ReligionProf Podcast

In this episode Dr. James F. McGrath talks with film producers Avril Z. Speaks and Suzanne Watson and writer/director Ryan Daniel Dobson about their new movie Hosea, which explores how the story of Hosea and Gomer in the Bible might unfold in a modern-day setting, and told from the female protagonist's perspective. It is a powerful and provocative movie that you'll want to see, and once you've done so (since the podcast contains spoilers) or if you need persuading to do so, you will definitely want to listen to this behind-the-scenes look at the movie through the lens of the creative team behind it in conversation with a professor who teaches biblical studies.

In this episode I talk with musician and Butler University graduate Aaron Abrahamson Cote about his new project Songs of Scripture.

In this episode of the ReligionProf Podcast I talk with Tony Burke about the latest volume of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, which Eerdmans published recently. We also talk about a range of related topics, from forgeries and fan fiction ancient and modern, to why the field of Christian Apocrypha is one that lots of academics ought to contribute to and that, in particular, those now considering pursuing PhDs ought to consider focusing on.

Matt Kelley is a Butler University Religion graduate as well as co-editor of a new book, Fathering Together, Volume 1. In this episode you'll hear us talk about how the book came about, the cool comics in it, and why it would make a perfect Father's Day gift as well as being something worth reading and thinking about at any point if you are or might become a father.

How can a book called Saying No To God be an expression of a Christian perspective? Because, as Korpman and I discuss in this double-length episode, this is precisely the stance that a number of biblical as well as post-biblical Jewish and Christian stories depict those  faithful to God as adopting, and for which they are praised. Listen in and find out more!

Dr. Roger Sneed has been exploring the Octavia Butler archive and has found some truly amazing things, some of which he shares in this episode of the podcast, others of which you'll have to wait until his next book (or the one after that, or the one after that) to find out. Enjoy geeking out with us as you listen to this episode!

In this episode Sara Parks and I talk about her new book, Gender in the Rhetoric of Jesus: Women in Q. You don't need to accept the majority view about the hypothetical source used by Matthew and Luke in order to find useful things in our conversation, which explores the distinctiveness of Jesus' paired sayings, the things male academics miss when we don't ask feminist questions and/or fail to listen to our female colleagues, and much more. 

Science fiction provides unique opportunities to explore one of the most pressing philosophical, religious, and ethical questions there is: what is a person? Join Dr. Juli Gittinger and I as we talk about her wonderful new book that provides both a fantastic overview and also new insights into this timely topic at the intersection of pop culture and religious studies.

Ruth Hayhoe is the sister of Suzanne McCarthy, the biblioblogger who did so much to elevate the voices of women in the realm of Bible blogging. Suzanne tragically died of cancer in 2015, before completing a book that she was working on about gender bias in Bible translation. Thanks to the efforts of Ruth and several other family members, the book is now out, and on this episode Ruth and I talk about the process that led to its publication as well as the important contemporary issues that the book addresses so well. 

Meredith Warren has drawn our attention to themes of angelic food and the significance of eating in ancient religious literature - and on TV shows like Good Omens. Join us as we chat about these themes from ancient to modern times!

Filmmaker Rob Orlando visited the Butler University campus and speaks with me about connections between his most recent film, about the role of Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II in ending the Cold War, and his earlier film about Paul the Apostle. 

In this episode I speak with Brandon Hawk about his recent book on Christian apocrypha about the infancies of both Mary and Jesus. Find out about them because they interest you in their own right, or out of curiosity to find out how we connected them to Star Wars and other things!

Jessica Reed is my colleague at Butler University and a poet whose poetry explores science. Listen as she shares poems (by others as well as her own) and as we reflect on interdisciplinarity, spirituality, and other things that meet at the intersection of the arts and the natural sciences! 

This week's guest on the podcast is Emily Swan, a minister, author, Doctor Who fan, and Butler University graduate. And so we had a lot of points of common interest to talk about! Listen and find out more about her book Solus Jesus (co-authored with Ken Wilson), how Pentecostalism stands poised to offer something to this moment in the history of Christianity, even as forms of it may move not just beyond Evangelicalism, but beyond Protestantism. 

My two guests this week are both seminary professors who recently compiled a collection of sermons and reflections that are all responses to the traumas that seminary faculty and students have been subjected to in instances of authoritarian decision-making, termination of tenured faculty, and so on. Listen in as we reflect on the challenges facing educational institutions across the board (in particular but by no means exclusively seminaries), how we might respond when we undergo traumatic experiences, how to support others who are going through such things, and perhaps most of all, how to find a path forward that navigates these turbulent times without inflicting harm on our colleagues. 

Here's part 2 of my conversation with Brian Wesolowski on what it means to think about technology as a possible mediator of grace.

Brian Wesolowski interviewed me as part of his work to produce a new "Gracefully Tech" podcast. He will be using clips from our conversation there together with clips from others. Here, I'm sharing the entirety of our conversation. Both will be different, and both will be worth listening to! 

This is part 1. Stay tuned for part 2 next week!

This special episode features the audio recording of my presentation and that of Matt Brake at the Batman conference at Bowling Green State University in April 2019. 

My conversation with Jonathan David Lawrence ranges through topics as diverse as ancient immersion rituals, modern interfaith work, and educational games! 

Anthony Le Donne returns to the ReligionProf Podcast to talk about the new book in his Gods of Thrones project about religion in Game of Thrones. 

Robert Geraci joins me all the way from Bangalore, India to talk about his current research, his latest book, and his trajectory through the exploration of the intersection of religion, science, and science fiction.

In this episode my colleague Deb Saxon talks about her longtime fascination with extracanonical texts about Jesus, their role in allowing women's voices from ancient Christianity to be heard, and contemporary efforts to reach a wider audience for these texts by animating them or setting them to music. 

Today's episode explores how A. David Lewis' unique background as both a scholar of religion and a comic book creator provided the opportunity for him to revive a Muslim comic book hero who fought Nazis in France in the 1940s, and bring him to Boston in the present era. 

This episode features a conversation with two members of Zondervan/HarperCollins' team that works on and promotes the New Revised Standard Version, Melissa Bouma and Bob Gaudet. Find out what happens behind the scenes of the Bibles you know and love!

Andrew Murtagh and Adam Lee, both Patheos bloggers, made a guest appearance at Butler University a while back. Ever since, we've had in mind to resume the conversation for a wider audience through a podcast. Here it is! Find out what precisely brought a Christian and atheist together to make common cause! 

Listen to this week's episode as Derek Penwell and I talk about how we should be sarcastic, because we follow Jesus' example! That's just one of the things we explore in talking about Derek's new book Outlandish.

Enjoy today's conversation with Paul Driscoll, who has written about Doctor Who in many places, including the volume on The God Complex in the series The Black Archive. 

This week's episode features New Testament scholar Jeremiah Bailey and science fiction author Nathaniel Hosford. What's the connection between the two? You'll just have to listen and find out!

Join me, Pete Enns, and Pete's cat Marmalade for a conversation about his latest book, How the Bible Actually Works.

This week's episode features Martin Doblmeier as we talk about his work as a documentary filmmaker and his latest movie, Backs Against The Wall: The Howard Thurman Story.