The Theology Pugcast

Latest Episodes:

Post-Mortem for Christian Colleges? An Interview with Dr. Phil LaFountain Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

Another Christian college has closed its doors. This time, one of Chris's alma maters, Eastern Nazarene College, aka, ENC. ENC was a small Christian college on the south shore of Massachusetts, not far from Boston. The usual things were cited by the Trustees of the college as reasons for its demise--declining enrollment, financial challenges, etc. What the announcement didn't mention was the growth of liberalism, or in contemporary parlance, "wokeism" among the faculty and administration, and how that undermined the support of the school among its constituency. Today the Pugs are joined by Dr. Phil LaFountain, an old friend and classmate of Chris's. Phil was a professor of theology at ENC for 20 years, and at the end, one of the few conservatives still there. Listen in as the guys discuss what happened at ENC, and what might be happening at a Christian college you might be connected to.

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The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

Science and Beauty: A Conversation with Ken Boa Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

The Pugsters welcome back Dr. Ken Boa to talk about the importance of beauty for the Christian. Ken talks about seeing the beauty of the natural world and how we can use it as a force multiplier for our faith. This connects into a discussion of science and how it reveals the beauty in the world. The guys also talk with Ken about his upcoming events at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC, and his Museum of Created Beauty app, both of which are designed to help Christians see and appreciate the wonders of creation and through that to enhance our worship.

Learn more about Reflections Ministries and Ken Boa at https://reflections.org

Find the Museum of Created Beauty app in your App Store or online at https://museumofcreatedbeauty.org/

Learn more about the Encountering Beauty event: https://encounteringbeauty.com/

Tune in to the Encountering Beauty Livestream: https://youtube.com/live/cXHIL0D9Ffo?feature=share

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

C. S. Lewis, Writer and Philosopher: An Interview with Dr. Michael Ward Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

The Pugs are still in Oxford, and today they're at the Kilns (Lewis's home) with their friend, Dr. Michael Ward, author of Planet Narnia and After Humanity: A Guide to C. S. Lewis's Abolition of Man. The conversation naturally cover's Dr. Ward's books. Join us for a conversation over tea at the Kilns as the Pugs speak with him about Narnia and the post-human dystopia Lewis predicted would follow a loss of objective value.

Connect with Dr. Ward and find his books at michaelward.net

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

Bonus Q&A with Dr. Alister McGrath Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

Listen in for a short Q&A session at the Lamb and Flag pub in Oxford following the full episode ‘C. S. Lewis Apologist: An Interview with Dr. Alister McGrath.’

Order Christian Apologetics: An Introduction by Dr. McGrath: https://a.co/d/05lejP2B

Order C. S. Lewis -- A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Dr. McGrath: https://a.co/d/0g8DyDzG

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

C. S. Lewis Apologist: An Interview with Dr. Alister McGrath Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

The Pugs are still enjoying themselves at Oxford, and today they are joined by the venerable Alister McGrath at the Lamb and Flag, a pub known to have been frequented by C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the other Inklings. (The famed Eagle and Child pub is just across the street and hopefully soon to reopen follow a Covid shutdown and change in ownership.) The crew is also joined by a live audience of loyal Pugcast fans at the end of an entertaining pub crawl across the city! The conversation with Dr. McGrath is rich, ranging widely over both Lewis's work in apologetics and Dr. McGrath's.

Order Christian Apologetics: An Introduction by Dr. McGrath: https://a.co/d/05lejP2B

Order C. S. Lewis -- A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Dr. McGrath: https://a.co/d/0g8DyDzG

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

At the Bodleian Library Jun 17, 2024

Show notes

While in Oxford, the guys had the opportunity to visit the Duke Humfrey's Room at the Bodleian Library. This houses part of the library’s collection of rare books as well as some more recent sets. The conversation ranges over volumes in the collection that caught the attention of one or the other of the Pugsters, the architecture and decorations of the room, and the importance of the atmosphere and the sense of place in rooms like this for scholarly work. This is an episode you’ll want to see!

Learn more about Duke Humfrey’s Library: https://www.oxfordvisit.com/university-and-colleges/old-library-duke-humfreys/

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

Ben Merkle, Tom Price, and What They Learned about Learning at Oxford Jun 10, 2024

Show notes

Today begins the first of the shows recorded in Oxford! Tom and Chris are joined by Dr. Ben Merkle, President of New Saint Andrews College. Ben was visiting Oxford at the same time as the Pugs, and this afforded an opportunity to discuss with Tom and Chris what Ben learned at Oxford about post-secondary education and how those lessons are being applied at New Saint Andrews College half a world away.

Learn more about New Saint Andrews at https://nsa.edu/

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

A Look at the Sacraments Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

On today's show the Pugsters consider the definitions of sacraments vs. ordinances before taking a closer look at baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They spend some time on the less discussed images of baptism in the New Testament (the Flood and the Exodus) and the use of the Greek word baptizo in the Septuagint. They then talk about the Lord’s Supper, noting the use of the phrase “body of Christ” in 1 Corinthians and both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the Supper.

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

If We're Not Saved by Our Works Why Work at All? A Conversation with Steve Jeffery May 27, 2024

Show notes

Today the Pugs interview Dr. Steve Jeffery, one of the minds behind The Works Based Conference being held in the Dallas/Fort Worth area June 28-29. The guys not only discuss the nature of the conference, the conversation addresses a theology of work, and even how our works will have a more enduring character than we generally appreciate. Included in the discussion is nature of our vocations in this creation, and the one to come. Enjoy!

Learn more about the Works/Based Conference June 28/29 in Dallas/Fortworth: https://www.worksbased.com/

Buy Tickets: https://www.worksbased.com/tickets

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

Academic Herd-Minds and Twitter Mobs May 20, 2024

Show notes

Today the Pugs react to an article in New Oxford Review entitled, "How Cowardice, the Herd Mind & Twitter Mobs Threaten Academia by Jason M. Morgan and Mark Ramseyer. If you're still under the impression that higher education is a disinterested pursuit of truth, think again. It has been reduced to political advocacy and ressentiment. (Yes, that's spelled correctly--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ressentiment.) Morgan and Ramseyer had the temerity to correct conventional wisdom on something known as "the Comfort Women" of World War 2. There's no space here to treat this fully, but suffice it to say their scholarship was not received warmly by academic feminists. This resulted in a campaign to get them both cancelled. We're happy to report the cancelation failed. But the whole sorry episode has at least given the Pugs something to reflect upon.

Article Referenced: https://www.newoxfordreview.org/documents/how-cowardice-the-herd-mind-twitter-mobs-threaten-academia/

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

The Theology Pugcast is a ministry of Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville Alabama. To view more media from TRC, visit their website: https://trinityreformedkirk.com/trc-media/

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