Forgiveness, Justice, and Reconciliation with Miroslav Volf SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2024-03-04 | Why would we consider forgiving someone who has deeply harmed us? How do we even go about forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve it? And where might forgiveness eventually lead us—individually and even corporately—if we pursue it? Forgiveness is beyond challenging. Some injuries are so acute, the very idea of forgiveness seems out of bounds. And when atrocities are perpetrated against an entire people group, how is forgiveness even an option? Is real justice attainable? Or peace? No-one, after all, is entitled to a “get out of jail free” card. During this lunch conversation, theologian and public intellectual Miroslav Volf shared his own story of forgiving a crime against a family member. He also addressed the nuances and implications of forgiveness and justice for reconciliation at the national level, especially in reference to South Africa and its long history of apartheid. Facilitating our conversation was Christine Jeske, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Wheaton College who has studied the human and economic impacts of systemic injustice in the global south and is currently researching how Christians envision and seek racial justice.=============================About our Speaker:Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology and Founding Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. His books include Allah: A Christian Response (2011); Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (2006), which was the Archbishop of Canterbury Lenten book for 2006; Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996), a winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award; and After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (1998), winner of the Christianity Today book award. A member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Church in Croatia, Professor Volf has been involved in international ecumenical dialogues (for instance, with the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity) and interfaith dialogues (Common Word), and was an active participant in the Global Agenda Council on Values of the World Economic Forum. A native of Croatia, he regularly teaches and lectures in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and across North America. Professor Volf is a fellow of Berkeley College. His degrees include a B.A. from Evangelical-Theological Faculty (Zagreb, Croatia), an M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Dr. of Theology from the University of Tubingen (Tubingen, Germany).=============================About our Moderator:Christine Jeske pursues moral and cultural questions around economic development, and writes about what North Americans have to learn from the global South regarding finance and wellbeing. Her current research considers how Christians envision and seek racial justice; she has also studied how people imagine achieving a “good life,” especially when unemployed or working in low-wage jobs. Prior to joining the Wheaton faculty, Dr. Jeske worked in microfinance, refugee resettlement, community development, and teaching in Nicaragua, Northwest China, and South Africa. The author of three books and many articles for popular and academic audiences, Jeske’s most recent book, The Laziness Myth, considers what makes work desirable, how racism shapes work, and how people find hope in undesirable working conditions. She holds a B.A. in English and Piano from UW-Madison, an M.B.A. in Economic Development from Eastern University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from UW-Madison.=============================🎙️Podcast LinksWeb: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f8dc8846-cad2-40a2-a1d2-4bf594664dbcApple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/forgiveness-justice-and-reconciliation-with/id1715922039?i=1000646481662Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/48f3BloDnimjhjuaWY0e73?si=cf4b63806c6843f0 =============================⏱️ Timecodes ⏱️00:00:00 - Event Intro00:02:33 - Conversation with Miroslav Volf and Moderator Christine Jeske
From Transactional Faith to Transformational Life | Jonathan R. Bailey SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-09-21 | What does real spiritual transformation actually look like — a powerful moment at a retreat or altar call, or something much slower, deeper, and more relational? In this episode, host Dan Johnson sits down with first-time author Jonathan R. Bailey to talk about his new book, Dwelling in Christ: Discover the Threefold Path of Spiritual Transformation (IVP, 2026). Drawing on years of mentorship from Richard Foster and the legacy of Dallas Willard, Jonathan unpacks the ancient threefold path of Christian spiritual formation — purgation, illumination, and union — and makes the case that transformation can’t be rushed. Dan and Jonathan dig into the difference between transactional and transformational faith, why purgation is pruning rather than punishment, how to build a flexible “rule of life,” and what it means to trade trying for training. Jonathan also shares a personal story of a fleeting taste of union he experienced in a Toys “R” Us parking lot, and offers three simple practices — prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — for anyone who wants to begin the journey toward becoming more like Christ.ABOUT OUR GUESTJonathan R. Bailey is the cofounder of Dwell, an audio Bible app helping people rediscover the ancient practice of listening to Scripture. He writes Three Weekly Lights, a newsletter on spiritual transformation, and serves on the ministry team at Renovaré. He lives in Frisco, Texas, with his wife, Kori, and their three children. Dwelling in Christ is his first book, with a foreword by Richard J. Foster.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN· The real difference between a transactional and a transformational approach to faith — and why relationship, not quick fixes, is what actually drives change.· How to tell God’s pruning apart from self-imposed shame or punishment during hard seasons.· Why mountaintop spiritual experiences are meant to refresh the journey, not replace the ordinary, sustained faithfulness that follows.· How to build a “rule of life” that’s flexible rather than rigid — and why an overly aspirational one can do more harm than good.· The practical difference between “trying” to produce spiritual fruit and “training” toward it.· What union with God actually looks like in daily life: becoming other-centered instead of self-centered.· Three simple, relational practices from the Sermon on the Mount — prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — and how each corresponds to a different relationship: with God, with self, and with others.BOOKS AND LINKS▶ Get the book: ivpress.com/dwelling-in-christ▶ More about Jonathan: ivpress.com/jonathan-bailey ▶ More from SLBF Studio: slbf.org/studio ⏰ CHAPTERS00:00 Welcome & Introducing Jonathan Bailey01:09 Learning From Richard Foster & Renovaré04:15 The Revival Service That Sparked the Book06:20 Transactional vs. Transformational Faith13:23 Purgation: Pruning, Not Punishment18:30 Illumination: Mountaintop Experiences21:42 Rule of Life: Building Flexible Practices26:48 “Trying” vs. “Training” (Richard Foster's Distinction)29:16 Union: Becoming Other-Centered Like Christ34:14 A Toys “R” Us Parking Lot and a Taste of Union37:19 Three Practices: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving41:08 What Surprised Jonathan About Richard & Dallas43:30 A Hope for Pastors and Ministry Leaders45:01 Jonathan's Current Spiritual Practice46:24 Closing Thoughts & Where to Find the Book
Rebuilding Trust in a Polarized World | Dr. Rick Lindroth SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-09-17 | If facts alone can't change minds, what can? Closing his three-part Friday Night Lecture series, Dr. Rick Lindroth shifts from diagnosis to action — offering a practical framework for restoring public trust in science across a fractured cultural landscape. Featuring Kurt Gray's "CIV" model (Connect, Invite, Validate) and the case for scaling norms rather than relationships alone, Lindroth gives tailored guidance for everyday citizens, working scientists, and faith leaders alike — including a challenge to churches to confront "identity idolatry" and a reading of the Good Samaritan as a model for crossing ideological lines. He closes with a benediction on truth, humility, and the responsible use of scientific power. Part three of "Can Science Be Trusted?"Dr. Rick Lindroth is a Distinguished Fellow of The Lumen Center and a Distinguished Achievement Professor (emeritus) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also served as Associate Dean for Research. Dr. Lindroth was a recipient of the Hilldale Award in Biological Sciences and is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Ecological Society of America, and the Entomological Society of America. He served as an editor for four science journals and on advisory panels for national and international research agencies. Dr. Lindroth and his research team published ~250 scientific articles and chapters on a wide range of ecological topics. Currently, Dr. Lindroth speaks and writes to the public and faith-based groups about environmental stewardship, climate change, biodiversity, and science denialism/communication.
The Psychology of Science Denial | Dr. Rick Lindroth SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-09-16 | Why do smart, good-faith people reject well-established science? In this second installment of his Friday Night Lecture series at Upper House, Dr. Rick Lindroth turns from the history of American science to the psychology behind its rejection. Drawing on the "tobacco playbook," the FLICC framework of denialist tactics, and Jonathan Haidt's moral foundations theory, Lindroth shows how distrust in science is rarely about the data itself — it's about identity, tribal belonging, and perceived threat. He traces how 300,000 years of human evolution wired our brains to prioritize belonging over truth, and why denialism shows up on both ends of the political spectrum, just aimed at different targets. Part two of "Can Science Be Trusted?"Dr. Rick Lindroth is a Distinguished Fellow of The Lumen Center and a Distinguished Achievement Professor (emeritus) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also served as Associate Dean for Research. Dr. Lindroth was a recipient of the Hilldale Award in Biological Sciences and is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Ecological Society of America, and the Entomological Society of America. He served as an editor for four science journals and on advisory panels for national and international research agencies. Dr. Lindroth and his research team published ~250 scientific articles and chapters on a wide range of ecological topics. Currently, Dr. Lindroth speaks and writes to the public and faith-based groups about environmental stewardship, climate change, biodiversity, and science denialism/communication.
What Is Science, and Why Dont We Trust It Anymore? | Dr. Rick Lindroth SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-09-15 | In November 1944, President Roosevelt asked one question that would reshape the 20th century: how do we turn wartime science into a national engine for peacetime progress? In this opening lecture of a three-part Friday Night Lecture series, Dr. Rick Lindroth — Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Ecology Emeritus at UW–Madison and Distinguished Research Fellow at the S.L. Brown Foundation's Lumen Center — traces the origins of American science funding from Vannevar Bush's landmark report Science, the Endless Frontier, to today's federal research landscape. Lindroth lays out what actually makes something "science," why basic research matters, and why public trust in science — once among the highest of any profession — has fractured sharply along political lines since 2020. Part one of "Can Science Be Trusted?"Dr. Rick Lindroth is a Distinguished Fellow of The Lumen Center and a Distinguished Achievement Professor (emeritus) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also served as Associate Dean for Research. Dr. Lindroth was a recipient of the Hilldale Award in Biological Sciences and is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Ecological Society of America, and the Entomological Society of America. He served as an editor for four science journals and on advisory panels for national and international research agencies. Dr. Lindroth and his research team published ~250 scientific articles and chapters on a wide range of ecological topics. Currently, Dr. Lindroth speaks and writes to the public and faith-based groups about environmental stewardship, climate change, biodiversity, and science denialism/communication.
The Secret Life of Christians — Spiritual Disciplines for a Distracted World | Jacob Coyne SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-09-14 | Many of us are busy serving, producing, and performing — while our own relationship with God quietly grows distant. In this episode, host Tressa Spingler sits down with author and pastor Jacob Coyne to talk about his new book, The Secret Life of Christians: How to Live Authentically, Especially When No One Is Watching (Tyndale House, 2026).Jacob shares the story behind his move from a rapidly growing online ministry on the West Coast to a slower, more hidden life in Johnson City, Tennessee — a decision shaped by a mentor’s warning that ministry built at breakneck speed can cost a family everything. From there, the conversation turns to the ancient spiritual disciplines — prayer, fasting, silence, Sabbath — that have shaped Christians for centuries; to a pilgrimage to Jerusalem that reconnected Jacob to the wider Christian tradition; and to the moment his wife’s honest words pushed him to reset his relationship with his phone.Along the way, Jacob and Tressa talk about what it means to be loved by God before we do anything to earn it — and why the secret place isn’t about hiding. It’s about being known.ABOUT OUR GUESTJacob Coyne is an author, preacher, and founder of Stay Here, a nonprofit suicide-prevention and mental health movement, and the Bible Collective, a network and daily devotional platform serving thousands of readers. His new book is The Secret Life of Christians: How to Live Authentically, Especially When No One Is Watching. Jacob lives in Johnson City, Tennessee, with his wife, Mariah, and their five children.🔗 LINKSamazon.com/Secret-Life-Christians-Authentically-Especially/dp/B0FVTY6NW6 jacob-coyne.comhttps://www.stayhere.live/⏰ CHAPTERS00:00 Welcome to The UpWords Podcast & Meet Jacob Coyne02:26 Choosing Family Over the “Rocket Ship” of Online Ministry09:12 Why Jacob Wrote The Secret Life of Christians11:31 Secret Disciplines: Give, Pray, and Fast14:11 The Jesus Prayer & Ancient Practices for a Modern Soul17:04 Who This Book Is For & Rediscovering the Saints20:14 A Pilgrimage to Jerusalem25:51 Going Backward to Go Forward27:40 The Reset: When Jacob’s Wife Called Out the “Applause”29:54 Practicing Sabbath as a Family32:01 Screen Time, Boredom, and Reclaiming Creativity36:27 Why We Struggle to Believe We’re Welcome in God’s Presence38:02 “Very Good”: Loved Before You Do Anything41:08 Christ Crucified: The Measuring Stick of God’s Love41:43 Closing ThoughtsCONNECT WITH USSubscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace.This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House.Produced by Daniel Johnson Edited by Dave Conour
Leadership Through Suffering and Surrender | Rev. Dr. Nicole Martin SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-09-07 | What does it look like to lead the way Jesus did — through the cross, not around it? Host Joy Fea welcomes Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin, President and CEO of Christianity Today, to talk about her book Nailing It: Why Successful Leadership Demands Suffering and Surrender. Together, they explore what people really need from a leader, why perfectionism isn't the same as excellence, how power works for women with and without a title, and why loyalty can quietly become an idol. Nicole also shares what “cruciform leadership” looks like on an ordinary Tuesday, and what she'd tell her twentysomething self about ambition, insecurity, and calling.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN· Why transparency — not just confidence — is what makes a leader trustworthy, and how naming the “turbulence” ahead of time actually builds a team's confidence rather than undermining it.· What Nicole's book title actually means: leadership “suffering” isn't suffering for its own sake — it's dying to ego, control, and ambition so that something greater can be resurrected through you.· How to recognize when perfectionism, not excellence, is driving your leadership (and your parenting) — and why anything involving other people can never be perfect.· The difference between operating with excellence and operating to prove your worth — and why God's approval, not your output, is the more stable foundation.· A framework for understanding power beyond your job title: legitimate, expert, informational, referential, and reward power, and how to identify and use whatever power you actually have.· How to tell the difference between healthy, Christ-centered loyalty and loyalty that has quietly become an idol — and why toxic leaders are usually surrounded by loyal followers who are afraid to speak up.What women uniquely bring to leadership when they're free to lead from who God made them to be, rather than compensating for who they're told they aren't.· What “cruciform leadership” looks like in practice — a daily, repeated act of surrendering your schedule, your meetings, and your outcomes to God rather than white-knuckling your way through them.· How Nicole leads a 70-year-old media ministry without becoming captive to its legacy — maintaining Christianity Today's founding mission while letting its expression evolve.· Nicole's advice to young leaders on discerning calling: focus on your strengths rather than fixing your weaknesses, and hold your context loosely — your calling is bigger than any one role.ABOUT OUR GUEST Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin, President and CEO of Christianity Today, joins the podcast to talk about her book Nailing It: Why Successful Leadership Demands Suffering and Surrender. She traces her leadership journey from an elementary-school playground to CT's corner office, and unpacks what it looks like to lead with confidence and transparency instead of striving. The conversation moves through laying down perfectionism, distinguishing excellence from the need to prove your worth, understanding power as a Christian woman leader (with or without a title), and the difference between healthy loyalty and loyalty as an idol. Nicole also reflects on CT's 70-year legacy under founder Billy Graham, her vision for the organization's future, and what “cruciform leadership” looks like on an ordinary day. The episode closes with book recommendations, grounding habits, and her advice to her twentysomething self.🔗LINKShttps://a.co/d/09Ce1Tme christianitytoday.com ⏰ Chapters00:00 Welcome & How Joy Discovered Nicole's Ministry02:15 Nicole's Leadership Journey: From the Playground to the C-Suite05:37 What People Really Need From a Leader08:45 Behind the Book Title: "Nailing It"11:05 What "Suffering and Sacrifice" Actually Means13:14 Learning to Lay Down Perfection — as a Leader and a Parent16:21 Excellence vs. the Need to Prove Your Worth19:49 A Living Example: Leading With Open Hands21:46 Understanding Power as a Christian Woman Leader24:20 Finding Your Power Without a Title27:06 The Two Faces of Loyalty in Leadership32:13 What Women Uniquely Bring to Leadership36:42 Leading Christianity Today: Legacy Without Captivity40:07 Vision for CT's Future: Remote Culture & Courageous Conversations44:19 Cruciform Leadership: Surrendering Control48:57 Advice to Her Twentysomething Self51:56 Rapid Fire: Books, Habits & Final WisdomCONNECT WITH USSubscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace.This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House.Produced by Daniel Johnson Edited by Dave Conour
Belonging Is Not Proximity | Rev. Dr. Alex Gee SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-08-26 | This summer, the UpWords Podcast is featuring leaders making a tangible difference in the Madison community. Host Rebecca Cooks sits down with Rev. Dr. Alexander Gee — pastor, author, and founder and CEO of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture — for a wide-ranging, honest conversation recorded not long after the Center's grand opening drew more than 1,500 people through its doors.They talk about what the Center actually is — part museum, part business incubator, part performing arts venue, part neuroscience research lab — and how it grew out of listening sessions with more than 700 Black Madisonians. From there, the conversation turns to belonging: why Rev. Dr. Gee insists belonging is not the same as proximity, and why he believes American integration, as it actually unfolded, cost Black communities more than it gave — including the story of the 36,000 Black teachers who lost their jobs when schools integrated. They also discuss the Harlem Renaissance and W.E.B. Du Bois, what has kept Rev. Dr. Gee rooted in Madison across four decades, his advice for minorities discerning whether to stay in the city and for white residents who want to be genuine allies, and why he believes the Black church — not the American government — has shaped the moral conscience of the nation. The conversation closes with reflections on the art and music that heal.GUEST BIORev. Dr. Alexander Gee is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture in Madison, Wisconsin, and the founding lead pastor of Fountain of Life Covenant Church. He also founded the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development and its "Justified Anger" initiative, and he serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Over more than 40 years of ministry and community leadership, he has raised more than $70 million for Madison-area organizations addressing racial disparities, including the $33 million Center for Black Excellence and Culture, which opened debt-free with a grand-opening celebration on May 6, 2026, drawing over 1,500 visitors.LINKStheblackcenter.orghttps://africanamericanstudies.wisc.edu/https://africanamericanstudies.wisc.edu/2024/05/13/reverend-dr-alex-gee-receives-honorary-doctorate/nehemiah.orgnehemiah.org/jacourses⏰ CHAPTERS0:00 — Catching Up: A New Studio and a New Grand Opening1:47 — What Is the Center for Black Excellence and Culture?6:28 — Building an Ecosystem: What to Say Yes and No To12:41 — Belonging Is Not Proximity19:36 — Has Black Belonging in Madison Ever Been Strong?21:52 — The Case Against Integration27:09 — The Hidden Cost: 36,000 Black Teachers31:34 — W.E.B. Du Bois, the Harlem Renaissance, and Authentic Identity38:18 — What Has Kept Rev. Dr. Gee in Madison49:53 — Advice for Minorities and for White Allies57:35 — Faith, Prayer, and the Black Church's Role in American History1:06:45 — Art, Music, and What HealsCONNECT WITH USSubscribe to The UpWords Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and visit slbf.org/studio to learn more about our work at the intersection of faith, the academy, and the marketplace.This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO at Upper House.Produced by Daniel Johnson Edited by Dave Conour
Discovering Spiritual Practices with Tish Harrison Warren SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-08-14 | Tish Harrison Warren is a writer and an Anglican priest. She is the author of several books, including Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, which won Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year, and Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep, which won Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year and the 2022 ECPA Christian Book of the Year.She formerly wrote a weekly newsletter for The New York Times, which focused on faith in public discourse and private life. She was also a columnist for Christianity Today. Her articles and essays have appeared in Comment Magazine, The Point Magazine, Religion News Service and elsewhere. She currently serves as the C. S. Lewis Theological Writer-in-Residence for the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. She is a senior fellow with The Trinity Forum and an assisting priest at Immanuel Anglican Church. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three children.
From Newsroom to Pulpit: A Conversation with Phil Haslanger SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-08-11 | Phil Haslanger has spent decades straddling two worlds that don't always trust each other: journalism and the church. In this episode of The UpWords Podcast, host John Terrill sits down with the longtime Capital Times editor turned ordained pastor for an in-person conversation recorded at Upper House in Madison, Wisconsin, as part of a summer series spotlighting local leaders whose faith shapes their public work.Over a 35-year career at The Capital Times, Phil worked as a reporter, city editor, editorial page editor, and managing editor before entering ordained ministry with the United Church of Christ in 2007. He talks about growing up in an almost entirely white Marinette, Wisconsin, how his image of God has shifted from "someone at a control panel" to what he calls "the force of love in the universe," and what a career built on journalistic skepticism taught him about pastoral care.The conversation also covers Phil’s work building an interfaith network of Fitchburg-area churches, his award-winning advocacy against domestic violence, the line between prophetic public witness and partisan politics, and where he sees both progress and failure in how the American press covers religion — including a candid take on AI's growing and risky role in newsrooms.ABOUT OUR GUESTPhil Haslanger has spent his career — and his second career — straddling two worlds: journalism and ministry. A UW–Madison graduate (BA in sociology, 1971; MA in journalism, 1973), he spent 35 years at The Capital Times in Madison as a reporter, city editor, editorial page editor, and managing editor, and for years wrote a column on the intersection of faith and politics.Phil grew up Catholic in Marinette, Wisconsin, and briefly considered the priesthood before coming to UW–Madison to study sociology. In 2000, he and his wife left the Catholic Church for the United Church of Christ; he entered the UCC's lay pastor program, was ordained in 2007, and served for a decade as pastor of Memorial United Church of Christ in Fitchburg before retiring in 2017. He later served as a parish associate at Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison, retiring again in 2024.He was inducted into the Wisconsin Newspaper Association's Hall of Fame in 2021, named a distinguished alumnus of the UW–Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2022, and received the Governor's Council on Domestic Abuse's annual justice award in 2015 for mobilizing local faith communities to support victims of domestic violence. He is married to Ellen Reuter, and they have four adult children and seven grandchildren.RESOURCE LINKSUW–Madison Center for Journalism Ethics: https://ethics.sjmc.wisc.edu/Religion News Service: religionnews.comThe Capital Times: captimes.com
What Is the Bible Actually For? | Jeff Dryden SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-08-10 | Most of us read the Bible to learn what happened or to find a principle to apply. But what if Scripture is written to do something to us, not just tell us something?Host Dan Hummel sits down with Jeff Dryden — professor of biblical studies and department chair at Covenant College, and author of A Hermeneutic of Wisdom: Recovering the Formative Agency of Scripture — to unpack the difference between reading the Bible for information and reading it for formation. They dig into why biblical scholars are trained to ask what a text meant rather than what it means, why Dryden thinks the standard "text → timeless principle → application" model of interpretation is broken, and what thinkers like Hans-Georg Gadamer and Michael Polanyi can teach us about how tradition shapes every reading of Scripture — whether we notice it or not.Topics covered:• How biblical studies and theology divide the labor of interpreting Scripture — and what falls through the cracks• Why the Bible is always "applied theology," starting with Paul's letters• Mark's Gospel as a demolition of our idols of Jesus• Gadamer's Wirkungsgeschichte and why no reader is a neutral observer• Augustine's love-of-God-and-neighbor test for biblical understanding• What's next: a forthcoming book on evangelical moralism and legalismAbout Jeff Dryden: Professor of biblical studies at Covenant College (PhD, Cambridge University), and author of A Hermeneutic of Wisdom: Recovering the Formative Agency of Scripture (Baker Academic).Links:• Get the book: https://a.co/d/037DznJv• More from SLBF Studio: slbf.org/studioIf this conversation reframed how you read Scripture, hit subscribe and leave a comment — we'd love to hear what stood out to you.
BONUS: Cory Marsh & Vincent Bacote on Defining Evangelicalism SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-07-30 | This special bonus episode closes out Season One of American Evangelicals: A History Podcast by sharing the complete, unedited interviews behind Episode 4, “What Is an Evangelical?” Only excerpts of these conversations made it into the original episode — here, listeners get both interviews in full.First up is Cory Marsh, Professor of New Testament at Southern California Seminary, who argues that the Bebbington Quadrilateral, while valuable, is theologically incomplete without local church fellowship and theological education — what he calls the “crucial X factor” of authentic evangelical identity. Marsh also lays out his own five-fundamentals model from his book Recovering a Vintage Faith, and delivers a pointed critique of Christian celebrity culture.Second is Vincent Bacote, Professor of Theology and Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College, who affirms the quadrilateral as a kind of “Bible-centric ecumenism” while pressing the case — following historian Timothy Larsen — for adding a fifth mark centered on the Holy Spirit. Bacote closes with a searching reflection on Black evangelicalism and how the movement's own convictions call it toward a fuller, more consistent ethic.Together, the two conversations offer a fuller picture of the theological debate that ran underneath Episode 4 — two scholars, considerable common ground, and real differences in emphasis.OUR GUESTSCory Marsh, Th.M., Ph.D., is Professor of New Testament and Director of the ThM program at Southern California Seminary, where he also directs SCS Press. He earned his Ph.D. in Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary under Andreas Köstenberger. Marsh is co-founder and host of The Pastor-Scholar Podcast and Scholar in Residence at Revolve Bible Church in San Juan Capistrano, CA. He is the author of Recovering a Vintage Faith: Five Fundamentals of Evangelical Identity (Mentor, 2026), among other works.Vincent Bacote, Ph.D., is Professor of Theology and Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College, where he has taught since 2000. He earned his Ph.D. in Theological and Religious Studies at Drew University. Bacote is the author of Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News: In Search of a Better Evangelical Theology (Brill, 2020), The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life (2015), and The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper (Baker Academic, 2005).BOOKS MENTIONED· David Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (Unwin Hyman / Routledge, 1989)· Cory Marsh, Recovering a Vintage Faith: Five Fundamentals of Evangelical Identity (Mentor, 2026)· Vincent Bacote, Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News: In Search of a Better Evangelical Theology (Brill, 2020)· Vincent Bacote, The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper (Baker Academic, 2005)· Katelyn Beaty, Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church (Brazos Press, 2022)· Thomas Kidd, Who Is an Evangelical? The History of a Movement in Crisis (Yale University Press, 2019)· Carl F. H. Henry, The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism (Eerdmans, 1947)PEOPLE MENTIONED· David Bebbington — historian; originator of the Bebbington Quadrilateral· Timothy Larsen — historian at Wheaton College; proposed a fifth, pneumatological mark (the “Larsen Pentagon”)· Thomas Kidd — historian; also proposed adding the Holy Spirit to definitions of evangelicalism· Katelyn Beaty — author of Celebrities for Jesus; source of Marsh's “power without proximity” definition of celebrity· Carl F. H. Henry — theologian; author of The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism, referenced in Bacote's discussion of the gospel's social entailments· John Perkins — civil rights leader and evangelical minister, referenced by Bacote· Sam Storms — theologian cited by Bacote as an example of continuationist, charismatic evangelicalism· Andreas Köstenberger — Marsh's doctoral supervisor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary· John Wycliffe — 14th-century reformer, cited by Marsh on the supremacy of Scripture🔗 LINK to Episode Fourbuzzsprout.com/2610661/episodes/19217337
BONUS: Evangelicals, Science, & Ted Davis SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-07-23 | Episode 8 of American Evangelicals had room for only excerpts from our conversation with historian of science Ted Davis. This bonus episode gives you the entire, unedited interview. Davis, a leading historian of science and religion, traces the relationship between American Christianity and scientific thought from the early republic through the Scopes trial and into the twenty-first century — challenging some common assumptions about evangelicals and science along the way. If you've already heard our episode on evangelicals and science, think of this as the director's cut: every story, historical detail, and insight that didn't make the final cut. Host John Fea conducted the full interview with Ted Davis. ABOUT OUR GUESTEdward B. “Ted” Davis is Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at Messiah University, where he was a longtime colleague of host John Fea, and a Fellow of the International Society for Science & Religion. He is co-editor, with Michael Hunter, of The Works of Robert Boyle. His most recent book, Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in the Scopes Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), is a critical edition of ten rare pamphlets on science and religion published around the 1925 Scopes trial.PEOPLE, BOOKS & TERMS MENTIONED· Francis Bacon — English philosopher; The Advancement of Learning (1605) articulated the “two books” framework of scripture and nature.· Robert Boyle — 17th-century chemist; his The Christian Virtuoso (1690/91) argued science strengthens rather than threatens Christian faith.· Cotton Mather — brought Enlightenment science to America; author of The Christian Philosopher (1721), modeled on Boyle.· Samuel Miller — New York Presbyterian minister and later Princeton Seminary professor; A Brief Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century (c. 1803) attacked “infidel philosophy.”· Asa Gray — Harvard botanist, correspondent of Charles Darwin, and traditional Christian who reviewed On the Origin of Species favorably in 1860.· William Jennings Bryan — prosecutor in the 1925 Scopes trial; opposed evolution and, especially, theistic evolution.· Vernon Kellogg — Stanford biologist and pacifist; Headquarters Nights (1917) linked evolution to German militarism and influenced Bryan.B· ernard Ramm — Baptist theologian; The Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954) urged evangelicals to be open to science.· John C. Whitcomb Jr. and Henry Morris — The Genesis Flood (1961), written partly in response to Ramm, launched the modern young-earth creationist movement.· Francis Collins — geneticist who led the Human Genome Project to completion; prominent evangelical voice on faith and science.· American Scientific Affiliation — an organization of evangelical scientists founded just before Pearl Harbor, which grew rapidly after World War II.· Society of Catholic Scientists — founded by astrophysicist Stephen Barr as a Catholic counterpart to the American Scientific Affiliation.🔗 LINK to episode 8buzzsprout.com/2610661/episodes/19367017
Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Evangelicalism, History, and What Comes Next (Episode 12) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-07-16 | In the finale of Season One, John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra step out of their usual narrative format to reflect directly on the series and on the state of the field they study. They open by sharing what listener feedback has taught them about the value of a historian's “dispassionate” approach to a subject most people experience personally rather than academically.From there, the conversation turns to future casting — always, they admit, a risky exercise for historians. The hosts trace the demographic rise of religious “nones” and “nonverts,” debate whether “evangelical” and “evangelicalism” remain useful words, and revisit the Bebbington Quadrilateral, Timothy Smith's kaleidoscope theory, and the historiographical legacy of David Bebbington, George Marsden, Joel Carpenter, and Mark Noll.The back half of the episode moves through evangelicals and political power, the rise of dominionism and reconstructionist thought, the uncertain future of Christian higher education, and the migration of evangelical debate onto podcasts, Substack, and YouTube. They close with a shared case for why a historical — rather than theological or political — lens on evangelicalism still matters, closing out the season with thanks to listeners and a tribute to historian Gordon Wood, who died the week of recording.PEOPLE & BOOKS MENTIONED· Stephen Bullivant, Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (Oxford University Press, 2022)· Molly Worthen, Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2013)· Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Eerdmans, 1994)· A.J.A. Woods, The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West (Verso, 2026)· Henry F. May, “The Recovery of American Religious History,” American Historical Review 70 (October 1964)· David Bebbington — historian; the “Bebbington Quadrilateral” framework for defining evangelicalism· George Marsden and Joel Carpenter — historians discussed their role in establishing evangelicalism as a coherent historiographical category· Nathan Hatch — historian referenced on the “democratization” of American Christianity· Timothy L. Smith — historian referenced for his “kaleidoscope theory” of evangelicalism· Vincent Bacote — theologian, Wheaton College, cited as an example of evangelical political-theology scholarship; the hosts recall him as a guest earlier in the season (Episode 4)· R.J. Rushdoony — referenced in the discussion of Christian reconstructionism· Paul Weyrich — referenced as a Christian-right organizer connected to the New Congress Foundation· Lyndon LaRouche — referenced in the discussion of the “cultural Marxism” conspiracy theory's origins· Tim Mackie — co-founder of The Bible Project, referenced on patron-funded models of Christian content· Gavin Ortlund — pastor and YouTube creator, cited as an example of digital-first evangelical ministry· Gordon Wood — historian of the American Revolution, was remembered by the hosts following his death at 92 in June 2026🔗 LINK to our button formsurveymonkey.com/r/AmerEvanPodButtons
Loving Our Neighborhoods Together | Jon Anderson SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-07-13 | This summer, The UpWords Podcast is spotlighting local leaders shaping faith and community life in Madison. Host Dan Johnson sits down with Jon Anderson, founder and executive director of Collaboration Project, to talk about what happens when churches stop working in silos and start loving their neighborhoods together. Jon traces the winding path from twenty years of local pastoral ministry to launching a nonprofit he once swore he'd never start, shares how COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd became unexpected catalysts for church collaboration, and unpacks why Collaboration Project now organizes its work around neighborhoods rather than issues or denominations. Along the way, Jon tells the story of a chance lunch conversation that turned into 1,200 free prom dresses for high schoolers, reflects on 25 years of Madison Missions and a decade of the Kingdom Justice Summit, and offers a biblical definition of justice rooted in shalom. He closes with a hope for what Dane County's church could look like ten years from now.ABOUT OUR GUESTJon Anderson — Founder & Executive Director, Collaboration ProjectJon served as a pastor in the Madison area for twenty years before launching the Collaboration Project in 2019. He has a passion for serving the local church and encouraging it in its work to serve the most vulnerable. Jon has a history of starting programs centered on engaging the church in local service. He helped begin Madison Missions, a local youth service camp that engages hundreds of students every summer. He also co-founded the Kingdom Justice Summit, which annually brings together hundreds of people from dozens of churches around Christianity and justice in our city. RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED · Collaboration Project — connecting Dane County churches to love their neighborhoods together collaborationproject.us · Kingdom Justice Summit — annual local gathering exploring biblical justice, hosted at Upper House kingdomjusticesummit.com · Madison Missions — Collaboration Project's local youth service camp, celebrating its 25th summer· BibleProject's "Justice" video — referenced by Jon as a helpful primer on biblical justice⏰ CHAPTERS00:00 – Welcome to the UpWords Podcast00:33 – What keeps Jon in Madison after 30+ years01:50 – 20 years as a pastor to launching the Collaboration Project05:50 – Milestones: how COVID and George Floyd sparked collaboration08:47 – The shift to a neighborhood-based model11:32 – Inside a neighborhood leader gathering12:37 – The La Follette story: 1,200 free prom dresses14:43 – A challenge to well-resourced churches17:53 – 25 years of Madison Missions21:16 – The origin of the Kingdom Justice Summit23:40 – What is biblical justice?26:14 – Uniting theologically different churches29:36 – Is the church reaching new people, or reshuffling the deck?31:31 – Where the church gets it right — and the growth opportunity34:02 – Jon's 10-year vision: the church as "points of light"37:00 – Closing thoughts and thanks
Accidental Diplomats: Missionaries, Money, and the World (Episode 11) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-07-09 | It's easy to imagine American evangelicalism as a story that happens entirely inside the United States. In this episode, John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra push past that bubble to explore evangelicals' long, tangled relationship with the rest of the world.The episode opens with two stories drawn from recent scholarship. The first, from David Swartz's Facing West, complicates the founding myth of World Vision: American evangelist Bob Pierce is remembered as the organization's sole founder, but the humanitarian network he built on was already running under Korean pastor Kyung Chik Han. The second, from Philip Dow's Accidental Diplomats, follows Daniel Arap Moi from a ten-year-old convert at a Kenyan mission station to Kenya's second president, guided for decades by his missionary mentor and confidant, Earl Anderson.From there, the hosts trace how American evangelicals have understood missions, humanitarianism, and their own place in the world across two centuries: the shift from cultural superiority to contextualized missiology, the 1974 Lausanne Congress and its Global South critiques of Western evangelicalism, the astonishing 20th-century demographic shift of Christianity from the global North to the global South, and the increasingly contested question of what — if anything — the word "white" is still doing in front of "evangelical." They close by reckoning honestly with the missionary movement's mixed legacy: real colonial entanglements alongside real cross-cultural courage, and a complicated set of missionary heroes evangelicals still look to for inspiration.PEOPLE & TERMS MENTIONED· Bob Pierce: Evangelist and founder of World Vision (1950), following a 1947 trip to China that inspired his humanitarian ministry.· Kyung Chik Han: Korean pastor and refugee relief leader who built the orphanage and humanitarian network in Seoul that became the operational core of World Vision.· Daniel Arap Moi: Kenya's second president (1978–2002), mentored in his youth by American missionary Earl Anderson.· Earl Anderson: American missionary and government school inspector in colonial Kenya; longtime mentor and confidant to Daniel Arap Moi.· René Padilla & Samuel Escobar: Latin American evangelical theologians whose critiques of Western missions at the 1974 Lausanne Congress challenged American evangelical assumptions.· John Stott: British evangelical leader who helped mediate the global-north/global-south tensions at the Lausanne Congress.· William Ernest Hocking: Harvard philosopher who chaired the 1932 “Re-Thinking Missions” laymen's inquiry, questioning the traditional conversion-focused model of missions.· Bebbington's Quadrilateral: Historian David Bebbington's four-part definition of evangelicalism: conversionism, biblicism, crucicentrism, and activism.· 1040 Window: Cold War-era missions term for the band of the globe (10° to 40° north latitude) considered least reached by Christianity.· Carl McIntire: Fundamentalist radio preacher associated with balloon-borne Bible airdrops into communist territory during the Cold War.· Paul Hiebert: Missiologist (Fuller Theological Seminary, later Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) known for bringing anthropological method into evangelical missions training.· Walter Kim: President of the National Association of Evangelicals, cited as an example of the organization's non-white leadership.· New Apostolic Reformation: Term used to describe an influential, loosely organized network of independent charismatic and Pentecostal leaders.BOOKS MENTIONED· David R. Swartz, Facing West: American Evangelicals in an Age of World Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2020).· Philip Dow, Accidental Diplomats: American Missionaries and the Cold War in Africa (William Carey Publishing, 2024).· David P. King, God's Internationalists: World Vision and the Age of Evangelical Humanitarianism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019).· David A. Hollinger, Protestants Abroad: How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America (Princeton University Press, 2017).· Gina A. Zurlo, How Many Evangelicals in the World? A New Assessment from the World Christian Database, Review of Religious Research (open access).
The Bible: A People of the Book (Episode 10) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-07-02 | For many evangelicals, no object is more central to faith and practice than the Bible—preached, memorized, carried, gifted, and treated as the ultimate authority. But how did it come to occupy that place, and what happens when readers of the same text reach opposite conclusions?In this episode, historians John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra trace the Bible across American evangelical history: from the founding of the American Bible Society in 1816 and its mission to put a Bible in every hand, through common-sense interpretation, study Bibles, and an enormous publishing and translation industry, to the political uses of Scripture, the slavery debates, and the 20th-century battles over biblical inerrancy.IN THIS EPISODE· “The Bible is doing its work.” Two American Bible Society Record stories—a young Catholic convert named Mary and a college skeptic—frame the belief that Scripture, “without note or comment,” could convert readers on its own.· Sola scriptura and a people of the book. Why a commitment to Scripture as supreme (or sole) authority made evangelicals Protestants—and shaped a distinctly anti-Catholic, anti-traditional posture.· Common-sense reading and its tools. Concordances, cross-references, and the perspicuity of Scripture: “helps” that let lay readers interpret for themselves—while multiplying interpretations.· Helps to study the Bible. Scofield (1909), Ryrie, MacArthur, and the commercial engine of Bible publishing—plus journaling Bibles, translations, and digital tools like Logos and YouVersion.· Reverence for the object itself. The family altar, soldiers’ pocket Testaments, and the Museum of the Bible—the Bible as sacred artifact, not just text.· Scripture, slavery, and politics. How the Bible was marshaled on both sides of slavery, woven into civil religion and nationalism, and invoked in times of war.· The battle for the Bible. Higher criticism, neo-orthodoxy, Fuller Seminary, Harold Lindsell, the ICBI, and the inerrancy debates that reshaped evangelical identity—and the Southern Baptist Convention.BOOKS MENTIONED· The Bible Cause: A History of the American Bible Society, by John Fea (Oxford University Press, 2016)· America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794–1911, by Mark Noll (Oxford University Press, 2022)· The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, by Mark Noll (University of North Carolina Press, 2006)· The Battle for the Bible, by Harold Lindsell (Zondervan, 1976)· Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism, by George Marsden (Eerdmans, 1987)· Evangelicals Incorporated: Books and the Business of Religion in America, by Daniel Vaca (Harvard University Press, 2019)PEOPLE MENTIONED· Cyrus Scofield — author of the 1909 Scofield Reference Bible (Oxford), a landmark dispensationalist study Bible.· Mark Noll — leading historian of American religion, cited on the Bible, slavery, and the Civil War.· Harold Lindsell — editor of Christianity Today; his Battle for the Bible made inerrancy a litmus test.· Carl F. H. Henry — founding editor of Christianity Today; author of the five-volume God, Revelation and Authority.· Kenneth Kantzer — shaped Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as a counterweight to Fuller in the inerrancy debates.· John Woodbridge — historian who critiqued the Rogers–McKim thesis on biblical authority.· Donald Dayton — historian who challenged Lindsell’s framing of inerrancy.· Eugene Peterson — translator of The Message, a single-author paraphrase of the Bible.· Daniel Vaca — historian who argues evangelicalism is, in part, a commercial religion.· Elias Boudinot, Francis Scott Key, John Jay — politically influential founders/supporters of the American Bible Society.· Robert Lewis Dabney & James Henley Thornwell — Southern theologians who built biblical defenses of slavery.GET YOUR PODCAST BUTTONSWe are mailing out three custom buttons from the podcast to our listeners in the continental United States. Fill out this form, and the buttons are on the way. surveymonkey.com/r/AmerEvanPodButtons
Israel, the End Times & the Evangelical Imagination | Dan Hummel SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-29 | What do evangelicals mean when they talk about “supporting Israel” — and how did Jewish–Christian dialogue evolve from centuries of suspicion into the conversations happening today?In the third installment of our series built around the Last Questions of Faith community lecture, host Jean Geran welcomes historian and author Dan Hummel for a wide-ranging conversation on Christian Zionism, evangelical theology, and the hard, patient work of talking across big religious differences. Dan traces the roots of Christian support for Israel — from post-Holocaust theology and the Second Vatican Council’s Nostra Aetate to Billy Graham’s 1969 meeting with the American Jewish Committee — and explains how dispensationalism shapes the way many evangelicals read Israel into biblical prophecy.Along the way: why Christian Zionists are an organized minority rather than the evangelical majority, how the U.S.–Israel relationship has been deliberately cultivated over decades, and what a more generous, substantive interfaith dialogue — one that includes the more conservative voices in each tradition — might actually look like.GUEST BIODan Hummel is a historian of U.S. religion and the author of The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle Over the End Times Shaped a Nation (Eerdmans, 2023) and Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations. He is the Director of the Lumen Center at the SL Brown Foundation, and is a co-host of American Evangelicals: A History Podcast. His research and writing focus on Christian Zionism, evangelical theology, and the history of U.S.–Israel relations.RESOURCES & LINKS· Book — The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism (Eerdmans, 2023), foreword by Mark Noll· Book — Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations· Mentioned: Amy-Jill Levine (A.J. Levine), New Testament & Jewish studies scholar; earlier in this series· Mentioned: Nostra Aetate (Second Vatican Council, 1965); E.P. Sanders; N.T. Wright; Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham⏰ CHAPTER MARKERS00:00 Role reversal: Dan in the guest chair01:17 How Dan got into Jewish–Christian dialogue03:08 The National Jewish Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue06:59 Building long-term relationships across differences08:18 Shared support for Israel, but not shared values09:17 Post-Holocaust theology, Nostra Aetate & the 1969 shift13:25 How evangelicals chose to “stand by” Israel14:38 Modern Israel vs. biblical Israel: Genesis 12:317:57 Who counts as a Christian Zionist?19:07 Christians United for Israel & the organized minority22:25 About SLBF Studio at Upper House22:53 Dispensationalism and the end-times script29:31 Heaven, earth, and the Israel–church dualism32:58 A professionalized lobbying relationship34:21 Current affairs: Huckabee, Hegseth & shifting dynamics39:04 Is Israel being left out? The deep well of support42:58 Linear vs. cyclical: football, baseball & the end times45:04 Recovering the Jewish context of Jesus & Paul48:49 Reading Scripture “with more generosity”49:45 Dan’s hope: getting the right people in the room53:32 Closing reflections#ChristianZionism #JewishChristianDialogue #Evangelicals #Dispensationalism #Israel #FaithAndPolitics #Theology #InterfaithDialogue #UpperHouse #TheUpWordsPodcast
Why the Bible Makes You Work for It SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-27 | Bible Project co-founder Tim Mackie calls the Bible "puzzle literature"—written by a culture that didn't believe in putting the cookies on the bottom shelf. In this clip from his live event in Madison, he explains how Scripture invites you to read, reread, and sit with confusion, knowing each difficult moment finds its answer elsewhere in the interconnected whole. Wrestling with the parts that confuse or offend us is part of how we're trained to be human.▶️ Watch the full talk from Upper House: youtu.be/VZpb-6B9NcQ#TimMackie #BibleProject #UpperHouse #BibleStudy #Theology #Faith #Christianity #Scripture
The Bibles Big Story: Gods Partnership with Humans SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-26 | What is the Hebrew Bible actually about? In this clip from his live event in Madison, Bible Project co-founder Tim Mackie describes Scripture's central storyline: God inviting humans into a partnership, calling us to reflect his image and take responsibility for the world. We fall short again and again—yet the drama of the biblical story is God's relentless desire to keep working with us anyway.▶️ Watch the full talk from Upper House: youtu.be/VZpb-6B9NcQ#TimMackie #BibleProject #UpperHouse #HebrewBible #Theology #Faith #Christianity #BibleStudy
Can a Woman Preach?: Rethinking Gender in American Evangelical History (Episode 9) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-25 | When we tell the story of evangelicalism, we usually reach for famous pastors, theologians, and institutions. But what happens when we turn our attention to the women who taught, organized, wrote, fundraised, evangelized, and sustained evangelical life across generations? In this episode, hosts John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra are joined in the studio by historian Andrea Turpin for a wide-ranging conversation about women as co-creators of evangelicalism at every level.Beginning with the story of Welsh evangelist Jesse Penn-Lewis—who built a transatlantic preaching career through evangelical institutions even as those institutions remained led by men—the conversation explores how women shaped evangelical spirituality, education, missions, and ministry, often precisely because formal leadership roles were closed to them. Along the way the group examines the relationship between evangelicalism and feminism, the history of women’s education, the rise of women’s missionary organizations, and how historians are rethinking who belongs in the story of American evangelicalism. It’s a conversation about power, influence, faith, and why some of the most consequential figures in evangelical history have so often remained in the background.ABOUT OUR GUESTAndrea Turpin is a professor of history at Baylor University, specializing in women’s history, the history of education, and American religion. She is the author of a study of gender and the founding of American higher education, and is currently at work on a project on women in the fundamentalist–modernist controversy, focused on the era’s women’s missionary organizations. IN THIS EPISODE· Jesse Penn-Lewis and the paradox of a woman building a preaching career through male-led institutions—and why her central concerns were the Holy Spirit and spiritual warfare, not chiefly “women’s issues.”· “Progressive” as a historical category: why 19th-century evangelicals often pushed furthest on women’s education—and what “progressive compared to the wider culture” does and doesn’t mean.· Evangelical pragmatism and women’s education: Mary Lyon and Mount Holyoke, and the coeducational (and biracial) founding of Oberlin under Charles Finney.· The waves of feminism, from the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments through second- and third-wave feminism—and the surprisingly loose correlation between religious affiliation and support for suffrage.· Teaching as women’s sanctioned space: Sunday school, Henrietta Mears, the “deputy husband” and Republican motherhood, and the long argument over 1 Timothy 2:12.· Egalitarian vs. complementarian: how two categories hardened in the early 1990s, and Turpin’s case for a lost middle—“complementarity without hierarchy.”· Women’s missionary organizations and church polity: how women held evangelism and social service together as the fundamentalist–modernist split tore them apart—and why polity determined whether anyone listened.· Recovering hidden labor: Biddy Chambers and the making of My Utmost for His Highest, and a call for women in evangelicalism to donate their papers to the archives.PEOPLE, PLACES, and TERMS· Jesse Penn-Lewis — Welsh evangelist; author of The Magna Carta of Woman and War on the Saints.· Mary Lyon (Mount Holyoke) and Charles Finney / Oberlin College.· Phoebe Palmer, Hannah Whitall Smith, Henrietta Mears, Helen Barrett Montgomery, Biddy Chambers.· Beverly LaHaye, Phyllis Schlafly, Elisabeth Elliot; the Equal Rights Amendment.· Evangelical feminists: Nancy Hardesty, Letha Dawson Scanzoni, Sharon Gallagher.· Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and the “deputy husband”; Anne Hutchinson; the Grimké sisters and Christabel Pankhurst.Key terms: evangelical pragmatism, postmillennialism, separate spheres, egalitarian and complementarian, “women’s work for women.”BOOKS MENTIONED· Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650–1750 (Knopf, 1982).· Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (Liveright, 2020).· Beth Allison Barr, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth (Brazos Press, 2021).· Margaret Bendroth, Fundamentalism and Gender, 1875 to the Present (Yale University Press, 1993).· Donald W. Dayton, Discovering an Evangelical Heritage (Harper & Row, 1976).· David R. Swartz, Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012).· Brantley W. Gasaway, Progressive Evangelicals and the Pursuit of Social Justice (University of North Carolina Press, 2014).
Rediscovering the Bible as Wisdom Literature — Tim Mackie of BibleProject SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-22 | What if many of us have been taught to read the Bible in a way it was never meant to be read? In this special live event recorded by Upper House, BibleProject co-founder Tim Mackie returns to Madison — the city where he earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at UW–Madison and pastored at Blackhawk Church — to share the story behind one of the most widely used Bible-teaching resources in the world.Tim traces the origins of BibleProject to a coffee-shop conversation with his old college friend Jon Collins, a successful maker of animated explainer videos who had quietly become a “post-Bible Christian.” Their shared question — how do you engage Scripture well? — became the heartbeat of the project. Tim contrasts the “reference book” Bible many of us inherited (turn to the right verse, find the answer) with a richer vision of Scripture as ancient Jewish literary art designed to form wise, mature human beings over a lifetime.Along the way, he unpacks seven core convictions that have guided BibleProject from the beginning — three about where the Bible comes from, and four about what it is for — closing with the practice of meditation (the Hebrew hagah) and an invitation to try again with Scripture, whatever your history with it.Whether you’ve loved the Bible, struggled with it, or aren’t sure what to make of it, this conversation offers a fresh invitation to see Scripture as a unified, beautiful, and transformative story that leads to Jesus.The Seven Convictions (At a Glance) Where the Bible is from:1️⃣ Collaborative literature — human authors and God’s Spirit meeting, not passive dictation.2️⃣ Unified literature — one interconnected story leading to Jesus.3️⃣ Ancient literature — written for us, but not to us; context matters.What the Bible is for:4️⃣ Messianic literature — every theme sets up and finds fulfillment in Jesus.5️⃣ Communal literature — designed to be read aloud together over a lifetime.6️⃣ Wisdom literature — forming us to discern good from bad, not just memorize answers.7️⃣ Meditation literature — hagah: slow, repeated reading that rewards a lifetime of return.ABOUT THE GUESTTim Mackie is co-founder and lead scholar of BibleProject. He holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a degree in theology from Western Seminary in Portland. His research focused on the manuscript history of the Bible and the formation of the biblical canon — including his dissertation on the book of Ezekiel, with particular attention to the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls. After years of ministry as a local-church pastor (including at Madison’s Blackhawk Church and later Door of Hope in Portland) and as a professor at Western Seminary, Tim now serves as lead scholar and creative director at BibleProject. He lives in Portland with his wife, Jessica, and their two sons.bibleproject.com
More Complicated Than the Scopes Trial: A History of Evangelicals and Science (Episode 8) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-18 | · When most people imagine evangelical Christianity and science in America, they picture conflict: the Scopes Trial, school-board fights over evolution, faith retreating before modern science. But that picture is largely a product of the twentieth century. For much of American history, evangelicals understood faith and scientific inquiry as deeply compatible — even mutually reinforcing.In this episode, hosts John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra trace that longer, more complicated story with historian Ted Davis of Messiah University, one of the leading scholars of science and religion in American Protestant history. Beginning with the seventeenth-century idea that God authored “two books” — Scripture and nature — the conversation follows the relationship between evangelical faith and science through the early Republic, the arrival of Darwinism, the culture wars of the 1920s, and into the complex evangelical landscape of today.Along the way, the hosts and Ted Davis explore why the “conflict” between evangelicals and science is both older and newer than we tend to assume — and why the real story resists the tidy narratives offered by both sides.BONUS: The Full Interview on YouTubeJohn Fea sat down with Ted Davis for an extended conversation that ranges well beyond what we could fit into this episode. Watch the complete interview on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/OHTG1yY-6bY KEY THEMESThe “Two Books” FrameworkFor more than two centuries, educated Christians assumed God had authored two books — Scripture and nature — and that reading either carefully was an act of worship. Drawing on Francis Bacon’s The Advancement of Learning (1605), evangelicals embraced the pursuit of knowledge as a moral obligation oriented toward charity and human benefit rather than power or self-aggrandizement.Progress, Postmillennialism, and the Antebellum FusionEarly American Protestants fused Enlightenment ideas of progress with a postmillennial confidence that the Kingdom of God was advancing through human effort. Scientific and technological advances were understood as part of a divine plan — an outlook that made faith and science natural partners well into the nineteenth century.The Rise of the “Conflict Thesis”The idea that science and religion have always been at war is itself a historical product, popularized after the Civil War by writers like John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. Notably, these were liberal or modernist Protestants; the original conflict was less science-versus-faith than a struggle over which “book” would define Christianity.Defining “True Science”By the 1920s, fundamentalists were not anti-science by their own lights — they held a “common sense” view of science rooted in the Scottish Enlightenment, in which only what could be directly observed counted as fact. Evolution, unfolding too slowly to observe, was therefore dismissed as conjecture. The same logic shaped resistance to higher criticism of the Bible.Evolution, Germany, and World War IThe anti-evolution movement was politically entangled, not merely scientific. Evolution became linked in the American imagination with German militarism, a connection amplified by Vernon Kellogg’s Headquarters Nights (1917). For William Jennings Bryan, that link supplied a powerful political rationale for driving evolution out of public schools.Faith and Science After World War IIThe GI Bill, the neo-evangelical movement, and organizations like the American Scientific Affiliation opened space for devout Christians to pursue eminent scientific careers — Francis Collins, Ian Hutchinson, Katharine Hayhoe, and others. At the same time, a well-organized Young Earth Creationist subculture emerged, producing parallel institutions and a lasting polarization within the broader evangelical “tent.”BOOKS· The Advancement of Learning, by Francis Bacon (Henrie Tomes, 1605)· A Brief Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century, by Samuel Miller (T. and J. Swords, 1803)· Headquarters Nights, by Vernon Kellogg (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1917)· The Genesis Flood, by John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1961)· The Creationists, by Ronald L. Numbers (Harvard University Press, 2006)· The Warfare between Science and Religion: The Idea That Wouldn’t Die, edited by Jeff Hardin, Ronald L. Numbers, and Ronald A. Binzley (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018)· Science, Religion, and the Protestant Tradition, by James C. Ungureanu (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019)· Process and Providence: The Evolution Question at Princeton, 1845–1929, by Bradley J. Gundlach (Eerdmans, 2013)· Fundamentalism and American Culture, by George M. Marsden (Oxford University Press, 1980)· The Christian View of Science and Scripture, by Bernard Ramm (Eerdmans, 1954)· The Battle for the Bible, by Harold Lindsell (Zondervan, 1976)
American Evangelicals and Science: A Conversation with Historian Ted Davis SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-16 | In this bonus conversation accompanying Episode 8, host John Fea sits down with historian of science Ted Davis for an extended, wide-ranging discussion of American evangelicalism and science from the colonial era to the present day.Ted Davis is a historian of science whose research emphasizes the human side of science—especially the interaction of Christianity and science during the Scientific Revolution (the era from Copernicus to Newton) and in America since 1800. Trained first as a physicist (B.S., Drexel University) before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, he is co-editor (with Michael Hunter) of The Works of Robert Boyle. His most recent book, Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in the Scopes Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023), examines the evolution controversies of the early twentieth century.Across the conversation, Fea and Davis trace several centuries of the relationship between Christian faith and the sciences:— The "two books" tradition—the book of Scripture and the book of nature—and its roots in Francis Bacon and Robert Boyle— How Cotton Mather brought Enlightenment science to America in the 1720s— Antebellum debates over natural history, geology, and "deep time," and critics like Princeton's Samuel Miller— Darwin, the nature of scientific knowledge, and the Baconian "common sense" tradition that shaped American resistance to evolution— William Jennings Bryan, theistic evolution, and the Scopes era— Asa Gray, the Harvard botanist and devout Christian who defended Darwin— The post–1945 transformation: the American Scientific Affiliation, Bernard Ramm's influential The Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954), and the young-earth creationist response in Henry Morris and John Whitcomb's The Genesis Flood (1961)— Contemporary scientists of faith, including Francis Collins, Ian Hutchinson, Joan Centrella, and Katharine HayhoeDavis offers a crucial corrective: American evangelical Christianity should not be reduced to opposition to evolution, and a long tradition of eminent scientists has held orthodox Christian faith alongside their work.Selected writing by Ted Davis:— Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in the Scopes Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023)— "Robert Boyle, the Bible, and Natural Philosophy," Religions 14, no. 6 (2023): doi.org/10.3390/rel14060795— "Boyle's Philosophy of Religion," in The Bloomsbury Companion to Robert Boyle, ed. Jan-Erik Jones (Bloomsbury, 2020)— "Early Modern Protestantism [and science]," in Science and Religion: A Historical Introduction, 2nd ed., ed. Gary B. Ferngren (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017)— "Science Falsely So Called: Fundamentalism and Science," in The Blackwell Companion to Christianity and Science (Blackwell, 2012)🎧 American Evangelicals: A History Podcast is a twelve-episode series hosted by historians John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra, produced by the SL Brown Foundation.🔗 Listen and learn more: slbf.org/americanevangelicalspodcast Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.#AmericanEvangelicals #HistoryPodcast #ScienceAndReligion #Evangelicalism #HistoryOfScience #Evolution #ScopesTrial
Water from a Deep Well: Recovering the Riches of Historic Christianity | Dr. Jerry Sittser SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-15 | Too many Christians, Jerry Sittser says, sit at a banquet table and eat only one food. In this episode, host Tressa Spingler talks with theologian, historian, and author Dr. Jerry Sittser — professor emeritus of theology at Whitworth University — about the newly revised edition of his book Water from a Deep Well and the spiritual inheritance many believers overlook.Drawing on the monks’ rhythm of life, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the mystics, and the great tradition of historic orthodoxy, Sittser invites listeners to rediscover something ancient rather than chase something new. He reflects on inhabiting time rather than spending it, beginning the week with rest, the practice of silence (“get up to slow down”), and what the early church can still teach a hurried, distracted age.The conversation turns honest and personal as Sittser — who lost his wife and a daughter in an automobile accident — describes suffering not as something to overcome or avoid but as something to step into and find God within. It’s an invitation to live in the tension of beauty and sorrow, and to take the small first steps toward a deeper, well-rooted faith.YOU WILL LEARN· Why so many Christians “eat only one food” — and what the full diet of historic Christianity offers· How a January course at a snowed-in mountain camp became the seed of Water from a Deep Well· The monks’ gift of rhythm: inhabiting time instead of consuming it, and beginning the week with rest· The Desert Fathers and Mothers — stranger, funnier, and wiser than they first appear· Union of relationship vs. union of absorption: a healthier way to read the mystics· Suffering as an inevitable part of discipleship — and the soul’s capacity to hold beauty and sorrow at once· Where to begin when you feel spiritually dry: small, meaningful, deep first stepsGUEST BIODr. Jerry Sittser is professor emeritus of theology and a senior fellow at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington, specializing in the history of Christianity, Christian spirituality, and religion in American public life. The author of nine books — including A Grace Disguised, The Will of God as a Way of Life, Resilient Faith, and Water from a Deep Well — he has spent decades helping Christians recover the wisdom and deep roots of the historic church for everyday life.RESOURCES & LINKS· Jerry Sittser’s website: jerrysittser.com· Water from a Deep Well (revised edition): jerrysittser.com/books· Practicing the Way podcast series with John Mark Comer: practicingtheway.org/podcasts/practicing-the-way · More episodes & SLBF Studio at Upper House: slbf.org/studio⏰ CHAPTERS0:00 Welcome & introduction to Dr. Jerry Sittser0:47 Tall Timber Camp and the Cascade Mountains2:17 Featured on Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer3:39 Eugene Peterson, the stars, and our deep history5:00 The course that became the book: a snowed-in camp6:39 Becoming a “St. Anthony fan girl” and the great tradition11:40 What “the deep well” means and why people thirst for depth16:19 Modern spiritual hunger and the monks’ rhythm of life19:09 Beginning the week with rest: the “eighth day.”20:21 The Desert Fathers and Mothers, reconsidered23:20 Abba Sylvanus: living like both Mary and Martha25:22 Silence and solitude as practice26:25 The mystics: union of relationship, not absorption29:35 Grief, suffering, and stepping into the fallen world34:30 Where to begin when you feel spiritually dry36:41 One thing to remember: “you are Christ’s.”39:18 Closing: “Tell me the old, old story” and farewell
God, the Pink Cadillac, & Commerce: Evangelicals connection with Business & Consumerism (Episode 7) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-10 | From the iconic pink Cadillac of Mary Kay Ash to the aisles of the Christian bookstore, this episode traces one of the most tangled relationships in American religious history: the bond between evangelical faith and the marketplace. Hosts John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra use the rise of Mary Kay Cosmetics as a launching point to explore how evangelicals have understood work, wealth, success, and consumption — and why prosperity has so often been read as a sign of divine blessing.Along the way, the conversation reaches back to the early republic, where revivalism, democracy, and the market economy grew up together, and forward through the postwar boom, the Cold War, the Sun Belt, and the Jesus People movement. The result is a wide-ranging discussion of faith, money, identity, and whether evangelicalism and capitalism have become so intertwined that they can no longer be easily separated.KEY THEMES & TOPICS· Mary Kay Ash and “golden rule leadership”: How a Southern Baptist saleswoman built a cosmetics empire infused with the motto “God first, family second, career third” — reworking Sunday school hymns into business jingles.· Faith and feminism in tension: Mary Kay as both a product of and a conservative critique of second-wave feminism, offering women economic flourishing without challenging family norms.· Prosperity, agency, and the prosperity gospel: From Weber’s Protestant work ethic to self-help figures like Zig Ziglar and Robert Schuller, and where Mary Kay sits near — but not squarely within — the prosperity gospel stream.· A deeper history: Revivalism, democracy, and the market economy emerging together in the early 19th century, all centered on the empowered, choosing individual.· The “business turn” in scholarship: How historians now study company records and business dynasties — the Cathy family (Chick-fil-A), the Green family (Hobby Lobby, Museum of the Bible), and earlier funders of Moody Bible Institute.· The rarity of systemic critique: Why sustained evangelical critiques of capitalism are hard to find — with the unusual dispensationalist exception of Philip Mauro.· Cold War capitalism and the Sun Belt: Consumer culture and business interests sold as ways to be a good American, a good Christian, and an anti-communist, fueling the postwar rise of Southern evangelicalism.· Consumerism as belonging: Christian bookstores, CCM, the Amish romance genre, the faith principle vs. business principles, and the scaling of ministries from Billy Graham to the megachurch.PEOPLE MENTIONED Mary Kay Ash, Morley Safer, Phyllis Schlafly, Marabel Morgan, Zig Ziglar, Robert Schuller, Dwight L. Moody, George Rapp, Josiah Bissell, Philip Mauro, Cyrus Scofield, Hal Lindsey, Carl McIntire, Bill Bright, Billy Graham, Donald Grey Barnhouse, Lewis Sperry Chafer.BOOKS REFERENCED· The Mary Kay Way by Mary Kay Ash (Harper & Row, 1984)· The Total Woman by Marabel Morgan (Fleming H. Revell, 1973)· The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber (originally published 1905; widely read in the Talcott Parsons translation, Scribner, 1930)· Wanamaker's Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store by Nicole C. Kirk (NYU Press, 2018)· Guaranteed Pure: The Moody Bible Institute, Business, and the Making of Modern Evangelicalism by Timothy E. W. Gloege (University of North Carolina Press, 2015)· Faith in Markets: Christian Capitalism in the Early American Republic by Joseph P. Slaughter (Columbia University Press, 2023)· The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism by Thomas Frank (University of Chicago Press, 1997)· Reading Evangelicals: How Christian Fiction Shaped a Culture and a Faith by Daniel Silliman (Eerdmans, 2021)· The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey (Zondervan, 1970)· The Blessings of Business: How Corporations Shaped Conservative Christianity by Darren E. Grem (Oxford University Press, 2016)· One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America by Kevin M. Kruse (Basic Books, 2015)· From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism by Darren Dochuk (W. W. Norton, 2011)
When Youve Seen Me, Youve Seen the Father SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-10 | Does Jesus reveal a different God than the Old Testament? Biblical scholar Seth Whitaker offers a clarifying word: there's a progression in how God's nature and character are revealed through Jesus — Jesus shows us the heart of the Father. But that further revelation doesn't stand over and against the Old Testament. It's the same God, more fully seen.A short but rich reflection on continuity, revelation, and reading Scripture whole.🎙️ Full episode with host Jean Geran and guest Seth Whitaker. Watch on YouTube, listen in your favorite podcast app.slbf.org/studio #UpWordsPodcast #JesusChrist #OldTestament #Theology #FaithAndScriptureThere is this progression of a further revelation of God's nature and his character through Jesus. As Christians, we would say that Jesus reveals the heart of the Father. And in John's Gospel, when Jesus says that, "To Philip, when you have seen me, you have seen the Father," there's kind of this further insight into the identity and nature and the character of God through Jesus. But that doesn't have to be over and against the way God is revealed in the Old Testament.
Priests Who Believed in Jesus — But Kept Serving in the Temple? SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-09 | Acts 6 mentions, almost in passing, that a number of priests "became obedient to the faith." But what did that actually mean? Biblical scholar Seth Whitaker unpacks a detail that's easy to miss: these priests likely didn't quit their day job. Serving in the temple was their lineage and calling — and believing in Jesus wouldn't have felt like a contradiction to them, even if it puzzles modern Christians.A small line in Acts that opens up a much bigger question about Christian origins and continuity with Judaism.🎙️ Full episode with host Jean Geran and guest Seth Whitaker on YouTube, in your favorite podcast app, or listen/watch online: slbf.org/studio #UpWordsPodcast #BookOfActs #ChristianOrigins #EarlyChurch #BiblicalStudiesThere were priests that became believers. And the sixth chapter of Acts says that there are priests that became obedient to the faith. And it's kind of this passing comment. Like, oh yeah, there were some priests that were doing their priestly thing in the temple and they believed in Jesus. What did that mean? Like, I wish there was a little bit more spelled out there, right? Historically, they wouldn't have stopped their day job, right? It's not like they had a choice that was part of their lineage, their history. But now they had a meaningful way of doing their role eye and mind. For them, it wouldn't, most likely wouldn't have conflicted with their priestly roles. But for us as modern-day Christians, we might think, how could that be even be compatible? How could you be a priest in the temple, believe in Jesus, and continue going to the temple?
How Do Jews and Christians Read Scripture Differently? | Seth Whitaker SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-08 | How do Jews and Christians read Scripture differently — and what still holds their traditions together? Biblical scholar Seth Whitaker joins host Jean Geran to explore the Jewish roots of Christianity, the deep continuity between the Old and New Testaments, and why the Bible is richer and more layered than many of us realize.Drawing on his doctoral research at the University of St Andrews on the Psalms in the book of Hebrews, Seth explains why every New Testament author was a Jew, making sense of their own heritage in light of the Messiah. Together they tackle one of the most common questions about the Bible: why does the God of the Old Testament seem “more vengeful” than the God of the New — and why that contrast falls apart on closer reading. Seth offers a memorable picture of Scripture as a landscape of mountains and valleys, with peaks like Sinai giving us a vantage point on the harder passages.The conversation also looks at what Christians can learn from Jewish interpretation — the “70 faces” of Scripture, comfort with multiple readings, and the discipline of reading in community — before tracing the historical events that gradually separated rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity.⏰ CHAPTERS00:00 Cold open: a further revelation of God in Jesus00:33 Welcome to The UpWords Podcast01:42 Meet Seth Whitaker: St Andrews, Hebrews, and the Psalms03:00 What is eschatology — and why it's the key lens05:00 Christian origins out of Second Temple Judaism07:00 Continuity over rupture: the simplified story that doesn't hold09:00 Marcion and the “two Gods” problem11:00 The vengeful Old Testament? Reading carefully14:00 Sinai, mercy, and the mountains-and-valleys of Scripture18:00 Love and judgment in both Testaments21:00 The Psalms and the “70 faces” of Scripture25:00 Reading in community: what Christians can learn30:00 The early church in Rome: patience, love, and ferment36:00 Three events that split the traditions: Rome, the Temple, Bar Kokhba42:00 Competing texts: the Septuagint and Isaiah 7:1446:00 Seth's final word: read Scripture as a dialogue, not a checklistABOUT OUR GUESTSeth Whitaker completed his PhD at the University of St Andrews under David Moffitt, focusing on the use of the Psalms in Hebrews. He is the author of Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews: Songs for the Last Days (Bloomsbury T&T Clark).LINKS & RESOURCES📖 Eschatology and the Use of Psalms in Hebrews: Songs for the Last Days — Seth Whitaker🎙️ More episodes & podcasts: slbf.org/studio Brought to you by the SL Brown Foundation, an initiative of SLBF STUDIO at Upper House in Madison, WI.#UpWordsPodcast #Christianity #BiblicalStudies #OldTestament #NewTestament #Judaism #Hebrews #Scripture #UpperHouse #FaithAndScholarship
The Politics of Reaction: Evangelicals and the American Nation (Episode 6) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-04 | In the late 1790s, a respected minister convinced much of evangelical America that a secret society called the Bavarian Illuminati was conspiring with Thomas Jefferson's allies to destroy Christianity and topple the government. The conspiracy was pure fiction—but the instinct behind it has proven remarkably durable. In this episode, the conversation turns to one of the most enduring and complicated themes in evangelical history: politics. From the Illuminati scare of the early republic to debates over slavery, abortion, religious liberty, humanitarian aid, and foreign policy, the hosts explore how evangelicals have understood their role in shaping America—and how they have reacted when they believed that role was under threat.At the center of the episode sits a larger question: are evangelicals driven by a coherent political philosophy, or have they historically responded to politics through the lens of theology, morality, and perceived cultural crisis? As always, the answer resists simple labels. The hosts trace a recurring “politics of reaction” while also recovering a surprisingly broad range of evangelical political engagement—including a vibrant evangelical left—that complicates any easy equation of “evangelical” with “conservative.”Are evangelicals guided by a consistent political philosophy, or by reaction to perceived threats? The hosts argue that across more than two centuries, evangelical politics has rarely produced a positive, sustained agenda—and has instead organized itself again and again around defending a vision of a Christian nation. The Illuminati Scare and the Politics of ReactionJedediah Morse and Yale president Timothy Dwight warned that the Bavarian Illuminati were working with Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans to abolish Christianity and civil government. The conspiracy collapsed under the weight of evidence, but it established a recurring pattern: identifying a foreign or domestic enemy with one's political opponents and framing the threat as a danger to a Christian America.A Christian Nation Under ThreatThe hosts argue that what distinguishes evangelical conspiracy thinking is its framing—threats are cast not merely as political dangers but as assaults on a divinely favored, exceptional Christian nation, sometimes interpreted through the lens of spiritual warfare and satanic forces.Prophecy, Theology, and Spiritual WarfareDrawing on Nathan Hatch and the prophetic tradition, the conversation connects biblical prophecy to political interpretation, noting how the language of “principalities and powers” has migrated into contemporary partisan rhetoric.The Other Evangelical PoliticsAgainst the assumption that evangelical equals Republican, the hosts recover abolition, temperance and suffrage, late-19th-century humanitarianism, the anti-Vietnam evangelical left, the 1973 Chicago Declaration, and figures like William Jennings Bryan, Jimmy Carter, Mark Hatfield, and Jim Wallis.Peaks, Valleys, and the Crisis of the 1960sThe episode asks whether evangelical political intensity ebbs and flows, pointing to Carl Henry's mid-century call to re-engage and to the 1960s—school prayer rulings, immigration reform, feminism, abortion, and federal pressure on segregated schools—as a crisis cluster that gave rise to the Christian right.Foreign Policy, Missions, and the “Holy War” ParadigmThe hosts close on evangelical engagement abroad—from holy-war framings to the realist arguments of the early Iraq War era and the missionary and humanitarian hopes that accompanied it—underscoring just how diverse and complex evangelical political thought remains.FIGURES: Jedediah Morse, Timothy Dwight, Thomas Jefferson, Elias Boudinot, John Jay, Jonathan Edwards, William Jennings Bryan, Jimmy Carter, Sen. Mark Hatfield, J. Frank Norris, Al Smith, Carl Henry, Francis Schaeffer, Jim Wallis, Mark Galli, Marvin Olasky, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson, Reinhold Niebuhr, Samuel Huntington.BOOKS & WORKS: Nathan Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity (Yale University Press, 1989); The Sacred Cause of Liberty (Yale University Press, 1977); Heather Curtis, Holy Humanitarians (Harvard University Press, 2018); Gaines Foster, Moral Reconstruction (University of North Carolina Press, 2002); David Swartz, Moral Minority (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012); Jim Wallis, God's Politics (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005); James Davison Hunter, To Change the World (Oxford University Press, 2010); Carl Henry, The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism (Eerdmans, 1947); and Jonathan Den Hartog, Patriotism and Piety (University of Virginia Press, 2015), on evangelical Federalists.TERMS & EVENTS: Bavarian Illuminati; Second Great Awakening; the “Black Robe Regiment”; the Chicago Declaration (1973); the Moral Majority and Christian coalition; Engel v. Vitale and Abington v. Schempp; the Hart–Celler Immigration Act (1965); the Scopes Trial; the Anti-Saloon League; Christian nationalism.
Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide to Spiritual Disappointment | Scott Bessenecker SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-06-01 | What do you do when the church becomes a source of real pain — and how do you keep faith when the institution fails you?Host Dan Johnson sits down with Scott Bessenecker — author of Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide to Spiritual Disappointment and longtime leader with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship — for a candid conversation about church hurt, forgiveness, deconstruction, and what it looks like to find God in the middle of grief rather than rescue from it.Scott draws on four decades of campus ministry to explore how Christians can hold honest disappointment with the church without either canceling it entirely or retreating into defensive dogmatism. He opens up about his own spiritual wounds — including his recovery from a stroke — and offers practical wisdom for those navigating the painful gap between the church we hoped for and the one we actually have.Whether you've been hurt by a church leader, disillusioned by an institution, or are trying to shepherd someone through spiritual disappointment, this is a conversation worth having.IN THIS VIDEO• What prompted Scott to write Bad Religion, Good News• Being both a victim and participant in the church's sins• Why self-examination is the first step through disappointment• The difference between healthy honesty and corrosive deconstruction• How to talk about church failures without losing the good• Forgiving an institution that may never say sorry• Scott's stroke recovery and finding God's presence in lament• When it's time to leave — and how to do it with grace• What Scott sees in the current generation of young adults• What a healthier American church looks like in 10 years⏰ CHAPTERS0:00 — Introduction & Cold Open1:56 — Welcome & Book Overview2:32 — Genesis of Bad Religion, Good News5:45 — Being a Victim and Participant in Church Sin9:15 — What's Kept Scott at InterVarsity for 40 Years12:27 — Disappointment vs. Deconstruction16:06 — How to Talk Honestly About the Church's Failures20:57 — A Path Forward: Healing from Church Hurt23:51 — Disappointment with God — Scott's Stroke and Lament26:52 — When to Leave a Church Community30:50 — Young Adults and the Church Today36:00 — Final Reflections & Closing Question39:34 — OutroGUESTScott Bessenecker is a ministry leader and author who spent four decades with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. His book Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide to Spiritual Disappointment is available now from Herald Press.RESOURCES & LINKSheraldpress.com/9781513817644/bad-religion-good-news slbf.org/studio
Faith and Race: Whose Story Gets Told? (Episode 5) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-28 | What happens when a historian discovers that a figure at the center of her research was Black — and that nothing in the surviving sources said so?That's the question at the heart of Episode 5 of American Evangelicals: A History Podcast. Historian Maggie Capra opens with the story of J. M. Humphrey, a little-known holiness minister whose pamphlets on divorce and remarriage she had studied for years — until a single letter revealed his racial identity, and raised hard questions about whose voices get preserved in the historical record, and why.From there, hosts John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra take up one of the most contested questions in the study of American religion: What is the relationship between evangelicalism and race?In this episode:· Why the archives of American evangelicalism skew white — and what that means for historians· The debate over whether racism is intrinsic to evangelicalism or a product of broader American culture· The rise of "colorblind Christianity" in the 1970s and its lasting effects on how evangelicals talk about race· The church growth movement, the Homogeneous Unit Principle, and the making of the suburban megachurch· Competing interpretations of the Christian right — was race the driving force behind its rise?· What sociologists Michael Emerson and Christian Smith found when they studied evangelicals and race in Divided by Faith· Black fundamentalism, parallel institutions, and the story of evangelicalism's mainstream have largely been left out· Why the term "white evangelical" divides historians and theologians📙 Books discussed: · Divided by Faith (Emerson & Smith)· The Myth of Colorblind Christianity (Jesse Curtis)· Reforging the White Republic (Edward Blum)· Black Fundamentalists (Daniel Bare)· Believe Me (John Fea)American Evangelicals: A History Podcast is hosted by historians John Fea (Messiah University), Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra, and is a production of the SL Brown Foundation.🎙 Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode.🌐 slbf.org/americanevangelicalspodcast
Theology, History, and the Question of Identity (Episode 4) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-21 | What does it mean to be an evangelical?It is the summer of 1976. A Gallup poll asks Americans a simple question: “Have you been born again?” Thirty-four percent say yes. Overnight, that single survey gives a name to a movement that has existed in America for over two centuries — and sets off a debate about definition, identity, and belonging that has never really stopped.In this episode of American Evangelicals: A History Podcast, hosts John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra invite two theologians into the conversation — scholars who have spent their careers asking what evangelicalism actually is, not just what it has historically looked like.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━GUESTS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━VINCENT BACOTE is professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College. His 2020 book, Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News, asks: if evangelicalism is really about good news, why has it so often been bad news for Black Americans inside the movement?COREY MARSH is professor of New Testament at Southern California Seminary and co-host of The Pastor-Scholar Podcast. His book Recovering a Vintage Faith: Five Fundamentals of Evangelical Identity argues that modern evangelicalism has gone soft — and the only solution is to go back to the source.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━WHAT WE DISCUSS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━The episode opens with a review of the Bebbington Quadrilateral — the four-marker framework (conversionism, biblicism, crucicentrism, activism) that has anchored the podcast since Episode 1. Both guests affirm it as a useful starting point. Both push well beyond it.Bacote describes evangelicalism as a “conservative Protestant ecumenism” and argues for a fifth marker: the active work of the Holy Spirit. As Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity grows globally, he contends that pneumatology can no longer be assumed — it needs to be named. He also asks what Black evangelicalism reveals about the movement’s unfinished work: that survival has long required taking the full ethical entailments of scripture seriously in ways that comfort has sometimes allowed others to avoid.Marsh builds his own framework — five fundamentals he calls “vintage faith”: the supremacy of Scripture, the exclusivity of Jesus, zealous evangelism, theological education, and local church fellowship (what he calls the “crucial X factor”). His argument: evangelicalism cannot be defined by belief alone. Behavior matters. And Christian celebrity culture — “social power without proximity,” in Katelyn Beaty’s phrase — is corroding the movement from within. His verdict: “We need to kill Christian celebrityism.”After the interviews, the hosts take stock. What does the theological perspective add — and what does it miss? How do Gallup, Pew, and the General Social Survey each define evangelical differently — and why does methodology matter so much? Is there room in any definition for orthopathy — right affection, not just right belief and right practice? And what do we make of Billy Graham’s decision to prioritize global missions over civil rights activism — a failure of neighbor love, or a coherent theological priority?The episode ends not with resolution but with a sharper sense of what’s at stake when we ask — and answer — the question of evangelical identity.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━BOOKS MENTIONED━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• David Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain (Unwin Hyman, 1989)• Vincent Bacote, Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News (2020)• Corey Marsh, Recovering a Vintage Faith: Five Fundamentals of Evangelical Identity• Katelyn Beaty, Celebrities for Jesus (Brazos Press, 2022)• Thomas Kidd, Who Is an Evangelical? (Yale University Press, 2019)• John Fea, Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011)• Carl F. H. Henry, The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism (Eerdmans, 1947)━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━CHAPTERS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━00:00 Introduction: The Question That Defined a Movement01:11 The Bebbington Quadrilateral Reviewed06:14 Vincent Bacote: Defining Evangelicalism21:26 Vincent Bacote: Black Evangelicalism and the Ethics of Belief28:39 Corey Marsh: Historians, Theologians, and Vintage Faith40:27 Corey Marsh: The Case Against Christian Celebrityism46:25 Host Debrief1:23:25 Outro━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ABOUT THE PODCAST━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━American Evangelicals: A History Podcast is a twelve-episode series tracing the story of American evangelicalism from 18th-century revivals through the cultural and political conflicts of the 21st century. Hosted by historians John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra, and produced by the SL Brown Foundation.🎙 Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts🌐 slbf.org/americanevangelicalspodcast
Pastoring for Monday: Helping the Church Take Work Seriously | Matt Rusten SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-18 | What would it mean for the church to take seriously the 80,000 hours most people spend at work over a lifetime? Host John Terrill sits down with Matt Rusten — author of Pastoring for Monday and Executive Director of Made to Flourish — for a rich conversation on one of the most overlooked dimensions of Christian discipleship: our everyday work.Matt shares how a pastor's public confession of "pastoral malpractice" ignited a movement, how the biblical story from Genesis to Revelation frames the meaning of work, and how churches — without new programs or new budgets — can begin forming people to follow Jesus not just on Sundays but throughout every season of their vocational lives.⏰ Chapters00:00 Introduction & welcome01:34 What is Made to Flourish? Matt's background and the organization's mission04:54 Tom Nelson's "pastoral malpractice" confession and how it changed a church07:30 Who is Pastoring for Monday for — and what makes it different?10:15 Matt's father: a model of faithful, integrated work14:19 Why work discipleship is central to biblical and pastoral life18:34 Creation, fall, redemption, new creation: a theological framework for work25:23 Lessons from Lesslie Newbigin and Tim Keller on vocation and mission29:26 Four gloves: boxing, latex, camouflage, and work — postures toward cultural engagement34:46 Practical tools: preaching, small groups, and mission shaped by vocation40:11 Enchantment, disenchantment, and re-enchantment — the Ecclesiastes cycle44:24 What's next for Made to Flourish: Common Good Magazine, Scatter, and pastoral residencies46:53 Closing thoughts and recommendations🔗 LINKS ivpress.com/pastoring-for-monday madetoflourish.org slbf.org/studio
Defining the American Evangelical Movement: Doctrine and Denominations (Episode 3) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-14 | In January 1953, the Reverend Donald Gray Barnhouse published a striking New Year's resolution in his magazine Eternity. After 25 years of building a ministerial empire — through Bible conferences, books, a widely syndicated radio broadcast, and a national magazine — Barnhouse confessed that he had fallen short in one significant area: unity. Long known for his willingness to call out anyone he disagreed with, even on minor points, Barnhouse declared that he wanted to widen his "circle of Christian fellowship" — defined not by doctrinal alignment, but by a simple question: Is this person going to be in heaven with me?It was a remarkable resolution for a man forged in the fires of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy. And as historians Maggie Capra, Dan Hummel, and John Fea discuss, it offers a revealing window into the dynamics of American fundamentalism — a movement defined as much by its internal fractures as by its battles with modernism.This episode dives deep into one of the most defining and contested threads in American evangelical history: fundamentalism. What does it actually mean to be a fundamentalist? Where did the term come from? How did the movement evolve — and fracture — across the twentieth century? And what does it have to do with debates still raging today?The conversation traces fundamentalism from its origins in The Fundamentals pamphlets of the early twentieth century, through the cultural watershed of the Scopes Trial, to its complex relationship with the neo-evangelical movement and Billy Graham. Along the way, the historians examine:• The three core characteristics of fundamentalism: Protestant militancy, doctrinal orthodoxy, and a deep sense of certainty• Why fundamentalism was originally a Northern movement centered in Baptist and Presbyterian denominations — not the Southern, rural phenomenon it later became associated with in popular memory• The crucial divide between premillennialist and amillennialist eschatology, and how it fractured the movement and gave rise to rival institutions like Dallas Theological Seminary and Westminster Seminary• The Scopes Trial of 1925 — what it actually meant, how it was misrepresented by journalists like H.L. Mencken and later by films like Inherit the Wind, and why the fear about children and Nietzschean philosophy was central to William Jennings Bryan's case• How fundamentalists didn't disappear after Scopes, but built a thriving parallel subculture of Bible institutes, radio broadcasts, Christian schools, and media empires• The surprising ways fundamentalism was thoroughly modern — embracing new technology, print culture, and a rationalist, inductive approach to Scripture — even while opposing certain hallmarks of modernity• The relationship between fundamentalism and politics, from Frank Norris's anti-Catholic crusade to Karl McIntyre's anti-communism to the emergence of the Christian RightYOUR HOSTSJohn Fea is Professor of American History at Messiah University and one of the leading historians of American evangelicalism. He is the author of several books, including Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? and Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.Dan Hummel is a historian of American religion and the author of The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle over the End Times Shaped a Nation (Eerdmans, 2023). His work focuses on the intersections of theology, politics, and culture in American evangelical history.Maggie Capra is a historian of American Christianity whose research focuses on conservative evangelical and fundamentalist communities in the twentieth century. Her work explores the internal dynamics of these movements, including questions of gender, media, and institutional culture.BOOKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED• The Fundamentals (1910–1915) — The landmark pamphlet series funded by Milton and Lyman Stewart that gave the fundamentalist movement its name• The Roots of Fundamentalism — Ernest Sandeen (University of Chicago Press, 1970)• The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism — Dan Hummel (Eerdmans, 2023)• American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism — Matthew Sutton (Harvard University Press, 2014)• When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture — Paul Boyer (Harvard University Press, 1992)• Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism — Joel Carpenter (Oxford University Press, 1997)• God's Rascal: J. Frank Norris and the Beginnings of Southern Fundamentalism — Barry Hankins (University Press of Kentucky, 1996)• Christianity and Liberalism — J. Gresham Machen (Eerdmans, 1923)• The Fundamentalism Project — Martin Marty and R. Scott Appleby, eds. (University of Chicago Press, 5 vols., 1991–1995)• Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s — Frederick Lewis Allen (Harper & Brothers, 1931)
A Jewish Scholar on What Christians miss when Reading the Bible | Dr. Amy-Jill Levine SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-11 | What happens when a Jewish New Testament scholar and a Christian host sit down to talk about the Bible they share — and the ways they read it so differently? In this episode of The UpWords Podcast, host Jean Geran sits down with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, one of the most respected voices in Jewish-Christian dialogue, for a frank, funny, and genuinely illuminating conversation.AJ joins us fresh from our Questions of Faith event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and a scholar-in-residence stint at First United Methodist Church in Madison. What unfolds is a masterclass in understanding our shared roots — and our honest differences.In This Episode· AJ's origin story: Growing up Jewish in a Catholic neighborhood and asking why the traditions said such different things about each other· The Torah has "70 faces" — what Jewish interpretive tradition looks like vs. early Christian biblical reading· Salvation, resurrection, and the Noahide commandments: how Jewish theology approaches what Christians call soteriology· Why Jesus used parables — and why open endings aren't accidents· Individual vs. communal faith: what the "Our Father" prayer reveals about both traditions· Baseball (synagogue) vs. football (church): memory, the end times, and where each tradition points· Tzaddik: righteousness as right relationship — and the call to bless the city· Interfaith dialogue: can shared stories heal division? AJ's honest, unsentimental answer· Tevye, lament Psalms, and the theology of arguing with GodABOUT OUR GUESTDr. Amy-Jill Levine (AJ) is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. A practicing Jewish scholar of early Christianity, she is one of the foremost interpreters of the New Testament for both academic and general audiences. She is the author of Short Stories by Jesus and The Misunderstood Jew, among many other works.⏰ CHAPTERS00:00 — Introduction & AJ's background01:33 — Growing up Jewish in a Catholic neighborhood05:57 — Why a Jewish scholar studies the New Testament08:00 — How Jews and Christians read Scripture differently13:56 — Hearing vs. reading the Bible: the scroll, the chant, the vernacular17:32 — Salvation: how do Jews think about it?22:01 — Torah-observance: works or love?25:04 — Why Jesus used parables29:03 — Communal vs. individual faith34:30 — Memory and future: baseball vs. football39:34 — End times: how Jews think about eschatology41:48 — Tzaddik and the call to bless the city46:14 — Jewish-Christian dialogue: can shared stories help?48:02 — Interpersonal connection as the best hope52:21 — Lament, Tevye, and staying in a relationship with God55:24 — Closing
2026 Baccalaureate Service - Evan Tinkenberg SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-09 | This was recorded live at our annual Baccalaureate Service on May 8, 2026. In his role as Campus Pastor, Evan Tinkenberg reaches out to students, faculty, and staff to encourage the integration of learning and faith. He grew up 30 miles south of Chicago in northwest Indiana, where he was raised in a generously loving family and a rich community of Reformed churches. He enjoys drinking good coffee and reading eclectically; ask him for a book recommendation. Evan graduated with a B.A. in Theology from Trinity Christian College and an M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary, where he was awarded the Exegesis Prize. Kim, Evan’s wife, is a nurse who loves baking and cooking new foods. Together they enjoy going for coffee or bookshop dates, hiking, kayaking, and bike rides. They do much of this with their two young kids in tow.
2026 Baccalaureate Service - Michael Knapstad SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-08 | This was recorded live from our annual Baccalaureate Service at Upper House on May 8, 2026. Michael Knapstad is the Pastor of College Ministry & Internships at Blackhawk Church, where he has faithfully served for nearly eight years. A graduate of Fuller Seminary, Michael previously served in ministry in San Francisco. He's known for his creative and thoughtful approach to inviting students into meaningful community and encounters with the gospel. You'll often find him in the space with students on Tuesday nights and Sundays.
The Truth About Forgiveness Nobody Tells You SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-08 | We often think forgiveness depends on the other person — but that gets it backward. In this clip from The UpWords Podcast, our guest makes a powerful case for the agency we actually have: forgiveness is something you choose regardless of how the other person responds, and ultimately, you do it for yourself.Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.#UpWordsPodcast #Forgiveness #PersonalGrowth #Faith #Healing #MentalHealth
Defining the American Evangelical Movement: Spirituality and Practice (Episode 2) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-07 | In Episode 1, we explored what it means to become an evangelical — the new birth, the conversion experience that George Whitefield and the First Great Awakening placed at the center of Protestant identity. But Episode 2 presses deeper. Conversion is the beginning, not the destination. So what happens next? What does it actually look like to live the Christian life — to become holy, to grow in faith, to be transformed from the inside out?To get at that, the hosts dive into a fascinating 19th-century story: the meteoric rise — and spectacular fall — of Robert Piersall Smith and Hannah Whitall Smith, a husband-and-wife duo from Pennsylvania who became transatlantic religious celebrities in the 1870s by promoting what they called the Higher Christian Life. Their story takes us from an elegant estate in Hampshire, England to the inaugural Keswick Convention, from packed revival halls in Paris and Berlin to a private room, a locked door, and the scandal that would end Robert's ministry overnight.Hannah's story is even more interesting than her husband's. A Quaker by background who has been called both an "orthodox heretic" and a "rational mystic," she became one of the most widely-read religious writers of the 19th century. Her book, The Christian Secret of a Happy Life (1875), became an international bestseller — and its influence reaches all the way to Sarah Young's Jesus Calling, the best-selling nonfiction book of the 21st century. The Smiths' ideas outlasted their reputations by more than a century.But this episode is about much more than one couple. Using the Smiths as a lens, John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra open up a series of genuinely contested questions about American evangelicalism: What is the real relationship between the Calvinist and Wesleyan traditions? The dominant historiography traces evangelicalism through Reformed theology — Princeton, Warfield, Machen — but historians like Donald Dayton argue that the Wesleyan holiness movement has been systematically underweighted. What role have women played in evangelical life and leadership? The holiness movement created more room for women teachers than most evangelical traditions — not because it was egalitarian, but because charisma and gifts were not, in Wesleyan theology, coded by gender. Yet nearly all these women ministered in the shadow of their husbands. When Robert's scandal broke, Hannah's platform collapsed with it. Why does evangelicalism seem so susceptible to scandal? The hosts identify the structural vulnerabilities: the celebrity preacher model, itinerant ministry far from local accountability, high moral rhetoric, and deep decentralization. And perhaps most intriguingly: how did evangelical spirituality shade into what we now call the self-help genre? Dan Hummel traces the surprising overlap between Higher Life teaching and the positive thought tradition running from Emerson through Dale Carnegie to Oprah.This is a rich, wide-ranging conversation that reshapes how you might think about evangelical history — and about the millions of people who, across nearly two centuries, have been trying to figure out what it means, in practice, to live a holy life.Hosts:JOHN FEA - Visiting Fellow in History, Lumen Center; Distinguished Professor of History, Messiah UniversityMAGGIE CAPRA - Visiting Instructor in American History, Beloit CollegeDAN HUMMEL - Director of the Lumen Center; Honorary Research Fellow, Uni🎧 Listen to this podcast in your favorite podcast app - americanevangelicalsahistorypodcast.buzzsprout.com This podcast is brought to you by the Lumen Center and STUDIO, both initiatives of the SL Brown Foundation. Find out more about our work:slbf.org/lumen-centerslbf.org/studio Produced by Daniel Johnson and Dave ConourEdited by Dave Conour
Forgiveness Changes You — And Then the World SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-07 | Forgiveness isn't just personal — it opens a door for someone else to be transformed, too. In this clip from The UpWords Podcast, our guest explores how forgiveness across communal lines brings healing to our own hearts while creating space for something even larger to happen in the world.Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.#UpWordsPodcast #Forgiveness #Transformation #Healing #Faith #Reconciliation
Let the Art Speak - On Hope SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-06 | What is the meaning of a life the world overlooks? At the 5th annual Let the Art Speak conference, hosted by the SL Brown Foundation at Upper House in Madison, Wisconsin, visual artist Tim Lowly and writer/minister Sherrie Lowly deliver a deeply moving plenary session titled "Trying to Get a Sense of Scale."Drawing on decades of artistic practice, life with their daughter Temma — who has lived with profound disabilities since birth — and the theology of resurrection hope, Tim and Sherrie invite artists, makers, and communities of faith to reconsider what truly matters and who belongs at the center of our creative work.In this session, you'll encounter:· Tim Lowly's paintings and how they reflect a career shaped by the margins· Sherrie's poignant memoir writing about love, loss, and God's presence in unexpected places· Reflections on Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark and what persistence looks like for artists· N.T. Wright's framework for understanding creative work as participation in God's new creation· A challenge to every artist: Who is at the center of your work?About Let the Art Speak Conference Let the Art Speak is an annual conference for artists, writers, musicians, makers, and all who believe that creative expression is essential to hope and human flourishing. Hosted by the SL Brown Foundation at Upper House — a Christian study center near the University of Wisconsin–Madison.🌐 Learn more: slbf.org/ltas📍 Upper House | Madison, Wisconsin#LetTheArtSpeak #ChristianArts #Hope #TimLowly #UpperHouse #SLBrownFoundation #FaithAndArts #NewCreation
Not Everyone Can Forgive — And Thats the Truth SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-06 | Forgiveness is important — but it's not something you can mandate. In this clip from The UpWords Podcast, our guest reflects on why forgiveness must be held gently: sometimes the most you can do is create space for it to happen and tell stories that inspire others toward it.Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.#UpWordsPodcast #Forgiveness #Faith #Healing #ChristianLiving
Making Peace with Proximate Justice SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-05 | If you're going to stay in a messy place, you have to make peace with doing something honest and true — even when you can't do everything. In this clip from The UpWords Podcast, our guest shares the essay and the conviction that shaped his years of watching Washington: we live in a "now but not yet" world, and faithful presence means embracing proximate justice.Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.#UpWordsPodcast #Justice #PublicLife #ChristianCivics #Faith #Politics
The Churchs Hidden Problem No One Talks About SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-04 | The church has long struggled with dualism — separating belief from the way we actually live in the world. In this clip from The UpWords Podcast, two voices who've spent their lives pushing back against that divide talk about what it looks like to long for—and labor toward—real coherence among the people of God.Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.#UpWordsPodcast #Church #Faith #Discipleship #ChristianLiving #Theology
Why Joy and Sorrow Belong Together SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-03 | What happens when you stop choosing between joy and sorrow — and start holding both? In this clip from The UpWords Podcast, our guest reflects on a lifetime of learning to live, think, write, and speak in ways that honor the full reality of human experience.Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel.#UpWordsPodcast #Faith #Joy #Sorrow #ChristianLiving #Wisdom
Learning to Find Beauty in What You Cant Explain SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-02 | What if God doesn't fit in your neat little boxes? One person who loves clear answers and tidy categories discovered something unexpected: God is mysterious — and there's even beauty in that. 🎙️ The UpWords Podcast slbf.org/studio
The God Who Is Bigger Than You Dared to Imagine SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-05-01 | Wounded healers push back darkness by living and sharing their stories — and those who linger in grief discover a God who is bigger, more loving, more powerful, and more good than they ever dared to imagine. 🎙️ The UpWords Podcast slbf.org/studio
Defining the American Evangelical Movement: Born Again (Episode 1) SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-04-30 | We begin where history often does — with a story. It’s October 23, 1740, and Connecticut farmer Nathan Cole has just heard urgent news: the famous preacher George Whitefield will be in Middletown in a matter of hours. Cole drops his tools, saddles his horse, and races twelve miles through a cloud of dust kicked up by thousands of others doing the same. What he experiences that day — and over the two years that follow — opens a window into one of the most important and contested movements in American history: evangelicalism.Hosts John Fea, Dan Hummel, and Maggie Capra use Cole’s diary as a launching point for exploring the deceptively simple question at the heart of this series: What is an evangelical?TOPICS COVERED· The story of Nathan Cole and his encounter with George Whitefield at Middletown, CT (1740)· George Whitefield as the first true celebrity of British America· The Bebbington Quadrilateral — the four theological markers historians use to define evangelicalism: Conversionism, Biblicism, Crucicentrism, and Activism· Why the “New Birth” is the most distinctive feature of evangelical identity· The 1976 Gallup poll and Jimmy Carter’s influence on how “born again” entered mainstream American vocabulary· The trans-denominational character of early evangelicalism — and why Whitefield crossed church lines freely· The First Great Awakening as a largely Reformed/Calvinist phenomenon, and the difference between “New Lights” and “Old Lights”· Whitefield’s theatrical preaching style and the role of celebrity in evangelicalism, then and now· The “parachurch” dimension of evangelicalism — how much of the action happens outside formal church structures· The question of whether the First Great Awakening contributed to the American Revolution (Alan Heimert’s 1966 thesis and its critics)· Nathan Hatch’s The Democratization of American Christianity and evangelicalism’s relationship to popular democracy· How historians have debated whether evangelicalism is the “center” of American religious historyKEY PEOPLE & WORKS MENTIONED· Nathan Cole — Connecticut farmer; his diary is held at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford· George Whitefield — Anglican itinerant preacher; subject of Harry Stout’s biography The Divine Dramatist· Jonathan Edwards — Theologian, pastor at Northampton, MA· Gilbert Tennant — New Jersey revivalist preacher, trained at the Log College· David Bebbington — Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (Taylor & Francis, 1988)· D. Bruce Hindmarsh — The Evangelical Conversion Narrative: Spiritual Autobiography in Early Modern England (Oxford University Press, 2005)· Mark Noll — The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield and the Wesleys (IVP Academic, 2003)· Nathan Hatch — The Democratization of American Christianity (Yale University Press, 1989)· Alan Heimert — Religion and the American Mind: From the Great Awakening to the Revolution (Harvard University Press, 1966)· Harry Stout — The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of · · Modern Evangelicalism (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1991)· Frank Lambert — Pedlar in Divinity: George Whitefield and the Transatlantic Revivals, 1737–1770 (Princeton University Press, 1993)
The Moment a Book Changes Everything SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-04-30 | The drapes are pulled back. The window flies open. And suddenly you see something as if for the very first time. Jeff Crosby, author of World of Wonders: A Spirituality of Reading, on what books do that nothing else can.🎙️ Full episode on The UpWords Podcast🔗 Listen here: theupwordspodcast.buzzsprout.com 📖 Learn more about Jeff: jeffreycrosby.net📍 slbf.org/studio#UpWordsPodcast #Reading #Wonder #Faith #ChristianPodcast #Books
Faithful Christianity in a Polarized Culture | Justin Giboney SLBF STUDIO at Upper House 2026-04-29 | Our culture—and our churches—are growing increasingly polarized, leaving many Christians unsure of how to function faithfully within their communities. Families, neighbors, and congregations feel divided, even paralyzed, by widening gulfs. How should Christians think and talk about this moment, and what paths toward reconciliation are possible?Join us for an inspiring and timely evening with Justin Giboney, co-founder of the AND Campaign and author of Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around. Drawing on the Black church’s legacy of holding together justice and moral order, Justin will challenge us to move beyond the culture wars and recover a faithful, courageous Christian public witness. With clarity and conviction, he will offer a hopeful roadmap for civic engagement rooted in humility, truth, and love—inviting us to rethink partisan assumptions, cultivate moral imagination, and pursue bridge-building engagement shaped by the kingdom of God.This event was recorded live at Upper House on April 9, 2026.Justin E. Giboney (JD, Vanderbilt University) is cofounder and president of the AND Campaign, a Christian civic organization equipping believers to engage public life with the love and truth of Jesus Christ. An ordained minister, attorney, and political strategist, he is the author of Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around and coauthor of Compassion (&) Conviction. He has been featured in The New York Times and Christianity Today, and lives in Atlanta with his wife and three sons.
