Talking Theology
The podcast of Cranmer Hall, the theological college within St John's College, Durham University. We explore life’s big questions, and look to join the dots between theology, church, and the world. Philip Plyming, Warden of Cranmer Hall, is joined by a wide range of guests with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Episodes
88 episodes
Philip Plyming - Why Did Paul Tell Stories of His Own Hardship and What Does That Mean for Us Today?
What's striking about the Apostle Paul and the stories he shared? What was first-century Corinth really like, and what was the real problem with the Corinthian church? How was the cross the content of Paul's preaching but also the pattern of hi...
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Season 5
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Episode 23
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30:18
Paula Gooder - How does imagination help us encounter the teaching of Paul today?
What did it feel like to be a Christian in the earliest churches? How does telling stories help us understand the role of women in Paul's ministry? How does imagination help us see Paul and his good news in a different light? How might close at...
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Season 5
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Episode 22
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32:00
Tom Holland - How is the Story of the West Forged by Christian Faith and Values?
What has been the impact of Christianity on western civilisation? How did the shock of the cross change the relationship between the weak and the strong? Where might we see Christian theological dialogue in unexpected places? And why might it b...
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Season 5
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Episode 23
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28:14
Chloe Lynch - What's Wrong with Servant Leadership and is There a Better Way?
What values drive contemporary leadership, and how have they influenced the Church? Where did the idea of servant leadership first come from, and why is the answer more surprising that we might think? What are the problems with servant leadersh...
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Season 5
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Episode 21
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31:21
Mathew Guest - What is neoliberalism and how is it impacting the church?
What is neoliberalism and what are the assumptions behind it? How does language of individualism, competition and commodities find its way into the church? What signs might we see of a church swimming with the neoliberal tide? What are the ethi...
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Season 5
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Episode 22
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30:33
David Ford - Why Should we Continually Reread the Gospel of John?
How is John's gospel both accessible and profound? What does it mean to read John's gospel as the culmination of the New Testament testimony to Jesus? How does John's gospel invite us to improvise in response to the love of God? And how does th...
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Season 5
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Episode 20
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31:16
Giles Waller - What's the relationship between theology and tragedy?
What is tragedy and how do we see it not only in the arts but also in the Bible? How does tragedy help us see what it is to live as sinners in a fallen world? What is the difference between optimism and hope? How is a tragic view of life actual...
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Season 5
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Episode 19
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29:32
Selina Stone - How can a rich understanding of the Holy Spirit help us as we attend to a wounded world?
Where did Pentecostalism start and what can we learn from its history? What is the relationship between the Holy Spirit, personal piety and power and justice? What was the role of the Holy Spirit in the resurrection of Jesus and how does this a...
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Season 5
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Episode 18
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31:21
Israel Oluwole Olofinjana - What Are the Voices We Need to Hear to do Theology Well Today?
What does the ancient book of Philemon have to say to our modern world? What does it mean to pursue our discipleship from a place of discomfort? What are the different, authentic voices that need to be unmuted for us to hear from God? And what ...
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Season 5
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Episode 17
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31:19
Ben Quash - How does theology unfold in the drama of life?
How is theology changed by people, place and time? How is the Holy Spirit leading the Church in the unfolding truth of Christ? How is it the Spirit's distinctive work to maximise gladness? And how can we be opened up by the past to imagine a ne...
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Season 5
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Episode 16
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29:00
Will Foulger - What Does it Mean for the Church to be Present in Every Place?
Why has place always mattered and why does it matter today? What's the difference between the parish system and the parish vocation? How are we called to love the different places where we have been placed by God? And why has the debate about t...
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Season 5
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Episode 15
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31:04
Andrew Prevot - What is the Relationship Between Everyday Theology and Ordinary Prayer?
How does prayer help us integrate our experiences of God with our efforts to understand God? How can we think and talk about prayer in a way that captures its rich diversity? How does contemplating God help us resist the constrictions the world...
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Season 5
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Episode 14
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30:22
Michael Gorman - How does the Apostle Paul embody a life shaped by the Cross and empowered by the resurrection?
What did it mean for the Apostle Paul’s existence in Christ to be patterned on the Cross? Why is the Christ-hymn from Philippians 2 Paul’s master story and how does it speak to us, not only as individuals, but to communities of faith? If Good F...
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Season 5
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Episode 13
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31:10
Federico Villanueva - What Do the Ancient Psalms Have to Say About the Value of Lament in the Modern World?
What's the problem with singing joyful songs in the face of suffering? What do the psalms teach us about staying with suffering, rather than moving too quickly to praise? How is the practice of lament witnessed to across the pages of the Bible,...
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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30:58
Jeremy Begbie - How can music help us imagine and reimagine our understanding of ourselves and God?
How can music help us to access theological realities to which words bear witness? How can the patterns of Western music provide us with a disarming but compelling way into the heart of the Gospel? How can the uncontainability of music point us...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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31:23
Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy - How, in the Struggle Against Racism, Can Theology Help us Reimagine the Future, Transform the Present, and Redeem the Past?
How did the murder of George Floyd confront us with the reality of racism and its impact? How does theology tell stories that recognise the intrinsic value of each human story? What is the concept of Afrofuturism and how might it help us think ...
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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32:28
Maggi Dawn - If the whole earth is the Lord’s, how should we worship?
How do we talk about contemporary worship in a way that describes what is actually going on in the Church today? How do we keep our worship faithful to our beliefs? How do we ensure worship includes both intimacy and awe? And why is worship abo...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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31:05
Joseph Webster - What Can Immersing Ourselves in the Beliefs of Others Contribute to Our Own Lives of Faith?
What's it like to live in the constant anticipation of the end of time? How do communities which see time as short live out their faith and interpret the world around them? How does the study of communities such as the Plymouth Brethren or Jeho...
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Season 5
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Episode 8
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33:41
Nick Baines - Why is engaging in politics part of Christian faithfulness in our world today?
Why should Christians be involved in politics? How can theology ask real world questions? What can we learn from Dietrich Bonhoeffer about how theology and politics need to go together? What are the challenges of engaging in faith and politics ...
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Season 5
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Episode 7
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26:14
Isabelle Hamley - How does the Bible help us embrace justice, beyond judgement?
What do the stories and laws of the Old Testament teach us about a God of justice? How does the incarnation of Jesus shape the way we see issues of justice and mercy today? How does the cross hold mercy and justice together? How can facing up t...
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Season 5
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Episode 6
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31:50
Elizabeth Hare - What Does The Old Testament Teach Us About Our Loneliness and How God Can Meet Us In It?
What is loneliness and how does the Bible, and particularly the Old Testament, talk about it?How does the Old Testament's description connect with what we've learned about loneliness in the last 20 years?Why does God care about lonely h...
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Season 5
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Episode 5
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31:20
Mike Snape - What Can History Teach Us About a Christian Response to War?
What are the different voices in Scripture across the Old and New Testaments on war and conflict?How can a war ever be just? And why does the Just War tradition still matter today?How does the story of Anglicans living in a time o...
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Season 5
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Episode 4
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33:09
Karen Kilby - Suffering, Mystery and Christian Doctrine: Why Do Limits Matter for Theology?
What does it mean to be a theologian, and how does it relate to the everyday faith of the Church? What is a wise theological response to the problem of evil? How can we approach suffering without denying it on the one hand, or sacralising it on...
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Season 5
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Episode 3
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29:52
Peniel Rajkumar - Mission from the Margins: How can paying attention to the witness of the global church renew and reinvigorate Christian mission?
What does it mean to approach theology ‘feet-first’? Why should churches in the UK and the West more generally engage with global theologies, and what might they learn in the process? What are some ways in which the history of Christian mission...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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26:40
Simeon Zahl - Emotion, Embodiment and the Spirit: What's experience got to do with Christian doctrine?
How should we think about the place of experience in Christian discipleship, and in what ways can the doctrine of the Holy Spirit help us to approach it wisely? How might paying attention to the emotional and embodied dimension of Christian doc...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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33:28