Doth Protest

”Colonizer Jesus vs. Historical Jesus”: Why Memes Make for Poor Theology

"When you make blanket statements, you end up being smothered by that blanket." What an insightful quote from our very own: Rev. James Rickenbaker.Today, two Episcopal Priests and a Lutheran pastor break down the problems they find with a meme that seems to get shared virally every time Easter comes around. A meme (pictured in the episode artwork and in our show description) that makes, what we ultimately believe, are false dichotomies. Joining Rev's Andrew and James on this episode of Doth Protest is our friend Rev. Connor Longaphie from Transcendent Truth Media- a multi-media network of Confessional Lutheran pastors and theologians. Enjoy!Shownotes: The book review of Reza Aslan's book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth that Andrew referred to can be found here
The book The Theology of the Pain of God: The First Original Theology of Pain by Kazoh Kitamori that Rev. Connor referred to
The article from Clayton Croy referenced is "The Messianic Whippersnapper: Did Jesus Use a Whip on People in the Temple (John 2:15)?" from Journal of Biblical Literature 128 (3) p. 555-568
Rev. Andrew also made a reference to the book Was Jesus a Revolutionist? by Martin Hengel

77% of the Word of God: An Old Testament Discussion with Tremper Longman III

That's right! Four fifths (about) of the Bible is the Old Testament. Joining Andrew and James on the podcast for this episode is Tremper Longman. Dr. Longman has spent his life (since his conversion as a young man) studying the Old Testament and has become an authority on it. An author of many books and articles, including widely-used textbooks on Old Testament studies used in colleges and seminaries, Tremper offers us a way to appreciate the Old Testament as anticipating Christ and as a way to appreciate the Old Testament as it was written to its original audience. Why the latter? Well even before the God-took-flesh, the Scriptures, as the Old Testament on its own terms and in its original setting, fully sufficed to their audience. Tune in for a great discussion on the importance of the Old Testament, its theological relevance for Christians, and (dare we say) its historical reliability.
The books by Tremper referenced at length in this episode:Confronting Old Testament Controversies: Pressing Questions about Evolution, Sexuality, History and Violence (Baker Books, 2019)A Biblical History of Israel (along with Iain Provan & V. Philips Long. Westminster John Knox Press, 2015)
The upcoming book that Tremper is one of the contributors to, Five Views of Christ in the Old Testament: Genre, Authorial Intent, and the Nature of Scripture, that comes out in the Fall can be found here.

’Doth Protest’ Our Favorite Theologians #3

**SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT if you haven't read The Last Battle from the Narnia series. (But to be fair, it's been 60 years).
Rev's Andrew, Charlie, and James go further down the favorite theologians list in the third part of our theologians series. Andrew talks about Paul Althaus, Charlie talks about Johann Gerhard, and James talks about C.S. Lewis. You are in for (another) treat. 
Shownotes:Althaus
The work by Ryan Tafilowski that was referenced is "Exploring the Legacy of Paul Althaus" from Lutheran Quarterly.
The book Charlie referenced by Paul Althaus that he read in college (and which we highly recommend) is The Ethics of Martin Luther
The book that Andrew discussed on the correspondences between Althaus and Rudolf Bultmann can be found here.
Johann Gerhard:
English-translated works of Johann Gerhard can be found here.
The quote from Melanchthon that James referenced is from the book Wilhelm Pauck, ed. Melanchthon and Bucer
C.S. Lewis:
Where to start? He is an immensely popular author to this day and most of his writings are classics. We referenced Screwtape Letters, his Space Trilogy, Mere Christianity, the Narnia series, and more! (The quote on friendship that Andrew read was from The Four Loves. Location 806 in the e-book edition)

’Doth Protest’ Our Favorite Theologians #2

We really wanted to name the episode something like "A God Full of Sin". But you can listen to what one of these four profound theologians says on that. Friends Rev's. Charlie Lehmann and James Rickenbaker join this episode to discuss more of their favorite theologians. Charlie talks about James Voelz and Norman Nagel (both of whom he also had as teachers!). James talks about Michael Horton. Andrew talks about Athanasius. We had an absolutely amazing talk. You are in for a treat.
Shownotes:
The textbook that Charlie mentions from James Voelz is What Does This Mean?James's recommended these books by Michael Horton:Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American ChurchPutting Amazing Back into Grace: Embracing the Heart of the GospelThe Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World
The book by John Behr which mentions God's three-fold purpose for taking on the flesh (according to Athanasius) is The Nicene Faith (Formation of Christian Theology)
The Mockingbird article that Andrew referred to.
A web version of Athanasius's discourses against the Arians.

The Locus of Encounter with God: A Discussion with Eugene Schlesinger

Another Schleiermacher episode? Yes, well sort of. This time with Dr. Eugene (Gene) Schlesinger. Gene is a scholar of ecclesiology (the
understanding of the church) and someone Rev. Andrew knows from his time in the Episcopal Church. Gene came on the podcast to discuss his interests in ecclesiology which led him to be one of the only scholars to ever write work solely devoted to the ecclesiology of Schleiermacher. However, Schlesinger has a broad range of interests and also discusses his work on Henri de Lubac and the parallels he sees between Schleiermacher and de Lubac (maybe we need to forfeit our Protestant card now because of this episode!).
Gene received his Ph.D. from Marquette University and currently lectures at Santa Clara University. He has taught courses at Marquette, Trinity School for Ministry, and Nashotah House Theological Seminary. He is the author of the book Sacrificing the Church: Mass, Mission, and Ecumenism: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XD6H6TD/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
He also has an upcoming book on Henri de Lubac (title to be announced!) Gene's article on Schleiermacher's ecclesiology is "Schleiermacher on the Necessity of the Church" published in Journal of Theological Study (Vol. 66, Pt. 1)
The works from Henri de Lubac that Andrew referred to are Supernaturel and Medieval Exegesis, Vol. 2: The Four Senses of Scripture.

’Doth Protest’ Our Favorite Theologians #1

Rev. James Rickenbaker joins Rev. Andrew for the first time today on Doth Protest. This is the first of a multi-part series of episodes we will have between James, Andrew, and Charles (who will join on the next part) going through our favorite theologians. By the end of the series, each will have gone through five. Not only are they near and dear to our hearts, but we recommend them to you as we believe their life stories, insights, and contributions served God and his church in ways that can still inform and guide us today. On this episode, James and Andrew each talk about Martin Luther. James then talks about Bishop Bo Giertz (pictured in the episode artwork), and Andrew talks about St. Augustine of Hippo.  
Shownotes: Luther
*Luther’s early Psalms commentary that James refers to is from volumes 10 & 11 of Luther's Works (Fortress Press; Concordia) 
*Correction: Ernst Bizer's position on Luther's 'Reformation turning point' was after the theses 
*The biographies of Luther that James recommended are James Kittelson's Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and his Career and Roland Bainton's Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. 
*The primary writings that James recommended from Luther are The Bondage of the Will translated by J.R. Packer & O.R. Johnston and the compendium Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings edited by Timothy F. Lull & William R. Russell 
*The "bonus book" that James recommended for Episcopalians on the Reformation was Reformation Essays of Robert Barnes
*Andrew recommended A Fortress Introduction to the Lutheran Confession by Gunther Gassman and Scott Hendrix, Martin Luther's Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation by Oswald Bayer, and Luther in Mid-Career by Heinrich Bornkamm (there is a link to read this Bornkamm book in the episode details for the Doth Protest episode "The Fall Theological Reading List") 
Giertz 
*The books by Bo Giertz James and Andrew referred to are:
The Hammer of God
Christ's Church: Her Biblical Roots, Her Dramatic History, Her Saving Presence, Her Glorious Future (the quote was from p. 105)
*James recommended going to www.1517.org to check out some of recent English translations of Giertz' work by Bror Erickson. 
The books about Augustine that Andrew referenced were: 
RW Dyson's Augustine of Hippo: The Christian Transformation of Political Philosophy Henry Chadwick's Augustine of Hippo: A Life
*The translations of Augustine's The Confessions that James referred to are the Henry Chadwick translation and the Maria Boulding translation.

The Already and the Not Yet: A Discussion with Dr. Thomas Power on Apocalyptic Thought in 19th Century Irish Anglicanism

Dr. Thomas Power joins the podcast to discuss his longtime interests and work in apocalyptic thought in church history- especially in regard to the Church of Ireland in the 19th century. Tune in to learn about how multiple societal and political factors led to an apocalyptic fervor and revival of millennialist thought in the church- in ways that we still see today.
Dr. Power is Professor Emeritus of Church History at Wycliffe College. He received his Ph.D. from Trinity College in Dublin. His areas of expertise include Christian history in Britain and Ireland particularly in the history of millennialism. He has authored and edited several books and publications including the forthcoming 1825: Apocalypse in Ireland (working title) and the 2019 book Trauma and Survival In The Contemporary Church: Historical Responses in The Anglican Tradition that he contributed to and edited which we discuss content from in this episode.
Check more of Dr. Power's publications out on this link: https://www.wycliffecollege.ca/users/thomas-power
This is a link to the commentary Revelation and the End of All Things by Craig Koester that Dr. Power mentioned and enjoyed:
https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/7578/revelation-and-the-end-of-all-things-2nd-ed.aspx

God- More Than Necessary: A Tribute to Eberhard Jüngel

(Your host enjoys using the umlaut function for this episode!) Who is Eberhard Jüngel? Dr. Dave Nelson joins the podcast to discuss a significant and interesting 20th-century German theologian who is sometimes overlooked in the 'Anglosphere'. Tune in to this episode learn more about Jüngel, his commentary on secularization, his relationship to the theologies of Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann, and the 'New Hermeneutic' (or New Quest for the Historical Jesus), as well as Jüngel's ecumenical work and revolt against (and later endorsement of!) JDDJ (the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation). This was fascinating stuff! 
Dr. David Nelson received his Ph.D. from Aberdeen University where he studied under John Webster. Dr. Nelson is the Senior Acquisitions Editor for Baker Academic and Brazos Press, and editor for Lutheran Forum, USA. As of 2022, Dr. Nelson is the Director of Baylor University Press. He has authored, edited, and contributed to several books including Jüngel: A Guide to the Perplexed and The Interruptive Word: Eberhard Jüngel on the Sacramental Structure of God's Relation to the World. Dr. Nelson also taught courses at the Institute of Lutheran Theology, where your host Rev. Andrew studies at. 

”Those Dry-Scholastics” (with Jack Kilcrease)

This is a replay of our very first episode. Join Rev. Andrew and Dr. Jack Kilcrease for a discussion on Thomas Aquinas' influence on Protestantism, in particular the era of theology known as "Protestant scholasticism" or "Protestant orthodoxy". Dr. Kilcrease clarifies some misconceptions about Protestant scholasticism and also offers a way that we can appreciate the theologians of that era.
Dr. Kilcrease is a Lutheran lay theologian and currently a member of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations. He earned his PhD in Systematic Theology and Ethics from Marquette University in 2009. He is the author of several books and many articles. He is an Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Institute of Lutheran Theology- an independent seminary and graduate school where yours truly studies at. If you are interested in reading further work from Dr. Kilcrease, I encourage you to check out his website www.jackkilcrease.com where you can find links to past articles, radio shows and podcasts he has appeared on there as well as read from his blog.

”Blood with the Pope” or ”Wine with the Enthusiasts”? The Luther vs. Zwingli Debate

Dr. Jack Kilcrease joins us again on Doth Protest Too Much! What a fascinating conversation we had on the theological (and Christological) differences between Reformers Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, especially in regard to the Holy Eucharist. Jack also weighs in on what he liked about the Netflix series Midnight Mass.Dr. Kilcrease is a Lutheran lay theologian and currently a member of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations. He earned his PhD in Systematic Theology and Ethics from Marquette University in 2009. He is the author of several books and many articles. He is an Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Institute of Lutheran Theology- an independent seminary and graduate school where yours truly studies at. If you are interested in reading further work from Dr. Kilcrease, I encourage you to check out his website www.jackkilcrease.com  You can find links to past articles, radio shows and podcasts he has appeared on there as well as read from his blog.*The interview on 'Spirit Christology' that was referred to in this episode with Dr. Leopoldo Sánchez can be listened to here: https://onscript.study/podcast/leopoldo-sanchez-sculptor-spirit/*Also: John Mason Neale is the Oxford Movement hymn writer that Rev. Andrew could not think of in the moment who was drawn toward Eastern Orthodoxy