The Table Audio w/ Evan Rosa artwork

The Table Audio w/ Evan Rosa

28 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 31 ratings

Seeking Christian wisdom for life's biggest questions. Interviews, narrative storytelling, and reflections featuring scholars, pastors, and public intellectuals. Hosted by Evan Rosa. Produced by Biola University's Center for Christian Thought. Sponsored by the Templeton Religion Trust, John Templeton Foundation, and The Blankemeyer Foundation.

Christianity Religion & Spirituality Society & Culture christianity theology spirituality philosophy scholars formation civility humility suffering love
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Episodes

Radical Un-Selfing: Kent Dunnington on Christian Humility and Dependence on God

June 03, 2019 07:00 - 42 minutes - 38.9 MB

In this conversation, philosopher Kent Dunnington discusses humility—in its ancient, scriptural, monastic, and Medieval Christian contexts; some damning criticisms of Christian virtue; Jesus' radical vision of flourishing and eternal life, which includes self sacrifice; the temptation toward ego building and self improvement; and Dunnington's own view of humility as “radical un-selfing.”

Unshackling the Imagination: J. Kameron Carter on Structural Injustice, Misery and Melancholy, and the Theology of Race

May 27, 2019 07:05 - 46 minutes - 64.1 MB

In this conversation, theologian J. Kameron Carter discusses the black experience of a structurally anti-black world; the meaning of belonging and communion; how race factors in America's struggle for belonging to each other; the difference between black misery and white melancholy; and the presumption of comfort and alleviation of suffering that whiteness assumes. He also covers atonement theology; the erroneous logic of false ownership; and the unkillable, vibrant life of Jesus the slave.

Defiant Hope: Kelly Kapic on Lament, Finitude, Community, and the Cross

May 20, 2019 07:05 - 38 minutes - 52.6 MB

In this episode, theologian Kelly Kapic reflects on the linkage between theology and biography, the need for lament, the finitude and goodness of the human body, and the meaning of hope in the context of pain and suffering.

Standing in the Fissures: Miroslav Volf on Theology, Memory, Reconciliation, and the Self

May 14, 2019 00:31 - 44 minutes - 61 MB

Theologian Miroslav Volf on the challenge of living a theology in the fissures of life; the often irreducible complexity of human experience; how Volf's own biography and personal experience with oppression during the Cold War impacted his theology; the centrality of memory to forgiveness; and the importance of living as a porous, open self—open to encountering and embracing the other.

We're All Monsters: Ralph Wood on the Good, the Bad, and the Human

May 06, 2019 19:48 - 43 minutes - 59 MB

Baylor University's Ralph Wood on the monstrosity of humanity, the goodness of God, finding grace and hope along the dark terrain of human history, all through the lens of literature and faith.

Surfing on God: Peter Kreeft on Surfing, Science, Sanctification, and C.S. Lewis

April 29, 2019 07:05 - 36 minutes - 84.6 MB

Peter Kreeft’s reflections on theology, psychology, and spiritual formation, spanning from surfing, science, and sanctification—to C.S. Lewis, faith, and mythology.

Patchwork Redemption: Suffering and Joy in Racial Perspective

April 22, 2019 07:01 - 53 minutes - 72.8 MB

In this episode, we cover problems of consumerism, pop culture, how we can cure the loss of cultural memory, and a deeper dive into black and womanist perspectives on flourishing, suffering, and theodicy.

Wandering In Darkness: Eleonore Stump on Suffering, Evil, and Personal Encounter

April 15, 2019 07:01 - 37 minutes - 51.6 MB

Philosopher Eleanore Stump on the core of what a Christian ought to care about most, the phenomenology and experience of suffering, her take on the question of whether God suffers and dies, and finally, how interpersonal union is intimately connected to finding meaning in suffering.

Try Some Courage: Stanley Hauerwas on Death, Church, America, Suffering, and Love

April 08, 2019 23:49 - 52 minutes - 121 MB

Theologian Stanley Hauerwas on death, love, suffering, mental disability, the American church, and what it means to him to be a Christian.

Descent to Ascent: Jessica Hooten Wilson on Saints, Martyrs, Icons, and Heroes

January 11, 2019 08:01 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MB

Jessica Hooten Wilson on her love for the saints and the concept of writing and reading saints lives as a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic task. Includes discussion of martyrdom, art, and the reverence due to great books and sacred texts (and of course, a little bit of Flannery O'Connor).

Oliver Crisp and the Theology of Christmas (Bonus Episode)

December 24, 2018 08:01 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MB

A Christmas Podcast: Evan Rosa interviews analytic theologian Oliver Crisp on the Incarnation of Christ, and how we can learn from the Incarnation about what it is to be human.

Rejoicing in Lament: J. Todd Billings on Life with Christ and Terminal Cancer

December 10, 2018 08:01 - 56 minutes - 52 MB

Dr. J. Todd Billings is the Gordon H. Girod research professor of reformed theology at Western Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America. His life changed in 2012 when he was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer. In this podcast episode, we speak frankly about his diagnosis and illness, his thoughts and feeling about death, and the broader theological and cultural implications about dying.

Os Guinness on Covenantal Love, Unspeakable Evil, and Being American Now

December 03, 2018 08:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MB

Acclaimed author and speaker Os Guinness on the timeless topics of covenantal love, evil, suffering, political life in modern America, public discourse, death, legacy, and the character of God.

You're So Vain: Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung on Vainglory and Glittering Vices

November 26, 2018 08:00 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MB

Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, "Queen of the Vices" (we mean that in the best way possible), discusses soul care and excavating the heart of vainglory, pride, and other glittering vices.

The Psychology of Gratitude: How Saying Thanks Makes You Happier

November 19, 2018 08:01 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB

Psychologist Robert Emmons on the positive effects of gratitude on subjective well-being (that is, happiness). A special Thanksgiving episode.

What is Love? Thomas J. Oord on the Mystery and Definition of Love

November 12, 2018 08:00 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MB

What is love? For something so familiar to the human experience, love is notoriously difficult to define, explain, and articulate, and even harder to embody. Our guest Thomas J. Oord has spent the last two decades thinking about the theology, science, and philosophy of love.

No Man's Land: Diane Glancy on Identity, Voicelessness, and Living in the In-Between

November 05, 2018 14:00 - 57 minutes - 53 MB

On living and finding meaning in the "in-between"—featuring Diane Glancy, an American poet, author, and playwright of Cherokee descent on embracing liminality.

Jesus, Stab Me in the Heart!: Jessica Hooten Wilson on the Gospel According to Flannery O'Connor

October 29, 2018 07:00 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MB

Flannery O'Connor is an American novelist, essayist, and short-story writer known for her sardonic Southern Gothic style with grotesque characters and violent scenes. Our guest today, Jessica Hooten Wilson, is a Flannery O'Connor expert and is currently preparing O'Connor's unfinished novel Why Do the Heathen Rage? for publication. Dr. Hooten Wilson shares her intimate knowledge of O'Connor and how the Gospel scandalously emerges from the pages of her dark and twisted stories.

For God and Country: Russell Moore on Love and Humility in American Politics

October 22, 2018 08:00 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MB

In this episode, we interview theologian and Washington influence-maker Dr. Russell Moore on love, humility and power in American political life.

The Joyous Dance of Humility and Magnanimity: Jennifer Herdt on Virtue and Joy

October 15, 2018 08:18 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MB

How shall we approach seemingly opposing virtues of humility and magnanimity? What happens when our view of self is too low or too high? Professor of Christian Ethics Jennifer Herdt discusses the balancing act between what St. Thomas Aquinas penned the "Twin Virtues": humility and magnanimity.

Lament for a Son: Nicholas Wolterstorff on Grief and Suffering

October 08, 2018 08:00 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MB

Renowned philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff talks to us about his only non-philosophical published work, Lament for a Son—an expression of profound grief written in the wake of his son Eric's untimely death in 1983.

Dead Man Walking: Sister Helen Prejean on Grace, Justice, and Death Row

October 01, 2018 13:00 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MB

Sister Helen Prejean on her work as an advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty in the United States. Sr. Helen talks about grace, justice, life, and death.

Fighting the Noonday Demon: Kathleen Norris on Acedia, Boredom, and Desert Spirituality

March 01, 2018 02:52 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MB

A spiritual riddle to the modern mind: A desert monk burns all of his baskets as a means of fighting off the so-called “Noonday Demon.” Evan Rosa interviews celebrated writer Kathleen Norris, author of The Cloisterwalk, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, and the Quotidian Mysteries, about her 2008 book, Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer’s Life—discussing ancient Christian spirituality and the deadly vice of acedia, with commentary from theologian J...

Inventive Love, Locality, and Slacktivism (Emmanuel Katongole, Tyler Wigg-Stevenson)

November 22, 2017 01:23 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB

What is love's response to suffering? Easy, mediated solidarity? Social media lowers the bar for what counts as activism. These days, we’re all activists. But as Tyler Wigg-Stevenson suggests, the danger of lowering that bar is to cut out the costliness of such work for good. This is part 2 of 2 in Evan Rosa’s interview with Catholic priest and theologian Emmanuel Katongole about the ethics of love in response to global suffering, also featuring commentary by Wigg-Stevenson on “mediated solid...

Global Indifference & the Mothers of Invention (feat. Tom Crisp, Emmanuel Katongole)

November 11, 2017 14:01 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MB

Pope Francis has criticized "the globalization of indifference" in recent years. Despite the constant cycle of suffering we observe in our social feeds, leading to unprecedented awareness of others' pain, and despite our increasing ability to reach those in need of our care, we're numb. What is the loving response to suffering? Evan Rosa interviews Tom Crisp and Emmanuel Katongole in this first installment of a two-part series on love's response to suffering. Featuring the (in?)famous pond ca...

Krista Tippett on Public Life, Social Humility, and the Religious Other

August 10, 2017 20:47 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MB

What are some aspects of social humility? Becoming humble means more than understanding one's own stature and status. It means finding oneself standing on common ground with others. This is part 2 of Evan Rosa's interview with Krista Tippett (host of On Being and author of Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living). Krista talks about the origins and purpose of the question she asks all of her conversation partners; intellectual humility as an article of faith; and how humi...

Krista Tippett on Humility, Mystery, and Self-Knowledge

July 29, 2017 15:32 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MB

Evan Rosa interviews Krista Tippett (host of On Being and author of Becoming Wise) on humility, mystery, and self-knowledge.

Introduction: Seeking Christian Wisdom for Life's Big Questions

July 20, 2017 13:00 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MB

Evan Rosa introduces The Table Audio and gives a sneak peek for what's coming soon. Bonus: Listen to cute kids as ridiculous (ly awesome) questions.

Twitter Mentions

@evansubrosa 13 Episodes
@biolacct 10 Episodes
@drmoore 1 Episode
@realdonaldtrump 1 Episode
@helenprejean 1 Episode