The Two Cities

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Sean McGever, who is Area Director for Young Life in Phoenix and teaches at Grand Canyon University, and who is the author of Ownership: The Evangelical Legacy of Slavery in Edwards, Wesley, and Whitefield (published by IVP). Over the course of our conversation, Dr. McGever informs us about the relationship that three prominent evangelists from the 18th century had with slavery, namely, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. We talk further about the legacy of each of their movements and the implications that this history has for us today. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, the Rev. Daniel Parham, the Rev. Dr. Christopher Porter, and the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne.

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. Matthew Elia, who is assistant professor of theology, race, and environment at Saint Louis University, and the author of The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery (published by Yale University Press). Over the course of our conversation we talk about what Augustine had to say about slavery, as well as how Augustine relates to the master class of his day. Dr. Elia interrogates this history by bringing Augustine into conversations that he is not normally brought into, such as Black Studies. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne.

In this episode we’re joined by Prof. David Pechansky, who is Professor Emeritus at the University of St. Thomas, and the author of the book we’re discussing in this episode, Solomon and the Ant: The Qu’ran in Conversation with the Bible (published with Cascade). Over the course of our conversation we talk about various thematic parallels that emerge when the Bible is intentionally juxtaposed with the Qu’ran. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Dr. Brandon Hurlbert.

In this episode we’re joined by Aimee Byrd, who is the author of a number of books, including the one we’re discussing on this episode, The Hope in Our Scars: Finding the Bride of Christ in the Underground of Disillusionment (published with Zondervan). In our conversation, Aimee points to the hope that she has in the midst of the negativity that she has experienced in her church context, and we talk about the importance of stories and truth-telling as a non-sensational expression of hope. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Rev. Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Sydney Tooth, and the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne.

In this episode we’re joined by Dr. John Inazu, who is the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion at Washington University in St. Louis, and the author of the book that we discuss in this episode, Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect (published by Zondervan). Over the course of our conversation we talk about what the law profession can teach us about disagreeing well, and how to think through disagreement in a number of different contexts and about a number of different issues. Team members on the episode from the Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne and the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne.

CW: sexual and physical abuse, spiritual abuse, grooming, molestation, childhood trauma In this episode we're joined by Ryan George, who is the author of Hurt and Healed by the Church: Redemption and Reconstruction After Spiritual Abuse. During our conversation, Ryan tells us his story, which centers on how his father was an abusive pastor in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist context, influenced by Bill Gothard’s teaching. As Ryan articulates, he had every reason to leave the church and never return, but his story includes redemption after he deconstructed his fundamentalist way of being Christian. From his vantage point, Ryan highlights some of the features that characterize safe churches for people who have been hurt by the church. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. Josh Carroll, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, and the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne.

In this episode we’re talking about Dispensationalism with Dr. Daniel Hummel, who is the Director of the Lumen Center and Upper House in Madison, WI, a research fellow in the History Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the host of the UpWords podcast, and the author of The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle Over the End Times Shaped a Nation (Eerdmans, 2023). Over the course of our conversation we talk about what Dispensationalism is, how the system of thought developed and became so widespread within Christianity since the 19th century, and also how it fell apart at the time that it was popularized in the 1970s and subsequent decades in the writings of people like Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, etc. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Brandon Hurlbert, and Dr. Sydney Tooth.

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Jason Staples, who is Asst Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University, and the author of The Idea of Israel (CUP) as well as the more recent book that we’re discussing in this episode, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel (also with CUP). Over the course of our conversation, we talk about the imprecision in how we often use the term “Israel” in biblical studies, highlighting how attending to its nuances brings greater clarity to key passages in Paul’s letters, like references to Israel in Romans 9–11 and Galatians 6. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Dr. Chris Porter, the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Warne, and Dr. Logan Williams.