Theology Lab: Courage & Curiosity for Everyday Faith

Christian nationalism and Christians in politics are at the center of this Theology Lab with Kaitlyn Schiess (from the Holy Post podcast) and Yi-An Huang (City Manager of Cambridge, MA).
They discussion Christian faith, political engagement, and the mission of the church.
How should Christians engage politics without succumbing to mere rivalry or pursuing political power in and for itself, or compromising their faith? Yi-An Huang and Kaitlyn Schiess explore Christian nationalism, politics and the Bible, church unity, and faithful Christian witness. How should Christians bring their full convictions into public life while treating faith as a gift rather than a weapon, and how can churches navigate political disagreement with wisdom, prayer, and discernment? This conversation offers a thoughtful Christian perspective on politics, power, justice, and the public life of faith.
Learn more about Kaitlyn's work at https://kaitlynschiess.com/
Some of this conversation was inspired by Kaitlyn's book, the Ballot and the Bible, available here: https://kaitlynschiess.com/the-ballot-and-the-bible
Learn more about Theology Lab @ theologylab.org

Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins Theology Lab for a conversation on evangelicalism, Christian women, Christianity and gender, women and Christianity, and biblical inerrancy, drawing from her new book (linked) Live, Laugh, Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made.
This is a conversation that looks at, why are people leaving Christianity? Why do some stay? What does theology and the Bible say about women? And how does these topics connect to gender roles in Christianity.
Longer description: In this wide-ranging interview, Du Mez explores the history of American evangelicalism, Christian women, holiness theology, New Thought, positive thinking, biblical inerrancy, gender roles, and the culture of Christian femininity. She explains how ideas about perfection, positivity, obedience, and doubt have shaped white Christian womanhood and American Christianity—and how these theological traditions continue to influence the church today. We also discuss Christian women influencers, the rise of blogs and social media, evangelical women's ministries, and the changing landscape of Christian culture. Du Mez asks listeners to reconsider what we assume is timeless Christian teaching and asks how history can lead to greater discernment, wisdom, and compassion.
Topics: Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Live Laugh Love, American evangelicalism, Christian women, Christian history, holiness theology, New Thought, biblical inerrancy, gender roles, Christian femininity, and evangelical culture.
On inerrancy (mentioned during the episode): https://defendinginerrancy.com/chicago-statements/
www.theologylab.org

This fall Theology Lab explores questions at the heart of Christian faith—from interpreting the Bible and understanding the theology of evil to faith deconstruction.
We are joined by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Pete Enns, Miroslav Volf, Nicholas Kristof and others—as we wrestle honestly with Scripture, the theology of evil (theodicy), evangelicalism, the Trinity, and more.
Whether you’re rethinking your faith, studying theology, or simply looking for deeper ways to understand Christianity, Theology Lab is a space to think deeply, ask better questions, and explore faith without easy answers.

The BibleProject's Tim Mackie gives his take of divine violence in the Bible and the way of Jesus, including his death for enemies. How does he hold a "mosaic" of images that come from Scripture together?
In this Theology Lab conversation, Tim Mackie of The BibleProject (the Bible Project) joins us for the second part of our interview. The first part looked at the origins of evil and key patterns in Genesis 1–11. This episode focuses on the challenge of violence in Scripture, especially passages where God commands violence and how those passages might be understood in light of the revelation of God in Jesus.
These are difficult questions, and Tim shares how he is continually thinking through them. Scott notes at the beginning how he's struck by Tim Mackie's ongoing reflections on this topic (and his willingness to rethink previously held positions), while Greg gets the conversation started by asking Tim to walk us through certain parts of Scripture that look at violence in the Bible, like Noah and the flood, the book of Joshua, and the death of Jesus.
Theology Lab is about encouraging curiosity and courage for an everyday faith. The follow up episode will look at a topic related to our Beyond Simpe Answer series which focuses on pursuing a theological vision when simple answers aren't enough.
Learn more about the BibleProject at: bibleproject.com
Theology Lab's website is: theologylab.org #TimMackie #BibleProject #ProblemOfEvil

In this episode of Theology Lab, we explore one of the most pressing questions facing Christians today: How should we think about artificial intelligence? Drawing from Pope Leo's groundbreaking encyclical on AI, theologian Catherine Moon unpacks the promises, dangers, and spiritual implications of technologies like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other large language models.
Together, we discuss AI ethics, human flourishing, cognitive de-skilling, moral decision-making, technology and the common good, and whether AI is helping build the "walls of Jerusalem" or a modern "Tower of Babel." We also examine concerns about automation, job displacement, digital companionship, and the growing pressure to adopt AI at all costs.
If you're interested in faith and technology, Christian ethics, artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, Pope Leo, theology, human dignity, digital culture, and the future of work, this conversation offers a thoughtful and challenging framework for navigating the AI age with wisdom and discernment.
Dr. Catherine Moon is the Arthur J. Ennis teaching scholar at Villanova University. Check out her bio here.
Learn more about Theology Lab www.theologylab.org
Here are two resources for learning more about the discussion that Dr. Moon shared with us:
https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/91230-encountering-artificial-intelligence-ethical-and-anthropological-investigations
https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/154545-reclaiming-human-agency-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence