Jonathan Huggins joins us on the podcast today with a sermon for the season of Advent reflecting on peace. How does the Gospel redefine shalom—peace—with God, within ourselves, and with others? How can we maintain relational and psychological rest in our souls when facing the anxiety-producing situations of our modern world?
For our December episode on books, we, the CPT staff, have been reading (and, on this occasion, watching):
JRR Tolkien, Return of the King, (1955)
Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1995)
Stephen King, Carrie (1974)
Cormac McCarthy, The Border Trilogy, (1999)
Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, American Nietzsche: A History of an Icon and His Idea, 2011
Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. (2024)
Today, Chris Ganski shares a sermon on Acts 17:1-9. In the wake of the 2024 election, the book of Acts can be an excellent resource to consider the relationship between church and politics. In the context of Acts 17, does Caesar have anything to fear from the church? What is the church, and what does it mean to belong to the church? How does the church’s identity influence our understanding of the gospel as political? This and more on today’s podcast.
Pastor Caleb Campbell joins the podcast to discuss how pastors might guide their congregations through the results of the 2024 election, drawing from his experience pastoring in Phoenix, AZ. He also discusses his book "Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor." How can we helpfully engage those in their community who align with combative political perspectives? How can pastors support members who are struggling to have conversations with family members, or for whom the election stirs up difficult emotions? This and more on today's episode.
Douglas Estes joins the podcast once again to discuss the second volume of a collection of essays he edited on theology in the works and worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien. We talk about the role of narrative fiction in shaping pastoral theology and how works like The Lord of the Rings can serve those who lead the church in the present day.
How does the pastoral vocation shape our theological reflection? The life and work of a pastor is embedded in the life of the worshipping community. As such, pastors share in the joys and the pains of people in the congregation. CPT President Todd Wilson shares how the suffering-shaped life of the pastor uniquely positions them for speaking and writing of the mysteries of Christ crucified.
CPT Director of Fellowships, Jameson Ross, joins the podcast again to discuss his PhD research on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and theological interpretation of scripture. In this episode we explore Bonhoeffer's hermeneutical approach, the relationship between the church and biblical interpretation, and the logical and pedagogical ordering of theological reflection.
CPT fellows Amy Peeler and Jennifer McNutt join the podcast to discuss their recent article on Mary the Mother of Jesus published in Christianity Today. What does and doesn’t the biblical text say about Mary? How has the Protestant Tradition reacted and overreacted to Roman Catholic veneration of Mary? How does this woman’s story inform the story of other women in scripture and in Christian history?
CPT fellow Chris Castaldo, Lead Pastor of New Covenant Church in Naperville, IL, joins the podcast. Chris tells his story of growing up as an Italian Catholic in New York and his eventual conversion to Protestantism. Chris goes on to tell his story of education and training for pastoral ministry.
Get to know our newest staff member, Jameson Ross. Jameson was hired at the CPT as the new Director of Student Theologian and Local Theologian fellowships earlier this year. For the past three years, Jameson has been studying for a PhD in Durham, England, under the supervision of Francis Watson. In this episode Jameson shares his story of faith, education, and over a decade of pastoral ministry experience at a thriving megachurch in the Chicagoland area.
This episode features two short presentations from CPT fellows at our 2019 theology conference. The first presentation, "Every Sermon Should Answer: Why?" was given by Matt O'Reilly, Pastor of Hope Hull United Methodist Church. The second presentation, "Are We Present in the Church?" was given by Chris Bruno, Professor of New Testament at Bethlehem College and Seminary.
In a presentation from our 2019 theology conference, Dr. Felicia Wu Song shares a talk entitled, "Digital Life as Secular Liturgy: A Matter of Christian Formation." Dr. Song is a professor of sociology at Westmont College. What is the social imaginary implied in our modern secular life? What effects does social life have on our embodied relationships? How should our Christian faith commitments affect the way we think about social media, constant social stimulation, and the omnipresence of devices in our digital ecology? Dr. Song explores these and other questions in the first half of her presentation.
CPT fellow Nick Ellis shares his story of growing up as a missionary kid, his family's Mennonite background, and his call to scholarship, theological training, and the mission field. Nick is himself a kingdom-building entrepreneur and churchman and holds a PhD from Oxford University. This episode contains part one of our conversation with Nick.
Gavin Ortlund, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church Of Ojai, CA joins the podcast. Gavin is a CPT fellow and a member of the St. Anselm Fellowship. Gavin discusses his life growing up as the son of a prominent pastor and seminary professor, as well as discerning his own call to ministry, training, and PhD studies.
CPT President Todd Wilson gave this lecture at the 2016 national conference of the CPT: Beauty, Order, and Mystery – A Christian Vision of Sexuality. According to Dr. Wilson, there is a need for Christians to reclaim what he calls "Mere Sexuality," the historic Christian consensus regarding gender and human sexuality that existed virtually unchallenged for the first two millennia of the church's existence. This can be attributed to two primary factors, argues Wilson: 1) the fracturing of functional biblical authority and 2) the reshaping of moral intuitions in modern Western culture.
ARTICLE: Life Is Hard, Be Humble: Thomas Aquinas on Humility
NATHAN BARCZI
PODCAST: What We’re Reading — December 2024
CPT STAFF
ARTICLE: Christians and the Virtues
BENJAMIN BURKHOLDER
NEWS: Announcing Two New Learning Cohorts
CPT NEWS UPDATE
