This week, JP, Father Chuck and Matt have a good ol' fashion RIFF-SESH. If you're not familiar, a riff-sesh is when the gang doesn't have a specific topic in mind but would rather share what's been digging in their craws and speak candidly and off-the-cuff. This week JP is feeling a little down about not being able to find the motivation to follow through on creative projects, something a lot of creatives struggle with, right? Listen in to see how the Masters of Divinity endeavor to follow throu...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 17 min
We did it! 200 episodes, baby! In this episode, we celebrate our 200th episode by covering Peter Jackson's latest opus, the hit Disney+ documentary THE BEATLES: GET BACK. Jackson's documentary is an exhaustive, fly-on-the-wall look at The Beatles during the recording of their album LET IT BE. As some of you know, all three of us here are big Beatles fans, and the documentary is not just an ode to their latest process, but also lays bare the bands experiences during the stressful recording sessio...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 18 min
And we're BACK, BABY! After a lengthy hiatus, Father Chuck and JP have returned to talk about translating and interpreting the Bible. They not only go into the history of translating scripture, but also talk about their own experiences and frustrations with translations, as well as with people who are die-hard devoted to one translation over the other. Father Chuck also gives his advice on how to find the right translation for you, if you're curious about that kind of thing. LISTEN UNTIL THE END...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 17 min
This week, with an increasing interest in exploring the more fantastical and mystical side of the Christian faith, Father Chuck and JP talk about angels. They go over the hierarchy of angels, dispel some myths about their depiction (thanks in large part to Renaissance art), and develop a new class in the heirarchy: The Shoulderheim. What exactly is the Shoulderheim? You'll have to listen to find out!
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Well, it's been a minute, hasn't it? Fear not, because we're back, and unlike most media outlets, JP and Father Chuck have some thoughts on DUNE! Dune is the latest iteration of the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic, directed by Denis Villeneuve. It's taken a LONG time, but we think that we finally have an adaptation of the novel that's worthy of praise! Even though JP really likes Lynch's Dune. Anyway, sorry for the little unannounced break, we hope you enjoy our in-depth discussion of DUNE!...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 52 min
So for the last couple of months we've talked about every Jaws movie, tackled Christian Hedonism, recounted our favorite Seinfeld episodes about religion, defeated Capitalism, and brought you one spooky-ass playlist for your Halloween parties. So, we're a little pooped, and we thought this week we'd take 'er easy and have ourselves a good ol' fashion riff-sesh. You remember these, right? No planned topic, just us speaking our minds on whatever we feel like. One thing we focus on a lot in this pa...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Whether you've got a Halloween party around the corner to host/attend, or you're just looking for some All Hallow's Eve vibes, you're gonna need some spooky tunes. So this week, Father Chuck and JP have curated their own playlists filled with all kinds of Halloween music goodness. Whether you're looking for a vibe like Planet Claire by the B-52s, or something more on the nose like Wolf Like Me by TV On the Radio, or classics like Thriller, you've come to the right place!
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 45 min
This week, JP and Father Chuck go in on that mode of production based on private ownership of the means of production: CAPITALISM. We give our thoughts, our critiques, our experiences, and also take the time to highlight the current struggle over wages in Hollywood. We don't normally get political on this podcast, mainly because we're not super interested in being one of those divisive, hot-topic, firebrand shows that serve just to outrage our audience and drive them to yell at family members on...
Oct 20, 2021•1 hr 43 min
JP and Father Chuck are massive, devoted fans of the hit sitcom Seinfeld. And if you haven't heard the news, that joint's on Netflix as we speak. So we went ahead and watched some episodes centered on religion, yadda yadda yadda, you got this episode to listen to. Enjoy!
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 35 min
So we all know that Father Chuck's the Sci-Fi Guy and JP is the Horror Guy. But what happens the two are combined for Halloween? You get an in-depth look at the Atomic Age Sci-Fi & Horror of the 1950s, baby! While people are planning their lists of horror movies to watch during October, people tend to lean toward the gothic, the spooky, and the straight-up uncanny. But most people seem to forget that there's a place in the Halloween Canon of Movies for films like Invasion of the Body Snatche...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 41 min
If you've ever heard the phrase, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him," then you're probably familiar with Christian Hedonism, which is one provocative title! It probably conjures images that don't belong together, like Jesus and Hedonism Bot from FUTURAMA. But it's a real thing; a theology conceived by famous modern theologian John Piper, a Neo-Calvinist and Reformed Christian. In this week's episode, we're categorizing Piper's theology as a Christian Curiosity, and wi...
Sep 30, 2021•1 hr 27 min
In the previous episode, we talked about the Brothers Brody and Their Many Shark Adventures, and since you were all good sports to let us indulge in our love of these bonkers sequels, we figured why not go ahead and talk about the famed original: the 1975 Steven Spielberg classic, JAWS. There's so much to love about Jaws: the music, the performances, the gruesome kills, the high seas adventure, and so much more, which is why JP and Father Chuck hold JAWS in a special place in their hearts. We ca...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr 41 min
When it was released in theaters in 1975, JAWS was a major hit, terrifying audiences and creating an entire generation of aquaphobes, thalassophobes, and submechaniphobes. Steven Spielberg's debut in cinemas was studded with a terrific cast, a chilling story, and horrifying special effects. The sequels? Eh...not so much. But one of them takes place in Sea World! Listen, we know these movies don't even begin to add up to the greatness of the Spielberg classic, but JP and Father Chuck have a speci...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 34 min
We're finally in the middle of the wet, hot, American summer and JP & Father Chuck couldn't help but to reminisce about their summer days spent at various summer camps growing up. They talk about their shared experiences from Space Camp in Florida, while JP also tells us a few tales from his time spent at rich kid military camp. You'll hear this and so much more when you press play on that podcast machine, and listen to this week's edition of MASTERS OF DIVINITY. Instagram ► https://www.inst...
Jul 26, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 188
An unofficial but ongoing series on this podcast is "Christian Curiosities," where we reflect and examine Christian trends from the days of yor. These trends permeated Christian communities and usually across denominations, and it was the Christian Bookstore that enabled these curiosities to spread and thrive. If one wanted to put their thumb on the pulse of Christianity in America, all one had to do was visit a Christian Bookstore. But since the advent of the internet, and shopping online, as w...
Jul 19, 2021•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 187
This week, in another edition of MASTERS OF DIVINITY, JP and Father Chuck revisit one of the most beloved film trilogies of all time: BACK TO THE FUTURE! JP explains the process behind developing the first Back to the Future movie, Chuck theorizes on a "Rogue Marty." This is one of those episodes where we talk about a franchise as an entity, and go into great detail about why we love Back to the Future. Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/mastersofdi vinity Twitter ► https://twitter.com/master...
Jul 09, 2021•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 186
We've seen the evidence. We have some thoughts. UFO's are back baby! Seriously, it's like 1995 up in here with the UFO mania going down. In 2017 the government confirmed the existence of Unidentified Flying Objects, and just this month the Pentagon has submitted a report to congress explaining their findings. JP and Father Chuck have been preparing for this moment their whole lives, and in this episode they go over video footage and photographic evidence that has recently been made public. Are t...
Jun 30, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 185
Remember way, way, way back in the distant year of 2012? Before pandemics, Donald Trump's presidency, and NFTs? There was a movie that came out that summer called PROMETHEUS, and it was a prequel of sorts to the ALIEN franchise. People were really looking forward to it because the ALIEN franchise had fallen on hard times, and legendary director Ridley Scott was here to bring it back to its original glory. Well, turns out the movie was more divisive than people expected, and even JP and Father Ch...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 184
Time to smash our heads on the punk rock! In our final episode of Music Mayhem, The Wheel of Mayhem deemed Christian punk's "Prime Candidate for a Burnout" by Blenderhead worthy of closing out this year's series. Rounding out our completely unplanned series-within-a-series about the Christian recording industry, Blenderhead couldn't be further away from what dc Talk and Jars of Clay represented. Raw, uncompromising, visceral...LOUD. Blenderhead was a hardcore Christian punk band from the legenda...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 50 min
This week, JP and Father Chuck visit another seismic album in the 90s Contemporary Christian scene: Jars of Clay's self-titled debut album. Jars of Clay was drastically different from dc Talk in their style and approach to lyrics, embracing metaphorical lyrics and acoustic guitars, as well as a more independent sound. Do any of the songs still hold up? You might be surprised! Check out the episode today, and listen to the Masters of Divinity dive deep into JARS OF CLAY. Instagram ►https://www.in...
Jun 03, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 182
Music Mayhem keeps going because Music Mayhem can't be stopped! For some reason JP and Father Chuck decided to (dc) Talk about JESUS FREAK, the seismic Christian rock album that hit the charts and even managed to get some MTV airtime, something that's very important to Christian labels. Father Chuck has a fondness for the album, and JP has never listened to the album until recently. Does it still hold up? Find out! Music Mayhem will never end! It just keeps going! I'm serious, we can't stop it, ...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 58 min
Music Mayhem keeps on truckin', and this week we're truckin' to hell -- or heaven. Whichever you prefer, I guess. In 1979 Ozzy Osbourne was ousted from the legendary metal band Black Sabbath, and left a void that seemed impossible to fill. Enter one Ronnie James Dio, or as you and I know him: DIO. What should have been a recipe for disaster ended up being a massive success. The album was a hit, and featured one of the greatest metal tunes of all time, "Heaven and Hell." Dio also went on to be a ...
May 17, 2021•1 hr 42 min
For our final episode in our unnamed series about Jesus-centric films, we watched Martin Scorsese's controversial classic, The Last Temptation of Christ. In the film, Jesus is portrayed by legendary actor Willem Dafoe, depicted as a man struggling with both the human and divine natures that dwell within Him. Martin Scorsese intended for the movie to spark discussion about Jesus, who He was, the nature of Christianity, and how it affects our daily lives, and we do our best to honor that with a de...
Apr 29, 2021•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 178
This week, Father Chuck and Moderator JP talk about the extremely underwhelming 1979 classic, JESUS, a movie that was made in an attempt to create a visual translation of the Bible, and these days the film is used by THE JESUS PROJECT in an effort to convert people to Christianity through the language of cinema. Amazingly, it doesn't seem to be very good at any of these things. Instagram ►https://www.instagram.com/mastersofdivinity Twitter ►https://twitter.com/mastersdivinity Facebook ►https://...
Apr 22, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 177
Like Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, Jesus is a figure who's graced the screen since the advent of cinema. Some of these movies are spectacular, while most of them are...well, they tried. When Mel Gibson announced that he was going to direct a film about the final hours of Jesus' life, it became one of the most anticipated films of its time, as audiences were promised one of the most accurate and dramatic portrayals of Jesus ever put to screen. To kick off our new series where we take a look at a v...
Apr 15, 2021•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 176
This week, while the Masters of Divinity are still away dealing with their offline lives, we've produced a clip show made out of a couple of outtakes from past episodes! We promise things will be back to normal soon, but at the moment, real life calls. Until then, enjoy this fun episode! Check out our site: www.themastersofdivinity.wordpress.com If you'd like to support the show, become a patron by visit our patreon! www.patreon.com/MastersOfDivinity Follow us on social media: instagram.com/mast...
Apr 01, 2021•39 min
This week, JP and Father Chuck discuss how they feel about the time-honored social media tradition of dunking on strangers. We promise this isn't just another "old men yelling about Twitter" episode, honest! SoundCloud: Check out our site: www.themastersofdivinity.wordpress.com If you'd like to support the show, become a patron by visit our patreon! www.patreon.com/MastersOfDivinity Follow us on social media: instagram.com/mastersofdivinity twitter.com/mastersdivinity www.facebook.com/mastersofd...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 31 min
All right, so it's more like an hour and fourty-five minutes, but "2 hours" just sounds cleaner. We round up here. Hey! There's a show out there on the Disney+ that all the kids are raving about, called WandaVision and it's apparently a big hit. WandaVision is the first show produced for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (there are other Marvel shows but this is the first one overseen by Feige and Co.), it's very unique in its presentation as it takes on the form of a sitcom every now and then, has ...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 44 min
This week, we cap off our month-long series on the afterlife with a fun, light-hearted discussion of Pixar's latest hit, SOUL. Soul stars Jamie Foxx as the voice of Joe, a jazz musician who finds himself in the afterlife who desperately tries to get back to the land of the living. It's a wonderful film with a fascinating emotional journey, with themes that really resonated with the MoD crew. Obviously there are spoilers, so if you haven't seen Pixar's Soul be sure to check it out before listenin...
Feb 24, 2021•1 hr 7 min
This week, JP and Father Chuck discuss purgatory. Having grown up a protestant, JP has no idea what the doctrine of purgatory is, and Father Chuck is here to enlighten all of us. They talk about purgatory as a doctrine, as a belief embraced by CS Lewis, and why it kind of sounds like a gym for the soul. Should Christians believe in purgatory? What's the difference between purgatory in hell? Find out today! Check out our site: www.themastersofdivinity.wordpress.com If you'd like to support the sh...
Feb 17, 2021•1 hr 16 min
