This week we are joined by CTP Fellow Ben Burkholder. Ben shares how he developed an interest in learning how people grow as disciples. Reflecting on his time as a student, Ben also shares insights about the relationship between psychology and spiritual formation. This and more on today’s podcast!
Join us this week as we get to know Eric Rivera. Eric will be a plenary speaker at the 2025 Pastor Theologians Conference, Good Shepherds: Pastoral Identity and the Future of the Church. On this episode, Eric talks about how his story shaped his interests and calling in church history and pastoral ministry. Drawing from his context as a pastor at a multi-ethnic church in the greater Chicago area, he also shares what he has learned it means to be a Good Shepherd in the 21st Century.
Samuel Parkison joins the podcast today to talk about his recent book, To Gaze upon God: The Beatific Vision in Doctrine, Tradition, and Practice (InterVarsity Press 2024.) He also shares with us his story and calling to academic ministry at the Abu Dhabi Extension Site at Gulf Theological Seminary in the United Arab Emirates.
What is the beatific vision? What does the beatific vision have to do with this moment in history for the church? This and more on today's podcast!
For our April episode on books, we, the CPT staff, have been reading:
CR Wiley, In the House of Tom Bombadil (2021)
Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is the Way (2014)
Percival Everett, James (2024)
Harold Netland, Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God (2022)
Nadya Williams joins the podcast to talk about her recent book, Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic: Ancient Christianity and the Recovery of Human Dignity (IVP Academic, 2024.) How do our attitudes towards motherhood reflect either a commodification of human life or, by contrast, a rich affirmation of the imago dei? This and more on today’s podcast!
CPT Fellow Laurie Norris joins the podcast to discuss her story of life, faith, education, and ministry as a Professor at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. What is it like to grow up and commend the gospel in un-churched communities and regions of the country? How do we integrate multiple spheres of learning in our thinking, theology, and preaching? Laurie also shares the vision behind One-Volume Seminary, which she co-edited with colleagues at MBI.
How do we think theologically about the persuasive aspects of Christian mission and evangelism? How can pastors avoid the manipulative tendencies that have characterized some preaching of the gospel? How can we seek excellence in Christian persuasion without buying into cultural values of growth and success? CPT fellow Mike Niebauer joins the podcast to talk about his new book Virtuous Persuasion, published with Lexham press.
What is leisure? What is the proper end of our intellectual pursuits and the life of the mind? What make the life of a scholar unique? How do intellectual pursuits relate to pastoral ministry? All this and more on this episode with CPT fellow Mickey Klink, featuring conversations on books by Zena Hitz and Luke Timothy Johnson.
The Supreme Court of the United States has overturned Roe v. Wade. What’s next for our nation and our churches? How do pastors approach ongoing differences of opinion on the decision itself and the means by which it came about? How can pastors commend holistic visions of justice and exhort their congregations toward Christian unity in an increasingly fractured society?
Our June episode on books we're reading. We are joined by CPT fellow Joey Sherrard. We discuss the following:
Scot McKnight & B.J. Oropeza, eds. – Perspectives on Paul (2020)
St. Augustine – City of God (early 5th century)
Graham Greene – The Power and the Glory (1940)
Francis Fukuyama – Liberalism and Its Discontents (2022)
How does technology relate to our human desire for connection and relationship? What types of technology extend our human capacities and creativity? What types of technologies limit and compromise our humanity? How does this relate to the new world that God is making in Christ? We are joined on this episode by Andy Crouch to discuss his new book – The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World.
CPT Fellow and Souther Baptist pastor Danny Slavich joins the podcast to discuss recent events and turmoil in the Southern Baptist Convention. We begin by discussing some of Danny's story of faith, education, and ministry, including his time serving as a pastor at a majority black church and the formative impact this had on him. We then pivot to discuss the recent report on sexual abuse and cover up in the Southern Baptist Convention. Danny helps us understand the mechanics of church polity in the SBC and where the institution has fractured and caused these grievous failures. Danny also offers some reason to hope for the future of the largest Protestant denomination in America.
What can pastors in America and in the West learn from house church pastors in China? What place does the sermon hold in the history of theological reflection? What are the unique challenges and opportunities of ministry in the Chinese setting? Hannah Nation serves as the Managing Director of the Center for House Church Theology, an organization that publishes pastors and leaders in China’s urban house churches for the benefit of the global church. Hannah shares on this episode a bit about her story and how she became passionate about this work.
How is God at work in our stories and our suffering? How does human will relate to divine will? Dr. Mark Talbot, Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College, joins the podcast to share his story, including suffering a major, paralyzing accident as a young man and going on to study philosophy as a Christian. Dr. Talbot also discusses his book When the Stars Disappear, the first in a four-book series on suffering and the Christian life.
On this episode we are joined by Steven Sandage, Professor of Psychology of Religion and Theology at the Boston University School of Theology. Dr. Sandage consulted with the CPT for a meeting of one of our ecclesial theologian fellowships on virtue formation and hope. In this conversation we discuss the relationship between hope, lament, and pastoral ministry.
ARTICLE: Life Is Hard, Be Humble: Thomas Aquinas on Humility
NATHAN BARCZI
PODCAST: Becoming a Pastor Theologian
ERIC RIVERA
ARTICLE: Christians and the Virtues
BENJAMIN BURKHOLDER
NEWS: Announcing Two New Learning Cohorts
CPT NEWS UPDATE
