Everyday Theology

Where is theology’s place in corporate worship? Are we supposed to prioritize trendy, catchy songs over those that theologically teach? What do we do with suffering and emotion in music? Aaron caught up with his good friend, Evan Craft, a dove award winning worship artist, to talk about all of these questions and more.

Deconstruction has become a buzzword within Christian circles. Some use it as a word to declare heresy, while others proclaim that it is necessary. What is often lost in the discussion are those who have deconstructed, to various degrees, and what what means for them. In this episode, Aaron chats with Landon Pontius from the Meaning in the Middle podcast about Landon's story of deconstruction, what it has meant for him, and why it matters. 

It seems that Christianity is stuck in a loop, coming back to the same issues, over and over. In this episode, Chris and Aaron discuss (again!) women in ministry in light of Christian news that men are (again) trying to teach women, how to be women. But that is not all! The pair also discuss the news of the removal of the Passion Translation from Bible Gateway and how to be Christians on the internet. 

In this (shorter) episode, Aaron spoke with Ron Dart, Associate Professor of Political Science and prolific writer, about two things that should never be discussed, or at least what people say shouldn't be discussed, religion and politics. Ron provides valuable insight into a perplexing problem, how do Christian faithfully engage (or not) in politics. Ron's approach through his eclectic study and humanism is just as unique as it is helpful in paving a way forward for Christians, both here in the U.S. and abroad. 

The Western Evangelical and Pentecostal churches have some problems with Christmas, and they need to be discussed. Now that Christmas is  over, and life is beginning to settle into 2022, Chris and Aaron discuss some ways that the their Christian traditions have failed to really know the story of the birth of Christ and why deeply knowing the story changes the way Christians engage in the world.  After the break, Chris and Aaron turn to discuss the new Netflix and star-studded movie "Don't Look Up". Do movies like "Don't Look Up" help move people to fix the problems shown through the satirical message of the movie, or do they just cause further division and tribalism?

For many Christian, especially those within Evangelical and Pentecostal traditions, the Church calendar in a mystery. Advent, Lent, Epiphany all become old traditions that many do not understand. In this episode, Chris and Aaron dissect Advent, what it means, why it is important, and how Christians from non-liturgical spaces can practice the incredible season of Advent. 

This is a special episode, because Aaron and Chris welcome Father Kenneth Tanner to discuss Chris Green's new book, All Things Beautiful: An Aesthetic Christology. Most of Christianity attempts to view Christ through the lens of truth, often paired with certain interpretations of Scripture, but what happens when we take a look at the person of Christ through aesthetics: art, movies, music, and more. Beauty provides an incredibly helpful lens in exploring the person of Christ and what that means for us today. Chris' new book can be found wherever good books are sold. 

Dr. Kelly Kapic, author of numerous books and Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College is back to discuss with Aaron his new book coming out in January, You are Only Human. Kelly's new book takes a hard look at our humanness and what it means to have limits and to be finite. Surprisingly, when we begin to really focus on what it means to be human, through looking at creation and the human person of Jesus, we begin to find that our limits are a part of who we are in very healthy ways.  Afterwards, Aaron and Chris talk about how the Western Protestant Church has been reluctant to talk about Mary the mother of Jesus and why she is so important to our faith and theology. 

Is T.D. Jakes a Monist? Is God really just one known as Jesus? In this episode, Aaron and Chris discuss why some might call Jakes a Monist, but then move beyond just Jakes. Has the church overtime failed at discussing the Trinity? Is the White Evangelical church in America oneness in their practices?  Theology is often taught not from a place logical coherence, but rather of taking control through power. Aaron and Chris dive into this subject and discuss why people not only believe what they do, but how preachers teach those beliefs. 

Marcia Clarke, pastor and adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary, joins Aaron and Chris to talk about both the need to talk about diversity and why we keep talking about it. Too often in the church we just blindly move past our faults and errors, or worse, ask for forgiveness and act like nothing happened. Discussions about diversity are often too quick to solve an issue without spending the time to really engage with our failures. Marcia helps us understand that we need to not move past our failures too quickly.  Should Jonathan Edwards be cancelled because he owned slaves, Karl Barth because he had an long standing affair? Aaron and Chris try to tackle what we do with pastors, theologian, and leaders who have shaped the church, but had immorality in their lives.