Currents in Religion

Currents in Religion is a podcast from the Baylor University Religion Department and Baylor University Press. We host conversations with academics, writers, and artists that explore some of the most interesting currents in religious studies, with a focus on Christianity. Episodes release weekly.

On this podcast you'll hear discussions about theology, ethics, biblical studies (New Testament and Hebrew Bible/Old Testament), history, archaeology, and so on.

Engage with us on Twitter (@cirbaylor) or email our host, Claire Thompson Mummert (claire_mummert1@baylor.edu).

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S12 · E4
Saturday · 53 min
Perpetual Fire: Temple, Ritual, and Biblical Theology: A Chat with Mark Giszczak
In today’s episode, I am joined by Mark Giszczak(Geese-check) to speak about his book Perpetual Fire: Temple, Ritual, and Biblical Theology with Baylor University Press. Levitical law commands the priests to keep a fireperpetually burning on the altar of sacrifice. Why? This book seeks to answer this question by first exploring the ritual meaning of the perpetuity of the fire on the altar, and then using this ritual analysis as a foundation for a biblical theology of divine fire. A pattern that begins with theophanies like the burning bushand scenes of divine cultic authorization in which fire falls from heaven becomes ritually inscribed in the symbolism of temple, sacrifice and priesthood. The unquenchable fire inaugurated by God comes to function as a cipher for temple legitimacy and a token of divine presence. God alone enjoysthe prerogative to light the cultic fire that in some way represents his body.The radiance of this fiery body of God is then shared with Adam in his pre-Fall state, with Moses on Mount Sinai, and with the high priest bedecked with radiant jewels. These symbolic trajectories are eventually caught up in thetransfiguration of Jesus, who is revealed as the radiant priestly Adamic imago Dei, the cult image of the new creation. Paul's theology of resurrection then builds on these themes by depicting resurrected humanity in Christ as gloriously radiant, purified by the same fire that destroys wickedness.Finally, this theology of fire envisions Christian spirituality as an assimilation to divine fire, a participation in the radiance of Christ. From creation to the eschaton, this study illustrates the lasting theological legacy of the perpetual fire of the temple altar.Mark Giszczak (Ph.D., Catholic University of America) is Professor of Sacred Scripture and Directorof the Institute for Catholic Theological Formation at the Saint Paul Seminary of the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota). Previously, he taught Scripture at the Augustine Institute from 2010 to 2025. He is one of the editors of the Old Testament series of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, and author of the volume on Wisdom of Solomon (Baker, 2024) in that series. His books include Suffering: What Every Catholic Should Know (Ignatius, 2024), and Light on the Dark Passages of Scripture (OSV, 2015). Dr. Giszczak’s newest book is Perpetual Fire: Temple, Ritual, and Biblical Theology (Baylor University Press, 2026). He writes regularly on his blog, CatholicBibleStudent.com. Dr. Giszczak and his wife have five children and live in the Twin Cities area.
S12 · E3
October 30 · 50 min
Rastafari and the Arts: An Introduction: A Chat with Darren Middleton
In today’s episode, I am joined by Darren Middleton from theBaylor Religion Department to discuss his book Rastafari and the Arts. Drawing on literary, musical, and visual representations ofand by Rastafari, Darren J. N. Middleton provides an introduction to Rasta through the arts, broadly conceived. The religious underpinnings of the Rasta movement are often overshadowed by Rasta’s association with reggae music, dub,and performance poetry. Rastafari and the Arts: An Introduction takes a fresh view of Rasta, considering the relationship between the artistic and religious dimensions of the movement in depth. Middleton’s analysis complementscurrent introductions to Afro-Caribbean religions and offers an engaging example of the role of popular culture in illuminating the beliefs and practices of emerging religions. Recognizing that outsiders as well as insiders have shaped the Rasta movement since its modest beginnings in Jamaica,Middleton includes interviews with members of both groups, including: Ejay Khan, Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah, Geoffrey Philp, Asante Amen, Reggae Rajahs, Benjamin Zephaniah, Monica Haim, Blakk Rasta, Rocky Dawuni, and Marvin D.Sterling. Darren Middleton was born and raised in Nottingham, England. He earned a B.A. (Honours) degree in Religious Studies from The University of Manchester in 1989 before moving south and attending The University of Oxford. Hegraduated with a M.Phil in Modern Christian Doctrine in 1991. He then pursued doctoral studies in literature and theology at The University of Glasgow, specializing in Eastern Orthodox Christianity as well as Protestant philosophical theology in the selected novels of Nikos Kazantzakis, receiving his Ph.D. in 1996. For five years, 1993-1998, he was an instructor and Assistant Professor of Religion at Rhodes College. In the Fall of 1998, hetook up his second academic position teaching religion at Texas Christian University. Following twenty-four years of service, Middleton was namedDirector of the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC), an essential feature of the Honors College at Baylor University. This was his role from 2022 until 2026. Recently, Middleton took a tenured position as a Professorof Theology and Literature in the Department of Religion at Baylor University in August 2026.
S12 · E2
October 23 · 56 min
I Heard the Preaching of the Elder: A Discussion with Tyshawn Gardner
In today’s episode, Claire is joined by Tyshawn Gardner to discuss his Baylor University Press book I Heard the Preaching of the Elder. Kelly Miller Smith, Sr. is noted as preacher extraordinaire,civil rights leader, theology professor and assistant dean, and pastor. Born and raised in the all-Black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, Smith stands apart as one of only twelve African Americans to deliver the distinguished Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale University and was recognized by Jetmagazine as one of the most prolific preachers of the twentieth century. In I Heard the Preaching of the Elder, Tyshawn Gardner examines Smith’s ethical development, preaching, and ministry as one of America’s most distinguished leaders and one of Christianity’s most effective gospel proclaimers. Gardner provides an in-depth analysis of the understudiedprofile of this pastor-activist to present Smith as a unique leader who leveraged three platforms in shepherding a city to overcome its racially unjust past. Smith’s platforms as preaching pastor of First Baptist Church, CapitolHill (Nashville), professor and assistant dean at Vanderbilt Divinity School, and local champion of civil rights proved a rare combination and marked him as one of the nation’s most admired leaders. Smith’s ability as strategist and organizer is only eclipsed by his skillful ability to bring the Word of God tobear on social crises as a herald of the good news. I Heard the Preaching of the Elder provides valuable insights for a new cadre of contemporary women and men emerging as Christian leaders as they prepare to carry the message of Christ from the sanctuary to the street. Gardner’s masterful narrative celebrates Smith and his distinctive preaching model, which bears striking similarities to the political and civic rhetoric of the ancient Greco-Roman rhetoricians. The homiletical innovations of Smith have broader reach and implications than the concerns of the Black church—they are contributions to the preaching task of the whole church. Tyshawn Gardner currently serves as associate professor of Preaching and holder of the David E. Garland Endowed Chair in Preaching at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, where he teaches Preaching I, Preaching During the Civil Rights Era, and courses in the PhD in Preaching program. Dr. Gardner is an ordained Baptist minister and a seasoned pastor withover twenty years of pastoral experience. His research interests include Christian preaching, Kelly Miller Smith, Sr., social crisis and prophetic preaching, and the African American preaching tradition. Dr. Gardner is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in both Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-60). He has published two books, Sacred Anthropology: Prophetic Radicalism for Pulpit and Pew with Fortress Press (2022), and Social Crisis Preaching: Biblical Proclamation for Troubling Times with B&H Academic (2023) which wasnamed Book of the Year by Preaching Magazine in 2024. Prior to his appointment at Truett Seminary, Dr. Gardnerserved as associate professor and director of the Preministerial Scholars Program at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, as Senior Pastor of Plum Grove Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as Vice President for StudentAffairs at Stillman College (2019-2022), and as the President of the Tuscaloosa Chapter of the SCLC from 2016-2019. Dr. Gardner received a BA in Business Administration from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa and MDiv from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, in Birmingham, where the Dean and faculty selected him as the Most Distinguished Student in 2014. Dr. Gardner served as a teaching assistant for the renowned homiletician Robert Smith, Jr. while matriculating at Beeson Divinity School. He earned the ThM and PhD in Christian Preaching with distinction from the Southern BaptistTheological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
S12 · E1
October 8 · 44 min
American Empire, American Faith: Conquest, Christianity, and the Shaping of a Nation: A Discussion with Philip Jenkins
Welcome to Season 12! In this episode, Claire is speaking with Philip Jenkins about hisnew book through Baylor University Press, American Empire, American Faith: Conquest, Christianity, and the Shaping of a Nation. The subject of empire and empires is now one of the mostactive fields of historical writing, and that is especially true in the context of religion. Throughout history, religions and religious ideas have contributed powerfully to making successive empires, and in turn, the history of thoseempires is crucial for understanding the development of religious systems worldwide. In recent years, historians have become increasingly awareof the imperial character of American history, from colonial days through the modern era. Although Americans have often been reluctant to admit the fact of their empire, it has always been a reality, from initial contacts with Native peoples through later expansion into new territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean, and subsequently into the Cold War era. Throughout this imperial history, religion has played an essential role. Religious beliefs originally justified the colonial enterprises into the New World, while later generationsclaimed to trace the divine will in a Manifest Destiny to conquer the whole continent. In turn, missionary dreams provided the justification for overseas expansion and often supplied the practical means for undertaking such ventures.Repeatedly too, imperial confrontations have affected the homeland, and have done much to form American both racial and religious stereotypes and nightmares. But the relationship between religion and empire in theAmerican context is anything but a story of cynical alliances between church and state, between faith and political power. To the contrary, religious beliefs have often provided the conquered with an essential basis for resistance and have mobilized anti-imperial movements. Without understandingempire, we are missing a vital part of the history of American religion. Empire, in fact, is the missing dimension in that story. Acknowledging that fact is all the more urgent in a United States increasingly populated by the descendants of nations and societies that were themselves the subjects of thatsprawling American empire. Philip Jenkins was educated at Cambridge University, wherehe received his Ph.D. in History. From 1980 through 2011, he taught at Penn State University, where he holds the rank of Emeritus Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities. In 2012, he became a Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University. He has published 35 sole-authored books, which have beentranslated into sixteen languages. These include The Next Christendom: The Coming Of Global Christianity (2002) and The Lost History of Christianity (2008). His most recent works include A Storm of Images: Iconoclasm and Religious Reformation in the Byzantine World and He Will Save You from the Deadly Pestilence: The Many Lives of Psalm 91 (both2023); and also Climate, Catastrophe, and Faith: How Changes in Climate Drive Religious Upheaval (2021). A historian by training, Jenkins has been active in manydifferent disciplines including sociology, criminology, and religious studies. Indeed, the Economist magazine has called him “one of America’s best scholars of religion.” He has published extensively on global and world Christianity, and on new and emerging religious movements. In teaching and research, he has a special interest in recent US history, from 1975 onwards.
S11 · E5
September 8 · 55 min
Justo L. Gonzalez: Missionary of Hispanic Theology in the United States: A Chat with Angel Vendrell
In today’s episode, Claire meets with Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell to talk about his book Justo L. Gonzalez: Missionary of Hispanic Theology in the United States. Two of celebrated Hispanic theologian Justo L. González’s major works, The Story of Christianity and A History of Christian Thought, continue to be used as primary textbooks in undergraduate and seminary programs throughout the United States. But few of his literary students and admirers know the details of his biography, in particular the significance of his contribution to the emergence of Hispanic theology in the United States during the past five decades. In this biography, Angel Santiago-Vendrell gives fresh attention to González’s role in a rapidly changing theological landscape. Born in Cuba in 1937 and profoundly shaped by the "revolutionary decade" of the 1950s, González studied theology at Yale, Basel, and Strasbourg, where he encountered George Lindbeck, Karl Barth, and Yves Congar. He became good friends with Martin Luther King, Jr., during the 1960s while teaching at the Evangelical Seminary in Puerto Rico. He later went on to serve at Candler School of Theology and then to take various denominational positions in the United Methodist Church. His work for the Fund for Theological Education led to the creation of the Hispanic Theological Initiative in 1998. Although González is best known as a prolific author, Santiago-Vendrell argues that his most enduring contribution to Western Christianity is as a pioneer in Hispanic theology. González’s story reveals new strategies for the advancement of Hispanic people, the largest ethnic/racial minority in the United States but with the lowest proportion of educated leaders, pastors, and professors. His example of perseverance in Christian vocation calls Hispanic believers to remember and reignite their witness. Santiago-Vendrell presents González’s life and work as embodying a missional passion rooted in the gospel of incarnation, of God’s work in history. This incarnational theology is the center of an unwavering commitment in González’s life to equip and unite Christians in their proclamation of the faith. This painstaking engagement with and for the church—Hispanic and otherwise—continues to bear much fruit. Dr. Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell is a professor ofworld Christianity and witness. He was born and raised in Puerto Rico and came to faith in Christ at the age of nineteen after hearing a sermon by Rev. Ludy González, a Puerto Rican female Pentecostal pastor. He served as a youth pastorand assistant pastor in Puerto Rico, and as senior pastor of Iglesia Metodista Unida San Andres in Jamaica Plains, MA, for three years. Before coming to Truett, from 2008 to 2010, he was an assistant professor of mission studies at Memphis Theological Seminary, and from 2010 to 2023, he served as the E. Stanley Jones associate professor of evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary, Orlando Campus. Dr. Santiago-Vendrell is passionate about missionary historiography, especially biographical studies, and how those stories could shape current Christian practices that aretransforming and liberating. He also enjoys surfing, playing basketball, and building Star Wars Lego. He lives in the Waco area with his wife, Misoon Im, and their two sons.
S11 · E4
September 1 · 49 min
Apotropaic Theophany in the Gospel of John: A Discussion with Alicia Myers
In today’s episode, I am speaking to Alicia Myers about herarticle titled “Jesus’ Apotropaic Theophany: Guarding and Sanctifying Believers in John’s Gospel.” It speaks about how Jesus makes God’s presence available in his physical form. While Jesus’ physical protection is apotropaic, there is asuperior protection that comes after Jesus’ death and resurrection through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does the same work as that of Jesus and that of the Father through their divine unity. The divine unity is also in itself apotropaic because it protects believers from the evil one. They are protected and guarded for eternal life. Spirit-filled believers who love one another are God’s continued apotropaic presence in the world. Myers says that believers are “assuredof their place in God’s household and their participation in the divine unity regradless of their physical distance from Jesus himself.” Alicia Myers joined the Department of Religion in fall 2025after teaching at Campbell University (2014-2025) and United Theological Seminary (2011-2014). As a member of the Colloquium Ioanneum (John Colloquy), she is also a Research Fellow in the Department of Old and New Testaments atthe University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Her current projects include a book and a commentary on 1-3 John, a short volume on Hebrews, and a collection (co-edited with Catrin H. Williams) on the Johannine writings. She is married and has two sons as well as a large spotted dog whokeep her busy when she’s not writing or teaching.
S11 · E3
August 25 · 55 min
Reading the Bible on Turtle Island: A Chat with Chris Hoklotuube and Danny Zacharias
In today's episode, Claire meets with Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias to discuss their book, Reading the Bible on Turtle Island, and North American Indigenous lenses for interpreting the Bible. In Reading the Bible on Turtle Island, Indigenous scholars Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias explore what it means to read the Bible from the lens of Indigenous peoples in North America. Exploring the intersection of Scripture, Cultural Traditions, Hearts and Minds, and Creation, they affirm Creator's presence with Indigenous people since the beginning. By recovering these rich histories, this book offers a fresh reading of Scripture that celebrates the assets, blessings, and insights of Indigenous interpretation. Indigenous culture has often been dismissed or deemed problematic within Western Christian circles, and historical practices have often communicated that Indigenous worldviews have little to offer the church or its understanding of Scripture. Hoklotubbe and Zacharias challenge this perspective, reasserting the dignity of these cultures that were condemned through colonial practices and showing how Indigenous interpretations bring invaluable insights to all of God’s people. Join the dance of North American Indigenousinterpretations of Christian Scripture Danny Zacharias grew up in Winnipeg (Treaty 1 territory),with his maternal ancestors (Cree/Anishinaabe) inhabiting the areas of Treaty 1 and Treaty 5 territory for many generations. After completing his Bachelor of Arts at Providence College, he and his wife Maria moved to Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia) to complete his Master of Divinity and Master of Arts (Theology) at Acadia Divinity College. While working part-time at ADC, Danny completed his PhD in New Testament studies through Highland Theological College (University of Aberdeen). During his time serving at ADC, Danny also completed the processof ordination with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada and serves regularly in his local church. Danny also carries administrative responsibilities as Associate Dean and Director of the Hayward Lectures. In addition to his role at ADC, Danny is a faculty member of NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community. More than any of these achievements, Danny is most proud to call Maria his wife, Lex, Jack, and Hudson his sons, and Ella-Rose his daughter. Christopher Hoklotubbe (ThD, Harvard) is a proud member ofthe Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is the director of graduate studies of NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, the first accredited Indigenous designed, developed, delivered, and governed theological institute. He is also assistant professor of classics at Cornell College (Mount Vernon, Iowa). He is the author of Civilized Piety: The Rhetoric of Pietas in the Pastoral Epistles and the Roman Empire, which was awarded the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise. He and his wife, Stephanie, have two daughters and live near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
S11 · E2
August 18 · 1 hr 1 min
Ageing and Dying in a Broken World: A Discussion with Ashley Moyse
In today’s episode, Claire is speaking with Dr. Ashley Moyseabout his book Resourcing Hope for Ageing and Dying in a Broken World Wayfaring Through Despair which came out in 2024. For those captive to the broken world of late modernity,wherein ageing and dying persons become vulnerable to despair, this book offers a diagnostic of such despair. It also resources the practices of a realistic, humanising hope that might enable a strength for person to journey with and forothers, together, through such despair. Thus, by addressing the aetiology of despair experienced by people confronting ageing, frailty and dying, and drawing upon the writings of Gabriel Marcel, among others, Ashley Moyse reveals the problematic life of a broken world with its functionalising metaphors, instrumentalising reasoning and objectifying desires that offer no hope at all. It is a broken world where despair generates behaviours that anticipate harm or other, often tragic, outcomes that impede or greatly curtail or even completely inhibit human flourishing. Resisting despair, but living through it, Moyse presents the activity of the moral life, demonstrating a way persons might be resourced through an intersubjective and reflective pedagogy, with its habits or practices that enable a humanising hope, liberating human beings to become those readied to confront the actualities of human living and dying, and encouraged to grow and develop as 'wayfarers', hopefully. Dr. Ashley Moyse is a Canadian (born and raised in Estevan, Saskatchewan) whose scholarly work tends to be found at the intersections of theology, philosophy, and medicine/health care. At present, he is the Associate Professorof Bioethics in the Department of Religion at Baylor University. Dr. Moyse is concurrently a Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, a Research Associate at Vancouver School of Theology, and a Fellow withthe James M Houston Centre for Humanity & the Common Good at Regent College. Previously, he was the Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and McDonald Scholar in the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics (directed by DrLydia Dugdale) at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons in NYC. At Columbia Dr. Moyse was the intellectual curator and director of the Columbia Character Cooperatives (medical students) and the co-director with Dr Beatriz Desanti de Oliveira of the Character and Clinical Ethics Pathway (internal medicine residents), which were both novel educational programming in ethics education and professional/ moral formation. He also had the privilege of serve as the McDonald Postdoctoral Fellow in Christian Ethics and Public Life with the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life at the University of Oxford, where he was also a senior member of Christ Church College. Dr. Moyse was alsoappointed a humanities and healthcare fellow with a Wellcome Trust ISSF funded project, 'Advancing medical professionalism: integrating humanities teaching inthe University of Oxford's medical school'. In addition to these recent roles, his academic background includes training in theology, bioethics and health policy, and applied physiology.
S11 · E1
August 11 · 31 min
"Civilizing Mission" and French Catholic Missionary Francis Aupiais: A Chat with Briana Wong Smoak
In today's episode, Claire is joined by Dr. Briana Wong Smoak to discuss the “civilizing mission” associated with French Catholic missionary activity in West Africa through the often-obscured experiences of Indigenous midwives who worked within, alongside, and sometimes beyond the mission of Francis Aupiais. Briana Wong Smoak started at Baylor as a Lecturer in the World Religions area in August 2025, after having previously worked at Phillips Theological Seminary and Wake Forest University School of Divinity. She takes great delight in her role as a teacher, seeking to help students grow as they continue to discern their callings. Briana is passionate about the biblical mandate for justice and encourages her students to live into God’s heart for those on the margins. Briana’s academic work centers on Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and how Christians in the West might be able to learn more about following Jesus by listening to the voices of those from other parts of the world.
S10 · E11
May 6 · 40 min
A Study in How Migration Shapes Religion (Rerun)
Today, we are bringing you a rerun from our very first season. Dr. Chaves' research is a strong reminder of the migration experience and how it shapes religious life. In this episode, Dr. João Chaves discusses what he learned from years of research on Brazuca Baptist churches, that is, Brazilian American Baptist churches. These congregations reveal the way the experience of migration shapes theology and religious life and raise questions for what the landscape of religious life in America might look going forward. This research is the topic of João's 2021 book with Baylor University Press, ⁠Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora⁠ ⁠João Chaves⁠ is Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Mission at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He earned his PhD from Baylor University's Department of Religion in 2017. Follow João on Twitter, @JoaoB_Chaves.
S10 · E10
April 29 · 43 min
Theology, Ethics, and a Church in Conflict: A Conversation with Amy Carr and Christine Helmer (Rerun)
Enjoy this rerun from the Fall 2023 season! What an excellent episode.------------------------- Welcome to our Fall 2023 season! In this episode, Zen speaks with Amy Carr and Christine Helmer about their brand new Baylor University Press book ⁠Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice.⁠ Amy Carr is Professor of Religious Studies at Western Illinois University. Christine Helmer is Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Humanities at Northwestern University. Here's some of the book's blurb: Christians in the United States and around the world are politically polarized today, unable to speak to one another across deep divisions regarding urgent social issues. Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice addresses this dire reality by offering a theological framework for Christian justice-seeking. Amy Carr and Christine Helmer draw on Paul’s theology to center the idea of justification by faith in Christ as the primary ground of Christian belonging and community. This approach yields a theology of ordinary faith that resists the temptation to equate Christian identity with the performance of a heroic "here I stand" posture against moral and political positions felt to be inimical to a properly Christian life... Carr and Helmer articulate ways that justification by faith grounds Christian practices of affective listening and storytelling, even on the most contentious ethical questions today, with the hope that mutual conversation in and through the Beloved Community can get Christians who disagree oriented towards each other again for the good of the world.
S10 · E7
April 15 · 1 hr
BSIR: Everyday Christianity with Global Voices
Today's guest host is Joao Chavez and he speaks with BSIR scholars Paul Fiddes and Raimundo Baarreto on everyday christianity with global voices. João B. Chaves joined the Department of Religion at Baylor University in the fall semester of 2023. His research focuses on the history of religion in the Américas, the influence of U.S. Protestantism in Latin America, and the development of Latin American/Latinx religious networks in the United States. Dr. Chaves is an award-winning author whose books include The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missionaries and the Shaping of Latin American Evangelicalism (Mercer University Press, 2022), and Remembering Antônia Teixeira: A Story of Missions, Violence, and Institutional Hypocrisy (Eerdmans, 2023), co-authored with Dr. Mikeal Parsons. Dr. Chaves also co-edited a book with Dr. T. Laine Scales, titled Baptists and the Kingdom of God: Global Perspectives (Baylor University Press, 2023). Paul S. Fiddes took first class degrees in English Language and Literature (1968) and in Theology (1970) at the University of Oxford (St. Peter’s College), followed by a D.Phil from Oxford (1975), and was awarded the D.D. of the University of Oxford for published work in 2004. At Regent’s Park College, Oxford, he was successively Research Fellow in Old Testament and Hebrew (1972–75), Fellow in Christian Doctrine (1975–89), Principal (1989–2007), Professorial Research Fellow and Director of Research (2007–2018) and Senior Research Fellow (2018 to the present). He was also Lecturer in Theology at St. Peter’s College, Oxford (1979-85). He was Chairman of the Board of Faculty of Theology of the University of Oxford from 1996–98, and received the title of Professor of Systematic Theology from the University of Oxford in 2002. He is Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Bucharest, and Honorary Fellow of St. Peter’s College, Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2020. He was ordained as a minister in the Baptist Union of Great Britain in 1972, and has extensive ecumenical concerns, including being a Canon Emeritus of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and Prebendary of St Endellion in North Cornwall. Raimundo C. Barreto is an associate professor of World Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he has been teaching since 2014. He holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Seminário Teológico Batista do Norte do Brasil, an MDiv degree from McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, and a PhD in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary. Before coming to Princeton, he taught at various institutions in Brazil and was the director of the Division on Freedom and Justice at the Baptist World Alliance. Barreto is the author of Protesting Poverty: Protestants, Social Ethics, and the Poor in Brazil (Baylor University Press, 2023) and Base Ecumenism: A Latin American Contribution to Ecumenical Praxis and Theology (Augsburg Fortress, 2025). He is working on a new book titled Christians in the City of São Paulo: The Shaping of World Christianity in a Brazilian Megacity (Bloomsbury). He is also the co-editor of the Journal of World Christianity, the general editor of the World Christianity and Public Religion Series published by Fortress Press (2017–24), and a convener of the World Christianity Conference since 2018. In addition to his publications, which include numerous journal articles and book chapters, he has served on boards and committees of various organizations, including the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI), Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC), Baptist World Alliance (BWA), Aliança de Batistas do Brasil, American Baptist Churches (ABCUSA), the Alliance of Baptists, the National Council of Churches USA, and the World Council of Churches (WCC).
S10 · E6
April 8 · 44 min
Aramaic Jesus: Tradition, Identity, and Christianity's Mother Tongue: A Discussion with Bruce Chilton
In today’s episode, Claire is joined by Bruce Chilton to discuss his book Aramaic Jesus with Baylor University Press. Bruce Chilton’s Aramaic Jesus is a groundbreaking study in pursuit of this "Aramaic Jesus," a pursuit that requires awareness of the kind of Aramaic in play. In the past, sorting out dialects and types of Aramaic relied on sources composed well after the time of the New Testament; this work factors in analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls and related materials to access forms of Aramaic current during the first century CE. Since the depiction of Jesus in the Gospels involves various intersections with Aramaic, tracing the impact of Aramaic in the depiction of Jesus within the New Testament entails several investigative categories: specific cases in which Aramaic is identifiably transliterated within the Greek Gospels; analysis that accounts for the cultural settings of Aramaic through the technique of retroversion (involving translation back into Aramaic); and assessment of noticeable overlaps between the New Testament and contemporaneous Aramaic literature, where thematic emphases emerge that relate Jesus’ movement to Second Temple Judaism. The writings we call the Gospels involved transitions from the au/orality of Jesus and his movement to reliance upon writing, and from their language(s) to written Koine Greek. Those shifts involved an increasing resort to narrative and literary conventions. The extent to which Aramaic is a factor within this process is uncharted, and this volume clarifies the issues that are in play. Chilton’s analysis illuminates the Aramaic Jesus and the people and processes that conveyed his memory. Bruce Chilton is Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson and priest at the Free Church of St. John the Evangelist in Barrytown, New York. He is the author of many scholarly articles and books.
S10 · E5
April 1 · 53 min
After 1177BC: The Survival of Civilizations: A Chat with Eric Cline
In today’s episode, I am joined by Eric H. Cline, an archaeologist and ancient historian at George Washington University. He speaks about the time of innovation and change that comes as the Bronze Age collapses and the Iron Age emerges in his book After 1177BC: The Survival of Civilizations. At the end of the acclaimed history 1177 B.C., many of the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean lay in ruins, undone by invasion, revolt, natural disasters, famine, and the demise of international trade. An interconnected world that had boasted major empires and societies, relative peace, robust commerce, and monumental architecture was lost and the so-called First Dark Age had begun.Now, in After 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the compelling story ofwhat happened next, over four centuries, across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean world. It is a story of resilience, transformation, and success, as well as failures, in an age of chaos and reconfiguration. After 1177 B.C. tells how the collapse of powerful Late Bronze Age civilizations created new circumstances to which people and societies had to adapt. Those that failed to adjust disappeared from the world stage, while others transformed themselves, resulting in a new world order that included Phoenicians, Philistines, Israelites, Neo-Hittites, Neo-Assyrians, and Neo-Babylonians. Taking the story up to the resurgence of Greece marked by the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., the book also describes how world-changing innovations such as the use of iron and the alphabet emerged amid the chaos. Dr. Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classical and Ancient NearEastern Studies and Anthropology, the former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and the current Director of the GWUCapitol Archaeological Institute. He is a National Geographic Explorer, a two-time Fulbright scholar, an NEH Public Scholar, a Getty Scholar, and an award-winning teacher andauthor. In May 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree (honoris causa) from Muhlenberg College. An archaeologist and ancient historian by training, Dr.Cline’s primary fields of study are biblical archaeology, the military history of the Mediterranean world from antiquity to present, and the international connections between Greece, Egypt, and the Near East during the Late Bronze Age (1700-1100 BCE). He is an experienced and active field archaeologist, with more than 30 seasons of excavation and survey to his credit since 1980 in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Crete, and the United States. He is perhaps best known for his work on collapse and resilience in the ancient world, specifically at the end of the second millennium BCE and the early first millennium BCE in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, epitomized by the best-selling 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton 2014; revised edition 2021).
S10 · E4
March 25 · 42 min
Negotiating Jewishness: Paul's Ethnicity Between Continuity and Discontinuity: A Discussion with Ruben A. Bühner
In today’s episode, Claire is joined by Ruben Buhner to talkabout his book Negotiating Jewishness: Paul's Ethnicity Between Continuity and Discontinuity. The assertion that Paul remained a Jew throughout his liferequires little further justification. However, questions remain, including: How can his relationship with Judaism be positively articulated? How was that relationship influenced by Paul’s belief in Jesus as the Messiah? A particular difficulty arises here: reconciling the sometimes contradictory statements in Paul’s epistles concerning his connection to the Jewish people and their beliefs and behavior. A lively discussion surrounding the Jewishness of Paul in the last fifteen years has yielded the "radical new perspectiveon Paul," or "Paul Within Judaism" perspective. Dismissing older conceptions that contrast the Christ-believing Paul with a monolithic and negatively characterized ancient Judaism, new approaches focus on the extent to which we should depict Paul as "within Judaism" or still torah observant. With Negotiating Jewishness, Ruben Bühner addresses these issues and offers a different, more balanced approach byconsidering three key aspects: ancient ethnicity, neglected sources, and scholarly debates. Drawing from studies in cultural science and ethnology, Bühner shows that ancient Jewish identity can be characterized as "mesomorphic" as it integrated diverse—even divergent—parameters in ethnic construction. With a focus on passages from the Pauline Epistles crucial for understanding Paul’s Jewishness, alongside a thorough excavation of the realities of Jewish life in the Greco-Roman diaspora, the book aims to bridge the gap between English-speaking and continental European scholarship, with a particular emphasis on underrepresented German perspectives. Paul navigated his Jewish identity within the myriad cultural landscapes of the first-century Mediterranean world and in constant dialogue with his missional calling and interactions with other Jews. Traces of this process emerge from his writings amidst their diverse historical, social, and rhetorical contexts. Negotiating Jewishness probes these scattered glimpses into Paul’s self-understanding to demonstrate that Paul’s relationship to Judaism can be best understood as a reflection of ancient Jewish ethnic negotiation. Bühner contributes to the scholarly conversation with a new definition of what it means to read Paul (or any New Testament text) "within Judaism." Dr. Ruben Bühner is a postdoctoral researcher for New Testament Studies at the University of Zurich and the University of Bonn.
S10 · E3
March 18 · 41 min
Murder in the Tidwell Building: Meet the Authors Jim Nogalski and Mark Biddle
In today’s episode, I am speaking with James "Jim" Nogalski and Mark Biddle about their book Murder in the Tidwell Building. This is a rare treat for us as one of our very own Baylor Religion professors has written a crime novel set in the Religion Department’s building. A skeleton is found in 2020 in Waco, Texas, on the campus ofBaylor University during the renovation of the Tidwell Bible Building, which houses Baylor's Department of Religion. During demolition, workers uncover the skeleton of a man who had been murdered fifteen years earlier. Suspicionquickly falls on three members of the Department of Religion, including two who are now high-level administrators of the university. All three have something to hide. Two detectives meticulously and creatively pursue the killer, despite encountering bureaucratic resistance from the higher echelons of administrators in the Waco Police Department and Baylor University. Jim Nogalski joined the faculty of the Religion Departmentat Baylor in the fall of 2007 after teaching at institutions in South Carolina, Kentucky, Illinois, and North Carolina. Nogalski is best known for his ongoing work in prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible, and especially in the Book of the Twelve (Hosea through Malachi). Nogalski grew up in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. After graduating Samford University he completed a Master of Divinity degree at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentuckybefore completing a Master of Theology in Old Testament at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Rüschlikon (a suburb of Zurich), and his doctoral degree at the University of Zurich. He publishes regularly on prophetic literature, especially the Book of the Twelve. Dr. Biddle received his early education in the publicschools of Orlando, FL and Ft. Payne, AL. He holds a BAH from Samford University (Birmingham, AL), an MDiv from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), a ThM from Rueschlikon Baptist Theological Seminary (Rueschlikon, Switzerland), and a DrTheol from the University of Zurich(Zurich, Switzerland). Dr. Biddle began his teaching career at Carson Newman College (now University), where he also directed the Honors Program. After almost a decade, he joined the faculty of the Baptist Theological Seminary atRichmond as Professor of Old Testament, soon to become the Russell T. Cherry Professor there and to continue until the unfortunate closing of the school.Along the way, Biddle has taught adjunctively for SBTS, the Polish Baptist Theological Seminary in Warsaw-Radosc, and, currently, Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond. Dr. Biddle has published seven books, over forty articles, eleven translated volumes (from German to English), and scores of book reviews. He serves on the editorial board ofthe Review & Expositor, having served for two years as Associate Editor and seven as Managing Editor. He also serves on the editorial board of the Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary and is General Editor of the Reading the Old Testament series. He served for five years on the advisory board of Interpretation and as Issue Editor for R&E’s volumes on “Genesis,” “Song of Songs,” “Apocalyptic Literature,”“Transitions,”and “Esther” (forthcoming).
S10 · E2
March 4 · 53 min
Madness, Theocracy, and Anarchism: A Discussion with Barry Harvey
According to some of the most influential thinkers of the modern era, it is madness to subordinate all one’s aims to one end. Such thinkers believe that the church in particular should limit itself to matters of religion, spirituality, and moral values, but in other areas of life submit itself to modern society. Madness, Theocracy, and Anarchism contends instead that the church should refuse to mind its assigned place or restrict its attention to a delimited sphere of activity. The mission, calling, and purpose of the church cannot rightly be thought of or treated as a function of any other social grouping, be it family, region, state, culture, race, or class. Its mission is to cultivate a new and distinct society to act both amidst the old and as a contrast to it, displaying the form of social life intended for all humankind in Christ. The church is thus called to a different understanding of politics having to do with the practices that order the common life and relations of a people, forming the members of this community to live according to this order and to embody these relations for the whole world. Barry Harvey examines those points where the church’s practice of politics directly challenges the many ways Christians have put national and tribal loyalties ahead of our inclusion in the pilgrim people of God, and those places where the social activities, structures, and imaginative tales animating the Western world in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries challenge the faithfulness of the Christian community. The analysis of the dominant social order is not to understand it for its own sake, but to spell out the context of the church’s worship, collective life, and testimony. Dr. Barry Harvey has been a professor of theology with Baylor’s Department of Religion and the Honors College since 2007 and has been working at Baylor since 1988. He has an MDiv from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY and a PHD from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He has written multiple books and articles including Taking Hold of the Real: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Profound Worldliness of Christianity. He is an ordained Baptist minister and a native of Denver, Colorado.
S10 · E1
February 25 · 54 min
Grounded Theology: A Chat with Elizabeth Backfish and Cynthia Shafer-Elliott
In this week's episode, Claire is joined by Elizabeth Backfish and Cynthia Shafer-Elliott to discuss their book Grounded Theology in the Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Cultural Context That Formed Ancient Israel. This book combines archaeology and theology to better understand the everyday life of ancient Israelites and how it shaped their relationship with God. Congratulations Dr. Shafer-Elliott, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible in Baylor's Religion Department, on her new book.
S9 · E10
Dec 19, 2025 · 56 min
Hong Kong Christianity: A BSIR Discussion with Gillian Chu
In this conversation, Gillian Chu, an assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, shares her journey from a career in accounting to academia, focusing on Hong Kong Christianity. She discusses her experiences at the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable, the global perspective of Hong Kong Christianity, and her research on migration and family dynamics. GIllian emphasizes the role of technology in community building and the importance of qualitative research in understanding faith identity. She also reflects on her future goals in scholarship and her engagement with students.
S9 · E9
Nov 5, 2025 · 42 min
Seeking Sanctuary, Finding Shalom: A Chat with John Swinton
What if our well-intentioned efforts to promote mental health inadvertently perpetuate systems that cause mental unwellness? What if the resilience we encourage only equips individuals to endure rather than challenge structures detrimental to their well-being? Why do mental health experiences vary so drastically across cultures, with Western societies seemingly posing the greatest challenges for certain conditions? Against the backdrop of escalating ecological dramas that devastate our world and its climate, do we ever wonder what ecological suffering might imply for our mental health? With this poignant, impassioned book Seeking Sanctuary, Finding Shalom, John Swinton invites us to begin exploring avenues toward addressing these daunting and interrelated issues. John Swinton is a consulting faculty member at Duke Divinity and professor in practical theology and pastoral care and chair in divinity and religious studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. For more than a decade he worked as a registered mental health nurse. He also worked for a number of years as a hospital and community mental health chaplain alongside of people with severe mental health challenges who were moving from the hospital into the community. In 2004, he founded the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Spirituality, Health, and Disability. He has published widely within the area of mental health, dementia, disability theology, spirituality and healthcare, end-of-life care, qualitative research, and pastoral care. Swinton is the author of a number of monographs including a previous book, Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of People With Mental Health Challenges (Eerdmans 2020), which won the Aldersgate book price for interdisciplinary theological research, and his book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God, which won the Archbishop of Canterbury's Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing. Swinton is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was recently elected as a fellow of the British Academy.

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