A theology podcast for the church. The pastor theologians podcast consists of conversations and teaching resources at the intersection of theological scholarship and life and ministry in the local church. The vision for this show is to help equip pastors to be theologians for today’s complex world.
For our June episode on books, we, the CPT staff, have been reading: JD Vance, Hillbilly Elegy (2016) Rémi Brague, Kingdom of Man: Genesis and Failure of the Modern Project , (2018) Elizabeth Goudge, The Dean's Watch , (2012)...
Today on the podcast we are joined by Rev. Dr. Michael Niebauer as he shares about his recent book, Four Mountains: Encountering God in the Bible from Eden to Zion . How can Christians encounter Jesus on every page of the Bible? What can we learn from how the earliest Christians read Scripture, and connect seemingly disparate stories in the text? What is distinct about this style of reading as opposed, for example, to 6-week Bible studies or academic study? This and more on today's episode! Awe ...
Jason Meyer, lead pastor of Urban Refuge Church in Minneapolis, MN, joins the podcast today to tell us about his journey towards becoming a pastor theologian. After serving eight years as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist, Jason shares what he learned about his own calling, and the identity of a "pastor." This and more on today's episode! Awe and Presence Conference
CPT board member Doug Sweeney joins the podcast today. He previews his topic for the 2025 CPT Conference, Good Shepherds: Pastoral Identity and the Future of the Church . What are good Christian pastors supposed to be like? On the other hand, what malformative models of pastoral identity are common in our culture today? Doug also tells us about his 2024 book, Substance of Our Faith: Foundations for the History of Christian Doctrine . Check it out on today's episode! Awe and Presence Conference...
Casey Hough joins us to talk about his recent book, When Poets Were Warriors: Retrieving a Biblical Vision of Masculinity (B&H Publishing, 2025). “Masculinity” is an increasingly popular subject for public discourse. Drawing on his experiences as a pastor and father, Hough argues that Christians ought to return to the complex and challenging example of Jesus, instead of relying on cultural stereotypes, to form our vision of masculinity. If we consider Jesus Christ to be a model for masculini...
What is culture, and what is our relationship to it as Christians? Dennis Greeson joins the podcast today to talk about his recent book The Way of Christ in Culture: A Vision for All of Life (Lifeway 2024), coauthored with Benjamin T. Quinn. In the book, the authors provide a framework for knowing one’s time in God’s story, one’s place in creation, and following wisdom. He also shares about the Alexandrian Institute, a cohort-based model for theological education focused on engaging Scripture an...
This week, James Arcadi joins the podcast to talk about his latest book, Holiness: Divine and Human (2023). He also shares about his dual calling to both pastoral ministry as a full-time Anglican rector, and to academic theology as a guest professor at Wheaton College. What is the relationship between abstract ideas and practical application? What does it mean for something to be "consecrated" or "holy"? This and more on today's podcast! Awe and Presence Conference...
On the podcast this week, Adam Copenhaver shares with us about his early ministry caring for an older congregation, and his education and research on Colossians. He also tells us about his current pastoral context leading a church in a small, migrant farm town which had previously been led by an abusive pastor. He previews the breakout topic he will lead at the 2025 CPT Conference, Good Shepherds: Pastoral Identity and the Future of the Church . How can our churches become both helpful and welco...
This week we are joined by CTP Fellow Ben Burkholder. Ben shares how he developed an interest in learning how people grow as disciples. Reflecting on his time as a student, Ben also shares insights about the relationship between psychology and spiritual formation. This and more on today’s podcast! Awe and Presence Conference
Join us this week as we get to know Eric Rivera. Eric will be a plenary speaker at the 2025 Pastor Theologians Conference, Good Shepherds: Pastoral Identity and the Future of the Church . On this episode, Eric talks about how his story shaped his interests and calling in church history and pastoral ministry. Drawing from his context as a pastor at a multi-ethnic church in the greater Chicago area, he also shares what he has learned it means to be a Good Shepherd in the 21st Century. Awe and Pres...
Samuel Parkison joins the podcast today to talk about his recent book, To Gaze upon God: The Beatific Vision in Doctrine, Tradition, and Practice (InterVarsity Press 2024.) He also shares with us his story and calling to academic ministry at the Abu Dhabi Extension Site at Gulf Theological Seminary in the United Arab Emirates. What is the beatific vision? What does the beatific vision have to do with this moment in history for the church? This and more on today's podcast! Awe and Presence Confer...
For our April episode on books, we, the CPT staff, have been reading: CR Wiley, In the House of Tom Bombadil (2021) Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is the Way (2014) Percival Everett, James (2024) Harold Netland, Religious Experience and the Knowledge of God (2022)...
Nadya Williams joins the podcast to talk about her recent book, Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic: Ancient Christianity and the Recovery of Human Dignity (IVP Academic, 2024.) How do our attitudes towards motherhood reflect either a commodification of human life or, by contrast, a rich affirmation of the imago dei ? This and more on today’s podcast! Awe and Presence Conference...
Stephen Campbell joins us today on the CPT podcast. Stephen tells us about witnessing his family's ministry through his childhood. He also shares how the Lord prepared him for his current context pastoring in Germany, and his research on the book of Deuteronomy. This and more on today's podcast! Awe and Presence Conference
Matt O'Reilly joins us today to talk about his recent book Free to Be Holy: A Biblical Theology of Sanctification . What does the Bible teach us about holiness? How can the broader Evangelical community learn from historically Methodist theologies of sanctification? How can ecclesial styles of theological writing serve pastors and congregations as they work through topics like this one? This and more on today's podcast! Awe and Presence Conference...
Brad Littlejohn joins the podcast today to talk about his new book, Called to Freedom: Retrieving Christian Liberty in an Age of License . What is human "freedom"? Where do American theological, moral, and political concepts of freedom and liberty come from? How do Scripture and our culture view "freedom" differently, and how can pastors help the Church's ability to think Biblically about "freedom"? This and more on today's podcast!...
Steve Turnbull joins the podcast to share his journey of becoming a pastor and Biblical scholar. As a pastor theologian, Steve has worked to develop a rich Biblical narrative imagination. Today, he serves as a senior pastor of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in Ohio, as well as the provost and professor of New Testament at The Master's Institute in Minnesota. Awe and Presence Conference...
We are excited to have Carl Trueman on the podcast today. Carl discusses his some of his recent books, including To Change All Worlds: Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse , which provides an introductory intellectual history of Critical Theory, primarily non-polemically. In this episode, Carl walks us through the key figures and orienting ideas of Frankfurt School and Critical Theory. What is the connection between Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory? How can pastors steward the church's c...
Aaron Friesen joins the podcast today to share his story of becoming a pastor theologian. Aaron describes how, in part though his seminary education at Fuller, he developed a vision and sense of calling for integrating theological education and service to the local church within his pentecostal tradition. Today, Aaron serves at CitySalt church in Eugene, OR and teaches in an adjunct capacity. Awe and Presence Conference...
Today we are joined on the podcast by Rhys Laverty as we discuss Life on the Silent Planet: Essays on Christian Living from C.S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy (Davenant Institute, 2024). This volume, edited by Laverty, is a collection of essays highlighting Lewis's insights on topics such as gender, contraception, bureaucracy, and transhumanism, as he wove them into the Ransom Trilogy. What questions does Lewis explore in his fiction that are pastorally relevant in our context today? How can the Ransom...
Jon English Lee joins the podcast today to discuss his book, There Remains a Sabbath Rest for the People of God: A Biblical, Theological, & Historical Defense of Sabbath Rest as a Creation Ordinance . What is the theological significance of rest in Scripture? What does it mean for a pastor to lead from a restful soul? This and more on today's podcast episode! Awe and Presence Conference...
Jennifer Powell McNutt joins the podcast once again to discuss her recent book, The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today (Brazos Press 2024). Mary Magdalene's story has often been undervalued and confused, in part due to what Jennifer calls the "muddle of Marys" in the Gospels. What can we gain by a more careful analysis of Mary's story? How can we be served by approaching the biblical text with a "hermeneutic of surprise"? How can Mary Magdalene serve as a m...
Matthew LaPine joins the podcast to share his journey of faith through mental health challenges in his family and more. How can "playing the long game" shape our perspective as we navigate life's challenges? This and more on today’s episode! Awe and Presence Conference
Charles (Chad) Kim joins the podcast to talk about his book, The Way of Humility: St. Augustine’s Theology of Preaching. How is Augustine’s theology and specifically the virtue of humility reflected in Augustine’s Sermon? Hear this and more on today’s episode. Awe and Presence Conference
Ryan joins the podcast today to share his story, including his background in the Pentecostal tradition. Find out how that tradition has shaped him as a pastor theologian. Further, how can we learn from themes of doubt, deconstruction, and anti-intellectualism? How do we think about these themes as ministry leaders? All this and more on today’s podcast. Awe and Presence Conference
As we wrap up 2024, in this episode the CPT staff reflects on the past year, and looks ahead to what the Lord might do through our ministry in 2025.
Jonathan Huggins joins us on the podcast today with a sermon for the season of Advent reflecting on peace. How does the Gospel redefine shalom—peace—with God, within ourselves, and with others? How can we maintain relational and psychological rest in our souls when facing the anxiety-producing situations of our modern world? Awe and Presence Conference
For our December episode on books, we, the CPT staff, have been reading (and, on this occasion, watching): JRR Tolkien, Return of the King, (1955) Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1995) Stephen King, Carrie (1974) Cormac McCarthy, The Border Trilogy , (1999) Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, American Nietzsche: A History of an Icon and His Idea , 2011 Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. (2024) Awe and Presence Conference...
Today, Chris Ganski shares a sermon on Acts 17:1-9. In the wake of the 2024 election, the book of Acts can be an excellent resource to consider the relationship between church and politics. In the context of Acts 17, does Caesar have anything to fear from the church? What is the church, and what does it mean to belong to the church? How does the church’s identity influence our understanding of the gospel as political? This and more on today’s podcast. Awe and Presence Conference...
Pastor Caleb Campbell joins the podcast to discuss how pastors might guide their congregations through the results of the 2024 election, drawing from his experience pastoring in Phoenix, AZ. He also discusses his book " Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor ." How can we helpfully engage those in their community who align with combative political perspectives? How can pastors support members who are struggling to have conversations with family members, or for whom the e...
