New Persuasive Words
"The revival in religion will be a rhetorical problem - new persuasive words for defaced or degraded ones." - Thornton Wilder
Episodes
-
Episode 34: There’s Something About Mary
December 15th, 2015 | 38 mins 45 secs
There is a reason Mary is everywhere. I’ve seen her image all over the world, in cafés in Istanbul, on students’ backpacks in Scotland, in a market stall in Jakarta, but I don’t think her image is everywhere because she is a reminder to be obedient,
-
Episode 33: Mirror Mirror On The Wall…A Demographic Reflection Of American Values
December 11th, 2015 | 33 mins 50 secs
Donald Trump made headlines yet again with a proposed plan to ban all Islamic entry to the United States. Almost every candidate and public political figure rushed to condemn Trump’s proposal. But a recent comprehensive study of American values and att...
-
Episode 32: The Official Guide To Surviving Political Arguments With Family and Friends During The Holidays
December 8th, 2015 | 32 mins 1 sec
We're living in one of the most divided times in our country's history since the period that preceded the Civil War. It seems that more and more we have less and less in common as a country. We're divided into red states and blue states and increasingl...
-
Episode 31: Where Do We Sleep When Our Beds Are Burning?
December 4th, 2015 | 30 mins 20 secs
The “Benedict Option” refers to Christians in the contemporary West who cease to identify the continuation of civility and moral community with the maintenance of American empire, and who therefore are keen to construct local forms of community as loci...
-
Episode 24: How Do People Change?
November 6th, 2015 | 29 mins 30 secs
We have the capacity to imagine changing into something different than we are. This can be the blessing and the curse of the human condition.
-
Episode 21: Fight or Flight?
October 20th, 2015 | 28 mins 44 secs
What do you do when your back is against the wall? Most of us either run in hope that we're faster than whatever frightens us, or we fight thinking that we're stronger than it.
-
Episode 20: I Think Therefore…?
October 17th, 2015 | 26 mins 41 secs
...how much do we know about our thought process? And how important is what we know? Is it is important as being known?
-
Episode 18: Friends
October 6th, 2015 | 33 mins 22 secs
We need not view a friendship with another human being either as having no other end but itself or as being solely a means to friendship with God. God is known in communion, but of course communion, the eucharist,
-
Episode 17: Don’t Worry, Be…Happy?
October 1st, 2015 | 26 mins 44 secs
JOY IN NONSENSE. How can men take joy in nonsense? They do so, wherever there is laughter-in fact, one can almost say that wherever there is happiness there is joy in nonsense. It gives us pleasure to turn experience into its opposite,
-
Episode 13: Know Thy Selfie
September 11th, 2015 | 23 mins 28 secs
We can probably all agree that smartphones are now an inseparable part of ourselves (if you can afford one, that is), and so is the Internet. Whether that’s a good thing is still undergoing intense philosophical scrutiny.
-
Episode 12: Beware The Maelstrom
September 8th, 2015 | 39 mins 56 secs
MAELSTROMS — THOSE POWERFUL SWIRLING whirlpools in the open seas — have been known to pull hapless fishing boats, crew, and cargo down into a deadly vortex to the ocean’s dark depths. Maelstroms take on epic proportions in the world of fiction.
-
Episode 10: I Fought The Law
September 2nd, 2015 | 39 mins 21 secs
Contemporary American culture, however, holds a much more optimistic view of human moral capabilities than does the Bible, and this has unfortunately crept into churches. How else to explain the fact that a religion based on acknowledging our own fault...
-
Episode 9: Blessed Are The Vulnerable
August 29th, 2015 | 30 mins
Some things you make. Some you recover. Some you discover. This podcast is a combination of all three. Often times after people see, hear or read something they connect with want to know where it came from.
-
Episode 8: Did God Kill Jesus?
August 25th, 2015 | 37 mins 4 secs
We recently had the privilege of talking with pastor, professor and author Tony Jones. You can find out more about Tony and his most recent Did God Kill Jesus? at his website: tonyj.net. Enjoy the conversation and grab a copy of Tony’s book!
-
Episode 4: The End Of The Word As We Know It…But Please Not In Winter!!!
August 12th, 2015 | 28 mins 11 secs
This converastion was inspired by an article in the New Yorker by Katherine Schultz. She describes a massive earthquake heading for the Pacific Northwest. It’s not if but when will this monster hit. Despite the certainty that this awful monstrous event...
-
Episode 3: Lost In Translation, Part 2
August 8th, 2015 | 25 mins 14 secs
We continue reflecting on the complexities of translating ideas from an ancient sacred text into contemporary concepts and language. The conversation was partly inspired by N.T. Wright’s review of Wesley Hill’s new book Paul and the Trinity.