The Two Cities

In this episode we give a joint review of the two Summer movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer. Over the course of our conversation we talk about the themes that emerge when the two ostensibly different films are juxtaposed and interpreted together, including: death, existential angst, technology, feminism, and power, and we have a lot of fun along the way. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Barbie (Dr. Madison Pierce), Ken (Dr. Brandon Hurlbert), and Allan (Dr. John Anthony Dunne). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we’re closing out our short mini-series on Children's Bibles and Children's Books by chatting with Natasha Kennedy, who is a freelance designer, graphic novelist, and illustrator of the FatCat Series, and Dr. Todd Hains, who is Associate Publisher of Acquisitions and Development for Lexham Press at Faithlife, andauthor of the books in the FatCat Series. The FatCat Series is an illustrated catechism series for children, published by Lexham Press. The books in the series include a volume on the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and a forthcoming volume on the Ten Commandments. In addition, they've created two short stories, King of Christmas and King of Easter. In this conversation we talk about the goal of the series, the hermeneutical affect of illustration, the challenge of depicting Jesus, and much more! Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk with Dr. Brian Wright about the Children’s Book series on the Minor Prophets that he’s been helping to produce called God’s Daring Dozen (published by Christian Focus). Dr. Wright is a church-planting pastor in Pensacola, Florida of Redeemer Community Church, and he studied under Dr. Mike Bird at Ridley, College in Melbourne, Australia for his PhD in New Testament. In our conversation we talk about the importance of this neglected portion of Scripture in general, and Dr. Wright tells us about the fascinating work that he’s done academically to make sure that the message of each of the minor prophets is communicated clearly and faithfully for children in their series, God’sDaring Dozen. Team members from The Two Cities on the episode include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Dr. Kris Song. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk about why it’s important to teach the Old Testament to children with Dr. Kaz Hayashi, who is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN) and Shelley Henning, who is the Co-founder and CEO of GrowFamily, which provides family resources for parents and church leaders, the Children’s Ministry Catalyst for the Reformed Church in America, and one of our recent graduates at Bethel Seminary in our Children’s and Family Ministry program. Together Kaz and Shelley co-wrote a recent article, “Teach All Scripture to Children,” in the children’s ministry magazine, Entre Niños. In our conversation we talk about the importance of engaging the OT, and not in a piecemeal way that selectivity skips over stories that make us as adults uncomfortable or even aspects of familiar stories that complicate the story morally or theologically. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Rev. Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Kris Song. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk with Dr. Chris Gooding about the process ofrehabilitating from human trafficking. Dr. Gooding is Assistant TeachingProfessor in the Theology Department at Marquette University, a member of the Mennonite Church USA, and the author of the new book that we discuss in this episode, Beyond Slavery: Christian Theology and Rehabilitation from Human Trafficking (published by Cascade). During our conversation, Dr. Gooding tells us about his firsthand experience working with survivors and social workers in India, pointing out the complexities involved when survivors seek rehabilitation from trafficking, and he offers a theological vision to undergird this important work. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk about the Bible really has to say about “biblical womanhood” with Dr. Philip Payne, who has served as a missionary, pastor, and professor in a number of settings, and is the author of several studies on the Bible’s teaching about women in ministry, including the new book that we discuss in this episode, The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: How God's Word Consistently Affirms Gender Equality (published byZondervan). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. Payne dives deep into such biblical texts as 1 Corinthians 14, Ephesians 5, 1 Timothy 2, and much more, and offers several of his own reflections on how he came to read scripture differently and what this topic means to him personally. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Madison Pierce, and Rev. Dr. Chris Porter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we’re joined by Zachary Wagner to talk about Non-Toxic Masculinity. Zach is editorial director for the Center for Pastor Theologians, a doctoral candidate in New Testament at the University of Oxford, and the author of the book that we discuss in this episode, Non-Toxic Masculinity: Recovering Healthy Male Sexuality (published byIVP). Over the course of our conversation, Zach explains to us how Toxic Masculinity is dehumanizing, turning women’s bodies into objects of male sexual desire, and turning men’s minds into that of animals. Zach is therefore keen to offer a vision of masculinity that pushes back against the popular Christian vision of masculinity that comes from Purity Culture, which perpetuates Toxic Masculinity within Christian subculture.Zach also powerfully shares his own personal story from which his thoughts and reflections stem. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Grace Emmett, and Dr. Logan Williams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode some of our team members get together to talk about the new season of one of our favorite TV shows, Black Mirror. The newest season (season 6) of this dystopian anthology just came out on Netflix last month and we discuss it all here. We start with some quick thoughts on the new season as a whole, followed by discussion on each of the five episodes in order. At the very end of the episode, we record an epilogue to add some more of our thoughts and even some clarification on some of the things said in the conversation proper. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Brandon Hurlbert, Dr. Kris Song, and Dr. Logan Williams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we're talking about Christianity and Conspiracy Theories with Dr. Mike Austin (Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University), who is the co-editor (with Dr. Gregory L. Bock) of the new book, QAnon, Chaos, and the Cross: Christianity and Conspiracy Theories (published by Eerdmans). Joining him we also have three of the many contributors who wrote essays for the volume: Dr. Marlena Graves (Assistant Professor of Spiritual Formation at Northeastern Seminary), Dr. Dru Johnson (Visiting Associate Professor at Hope College), and Dr. J. Aaron Simmons (Professor of Philosophy at Furman University). Over the course of our conversation we talk about the shape and purpose of the book, the epistemology ungirding the draw of conspiracies, the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and hermeneutics of suspicion, how cultural background factors in to conspiracy mindsets, and whether or not evangelicalism is too entrenched in conspiracies to salvage. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Amber Bowen and Dr. John Anthony Dunne. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk about Faith & Fake News with Rachel Wightman, who is Associate Director of Instruction and Outreach at the Concordia University library in St. Paul (MN) and the author of Faith & Fake News: A Guide to Consuming Information Wisely (published by Eerdmans). Over the course of our conversation, Rachel talks with us about how the media landscape has changed since the 2020 US elections, how algorithmseffect the information we see on social media, what strategies we can deploy for engaging information online, how culture impacts our consumption of information, and whether we might be able to reclaim our witness as Christians in an age when broader culture associates us with the dissemination and indiscriminate consumption of fake news. Team members from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Stanley Ng. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.