Homebrewed Christianity Podcast Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

I hope that no matter where you are in life, you have been able to enjoy the holiday season by eating good food, spending time with friends and family, or at least getting some rest. If the holidays don’t tend to provide comfort, then you can escape and take shelter in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy with Nick Polk from Tolkien Pop! as well as Tolkien Scholar Dr. Craig Boyd!

As we enter the eye of the storm that is the holiday season, we will kick off our run of Christmas movies with The Lord of the Rings (the extended editions, of course). Because, in fact, The Lord of the Rings are Christmas movies. The Fellowship is led by a supernatural man with a white beard, the company departs from Rivendell to begin their quest on December 25th (Christmas Day), and there are plenty of Elves to go around! To solidify the argument even further, Tolkien wrote his children Letters from Father Christmas (Santa Claus) every year during the Christmas season in their adolescence. In these letters, Tolkien told of Santa and his elves fighting off a goblin army. We even see glimpses of Tolkien’s invented Elvish language script in the letters. The legendarium was partly developed in and through a Christmas fantasy world sandbox.

We talk about all these things and more as a sort of “pregame” into our Christmas Movie Marathon and will come back with another “postgame” livestream with Dr. Craig Boyd and some other special guests that you won’t wanna miss. So, with all that said, let’s go on a Middle-earth Christmas adventure!

Craig A. Boyd is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Saint Louis University. Among the books he has published are The Virtues: A Very Short Introduction, with Kevin Timpe (Oxford University, 2021), Virtues and Their Vices, co-edited with Kevin Timpe (Oxford University Press, 2014), and A Shared Morality: A Narrative Defense of Natural Law Ethics (Brazos Press, 2007). His scholarly articles have appeared in such venues as The Heythrop Journal, Christian Scholar’s Review, Christianity & Literature, New Blackfriars, and American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly.

Nick Polk (Tolkien Pop!) is the production editor for Mallorn, the academic journal of The Tolkien Society. His most recent research includes his essay entitled “Middle-earth in South Park: The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers as Parody.” Other than Tolkien, his other loves include his wife Kelly, coffee, and punk. Nothing sounds better than starting the day reading a Tolkien book with a cup of coffee and ending it in a moshpit with loved ones.



One Stream to Rule them ALL: Prepping for a LOTR Christmas Movie Marathon https://t.co/xCDvZ3ZIHv

— Theology Nerd (@HomebrewedXnty) November 30, 2023



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This is a fun conversation with Thomas Jay Oord & Philip Clayton. We have a good time digging into some of the biggest theological questions surrounding Christmas and the Incarnation. Enjoy & then join our upcoming online class, The Cosmic Christ.



Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. He is an award-winning author, and he has written or edited more than twenty-five books. Oord directs a doctoral program at Northwind Theological Seminary and the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He won the Outstanding Faculty Award twelve times as a full-time professor and now speaks at institutions across the globe. Oord is known for his contributions to research on love, open and relational theology, science and religion, and freedom and relationships for transformation.

As a scholar, Philip Clayton (Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology) works at the intersection of science, philosophy, and theology. As an activist (president of EcoCiv.org, President of IPDC), he works to convene, facilitate, and catalyze multi-sectoral initiatives toward ecological civilization. As a disciple of Jesus, he finds himself energized by the Spirit in the Quaker community.

Previous Podcast Convos w/ Philip Clayton



* How to Think Theologically

* On the Meaning of Life

* on the Mindfulness of Nature

* The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg w/ Philip Clayton

* Finding God in Everyone and Everywhere w/ Philip Clayton and Andrew Davis

* Can a process theologian be an Evangelical & other questions with Philip Clayton

* The #GodDebacle w/ Philip Clayton and LeRon Shults

* Philip Clayton on the Shape of Postmodern Theology

* Party Time with Philip Clayton for “The Predicament of Belief”

* Bootlegged Christianity with Philip Clayton, Jack Caputo, Bill Mallonee, Peter Rollins, & Jay Bakker

 

Throughout the Theology for Normal People series, we have featured interviews with theologians from different parts of the church. In this episode, Dr. Ryan Duns, a Jesuit priest and theologian at Marquette University, returns to the podcast to share how he thinks in and with the Catholic tradition. It was a beautiful and enlightening conversation that blends his narrative, exploration of the Catholic tradition, and wisdom he’s gained, introducing it to students in the classroom. I had so much fun we went on a Tolkien excursion at the end, which is a sign I’m having fun.



Ryan G. Duns, SJ, (twitter) is a Jesuit priest and an assistant professor of theology at Marquette University. His locates his work the intersection of philosophy and systematic theology and is

interested in regarding theology as practice or “way of life.” He has published on Karl Rahner, Jean-Luc Marion, René Girard, and his most recent work has involved a sustained engagement with William Desmond’s metaphysics. His monograph “Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age: Desmond and the Quest for God” argues that, when read as a form of spiritual exercise (Pierre Hadot), Desmond’s philosophy can re-awaken a sense of the Transcendent.

You can check out our previous conversation here: Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age.

Join Our Upcoming Advent Class, The Cosmic Christ



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Ryan Burge is back and he has a bunch of charts to get us chatting! To stay up to date with Ryan’s regular release of graphs about religion, follow his substack here, IG here, and formerly twitter here.

Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. Author of numerous journal articles, he is the co-founder of and a frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a general audience. Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church.

Previous Visits from Ryan Burge



* Graphs about Religion & Politics w/ Spicy Banter

* a Year in Religion (in Graphs)

* Evangelical Jews, Educated Church-Goers, & other bits of dizzying data

* 5 Religion Graphs w/ a side of Hot Takes

* Myths about Religion & Politics





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My friend, Dr. Bethany Sollereder, is Lecturer in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh. She received her PhD in Theology from the University of Exeter and an MCS in interdisciplinary studies from Regent College, Vancouver. She specializes in theology concerning evolution and the problem of suffering. Her current work is about the theological possibilities and human vocation in the light of irreversible changes in ecological degradation.

She is also interested in the intersection between psychology and faith, particularly how different approaches to theology can affect people’s experience of suffering. This interest led to the publication of “Why is There Suffering? Pick your own theological adventure” (Zondervan 2021), the first pick-your-own-ending theology book. Dr Sollereder is working in a broader research program in what she has called “Compassionate Theodicy.”



Here’s two of Bethany’s Books to checkout



* God, Evolution, and Animal Suffering: Theodicy without a Fall 

* Why Is There Suffering?: Pick Your Own Theological Expedition



Check out Bethany’s previous visits to the podcast



* Celebration, Suffering, & the Future of Science + Religion

* Theology and the Ecological Crisis



Join the upcoming class Live Before You Die and read The Courage to Be with me, Elgin, and Dan.





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I am thrilled to have my friend Dr. Adam Clark back on the podcast. This conversation captures so many of his most potent observations about the task of thinking theologically in the key of liberation. Enjoy 🙂



 

Dr. Adam Clark is Associate Professor of Theology at Xavier University. He is committed to the idea that theological education in the twenty-first century must function as a counter-story. One that equips us to read against the grain of the dominant culture and inspires one to live into the

Ignatian dictum of going forth “to set the world on fire.” To this end, Dr. Clark is intentional about pedagogical practices that raise critical consciousness by going beneath surface meanings, unmasking conventional wisdoms and reimagining the good. He currently serves as co-chair of Black Theology Group at the American Academy of Religion, actively publishes in the area of black theology and black religion and participates in social justice groups at Xavier and in the Cincinnati area. He earned his PhD at Union Theological Seminary in New York where he was mentored by James Cone.

Previous Episodes w/ Adam:



* From Contemplation to Liberation

* The Living & Liberating Mystery

* Cancel Culture, Rogan, Whoopi, Chappelle, & the NFL

* Gary Dorrien & Adam Clark: James Cone and the Emergence of Black Theology

* Serene Jones & Adam Clark: Theology Matters and the Legacy of James Cone

* The Crisis of American Religion & Democracy: 1/6 a year later

* Christmas, BLM, Abortion, & the War on White Evangelicalism

* Jan 6th Theological Debrief: Adam Clark and Jeffrey Pugh

* Adam Clark: What is Black Theology?

* From Lebron James to the Black Panther: Black Theology QnA w/ Adam Clark

* Adam Clark: James Cone was right



Join the upcoming class Live Before You Die and read The Courage to Be with me, Elgin, and Dan.





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