Doth Protest

A Discussion with the Rev. Dr. Robert Prichard on the 19th Century Episcopal Church

What an honor it was to have the esteemed historian of the Episcopal Church Robert Prichard join Drew and James for the podcast today.
Dr. Prichard is a Professor Emeritus of Virginia Theological Seminary (a seminary in the Episcopal Church) where served as the Arthur Lee Kinsolving Professor of Christianity in America and Instructor in Liturgy, and was on full-time faculty from 1983 to 2019. He is an authority on Episcopal Church history and has written numerous books, publications, and articles, including the widely-read A History of the Episcopal ChurchDr. Prichard is joining us today to touch on a few different interesting aspects of Episcopal history, about controversy and consensus within the church during the 19th century, as well as some American Prayer Book history, and recent General Conventions.
God Bless!
This is a link to read a work we reference throughout the podcast, his book The Nature of Salvation: Theological Consensus in the Episcopal Church (1801-1873)

Freedom Entailing Necessity? An Interview with Daniel Pedersen on Divine Simplicity

Dr. Daniel Pedersen is back on the podcast to discuss his recent work on divine simplicity, divine freedom, and the "modal collapse" argument. He recently co-authored an article on this subject with Christopher Lilley out of Marquette University titled "Divine Simplicity, God's Freedom, and the Supposed Problem of Modal Collapse" for the Journal of Reformed Theology.
This is an open-access link to read it: https://brill.com/view/journals/jrt/16/1-2/article-p127_8.xml?ebody=abstract%2Fexcerpt
Daniel Pedersen is a research fellow at University of Aberdeen's department of Divinity. He holds a PhD from Princeton Seminary. Pedersen discusses content from this article on this episode as well as the work of the Aberdeen Centre for Protestant Theology which he is affiliated with. He also discusses some upcoming work on the relation of theology and the natural sciences.
The Aberdeen Centre for Protestant Theology's website can be accessed here.
Here are links to past work from both Daniel Pedersen and Christopher Lilley respectively.
Daniel makes reference to the book Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God by John Calvin

Our Favorite Theologians #4

Charlie was a bit "hipster" with the last theologian here, who is obscure for most people (unless you went to Concordia-Seward), but all four of the theologians discussed for this fourth and final installment of our Theologians Series have interesting stories, strong personalities, and thoughtful theologies. James discussed Gerhard Forde, Andrew discussed Karl Barth, and Charlie discussed Kurt Marquart and David P. Meyer. 
Shownotes:
-The book from Marquart mentioned by Charlie is Anatomy of an explosion: A theological analysis of the Missouri Synod conflict
A digitized copy of it can be read at archive.org
-Many of Marquart's articles and talks can be accessed here.
The books from Gerhard Forde discussed were: 
On Being a Theologian of the CrossThe Captivation of the Will: Luther vs. Erasmus on Freedom and BondageWhere God Meets Man: Luther's Down-to-Earth-Approach to the Gospel
The article that Charlie mentioned is “Law and Gospel as the Methodological Principle of Theology,” A Discussion of Contemporary Issues in Theology by Members of the Religion Department at Luther College. (Decorah, Iowa; Luther College Press, 1964)
Works by or about Barth mentioned:The Epistle to the RomansGeorge Hunsinger's book How to Read Karl BarthR.R. Reno's article on Barth that Andrew referred to.The episode "Barth Ain't So Bad" that Paul Hinlicky and Sarah Hinlicky Wilson did for their podcast Queen of the Sciences

The Hebrew Verity: A Discussion on the Apocrypha with Dr. Ariel Hessayon

Dr. Ariel Hessayon joins Andrew, Charlie, and James today to talk about the books that are often considered 'Apocrypha' in the Protestant tradition. We discuss: 
-The difference between the Septuagint and the Hebrew Bible
-The speculation on the closing of the Jewish canon by the time of Jesus
-The early church father Jerome's approach to canonicity
-The very different ways the term 'Apocryphal' has been used or applied
-The Reformers' and Council of Trent's approaches toward these books
-We also touch on a few of Dr. Hessayon's other interests in the beginning (including "monstrous births" and crypto-Judaism).
Dr. Hessayon is a scholar of early modern history. He has taught courses on European philosophy, the occult, heresy, apocalypticism, and the English Revolution. He is a Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. He holds a PhD from Selwyn College, Cambridge University. He has a blog at: arielhessayon.substack.com
The books that Dr. Hessayon mentioned at the end of the episode (as some of his favorite and most influential books on him) are:
*Keith Thomas Religion in the Time of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England
*Gerschom Scholem's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism
*Carlo Ginzberg's The Cheese and the Worms
Dr. Hessayon's article that we made reference to is "The Apocrypha in Early Modern England" from the book Kevin Killeen; Helen Smith and Rachel Willie, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Early Modern England, c. 1530–1700. Oxford: Oxford UP, pp. 131-148. ISBN 9780199686971 The article can be read here.

”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.

’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