The Joy of Humility

The true meaning of humility persistently drives debate, largely because we cannot agree on the word’s definition. The "correctness" of normative terms matters, and humility carries a distinctive normative weight. How we understand humility is not a matter of mere semantics. It is a pursuit of inquiry with the potential to inform—perhaps even to transform—our lives. The Joy of Humility takes up this task with a view toward the perennial question of what entails a truly flourishing life. Here, philosophers, theologians, ethicists, and psychologists work to frame the debate in such a way that the conversation can move forward.

Drew Collins

The End of Youth Ministry?

What is youth ministry actually for? And does it have a future? Andrew Root weaves together an innovative first-person fictional narrative to diagnose the challenges facing the church today and to offer a new vision for youth ministry in the 21st century.

Andrew Root

Exclusion and Embrace

If the healing word of the Gospel is to be heard today, Christian theology must find ways of speaking that address the hatred of the other. Is there any hope of embracing our enemies? Of opening the door to reconciliation?

Miroslav Volf

Always On

Angela Gorrell

How to Eat, Drink, and Be Human

“Every dinner party is an act of hope.” Journalist and critic Alissa Wilkinson (Senior Culture Correspondent, Vox Media) and Evan Rosa talk about eating, drinking, and being merry—but also being human. Wilkinson’s book Salty: Lessons on Eating, Drinking, and Living from Revolutionary Women, offers an opportunity to join Hannah Arendt at a cocktail party to discuss views on friendship, love, evil, and difference. We all get really hungry while thinking through the Southern food writer Edna Lewis who brought farm-to-table to New York way before it was cool. And a discussion of the gorgeous film Babette’s Feast offers an imaginative and experiential education in the place of joy and pleasure in a flourishing spiritual life.

Alissa Wilkinson

Reframing Disability

There's a truism that "there are only two types of people in the world: those who are disabled and those who will become disabled." But how does our thinking about normalcy, capacity, independence, and autonomy make us miss what disability can show us about human flourishing? In this episode, Evan Rosa invites Calli Micale (PhD, Yale) to discuss the theological and moral dimensions of disability through stories of her care and service with the physically and intellectually disabled, including reflections on agency and the feeling of personal power, the suffering of chronic pain, maintaining a sense of hope and possibility amidst lost, and the role that spirituality plays in a person integrating a disabling experience; the biblical and theological stories that create and critique our narratives of disability; and finally an examination of the conditions of possibility not just for flourishing, but for making life work at all.

Calli Micale

What Boredom Means

Where does boredom come from? Have humans always experienced boredom, or has it only come on in the entertainment age, having more time than we know what to do with? Kevin Gary (Valparaiso University) is author of Why Boredom Matters: Education, Leisure, and the Quest for a Meaningful Life. He joins Drew Collins & Evan Rosa to reflect on the discontent and disconnection that boredom constantly threatens. They discuss the phenomena of boredom, the childhood experience of it, whether its good or bad, the definition of boredom, its connection to entertainment and education, and finally the role of attention and leisure in cultivating a healthy understanding and response to being totally bored out of our minds. This episode was made possible in part by the generous support of the Tyndale House Foundation. For more information, visit tyndale.foundation.

Kevin Gary

Life Worth Living Book Club Part 5 of 5

The final installment of our 5-part book club series on Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, produced and hosted by Kelly Corrigan, and featuring Claire Danes & Kate Bowler. Special thanks to the Warren Smoot Carter III and Meagan Carter Charitable Fund for making this series possible.

Kelly Corrigan

Pursuit of a Life Worth Living

“What we’re trying to do is offer students an opportunity to think critically about the most important question of their lives across important and enduring lines of difference. That can only be good for them as individuals and as global citizens.”

Matthew Croasmun

Gathering Joy

Willie Jennings

The Future of Theology

George Marsden

Life Worth Living and the University

Jonathan Holloway