Winsome Conviction

How do friends who hold differing views of religion and faith maintain a friendship? How do friends handle central and fundamental disagreements about God and faith? On today’s episode, Tim speaks with two such friends - Andrew Reid, professor at Brigham Young University, and Greg Johnson, founder of Standing Together, a bridge-building ministry focused on LDS/Evangelical dialogues. Over the course of 11 years, Andrew and Greg have cultivated a friendship around interfaith dialogue that is intriguing, but it’s been a very challenging process. They unpack parts of their story and what has helped them to maintain their friendship, and they discuss the importance of establishing common ground when working through religious differences and disagreements.Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Undergraduate students have a thirst for interfaith conversations. So this past spring professors and students from Brigham Young University traveled to Southern California to engage in meaningful conversations and build relationships with professors and students from Biola University. On today’s episode, Tim speaks with Andy Reid, associate professor of religious understanding and church history at BYU, and Greg Johnson, a pastor and the founder of Standing Together ministries, a bridge-building ministry focused on LDS/Evangelical dialogues. They reflect on this experience at Biola and consider features of spending time together that provided opportunities for learning and ways to seek God in the faith of others, even while drawing attention to clear differences.Show notes and a full transcript are available.

On today’s episode, political commentator, author, and attorney Denise Gitsham speaks with Tim about some major themes in her book, Politics for People Who Hate Politics. Through a series of personal anecdotes and stories, they discuss some of the challenges to being winsome and loving in our current political climate, especially when you’re being steamrolled by the opposition. They discuss the frequency of offense and the spiritual battle that can accompany offense, and they unpack an interesting 4-way test to evaluate whether truth is spoken in love.Show notes and a full transcript are available.

On today’s episode, Tim speaks with Michael Wear, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life and author of the book, The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life, on features of Christian faithfulness and civic engagement. Michael talks about his role as a faith advisor in the White House during the Obama administration, and they discuss the influence of Dallas Willard and the role of spiritual formation in the context of political life, with particular interest on the role anger plays in our political aims and discourse. Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Stephen Lloyd-Moffett, professor of Religious Studies at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA, is also a campus moderator for the Veritas Forum, a non-profit organization that seeks to help students on college campuses explore truth in dialogue across religious beliefs. On today's episode, Tim, Rick and Stephen consider: What makes for a good moderator when disagreement pops up? And how do you keep the relationship in tact when a pointed and meaningful disagreement occurs? They discuss the importance of building muscle for inquiry and learning how to use educational environments to challenge and strengthen faith convictions. Tim and Rick also ask Stephen about the perceptions of evangelicals on the campus.Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Stephen Lloyd-Moffett, a Professor of Religious Studies at California Polytechnic State University, shares his journey through religious scholarship, inspired by personal experiences that shaped his understanding of faith. He and the hosts delve into whether God can be truly known, discussing modern skepticism among younger generations. The conversation contrasts simplistic views of God with richer Eastern Orthodox traditions, portraying God as a profound mystery. They emphasize the importance of love and relationship in understanding the divine, urging meaningful dialogues about faith.

Today’s episode is a collaborative effort with the Think Biblically podcast, where Scott and Tim speak with Rev. Chris Brooks on the meaning of Dr. King’s legacy and some of its implications for institutions, churches, and individuals today. Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Preston Sprinkle (Ph.D.), good friend of Biola University and The Winsome Conviction Project, knows that being a public figure comes with a cost. Preston joins today’s episode to reflect with Tim and Rick on the times he has been critiqued and what it is like to be called out as heretic. They discuss the importance of accurately representing someone’s views when offering a critique, the kinds of critiques to take seriously, how good critiques can help us make intellectual progress, and Preston reflects on a lesson learned when he reached out to a critic and the result did not go well.Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Although trends show declines in church attendance, Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin (Ph.D. Cambridge University) believes we are living in an evangelistically pregnant time. Rebecca is back on the podcast to speak with Tim about this cultural moment and the need to learn from Jesus - his manner of living and his teaching, including the parable of the sower, to help cultivate a consistent, Christian ethic.Show notes and a full transcript are available.

Dr. Preston Sprinkle (Ph.D.) joins today’s episode to speak with Tim and Rick on the work he's doing to help foster civil, thoughtful, and faithful disagreements on contentious issues. Preston unpacks some of the motivations with his wildly popular Theology in the Raw podcast, and they also discuss the Theology in the Raw conference - an annual conference where people of differing views come together for 3 days to speak with one another on some of the more polarizing topics affecting the church today.Show notes and a full transcript are available.