Ep67. Talanoa with the Old Testament, Brian Kōlia

/
Ep67. Talanoa with the Old Testament, Brian Kōlia

I sat down with Brian Kōlia to discuss his diasporic/postcolonial work on Ecclesiastes, his Tulou reading of Song of Songs (and its constructive implications for animal studies), his Fāgogo reading of Gen 3 (and its ability to cross taboos and allow more liberative conversations on sexuality), and teaching the Prophets in ways that preserve their distinctiveness and speaks into our times. What comes across is the vitality of this work and its nimbleness to not be tied down by the forms, questions, and big T truth of colonial forms of Christianity and academia.

Brian is teaching an intensive on the Prophetic Literature at United Theological College in North Parramatta from Jan 18-22. To find out more or enrol/audit the class contact Joanne Stokes on: joannes@nswact.uca.org.au or phone (02) 8838 8967 (Course Code: THL 308).

Read More

Ep59 (LIVE). Psalms and Prophets in a Pandemic, Monica Melanchthon, Lyndal Sherwin, Renee Evans

/
Ep59 (LIVE). Psalms and Prophets in a Pandemic, Monica Melanchthon, Lyndal Sherwin, Renee Evans

In a special live episode of Love Rinse Repeat, Liam sat down with Monica Melanchthon, Lyndal Sherwin, and Renee Evans to talk about how we might read the Psalms and Prophets in the midst of a pandemic.

Despite often being framed as a great equaliser, the impact of COVID is disproportionately metered out against the world's vulnerable people. The time of the pandemic has been accompanied, in Australia and elsewhere, by an intensified push to confront and overcome racial injustice, renewed emphasis on the need for urgent environmental activism, and revealed just how many people are willing to sacrifice their neighbours for the economy.

The Prophets and the Psalms, texts often written and compiled in the wake of deep disruption, traumatic cataclysm, and the end of meaning, are unwavering in their demands for truth, lament, repentance justice, and hope. For this reason they are a potent place to turn amidst the crises of our day. Join us for a wide-ranging and relevant discussion on what the church can learn through the disruption and comfort that comes from reading these old texts in a new pandemic.

Read More

Ep54. A Liberation Journey, Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev

/
Ep54. A Liberation Journey, Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev

I sat down with Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev to talk about the Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets. We talk about the world's need for courage, wisdom, and vision, the three qualities inherent in every prophet: “an encounter with divine love and concern for the world, courage to name oppression, and a moral imagination to articulate an alternative future.” We also discuss the importance of art, imagination, and dialogue in the prophetic tasks, the overlapping concerns of the Hebrew Prophets and the Book of Deuteronomy, and the way biblical liberation themes are found in various contemporary figures. We end with a discussion on how the prophetic critique of stability and immutability as "currency of empire" and the importance placed on a liberation journey in increasingly mutual relationships speaks with hope and care into our current COVID19 climate, and an impassioned plea to join the work of birthing a new world.

Read More