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

"I am because they were." Lisa Sharon Harper joins Miroslav Volf to discuss the significance of narrative history for understanding ourselves and our current cultural moment; the sequence of repeated injustices that have haunted America's past and directly impacted Black Americans for hundreds of years; the Christian nationalist temptation to hoard power; the necessary conditions for true repair, the role of reparations in the pursuit of racial justice, and the goodness of belonging.This month, Lisa Sharon Harper released a new book that traces her family's history. Even with the aid of new mail-order genetic testing and ancestry services, I think it's fair to say that most Americans live their lives disconnected from their ancestors. Call it ancestor worship, call it autonomy, call it selective memory—whatever is going on there, we tend to be disconnected from our past, mostly unaware of those from whom we came beyond our parents and grandparents.Who were those people who we depend on for our very existence? Lisa Sharon Harper's new book is called Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All. And when new episodes of For the Life of the world come back on May 7 this spring, we'll be talking with Lisa at length about how race broke her world and how she traced her family line back beyond the founding of America. For more information about the book, check the show notes and visit lisasharonharper.com/BlackFortuneMonth for more resources on reconnecting to our history and seeking restorative racial justice.But for now, we're replaying Miroslav Volf's 2021 conversation with Lisa Sharon Harper; the two friends discuss the significance of narrative history for understanding ourselves and our current cultural moment; the sequence of repeated injustices that have haunted America's past and directly impacted Black Americans for hundreds of years; the Christian nationalist temptation to hoard power; the necessary conditions for true repair, the role of reparations in the pursuit of racial justice, and the goodness of belonging. Thanks for listening. And here's the episode in its entirety. Enjoy.Show NotesThe importance of family story  - ‘I am because they were’ “the hereditary sin of the philosopher is a lack of historical sense” - Frederick NietzscheLisa Sharon Harper traces her family lineage through the Carribean where they suffered ‘grueling oppression’“They found ways to, to cope and they found their pool of spirit to help them in the project of resilience.” Lisa Sharon Harper“I'm just very aware of who I have been and also aware that their DNA literally lives in me.”1619 lawThe origin story of police today and the ‘black tax’The idea that people always had a choice - the first settlers chose to enslaveGeorge Floyd’s impact We have a choice as a society right nowHow faith is involved with choiceChristian nationalism todayJesus in a suburban Starbucks versus the historical Jesus“The white Christian nationalist project is to do one thing, is to preserve and protect the power, the assumed rule of white Christian men on this land.”Miroslav's idea that Jesus has become a moral stranger to us: “Things that were really important to him don't matter to us and things that are really important to us didn't seem to be important to him.” Miroslav Volf The logic of empire embedded in ChristianityThe ‘big lie’ – that everyone in the Bible was white“You cannot understand this book if you are reading it from the halls of empire” – Lisa Sharon HarperRestoration and redemption are possible The Very Good Gospel, How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right“If you are human you have the ability to be transformed”Revelation and the Tree of Life Segregation in South Africa“Oppression is costly, so of course the remedy will be costly”ReparationsHumanity as the center of repentance What is power for? Inequity and the possibility of death Genesis 14 Sin as separationWhat would repentance look like? Calling on brown Jesus to create a circle of belonging Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All#BlackFortuneMonthAbout Lisa Sharon HarperAbout Lisa Sharon HarperFrom Ferguson to New York, and from Germany to South Africa to Australia, Lisa Sharon Harper leads trainings that increase clergy and community leaders’ capacity to organize people of faith toward a just world. A prolific speaker, writer and activist, Ms. Harper is the founder and president of FreedomRoad.us, a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap in our nation by designing forums and experiences that bring common understanding, common commitment and common action.Ms. Harper is the author of several books, including Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican…or Democrat (The New Press, 2008); Left Right and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics (Elevate, 2011); Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith (Zondervan, 2014); and the critically acclaimed, The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong can be Made Right (Waterbrook, a division of Penguin Random House, 2016). The Very Good Gospel, recognized as the “2016 Book of the Year” by Englewood Review of Books, explores God’s intent for the wholeness of all relationships in light of today’s headlines.A columnist at Sojourners Magazine and an Auburn Theological Seminary Senior Fellow, Ms. Harper has appeared on TVOne, FoxNews Online, NPR, and Al Jazeera America. Her writing has been featured in CNN Belief Blog, The National Civic Review, Sojourners, The Huffington Post, Relevant Magazine, and Essence Magazine. She writes extensively on shalom and governance, immigration reform, health care reform, poverty, racial and gender justice, climate change, and transformational civic engagement.Ms. Harper earned her Masters degree in Human Rights from Columbia University in New York City, and served as Sojourners Chief Church Engagement Officer. In this capacity, she fasted for 22 days as a core faster in 2013 with the immigration reform Fast for Families. She trained and catalyzed evangelicals in St. Louis and Baltimore to engage the 2014 push for justice in Ferguson and the 2015 healing process in Baltimore, and she educated faith leaders in South Africa to pull the levers of their new democracy toward racial equity and economic inclusion.In 2015, The Huffington Post named Ms. Harper one of 50 powerful women religious leaders to celebrate on International Women’s Day. In 2019, The Religion Communicators Council named a two-part series within Ms. Harper’s monthly Freedom Road Podcast “Best Radio or Podcast Series of The Year”. The series focused on The Roots and Fruits of Immigrant Labor Exploitation in the US. And in 2020 Ms. Harper received The Bridge Award from The Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation in recognition of her dedication to bridging divides and building the beloved community.Production NotesThis podcast featured Lisa Sharon Harper and Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaSpecial thanks to Lisa Sharon Harper and Katie Zimmerman at FreedomRoad.usProduction Assistance by Martin Chan & 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

Jemar Tisby, author of the NYT bestseller The Color of Compromise, explains the complicity and compromise of American Christians; the narrative war that confederate monuments wage (and how they were erected much later than you might think); the ugly theological justifications of racism and the shameful history of Christian white supremacy; the fraught project of selectively naming heroes and villains and then memorializing them; and the practical problem of how to go forward rightly from this moment of increased attention to racial injustice.Get Jemar Tisby's book! The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in RacismShow Notes"the North won the Civil War, but the south won the narrative war." - Bryan StevensonThe birth of Jim Crow in the Redemption Era – white people taking back the SouthMonuments as reassertion of white supremacyThe theological significance of the 'Redemption Era'Separation of Church and State as a disguise for racismThe Bible as justification textMatthew 6:24 and“You can't serve God and money”Problematic historical heroes and the desire for heroes todayShould we be putting slave holders on pedestals?Can we instead honor those who held America to its noble ideals?What kind of future can we hope for?What confession can look like in communitiesTheologically unpacking repairCreative repair2020 and what happened with voting rightsChristians and reluctance to voteWhat do we do now? Awareness, Relationships, CommitmentJesus Christ and relationalityRelationships as necessary but not sufficientCommitment to stand up to racial inequalitiesProduction NotesThis podcast featured author and historian Jemar TisbyEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaEditorial and Production Assistance by 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

Sameer Yadav comments on Howard Thurman's Civil Rights Theology, Ryan McAnnally-Linz reflects on the spiritual and moral significance of David Walker's "Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World," and Stacey Floyd-Thomas talks about racial oppression via vicious humility and the life-giving dignity of Black joy. #BlackHistoryMonthShow NotesThree themes that impacted Thurman’s early religious life:Divine common groundSocial injusticeHumanity of Jesus and black joy“ Human life is one, and all humans are members of one another, and this insight is spiritual and it is the hard core of religious experience. My roots are deep in the throbbing reality of Negro idiom. And from it, I draw a full measure of inspiration and vitality. "An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World" – pamphlet by David WalkerFreedom as a natural right“What in our day do we claim as ours when in fact it belongs to God?” Ryan McAnnally-Linz“Where do I find myself clinging to racial privilege as though it were rightfully mine?”And where do I find myself looking for gratitude from black Americans for doing only what obedience to God requires?”Stacy Floyd Thomas on not finding what she needs at CVS  - inequality of representationHumility as a sinHumility as something that Christian theology projects onto the Church as a ‘vice grip’Black joy represented by the song, "this joy that I have, this joy that I have, the world didn't give it. And the world can't take it away." – Stacy Floyd Thomas“I'm black, but beautiful, oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, do not resent me or gaze upon me because the sun has chosen to favor, favorably shine upon me." Song of Solomon 1:5-6 KJV“To know joy is to be certain in one's thinking, doing, and being.”Salvation without destruction“we can save souls without losing our minds or losing or lynching the lives of others in the process. Our work has to be not only salvific, but sane and life saving.”-  – Stacy Floyd ThomasWhat joy really feels like“To know joy is to be certain in one's thinking, doing, and being.”“your joy does not exact oppression from another”Production NotesThis podcast featured Sameer Yadav with an appreciation of Howard Thurman, Ryan McAnnally-Linz with an appreciation of David Walker, and social ethicist Stacey Floyd-ThomasEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaEditorial and Production Assistance by Logan LedmanA 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/giveAbout Sameer YadavSameer Yadav (Th.D. Duke Divinity School) is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. His research areas are in the philosophy and theology of religious experience, race and religion, and the theological interpretation of Scripture. He is the author of The Problem of Perception and the Experience of God: Toward a Theological Empiricism (Fortress Press, 2015), a number of articles published in various journals such as The Journal of Analytic Theology, Faith and Philosophy, and The Journal of Religion among others, as well as a number of chapters in edited volumes.About Stacey Floyd ThomasStacey Floyd-Thomas is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair and Associate Professor of Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University, and is a nationally recognized scholar and leading voice in social ethics who provides leadership to several national and international organizations that educate, advocate, support and shape the strategic work of individuals, initiatives, and institutions in their organizing efforts of championing and cultivating equity, diversity, and inclusion via organizations such as Black Religious Scholars Group (BRSG), Society for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Religion (SRER), Strategic Effective Ethical Solutions (SEES), Society of Christian Ethics (SCE) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR). She holds a PhD in Ethics, a MBA in organizational behavior and two Masters in Comparative religion and Theological Studies with certification in women’s studies, cultural studies, and counseling. Not only has she published seven books and numerous articles, she is also as an expert in leadership development, an executive coach and ordained clergy equipped with business management. As a result, Floyd-Thomas has been a lead architect in helping corporations, colleges, universities, religious congregations, and community organizations with their audit, assessment, and action plans in accordance with evolving both the mission and strategic plans. Without question, she is one of the nation’s leading voices in ethical leadership  in the United States and is globally recognized for her scholarly specializations in liberation theology and ethics, critical race theory, critical pedagogy, and postcolonial studies. Additionally, leaving podium and pulpit, she hosts her own podcast to popularize and make her profession and vocation intergenerationally and intracommunally accessible through The Womanist Salon Podcast. 

Can we find joy in our world? It's hard enough to find genuine, death-defying joy in the wake of the failure of the modern utopian project, the expectation that human reason and technology and political revolution might save us all. Overlay the malaise of modernity with this dumb pandemic, and the prospects for joy seem bleak. But for N.T. Wright, joy doesn't depend on the whims of circumstance or the proper function of the world. He speaks of the hardy resilience of joy, even in the midst of tragic, terrible, and untimely death. He speaks of the groanings of the Spirit, laboring and working in us even and especially when we can't find the words to explain the circumstances away. Today we're sharing Miroslav Volf's 2014 interview with the New Testament scholar, theologian, and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright. He's the former Bishop of Durham, he's Emeritus Professor University of St Andrews, and is Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.NOTE: For the Life of the World is running highlights, readings, lectures, and other best-of features until May 1, 2022, when we'll be back with new conversations.AboutN.T. Wright is a New Testament scholar, theologian, and Anglican bishop. He's the former Bishop of Durham, he's Emeritus Professor University of St Andrews, and is Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He's the author of many books, including Surprised by Hope, Paul: A Biography, God and the Pandemic, Simply Christian, The World the New Testament, and many more.Show NotesThe connection between joy and God's deliverance and rescueJoy at what God has doneResurrection joyNavigating "the now and the not yet"What happens to joy in "the now and the not yet"Waiting, suffering, and joyActs 12: James is killed by Herod's men, and Peter gets out of jail freeDifferentiating types of sufferingRomans 8: The whole creation groaning as a woman in childbirth2 Corinthians 2:1-7 (NRSV) / So I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. 2For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3And I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice; for I am confident about all of you, that my joy would be the joy of all of you. 4For I wrote to you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. 5 But if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but to some extent—not to exaggerate it—to all of you. 6This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person; 7so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow."Yet behold: Here I am"I have no idea what's going on, but I believe.N.T. Wright on the presiding over his father's funeralThe death of a child: there is noEarly church love is "agape"—holistic loveThe emotive dimensions of joyWhat kind of seeing is involved in rejoicing?"All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me.""It's a matter of thinking into the world in which divine authority is constituted by self-giving love."Jesus on a donkey vs. Pontius Pilate on a war horse—the redefinition of power and authority"Religion is what you do to keep the fabric of society together."Treating Christianity as a private matterIs there any joy in the world today?The confused world that comes from believing the utopian lie of modernityProduction NotesThis podcast featured New Testament Scholar N.T. Wright and theologian Miroslav VolfEdited 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

"Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness... " (Martin Luther King, Jr., April 3, 1968)The day before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached these words in Memphis, Tennessee. In a powerful and urgent message for sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee that's come to be known "I've Been to the Mountaintop," he considers the parable of the Good Samaritan, going on to speak prophetically and presciently of the dangers he himself faced, not knowing how very true his words were."We've got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn't matter with me now because I've been to the mountain top. like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place, but I'm not concerned about that. I just want to do God's will, and he's allowed me to go up to the mountain and I've looked over and I've seen the promised land. I may not get that. But I want you to know the night that we will get to the promised land tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not feeling as have seen the glory of."And on Monday as the collective consciousness of the world and the media turns its eyes to the legacy of of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, it's important to remember that he was not only a civil right activist and a pastor. He was also a theologian whose spiritual logic has profoundly impacted the church, the United States, and the world. That's why today as we commemerate the legacy of Dr. King, we ask the question: How should we do theology? What is the future of theology? And how should theology impact real human life? An impact that might even cultivate the dangerous unselfishness Jesus lived, the Good Samaritan lived, and Dr King lived.In today's episode, theologians, Keri Day and Willie Jennings reflect on these questions. Keri is Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African-American Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Willie is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. As they talk about the prospects and perils of how theology is being done today, they both share the vision that theology should touch the lives and hearts of people, a public endeavor motivated by a love for the world. They stress that theology should be inherently practical, transformative, and life-giving.And as a celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his distinctive, influential theological perspective, we're honored to have been given permission by the King Estate to feature a very moving passage from "I Have Been to the Mountaintop," in which he displays a deep and courageous and prophetic understanding of what should be at stake for the theology he preached. it's a theology of life and justice, a theology of profound and emanating love, a theology that envisions the promised land of flourishing that all God's children should be able to enjoy.Show Notes“How should theology impact real human life?” – Evan Rosa “What is going right in theology?”  - Matt CroasmanRevival of political and public theology The ‘subaltern voice’The difference between theology and practical theologies “Intrinsic to a theology is the normative moment” Keri Day“Christian theology wants to make the claim that the telos is toward something much larger, about the love of God and creation.” – Keri DayHow Christianity can address the pluralistic moment of the present. The plurality of Christian traditionsInternal resources within Christian traditions for dealing with complexity and differenceTheology in diverse fields: literary studies, philosophy, political theory, postcolonial theory, feminist, womanist.“I always think that you find people asking questions about God in really interesting places.” – Willie Jennings3 crises in theology communication, thinking together about a challenging topicthe loss of the imaginative capacity to form theological interestsWhat is a sufficient theological pedagogy?What do our texts accomplish?Does theology invite?How to invite people into a vision of the good life Plurality and ChristianityViolence and theology Martin Luther King Jr. on the road from Jerusalem to Jerico “The question is not, ‘If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?’ The question is, ‘If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’ That's the question.” – MLK Jr. “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” – MLK Jr. Note: For the Life of the World is running highlights, readings, lectures, and other best-of features until May 1, 2022, when we'll be back with new conversations.Contributors"I Have Been to the Mountaintop," Martin Luther King, Jr., April 3, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee was used with permission from the Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Special thanks to Eric Tidwell.Keri Day is Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African-American Religion at Princeton Theological SeminaryWillie Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity SchoolProduction NotesThis podcast featured Martin Luther King, Jr., Keri Day, Willie Jennings, and Matt CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaEditorial and Production 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

Marilynne Robinson, a celebrated novelist and essayist, shares her insights on the precarious state of democracy in America. She discusses the dangerous impact of misinformation and the Capitol attack, urging a return to truth and unity, especially among Christians. Robinson highlights the need for dialogue and integrity to foster democracy and examines the role of faith in politics. She calls for revitalizing Christian values to heal societal divides and emphasizes embracing our identities to move forward in hope.

Miroslav Volf and Evan Rosa consider audience questions and feedback about hopes and fears going into 2022. A reflective conversation about politics and theology, the aims of theological writing, suffering and the problem of evil, the loss of the middle ground in our polarized era (and Miroslav questions whether "middle" is even a Christian category), the primordial goodness of the world and seeing suffering with one eye squinted; and whether theology is for the religious only, or indeed, for the life of the world. NOTE: For the Life of the World will run highlights, readings, lectures, and other best-of features until May 1, 2022, when we'll be back with new conversations.Finding light in darkness: “how do we find and recognize the moments of of light?” - Miroslav VolfPrimordial goodness, positivity more powerful than negativity“Where the light gets in” Leonard CohenWWII and joy in times of darkness"The beauty before God of the singer who doesn’t know how to sing" - ChrysostomJosef Pieper, Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation “A writer is his life.” – Hannah Arendt The writing process as a spiritual exercise: “What are our true aspirations?” “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means, what I want and what  I fear.” - Joan DidionWriting in relation to reading“There are those who write books and there are those who read them.” – Paul TillichByung-Chul Han, The Burnout SocietyOur cultural problem of “struggling to achieve in competitive environments”Drew Collins, The Unique and Universal Christ, Refiguring the Theology of ReligionsOliver Dyer, Homo NovusPaul Bloom, The Sweet Spot, The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for MeaningThe idea of the pleasure of pain and sufferingMartin Luther, Carl Barth, and Jurgen Moltmann as sources of inspirationKeith DeRose, Horrendous EvilsThe course “The Problem of Evil” cotaught by Miroslav Volf and Keith DeRoseThe forms of resilience that are embedded in the Christian faith in the face of suffering The relationship between Christianity and suffering “faith can both emerge and be extremely alive in situations that when you step back, you might think would disprove faith.” Miroslav Volf Miroslav’s father finds faith as a Prisoner of War"I can, with one eye squinted, take it all as a blessing." Flannery O’ConnorNot being ‘too impressed’ by the negative The relationship between the Church and polarized America “tend to the beauty of the world within do not let the circumstances encroach upon the integrity of the self.” Miroslav Volf The loss of the political middle ground “Christians are unreliable allies” Ron Williams The political middle ground versus the political common groundNationalism and the Church in 2022 Resisting the notion of a political Christianity Resisting the return to Christendom "is theology for the religious only, or is such a way of thinking obsolete?"The lack of a designated sacred space An orientation towards God as a secular reality, a worldly reality This is the 100th episode, Miroslav looks back. Some favorites: “Charles TaylorMarilynne Robinson Chris WimanWillie JenningsCarrie Day" Ignore these walls.” Yvonne Mamarede of ZimbabweProduction NotesThis podcast featured theologian Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin Chan, Nathan Jowers, and Logan LedmanA 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

"Don't dare think that somehow your conversation with Mary and your interest in her is in competition with your relationship with Christ. ... You are flirting with heresy if you do not have a doctrine of Mary as mother of God." —Matthew MillinerWhat is the role of the Virgin Mary in Christian spiritual formation? Art historian Matthew Milliner (Wheaton College) joins Evan Rosa for a conversation about beauty of Mary in Christian spirituality—particularly for Protestants, for whom the abuses of the past have alienated them from a core component of creedal Christianity, Mary as "Theotokos," the Mother of God. They discuss the history of iconoclasm against Mary, the struggle of contemporary Christianity with art and aesthetics, unpacking the "Woman Clothed with the Sun" from Revelation 12, the feminist objection to Mary, and how the Virgin Mary upends an ancient pagan goddess culture invented to maintain patriarchy. They close with an appreciation of Mother Maria Skobtsova, who's life and witness in the Ravensbruck death camp during the Holocaust exemplifies how the example and presence of Mary Theotokos today might inform the pursuit of a life worth living.Show Notes"La Corona" by John Donne"Don't dare think that somehow your conversation with Mary and your interest in her is in competition with your relationship with Christ." —Matthew Milliner, from the interviewMatthew Milliner's forthcoming book, Mother of the LambHow sacred "art" must support presence"A large family album"Iconoclasm against the Virgin Mary"The institutionalized art world has done such a wonderful job of alienating so many people.""Where has this been all my life?"Madonna Della Misericordia: "The train of her robe is very wide."Contemporary Christianity's struggle with aesthetics"The idea that the Christianity is somehow aesthetically impoverished itself seems to me a fictitious assertion. One that can be fueled with select examples, but I just think there's so much out there that that has been undiscovered. And Mary is often at the heart of it all, like in some senses, whether or not Mary—her presence—[is] in a church in one way or another might be an indicator of whether or not it's going to be beautiful."Revelation 12: "A Woman Clothed with the Sun""She's the new arc of the covenant, in which the presence of God resides."Four-fold reading of scripture: "the literal and the allegorical and the anagogical and the tropical logical are all functioning at the same time."Reading Revelation 12 adventurously: The Woman and the Dragon"Don't dare think that somehow your conversation with Mary and your interest in her is in competition with your relationship with Christ.""It only will enhance your relationship with Christ to develop these other resonances.""Do you realize we're actually in a deep deficit of Catholic Mariology right now?"Vatican II decimated Catholic Mariology"You are flirting with heresy if you do not have a doctrine of Mary as mother of God."What is the role of Mary in Christian spiritual formation?Intersession and prayerJohn Henry Newman on the correlation of Marian piety with cultures that hang on to Christianity.The essential nature of art in Marian Christian piety.Icon: "Virgin of the Sign"—"A womb more spacious than the stars"Sonogram/Ultrasound Mary—conveying all powerful Deity humbled into human formJohn Donne's "La Corona": "Thy Maker's maker, thy Father's mother."Feminist objection to Mariology: "Any time Mary is uplifted, other women are left out.""Alone of all her sex"Rosemary Radford Ruther, Goddesses and the Divine FeminineGoddess cultureThe virgin Mary upends a goddess culture invented to maintain patriarchySarah Jane Boss, Mary: New Century TheologyCharlene Spretnak, Missing Mary: The ReEmergence of the Queen of Heaven in the Modern ChurchMariology and GenderThreatened masculinityPagan phallocentric  religionCourtney Hall Lee, Black Madonna: A Womanist Look at Mary of Nazareth"Christ has a female body too, and a black body too, and a white body, two and not just the Jewish body that he has. An Indian body too, and in Chinese body too, because of his dimension as the ecclesia, which also has a Marian resonance. So welcome to Christianity. You stay long enough, your mind's going to be blown again. ... Nicene orthodoxy is where you get all this stuff."On the Apostle Paul and Marian Piety: "I am grieving until Christ is formed in you. The birth pangs that Paul goes through. And we're all intended to nurse Christ, to give birth to Christ in a metaphorical manner in our lives. And that goes for men as well. So men also can be Marian. In fact, we must be marrying if we're going to be Orthodox Christians."Barth, Von Balthasar, Bulgakov"Theology is better communicated through images because the missteps are harder to make."The equivalent of the hymn is the icon: a tested image that's been around for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, and that has been refined. And that people over time said, 'You know, there's something right about this one in particular.'"Find icons and prints online at Skete.comAnalysis of the classic Nativity icon"The Nativity icon is what God wants to do in your soul.""Icons are the brake tapping on the entire hyper visual world that we're in. We do not need to be dazzled the way Leonardo dazzled the people of his day. We need to be restrained. And that's what these icons are providing."The beam of light that crashes through the immanent frame.Navigating the depths of interior prayer through art history.Rowan Williams's Looking East in Winter: research on Mother Maria Skobtsova, the Russian Orthodox female parallel to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp."Mary functioned for her [Mother Maria] as the epiphany, as the illustration, of selfless love."Rowan Williams (from Looking East in Winter): "The Marian sense of being overwhelmed from outside by the presence of the others. Is one of the things that displaces the ego and self oriented projects, including the self-oriented project of doing good or serving the neighbor.""She kept saying, 'My monastery has no walls. My monastery is wherever the poor are.'""There's the great line that the Christians of the 20th century will be either mystics or they won't be Christians at all."About Matthew MillinerMatthew Milliner is Associate Professor of Art History at Wheaton College. He holds an M.A. & Ph.D. in art history from Princeton University, and an M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary. His scholarly specialization is Byzantine and medieval art, with a focus on how such images inform contemporary visual culture. He teaches across the range of art history with an eye for the prospects and pitfalls of visual theology. He is a five-time appointee to the Curatorial Advisory Board of the United States Senate, and a winner of Redeemer University’s Emerging Public Intellectual Award. He has written for publications ranging from The New York Times to First Things. He recently delivered the Wade Center’s Hansen lecture series on Native American Art, and was awarded a Commonwealth fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia to complete his forthcoming book, Mother of the Lamb (Fortress Press). Follow @Millinerd on TwitterProduction NotesThis podcast featured art historian Matthew MillinerEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin Chan, Nathan Jowers,  and Logan LedmanA 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

"Her hands steadied the first steps of him who steadied the earth to walk upon; her lips helped the Word of God to form his first human words." (St. John of Damascus)Who is Mary? Why is she called "Theotokos"? Frederica Mathewes-Green, an Eastern Orthodox writer and educator, joins Evan Rosa for a discussion about Mary, the Mother of God. During the first half of the episode, they discuss the Eastern Orthodox reverence for Mary and the scriptural account of her life—from the Annunciation and Nativity, to her parenting of Jesus, through to the Wedding at Cana and witnessing the unimaginable as her son was crucified, died, buried, and risen. In the second half of our conversation, Frederica sheds light on two ancient texts: The Forgotten Gospel of Mary, also known as the Protoevangelium of James, as well as one of the oldest known manuscripts that refer to Mary as Theotokos: a very short prayer scribbled on papyrus, and known as "Sub tuum praesidium" or "Under your compassion." But that's not all, Frederica draws out the beauty of Mary's exemplarity for all Christians, her suffering faith and bright sorrow, the conjoining of humility and magnanimity in her response to God, and so much more.Show NotesFrederica Mathewes-Green, Mary As the Early Christians Knew Her: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient TextsProtoevangelium of JamesSub tuum Praesidium ("Under your compassion...")Mary as Theotokos: "God's birth-giver""The Virgin of the Sign" iconOrthodox view of Mary as worship leaderMary in scriptural context: Luke 1 and 2Mary, troubled and perplexedMagnificat: Every line comes from the psalms, a very classic Jewish understanding of the Messiah as political revolutionary.Mary's perplexity and expectations about Jesus's role as MessiahCatacomb of Priscilla in RomeSimeon's words to Mary: "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be assigned, that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed. In a sword will pierce your own soul too, and these words from Simeon to Mary, upon presenting Jesus at the temple." (Luke 2:34)Sin in Eastern Orthodoxy: "It starts with a thought."Epigraph: "Her hands steadied the first steps of him who steadied the earth to walk upon; her lips helped the Word of God to form his first human words." St. John of DamascusJesus's relationship with MaryThe leadership of MaryThe Wedding at CanaMary at the CrossMary's childhood in the Protoevangelium of JamesMary as a contemplativeMary's achievement of theosis: "absorbing God" / "union with God"AnnunciationMary's anxiety when Jesus was lost at the templeBright sorrow in Mary—both dread and joyLoneliness and autonomyThe practical spiritual benefits of the Protoevangelium of JamesPrayer as a medium of communication; sending Mary prayer requestsThe earliest prayer to Mary: "Sub tuum praesidium""Under your compassion we take refuge Theotokos. Do not overlook our prayers in the midst of tribulation, but deliver us from danger, O only pure, only blessed one."Coming under the shelter of her protectionMatthew 23:37—"Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones, those who are sent to it, how often have I desired to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing."Seeking shelter, refuge, and compassion during strident and striving times.About Frederica Mathewes-GreenFrederica Mathewes-Green is a wide-ranging author who has published 10 books and 800 essays, in such diverse publications as the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Smithsonian, and the Wall Street Journal. She has been a regular commentator for National Public Radio (NPR), a columnist for the Religion News Service, Beliefnet.com, and a podcaster for Ancient Faith Radio. (She was also a consultant for Veggie Tales.) She has appeared as a speaker over 600 times, at places like Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Wellesley, Cornell, Calvin, Baylor, and Westmont, and received a Doctor of Letters (honorary) from King University. She lives with her husband, the Rev. Gregory Mathewes-Green, in Johnson City, TN. Their three children are grown and married, and they have fifteen grandchildren.Production NotesThis podcast featured Mathewes-GreenEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin Chan, Nathan Jowers, Natalie Lam, and Logan LedmanA 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

In the midst of war, the loss of his mother, and the heartbreak of unrequited love, poet W.H. Auden was rediscovering his faith. And the fitting response to the darkness and despair and apathy around him, he thought, was the Christmas event. So he set to work on a Christmas Oratorio called For the Time Being. Originally meant to be performed and sung, what emerged is a much more sobering and stark retelling of the Christmas narrative than you're used to. Auden's modernist poetry becomes a way for a modern humanity—whose resources are spent, whose plans have gone awry, whose hopes have been misplaced, whose sense of time has been unwound—to find redemption amidst the quotidian, the mundane, and the everyday. But also always in an eternally full "moment of decision"—a response to the bare fact of the Incarnation of God in infant Jesus. Evan Rosa is joined by writer Jeff Reimer (Associate Editor, Comment Magazine), who suggests that this modernist retelling of Christmas helps us to diagnose and treat the quintessentially modern vice of acedia, the noonday demon. They discuss the anachronistic cast of characters Auden uses to comment on the human condition. They read and marvel at several passages of the text. And they consider what Auden takes to be the matter of ultimate importance in our experience of Christmas: responding to the audacious claim that God has become human.About Jeff ReimerJeff Reimer is a writer with bylines at Commonweal, Comment, Plough, and Fare Forward. He is Associate Editor for Comment Magazine. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jreimr or check out his website for links to his writing.Show NotesW.H. Auden's For the Time Being (edited with introduction by Alan Jacobs)Read Jeff Reimer's What Comes After: W. H. Auden’s cure for the post-Christmas bluesDealing with the Post-Christmas BluesFlipping the feast for the fast in contemporary Christmas cultureW.H. Auden's For the Time BeingDarkness, despair as the context for the Advent apocalyptic setting"Very little Christmas cheer"Auden's context for writing For the Time Being: World War II, the death of his mother, and his re-discovered faithPossibilities for hope and redemptionReason and optimism have run outCentral question of For the Time Being: "What do we do with this singular Christmas event?"Cast of charactersExistentialist influence on AudenThe silence of Christ in the poemStrange characters: Intuition, Sensation, Feeling, and Thought as an expression of the human selfMary and Joseph: Divergent responses to the Angel GabrielMary's humility and magnanimity togetherWhat it's like to be JosephThe temptation of St. JosephRedeeming the mundane and the quotidianAcedia: the quintessentially modern viceCharles Taylor: "Our present condition is one in which many people are happy living for goals which are purely imminent; they live in a way that takes no account of the transcendent.""The Time Being"—ennui, acedia, and depression following ChristmasThe noonday demonSimeon: Auden's intellectual, theological response to the incarnationHerod: Auden's stoic intellectual, politically indifferent, tragic-comic figureStoic virtue: apathea, or "cultivated indifference"The incarnation does not allow for cultivated indifferenceHerod's cultivated indifference ends up becoming outright violent resistance and the massacre of the innocentsThe difficulty of inhabiting a moment the way we're meant toThe way, the truth, the life"Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety."Production NotesThis podcast featured writer Jeff ReimerEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin Chan, Nathan Jowers, Natalie Lam, and Logan LedmanA 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