37 episodes

Join Jessica Hooten Wilson (author of The Scandal of Holiness) and her co-hosts Claude Atcho (author of Reading Black Books) and Austin Carty (author of The Pastor's Bookshelf) for inspiring conversations about why Christians should be reading great literature. In each episode, Jessica will also be dialoguing with writers about books they love and why these books matter for the life of the believer.

The Scandal of Reading Christ & Pop Culture

    • Arts
    • 4.8 • 16 Ratings

Join Jessica Hooten Wilson (author of The Scandal of Holiness) and her co-hosts Claude Atcho (author of Reading Black Books) and Austin Carty (author of The Pastor's Bookshelf) for inspiring conversations about why Christians should be reading great literature. In each episode, Jessica will also be dialoguing with writers about books they love and why these books matter for the life of the believer.

    Episode 37 | Tiffany Kriner on Louise Erdrich's LaRose

    Episode 37 | Tiffany Kriner on Louise Erdrich's LaRose

    Tiffany Kriner joins Claude Atcho in continuing the exploration of the fruits of the Spirit. This week's selection of LaRose by Louise Erdrich focuses on Peace. The novel opens with a horrific accident that sends two closely related families and an entire community into a deep spiral of trauma. Progressing through the novel, the reader is confronted with a question: Can a community, a family, recover from deep-seated trauma?
    LaRose by Louise Erdrich
    Information on Claude Atcho:
    Claude is the Vicar (Planting Pastor) for the Charlottesville church plant of the Diocese of Christ Our Hope, ACNA. 
    Previously, Claude lived in Memphis, TN where he served as pastor of a multi-ethnic church, Fellowship Memphis. He's the author of Reading Black Books: How African-American Literature Can Make Our Faith More Whole and Just, forthcoming from Brazos Press in Summer 2022.
    Information on Tiffany Eberle Kriner, Ph.D.
    I believe that texts have a place and a future in the Kingdom of God. In my scholarly book The Future of the Word: An Eschatology of Literature, I look at the intricate ways God makes meaningful futures for literary texts toward the community of the new creation in the Kingdom of God—and how God welcomes us to take part in the building of the texts and the community. I participate in the Kingdom of God through my work at Wheaton: building texts and communities. I particularly focus on intersections of theology, place, and race within literature.
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    • 51 min
    Episode 36 | Winn Collier on Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow

    Episode 36 | Winn Collier on Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow

    Winn Collier joins Austin to discuss the work of American novelist and poet Wendell Berry. Within the fictional town of Port William, the pair discuss the power of incarnation and the sense of time and place. The idea of geographical theology is brought to life as the location of Port William is juxtaposed against the inherent danger of the fragmented and abstracted growing digital culture.
    Port William Series by William Berry
    Jayber Crow: The Life Story of Jayber Crow, Barber, of the Port William Membership, as Written by Himself by William Berry

    Information on the Host: 
    Austin Carty holds degrees in literature and divinity from High Point University (B.A.) and Wake Forest University (M.Div.), and a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) from Emory University. He is the author of Christianity Today's Book Award of Merit for Church and Pastoral Leadership, The Pastor's Bookshelf
    Information on Winn Collier
    Winn has been a pastor for twenty-seven years and the founding pastor of All Souls Charlottesville. He is an Episcopal priest and serves at Western Theological Seminary as Director of The Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination & Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Christian Imagination. He is also the director of the Genesis Project. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia where his work centered on the intersection of literary fiction and religion, particularly the sacramental landscape of Wendell Berry's fictional town of Port William.
    Learn more about Winn Collier
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    • 50 min
    Episode 35 | Lit Pulpit - The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

    Episode 35 | Lit Pulpit - The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

    In the final episode for this season's spin-off series, Lit Pulpit, hosts Claude Atcho and Austin Carty discuss Walker Percy's award-winning novel, The Moviegoer. Written in 1961, Percy's book is from the beginning of our modern age, when it was hard to create imaginative work that spoke the truth of the gospel and when the language around Christianity had been tarnished by its embodiment at the time.
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    • 31 min
    Episode 34 | Daniel Nayeri on Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

    Episode 34 | Daniel Nayeri on Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

    Guest Daniel Nayeri joins Jessica to talk about their shared love for Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. In the discussion, a theory is posited that as we move towards a more and more visual culture (i.e., graphic novels, prestige television, and YouTube), Calvin & Hobbes marks the ascendancy of that visual medium and the decline of the traditional novel.
    The Theology of Calvin and Hobbes by Richard Beck
    The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson
    Information on the Host: 
    Jessica Hooten Wilson is a Senior Fellow at Trinity Forum, the inaugural Visiting Scholar of Liberal Arts at Pepperdine University, and the author of several books, including The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints, Learning the Good Life: From the Great Hearts and Minds that Came Before, and Giving the Devil his Due: Flannery O’Connor and The Brothers Karamazov. 
    Learn more about Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson.
    Information on Daniel Nayeri
    Daniel was born in Iran and spent some years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. He is the author of several books for young readers, including Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story), winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, the Christopher Medal, and the Middle Eastern Book Award. He lives in the US with his wife and son.
    Learn more about Daniel Nayeri
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    • 1 hr 14 min
    Episode 33 | S.D. Smith on Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

    Episode 33 | S.D. Smith on Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

    Alan Paton's novel is widely regarded as a source of hope and endurance amid pain and significant suffering. As The Scandal of Reading continues season 3's theme about the Fruits of the Spirit, Claude Atcho interviews author S.D. Smith, who arrived in South Africa when Mandela was released from prison and left when he became president. S.D. Smith shares his perspective on Paton's work having firsthand experience of life in South Africa and how the book influenced his formation.
    Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
    Information on Claude Atcho: Claude is the Vicar (Planting Pastor) for the Charlottesville church plant of the Diocese of Christ Our Hope, ACNA. 
    Previously, Claude lived in Memphis, TN where he served as pastor of a multi-ethnic church, Fellowship Memphis. He's the author of Reading Black Books: How African-American Literature Can Make Our Faith More Whole and Just, forthcoming from Brazos Press in Summer 2022.
    Information on S.D. Smith:
    S. D. Smith is the author of The Green Ember Series, a million-selling adventure saga featuring heroic #RabbitsWithSwords. The Green Ember spent time as the number one bestselling audiobook in the world on Audible. He is also the author of the madcap Mooses with Bazookas: And Other Stories Children Should Never Read as well as a fantasy adventure novel co-authored with his son, Jack Zulu and the Waylander’s Key. Smith’s stories are captivating readers across the globe who are hungry for “new stories with an old soul.”
    Smith is a founder and owner of Story Warren, a publishing, events, and IP development house based in rural West Virginia. Story Warren exists to serve families as “allies in imagination.” 
    S. D. Smith lives in Grandview, West Virginia with his wife and four kids.
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    • 49 min
    Episode 32 | Lit Pulpit 2 - "The Movie Goer" & The Search

    Episode 32 | Lit Pulpit 2 - "The Movie Goer" & The Search

    The search — what is it and why does it matter? Claude and Austin tackle this important theme from Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer
    Whether you are reading along with us or simply want to know more about this important novel, join us as journey through this novel. Be sure to check out our Lit Pulpit Facebook group where you can ask questions and share thoughts on the novel:
    The Lit Pulpit Facebook Group
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    • 30 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
16 Ratings

16 Ratings

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