New Persuasive Words
"The revival in religion will be a rhetorical problem - new persuasive words for defaced or degraded ones." - Thornton Wilder
Episodes
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Episode 333: Has Democracy's Expiration Date Passed?
January 19th, 2025 | 40 mins 36 secs
In this episode we consider whether our democracy can adequately respond to the concerns and crises that face the American citizenry.
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Episode 332: Monday Monday!
January 13th, 2025 | 34 mins 35 secs
It's Monday and we have a few things to say with the Inauguration just a week away!
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Episode 331: The Philosophical Roots of "Wokeism"
January 9th, 2025 | 42 mins 3 secs
In this episode we engage with a talk given by Bishop Robert Barron at the Acton institute. The topic of the address is the philosophical roots of "wokeism."
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Episode 330: The Quest for the Historical Adam
January 4th, 2025 | 42 mins 20 secs
In this episode we talk about Original Sin and human origins, inspired in part by an essay on the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin that appeared in a recent issue of the Christian Century.
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Episode 329: A Shocking Faith
December 28th, 2024 | 47 mins 39 secs
In this episode we talk about a recent piece by New York Times columnist David Brooks Entitled "The Shock of Faith: It’s Nothing Like I Thought It Would Be." We also consider some of the response it's generated in public discourse by people of many faiths and no faith at all.
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Episode 328: The Jewishness of Jesus
December 23rd, 2024 | 38 mins 42 secs
In this episode we talk about the Jewishness of Jesus and what it means in the context of contemporary antisemitism.
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Episode 327: The Ecology of Christmas
December 20th, 2024 | 29 mins 58 secs
In this episode we contrast the ecology of the Roman Empire with the ecology of the Christmas story.
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Episode 326: The Wind Cries Mary, with special guest Matt Milliner
December 18th, 2024 | 46 mins 45 secs
In this special holiday episode we talk with our good friend Matt Milliner about the Virgin Mary and her significance for the spiritual life.
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Episode 325: Bad Religion?
December 10th, 2024 | 30 mins 27 secs
Can we have a truly secular society, or does religion always play some animating role in public life? If this is the case, are all religious cultural foundations created equal? And what does any of this have to do with Christmas?
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Episode 324: An Address to some of Christianity's "Cultured Despisers"
December 7th, 2024 | 31 mins 59 secs
In this episode we address a listener's question and concerns. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree and is finding herself consistently confronted with criticisms of her religious faith. We offer some insights into how we might approach some of the criticisms of Christianity that she's regular hearing.
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Episode 323: The Rise of Cultural Christianity
December 2nd, 2024 | 37 mins 15 secs
In this episode we talk about the new "cultural Christianity" that's growing in the United States. Is it taking over the conservative movement?
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Episode 322: A Manichean Memento
November 29th, 2024 | 17 mins 12 secs
In this episode we talk about the new HBO Max series "The Penguin." We consider what it tells us about the nature of good and evil, the dangers of dualism and the goodness of creation.
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Episode 321: The Gospel according to Peterson
November 26th, 2024 | 35 mins 38 secs
In this episode we talk about psychologist and public intellectual Jordan Peterson. He's been interacting with the Bible and the Western religious tradition for years, and now has a new book on the subject.
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Episode 320: It's Friday, Sunday's Coming!
November 20th, 2024 | 33 mins 4 secs
In this episode we pa tribute to the recently deceased evangelist, sociologist, and activist Tony Campolo. He was pivotal in the development of late 20th century progressive evangelicalism and served as a spiritual advisor to former President Bill Clinton in the wake of the Monica Lewinski scandal.
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Episode 319: Christ the King
November 19th, 2024 | 35 mins 2 secs
In this episode we reflect on the liturgical history and meaning of Christ the King Sunday. But first we banter about the news of the day.
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Episode 318: The Real Election Podcast
November 15th, 2024 | 43 mins 15 secs
In this episode, amidst the political tsunami that hit last week, we talk about the election that counts. We look at the doctrine of election in the history of the church and what it means for us today amidst a moment of massive cultural change and anxiety.