Episoder
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Welcome to Episode 20 of Season 3 with Thomas Bolin, who joined me to discuss his important new book An Inspired Word in Season: Reading the Bible Responsibly in a Polarized World, and the always fascinating questions related to how we interpret texts, especially significant texts like those that make up the Bible.
Thomas Bolin is a professor of theology and religious studies. Most recently he was a professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College, a small, Catholic, Liberal Arts college sponsored by the Norbertine Order in the heart of Green Bay, Wisconsin. He teaches courses in the languages, history and culture of the Hebrew Bible and related ancient cultures. He is the author of four books and numerous articles, including Ecclesiastes and The Riddle of Authorship (Routledge, 2017) and Ezra-Nehemiah (Liturgical Press, 2012). Bolin researches the literary and religious histories of ancient Israel and early Judaism, and the history of Christian biblical interpretation. He is a recipient of the Leonard Ledvina Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Donald B. King Distinguished Scholar Award from SNC.
I spoke with him on June 11, 2025, from his home in Wisconsin. I loved my conversation with my friend Tom Bolin. My only regret is not asking even more questions about the history of biblical interpretation and the process of biblical interpretation because I enjoy nerding out in that way and I loved both of those chapters in Tom’s book An Inspired Word in Season: Reading the Bible Responsibly in a Polarized World. But this book is important not just for wrestling with the perennial problems of how we interpret texts and what counts as a valid or good interpretation, but for its relevance for our polarized world right now. Whether you think the Bible ought to influence the political world as it does today, the reality is that it does influence us in profound ways, and from my perspective in some highly negative ways. Reading the Bible well is important for a healthy society. Reading the Bible poorly has helped to create justification for some evil practices not just in the past but today.
Join us as we discuss reading the Bible in a polarized time.
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement
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Welcome to Episode 19 of Season 3 with Michael W. Higgins, who joined me to discuss Pope Francis and our new Pope Leo XIV. We discussed his newest book, a portrait of Pope Francis, titled the Jesuit Disruptor.
Michael W. Higgins is a distinguished educator, media commentator, and author, and he shows no sign of slowing down! In 1999 Dr. Higgins was appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of St. Jerome's University. He served as President until 2006 when he became President and Vice-Chancellor of St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. While at St. Thomas he also taught English and Religious Studies. He was also President at St. Mark’s College in Vancouver and hired me for my present position, for which I am grateful!
In addition to his academic career, Michael W. Higgins is the author or editor of over a dozen books and has been a regular columnist for the Toronto Star, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, the Catholic Register and the Canadian Correspondent for The Tablet (London).I spoke with him on May 9, 2025, from his home in Guelph, Ontario. I wanted to speak to Michael because of his great knowledge of the papacy and of ecclesial politics and I wanted to get some initial thoughts on what it means to have another Pope from the Americas, the US and Peruvian Pope Leo.
Join us as we discuss Pope Francis, Pope Leo, and the nature of the modern papacy.
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement
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Manglende episoder?
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Welcome to Episode 18 of Season 3 with my colleagues from St. Mark's College: Dr. Fiona Li, inaugural Archbishop Michael Miller Chair in Catholic Studies, Fr. Nick Meisl, Profess at St. Mark's College, and Dr. Nick Olkovich, Marie Anne Blondin Chair in Catholic Theology.
In this episode we talk about a new Pope, Pope Leo XIV, a native of the United States and a naturalized citizen of Peru. It's an exciting time to see a new Pope no matter what, but as the immediate succcessor to Francis and as another Pope from the Americas, this papacy brings a lot of hope and many serious issues to confront within the Church. In the broader world, issues include the degradation of the environment, war in Gaza and Ukraine, rising poverty and wealth concentrated in fewer hands, and the emergence of autocratic nationalism that rejects immigrants.
This is the beginning of the discussion, so join us as we muse, discuss, and speculate!
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement
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Welcome to Episode 17 of Season 3 with our friend Steve Millies, a Catholic political theorist and the director of the Bernardin Center at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and Professor of Public Theology. Steve has written numerous books, most recently A Consistent Ethic of Life: Navigating Catholic Engagement with U.S. Politics.
I spoke with Steve on April 25, 2025 from London, England the day before the funeral and requiem Mass of Pope Francis in Rome. I wanted to speak with Steve about the legacy of Pope Francis, a Pope whom you will soon hear was greatly admired by both of us. I also wanted to speak with Steve as a part of the process of mourning and remembering a Pope I really felt was “my” Pope as I say in the podcast.
The legacy of Pope Francis includes his humility, his solidarity with the poor and those who are marginalized, and his focus on mercy. Here is a list of some elements of the Pope's theological and pastoral legacy as outlined by Matthew Furtado of the communications office at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vancouver:
1. Integral Ecology: His encyclical Laudato Si’ calls for the protection of creation and an ecological conversion.
2. Fraternity and Dialogue: Fratelli Tutti encourages peace, encounter, and solidarity between peoples and religions.
3. Addressing Abuse: Commitment to protecting victims and establishing preventive measures.
4. Synodality: Invitation to a more participatory Church with the Synod on Synodality.
5. Pontifical Diplomacy: Mediation for peace and defense of the rights of migrants and refugees.
6. Pastoral Support: Special attention to young people, families, and those distant from the Church.
7. Importance for the Poor: Pope Francis places the marginalized and excluded at the heart of his ministry.
8. Church Reform: He continues the transformation of the Curia and strengthens financial transparency.
9. Interfaith Dialogue: Strengthening relations with Islam, Judaism, and other spiritual traditions.
10. Commitment to Peace: Constant calls for peaceful conflict resolution, particularly in Ukraine, the Holy Land, and elsewhere.
11. Role of Women in the Church: Appointment of women to leadership positions in the Vatican and encouragement for greater female participation in the Church’s life.
12. Relationship with Canada: Commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, notably through his 2022 visit and his apology for abuses in residential schools.
But Steve and I also touched on especially at the end of the podcast of the joy of the Gospel. Steve said, paraphrasing Francis, that"it’s always a shame when a Christian walks around like a sourpuss." That line emerged from a homily he gave on May 10, 2013, early in Francis's pontificate, when he said "that when Christians have more of a sourpuss than a face that communicates the joy of being loved by God, they harm the witness of the church." He went on to say that "the Christian is a man or woman of joy,” something deeper than happiness and something that ought to identity us as Christians.
We did not discuss all of these themes or aspects of his legacy, but I hope in the next week or so to have an episode that focuses more on the meaning of Pope Francis in Canada with an eminent Canadian guest. Please stay tuned for that. There is so much more to say, but I want to end by saying I miss Francis already, a moral authority promoting peace, love, and acceptance at a time when more and more voices are focused on division, polarization, hatred, and cruelty. Pope Francis was loved by most and hated by some for his very focus on mercy and love. Let’s continue to work for mercy and love.
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
Some upcoming events:
The conference is almost upon us! We will have over 40 presenters from Asia, Africa, and North America at The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and where you can register at the CCE website. The link is in the show notes to both the conference website and the registration page.
The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
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Welcome to epsiode sixteen of season three, an episode recorded on April 21, 2025, the day on which Pope Francis died. I talk about Pope Francis in this episode and the first major interview he gave to Jesuit journals around the world including America Magazine in the USA. I have linked to the interview here: A Big Heart Open to God interview. I responded to that interview with a piece I wrote for America called The Pope's Interview and the Bible.
In this episode I read my analysis of the biblical foundations of that interview as I think the passages he referenced remained a guiding light for his papacy and for his encyclicals.
On the CCE Facebook page, I wrote:
The CCE mourns the passing of Pope Francis (1936-2025). Our Centre was established to further his outreach to and engagement with the world. Our website says this about his work:
“More than fifty years after the close of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis is leading a renewal of the Church that is deeply embedded within the Catholic Intellectual tradition, which emphasizes that learning means discovering and growing in the truth. It builds on his formation in the Argentinian “Theology of the People”, which understands “the honest and sincere love of God practiced by people at the local level might inform the theological understanding and religious behaviour of the global church.” Released shortly after his election, Francis’ first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (2013) represents his blueprint for this renewal. It calls for the creation of a “culture of encounter”, and for the Church to become “a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcome, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel.”
In 2023 we held our first international conference to reflect upon the theology of Pope Francis. In that same year we offered our first Laudato Si' lecture, a lecture which is offered annually in honour of his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si'.
We are thankful for his life dedicated to sharing the Gospel of love with all people. His life challenges us to answer, what matters most to us, the love of power or the power of love? May he rest in peace and may we continue to witness to God’s love, here in Vancouver and throughout the world.Peace to you all.
There will be further remembrances and reflections on Pope Francis and his papacy to come in the coming week.
John W. Martens,
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement
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Welcome to the fifth episode of Pop Culture Matters, a conversation with my good friend and veteran of radio and television in Vancouver and beyond Martin Strong. In this episode we discussed White Lotus season three. It would not have been on my radar for a Pop Culture Matters episode prior to this season, but then again it had never dealt so overtly with Christian and Buddhist spirituality before. It had in the first two seasons focused on the foibles of the rich and materialistic, but this season it took what I think was a welcome turn to explore the themes of materialism and suffering and loss in the context of religious values. That’s right, it turned to what matters most. Martin and I had been watching the show throughout the season but had not talked about it until a couple of weeks ago and we realized this is peak pop culture for our podcast. I hope you enjoy our discussion, but keep in mind as you begin to listen, there are spoilers galore.
This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.
Apart from our deep dive into White Lotus, we discussed Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, and he did indeed live in the late 2nd century A.D. (121-180 AD).
Martin also mentioned Ron Sexsmith, a Canadian singer-sonwriter and his song If Only Avenue, which I have linked to here. It's a beautiful song. If you have not heard him before, check out his discography, including the lovely and gentle God Loves Everyone.
We both had also read the article by James Martin, S.J. on the White Lotus finale. We both highly recommended it.
On Theravada Buddhism in general, please check out this introductory page.
Upcoming Events
The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and the program on the CCE website. Click here to register.
The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.
Past Events:
Father Andrew Laguna S.J.'s annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment is available on You Tube now.
Dr Ray Aldred's third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, is available on You Tube.
Dr. Michael Higgins lecture on The Monk and the Pope is now on You Tube.
The webinar with Fr. Jim Martin on April 7, Building Bridges: Reaching Out to Those on the Margins, is now available on You Tube.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember pop culture matters.
John W. Martens
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Welcome to the fourth episode of Pop Culture Matters, different in all sorts of ways, mostly because it’s just me John Martens and also because Easter, our topic today, is not exactly a pop culture matter, but one thing that does seem to be a pop culture matter are memes telling us that Easter is a pagan holiday. These memes and claims sprout like spring flowers around, ah, Easter!
Every year as Easter approaches I begin to see a number of Ishtar equals Easter memes roll across my Facebook feed, or other social media, as friends or acquaintances of mine decide to spill the hidden truth on the origins of Easter. Or, Christian friends say, this is nonsense and respond with their own memes, showing how silly these claims are. Ishtar is not Easter. But there are still some good questions to ask, such as , where does the name easter comes from? Is there a little modicum of truth to these claims that easter is a pagan goddess or derived from a pagan celebration? What about Anglo-Saxon “Eostre,” or Babylonian “Ishtar,” Hebrew “Ashtaroth,” and Greek “Astarte"?
As we begin, I want to acknowledge that the land on which St. Mark’s is located is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) People. I record this podcast from the land of the Tsawwassen people. We are thankful for their welcome to us so that we can live, work, and pray on their land and learn from first nations people themselves.
This podcast emerges from the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC, a centre that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, other religious traditions, and those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.
Here are some of the sources I used for the podcast:
Bede, De Temporum Ratione: "quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit."
"Easter and its Cycle,” 10-13 in the New Catholic Encyclopedia (E. Johnson, T. Krosnicki, eds.; 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 Apr. 2013)
A. R. C. Leaney, "Easter” in The Oxford Companion to the Bible (Bruce M. Metzger, Michael D. Coogan, Oxford Biblical Studies Online. 02-Apr-2013).
John F. Baldovin, “Easter” in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2579 (Lindsay Jones, ed.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005).
Manfred Lurker, "Ostara" in The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. (Routledge, 2004. Routledge Religion Online. Taylor & Francis.02 April 2013)
Allen J. Frantzen, Easter" in Anglo-Saxon Keywords (Blackwell Publishing, 2012. Blackwell Reference Online. 02 April 2013), “
Gregory D. Alles and Robert S. Ellwood, "Canaanite religion" in World Religions Online. (Infobase Learning. Web. 2 Apr. 2013).
Upcoming Podcast Epsiodes
Coming up next in some order still to be determined are Dr. Fiona Li, the first Archbishop Ireland Chair in catholic studies at St. Mark’s College, and then Dr. Minelle Mahtani of UBC on growing up in Canada with a Muslim and a Hindu parent, and then Dr Paula Fredriksen, one of the great scholars on early Christianity and Judaism, and Dr. Joan Taylor, another great scholar of early Christianity and Judaism.
Coming out next on Pop Culture Matters will be Martin Strong and me discussing the Season 3 finale and the whole season of White Lotus. Spirituality was a key theme is this season of the television show.
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear, or at our new Facebook page Centre for Christian Engagement. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Upcoming Events
The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and the program on the CCE website. Click here to register.
The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.
Past Events:
Father Andrew Laguna S.J.'s annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment is available on You Tube now.
Dr Ray Aldred's third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, is available on You Tube.
Dr. Michael Higgins lecture on The Monk and the Pope is now on You Tube.
The webinar with Fr. Jim Martin on April 7, Building Bridges: Reaching Out to Those on the Margins, is now available on You Tube.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember pop culture matters.
John W. Martens
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This is not as late as the last episode, only a day behind this time, but this might be the new normal until the conference is over. Nevertheless, it is worth the wait as Tim and I talk about the stable disposition necessary to create the habits needed to create virtue.
This is episode fifteen of season three with Dr. Tim Pawl, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tim received his MA and PhD from Saint Louis University and his BA in Philosophy and Theology, BA, magna cum laude from Valparaiso University in Philosophy and Theology.
Tim works on metaphysics, philosophical theology, and moral psychology. He says, “In metaphysics I work on truthmaker theory, modality, and free will. In philosophical theology, I have published on transubstantiation, Christology, and divine immutability. In moral psychology I have worked with psychologists on questions concerning how best to grow in virtue, and whether the traditional wisdom of the Christian moral tradition is conducive to growth in virtue.” Tim’s best-known works are linked here and include his books on the Christology of the early church councils, The Incarnation. Cambridge Elements Series. Cambridge University Press (2020); In Defense of Extended Conciliar Christology: A Philosophical Essay. Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology. Oxford University Press, 2019; and In Defense of Conciliar Christology: A Philosophical Essay. Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology. Oxford University Press, 2016.
When Tim and I discussed this podcast, though, Tim was interested in discussing his work on virtue and especially a series of articles on virtue in light of both ancient Christian moral teachings and modern psychology. There were three articles in particular that Tim sent to me on The Psychology of Habit Formation and Christian Moral Widom on Virtue Formation, Christian Moral Wisdom, Character Formation, and Contemporary Psychology, and What is Virtue? The link above will take you to all of these articles.
Tim is a significant philosopher on matters that for many of us, myself included, are complex and technical, especially his work on the early councils and their Christological definitions. What we discussed is also significant and, in many ways, complex too, but there is something about virtue, habit, and personal psychology that is direct and knowable because most of us struggle to live it out our virtues, and wrestle with habits both good and bad. It’s philosophy and psychology that we confront on a regular if not daily basis. How to be good people. Tim mentioned the litany of humility, which I link to here, as a practice that can be of benefit for, indeed, gaining humility.
Tim Pawl is such a careful thinker and I appreciate the care he brought to discussing virtue, virtue formation, and how we can create the habits that allow virtue to flourish both from ancient Christian and contemporary psychological sources.
Virtue formation is always important and I suspect always a struggle in every age and for every, or the vast majority, of people. Most of us desire to do better, to live out what matters most to us, and to seek the good whenever we can. But it’s tough sometimes to do it. What can aid us in this? What can help us?
But if it is a perennial issue, from a Christian perspective a primal struggle with sin, there are conditions that allow human flourishing more than others. In our own age, one of the major issues that creates the near occasion for sin is social media. One of the bedrock elements of the Christian tradition, emerging from the Jewish tradition, is to tell the truth: Proverbs 12:22: “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.” Colossians 3:9 says, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.”
We all have to reckon with our own weaknesses. The Rabbis posited that we had a yetzer ha-ra, an evil impulse, and a yetzer ha-tov, a good impulse, something like a light and shadow side. But when disinformation or misinformation have become the mode of communicating it is difficult to determine what is true. Indeed, lies are even in the words. In what way are misinformation disinformation not simply lying?
This is where the ancient Christian tradition and contemporary psychology encourage us to maintain the habit formation that create virtue. We tell the truth. We insist that others tell the truth. We seek the truth and not the lies. We do not promote lies. This is what has troubled me in terms of our shared social world. But virtue is a constant process of growth and it is something that matters not just for individuals but for our shared life in community. Let’s tell the truth. I thank Tim for his conversation and know that there might be other virtues that you are growing in and working on. It’s a worthwhile task. It might not seem it in the craziness of our political climate, but virtue is its own reward.
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next in some order still to be determined are Dr. Fiona Li, the first Archbishop Ireland Chair in catholic studies at St. Mark’s College, and then Dr. Minelle Mahtani of UBC on growing up in Canada with a Muslim and a Hindu parent, and then Dr Paula Fredriksen, one of the great scholars on early Christianity and Judaism, and Dr. Joan taylor, another great scholar of early Christianity and Judaism.
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear, or at our new Facebook page Centre for Christian Engagement. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and the program on the CCE website. Click here to register.
The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.
Some other upcoming events:
A webinar with Fr. Jim Martin on April 7 at 5 pm PCT. Building Bridges: Reaching Out to Those on the Margins
Is there a place for all people in the Catholic Church? How can everyone feel welcomed and experience God's love in their lives?
Register on Eventbrite now!
Past events:
Father Andrew Laguna S.J.'s annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment is available on You Tube now.
Dr Ray Aldred's third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, is available on You Tube.
Dr. Michael Higgins lecture on The Monk and the Pope is now on You Tube.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
Dr. John W. Martens
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Sorry for the lateness on this incredible episode! The busy-ness of preparing for the conference and working on a few academic papers led to a two day delay. But this is a long episode and Paul and I had a terrific conversation, so I hope that makes up for some of my tardiness!
This is episode fourteen of season three with Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk, Professor and Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been published in nine languages, and his books include The Suffering of the Impassible God (Oxford, 2004), Histoire du catéchuménat dans l’église ancienne(Cerf, 2007), The Spiritual Senses: Perceiving God in Western Christianity (co-edited with Sarah Coakley, Cambridge, 2012) and Georges Florovsky and the Russian Religious Renaissance (Oxford, 2014).
Paul is also a founder of IOTA, the International Orthodox Theological Association, and of Rebuild Ukraine, a humanitarian organization that raises money for Ukraine’s defenders, civilians, and refugees.
Paul is a notable theologian, but as you will hear in this episode he was born in Kiev and educated in the Soviet Union, which was not in the habit of producing a lot of theologians in the 20th century. Paul talks about his conversion experience, his move to the US to study theology, and the realities of authoritarian governments, that he grew up under and which are expanding today. We also discuss his remarkable new Oxford Handbook of Deification, of which he is one of three editors.
Paul Gavrilyuk is an incredible theologian, prolific and learned, and a dear friend. We traveled together through Greece and Turkey teaching early Christianity to 25 undergraduate students many years ago and have shared so many hours at conferences, in classrooms, learning together and simply being together. What a delight to spend this time together again.
For me, the most impressive part of Paul’s story, though, is his incredible journey from the Soviet Union to the Church and to an internationally renowned theologian. His story of conversion and the acts of bravery necessary by him and by others to bring his vocation to fruition are humbling. We are in a time of creeping, perhaps moving faster than that now, authoritarianism, and acts of bravery might be essential for us to continue to build a world of concern for all, but especially for those in the most need of support.
Paul’s work with Rebuild Ukraine does just that – it cares for those impacted by the senseless war of Putin against the people of Ukraine. This is not a distant war to Paul and his family, it is a war against his home.
Why talk about theology during a time of rising autocracy and oligarchy around the world? While it can be misused for bitter an cruel ends, theology is what sustains so many during times of crisis, war, and persecution. It keeps our minds on what matters most. It reminds us that war is a failure brought on by men who seek power, money, and fame. It is not what sustains us, it is what creates hate and begets cruelty.
Paul’s research on theosis or deification points us to our true goal: love of neighbour, love of God, and the hope of life in the presence of God, becoming more and more like God. And what it is to become more and more like God says the Apostle Paul is love. And what love creates on earth are the fruits of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23 defines the person who is living in accordance with the Holy Spirit as showing these fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When you are lost in a sea of disinformation and people trying to create hatred against one another, ask yourself this? Where do I see the fruits of the spirit?
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Tim Pawl, a philosopher, on virtue, and then Dr. Minelle Mahtani of UBC on growing up in Canada with a Muslim and a Hindu parent, and then Dr Paula Fredriksen, one of the great scholars on early Christianity and Judaism.
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
We have a webinar with Fr. Jim Martin on April 7 at 5 pm PCT. Building Bridges: Reaching Out to Those on the Margins.
Is there a place for all people in the Catholic Church? How can everyone feel welcomed and experience God's love in their lives?
Register on Eventbrite now!
The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and the program on the CCE website. Click here to register.
The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.
Past events:
Father Andrew Laguna S.J.'s annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment is available on You Tube now.
Dr Ray Aldred's third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, is available on You Tube.
Dr. Michael Higgins lecture on The Monk and the Pope is now on You Tube.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
Dr. John W. Martens
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This is episode 13 of season 3 of What Matters Most, featuring the Venerable Rev. Dr. Robert James, Associate Professor, Anglican Formation and Studies at VST. Apart from his work in Anglican studies, Rob is a biblical scholar and has written and published a book of stories from the Bible designed for storytellers to use with children in children’s homilies or Sunday School or church camps. The first book is on stories from the NT, but there is a second coming on stories from the OT. The illustrator for both is the Reverend Amanda Ruston. The book is called Fifty New Testament Stories for Storytellers. It was terrific to have on the podcast again my good friend Rob James, a Great Friend of the Podcast, a GFOP as they call it on the Men in Blazers podcast.
He is a master storyteller and you might even be able to find some examples of him teaching, singing, and playing his stories on YouTube from his days as a priest in England if you poke around. Here's a few to get you started! One, Two, Three! I can tell you that his presentation of the story of Jesus teaching how should we pray at the SBL meetings in the Children in the Biblical World session in November 2024 in San Diego had 68 biblical scholars up on their feet doing all of the motions and uttering all of the words as he led us through that story. It was a highlight of the whole conference.
But Rob’s work on telling biblical stories for children allows us to think about what we want children to learn from the Bible, and not just children, but adults. Why are we telling these stories for children? Knowledge of these stories and persons is essential for understanding art, music, culture and their influence on English speaking and other cultures. But there are other more important issues also. Some of it certainly is just to let children know about what the Bible teaches, but is this just an issue of teaching morality? Here’s how you need to behave, or practice your faith, here are good things to do unto others, and here are good things to believe. Certainly, all of these things are worthy. But I wonder if simply letting children know about the people in the Bible and what it teaches goes beyond cultural considerations and even moral considerations and simply allows children to encounter God and the nature of God and to reflect on, think about, and even wrestle with questions of purpose and meaning. This sort of wrestling is not beyond children, they do it naturally and have insights about God that transcend their age and simplicity. Rob’s work lets this happen naturally and gently, allowing the stories to teach the children and to teach us.
Because thinking about Rob’s work in writing a children’s Bible also made me reflect on and work to understand the purpose of the Bible for adults. What do we hope to get from the Bible? What do we expect from it? Whom do we encounter there? Why are we reading the Bible?
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk on the Oxford Handbook of Deification and Orthodox theology, IOTA, and his organization Rebuild Ukraine. After that will be Dr. Tim Pawl, a philosopher, on virtue, and then Dr. Minelle Mahtani of UBC on growing up in Canada with a Muslim and a Hindu parent.
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
We will have over 40 presenters from Asia, Africa, and North America at The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and where you can register at the CCE website. The link is in the show notes to both the conference website and the registration page.
The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.
On March 3, 2025, Father Andrew Laguna S.J. will be offering our annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment.
Past events:
On January 27, 2025, Dr Ray Aldred offered the third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, our common home. It is available on You Tube.
Dr. Michael Higgins will have already spoken to us on February 10, 2025 on The Monk and the Pope. This lecture is now on You Tube, and you can find all of the links on the CCE website or on St. Mark’s YouTube channel.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
Dr. John W. Martens
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This is episode 12 of season 3 of What Matters Most, featuring Dr. Don Baker, Professor of Korean Civilization at UBC in Asian Studies since 1987. The story you will hear him tell about Catholicism in Korea and about the Gwangju democratization movement or resistance in 1980, some of which he was present for, is powerful and moving. It is also a story of the power of moral resistance and the cost of such resistance to many individuals, a cost paid by many with their lives. But the fight for democracy in Korea against military dictatorship is also a story of the worth of such a resistance that included many religious people and many ordinary Koreans.
Don also traces the history of Catholicism in Korea, which arrived with some elite neo-Confucian scholars only in 1784, with the Protestant church arriving a full century later in 1884. It is a story of persecution and martyrdom and Don has written about this in a number of books, including Catholics and Anti-Catholicism in Choson Korea and Persecution and Martyrdoms: Korea. It is a story of suffering, but also of resilience and faithfulness.
This is a powerful episode and it was moving to me to hear it, I suspect it might be for you too, and more significantly it was moving for Don who witnessed the events of the democratization resistance at Gwangju in 1980 to recount the story of suffering.
Dictatorship is never the pathway forward and it took great moral courage, resilience, and many lives to cast off the Korean dictatorship. This is the kind of moral courage needed today to defend democracy all over the world. The nuns and priests, other religious figures, and the ordinary people of Korea showed this great resistance and as a result the Catholic church in Korea is the most respected religion there to this day, a Church without scandal.
But it is a Church that emerged from great suffering too starting soon after its arrival in Korea by Koreans themselves, neo-Confucian scholars who found writings about Catholicism by Matte Ricci in China and brought it back themselves in 1784. There were no priests in Korea when the persecutions against Korean Catholics began. They had brought the religion themselves and made it their own and persevered.
This is truly an episode about what matters most, about the choices people made to accept suffering to remain faithful to their beliefs, and about people in the 1980s, nuns and priests included, who were willing to stand up for democracy against dictatorship. This is something all of us need to keep asking, what matters most to us, what is more important to us than more money or more power? Because these things do not satisfy at the deepest level. Every day one sees political leaders, billionaires, striving for more, and more, more money, more countries, more power, while the many go without enough to eat or a place to live. The Korean Catholic church demonstrates that better than that is a life lived in tune with the truth and in tune with the deepest hopes of human beings, freedom, integrity, and truth. Strongman come and go, but the truth cannot ultimately be buried or persecuted out of existence.
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Reverend Dr. Rob James on children's Bibles, Dr. Tim Pawl, a philosopher, on virtue, Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk on orthodox theology, growing up in the Soviet Union, and the new Oxford Handbook on Deification that he co-edited, and Dr. Minelle Mahtahni on her memoir “May It Have a Happy Ending."
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
We will have over 40 presenters from Asia, Africa, and North America at The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. You can find all the information on the speakers and where you can register at the CCE website. The link is in the show notes to both the conference website and the registration page.
The cost for the whole conference is minimal and the three keynote speakers are free, but you do need to register for Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo.
Other events:
On January 27, 2025, Dr Ray Aldred offered the third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, our common home. It is already available on You Tube.
By the time you hear this podcast, Dr. Michael Higgins will have already spoken to us on February 10, 2025 on The Monk and the Pope. This lecture is now on You Tube, and you can find all of the links on the CCE website or on St. Mark’s YouTube channel.
On March 3, 2025, Father Andrew Laguna S.J. will be offering our annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment.
A few thanks are in order. To Martin Strong, to Kevin Eng, and to Fang Fang Chandra, the team who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
Dr. John W. Martens
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This is Episode Eleven of Season Three, featuring Dr. Gerald Schlabach, an emeritus professor in the Department of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he taught for twenty years and also served for six years as chair of the Department of Justice and Peace Studies. Previously he taught history at Bluffton College, a Mennonite liberal arts college in Ohio. Gerald received his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, where he studied ethics in the Department of Theology.
During much of the 1980s, he worked in Central America with Mennonite Central Committee, an organization dedicated to peace, justice, Christ-like service and global education. A Roman Catholic as of Pentecost 2004, Gerald is a Benedictine oblate, is deeply involved in the Bridgefolk movement for grassroots dialogue and unity between Mennonites and Catholics, and continues to call himself a “Mennonite Catholic.”
He is the author of numerous books. Check them all out at his website. I will mention here a few of them, Sharing Peace: Mennonites and Catholics in Conversation, Unlearning Protestantism: Sustaining Christian Community in an Unstable Age, and the book we will focus on here A Pilgrim People: Becoming A Catholic Peace Church
Gerald and I were colleagues for twenty years and you can hear in our conversation what those who have worked alongside him know: he is thoughtful about his faith and he takes seriously the need to live out his faith in community, with care and support for those who have been marginalized, and in tune with the Gospel. His work in Guatemala continues to this day. With author Juan Ajtzip, Gerald is helping to bring to English readers A Mayan Witness to Blessed Stanley Rother. Juan Ajtzip was the first Mayan director of La Voz de Atitlán, a radio station founded by the missionary team from Oklahoma that included Father Stanley Rother, a missionary priest from Oklahoma, who has been declared a martyr for the faith (December 2016) and was beatified by Pope Francis (September 2017). He served and lived with the Tz’utujil Maya people of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, from 1968 until his assassination on July 28, 1981.
I really appreciated his book A Pilgrim People: Becoming a Catholic Peace Church, and what it means to be a peace church, Catholic or otherwise, and how to live out non-violence. I asked Gerald about the accusations that non-violence is simply naïve, not attuned to the harsh realities of life, too idealistic, and Gerald movingly spoke of how one has to deal with feelings of anger created by war and conflict, drawing on Bruce Cockburn’s searing song “If I Had a Rocket Launcher.”
But Gerald challenged the assumption that war works, that war is the best way to solve problems, and argued that non-violence works better than we might expect. Does violence really work? It might be more realistic, less naïve, to invest in strategies of non-violence. He cited Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan by Columbia University Press. Non-violence they argue from the data is 4x as likely to succeed, 10x as likely to result in a durable, sustainable democracy 10 years later than violence and war.
For Christians in general, Catholics in particular, we need to recognize that national identity should not trump the Sermon on the Mount. If you want to make an argument for Just War, going back to Augustine, then this requires taking seriously the demands of this late antique theory, which is serious and limited. But we ought to ask ourselves first: how can we avoid violence? How can we work for pacifism instead of Just War? How can we have a proper patriotism but love all of our neighbors? How does violence create and relate to immigration? Gerald recommended Jonathan Blitzer’s book, Everyone Who Has Gone is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis to understand how violence brought about so many of the issues related to immigration in the USA today.
So, we need to ask, what can we do to build a civilization of love?
The pilgrimage we need to take is one of love, which does not avoid or evade hard questions, and takes seriously the fears and worries of others, and our own sinfulness and anger, but the biblical visions of love need to be our end goal on our journeys, our attempt to help create a new earth. This might seem particularly difficult now in an age when politics seems to be getting uglier and uglier and crueler and crueler. But now is the time to put it into practice. If Christian nationalism is wrong what is right? If Constantinianism is wrong, what is right? For Christians, it has to be love across borders.
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Don Baker of UBC on Catholicism in Korea and why Catholicism is such a respected religion there and Dr. Tim Pawl, a philosopher, on virtue and maybe we can get him to talk about the Trinity too.
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Upcoming Conference:
You can now register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025 for the conference. The cost will be minimal to attend the concurrent sessions of the conference itself, only $60 and I think you will find it stimulating and challenging. It will be exciting. The link is in the show notes to both the conference website and the registration page.
Three confirmed keynote speakers are Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo. These keynote or plenary sessions are free for all, so look for the registration information on our website now.
Other Events:
On January 27, 2025, Dr Ray Aldred offered the third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, our common home. It is already available on YouTube.
On February 10, 2025, Dr. Michael Higgins will be speaking about his new biography of Pope Francis called the Jesuit Disruptor. You can register online at Eventbrite now!
On March 3, 2025, Father Andrew Laguna S.J. will be offering our annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment.
A few thanks are in order. First of all, I am grateful to Martin Strong, who guides me in the podcasting world. Second, the episodes are edited, engineered, and produced by Kevin Eng who is the first listener to all the episodes and helps me pick out those opening snippets which do so much to set the tone for each episode. Thank you, Kevin, for all of your expertise and support. Finally, to the Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC
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This is Episode Ten of Season Three, featuring Dr. Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, the Clarence Louis and Helen Steber Professor in Theological Studies at St. Louis University. He holds a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary (2004). Dr. Rodriguez is also a Presbyterian minister.
Ruben is also an expert in the work of John Calvin, the divisive 16th century reformer from France who became a major figure in Geneva during the Reformation of the 16th century. Today we are discussing his book Calvin for the World: The Enduring Relevance of His Political, Social, and Economic Theology. As I mentioned, Calvin is divisive, for some people a hated figure, often based upon his view of double predestination, that is, God's absolute sovereignty in the salvation or damnation of the human soul and his role in the death of Michael Servetus. Ruben’s book is an attempt to give a fuller representation of who Calvin is and what he actually says.
I invited Ruben on not just because we share a great love for 70s punk rock, the Ramones, Tom Verlaine, and many others, but because I heard he had taped a podcast with a Calvinist leaning podcast that then reneged on posting the podcast, perhaps because of certain theological disagreements. That did sit right with me: this podcast is about asking questions and getting to know people and what matters most to them. We do not have to share all of our beliefs in common to befriend each other or to listen to each other. I enjoyed our conversation and I really enjoy Dr. Rodriguez’s honesty and integrity as a person and as a theologian.
I knew little about John Calvin prior to my conversation with Ruben, but I know a lot more now, even if I am only scratching the surface and though I am no Calvinist. But it is good to get to know people better, especially historical figures who have shaped our world and our thought in ways perhaps even unknown to us, and especially figures who often just function as stereotypes in our thoughts. For me his book fulfilled its major stated goal: “to correct many of the misconceptions about Calvin perpetuated by an inadequate knowledge of his work.”
Others more expert in Calvinism than me will know more about many of the issues Ruben and I discussed, but I appreciated his book and its consideration Calvin’s Theology of Public Life and how his analysis of Psalm 82:3-4 “fits” with a preferential option for the poor and liberation theology; though I’m still not sure why Calvin does not think it proper to topple tyrannical governments, Ruben presented Calvin’s view of “two kingdoms” as an argument for seeing Calvin as a proto-liberationist with respect to illegitimate governments that act contrary to the word of God. I appreciated the connections between liberation theology, Archbishop Romero, and Calvin’s theology of civil governance.
I was also intrigued by Calvin’s desired “egalitarian communal structure” and his rejection of “authoritarian absolutism in either the Church or the State” and Ruben’s argument that Calvin could be seen in favor of religious toleration.
Ruben also offered an interesting comparison between Bartolomeo de Las Casas and Calvin with respect to treatment of indigenous people and others. It’s an interesting point, as later in South Africa Calvinism played a role in the building of the apartheid state of South Africa. Yet, Ruben argues and shows the ways in which Calvin’s thought also inspired resistance to white Christian nationalism. The events in Sharpeville and especially Soweto emerged from African Christians in the movement to take down apartheid. Alan Boesak, the African Calvinist church leader, enlisted Calvin theologically to argue white supremacy in Christianity and the apartheid state. This resulted in the Belhar Confession, linked here, which stood resolutely against apartheid.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Gerald Schlabach on his new book, A Pilgrim People: Becoming a Catholic Peace Church, Dr. Don Baker, and Dr. Tim Pawl.
Three episodes of Pop Culture Matters are out. I hope you enjoyed the conversation Martin and I had on Christmas films. What’s up next for Pop Culture Matters? We are considering the wonderful and recently ended HBO series Somebody Somewhere, a show which perhaps surprisingly has church as an integral part of its world.
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
You can now register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. We will have over 40 presenters from Asia, Africa, and North America. The webpage for the conference is now available at the CCE website, where you can find information on the speakers and where you can register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA.
Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025 for the conference. The cost will be minimal to attend the concurrent sessions of the conference itself, only $60 and I think you will find it stimulating and challenging. It will be exciting. The link takes you to the conference website and you can find a registration link there.
Three confirmed keynote speakers are Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo. These keynote or plenary sessions are free for all, so look for the registration information on our website now.
Some other upcoming events:
On January 27, 2025, we will have an in person and virtual event with Dr Ray Aldred, who will offer the third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, our common home. Register here.
On February 10, 2025, Dr. Michael Higgins will be speaking about his new biography of Pope Francis called the Jesuit Disruptor. Register here.
On March 3, 2025, Father Andrew Laguna S.J. will be offering our annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment.
A few thanks are in order. First of all, I am grateful to Martin Strong, who guides me in the podcasting world. Second, the episodes are edited, engineered, and produced by Kevin Eng who is the first listener to all the episodes and helps me pick out those opening snippets which do so much to set the tone for each episode. Thank you, Kevin, for all of your expertise and support. Finally, to the Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC
-
This is Episode Nine of Season Three, featuring Dr. Megan Fritts. Megan Fritts joined the UA Little Rock philosophy faculty in the School of Human Inquiry in 2022. She received her Ph.D. in 2020 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her work intersects with several subdisciplines, including technology ethics, medical ethics, action theory, 19th century philosophy, and philosophy of religion. Her current projects focus on ways in which emerging technologies threaten to undermine essential conditions for human flourishing.
Dr. Fritts teaches several courses at UA Little Rock, including Ethics and Society, Technology Ethics, Philosophy of Science, and 19th Century Philosophy. She is also the co-host of Philosophy on the Fringes, a podcast that applies rigorous philosophical thinking to unexpected topics.
In this podcast, we discuss the problem of evil, or theodicy. I was led to invite Megan onto the podcast after reading her recent article in Religious Studies called Creation as divine absence: A metaphysical reframing of the problem of evil, an open access article to which I have linked here. This is an ancient and perennial problem in theology and philosophy, dating back to the ancient Greeks and ancient Christianity.
The problem is simply stated: why would, in the Christian understanding, an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good God – omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent – allow evil and suffering to flourish in the world? Megan Fritts looks to Simone Weil, the French Catholic philosopher to help us understand the presence of evil and the absence of God.
There is, however, no easy solution to the problem of theodicy for anyone. It is difficult to make sense of profound evil and suffering regardless of one’s theism or atheism or non-theism.
In this vein, I also want to offer a link to Yujin Nagasawa’s new book The Problem of Evil for Atheists, which is also available as open access online. Although framed as the problem the problem of evil for atheists, Nagasawa also considers the problem of evil for traditional theists, pantheists and axiarchists, as well as atheists and non-theists in both the east and west.
Finally, Megan recommended Simone Weil's works Waiting for God and Gravity and Grace.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Ruben Rosario on Calvin for the World, his new book, Dr. Gerald Schlabach, Dr. Don Baker, and Dr. Tim Pawl.
Three episodes of Pop Culture Matters are out. I hope you enjoyed the conversation Martin and I had on Christmas films. What’s up next for Pop Culture Matters? We are considering the wonderful and recently ended HBO series Somebody Somewhere, a show which perhaps surprisingly has church as an integral part of its world.
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
You can now register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. We will have over 40 presenters from Asia, Africa, and North America. The webpage for the conference is now available at the CCE website, where you can find information on the speakers and where you can register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA.
Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025 for the conference. The cost will be minimal to attend the concurrent sessions of the conference itself, only $60 and I think you will find it stimulating and challenging. It will be exciting. The link is in the show notes to both the conference website and the registration page.
Three confirmed keynote speakers are Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo. These keynote or plenary sessions are free for all, so look for the registration information on our website now.
Some other upcoming events:
On January 27, 2025, we will have an in person and virtual event with Dr Ray Aldred, who will offer the third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, our common home.
On February 10, 2025, Dr. Michael Higgins will be speaking about his new biography of Pope Francis called the Jesuit Disruptor.
On March 3, 2025, Father Andrew Laguna S.J. will be offering our annual Jesuit Lecture on Immigration and Ignatian Spiritual Discernment.
A few thanks are in order. First of all, I am grateful to Martin Strong, who guides me in the podcasting world. Second, the episodes are edited, engineered, and produced by Kevin Eng who is the first listener to all the episodes and helps me pick out those opening snippets which do so much to set the tone for each episode. Thank you, Kevin, for all of your expertise and support. Finally, to the Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. It’s the free gift that you can give to all of your friends! And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. And subscribe to the podcast. If you are listening, please subscribe. It’s free!
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC
-
Welcome to the third episode of Pop Culture Matters, a conversation with my good friend and yours Martin Strong. Today we’re talking about Christmas movies, our favorite Christmas movies, and what we think makes for a good Christmas movie. We asked a lot of people on campus at UBC and St. Mark’s and on social media, what their favorite Christmas movies are. Here’s a list of a bunch of them, in no particular order that people mentioned to us:
Love, Actually; White Christmas; It’s a Wonderful Life; Elf; While You Were Sleeping;-Miracle on 34th Street; Muppets Christmas Carol; The Shop Around the Corner; Christmas with the Kranks; Rudolph; A Christmas Story; The Ref; Home Alone; The original Grinch; The Bishop’s Wife, Christmas in Connecticut, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Holiday Inn, Alistair Sim’s Scrooge; Fred Claus, The Holdovers, Tokyo Godfathers, Batman Returns, A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas, About a Boy, Scrooged, Die Hard, The Santa Clause, The Nativity Story, and Bad Santa.
Why are these are favorites and what do we think is need to be a Christmas favorite? Get comfortable and cozy with your loved ones and settle in with a cup of hot cocoa and a Christmas cookie. If this podcast hits some of the right Christmas notes, you’re going to change your selfish ways and be transformed by the warmth of Christmas.
Christmas movies are fun, but I think Martin hit it on the head when he said the best ones are also earnest. Not saccharine, not too sweet, but warm, uplifting, and hopeful. They encourage us to be better. They point us away from commercialization to what really matters in life.
They often call us to transformation, often through the use of angels or spirits, who show us the better path and how to embrace the joy of the life through Christmas time.
And sometimes they do indeed move into the Christmas story, the nativity of Jesus, as with Linus reciting the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke as he explains the true meaning of Christmas to Charlie Brown and the whole Peanuts gang. Or in the Bishop’s Wife, when David Niven’s Bishop says the gifts to give Jesus are lovingkindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance.
Merry Christmas from all of us at the Centre for Christian Engagement and St. Mark’s College.
Merry Christmas to Martin Strong for joining me in this venture!
Merry Christmas to Kevin Eng for editing and engineering this episode and integrating all the wonderful music in the podcast.
Merry Christmas to Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
Merry Christmas to Kenton McDonald-Lin for the interviews on the UBC campus that spiced up this Christmas episode.
Merry Christmas to all of our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know and give the gift of What Matters Most by also rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform.
Thanks again for listening and remember Merry Christmas.
Since St. Mark’s Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We’ll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. I will also post the question on Facebook @biblejunkies. We will be moving to a CCE Facebook page, but in the meantime, feel free to check us out @biblejunkies. When we decide what’s next, we’ll let you know and then we can all make sure to watch it or listen to it or read it before the next episode of Pop Culture Matters. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
John W. Martens
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This is Episode Eight of Season Three, featuring Fr. Ryan Duns, S.J., Department Chair and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology in the Theology Department at Marquette University. He received his Ph.D. from Boston College in 2018. Reading from his Marquette web page, I can tell you that “Ryan Duns, SJ works at the intersection of philosophy and systematic theology. He has published on Karl Rahner, Jean-Luc Marion, René Girard, and his most recent work has involved a sustained engagement with William Desmond’s metaphysics. His dissertation, “Spiritual Exercises for a Secular Age? William Desmond’s Theological Achievement” argued that, when read as a form of spiritual exercise (Pierre Hadot), Desmond’s philosophy can re-awaken a sense of the Transcendent.” Today we will discuss his new book Theology of Horror: The Hidden Depths of Popular Films.
We discuss what horror is, how it makes us feel, what it can teach us, and what is the dark transcendent. Is Advent and Christmas the time to discuss horror and its meaning? I suspect Halloween might be more traditional, but Ryan Duns argues that in the incarnation the divine breaks through to show us our world is shot through with sin. Jesus is the light that reveals the dark transcendent. To get a taste of it, please watch the short film Lights Out on YouTube. It’s less than 3 minutes long, then come back.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Christine Evans on Pop Culture Matters and the movie The Night of the Hunter, Fr. Ryan Duns on the theology of horror, Dr. Megan Fritts Cabrera, Dr. Ruben Rosario, Dr. Gerald Schlabach, and Dr. Tim Pawl.
Dr. Christine Evans and I have already recorded the next Pop Culture Matters episode, inspired by a recent viewing of The Night of the Hunter and and excellent lecture by Christine at VIFF. We discuss Robert Mitchum's creepy and dreadful film.
Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. When we decide what’s next, we’ll let you know and then we can all make sure to watch it or listen to it or read it before the next episode of Pop Culture Matters. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Megan Fritts Cabrera, Dr. Ruben Rosario, Dr. Gerald Schlabach, Dr. Don Baker, and Dr. Tim Pawl. What a lineup!
Two episodes of Pop Culture Matters are out. I hope you have listened to them. Martin and I are ready for more and we are going to talk about Christmas films. What makes a film a Christmas film? What is your favorite Christmas film? Why is it your favorite?
Let us know what you want to discuss next on Pop Culture Matters. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We’ll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. I will also post the question on Facebook @biblejunkies. We will be moving to a CCE Facebook page, but in the meantime, feel free to check us out @biblejunkies. When we decide what’s next, we’ll let you know and then we can all make sure to watch it or listen to it or read it before the next episode of Pop Culture Matters. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
You can now register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. We will have over 40 presenters from Asia, Africa, and North America. The webpage for the conference is now available at the CCE website, where you can find information on the speakers and where you can register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA.
Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025 for the conference. The cost will be minimal to attend the concurrent sessions of the conference itself, only $60 and I think you will find it stimulating and challenging. It will be exciting. Details are now on the website.
Three confirmed keynote speakers are Dr. Margaret MacDonald, Dr. Samuel Rocha, and Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo. These keynote or plenary sessions are free for all, so look for the registration information on our website now.
Some other upcoming events:
On January 27, 2025 we will have an in person and virtual event with Dr Ray Aldred, who will offer the third annual Laudato Si’ lecture, bringing together Indigenous and Christian thought on how to care for creation, our common home.
A few thanks are in order. First of all, I am grateful to Martin Strong, who guides me in the podcasting world. Second, the episodes are edited, engineered, and produced by Kevin Eng who is the first listener to all the episodes and helps me pick out those opening snippets which do so much to set the tone for each episode. Thank you, Kevin, for all of your expertise and support. Finally, to the Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform.
Thanks again for listening and remember what matters most.
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC
-
Welcome to the second episode of Pop Culture Matters, a discussion with Dr. Christine Evans of UBC on the 1955 movie, The Night of the Hunter. She is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at UBC.
Christine Evans brings a wealth of knowledge about film and is a captivating speaker. How did we come to speak about The Night of the Hunter and not a more recent film? Martin Strong invited me to see the film in the VIFF Pantheon series and I went along with him one Sunday to watch it. Prior to the film, there was a short lecture scheduled, and I groaned a little inside. A lecture before the film? But it was Christine Evans and she is a master teacher. I was enthralled by how she placed the film in its historical context, explained its use of cameras and light and shadow, and how she prepared us to watch the film. This is the only film directed by Charles Laughton, and it stars the great Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish, and while it did not do well at the box office, it is now seen as a great American films, one of the Pantheon. Martin and I will soon discuss more recent films, but it was essential I thought that we discussed this film in all of its fogginess, vulnerability, and tension.
Once the film started that day, I was surprised to find that it began with passages from the Sermon on the Mount and that the biblical themes and passages ran throughout the film. Not only that, but the biblical themes were related to my own area of research: children in the Bible. We talk about these biblical passages in our conversation, but I also return to some of these passages at the end of the podcast as not all of them fit in the context of our conversation.
If you haven’t watched the film yet, track it down. I watched the film two more times on the streamer Kanopy after viewing it at VIFF, a free streaming service which I have through my local library, but I am sure it is available in other places too. You can listen to the podcast before watching the film, just as I heard Christine speak about it before I saw it, and you will gain a lot from listening. 70 years on, as Christine said at VIFF, there are no real spoilers, but if you can see it before you hear this discussion that could help you understand our conversation more fully. On the other hand, even after watching the film three times, you will hear Christine explain elements of the film that I completely missed – she is the expert – as well as hear me mispronounce Zizek, which might lead me to hand in my academic card.
So, thanks to Martin for making this conversation happen and to Christine Evans for helping us make sense of the movie The Night of the Hunter.
Since St. Mark’s Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We’ll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. I will also post the question on Facebook @biblejunkies. We will be moving to a CCE Facebook page, but in the meantime, feel free to check us out @biblejunkies. When we decide what’s next, we’ll let you know and then we can all make sure to watch it or listen to it or read it before the next episode of Pop Culture Matters. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Thanks to Kevin Eng for editing and engineering this episode.
Thanks to Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.
I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let your friends know. And also let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform.
John W. Martens
-
This is Episode Seven of Season Three, featuring Dr. Ross Lockhart, who is Professor of Mission Studies at Vancouver School of Theology and Dean of St. Andrew’s Hall. Ross is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. His main areas of research are in Missiology and Homiletics. He is the author of numerous books, including Lessons from Laodicea: Missional Leadership in a Culture of Affluence; Beyond Snakes and Shamrocks: St. Patrick’s Missional Leadership Lessons for Today; co-author of Better Than Brunch: Missional Churches in Cascadia as well as Christianity: An Asian Religion in Vancouver and editor of Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil. His newest book is West Coast Mission: The Changing Nature of Christianity in Vancouver and it formed the basis of our conversation. We discuss what it means to be a Christian in Vancouver, a place where, honestly, there’s not a lot of hostility to Christianity, but maybe more a bit of disinterest or bemused curiosity for this minority religion.
Ross also gave us numerous excellent resources for understanding religion in post-Christendom Vancouver, which really, as Ross explains, was never a part of broader Christendom as in the rest of Canada. Ross mentioned the work of Lynn Marx, whose book Infidels and the Damn Churches Irreligion and Religion in Settler British Columbia examines the religious history of the Canadian European wild west. Tina Block continues that work in her book The Secular Northwest Religion and Irreligion in Everyday Postwar Life that "debunks the myth of a godless frontier, revealing a Pacific Northwest that was serious about its secularity, consciously rejecting the trappings of organized religion but not necessarily spirituality – and not necessarily God." He mentioned many other scholars, but I will highlight here the work of Paul Bramadat, also from Winnipeg, who among other writings co-edited Religion at the Edge: Nature, Spirituality, and Secularity in the Pacific Northwest, which examines religion in all of its varieties in Cascadia.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Christine Evans on Pop Culture Matters and the movie The Night of the Hunter, Fr. Ryan Duns on the theology of horror, Dr. Megan Fritts Cabrera, Dr. Ruben Rosario, Dr. Gerald Schlabach, and Dr. Tim Pawl.
Dr. Christine Evans and I have already recorded the next Pop Culture Matters episode, inspired by a recent viewing of The Night of the Hunter and and excellent lecture by Christine at VIFF. We discuss Robert Mitchum's creepy and dreadful film.
Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. When we decide what’s next, we’ll let you know and then we can all make sure to watch it or listen to it or read it before the next episode of Pop Culture Matters. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
We are now setting the program for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. We will update the website soon with information on the program and where you can register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025 for the conference. The cost will be minimal to attend the concurrent sessions of the conference itself, around $50-60 and I think you will find it stimulating and challenging. It will be exciting. Details are coming soon.
Three Confirmed Plenary Speakers:
Dr. Margaret MacDonald, St. Mary's University, Halifax
Dr. Samuel Rocha, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo, De Paul University, Chicago
On December 5, we will have Matt Hoven presenting in-person on his new book on Fr. David Bauer, Hockey Priest. Matt will be interviewed by Clay Imoo, Canuck Clay! You can now register for the event on Eventbrite.
The CCE website is now up and running. I am so excited that we now have one stop for all of our events, the podcast, our YouTube videos, and everything else, including upcoming events. Check it out as it continues to be updated by Fang Fang and Kevin on a regular basis!
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.
Thanks to Martin Strong, Kevin Eng, and Fang Fang Chandra for all of their help and support in crafting this and all the other episodes. I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. In addition, the Cullen Family, Mark and Barbara, continue to support the work and outreach of the CCE, particularly in our lecture series and support of our conferences, and now in their donation of money for the purchase of new podcast equipment.
Since St. Mark’s Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Send me questions, send me ideas for guests, send me comments. Please follow me on Twitter, Threads, or BlueSky @biblejunkies, or on Facebook, at Biblejunkies, or on Instagram @stmarkscce. Or email me or Ms. Fang Fang Chandra at [email protected]. Let us know what you think.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. It really does help people find these inspiring conversations!
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC
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This is Season Three, Episode Six is here, featuring Dr. Adele Reinhartz,Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa, in Canada. Her main areas of research are New Testament, early Jewish-Christian relations, the Bible and Film, and feminist biblical criticism. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including Befriending the Beloved Disciple: A Jewish Reading of the Gospel of John (2001), Scripture on the Silver Screen (Westminster John Knox, 2003), Jesus of Hollywood (Oxford, 2007), Caiaphas the High Priest (2011), and Bible and Cinema: An Introduction (Routledge, 2013). In this episode we spent a lot of time discussing her timely new book Cast Out of the Covenant: Jews and Anti-Judaism in the Gospel of John. The title of this epsiode, however, is taken from her forthcoming book, Jousting with John.
Adele has been a Member of the Institutes of Advanced Studies in Princeton and in Jerusalem and has been a visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School (1999), Yale Divinity School (2010), and Boston College (2015-17). She was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada in 2005 and into the Academy for Jewish Research in 2014. Adele has been the General Editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature, and President of the Society of Biblical Literature.
She is a significant figure in NT studies and in my own life as I studied with Adele both as an undergrad and a grad student at University of St. Michael's College and McMaster University respectively. Adele tells me that I should not think about her as my teacher, as it was many decades ago, but as colleagues. I know we are colleagues and she is a wonderful and supportive colleague, but it is hard not to think about the person who introduced me to Judaism in the Second Temple period, the love of my academic life and vocation, as my teacher. With her I read books for the first time by Victor Tcherikover, Ellis Rivkin, Jacob Neusner, Elias Bickerman, and Saul Lieberman. If you do not know those names, you are a part of the 99.9%. if you know those names, you too are a Second Temple Judaism nerd and might have studied Judaism in its Hellenistic environment.
Another reason it sticks with me is that I went to study in Toronto due to Fr. Jim Roberts, with whom I studied at Vancouver Community College Langara and took a course on the history of Christianity. It was here as a naïve 19- or 20-year-old I learned about antisemitism in Christianity. I was shocked and I asked Fr. Roberts, where should I go study to learn more about this? He directed me to St Michael’s College at U of T and Gregory Baum, whom I would find out later had a significant role in drafting Nostra Aetate, the Vatican II document that categorically separated the Church from earlier teachings and practices regarding the Jews. Adele too studied with Baum earlier.
So here we are in 2024 and it is essential for us as Christians to continue to combat antisemitic readings of the Bible, which have too often in the past and even today led to antisemitic language and behaviours. This can be tough going for Christians to repudiate beloved passages or books of the Bible such as the Gospel of John. But it can and it must be done. There is no option but to stand against it, whether intentional or unintentional. Biblical scholars, teachers of the Bible in churches and schools, must carefully explain the historical settings and origins of these texts, but also simply say no to passages that lead to hatred and cruelty of Jews. Even simple things like the God of the OT is cruel and vindictive, but the God of the NT is loving and kind. I encourage everyone to read the Bible and see that the presentation of God in both the Hebrew Bible and the NT encompasses elements of judgment and mercy.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Ross Lockhart on Christianity in Vancouver, Dr. Christine Evans on Pop Culture Matters and the movie The Night of the Hunter, Fr. Ryan Duns, Dr. Ruben Rosario, Dr. Gerald Schlabach, and Dr. Tim Pawl.
The first episode of Pop Culture Matters is out. I hope you have listened to it. As mentioned above, inspired by a recent viewing of The Night of the Hunter and and excellent lecture by UBC film prof Christine Evans, we are going to discuss Robert Mitchum's creepy and dreadful film. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. When we decide what’s next, we’ll let you know and then we can all make sure to watch it or listen to it or read it before the next episode of Pop Culture Matters. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
We are now setting the program for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. We will update the website soon with information on the program and where you can register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025 for the conference. The cost will be minimal to attend the concurrent sessions of the conference itself, around $50-60 and I think you will find it stimulating and challenging. It will be exciting. Details are coming soon.
Three Confirmed Plenary Speakers:
Dr. Margaret MacDonald, St. Mary's University, Halifax
Dr. Samuel Rocha, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo, De Paul University, Chicago
On December 5, we will have Matt Hoven presenting in-person on his new book on Fr. David Bauer, Hockey Priest. Matt will be interviewed by Clay Imoo, Canuck Clay! You can now register for the event on Eventbrite.
The CCE website is now up and running. I am so excited that we now have one stop for all of our events, the podcast, our YouTube videos, and everything else, including upcoming events. Check it out as it continues to be updated by Fang Fang and Kevin on a regular basis!
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.
Thanks to Martin Strong, Kevin Eng, and Fang Fang Chandra for all of their help and support in crafting this and all the other episodes. I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. In addition, the Cullen Family, Mark and Barbara, continue to support the work and outreach of the CCE, particularly in our lecture series and support of our conferences, and now in their donation of money for the purchase of new podcast equipment.
Since St. Mark’s Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Send me questions, send me ideas for guests, send me comments. Please follow me on Twitter, Threads, or BlueSky @biblejunkies, or on Facebook, at Biblejunkies, or on Instagram @stmarkscce. Or email me or Ms. Fang Fang Chandra at [email protected]. Let us know what you think.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. It really does help people find these inspiring conversations!
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC
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This is Season Three, Episode Five is here, featuring Dr. Bill Cavanaugh, professor of Catholic studies at De Paul University in Chicago and director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, a research center housed in the Department of Catholic Studies and focusing on the Catholic Church in the global South—Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Bill is one of the most significant Catholic theologians of the 21st century, having written numerous important books in the past 25 years, such as Torture and the Eucharist, Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire, and The Myth of Religious Violence. Today we are focusing on his new book from Oxford University Press, The Uses of Idolatry, where the gods of consumerism and nationalism are discussed.
It was a delight to speak with an old friend, but it’s even more delightful when an old friend happens to be a great theologian, who is funny and warm. Lucky me to have this conversation with Bill and lucky us to be able to listen to this conversation. Bill says early on in the podcast, “I mean, in some ways, the thesis of the book is really simple. And it's not terribly original, right? It's the idea that we don't live in a secular world where worship has waned. We live in an enchanted world, you know, an idolatrous world where people still worship lots of things but not God.” It might not be original, but it is provocative, and I know not everyone agrees with it, such as perhaps Charles Taylor. One of the things I love about Bill’s work is that he takes on big questions and is not afraid to offer big answers.
I loved talking about and subsequently thinking about disenchantment and enchantment, especially regarding the claim that modernity is disenchanted. I think Bill is right to push back on that and part of it emerges for me and my understanding of the world as an historian of antiquity. I think there is a portrayal of the ancient world as fundamentally more enchanted than people of the ancient world described it. That is, the portrayal of ancient people tends to romanticize them in comparison to modern people. Bill wrote in the The Uses of Idolatry, “there is no “race” of humans who experience the world entirely as immanent; there is rather a set of people in the West who have learned— for various reasons having to do with how power is distributed in Western societies— to describe their world as immanent and disenchanted, while they are still involved in all sorts of worship.” (9) In the same way, the ancients were not all walking around enchanted while their children died and while they tried to afford food or the rent.
I loved talking about and thinking about what constitutes religion, and the difference between magic and religion, if there is one, and how nationalism and consumerism might fill the God gap for us. These ultimately Bill says are simply idols, splendid or unsplendid.
Bill spoke about and wrote about how the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ as an antidote to idolatry. I wondered whether there are such antidotes in other religious traditions. Among indigenous peoples for instance? How do people who are not Christian counter idolatries like nationalism and consumerism? Must one be a Christian/catholic to worship a/the true God? That’s not Bill’s argument and we discussed how this is the book as a Christian theologian he can write, but I raised the possibility of bringing together scholars of other religions to discuss the questions of idolatry, especially of nationalism and consumerism, which seem like universal gods, from the point of view of other religion standpoints and traditions.
Bill has a clear audience in mind of course, “The first audience is those who claim to believe in God, primarily but not exclusively the Christian community. To claim to believe in God is not necessarily to worship God in reality. I hope that this book will help Christians and others to think more deeply about our own practical idolatries and to seek God’s help in remedying them and healing a broken world. The second audience is those who claim not to believe in God. I hope that the theoretical and empirical work of this book might demonstrate that the supposed divide between “believers” and “nonbelievers” is perhaps not so wide as is often assumed" (6). I think he’s right, but I see that third audience, those who follow other religious traditions and how they might respond and do in practice respond to realities of nationalism and consumerism.
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation. Our goal, then, is to talk to a lot of people, to learn from them, to listen to them, and to find out what motivates them, what gives them hope, what gives them peace, and what allows them to go out into the world to love their neighbors.
And now some news on upcoming podcast episodes:
Coming up next is Dr. Adele Reinhartz of U of Ottawa on the Gospel of John and antisemitism in the NT and in Christianity, and on the horizon are Dr. Ross Lockhart, Fr. Ryan Duns, S.J., Dr. Ruben Rosario, Dr. Gerald Schlabach, and Dr. Tim Pawl.
The first episode of Pop Culture Matters is out. I hope you have listened to it. Martin and I are ready for more and we are definitely thinking about a movie: the Matrix? The Big Lebowski? Philomena? The Meaning of Life? Let us know what you want to discuss. At this point, inspired by a recent viewing of The Night of the Hunter and and excellent lecture by UBC film prof Christine Evans, we are thinking of a discussion of Robert Mitchum's creepy and dreadful film. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce, newly revived, and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We’ll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. I will also post the question on Facebook @biblejunkies. We will be moving to a CCE Facebook page, but in the meantime, feel free to check us out @biblejunkies. When we decide what’s next, we’ll let you know and then we can all make sure to watch it or listen to it or read it before the next episode of Pop Culture Matters. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].
Some upcoming events:
We are now setting the program for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. We will update the website soon with information on the program and where you can register for The Promise of Christian Education: Past, Present and Future, MAY 1-3, 2025, at ST. MARK'S COLLEGE, VANCOUVER, CANADA. Consider joining us in Vancouver in 2025 for the conference. The cost will be minimal to attend the concurrent sessions of the conference itself, around $50-60 and I think you will find it stimulating and challenging. It will be exciting. Details are coming soon.
Three Confirmed Plenary Speakers:
Dr. Margaret MacDonald, St. Mary's University, Halifax
Dr. Samuel Rocha, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Reverend Dr. Stan Chu Ilo, De Paul University, Chicago
On October 29, we will have a webinar on the American election featuring Steve Millies and his new book, A Consistent Ethic of Life: Navigating Catholic Engagement with U.S. Politics. We will also have a Canadian respondent Dr. Jane Barter, professor of religion and culture at the U of Winnipeg. She teaches and does research on Christianity, Religion and Gender, and Religion and Political Theory. You can register for the webinar now at Eventbrite.
On December 5, we will have Matt Hoven presenting in-person on his new book on Fr. David Bauer, Hockey Priest. Matt will be interviewed by Clay Imoo, Canuck Clay!
The CCE website is now up and running. I am so excited that we now have one stop for all of our events, the podcast, our YouTube videos, and everything else, including upcoming events. Check it out as it continues to be updated by Fang Fang and Kevin on a regular basis!
What Matters Most is produced by the Centre for Christian Engagement at St Mark’s College, the Catholic college at UBC. The CCE is a centre at St. Mark’s College that explores the Christian and Catholic intellectual tradition and seek to learn from others, other Christians, members of other religious traditions, and from those who do not claim any particular or formal religious affiliation.
Thanks to Martin Strong, Kevin Eng, and Fang Fang Chandra for all of their help and support in crafting this and all the other episodes. I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. In addition, the Cullen Family, Mark and Barbara, continue to support the work and outreach of the CCE, particularly in our lecture series and support of our conferences, and now in their donation of money for the purchase of new podcast equipment.
Since St. Mark’s Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Send me questions, send me ideas for guests, send me comments. Please follow me on Twitter, Threads, or BlueSky @biblejunkies, or on Facebook, at Biblejunkies, or on Instagram @stmarkscce. Or email me or Ms. Fang Fang Chandra at [email protected]. Let us know what you think.
If you are enjoying the podcast, please let people know by rating and reviewing What Matters Most on your favourite podcasting platform. It really does help people find these inspiring conversations!
John W. Martens
Director, Centre for Christian Engagement, St. Mark's College at UBC
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