New Books in Christian Studies

Professor William A. Thomas explains today's Consecration (March 25, 2022) by Pope Francis of Russia and Ukraine which is part of a century-long story, one that started in the Portuguese village of Fátima in 1917. Fátima, the Ultimate Mystery, which we discuss, is here. Dr. Thomas is a Mariologist, director of the St. John Paul II Institute of Marian Studies, and prolific apologetic writer. He explains Mary’s mediation between humans and God, the meaning of Marian apparitions, and what we can do to help our world and grow in holiness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Robin Vose (St. Thomas University) talks about his new monograph, The Index of Prohibited Books: Four Centuries of Struggle over Word and Image for the Greater Glory of God (Reaktion, 2022), censorship, and the Reformation.The first comprehensive history of the Catholic Church’s notorious Index, with resonance for ongoing debates over banned books, censorship, and free speech. For more than four hundred years, the Catholic Church’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum struck terror into the hearts of authors, publishers, and booksellers around the world, while arousing ridicule and contempt from many others, especially those in Protestant and non-Christian circles. Biased, inconsistent, and frequently absurd in its attempt to ban objectionable texts of every conceivable description—with sometimes fatal consequences—the Index also reflected the deep learning and careful consideration of many hundreds of intellectual contributors over the long span of its storied evolution. This book constitutes the first full study of the Index of Prohibited Books to be published in English. It examines the reasons behind the Church’s attempts to censor religious, scientific, and artistic works, and considers not only why this most sustained of campaigns failed, but what lessons can be learned for today’s debates over freedom of expression and cancel culture.Jana Byars is the Academic Director of Netherlands: International Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Joseph Pearce, writer and literary scholar, leads us through CS Lewis’s theology on the afterlife and the meaning of eternity (and what Catholics say about his views). I ask him about Holy Saturday when Jesus descended in Hell, as described in the Apostles’ Creed, and what this event means us considering also the at Catechism of Catholic Church which calls Hell a “state of definitive self-exclusion”, a separation of “our own free choice” (CCC 1033). When, if ever, does it become too difficult for us, creatures with free will who are nonetheless transformed by our decisions, to just leave?Pearce’s article, "The Mysteries of Atheism" (2013), that we refer to in our discussion, is here. You can find Pearce’s appearance on Pints with Aquinas here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

David Basile (who was our guest in Episode 01) returns to talk about his ten years in as a Zen Buddhist monk at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat Center in California. He tells the story of how he went from being a child in a lukewarm Catholic home, to a teenage atheist, to an ardent Buddhist at the monastery—where he encountered the Benedictine mystic, David Steindl-Rast—and finally back home to the Catholic Church. He and I discuss the commonalities and significant differences between Buddhism and Christianity. David also explains the radical departure that Buddhism took from Hinduism 2500 years ago, and how all three of these faiths approach the questions of existence and eternity. Finally we consider life, death, life-after-death, and why Christians think of God as a loving Father. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

In The Dreamer and the Dream: Afrofuturism and Black Religious Thought (Ohio State UP, 2021), Professor Roger Sneed illuminates the interplay of Black religious thought with science fiction narratives to present a bold case for Afrofuturism as an important channel for Black spirituality. In the process, he challenges the assumed primacy of the Black church as the arbiter of Black religious life. Incorporating analyses of Octavia Butler’s Parable books, Janelle Monáe’s Afrofuturistic saga, Star Trek’s Captain Benjamin Sisko, Marvel’s Black Panther, and the philosophies of Sun Ra and the Nation of Islam, Sneed demonstrates how Afrofuturism has contributed to Black visions of the future. He also investigates how Afrofuturism has influenced religious scholarship that looks to Black cultural production as a means of reimagining Blackness in the light of the sacred. The result is an expansive new look at the power of science fiction and Afrofuturism to center the diversity of Black spirituality.Roger A. Sneed is Professor and Chair of Religion at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. His work involves the intersections of African American religious thought and culture, Christian thought and gay male sexualities, and religious ethics. He is a contributor for Huffington Post and has previously published the book Representations of Homosexuality: Black Liberation Theology and Cultural Criticism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Carrie Lynn Evans is a PhD student at Université Laval in Quebec City. carrie-lynn.evans@lit.ulaval.ca @carrielynnland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

I asked medieval historian Rachel Fulton Brown if we ought to still think of our nation (or any Western nation) as “a Christian country” in the twenty-first century. My reasoning was that I thought our Judeo-Christian inheritance is the foundation—if partially forgotten—of the democratic principles of our republic. The resulting discussion was lively, fruitful, and surprising.Professor Fulton Brown teaches Medieval European History at the University of Chicago, specializing on Religious, Cultural, and Intellectual History, the History of Christianity, Liturgy and Prayer, and Devotion to the Virgin Mary. Professor Rachel Fulton Brown's faculty webpage at the University of Chicago is here. Rachel's blog, Dancing Bear at Prayer, is here. The Mosaic Ark livestream that Rachel does weekly with Kilts Khalfan on Dragon Common Room is here. The recent First Things interview (July 28, 2022), “The Spice Road of Today,” that Rachel did with Marc Bauerlein that we refer to is here. Rachel's blog, “Three Cheers for White Men,” that caused such a stir is here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Matthew J Hart and Daniel J Hill's book Does God Intend that Sin Occur? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) argues, from a detailed consideration of the Christian Scriptures, that God intends that sin occur. It swims against the tide of current thinking in philosophy of religion, arguing for an unfashionable conclusion. The book begins by considering the history of views on the question, paying particular attention to the Reformed or Calvinistic tradition. The heart of the book is a detailed examination of key passages from the Christian Scriptures that, it is argued, show that God does intend that sin occur. It also discusses in detail two alternative views that could be used to reinterpret these texts, one view that God intends only that the substratum of the sinful action occur, not the sin itself, and the other that God acts because a sin will occur but not intending that that sin occur. The book argues that these interpretative strategies, even when combined together, do not produce a plausible interpretation of the texts adduced.This book is available open access. Crawford Gribben is a professor of history at Queen’s University Belfast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Joseph Nagel and Heather Skinner are principal and vice-principal of the School of the Madeleine in Berkeley, California; Mrs. Skinner was also once Joseph’s teacher and mine (your host, Chris Odyniec) and has been at the school for 45 years. Over this time, the school population and broader community has changed significantly. Mrs. Skinner and Mr. Nagel reflect on their experience teaching and working at a beloved and successful Catholic school in a progressive town like Berkeley, California; they discuss the School of the Madeleine, its mission, politics, and role in forming the whole child with the love of God. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Robert Fastiggi discusses Catholic doctrine about the Immaculate Conception, Virgin Birth, Assumption, and Coronation of Mary, the Mother of God. He also reflects on his participation in ecumenical dialogues on these subjects and explains that many of these principles are shared by our Orthodox and our Protestant brothers and sisters—something many people don’t realize—and presents arguments from Scripture as well. Finally, Professor Fastiggi talks about some of the most famous Marian Apparitions—Guadalupe (1531), Lourdes (1858), and especially Fátima (1917)—and about how faith and reason are at work in our skeptical age.NB: This episode was recorded on February 23, 2022, on the eve of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (to which we refer).The film, The Song of Bernadette (1943) is here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Chris Padgett explains Catholic doctrine about the Virgin Mary and how both Sacred Tradition and Scripture inform the Magisterium. He talks about his Baptist upbringing, his own journey to the Church, and how he then became a theologian and one of the most influential Catholic speakers—and musicians—in the United States today. He explains Catholic Mariology and how we radically venerate and love Mary (dulia or hyperdulia) but adore (latria) only God. Padgett also talks about how this conversion caused a rupture with his family of origin, but also how he met his wife and started his own rambunctious and joyful family. Happy Place Homestead is here. Sanctify Your Marriage is here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies