Listening

Listening and Reading highlight some of the resources I accessed during 2022–2024. These pages also have a few links from 2025.

The lists are usually in order accessed from most recent. The references in Learning to Love Wisdom, Redefining, Living in Love and Freedom and Trinity – Worship and Wonder contain the most detailed reference lists in my books.

Listening 2025

The All the Buried Woman podcast series uncovers stories of women that are hidden in the United States Southern Baptist Convention’s archives.

Richard Hays’ death turned by attention to his Retirement Lecture on ‘A Dark Fruition: Waiting in Hope’. I have printed a selection of what he said in my Trinity – Worship and Wonder book and also here.

Kingdom Roots with Scot McKnight and Cody Matchett

The Kingdom Roots Podcast with Scot McKnight and Cody Matchett facilitates conversations about how the Kingdom took root ‘then’ and how it takes root ‘now.’ Podcasts include

Mutuality Matters

The Mutuality Matters podcast is part of Christians for Biblical Equality International’s online library of free resources. Hosts offer weekly conversations with leaders, pastors, authors, scholars, activists, and humanitarians on women, men, shared leadership, and Scripture. Podcasts include

Ask N. T. Wright Anything with Michael Bird

On the Ask N. T. Wright Anything podcast, N. T. Wright provides pastoral, historical, biblical and theological responses to listeners’ questions. Hosted by Michael Bird. See your podcast provider for episode details.

Exegetically Speaking

The Exegetically Speaking podcast is hosted by Dr. David Capes and features language experts who discuss the importance of learning the biblical languages. See your podcast provider for episode details.

Broken to Beloved with Brian Lee

Broken to Beloved is a space for the broken and hurting. This is a place to discover a path toward healing and wholeness.

The Bible and Mainly Faith for Normal People with Pete Enns and Jared Byas

The Bible for Normal People podcasts usually discuss aspects of interpreting First Bible / Hebrew-Jewish Bible / Old Testament books from within their understandings of the authors’ social, political and religious experiences and environments. Selected podcasts include

Engaging Scripture: Conversations in Biblical Studies with Nijay Gupta

Nijay Gupta engages with the latest biblical scholars and scholarship in the Engaging Scripture: Conversations in Biblical Studies podcasts.

Richard Hays’ Retirement Lecture

We also believed that we were smarter than everybody else, that we were destined for success and that we should be in the position of prescribing social order and passing enlightened judgement on everyone else’s ideas and practices. I’m afraid that same prideful attitude carried over suddenly into my later studies in theology. It’s a bitter paradox that those of us in the academic world can use our knowledge of scripture and theology to gain leverage over others, to compete and climb the ladder, to advance to professorships and named chairs while subtly aggrandizing ourselves and without necessarily meaning to exactly, putting others down. I fear that the same thing happens within the politics of the church.

In the time unexpectedly given to me now for reflection over these past three years, I’ve more than once recalled T. S. Elliot’s words about the pain of looking backwards at one’s life. He writes of, quote, the rending pain of reenactment of all that you have done and been, the shame of motives late revealed and the awareness of things ill done and done to other’s harm which once you took for exercise of virtue. That last line is so extraordinary. Things done to other’s harm which once you took for exercise of virtue.

Now none of that should come as a surprise to those who have really thought about Jesus’ stern words of warning for the Scribes and the Pharisees, who sit in named chairs, he calls it the seat of Moses, and love the places of honour at banquets, and love to be greeted with respect by people who call them professor. Nor should any of this come as a surprise for those of us instructed by the apostle, Paul, who looked back at his own advantages of birth and academic achievement and critical superiority and pronounce this retrospective judgement on it: these I’ve come to regard as loss because of Christ. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the koinonia of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Listening 2022–2024

Kingdom Roots with Scot McKnight, Cody Matchett and others

Scot McKnight aims to inform listeners and readers about toxicity and tov (goodness) in Christian contexts. McKnight has an inclusive approach to women in ministry and a concern for encouraging healthy Christian communities.

Podcasts with Cody Matchett

Earlier podcasts:

  • Tell Her Story with Nijay Gupta – Nijay Gupta’s book, Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church uncovers the stories of women who were active in leadership in the life of the early church. As we begin to learn more about what women actually did in first-century Roman culture, we are able to shine a light on the contributions of women to the first Christian churches. In this conversation, we talk about several women mentioned by Paul who actively participated in the life and leadership of the early church.
  • Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple – KR 211 – In Scot McKnight’s latest book, … Scot along with Cody Matchett explore the timeless message of Revelation and how it speaks to us today with a courageous challenge to be faithful witnesses to Jesus while standing against the ever-present reality of worldly authorities.
  • Stained Glass Ceilings: How Evangelicals Do Gender and Practice Power with Lisa Weaver-Swartz – KR 208 –Weaver-Swartz speaks to the intersection of gender and power within American evangelicalism by examining the formation of evangelical leaders in two seminary communities. Lisa is a sociologist, and her research agenda expands her attention to the intersection of religion, gender, and culture to a global frame.
  • Voices Long Silenced: Women Biblical Interpreters through the Centuries – KR 207 – Hundreds of women studied and interpreted the Bible between the years 100–2000 CE, but their stories have remained largely untold. Marion Ann Taylor and Joy A. Schroeder have done a great deal of research to amplify these women’s voices in “Voices Long Silenced.”
  • An Introduction to Evangelicalism with John Stackhouse – KR 205 – Evangelicalism [is] an umbrella term that encompasses many Protestant denominations that share core tenets of Christianity.
  • Tov for Women 2021 – KR 204 – Tov is a beautiful and mysterious Hebrew word that means ‘good’. Tov is about creating abundant spaces designed to help people live fully into their gifts. Based on Dr. Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer’s book, A Church Called Tov. In this inaugural Tov for Women message, we engage in meaningful dialogue on how to build organizational structures and cultures where everyone thrives.
  • Celebrities for Jesus with Katelyn Beaty – KR 202 – Award-winning journalist Katelyn Beaty has explored the ways fame has reshaped the American church, explains how and why celebrity is woven into the fabric of the evangelical movement and identifies many ways fame has gone awry in recent years. Katelyn talks with Scot about how the evangelical culture is uniquely attracted to celebrity gurus over and against institutions, and she offers a renewed vision of ordinary faithfulness, helping us all keep fame in its proper place.
  • Unhealthy Church Culture | Signs of Toxicity in Your Church – KR 201 – Cultures form the people that exist within them. When a culture is toxic, the outgrowth that comes from that toxicity will be harmful. Scot and Laura talk through a list from Katelyn Beaty on some of the signs that indicate toxic patterns taking root.
  • Toxic Power | Signs of Toxicity in Your Church – KR 200 – Power is present all over! The negative use of power is a rampent problem that is a clear sign of toxicity in a church. Scot & Laura … explore the difference between a healthy use of power and a toxic use of power. Jesus used power but the way Jesus uses power is all about sharing power with others.
  • Identifying Toxicity in Your Church – KR 199 – Secrecy, hierarchy, and loyalty can easily mix together to create toxicity in a church. Scot & Laura go through these signs and other indicators that a toxic culture is present. Toxic cultures inevitably harm the people in the organization. Get guidance from this conversation on what signs to be looking for and what questions to ask if you think toxicity might be present.
  • Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Waged Peace Throughout Holy Week with Jason Porterfield – KR 193 – Throughout Holy Week, two competing approaches to peacemaking collide. Jason What if we’ve embraced the wrong one?… We desperately need to recover the radical vision of peacemaking that Jesus embodied throughout Holy Week.

Engaging Scripture: Conversations in Biblical Studies with Nijay Gupta

Nijay Gupta engages with the latest biblical scholars and scholarship in the Engaging Scripture: Conversations in Biblical Studies podcasts.

  • CBE Lecture on Women in Scripture – Her Story Alone: Female Identity without Contingency
  • Episode 15: Interview with David Capes (Matthew through OT Eyes)
  • Episode 14: Humility Illuminated with Dr. Dennis R. Edwards
  • Episode 13: ‘Writers on Writers’ with Guest Dr. Matthew W. Bates
  • Episode 11: Interview with Patrick Schreiner on the Theology of Acts and More!
  • Episode 10: Interview with Rebekah Eklund (Luke and Forgiveness)
  • Episode 9: Interview with F. Scott Spencer (Mark and the Good News)
  • Episode 8: Matthew and Righteousness (Conversation with Dr. David Capes)
  • Episode 7: Interview with Dr. Jeannine Brown on Hermeneutics and Philippians
  • Episode 6: Interview with Emerson Powery on Parable of the Good Samaritan
  • Episode 5: Theological Interpretation of Romans with Dr. Michael Gorman
  • Episode 4: 1 Peter and More: Interview with Dr. Dennis R. Edwards
  • Episode 3: Hebrews, Revelation, and More: Interview with Dr. David deSilva
  • Episode 2: Studying Romans: Interview with Dr. Beverly R. Gaventa
  • Episode 1: Cruciformity: Interview with Dr. Michael J. Gorman

Behind the Books with Scot McKnight, Lynn Cohick, and Nijay Gupta

The Behind the Books podcast focuses on a milestone publication recently released, the second edition of The Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. The interviews aare led by one of Scot McKnight, Lynn Cohick, and Nijay Gupta.

  • The Second Edition Would Have Melted the Fax Machine | Dan Reid
  • Being the Robin to N. T. Wright’s Batman | Mike Bird
  • Paul, Women, and the Mutualist Perspective | Lucy Peppiatt
  • Paul’s Letters and Cultural Stereotypes of the Past and Present | Dennis Edwards
  • Confined to Bed While Writing About Weakness | Louise Gosbell
  • The Son of Man Whose Father Is God | Amy Peeler
  • We Read Ourselves into the Gaps in Paul’s Letters | Chris Hoklotubbe
  • Pauline Churches Are for the Poor | Helen Rhee
  • Understanding Paul’s Crankiness and Warmth in Context | Jeannine Brown
  • The Shortest Essays are the Hardest to Write | Michael Gorman

The Bible and Mainly Faith for Normal People with Pete Enns and Jared Byas

The Bible for Normal People podcasts usually discuss aspects of interpreting First Bible / Hebrew-Jewish Bible / Old Testament books from within their understandings of the authors’ social, political and religious experiences and environments.

Mainly Faith for Normal People aims to help people who are in phases of deconstruction-reconstruction having left conservative and fundamentalist Christian communities and cultures.

  • Episode 30 (Faith 4NP): Pádraig Ó Tuama – A poetic look at the Bible
  • Episode 252: Steed Davidson – The Bible’s ambivalence toward empire
  • Episode 244: Manuel Cruz – What it means to be moral
  • Episode 10 (Faith 4NP): D. Danyelle Thomas – Decolonizing our faith.
  • Episode 7 (Faith 4NP): Robin Parry – The historical roots of Christian universalism.
  • Episode 5 (Faith 4NP): K.J. Ramsey – What if our bodies & feelings can be trusted?
  • Episode 231: Beth Allison Barr – Pushing Back Against Biblical Womanhood: Beth joins Pete and Jared to talk about the historical and cultural development of biblical womanhood in white American evangelicalism and how she has navigated the backlash against her bestselling book The Making of Biblical Womanhood.
  • Episode 226: Meredith Riedel – What is Byzantine Christianity? (And why should we care?)
  • Episode 216: Angela N. Parker – The white supremacy of Inerrancy
  • Episode 214: Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg – On Repentance and Repair: Jared and Pete talk with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg about the practice of repentance and the pursuit of repair in Judaism based on five steps from the medieval philosopher Maimonides.
  • Episode 208: David Farrier – What’s Going On With Megachurches?

Bridging Theology

The Bridging Theology Podcast connects the heart of academic scholarship to the Christian life. Hosted by an interdenominational, interdisciplinary, international team of scholars, the Bridging Theology Podcast is committed to helping listeners understand and engage with the work of leading and emerging Christian thinkers.

Mutuality Matters

The Mutuality Matters podcast is part of Christians for Biblical Equality International’s online library of free resources. Hosts offer weekly conversations with leaders, pastors, authors, scholars, activists, and humanitarians on women, men, shared leadership, and Scripture.

Broken to Beloved with Brian Lee

Broken to Beloved is a space for the broken and hurting. This is a place to discover a path toward healing and wholeness.

Ask N. T. Wright Anything with Justin Brierley

N. T. Wright provides pastoral, historical, biblical and theological responses to listeners’ questions. Hosted by Justin Brierley.

  • Episode 148, Episode 150 and Episode 151: N. T. Wright on Reimagining Mission in the Global South – Oxford Conference Sessions 1–3: N. T. Wright was keynote speaker at an Oxford conference on Reimagining Mission in the Global South, hosted by Bishop Joseph D’Souza of the Good Shepherd Church network in India, in partnership with Premier. In this opening lecture from the conference Tom speaks on how the story of Jesus through scripture should shape our approach to global mission.
  • Episode 137: Was Jesus’ death just a ‘bad weekend at human camp’? – N. T. Wright talks about his book The Day The Revolution Began and answers listener Qs on Penal Substitution, the Old Testament sacrificial system, Christ’s ‘descent to the dead’, and an atheist’s claim that Christ’s death was ‘just a bad weekend at human camp’. (First broadcast in 2018).
  • Episode 133: Is faith anti-intellectual? – Is faith a valid way of knowing truth? Will we need faith in the new creation? Why is my church so anti-intellectual? N. T. Wright answers listener questions on faith, knowledge and reason.
  • Episode 132: Is the Bible anti-women? Does God hear the prayers of agnostics? – N. T. Wright offers advice to a listener who is moving away from Christianity because she believes the Bible seems to treat women as second class citizens. Another is an agnostic who has been praying for the war in Ukraine.

Exegetically Speaking

The Exegetically Speaking podcast is hosted by Dr. David Capes and features language experts who discuss the importance of learning the biblical languages.

Slow Theology: Simple Faith for Chaotic Times

Dr. A.J. Swoboda and Dr. Nijay Gupta are co-hosts of Slow Theology: Simple Faith for Chaotic Times. They talk Bible, theology, and anything and everything else under the sun that gives our lives meaning.

Two Cities

‘Our hope is that you will find here a stimulating array of theological analyses that will stretch your mind and add depth to your personal experience of Jesus Christ.’

By the Well

By the Well is a weekly lectionary-based podcast for preachers. Each week we take a deep dive into some of the texts from the Revised Common Lectionary, exploring their ancient setting and how we might preach them today. We aim to take the Bible seriously, but not literally, bringing the best biblical scholarship into conversation with lived experience, pastoral need, and theology.

Other online resources