New Persuasive Words

"The revival in religion will be a rhetorical problem - new persuasive words for defaced or degraded ones." - Thornton Wilder

About the show

New Persuasive Words started as two guys talking about life with what we thought (hoped?) was wit and insight, on our good days anyway. Then...a podcast.

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Episodes

  • Episode 205: More on the Essence of Christianity

    March 28th, 2018  |  25 mins 13 secs

    From time to time on the podcast we reflect on the essence of Christianity. We return to this theme, with a little help from Hans Urs von Balthasar.

  • Episode 204: Self-Deception

    March 28th, 2018  |  35 mins 34 secs

    In this episode of the podcast we talk about self-deception and how hard it is to know when you're deceiving yourself.

  • Episode 203: Evangelicals and the Trump Temptation

    March 15th, 2018  |  40 mins 23 secs

    In this episode we talk about two recent pieces, one in the Atlantic and the other in the National Review, that discuss the continued support for Trump in the evangelical community. The authors, Michael Gerson and David French, are both conservative evangelical never Trumpers.

  • Episode 202: Baptism

    March 2nd, 2018  |  34 mins 35 secs

    We're at episode 202, and we realized we have never talked about baptism! Thanks to Nathan Smith, a regular listener, for asking us to share our thoughts. Keep the suggestions coming friends.

  • Episode 201: Billy Graham the Evangelist and Our Thoughts on Evangelism

    February 26th, 2018  |  37 mins 8 secs

    In this episode we reflect on the legacy of Billy Graham and consider the nature and future of evangelism in the modern world.

  • Episode 200: Our 200th episode! With Special Guest Mark Oppenheimer

    February 21st, 2018  |  58 mins 18 secs

    When we began this podcast we never imagined we'd get to 200 episodes. It's been a wild ride. We were joined on our 200th episode by Mark Oppenheimer, Editor at Large at Tablet Magazine and co-host of the wildly popular Unorthodox podcast. We talk faith, politics, public life and even epigenetics. Thanks to all our listeners. Here's to 200 more!

  • Episode 199: To Ash or Not to Ash...

    February 11th, 2018  |  41 mins 21 secs

    In this Saturday Night Special episode of the podcast we talk a little about Ash Wednesday, its origins and the practice of serving "ashes on the go."

  • Episode 198: Two Natures? One Person?

    February 10th, 2018  |  36 mins 47 secs

    In this episode we continue our recent discussions of Luther and the Reformation. We focus specifically on Luther's Christology, asking whether or not it's really what's behind some of the 16th century sacramental controversies.

  • Episode 197: The Game of the Century and Theology as Language Game

    February 7th, 2018  |  36 mins 21 secs

    In this episode we talk about the Eagles big Super Bowl victory! We also consider the legacy of the recently deceased theologian George Lindbeck

  • Episode 196: Luther's Dark Side

    February 3rd, 2018  |  34 mins 13 secs

    In this episode we consider the dark side of Martin Luther's personality, how it shaped the Reformation and how we should consider it today.

  • Episode 195: Why Do Evangelicals Still Support Trump?

    January 27th, 2018  |  37 mins 5 secs

    In this episode we consider why prominent evangelical leaders still support President Trump, even amidst recent revelations of an affair with an adult film star.

  • Episode 194: What's in a Name?

    January 22nd, 2018  |  33 mins 7 secs

    In this episode we consider the late medieval philosophical movement called Nominalism. Many think it's the movement that gave birth to the modern world.

  • Episode 193: Is It Getting Better?

    January 12th, 2018  |  35 mins 25 secs

    In our second episode of 2018 we ask if the world is getting better. We reflect on Time Magazine's interview with Bill Gates and Rowan Williams' review of John Millbank's newest book, "The Politics of Virtue", co-authored with Adrian Pabst.

  • Episode 192: A New Tone for a New Year?

    December 27th, 2017  |  37 mins 46 secs

    In this episode we consider what it would look like to have a more civilized public discourse in 2018.

  • Episode 191: The Mystery Of Christmas

    December 22nd, 2017  |  28 mins 45 secs

    In this episode we talk about the mystery at the heart of Christmas: the Incarnation.

  • Episode 190: Does The Virgin Birth Make Sense, part 2

    December 20th, 2017  |  31 mins 4 secs

    In the last episode we wanted to talk about whether or not the Virgin Birth still makes sense for modern Christians. We initially wanted to tackle three issues: (1) the biblical witness, (2) the theological truth and (3) the existential significance. We only got to part 1 in the last episode. We hit part 2 and 3 in this one. Merry Christmas.