Episodios

  • The Language(s) of Christianity: A Conversation with Dr. Ekaputra Tupamahu

    The Language(s) of Christianity: A Conversation with Dr. Ekaputra Tupamahu
    Mar 11 2026
    Welcome to Episode 87 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with to Dr. Ekaputra Tupamahu. This episode focuses on language, post-colonial biblical studies, and how colonialism turned the Bible into a weapon of power and oppression around the world. Ekaputra Tupamahu is an associate professor of New Testament and director of masters programs at Portland Seminary and George Fox University. He received his PhD from Vanderbilt University in 2019. Dr. Tupamahu has a broad range of academic interests, including the politics of language, race/ethnic theory, postcolonial studies, immigration studies, critical study of religion, and global Christianity (particularly Pentecostal/Charismatic movement). All these interests inform and influence the way he approaches the texts of the New Testament and the history of early Christian movement(s). His monograph, Contesting Languages: Heteroglossia and the Politics of Language in the Early Church, (Oxford University Press, 2022), explores the complex dynamics of language and power in the early Christian context. Apart from discussing Contesting Languages, we will discuss three articles by Ekaputra, starting with The Bible and the Wounds of Empire: Postcolonial Reflections on Interpretation, Genealogy of the "Great Commission": Matthew 28:18–20 and Its Modern Afterlives, and Is Acts Really "The Most Overtly Missionary Book"? Challenging Whiteness in the Interpretation of Acts. Dr. Tupamahu's scholarly writings have appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals and academic publications, including the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, The Bible and Critical Theory, Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, the Indonesian Journal of Theology, and the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies. He has also contributed to significant academic volumes such as the Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, Global Renewal Christianity, Asian Introduction to the New Testament, and the T&T Clark Handbook to Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics. Today's podcast will introduce us to Scripture, as Micah Kiel's episode did, but in this context, we are confronting the ways in which the Bible can be used to support political and economic colonialism that harm whole groups of people, marginalize them, steal their language, and even leads to murder. So, let's listen as Dr. Ekaputra Tupamahu introduces us to the way the Bible has and can be used as a means of harm. What happens when the Bible speaks the language of oppression and not liberation? It's not easy to hear that the language of the Bible has been used to speak down to peoples. The way, even today, it has been used to take away colonized peoples' ability to speak. As Eka said, do we have a voice? Eka cited a book by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Can the Subaltern Speak? Do colonial peoples' contribute to biblical studies or will we hear them even if they speak? Eka spoke about language death or language morder by colonialism, as colonialism is like empire an expansion of culture that kills other smaller cultures. The impacts of colonialism and the colonial projects that for hundreds of years have been used as tools of oppression for millions of people in the Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Africa still resonate today. This is why Eka says that post-colonialism reading does not mean a template or a method one applies but a critical response. The world is still shaped by the colonial era, the impact still continues, and one can argue colonialism is rising up again as powerful nations threaten takeovers of smaller countries by force so they can have what they want. 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. 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 ...
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    1 h y 20 m
  • Be Transformed: A Conversation with Dr. Micah Kiel

    Be Transformed: A Conversation with Dr. Micah Kiel
    Feb 25 2026
    Welcome to Episode 17of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Micah Kiel. This episode focuses on being transformed and what it means to take seriously not only our spiritual lives, but the temporal lives and needs of others, particularly those who are struggling with poverty or have otherwise been marginalized. Micah Kiel holds a Ph.D. (New Testament) Princeton Theological Seminary, a M.Div. Princeton Theological Seminary, and a BA (music performance) St. John's University. He and his family live in St. Joseph, MN. In this episode, we discussed his book Be Transformed: A Biblical Journey Toward a More Just World (Liturgical Press, 2024) which won the 2025 Association of Catholic Publishers First Place Award, Scripture: scholarly works and the 2025 Catholic Media Association Third Place Award, for Catholic Social Teaching. Today's podcast will introduce us to Scripture, and its call for us to be transformed at both a personal and social level, and how Catholic Social Teaching (CST) can help us translate Scripture into practical demands for our lives. CST is traced back to Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum in 1891 and I thought Micah's definition of Catholic social teaching helping us translate Scripture into practical demands for our lives is insightful. It takes, he said, the core principles of Scripture and makes it into something practical for our world today, dealing with issues like AI and worldwide environmental degradation that Scripture does not speak directly to, but that we must address for healthy and moral living today Micah alluded to or mentioned a number of CST encyclicals, like JP II's Laborum exercens in 1981, which deals with the value of human work, Laudato Si' and Laudato Deum, which deal with the environment, Gaudium et Spes, on the fate of humanity today and the common good, and Populorum progressio, on how the economy must serve all people. These are all available on line if you have not read them, and even if you have! 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. 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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    1 h y 20 m
  • "Soulwork:"Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Curriculum: A Conversation with Dr. Judith Scholes and Dr. Nick Olkovich

    "Soulwork:"Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Curriculum: A Conversation with Dr. Judith Scholes and Dr. Nick Olkovich
    Feb 11 2026
    Welcome to Episode 16 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Judith Scholes and Dr. Nick Olkovich. This episode focuses on decolonizing curriculum and indigenizing curriculum, and what that means particularly at Catholic colleges on Musqueam land at a large public university, UBC. Today's podcast introduces us to a Wabash grant that Judith and Nick are directing, Exploring Pedagogies of Social Justice, Decolonization, and Indigenization in a Canadian Catholic Context, that has been active at Corpus Christi College and St. Mark's College since 2024 and will be completed in 2026. This grant is from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion. There are three overarching questions the grant seeks to engage: How can religion and theology faculty take a leadership role in articulating the pedagogical implications of the priorities in our Strategic Plan, especially the commitments to dialogue, social justice and civic engagement?How can we create opportunities for diverse voices across disciplines to come together, listen, and learn from one another?How might our unique context in Vancouver, British Columbia and on Coast Salish territory teach us how to listen and learn more openly, more reflexively, and more often? Dr. Judith Scholes and Dr. Nick Olkovich introduce us to the complexity of these questions and why it is essential for all of us to engage these questions. How do we understand decolonization, indigenization, and reconciliation? "We're not trying to include the other on our own terms," as Nick said. We want to move away from, indeed reject, ways of knowledge that in practice consider some people as inferior to others, as Pope Francis discussed in Laudato Si' and Querida Amazonia, and that consider there to be one, true culture in the world. We all need to be listening to and learning from others, especially in our context indigenous peoples. This is a process that is constantly unfolding, undoing colonial practices and determining what we do in their place. Some of the things we can do is center indigenous voices, and learn from them on their land. And as Judith wisely said, schools are the place where we ought to indigenize, as schools were the primary though not the only place where this process of di-indigenization took place. She also referred to Daniel Heath Justice, professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at UBC, and his questioning as to what comprises knowledge in the academy. I will link to his webpage. I will also link to the article Judith mentioned, which is available for free online, by Adam Gaudry and Danielle Lorenz, Indigenization as inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization: navigating the different visions for indigenizing the Canadian Academy. 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. 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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    1 h y 19 m
  • Confronting Colonial Theologies through Acts of the Apostles: A Conversation with Dr. Jordan J. Cruz Ryan

    Confronting Colonial Theologies through Acts of the Apostles: A Conversation with Dr. Jordan J. Cruz Ryan
    Jan 28 2026
    Welcome to Episode 15 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Jordan Ryan. This episode focuses on decolonizing theology, particularly biblical theology, using as an example Jordan's new commentary on Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament in Color, a new one volume commentary. Today's podcast introduces us to biblical hermeneutics and exegesis, which we all do from a place of positionality: who we are influences how we read and interpret texts. Dr. Ryan writes from his position as a Filipino- Canadian Christian, who now lives and works in the USA. This was a difficult episode to title because its about decolonizing biblical theology, its about Filipino and Filipino-Canadian and American positionality in reading biblical texts, and its about Acts of the Apostles. It's also about the Canadian hermeneutical school of Bernard Lonergan and Ben F. Meyer. Jordan Ryan introduces us to the world of Acts through the lens of a Filipino-Canadian biblical scholar in debt to Lonergan and Meyer. Meyer was a biblical scholar at McMaster who had died in 1995, but his legacy of biblical interpretation lived on and lives on at McMaster even for scholars like Jordan and Jonathan Bernier who came after Meyer's death. Jordan's book title The Role of the Synagogue in the Aims of Jesus is a conscious nod to Meyer's famous book on the historical Jesus, The Aims of Jesus. Meyer was my teacher and I was greatly influenced by his thought and recently edited a book with my friend Paul Niskanen in tribute to Meyer called The Transcendent Mystery of God's Word. Meyer in turn had been a student of and carried on the legacy of the great Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan and his theory of interpretation known as critical realism. I was so happy to hear Jordan call this the Canadian school of biblical interpretation. At the heart of it is what Jordan noted: that true objectivity emerges from authentic subjectivity. I will not go into a lot more depth on this tonight, though there is much more to say, a podcast series worth I would say, except that it means that Meyer following Lonergan believed that we interpret from our position, whatever that is, though we always need to be aware of our blind spots and oversights and be open to correction. But Jordan's interpretation of Acts of the Apostles and the Bible in general from his position as a Filipino-Canadian is true objectivity because it is his authentic subjectivity. He reads the Bible with a Filipino-Canadian biblical hermeneutic. Please check out Jordan's commentary on Acts in The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary. His ability to read from that position opens his readers up to seeing new things in the biblical texts, to understand the role of Roman imperialism, colonizing, ethnicity, race, and antisemitism that they might not have seen before either in the text or in their own interpretations. These might be blind spots that we had not reckoned with before because we did not see them. For instance, walking away from the community of goods which Acts discusses in chapters 2 and 4 because that's communism, as if 20th century political movements negate the meaning of 1st century texts. It allows Jordan to ask questions that others might miss about coloniality, power and imperialism in Acts from his Filipino diaspora position. And the collectivist culture of the Filipino people allows them perhaps to grasp the goodness of these passages in Acts 2 and 4 more readily. We need as he said to be aware of our horizons, a term Meyer and Lonergan use extensively to indicate the limits of our view, but also to indicate what we can see. From the horizon of a 500-year history of colonization, Filipino biblical scholars like Jordan can help us understand decolonial readings of the Bible. He pointed us to authors like Reta Halteman Finger and Justo Gonzalez and Federico Villanueva and Danielle Hyeonah Lambert, who can also serve as guides to help us along with Dr Ryan, to see new ways of reading Acts and the Bible in general, to broaden our horizons and to help us overcome blind spots. 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. 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 ...
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    1 h y 17 m
  • "Religion is Not Going Away:" Shinnyo-En and NRMs in Japan: A Conversation with Dr. Casey Collins

    "Religion is Not Going Away:" Shinnyo-En and NRMs in Japan: A Conversation with Dr. Casey Collins
    Jan 14 2026
    Welcome to Episode 14 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Casey Collins. This episode focuses on religion in Japan, particularly Buddhism, and, we can break that down even further, a new religious movement known as Shinnyo-En which is related to an esoteric school of Japanese Buddhism known as Shingon founded by the Japanese monk Kukai in the 8th century. This is not an episode in the Christian nationalism project! Casey Collins earned his PhD at the University of British Columbia, defending a dissertation entitled "Walking in the Founders' Footsteps: Hagiography and Devotion in Shinnyo-en, a Japanese New Religion," in April 2023 at the University of British Columbia. His work examines sociological and phenomenological approaches to religious studies, charismatic religious leaders, sacred narratives, new religions, and the material culture of religion. Prior to his doctoral work, Casey earned his BA and MA in Asian Studies from UBC also. He is now Director of Inter-Religious Studies and Professor of Asian Religions at VST. Today's podcast is a fascinating exploration of new religious movements, focusing, it is true, on a particular movement, Shinnyo-En, but it raises questions as Casey says, about religious practice in general, what is religion itself, especially when we look at it in contexts other than the western world, and what is it that attracts people to religion in general. Casey also gifted to us a new word, contra-modern, and it has set me wondering, how might this term apply to various religious movements across the world. What do you think about this contra-modern movement Shinnyo-En? As I said in the episode, when I think of charismatic religious leaders, I get a little nervous, it's an immediate reaction when I think about groups I know of who have been led astray by leaders who have taken advantage of or harmed their followers. There is no evidence of that with this group, however, and Casey does not suggest such abuses do not take place in Japan too, as with the Aum Shinrikyo group who perpetrated a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 that killed at least 13 people and injured thousands more. But not every new religious group behaves this way at all and the reality of new religious groups or NRMs is that people continue to be attracted to them, even in countries such as Japan where we are told the people there are not very religious and they themselves might tell you that too. Some of this has to do with the definition of religion and western conceptions of what a religion is do not map easily onto Asian conceptions of religion. Indeed, I was surprised to learn that Japan is the locus of the study of new religious movements in the academic world because it has the most NRMs in the world. I did not know that. Casey referred us to Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New Religious Movements in Japan by H. Neill McFarland, a classic in the field from 1967. And as Casey Collins says, NRMs are worth our attention because they ask us to think, what is it that people want from life? Why are they attracted to NRMs? Why are they attracted to religion? In the context of all the talk about religion fading away, it seems that it continues to attract people: "religion is not going away" as Casey said. 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. 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 ...
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    1 h y 21 m
  • A Short History of MAGA Catholics: A Conversation with Dr. Matthew J. Cressler

    A Short History of MAGA Catholics: A Conversation with Dr. Matthew J. Cressler
    Dec 31 2025
    Welcome to Episode 13 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Matthew J. Cressler. This episode is a distinct episode in the project, following that of Steven Tyra, which covers Christian nationalism in the reformed Protestant tradition, and Ruth Braunstein, who discussed Christian nationalism in US evangelicalism; today's episode is on Christian nationalism in Catholicism, particularly in the USA, as seen throughout the 20th century up until today. Matthew J. Cressler, Ph.D. is a rogue scholar, comics creator, and teacher whose work focuses on religion, race, and justice. He is also chief of staff for the Corporation for Public Interest Technology. He is the author of Authentically Black and Truly Catholic: The Rise of Black Catholicism in the Great Migrations and creator of Bad Catholics, Good Trouble, the educational webcomic series. He's written for America, The Atlantic, National Catholic Reporter, The Revealer, Slate, U.S. Catholic, and numerous academic journals, including Religion & American Culture for which he wrote "Real, Good, and Sincere Catholics." He also co-reported the Religion News Service series "Beyond the Most Segregated Hour," which won a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council. He has two forthcoming books currently under contract: Catholics and the Making of MAGA: How an Immigrant Church Became America's Law and Order Faith (Harper Collins, 2027), and the co-authored Body & Blood: Catholic Horror in America. Today's podcast is on Catholicism and Christian nationalism in the USA, although Matthew nuances whether this particular phrase is the best description of what is happening in some factions of the Catholic church. I also introduced the phrase integralism and asked whether this is a better descriptor of a particular form of Catholic Christian nationalism. Matthew again, as you will hear, demurred, as you will hear. Not because he rejected the language outright, but because he wanted to make a broader point about Catholics in general. What Cressler does is put this current MAGA Catholicism in the context of deeper American history and indeed a deeper international history, taking the French Revolution as an important starting point, though without question the whole reality of Christendom in late antiquity and the medieval period gives us a broad and general context. This is why Matthew was reticent to make a simple equivalency with Christian nationalism in evangelical USA or even with Catholic integralism because apart from its elite proponents, it reflects the Catholicism of a lot of ordinary Catholics. Matthew asked the question, why is our tradition a welcome home for right-wing and fascist movements in the past and today? How embedded is racism and intolerance embedded in what it means to be a "good catholic"? Matthew described Tom Homan, the man in charge of Trump's border policy, as the son and grandson of law enforcement officers, and a Catholic. He's such a good catholic, this is what he said in response to the US Catholic bishops denouncing of Trump's treatment of migrants: "The Catholic Church is wrong," Homan told reporters. "I'm a lifelong Catholic, but I'm saying it not only as a border czar, but I'm also saying this as a Catholic." Surely, he too feels he is a good Catholic. It's something to consider: in some cases Christian nationalists hear a message of nationalism from the pulpit, but in this case the Church has said, this is not in keeping with the Gospel, and it goes to the highest levels of the Church, directly from Francis and Leo and the bishops. But instead of the Gospel and teaching authority of the Church, one chooses the nation state and oneself. What does it mean to be a good catholic? I think sometimes you need to make good trouble, and perhaps just listening to the perennial message of the Gospel and following it is troubling today to the powers that be. Two last things: The Flannery O'Connor short story I referenced, poorly, is "A Temple of the Holy Spirit." If you have not read Flannery O'Connor before, it is worth doing, though she herself reflected some of the racism of Georgia in the mid-twentieth century, she is a terrific writer who offers spiritually powerful insights into the human condition. Good and bad. And the book that Matthew referenced on Catholicism in the southern USA is The South's Tolerable Aliens: Roman Catholics in Alabama and Georgia, 1945-1970, by Andrew S. Moore. 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. 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 ...
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    1 h y 16 m
  • Pop Culture Matters: Christmas Movies (Part Two) with Martin Strong

    Pop Culture Matters: Christmas Movies (Part Two) with Martin Strong
    Dec 16 2025
    Welcome to the eighth episode of Pop Culture Matters, a conversation with my good friend and a great friend of the podcast, Martin Strong. We returned to a discussion of Christmas movies for this episode, but not our favorite Christmas movies, which we have already discussed; so please check out that first episode to hear about The Bishop's Wife, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, A Christmas Story, and Alistair Sim playing Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Instead, we are discussing movies that we have not seen before, even though they are considered Christmas classics. The list is smaller this time around, including Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Holiday Inn (1942), White Christmas (1954), and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Martin discussed the AFI Top Holiday Movies and the films we discussed today are quite high on that list, which I found at IMDB which had a top 20 list, with Holiday Inn ranked as number two, behind It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas at number three, Miracle on 34th Street at number six, and Meet Me in St. Louis at number eight. So, we are discussing four of the top eight films on that list. But lists are meant to be debated and discussed, right? We also returned to the question of what we think makes for a good Christmas movie, and what ChatGPT thinks makes for a good Christmas movie. ChatGPT offers six characteristics of what makes for a good Christmas movie. Interestingly, last year we offered six characteristics: transformation of a character; warmth; earnestness; a level of comfort and peace; lovingkindness; and care for each other. Listen and see how closely what we determined made a good Christmas movie is mimicked by Chat GPT. And listen to our discussion of our four films, all older and highly rated, and think about the extent to which they capture the characteristics of a classic Christmas movie. As I said last year, 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. Or, given the films we're discussing, maybe you're going to put together a song and dance team, write a classic Christmas song, and buy a house in the suburbs. 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. Or email us with your suggestions to jmartens@stmarkscollege.ca or cceconferences@stmarkscollege.ca. John W. Martens
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    1 h y 9 m
  • The Politics of Christian Nationalism: A Conversation with Dr. Ruth Braunstein

    The Politics of Christian Nationalism: A Conversation with Dr. Ruth Braunstein
    Dec 5 2025
    Welcome to Episode 11 of Season 4! In this episode I speak with Dr. Ruth Braunstein, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University's SNF Agora Institute. A cultural sociologist interested in the role of religion and morality in American political life, Ruth's award-winning research has been published in the top peer-reviewed journals in her field, and has been covered in major news outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Time Magazine. She also writes frequently for public audiences, including at The Guardian, Religion News Service, and The Conversation, and in her weekly Substack Democracy Is Hard. Ruth is also the creator of the podcast series When the Wolves Came, which we will be discussing in this episode and which I recommend highly that you go and listen to after you finish this episode. Ruth's research, writing and teaching have been recognized by numerous awards and fellowships. She received the inaugural Distinguished Early Career Award from the American Sociological Association's Religion Section, and her former department's 2021 Faculty Mentor Award. She is currently President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR), a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University, and Chair of the Board of Directors of PRRI. I relied on PRRI research in my introduction to the CCE Christian nationalism Project. She earned her doctoral degree in sociology from New York University and her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University. She is originally from Atlanta, GA. Today's podcast is on Christian nationalism in the USA and I found it bracing, a wakeup call. As a scholar of early Christianity, the earliest stages of Christianity, it still shocks me as to how we got from there to here. I'm not arguing that the people who adhere to Christian nationalism are not real Christians, or challenging their devotion, but I will read a passage that Ruth cited from Matthew 7, giving it a bit more context from the chapter in Matthew: 15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits. Keep this in mind as you listen to the episode. Are Christian nationalists bearing the fruit of love of neighbour? Are they bearing the fruit of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul delineates? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Who is? Ask yourself this question as, as I ask myself this question: am I bearing this fruit? For me, this was an important introduction to Christian nationalism. We could not have had a better or more nuanced guide than Ruth Braunstein. It was my honour to speak with her. 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. 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 ...
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