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 253: Facts Don't Change People's Minds
February 19th, 2019 | 28 mins 30 secs
In this episode, inspired by something we read online, we talk about the inability of facts to change minds. If facts are stubborn things, are our minds even more stubborn? Why is this the case?
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Episode 252: The Righteous and The Woke...Flip Sides of the Same Coin?
February 9th, 2019 | 42 mins 20 secs
In this episode, inspired by a piece written by Valerie Tarico, we talk about the strange similarities between some types of conservative evangelicals and woke activists. Most people wouldn't see these groups having much in common. But does their particular sort of tribalism make their similarities greater than their differences?
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Episode 251: Talking Theology, Culture and Counter-Culture with Dave Fitch
February 5th, 2019 | 1 hr 5 mins
In this episode we talk with friend and always interesting interlocutor David Fitch. Dave is a theologian, pastor and church planter. He's also a self-described "Neo-Anabaptist." He also identifies as an evangelical Christian. We ask him about his Neo-Anabaptist theological vision and how it relates to the evangelical tradition in North America.
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Episode 250: 250!
January 28th, 2019 | 1 hr 5 mins
In this our 250th episode, we are joined by our friend Matt Milliner. We discuss a host of issues and ideas and do a lot of laughing along the way.
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Episode 249: Grace is Grace
January 16th, 2019 | 28 mins 15 secs
In this episode we talk about grace. Specifically, we talk about the term common grace, and how to us grace always seems particular and special.
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Episode 248: What We Worry About
January 6th, 2019 | 32 mins 23 secs
In this episode we talk about the things that keep us up at night, and the things that don't.
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Episode 247: Origen, Irenaeus, and The Meaning of Christmas
December 24th, 2018 | 27 mins 26 secs
In this episode we consider two different ancient approaches to the meaning of redemption and the role of Jesus in it, and how it shapes our understanding of Christmas.
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Episode 246: Keep the Christendom in Christmas
December 10th, 2018 | 27 mins 10 secs
In this episode we talk about the blessing of Advent and Christmas traditions and the benefits of living in a culture even superficially shaped by the Christian story.
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Episode 245: Keeping The Faith
November 23rd, 2018 | 40 mins 35 secs
In this episode we interact with a recent piece that appeared on the Gospel Coalition website. The author claims that there is slippery slope (or natural progression?) from progressive evangelical Christianity to atheism. We're less than convinced.
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Episode 244: Talking Politics at Thanksgiving
November 21st, 2018 | 31 mins 41 secs
In this episode we talk about how to deal with contentious hot button issues at the holiday dinner table.
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Episode 243: Why We Need Evil
November 20th, 2018 | 28 mins 5 secs
In this episode we talk about what happens in the wake of horrific things when we lose the capacity to call them evil in a meaningful way.
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Episode 242: It's Been a Rough Week in America
October 29th, 2018 | 34 mins 3 secs
This past week we saw 16 people killed in hate crimes in 2 states, one of which was the biggest killing of Jews in American history. We also saw a crazed man send bombs to some of the Democratic party's leadership and key supporters. We try to think about where we go next.
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Episode 241: The Rich White Civil War
October 22nd, 2018 | 27 mins 37 secs
In this episode we talk about a new study of the American electorate, inspired by a recent op-ed in the NY Times by David Brooks. New research shows that the political tribalism that characterizes American political culture is actually fueled by the elites on the right and the left.
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Episode 240: The Politics of the Cross
October 8th, 2018 | 36 mins 52 secs
In this episode we reflect on America's deep political divisions and tribalism in light of the theology of the cross.
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Episode 239: Politics after Kavanaugh
October 6th, 2018 | 31 mins 15 secs
In this episode, recorded as the Senate was voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, we discuss the events that led up to his confirmation and what they might mean for the future of American politics and culture.
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Episode 238: Is There a Philosophy of the Cross?
October 1st, 2018 | 35 mins 10 secs
In this episode, inspired by an essay that appeared in the Expository Times, we talk about the relationship between Christianity and philosophy. Specifically we consider what Christ crucified, "the foolishness of God," has to do with the philosophical enterprise.