the secular realm“Religious people can bring our own reflections on wisdom, as well as folly” Thomas Aquinas and God ‘God and all things in relation to God’ Theology and thinking the sublime Theology is for exploration of God Intellectual worship of God Does theology have a center?Scripture and the mystery of God “I want to see theology losing itself in the ocean of reality”God’s abundance Galatians 5:14 “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Loving God through love of neighborAugustine: “Love God and do what you will” The future of the field of theology “God is the great hope of theology”indifference to religion The seminary graduates fill her with hope “If it is of God, it cannot fail” About Katherine Sonderegger Katherine Sonderegger is The William Meade Chair of Systematic Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary. She joined the VTS faculty in 2002, after fifteen years as a professor of religion at Middlebury College. Her academic career began at Smith College, where she undertook interdisciplinary research in medieval studies. Her priestly vocation began at Yale Divinity School, where she completed her M.Div. and STM degrees, writing a thesis on feminist theology. The first years after graduation brought her to congregational ministry and chaplaincy training at Yale New Haven Hospital. Raised a Presbyterian, the Reformed roots run deep in her vocation. She brought these into the Episcopal Church when she was ordained deacon and priest in 2000.Twin topics have characterized her academic career: the dogmatic theology of Karl Barth and constructive work in systematic theology. She has published in several areas of Barth studies, from Barth’s interpretation of Israel, Jews, and Judaism, to his Doctrine of God, his Christology, and his remarkable exegesis of Scripture. More recently, Sonderegger has turned to constructive theology, writing shorter works on the Doctrines of Election, Creation, and Christology, and launching a new systematics. Volume 1: The Doctrine of God appeared under the aegis of Fortress Press in 2015, and Volume 2: The Trinity: Processions and Persons was published in 2020. She is currently working on Volume 3: Divine Missions, Christology, and Pneumatology.Sonderegger is also the author of That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew: Karl Barth’s “Doctrine of Israel” (University Park: Penn State Press, 1992) and coauthor, with artist Margaret Adams Parker, of Praying the Stations of the Cross: Finding Hope in a Weary Land (Wm. Eerdmans Press, 2019).Production NotesThis podcast featured theologian Katherine Sonderegger and biblical scholar Matthew CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction and Editorial Assistance Nathan JowersA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Miroslav Volf offers his personal reflections about the war on Ukraine. His theological and ethical commentary speaks to various facets of the situation, including: the global cultural clash between authoritarian nationalism and pluralistic democracy; the primacy and priority of God's universal and unconditional love for all humanity, including evildoers; the call to actively resist evil and guard our humanity; the importance of truth in an age of disinformation and suppression of real facts; the need for Christians to remain "unreliable allies" with governments or parties while remaining faithful to the humanity in the friend, neighbor, stranger, and enemy; but ultimately his message is one to soberly—and dare I suggest joyfully, with unabashed hope—lift up our hearts (and the hearts of those suffering through war, dislocation, death, and destruction) to the Lord.Episode Art Provided by Fyodor Raychynets. "ні війні!" = "NO WAR!"Show Notes Gustavo Gutiérrez, On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the InnocentGustavo Gutierrez, The God of LifeMiroslav’s experience in Yugoslavia in the 90s and how it is reflected in UkraineThe theological dimension of the war in Ukraine “The war in Ukraine is part of a resurgence of nationalism as a global phenomenon”Two types of nationalism: exclusive nationalism, inclusive nationalism or patriotismRussian nationalism and the superiority of an ethnic group, the Russian Orthodoxy“What is the role of religion in the public sphere?"To what extent do Christians have stake in advocating for any position? The birth of Russian Orthodoxy in Kyiv The origins of faith and nation in Russia “Such close ties between religion and religious sacred spaces have made religion complicit in the violence of the state”Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World OrderHow Russian Orthodoxy is divided – the war is fought internally, rather than between Roman Catholicism + Protestantism and Orthodoxy on the other the division between The Orthodox Church of Ukraine and Muscovite Patriarchate is reflected in the divisions in global OrthodoxyThe struggle within Orthodoxy for primacy in MoscowGod is love“God does not simply love and therefore can love or not love, but God actually is love always and without exception. And therefore that the love of enemy is a central tenant of the Christian faith”Every single oppressed and suffering person and every single wrongdoer, no matter how heinous the crimes they've committed, every single individual is an object of God's unconditional love.”John 1:29  "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"“in secular terms, we ought to respect the humanity of each person, even the worst among us, and that we ought to care for them”God's love for the weak and assaulted Love for the enemyHow does this fit with the idea of Jesus’ teaching on non-resistance? “Resistance against the aggressor can be, and I think ought to be, an expression of love, both for the victims of aggression and for the aggressor”The Just War Theory: there are different ways to transform an aggressor “I myself do not subscribe to Just War Theory”I think that any engagement with the enemy has to be led by the command of loveOliver O’Donovan and love of the enemy “The interest of the Christian faith is also interest in the good of the aggressor. And we cannot exempt the aggressor from the universality of the love of God”“It's crucial to keep careful watch over the state of our humanity. Evil is infectious, especially for those who struggle against it”Collective guilt“It has been said that truth is often the first victim of war”What is the place of emotions in war? Job and suffering“What's really interesting is that Job dares to speak to God. He brings his anger, his lament, his disappointment, all of this displaced before God”How truth can transform anger Psalm 137 “Blessed is the one who dashes your little ones against the rock”Karl Barth: “Christians and unreliable allies.” Their ultimate allegiance is to God, not to a political party Ron Williams: “God has no particular interest of God’s own”The strength of pluralistic democracies “One of the reasons for the rise of authoritarianism is a certain dysfunctionality of pluralistic democracies”Reconciliation One way to reconcile is to enforced peace and suppress war But reconciliation is a moral practice “Naming the wrong that has been committed and finding ways to go beyond that, to live together in peace"How to sustain hope in the midst of such overwhelming powers of evil"sursum corda,”"lift up your hearts," or more literally "hearts up!"Production NotesThis podcast featured theologian Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin Chan, Nathan Jowers, Logan Ledman, and Annie TrowbridgeA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Today we're sharing a conversation between Miroslav Volf and Fyodor Raychynets, a former student of Miroslav's when he taught at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Croatia in the early '90s. Fyodor is a theologian and pastor in Kyiv, and is head of the department of theology at Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary on the northwest outskirts of the city, 20 kilometers outside downtown Kyiv.We spoke to Fyodor on Sunday, March 13, 2022, just as he came in for the 8pm curfew after a day of feeding the elderly, the sick, weary soldiers, and women and children stuck in the basements without electricity, without clean water, without medication, and increasingly, without a clear idea of how any of this will end for them. That day Fyodor visited his seminary campus to find it had been shelled by three missiles, destroying much of the campus, including his office, leaving his library of books destroyed.In this conversation, Fyodor shares his experience, now after 20 days of war, 20 days of being under siege, and 20 days of prayer and feeding the hungry.Fyodor posts daily updates and reflections on his Facebook page, you can find a link in the show notes. Each daily post begins with developments in the war and how it's impacting him, his team of fellow ministers, and the city around him. He then reflects on the nature of war itself, and its impact on human life. He closes each post with a prayer for Ukraine, for freedom, for humanity. I'll quote just a few of his moving passages.Day 7, "War is when the safest place to sleep in your apartment is the bathroom, although that's obviously for other purposes.."Day 11, "War is when the most vulnerable suffer. That's when ordinary things, for example, going to the store and buying fresh, warm and fragrant Ukrainian bread (I've visited about 70 countries, but I've never eaten such delicious bread) become impossible. It's when you meet people every day who haven't eaten bread for 4 or 5 days, not to mention anything else...."Day 15, "War is when evil reaches unseen dimensions and lowest forms, and when good manifests itself in its highest manifestations against the backdrop of total uncontrollable madness."Day 19, "War is when you wake up in the morning, if you managed to fall asleep at all, not from the alarm clock or birds singing, but to the sounds of sirens, or bomb explosions that make you tremble. War is when your emotional state shifts from optimistic to pessimistic more often than in peaceful time, and the emotional range itself is much wider."Day 20, written just a few hours ago. "War is when your understanding changes when not in theory but in practice you especially appreciate the moment "here and now" and live it more consciously..."Show Notes"War is when the safest place to sleep in your apartment is the bathroom”Fyodor’s connection with Miroslav Volf, and his experience with war in Croatia and Bosnia“I was joking when I was coming back to Ukraine... that ‘I am returning to the most peaceful country in the world.’ And here we are.”“When the US government and UK government warned us about the impending full-scale invasion of Russian troops, we thought that they were exaggerating.”Three missiles hit his campus the day before this interviewFyodor’s volunteer group feeds the elderly trapped in basements                                                                                                                         Why Fyodor decided to stay and help, rather than leave“Thanks to God, I was able to evacuate my children.”The risks involved in visiting those trapped in basements"Is it worth that degree of risk?"Fyodor’s seminary was hit by a missile: “Let me put it in one word: it's an apocalyptic scene, you know?”Giving communion in a destroyed landscape, “What does Christ's body, given for the life of the world, mean in that moment?”“I started to believe in what we called an open Lord's Supper: when everyone is welcomed”Giving communion to people from different religious backgrounds‘What the people ask for’ Grappling with the Russian support for Putin’s war: “It’s a wider problem”“When the intellectuals support that kind of aggression, we have a serious problem.”“Ukrainians were always a pain in the back to the Russians because of our free will. We love freedom.”Is the Russian Orthodox Church involved in a Russian imperial project?Public versus private support of the war, and neutrality, by the Russian Church“Martin Luther King used to say there is a special place in hell for these kinds of people who pull or choose neutrality in the times of moral crisis.”“As we say in Ukraine, the war did not start 18 days ago, it started eight years ago.”How can our humanity be preserved in the midst of evil? “I have to remind myself on a daily basis that we are humans and we are-- not just remain --but it is so crucial, in the midst of hell, not to lose our humanity. But to preserve it, and to show it, and to demonstrate it.”How to keep anger from taking control Is faith a consolation? “It is challenging to sustain a faith in the situation where there is a sense that you cannot control anything that is happening.”Faith and responsibility “Your faith is challenged by this simple statement of a soldier who says, ‘You go there on your own responsibility.’”Faith tested by family as much as the war1 John: “Love conquers all fear”Emotional extremes in wartime, and the simple comforts of a croissant from the local church “I don't know what's wrong with the policy in this world that we cannot square one crazy dictator.” About Fyodor RaychynetsFyodor Raychynets is a theologian and pastor in Kyiv, Ukraine. He is Head of the Department of Theology at Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in Leadership and Biblical Studies, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. He studied with Miroslav Volf at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Croatia. Follow him on Facebook here.Production NotesThis podcast featured theologians Fyodor Raychynets and Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Willie James Jennings (Yale Divinity School) joins Matt Croasmun for a conversation about the future of theology, addressing the Christian inability to hold complexity, public communication, and deep formation together in a way that shows how theology is for our very lives.Seven years ago the Yale Center for Faith and Culture interviewed a diverse array of theologians about the present woes and future potential of theology. Some five years and a pandemic later, the landscape of theological education seems like it's at a crossroads. The driving purpose of Christian higher education is in question as colleges, universities, and seminaries across denominations and around the world consider how they'll move forward in the wake of stark realities this pandemic laid bare. So it's worth revisiting the conversation to see what has changed, what holds true, and what hopes we're still holding on to. For today’s episode, we're featuring a conversation between Matt Croasmun and Dr. Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, an ordained Baptist minister, and author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race, and more recently After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. Willie reminds us to be looking for the opportunities in the middle of crises of theological education; he worries about the inability to hold complexity, public communication, and deep formation together in a way that shows how theology is for our very lives; he speaks to the recent aversion to pastoral ministry, which is theology for the sake of the people; he touches on the role of Christian theology in a pluralistic world, asking how theologians might learn from comedians; and he encourages all Christians to take up the theological call to courage, the call to see, listen, and and alleviate suffering, and the call to a theology of life.Show notesHow to make theology attractive Who do we want to teach? Secular religious studies versus confessional environments“Never let a good crisis go to waste” educational ecology: learning environments Doctoral students, do you want to be a teacher? The pastor versus the professor: the call to teach Theology and plurality Theology and violence: naming the pressure points of suffering The Christian frame versus the real matter at hand “We want to be asking human questions, they’re not just Christian questions” The alleviation of pain and suffering comes before questions of the good life The real goal is the healthy neighborhoodReverence and theology About Willie JenningsWillie Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Africana Studies, and Religious Studies at Yale University; he is an ordained Baptist minister and is author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race,Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate, and most recently, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging.Other Episodes Featuring Willie JenningsJoy and the Act of Resistance Against Despair (with Miroslav Volf)My Anger, God's Righteous Indignation (A Response to the Murder of George Floyd)The Crowd Needs Faith: Control, Care, Economy, and Race (with Miroslav Volf)Production NotesThis podcast featured theologian Willie James Jennings and biblical scholar Matthew CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin ChanA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

As Christians around the world heard these words spoken on Ash Wednesday this past week, as an ashen oil was smudged to their brows, the world watched on in horror and grief over the brutality and aggression against Ukraine. In a swift movement of solidarity, we're all still are left with difficult and enduring questions. Why this war? What is at stake? How did we get here and what can we do? How can we stop this in a way that might hang on to a hope for peace?But as finite, limited beings brought forth from dust, we quickly run to the end of our ability to explain. And like so many problems in our world, we're just left with further questions: What does it mean to be a Christian in a world where so many of our systems are dehumanizing? What duties are incumbent upon us as Christians, as humans? How can we learn and share a global flourishing that respects and honors all?In this week's episode, Matt Croasmun interviews Fernando Segovia, the Oberlin Graduate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is the author of Decolonizing Biblical Studies: A View from the Margins. And as a Cuban American theologian and biblical scholar, he is devoted in elevating voices outside of the dominant Western culture, and advocating for a a truly global Christianity one that is relevant to lived realities across the world. In this conversation, he reflects on the importance of learning about Christianity as a set of global and multidimensional traditions. He discusses the duties of Christians to critique human culture and society, including their own; he suggests that utopian visions can and do inform the moral and spiritual imagination in our imperfect world, but must avoid naïveté and invite constant critique and correction. Show notes  Theology at the global level Theology and seriousness in institutions of learningChristian studies and standing in tradition“There’s tremendous ignorance of what one is a part of” ‘outsiders’ and Christian traditionThe need for fresh critical analysis of Christianity ‘We cannot do the same analysis that was done in 1970 in the 2010s’What is the good life in terms of our particular crises? How do we uphold human dignity, human freedom, and social justice?Paul, the Roman Empire, and solutions to our modern issuesWhat really is a utopian vision for our world today? Visions of the good versus resisting what is wrong, is there tension there? Fernando Segovia’s past in Cuba “Even the utopian visions must be critiqued’ Paradise, liberation, and naivetyChallenging the good Biblical interpretations: even the Evil Being came from the Kingdom of God Contradictions and utopia  About Fernando SegoviaFernando F. Segovia is Oberlin Graduate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity. His teaching and research encompass Early Christian Origins, Theological Studies, and Cultural Studies. He is author of Decolonizing Biblical Studies: A View from the Margins. As a biblical critic, his interests include: Johannine Studies; method and theory; ideological criticism; the history of the discipline and its construction of early Christian antiquity. As a theologian, his interests include: non-Western Christian theologies, especially from Latin American and the Caribbean; and minority Christian theologies in the West, especially from U.S. Hispanic Americans. As a cultural critic, his interests include: postcolonial studies; minority studies; Diaspora studies. Professor Segovia has served on the editorial boards of a variety of academic journals, has worked as consultant for foundations and publishing houses, and has lectured widely both nationally and internationally. He is also a past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians in the United States.Production NotesThis podcast featured biblical scholars Fernando Segovia and Matthew CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin ChanA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Jazz pianist Julian Reid on music, theology, and improvisation. The keys element of The JuJu Exchange uses the history of blues, gospel, and jazz to discuss how we communicate emotionally and spiritually through music, teaching an important lesson in how to live and long for home while we remain exiles. Features score from The JuJu Exchange's latest release, The Eternal Boombox. Interview by Ryan McAnnally-Linz and Evan Rosa.Julian Reid is a Chicago-based jazz pianist and producer, writer, and performer (not to mention B.A. Yale University, and M.Div. Emory University). The JuJu Exchange is a musical partnership also featuring Nico Segal (trumpet, Chance the Rapper; The Social Experiment) and Everett Reid—exploring creativity, justice, and the human experience through their hip-hop infused jazz. Their new 5-song project is called The Eternal Boombox.Show NotesMusic is invisible and tactileMusic as a matter of faithHow do we decide what is music and what is just sound?Pain and hope in Blues music“The Blues emerged as a way to communicate within the black community the pain and frustration and disappointment of failed black life post emancipation.”How the Blues emerged as a way to talk about the sorrows of life.The beauty of the mundaneThe birth of Gospel Blues and Georgia TomGospel sings about God, but carries on the pain of the bluesJazz and the middle classAmiri Bakara, Blues People“Jazz was communicating freedom of expression of aspiration, of ambition, of joy, maybe even some frivolity in American life.”The music theory behind emotionThe theological implications of Blues chord progressionsExilic chords: how Blues denies the ear the chord resolution it wants to hear“Frustrating the notion of going home”Music theory and the meaning of home in Christianity“Music is a means by which I can signal the dysfunction of society, the lack of home in society”Jacob Blake and frustrated chordsBlues is the music that is ‘beautifying but not justifying,’ that ‘points forward to something that’s not yet’The chord progressions of European imperialismHow American music and Christian music centers us back ‘home’ in the chords, “as opposed to contending with the fact that we are still pilgrims and in a foreign land"Sugary chords avoid "the reality of us being in some real deep trouble”Julian’s band The JuJu exchange, and their latest EP The Eternal BoomboxHis album is on the stages of grief involved in processing the PandemicThe first stage: shock, “I can’t see my eyes”The second stage: anger, “Avalanche”The third stage: bargaining, “Eternal boombox”The fourth stage: depression, “And so on”The fifth stage, acceptance/hope, “Glimmer”Music, Alzheimers, and how distorting the melody conveys issues with memoryJazz and agencyImprovised music and expression in the momentTension and comfort in Jazz phrasingHow God can meet us in the midst of space, how God can meet us in the midst of creating wordless music”Do we need to articulate who God is?Improvisation and humility“Does the music breed honest dialogue with the Creator?”How music plays with social boundaries“Musicians that are just out for themselves sound like it”More from The JuJu Exchange: Listen to The Eternal Boombox EP: https://ditto.fm/theeternalboomboxIf you like what you hear and want to further the exchange, join us over at Patreon. This subscription service helps The JuJu Exchange stay independent: patreon.com/thejujuexchangeLearn more about The JuJu Exchange on their website: https://www.thejuju.life/ From the episode:Cornel West, from Race Matters: “To be a jazz freedom fighter is to attempt to galvanize and energize world-weary people into forms of organization with accountable leadership that promote critical exchange and broad reflection. The interplay of individuality and unity is not one of uniformity and unanimity imposed from above but rather of conflict among diverse groupings that reach a dynamic consensus subject to questioning and criticism. As with a soloist in a jazz quartet, quintet or band, individuality is promoted in order to sustain and increase the creative tension with the group--a tension that yields higher levels of performance to achieve the aim of the collective project. This kind of critical and democratic sensibility flies in the face of any policing of borders and boundaries of 'blackness', 'maleness', 'femaleness', or 'whiteness'.”