RTN Theology

RTN Theology #14 remembers as collaborative music project from 2012 birthed out of a North Carolina church community. Bob and Chris talk with producer Jeff Crawford about the making of Hymns from the Gathering Church at Arbor Ridge Studios. This record features old hymns reimagined by artists such as Phil Cook, Mandolin Orange, Skylar Gudasz, Seth Kaufman (Floating Action), H.C. McEntire, Brett Harris, Ryan Gustafson (The Dead Tongues), and more. Bob shares his personal ties to this music and Chris is simply content to be on a call “between two Crawfords.”

RTN Theology 13 is a conversation with Dr. Jennifer Allen Craft in Durham, NC as she participates in the Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts’ 10th anniversary symposium. Dr. Craft wrote Placemaking and the Arts: Cultivating the Christian Life: a beautiful vision for investing in real places and loving real people, while we cultivate a rich experience of God through the arts.

Chris has a conversation with C. Christopher Smith, author of How the Body of Christ Talks. Bob and Chris also speak with Will Acuff of Corner to Corner in Nashville, TN about the amazing community organizing & empowerment work he, his wife Tiffany, and their team are doing with the youth in their community. Throughout the episode you’ll hear music from Russ Mohr, from his recent collaboration, The Kingdom Sessions.

Chris Breslin speaks w/ Dr. Stanley Hauerwas’ on the recent passing of his friend, Jean Vanier, the life of the church in the era of Trump, and what it means to become people of virtue & character. Dave Fitch shares the ways that Dr. Hauerwas has shaped his life & work and also shares his most recent book project, The Church of Us vs. Them. Dr. Hauerwas also reads a chapter on the virtue of Justice from his recent book of letters to his Godson. Featured music by Deeper Well Music Collective’s Volume III.

This episode of RTN Theology centers on the life, thought, and legacy of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bob Crawford talks with professor Stephen Haynes, author of The Battle for Bonhoeffer about how Bonhoeffer has become a cultural Rorschach test, often coopted and reflecting his interpreters, but also how his life and work can be relevant and transformative for  today. New co-host and co-producer, Chris Breslin explores some of the ways Bonhoeffer continues to influence by interviewing Pastor José Humphreys (Seeing Jesus in East Harlem) about ministry in Harlem after Bonhoeffer and then reflects on Bifrost Art’s Bonhoeffer’s Prayer by Bifrost Arts.

In this episode of RTN Theology, Bob talks with Christian social ethicist-activist, author, and Professor at Iliff School of Theology, Dr. Miguel De La Torre. Bob and Miguel discuss liberation theology and the connection between the theology shared by slaveholders during the antebellum and Civil War periods with the theology professed by many prominent evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell Jr. Del La Torre’s 36th book, Burying White Privilege, was based on his article  November 2017 article, “The Death of Christianity in the US,” which went viral after it appeared in Baptist News Global. De La Torre does not mince words as he takes on white Evangelicals, Catholics, and Protestants, who he believes have made a Faustian bargain, trading the gospel for political influence.

The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network.

Bob speaks with Arizona State University Associate Professor of History Catherine O’Donnell about the prejudice Catholics endured in the years leading up to the American Revolution and how they gained the respect of George Washington as he sought French assistance in the cause. Catherine also discusses her recent work Elizabeth Seton: American Saint (Cornell University Press, 2018) and how Seaton went from Catholic convert to the first American Saint.

The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this and all our other episodes, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com

In this episode of RTN Theology hosts Bob Crawford and Keith Larson share personal reflections on the life of North Carolina 3rd District Congressman Walter B. Jones who passed away on February 10th, 2019.

Jones served Eastern North Carolina in Congress and the State Legislature for over 34 years. He became a household name in the run up to the war in Iraq when he led a campaign to change the name of French fries to Freedom Fries. A couple of years into the war, he attended a funeral for a fallen soldier and had a spiritual conversion, becoming the first Republican in Congress to come out against the war. A fiercely independent politician and a devout Catholic, Jones' faith framed the way he viewed issues.

Bob and Keith both shared a personal relationship with the Congressman. Keith interviewed Jones many times over the years as a radio host at WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bob and Walter B. Jones first became friends through conversations about politics, but their friendship grew much deeper following Bob’s daughter’s illness.

Discussing the relationship between faith and the public sphere has been a part of America’s story since its beginning. Over the past decade, the presence of Christian faith in public policy and politics has been questioned and challenged in new and unique ways. How are citizens, Christian and non-Christian alike, to respond to issues of faith in politics? Join former Obama staffer Michael Wear and Josiah C. Trent Professor of Medical Humanities at Duke University Farr Curlin for a conversation moderated by musician and The Road to Now podcast host Bob Crawford to hear Christian perspectives on these enduring questions.

Recorded live at the Center for Christianity and Scholarship at Duke University in collaboration with the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy.

The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this and all our other episodes, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.

This week Bob and Pastor Chris Breslin of Oak Church in Durham, NC sit down with Duke University, Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Professor of Theology Jeremy Begbie for a discussion about how we can see God’s presence in our own creative expression. Begbie uses music to try and explain hard to grasp theological concepts like the trinity, as described in his 2018 Eerdmans release, Redeeming Transcendence in the Arts.

This episode was recorded by Jeff Crawford at Arbor Ridge Studios in Chapel Hill, NC and also features the music of Alanna Boudreau and the poetry of Malcom Guite.

The Road to Now is Part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this and all our other episodes, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com

In this episode of RTN Theology, Bob talks to Fuller Theological Seminary Assistant Professor Kutter Callaway about his new book, Breaking the Marriage Idol: Reconstructing Our Cultural and Spiritual Norms (InterVarsity Press, 2018) and the need to change the existing perceptions of single life and marriage in the church. They also discuss theology, the arts, and the Paul Schrader film, First Reformed.

The Road to Now is Part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on The Road to Now, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com

Chris Breslin recently invited Bob to be part of a live conversation with Kate Bowler to talk about the history of Christianity, their faith, and how the crisis of cancer has affected their relationships with God. Kate Bowler is Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School and author of the New York Times Best Selling Book Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved (Random House, 2018) and Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel (Oxford University Press, 2013). She also hosts the podcast Everything Happens.

This episode was recorded live on February 25, 2018 at Oak Church in Durham, NC.

For more on this and other episodes of The Road to Now, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com

In the second installment of RTN Theology, Bob speaks with Messiah College’s John Fea about Christianity in Early America and the ways that the founders viewed the relationship between faith and politics. Fea outlines the “5 Cs” of history, the importance of approaching history with an open mind, and explains why he thinks the title of his book Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? may not be the question in approaching Christianity’s role in the establishment of the United States. Ian Skotte also contributes his thoughts on Christian relics and why he sees authenticity as less important than faith in people’s relationship to material objects.

John Fea is Professor of American History and Chair of the Department of History at Messiah College and host of the podcast The Way of Improvement Leads Home. He is the author or editor of four books, including Was America Founded as a Christian Nation: A Historical Introduction (Westminster/ John Knox Press, 2011) & Why Study History?: Reflecting on the Importance of the Past (Baker Academic, 2013) and his essays and reviews have appeared in a variety of scholarly and popular venues.

The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on our podcast and this episode, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.

In the premier episode of our theology subseries, RTN Theology we welcome Christian philosopher James K.A. Smith to discuss the intersection of Christianity and culture in the United States. We also chat about his illuminating Op-Ed that appeared in the Thanksgiving edition of the Washington Post, which looks at ‘love of country’ from a religious perspective. Smith penned “Awaiting the King,” a new book that studies secularism and its impact on modern day religion.

Ian Skotte tracked down the Swedish textile archeologist who believes she may have discovered a link between Viking and Muslim cultures from the ninth century. However, not everyone is convinced of these findings. 

Finally, singer/songwriter David Childers rounds out our show. It just seemed appropriate to take time out during the Christmas holiday and spend time with our good friend. We discuss his take on gospel music and songs of the season as only David Childers can.

For links related to this episode, please visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com

We're excited to announce that RTN Theology w/ Bob Crawford & Chris Breslin is expanding to its own podcast feed. A brand new episode, along w/ episodes 1-18 will be live here on January 23rd. Subscribe now so you don't miss it!

Until then, check out The Road to Now w/ Bob Crawford & Ben Sawyer, available on all podcast players and at www.TheRoadToNow.com