On this special bonus episode, I'm joined by two other members of the theology faculty to update our listeners on the Calvin's Institutes project, in which about 60 faculty and staff are spending the academic year reading through The Institutes of Christian Religion. At the midpoint of the journey, we took some time to reflect on our experiences thus far and to encourage readers to keep going. Among the topics we discussed:

• What has stood out to us and our groups as we've read Calvin together
• The most under-appreciated aspects of Calvin's theology
• Why Calvin is known primarily for the doctrine of predestination even though it hasn't shown up yet in the reading
• Favorite passages thus far
• How Calvin's ideas show up concretely in Reformed churches and institutions
• Encouragement for those who are finding the reading difficult to keep going

Additional resources:

Our original podcast discussion before starting the Institutes

Our reading schedule: https://shorturl.at/Yow8x

Calvin's Institutes (2 volume Battles edition)

Calvin's Institutes (1 volume Beveridge edition)

Calvin's Institutes online edition (CCEL/Beveridge)

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Dr. Norman Wirzba about his new book, Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis. It’s a conversation about the nature of hope, especially in the midst of darkness, where no hope can seem to be found, and how learning to love moves us forward. Among the topics we discuss:

• Why asking "what gives you hope?" may not be the best question and why "what do you love" is a better one
• Why it is so important that hope reckons with evil in its most disheartening forms
• Where joy might be found in the midst of the brokenness of the world
• How we can fight the impulse of paralysis or exhaustion
• The importance of recognizing our interdependence within creation
• What it means to say that love is "improvisational" and a "dance"

Get the book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300272659/loves-braided-dance/

On this episode of the podcast, I interview journalist and author Collin Hansen about his new book titled Tim Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. The conversation explores a prominent model of evangelism and cultural engagement by a Reformed pastor in contemporary times. Among the topics we discuss:

• The process of writing a different sort of biography of Tim Keller, focused on the people who influenced him
• Notable influences on Keller's ministry, with familiar and unfamiliar names (Kathy Keller, Jonathan Edwards, C.S. Lewis, R.C. Sproul, Elizabeth Elliot, Ed Clowney, Jack Miller, Barbara Boyd)
• What to make of the (recent) online backlash against Keller
• An updated assessment of the "young, restless, and reformed" movement from the person who helped coin the term
• The relationship of "Reformed" and "evangelical" and how they could be a source of renewal for each other
• How the work of journalism might be redeemed as a way of telling stories about the way that God is at work in the world.

Get the book: https://www.zondervan.com/9780310128700/timothy-keller/