Church Podmatics

This episode, Matthew Wilcoxen and Andrew Errington discuss Dr. Samuel Tranter's recent article: "Eschatological naturalism and ecological responsibility: Troubling some assumptions" in Scottish Journal of Theology, Published online 2024:1-15.

This week, the whole gang is back, looking at Andrew Leslie's "Prelapsarian Christological Mediation and the Typology of Adam and Eve in Jerome Zanchi's De Operibus Dei" (Journal of Reformed Theology, Vol. 17, Issue 3-4, December 2023) 

This week, Matthew W & Andrew E discuss Laura Cerbus' “The Beauty of the Body and the Ascension: a reclamation and subversion of physical beauty” (Scottish Journal of Theology, Volume 77, Issue 2, May 2024) where the author explores the idea of objective physical beauty, particularly in the light of the wounded, resurrected, ascended Christ.

In this first episode for 2024, we discuss a slightly different article: Matthew Wilcoxen's own ‘The Bible is not “like any other book”': Katherine Sonderegger and the Bible as Vestigium Trinitatis' (IJST, September 2023). This was an article which discussed Sonderegger's recent Systematic Theology Vol. 2  and was presented at a Book Forum at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting 2023. It was followed by Sonderegger's own response to Matthew's article, as well as two other panellists:Kirsten Sanders "A Treasure hidden in a field: Katherine Sonderegger on Scripture"and Philip G. Ziegler "To Think and to Speak of the Living God: Katherine Sonderegger's Systematic Theology, Volume 2"

Back in 2003 the American theologian Robert W. Jenson (1930-2017) delivered the F.D. Maurice Lectures at King's College, London. Starting from the fact that 'Christ' is a title that is inextricable from Old Testament Jewish culture, and adopting Augustine's totus Christus formulation which sees Christ as somehow also identifiable with the ongoing life of the church, Jenson explores his chosen theme of "Christ As Culture". In three stimulating lectures which were subsequently published as articles in the International Journal of Systematic Theology, he argues for an understanding of the church as a culture in the specific modes of polity, art, and drama. Matthew and Matt explore these fascinating pieces together with friend of the pod John Shelton joining in Andrew's absence."Christ as Culture 1: Christ as Polity": https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1463-1652.00112"Christ as Culture 2: Christ as Art": https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2400.2004.00120.x"Christ as Culture 3: Christ as Drama": https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2400.2004.00129.x

This week, we discuss a significant article from the late John Webster (“Trinity and Creation”, International Journal of Systematic Theology, Vol 12, No. 1, January 2010) which is not a new article, but still incredibly noteworthy.Shownotes: 2009 Hayward Lectures

The whole gang is back, as we look at Michelle C. Sanchez' 2019 article: “Reading tradition as pedagogy in Calvin and Augustine: the case of election” (Scottish Journal of Theology Vol 72. Issue 1 (Feb 2019) pg 20–45)In this article, Sanches argues that we should understand ‘Tradition' not as opposed to scripture but as the ‘act of handing over' sound doctrine rather than just the content of what is handed over (separate or different from the purview of the Biblical witness).

This week, Andrew and Matthew Mason discuss Alan Vincelette's recent article: "Why Aquinas should have held that one may intentionally tell a falsehood to an unjust aggressor" (Journal of Theological Studies, Vol 74, pt 1. April 2023)

After a slight hiatus, the boys are back to discuss Andrew Errington's recent article: “Forgiveness and the Novelty of Christian Ethics” (Modern Theology Month, April 2023). Matthew Wilcoxen sits down to chat with Andrew about the article, and also about the process of writing academic articles whilst also engaged in pastoral ministry.

This week, we attempt to tackle Rowan Williams' recent article ‘Negative Theology: Some Misunderstandings' published in Modern Theology Month, March 2023. In this article, Williams discusses Apophatic theology through the lens of grammar, ecclesiology and art.

In this week's episode, we interview our first Guest; Dr. Ben Myers (Associate Professor at Alphacrucis University College) who has written the recent article: "Can God's work in history be discerned? The ambiguities of providence in the poetry of John Milton" in Scottish Journal of Theology (January 2023).In this article, Myers explores the way that English Reformation thought (particularly through the poetry of John Milton) understood contemporary events to be the divine work and providence of God.

This week Andrew Errington & Matt Wilcoxen look at Ashley Cocksworth's article "When Prayer Goes Wrong: A Negative Theology of Prayer" (Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 7, Issue 1), which critically examines the tendency to introduce the practice of prayer as the answer to everything. Cocksworth argues that we need also a thick account of how prayer goes wrong and can be used to sustain injustice. He suggests that Karl Barth's theology, though itself susceptible to this criticism, has resources for such an account.

In Matt Wilcoxen's absence, Andrew Errington & Matthew Mason explore John M. G. Barklay's Does the Gospel Require Self-Sacrifice? Paul and the Reconfiguration of the Self, (Studies in Christian Ethics, Vol 36, Issue 1, February 2023) in which he challenges the notion that ‘exclusive altruism' or total self-sacrifice is the lens through which we are to understand Christian ethics. He explores the various passages of Philippians which often are used toward seeing Christian love through this lens.

In Edwin Chr. van Driel's January 2023 article in Modern Theology “Incarnation and Israel: A Supralapsarian Account of Israel's Chosenness”, he surveys and provides a comprehensive discussion of the choice of the triune God to become incarnate (whilst surveying different views), and what that means for our doctrine of election and how to avoid the danger of supersessionism.Links to other resources from the same author:“Rethinking Paul: Protestant Theology and Pauline Exegesis”“Incarnation Anyway: Arguments for Supralapsarian Christology”

In Oliver O'Donovan's October 2022 article in the Augustinian Studies, “Augustine's Treatment of the Great Psalm”, he provides a wide-spread survey of how Augustine understood and read Psalm 119. O'Donovan argues that Augustine's theology helps get to the core features and message of the Psalm.Links from this episode:O'Donovan Lecture: “Good, Doing Good, and the Goods”Christopher Ash: “Bible Delight”

This week, the guys preview Oliver Crisp's November 2022 article in the Scottish Journal of Theology, “Infant baptism and the disposition to saving faith” wherein Oliver attempts to show how there is definite scope within a reformed understanding of Infant Baptism which involves baptismal regeneration ‘or something close to it'. Crisp draws heavily on his own Scottish Reformed tradition, but proves to provide stimulating thought and discussion for other reformed traditions.

In this episode we discuss Martin Westerholm's recent article,  'On the Structure and Significance of Augustine's Moral Grammar'  (Published in Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol 49:Issue 4, December 2021) . According to Westerholm, there are three constellations of concepts that one must understand in order to grasp Augustine's moral framework and the way that framework differs from both classical and modern moral visions. Along the way the article displays how certain influential appropriations of Augustine have occluded important elements of his distinct moral grammar.Westerholm's article 'The nature and Destiny of Niebuhr's Augustine' is also referenced in passing in this episode. Full text is available online.

This week we look at Paul D. Molnar's recent article 'What difference does one's view of God make in understanding sin and salvation? Some suggestions from Karl Barth' in Scottish Journal of Theology 75 (2022), pp. 55-67. Molnar's article is a highly critical engagement with certain modern theologies that argue for a reconceptualisation of God. Molnar draws on Barth to argue forcefully that unless the source of our knowledge of God is the revelation of his grace in Jesus Christ, we will inevitably construct an idol, and so mischaracterise both sin and salvation. The discussion considers the method of Molnar's article, and potential objections to its framing. 

Stephen R. Holmes' April 2022 article in the International Journal of Systematic Theology, “A Reformed Account of Eucharistic Sacrifice” gives an account of how the Eucharist can be considered a sacrifice within Reformed thought and doctrine. He suggests that the Holy Communion can and should be talked about in sacrificial terms, by thoroughly drawing on the Biblical witness and Historical understandings of the Supper and Scripture.Throughout the journal article, Holmes engages heavily with David Moffitt's work: “Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Supplements to Novum Testamentum, 141)”

Kevin Hargaden's July 2021 article in the Studies in Christian Ethics, “An Apocalypse Converted: William Stringfellow and Catholic Social Teaching on Climate Breakdown” explores the issue of climate change. In the article, engaging with Pope Francis' 2015 Encyclical ‘Laudato Si', and William Stringfellow's (1928-1985) work on 'Apocalyptic theology', he encourages us to approach this 'issue of our time', through a deeply theological framework. Hargaden has written a book, called “Theological Ethics in a Neoliberal Age” (October 2018), which was mentioned in the episode.

Simon P. Kennedy's March 2022 article in the Journal of Religious History, “The Decalogue, Resistance, and Political Obedience in Early Protestant Thought” provides an outline of how key figures in church history have interpreted and applied the command to ‘honour your father and mother” in regard to our relationship with other authority figures. In this episode, we not only discuss the article, but also the theology and Christian ethics behind and drawn from these historical insights that Kennedy has provided.Kennedy has written a book expanding on this subject, called “Reforming the Law of Nature: The Secularisation of Political Thought, 1532–1689” (Edinburgh University Press, March 2022)

Katherine Sonderegger's May 2022 article in Pro Ecclesia, "The Bible as Holy Scripture", argues that modern understandings of scripture have been overly determined by notions of either "history" or "story",  and the result is that the Torah has been diminished, and that Messianic readings have come to be seen as the only legitimate mode of Christian interpretation. Sonderegger wants to challenge all of this by paying attention to Scripture's self-identification as writing, as "Holy Book". 

In this episode we discuss Ian McFarland's 2022 article "Rethinking Nature and Grace: The Logic of Creation 's Consummation", available in the International Journal of Systematic Theology. Professor McFarland address an old and important theological problem, of how to construe the relation between 'nature' and 'grace' in such a way that both continuity and discontinuity may be maintained between the life of creatures now and that of eschatological consummation. Arguing that both Catholic and Protestant treatments of the problem have left the conundrum intact, McFarland proposes to reframe the question around David Kelsey's notion of different modes of grace. It's a novel approach that has some intriguing possibilities for how we think of both this life and the life to come. 

In this episode we discuss Michael S. Burdett's 2022 article "Incarnation, Posthumanism and Performative Anthropology: The Body of Technology and the Body of Christ." It is available in the journal Christian bioethics. According to Burdett, posthumanism is more pervasive than we realize, both in the contemporary public discourse and in the field of medicine, but Christian engagement with posthumanism has focused too narrowly on the cognitive beliefs of posthumanism while ignoring the practices of posthumanism in which we are all already enmeshed. Thus Burdett seeks to uncover some of the core practices of posthumanism, and then proposes the core Christian practice of the Eucharist that can, at the very least, serve as a corrective to posthumanism.

In this episode we discuss the 2021 Modern Theology article by Darren Sarisky: "Judgments in Scripture and the Creed: Reflections on Identity and Difference". In 1994 David Yeago published an article that has been influential for the recovery of theological exegesis. Introducing a distinction between judgments and concepts, Yeago argues that, when viewed properly, the creeds are saying the same thing as the biblical texts themselves. Now Sarisky attempts to think both with and against Yeago. He attempts to bring further nuance to the way in which the church's creedal statements might be said to be both similar and different to the biblical texts. But this more nuanced account of the positive relationship between canon and creed only works, Sarisky argues, if we abandon the postliberal and ecumenical ecclesiology of Yeago in favour of a Reformed account of the Spirit's relation to the church and its practices and traditions.