Christian Studies

Christian Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Christianity about their new books.

Denys Turner, "Dante the Theologian" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

November 27, 2024

Dante the Theologian

Denys Turner
Hosted by Adrian Guiu

An understanding of Dante the theologian as distinct from Dante the poet has been neglected in an appreciation of Dante's work as a whole. That is t…

Nina Valbousquet, "Lukewarm Souls: The Vatican facing the Shoah" (La Découverte, 2024)

November 26, 2024

Lukewarm Souls: The Vatican facing the Shoah

Nina Valbousquet

The exceptional opening of the archives of the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958) in 2020 did not end the controversies surrounding the silence of th…

W. Paul Reeve et al., "This Abominable Slavery: Race, Religion, and the Battle over Human Bondage in Antebellum Utah" (Oxford UP, 2024)

November 26, 2024

This Abominable Slavery

W. Paul Reeve, Christopher Rich, and LaJean Purcell Carruth
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

On July 22, 1847, a group of about forty refugees entered the Salt Lake Valley. Among them were three enslaved men, two of whom shared the religion, M…

Julia Kelto Lillis, "Virgin Territory: Configuring Female Virginity in Early Christianity" (U California Press, 2022)

November 25, 2024

Virgin Territory

Julia Kelto Lillis
Hosted by Michael Motia

Women's virginity held tremendous significance in early Christianity and the Mediterranean world. Early Christian thinkers developed diverse definitio…

Leila K. Norako, "Monstrous Fantasies: England's Crusading Imaginary and the Romance of Recovery, 1300-1500" (Cornell UP, 2024)

November 22, 2024

Monstrous Fantasies

Leila K. Norako
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Monstrous Fantasies: England's Crusading Imaginary and the Romance of Recovery, 1300-1500 (Cornell University Press, 2024) by Dr. Leila Norako asks w…

Matthew Elia, "The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery" (Yale UP, 2024)

November 11, 2024

The Problem of the Christian Master

Matthew Elia
Hosted by Michael Motia

The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery (Yale UP, 2024) offers a bold rereading of Augustinian thought for a world …

Parker Palmer on the Israel-Gaza War

November 9, 2024

Parker Palmer on the Israel-Gaza War

Parker Palmer
Hosted by Yakir Englander

In times of profound crisis, when violence and hatred seem to dominate our world, we often search for voices that can help us navigate through the dar…

Holy, Catholic, Apostolic (with Paul Zucarelli)

November 7, 2024

Holy, Catholic, Apostolic (with Paul Zucarelli)

Paul Zucarelli

Paul Zucarelli died in 2017 and returned from the dead through the intercessory prayer of Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix and the faith of his family…

Mark Stoyle, "A Murderous Midsummer: The Western Rising of 1549" (Yale UP, 2022)

November 3, 2024

A Murderous Midsummer

Mark Stoyle

The Western Rising of 1549 was the most catastrophic event to occur in Devon and Cornwall between the Black Death and the Civil War. Beginning as an a…

Nicholas Spencer, "Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion" (Oneworld, 2024)

November 1, 2024

Magisteria

Nicholas Spencer

Most things you 'know' about science and religion are myths or half-truths that grew up in the last years of the nineteenth century and remain widespr…

Toni Alimi, "Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics" (Princeton UP, 2024)

October 28, 2024

Slaves of God

Toni Alimi
Hosted by Michael Motia

Augustine believed that slavery is permissible, but to understand why, we must situate him in his late antique Roman intellectual context. Slaves of G…

Alister E. McGrath, "The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its Origins, Development, and Function" (Oxford UP, 2024)

October 28, 2024

The Nature of Christian Doctrine

Alister E. McGrath

The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its Origins, Development, and Function (Oxford UP, 2024) offers a groundbreaking account of the origins, development…

Dominick Hernández, "The Prosperity of the Wicked: A Theological Challenge in the Book of Job and in Ancient Near Eastern Literature" (Gorgias Press, 2022)

October 24, 2024

The Prosperity of the Wicked

Dominick Hernández
Hosted by Michael Morales

Does Job convincingly argue against a fixed system of just retribution by proclaiming the prosperity of the wicked, an argument that runs contrary to …

Religion and Republic: A Conversation with Miles Smith

October 23, 2024

Religion and Republic

Miles Smith
Hosted by Laura Laurent

In our latest podcast episode, we sat down with historian Miles Smith, who teaches at Hillsdale College, to discuss his new book, Religion and Republi…

Bruce Gordon, "The Bible: A Global History" (Basic Books, 2024)

October 19, 2024

The Bible

Bruce Gordon
Hosted by Roland Clark

A “wonderful…highly comprehensive” (John Barton, author of A History of the Bible) global history of the world’s best-known and most influential book …

Peter Joshua Atkins, "The Animalising Affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4: Reading Across the Human-Animal Boundary" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

October 16, 2024

The Animalising Affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4

Peter Joshua Atkins
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

The Animalising Affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4: Reading Across the Human-Animal Boundary (Bloomsbury, 2022) is a detailed investigation into…

Gabe Durham, "Bible Adventures" (Boss Fight Books, 2015)

October 10, 2024

Bible Adventures

Gabe Durham

In the beginning, a small unlicensed game development company was hit with divine inspiration: They could make a lot of money (and escape the wrath of…

Luke Clossey, "Jesus and the Making of the Modern Mind, 1380-1520" (Open Book, 2024)

October 9, 2024

Jesus and the Making of the Modern Mind, 1380-1520

Luke Clossey
Hosted by Roland Clark

For his fifteenth-century followers, Jesus was everywhere – from baptism to bloodcults to bowling. This sweeping and unconventional investigation look…

Risa Cromer, "Conceiving Christian America: Embryo Adoption and Reproductive Politics" (NYU Press, 2023)

October 9, 2024

Conceiving Christian America

Risa Cromer
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In 1997, a group of white pro-life evangelical Christians in the United States created the nation’s first embryo adoption program to “save” the thousa…

William Cook Miller, "The Enthusiast: Anatomy of the Fanatic in Seventeenth-Century British Culture" (Cornell UP, 2023)

October 3, 2024

The Enthusiast

William Cook Miller

The Enthusiast: Anatomy of the Fanatic in Seventeenth-Century British Culture (Cornell UP, 2023) tells the story of a character type that was develope…