Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith & Culture - Talbot School of Theology at Biola University / Sean McDowell & Scott Rae

Latest Episodes:

Moral Choices (with Scott Rae) Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Sean interviews Scott about the latest update to his classic book Moral Choices. Scott reflects on how ethical issues have changed over the past few decades, some areas where he has refined his thinking, and offers some insights on pressing moral issues today such as climate change and euthanasia.
Scott B. Rae (PhD, University of Southern California) is professor of Christian ethics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, California.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/moral-choices

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Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith and Culture is a podcast from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, which offers degrees both online and on campus in Southern California.
Find all episodes of Think Biblically at: https://www.biola.edu/think-biblically.
To submit comments, ask questions, or make suggestions on issues you'd like us to cover or guests you'd like us to have on the podcast, email us at thinkbiblically@biola.edu.

Insider, Outsider (with Bryan Loritts) Feb 28, 2019

Show notes

As a pastor today of a multi-ethnic church, Bryan Loritts has a unique heart to help the church lead in the area of racial healing and reconciliation. Speaking from Scripture and his personal experience, Pastor Loritts shares some powerful stories and biblical insights to help different racial groups better understand, communicate, and ultimately love each other as the body of Christ.
Bryan Loritts is the lead pastor of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Silicon Valley. He also serves as the President of the Kainos Movement, an organization committed to seeing the multi-ethnic church become the new normal in our world. In addition to these positions, Bryan serves on the board of trustees for Biola University, and is the husband of Korie Loritts, and father of Quentin, Myles and Jaden.

His latest book, Insider Outsider: My Journey as a Stranger in White Evangelicalism and My Hope for Us All, is available now.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/insider-outsider

The Bullying Breakthrough (with Jonathan McKee) Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

Why has bullying become such a pressing phenomenon today? How can we think about the issue and approach it biblically? Sean interviews youth culture expert Jonathan McKee about his new book The Bullying Breakthrough. Together, they reflect theologically on the bullying phenomenon (and especially cyberbullying), discuss what it reveals about our culture, and offer some practical ways caring adults can respond.
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices. With over 20 years youth ministry experience, Jonathan speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers and parents on his websites, TheSource4YM.com and TheSource4Parents.com. Jonathan, his wife, Lori, and their three kids live in California.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/the-bullying-breakthrough

Just Capitalism, Part 2 (with Brent Waters) Feb 14, 2019

Show notes

If you’re one of those people that think of economics as the "dismal science," or that economics has nothing to do with a person's day to day Christian life, you’re about to have those views challenged.

Listen to the second of this two part fascinating conversation on the intersection of Christian faith and economics, as Scott interviews theologian, Dr. Brent Waters.
Dr. Brent Waters is the Jerre and Mary Jo Stead Professor of Christian Ethics at Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and Director of the Stead Center for Ethics and Values, also at Garrett. He is the author of several books on the connection between Christian faith and bioethics/technology, as well as his most recent book, Just Capitalism: A Christian Ethic of Economic Globalization.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/just-capitalism-part-2

Just Capitalism, Part 1 (with Brent Waters) Feb 07, 2019

Show notes

Listen to the first of this two part fascinating conversation on the intersection of Christian faith and economics, as Scott interviews theologian, Dr. Brent Waters.
Dr. Brent Waters is the Jerre and Mary Jo Stead Professor of Christian Ethics at Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and Director of the Stead Center for Ethics and Values, also at Garrett. He is the author of several books on the connection between Christian faith and bioethics/technology, as well as his most recent book, Just Capitalism: A Christian Ethic of Economic Globalization.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/just-capitalism-part-1

Total Truth (with Nancy Pearcey) Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

Does truth matter anymore? How do we communicate truth in a “post-truth” world? Sean interviews Nancy Pearcey about her book Total Truth. She addresses these questions and makes the case that the church must embrace the faith as a totalizing belief system that shapes how we approach every aspect of life.
Heralded as “America’s preeminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual” (The Economist), Nancy Pearcey is author of Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity. Pearcey has been a visiting scholar at Biola University’s Torrey Honors College. She has addressed staffers on Capitol Hill and at the White House; actors and screenwriters in Hollywood; scientists at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories; artists at the International Arts Movement; students and faculty at universities such as Princeton, Stanford, Dartmouth, USC, UGA, and St. John’s College, and is a regular contributor to major national newspapers and media outlets.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/total-truth

From Islam to Christianity (with Florenc Mene) Jan 24, 2019

Show notes

Hear the remarkable testimony of Florenc (Lenci) Mene, who grew up in Communist Albania, and converted to Islam as a teenager, dropped out of school to attend a Muslim madrassa full time, and eventually converted to Christianity, making the decision to follow Jesus. Lenci is now a Ph.D. student at the University of Edinburgh in textual criticism. His goal is to be able to answer Muslim objections to Christian faith—particularly that the text of the bible has been hopelessly corrupted over the centuries of copying the bible.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/from-islam-to-christianity

Hope for a Racially Divided Culture (with Miles McPherson) Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

Issues of race and racial reconciliation are ongoing in many communities. Sean and Scott interview pastor Miles McPherson (The Rock Church in San Diego, California), about his book, The Third Option: Hope for a Racially Divided Nation. Miles refers to himself as a perpetual outsider, as a mixed race individual (Black, white and Chinese ancestry) who identifies as black. Join us as he shares his experience and his solutions to the problems of racial reconciliation.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/hope-for-a-racially-divided-culture

Surviving Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (with Lisa Michelle) Jan 10, 2019

Show notes

Telling a remarkable story of healing and redemption, Sean and Scott talk with Lisa Michelle, who survived two decades of exploitation, and who now ministers to girls in the sex industry. She tells the story of her healing, her reconciliation with her abusers and her ministry to girls caught in human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/surviving-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation

Science and Faith in a Secular Society (with J.P. Moreland) Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

Christian faith and science are often viewed as being in conflict in Western culture today. It’s important to understand that science is practiced within a worldview—a specific way of viewing the world, especially what counts for knowledge. Increasingly, people believe that the only things that count for real knowledge are those that can be scientifically verified. Scott and Sean interview Talbot philosopher JP Moreland about his new book, Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology. Dr. Moreland will connect faith and science in a way consistent with a Christian worldview.
Dr. J.P. Moreland is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot. He is the author of more than 30 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters. He speaks widely on apologetics, philosophy and the spiritual life.
Read a transcript of this episode at: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2018/science-and-faith-in-a-secular-society