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The Ridley Institute Podcast

The Ridley Institute Podcast

By Sam Fornecker

From The Ridley Institute at St Andrew's Anglican Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: conversations on Christian faith and discipleship in our secular age. Hosted by Sam Fornecker.
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New Parker Society :: Thomas Cranmer on the Lord's Supper (1550)

The Ridley Institute PodcastJun 27, 2022

00:00
01:03:43
Charismatic Christianity, with Helen Collins
Mar 19, 202450:35
Doorway to Artistry, with Esther Lightcap Meek

Doorway to Artistry, with Esther Lightcap Meek

Sam Fornecker chats with philosopher Esther Lightcap Meek about her book, Doorway to Artistry: Attuning Your Philosophy to Enhance Your Creativity (Wipf & Stock, 2023).


The implicit philosophical outlook of the modern world thwarts and damages our humanness, severing us from the "real." Modernity aims to master nature by arrogantly reducing things to bits and uses. Nothing is legitimate in its own right. This is the anti-philosophical philosophy of our modern world.


In this conversation, Sam Fornecker speaks with Esther Lightcap Meek (author of Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People, and A Little Manual for Knowing) about how modernity's "loss of the real" can be put right, enabling us to exchange the blind, irresponsible, exploitative, and dismembering vision of modernity for a different vision that sees and consents to joyful, festal communion with the real.


For more of this week's conversation, and to probe further its relevance to craft, artistry, and making, see Esther's Doorway to Artistry.


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To keep abreast of what's going on at The Ridley Institute, or to learn more about opportunities to grow and train for Christian discipleship and mission, stay connected with us online: Website: https://ridleyinstitute.com/. Twitter: @RidleyInstitute. Ministry Apprenticeship: https://standrews.church/ministry-apprenticeship/.

Feb 21, 202452:27
Leading Christian Communities, with C. Kavin Rowe

Leading Christian Communities, with C. Kavin Rowe

Join Sam Fornecker for a conversation with C. Kavin Rowe (George Washington Ivey Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Vice Dean for Faculty, Duke Divinity School). Drawing on Rowe's recent book, Leading Christian Communities (Eerdman's, 2023), this conversation focuses on how the New Testament enables the communities it shapes to envision a faithful and compelling vision of Christian leadership.

Jan 25, 202446:50
Gospel Witness through the Ages, with David Gustafson

Gospel Witness through the Ages, with David Gustafson

Join Sam Fornecker for a chat with David Gustafson (Chair of Mission and Evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School). Drawing on insight's from David's book, Gospel Witness through the Ages (Eerdman's, 2022), this conversation focuses on how Christians can learn to fulfill our charge to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5) by learning from the evangelistic strengths—and weaknesses—of the Church throughout the ages.

Jan 12, 202442:30
Gender as Love, with Fellipe do Vale

Gender as Love, with Fellipe do Vale

What is gender, how does it relate to sex, and what's love got to do with it? Join Sam Fornecker for a chat with Fellipe do Vale, Assistant Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Drawing on do Vale's recent book, Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds (Baker Academic, 2023), this episode introduces listeners do a deeply theological approach to understanding gender that is both grounded in the biblical story and engaged with the fraught realities of contemporary life.

Dec 18, 202301:10:53
[From the Archives] Advent, with Abigail Hull Whitehouse

[From the Archives] Advent, with Abigail Hull Whitehouse

Happy Thanksgiving! On this episode, Sam chats with Abigail Hull Whitehouse (a fellow priest in the Diocese of the Carolinas) about the season of Advent that begins this Sunday. Sam and Abigail discuss the meaning of the Advent season, the apocalyptic theology it brings to the fore, and how listeners can "bring Advent home" through spiritual disciplines and practices, both individually and as families. 

Dec 01, 202347:51
Just Discipleship, with Michael Rhodes

Just Discipleship, with Michael Rhodes

In this episode, Sam Fornecker chats with Michael Rhodes (Lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College). Dipping toes into Michael's recent book, Just Discipleship: Biblical Justice in an Unjust World (IVP Academic, 2023), this conversation considers a range of questions: What is justice? Does God care about justice—and if so, why? What does God say about justice in the Bible? What is a "jubilary politics"? And what does it mean for the Church to be a moral ecology or contrast society, modeling a different way of being in the world? More information about Michael's earlier book with Robby Holt, Practicing the King's Economy (Baker, 2018) may be found here.

Nov 09, 202349:40
Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine, with Andrew Davison

Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine, with Andrew Davison

Would the discovery of "alien life" overturn the Christian faith? As we gain a clearer picture of the universe — it is estimated that there exist around 400 billion billion potentially habitable planets — it's important that Christians answer with a ready, "Of course not"! Join Sam Fornecker and Andrew Davison, Starbridge Professor of Theology and Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, for a chat about how the Christian tradition enables us to grapple with the theological implications of exobiology. Regardless of what may or may not be "out there," grappling with familiar themes in this way helps us to grow in our understanding of the core doctrines of the faith, here and now. (Episode cover credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. Observ. Munich/T. Preibisch et al.; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI)

Oct 19, 202301:15:38
Is God a Vindictive Bully? with Dr. Paul Copan
Oct 06, 202301:07:35
Burden or Vocation? Dani Treweek on the Meaning of Singleness
Sep 15, 202348:37
More than Things: Paul Louis Metzger on Personhood and Christian Ethics
Aug 30, 202301:04:41
Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? Stephen Tong on the Edwardian Reformation (1547–1553)

Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? Stephen Tong on the Edwardian Reformation (1547–1553)

Season 3 kicks off with Steve Tong, History Master at Sydney Grammar School in Sydney, Australia. Drawing on Steve's new book, Building the Church of England: The Book of Common Prayer and the Edwardian Reformation (Brill, 2023), this episode looks at how the English Reformers sought to give visible form to the invisible Church, through a gospel-centered ecclesiology and a Bible-based liturgy—and what these efforts can teach believers today.

Aug 16, 202341:15
New Parker Society :: First Series Recap

New Parker Society :: First Series Recap

Join Sam Fornecker, Alice Soulieux-Evans, and Jake Griesel, as the gang draw together many of the key themes and insights that have arisen from the seminal reformation texts studied thus far on the New Parker Society series. The New Parker Society series will return after a hiatus, and The Ridley Institute Podcast will be back, Fall 2023!

Jun 29, 202301:03:52
How to Find Yourself, with Brian Rosner
Jun 12, 202349:58
Biblical Critical Theory, with Chris Watkin

Biblical Critical Theory, with Chris Watkin

"Make good men wish [Christianity] were true," wrote Blaise Pascal, "then show them that it is." Join Sam Fornecker for a chat with Chris Watkin, Associate Professor in French Studies at Monash University, about how a robust understanding of the Bible's story equips Christians to follow Pascal's advice. Introducing listeners to the riot of ideas in Chris's recent book, Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture, this chat provides tools for engaging more discerningly, charitably, and Christianly with modern life and culture.

May 18, 202301:09:50
New Parker Society :: Nicholas Ridley's Conferences with Hugh Latimer (1556)
Apr 18, 202301:10:17
The Story of Abortion in America, with Leah Savas

The Story of Abortion in America, with Leah Savas

Join Abigail Whitehouse and Sam Fornecker for a conversation with Leah Savas, coauthor with Marvin Olasky of The Story of Abortion in America: A Street-Level History, 1652–2022 (Crossway, 2022). Synthesizing the book's key findings and implications, this conversation equips Christians to (re)integrate reflection on abortion—including its history and attendant present-day realities—into the realm of Christian discipleship. This episode deals with a very sensitive topic, by necessity somewhat graphically; it is not one to listen to within earshot of children.

Mar 27, 202301:05:47
Smuggling Jesus Back into the Church, with Andrew Fellows

Smuggling Jesus Back into the Church, with Andrew Fellows

Sam Fornecker and pastor/apologist Andrew Fellows discuss why "worldliness" is so poorly understood, and weakly challenged, in contemporary Christianity. Drawing on Fellows' recent book, Smuggling Jesus back into the Church: How the Church Became Worldly, and What to Do about It (IVP, 2022), as well as his experience in Christian leadership (including 21 years with the English L'Abri, and a period as chairman of L'Abri International from 2011–2016), this episode tackles several forms of worldliness besetting the Church — from the allure of the Modern Trinity ("Me, Myself, and I"), to the pervasive politicizing of the Church, to the erosion of evangelical confidence in the power of prayer and the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Mar 08, 202351:27
St. Augustine and a More Hopeful Politics, with Michael Lamb
Feb 22, 202301:01:17
A Relationship of Trust with God, with Teresa Morgan

A Relationship of Trust with God, with Teresa Morgan

In this episode, Sam speaks with Teresa Morgan, McDonald Agape Professor in New Testament and Early Christianity at Yale Divinity School, about the role of trust in the Christian life. Drawing on insights found in Morgan's most recent monograph, 'This Rich Trust': The New Testament and the Theology of Trust (Oxford University Press, 2022), this chat explores what it means to enter into a relationship of trust with God—a relationship in which one gives up trust in one's own judgment, and risks to place oneself in the hands of Jesus.

Jan 26, 202349:08
New Parker Society :: Hugh Latimer's Sermons on the Cards (1529) and on the Plough (1548)
Jan 19, 202349:05
Freedom: Christianity's Gift to the World, with D.C. Schindler
Dec 01, 202201:00:06
Testament, with Micheal O'Siadhail
Nov 28, 202201:06:03
New Parker Society :: John Bradford's Godly Meditations on the Lord's Prayer
Oct 26, 202201:34:17
On Genesis and Gender: A Tale of Two Paradigms, with Dr. Abigail Favale

On Genesis and Gender: A Tale of Two Paradigms, with Dr. Abigail Favale

Join Sam, as he sits down with Abigail Favale, professor at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, to discuss the ideas, insights, and stories told in her recent book, The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory (Ignatius, 2022). Among other things, Sam and Abigail discuss the shape of an authentically Christian feminism, the advent and meaning of the "gender paradigm," the gift of sexed personhood, and how Transfiguration meets the deepest desire of our transgender moment. 

Sep 22, 202201:09:59
On the Gospel and the Gospels, with Professor Simon Gathercole
Sep 08, 202201:01:50
Virtuous Persuasion, with Michael Niebauer

Virtuous Persuasion, with Michael Niebauer

In this episode, Sam chats with Michael Niebauer about the theology of mission sketched in his provocative recent book, Virtuous Persuasion: A Theology of Christian Mission (Lexham Press, 2022). Drawing on lines of thought developed in Virtuous Persuasion, Sam and Mike survey current models of Christian mission, considering where each breaks down theologically, before exploring an alternative model of mission grounded in theological ethics. Drawing on the diverse voices of Thomas Aquinas, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Oliver O'Donovan, this episode introduces listeners to Niebauer's fresh lens on Christian mission, one which will be of immediate use for all Christian missionaries—whether those enjoying Peter's manifest missionary success (Acts 2:37–41) or Stephen's apparent missionary "failure" (Acts 7:54–60).

Aug 25, 202252:42
New Parker Society :: Thomas Cranmer on the Lord's Supper (1550)
Jun 27, 202201:03:43
Agrarian Spirit, with Norman Wirzba

Agrarian Spirit, with Norman Wirzba

In this finale of the inaugural season of The Ridley Institute Podcast, Sam talks with Norman Wirzba, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School. Drawing on themes from Wirzba's forthcoming book, Agrarian Spirit: Cultivating Faith, Community, and the Land (University of Notre Dame Press, 2022), Sam and Norman explore how the cultivation of an "agrarian" vision of core Christian spiritual practices — including, but not limited to, prayer and perception — can guide the heart of the Christian into ever-greater alignment with the heart of God.

Jun 02, 202252:46
Uprooted, with Gracy Olmstead

Uprooted, with Gracy Olmstead

Sam talks with Gracy Olmstead, author of Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of the Places We've Left Behind (Sentinel, 2021), about local culture, the American dream, and the challenges and possibilities of living with roots in a transient society. 

May 26, 202248:11
What Are Christians For?, with Jake Meador

What Are Christians For?, with Jake Meador

What would happen if you put Abraham Kuyper in a microwave with Catholic social teaching? Just possibly, something like Jake Meador's most recent book, What Are Christians For? Life Together at the End of the World (IVP, 2022). In this episode, Sam is joined by Jake, editor in chief of Mere Orthodoxy, to discuss a number of issues, ranging from place, race, and the revolutionary spirit, to the beauties of hospitality, honey sticks, and expertly trimmed brisket. 

May 12, 202255:53
New Parker Society :: Thomas Cranmer, Homilies (1547)

New Parker Society :: Thomas Cranmer, Homilies (1547)

In this latest installment of the New Parker Society — the first of two on the great English reformer and Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer — Sam is joined Jake Griesel and Steve Tong to discuss the genre of the sermon. Key to the conversation is Cranmer's role in the construction of the Book of Homilies (1547), and the theological and pastoral genius animating, in particular, the incomparable third homily, "A Sermon of the Salvation of Mankind by Only Christ Our Saviour from Sin and Death Everlasting." (Special thanks to Alice Soulieux-Evans, for her help behind the scenes, despite her unavailability for this episode.)

Apr 28, 202201:00:30
On Faith and Meaning, with Os Guinness

On Faith and Meaning, with Os Guinness

In this episode, Sam chats with speaker, writer, and social critic, Os Guinness. Discussing themes developed in his most recent book, The Great Quest: Invitation to an Examined Life and a Sure Path to Meaning (InterVarsity, 2022), Os and Sam explore big questions about faith, reason, and the meaning of life. In the spirit of great Christian thinkers like Blaise Pascal, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis, Os helps listeners to grasp how Christianity both questions our answers, and answers our questions.

Apr 19, 202245:40
The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, with Jason Baxter

The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, with Jason Baxter

In this episode, Sam is joined by Jason Baxter, Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Humanities at Wyoming Catholic College, to discuss the "British Boethius," C.S. Lewis. Unfolding aspects of Jason's recent book, The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind (InterVarsity Academic, 2022), Jason and Sam discuss why Lewis treasured the middle ages, and what modern people stand to gain from retrieving the medieval mind. 

Mar 31, 202256:08
Trinity and Salvation, with Fred Sanders

Trinity and Salvation, with Fred Sanders

On this much-anticipated episode, Sam is joined by Fred Sanders, professor of theology in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University. Drawing on insights from Fred’s recent book, Fountain of Salvation: Trinity and Soteriology (Eerdman’s, 2021), Sam and Fred discuss why properly relating the doctrines of the Trinity and salvation can foster enormous fruitfulness in the realms of Christian doctrine, life, and mission. 

Mar 11, 202254:36
New Parker Society :: John Hooper, A Declaration of Christ and His Office (1547)

New Parker Society :: John Hooper, A Declaration of Christ and His Office (1547)

Join Alice, Jake, and Sam for the third installment of the New Parker Society series. This time, the gang meets to discuss the bishop of Gloucester and of Worcester, John Hooper's 1547 work, A Declaration of Christ and His Office. The late David Steinmetz described Hooper as a "volcano of energy, who shook the indifferent out of their self-satisfaction and who let the ignorant and slothful catch a sobering whiff of brimstone." Suffice to say — this one will leave you whistling the theme song.

Feb 25, 202201:06:05
The Gospel of John, with David Ford

The Gospel of John, with David Ford

On this episode, Sam is joined by David Ford, Regius Professor Emeritus of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, to discuss his recently published The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary (SPCK/Baker Academic, 2021). Drawing on decades of theological reflection distilled in that book, this conversation brings into focus key aspects of John's Gospel, including its sheer superabundance of meaning, its concern with the rehabilitation of desire in Christian discipleship, and its endlessly generative resources for growing in practices of prayer, truth-seeking, and love. 

Feb 10, 202246:11
A Dozen Things God Did With Your Sin, with Sam Storms

A Dozen Things God Did With Your Sin, with Sam Storms

On this episode, Sam chats with Sam Storms, Lead Pastor at Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City and author of numerous books, including the recently published A Dozen Things God Did With Your Sin (And Three Things He'll Never Do) (Crossway, 2022). Join Sam (and Sam) as they discuss the cross of Christ, the grace of God, and the glorious possibility—for every guilt and shame-laden believer—of experiential communion with the triune God.

Jan 27, 202243:52
Carved in Ebony, with Jasmine Holmes

Carved in Ebony, with Jasmine Holmes

On this episode, Sam is joined by Jasmine Holmes, to discuss her new book, Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us (Bethany House, 2021). Drawing on the stories of ten remarkable Black women of mid-nineteenth century American history, Jasmine and Sam discuss what it meant for women like Nannie Helen Burroughs, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Amanda Berry Smith, to be God's image "carved in ebony"—and how Christians stand to gain from their legacy today.

Jan 13, 202243:24
New Parker Society :: William Tyndale, The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528)

New Parker Society :: William Tyndale, The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528)

On this second installment of the New Parker Society series, Sam is joined once again by Alice Soulieux-Evans and Jake Griesel, for the friends' first deep dive into a key work of the Parker Society Library: this week, a work of the English reformer, William Tyndale (c.1494–1536). Tyndale's The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528) remains — second only to his biblical translations — the reformer's most influential theological work. Join Alice, Jake, and Sam as they discuss what Tyndale has to say to Christians today about faith, grace, gospel obedience, sacramental worship, biblical interpretation, and more. 

Dec 21, 202101:15:01
Redeeming Expertise, with Dr Josh Reeves

Redeeming Expertise, with Dr Josh Reeves

On this episode, Sam is joined by Josh Reeves, Director of the Samford Center for Science and Religion at Samford University. This conversation, building on insights from Reeves' new book, Redeeming Expertise: Scientific Trust and the Future of the Church (Baylor University Press, 2021), explores a variety of related concerns, including the relation of science and faith, skepticism of scientific expertise, and guidelines for exercising trust with wisdom, discernment, and humility.

Dec 13, 202152:31
On Thinking Better, with Ulrich Lehner

On Thinking Better, with Ulrich Lehner

On this episode, Sam chats with Ulrich Lehner, William K. Wood Professor of Theology at the University of Notre-Dame, who believes that reason lies at the heart of the good life. Drawing on themes explored in his book, Think Better: Unlocking the Power of Reason (Baker Academic, 2021), Lehner outlines an approach to reasoning that is intimately shaped by a Christian worldview, yet simultaneously remains accessible to anyone seeking a richer, clearer, and more empathic experience of life. 

Nov 11, 202147:15
New Parker Society :: Introduction to the Project

New Parker Society :: Introduction to the Project

Happy Reformation Day! 

On this episode, Sam is joined by two friends, Alice Soulieux-Evans and Jake Griesel, to discuss the Parker Society Library — a collection of key texts from the English Reformation during the sixteenth-century. In coming episodes, Sam, Alice, and Jake will guide listeners through select works from the Library. But first, the team meets to discuss the origins, significance, and ongoing relevance of the Parker Society Library. 

The Ridley Institute Podcast will continue running, as previously, on a biweekly basis. "New Parker Society" episodes will release every other month. NPS listeners, join us again on December 21 for a reading of our first text—William Tyndale's The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528).

Oct 31, 202154:20
Piercing Leviathan, with Dr Eric Ortlund

Piercing Leviathan, with Dr Eric Ortlund

Dr Eric Ortlund joins Sam for a conversation about the book of Job, and why this profoundly painful book may be the most joyful one in the Bible. Unfolding insights from his recent book, Piercing Leviathan: God's Defeat of Evil in the Book of Job (IVP Academic/Apollo, 2021), Ortlund shows how Job transforms us through uncomfortable reflection on the place of suffering in the Christian life, the ways of wise and life-giving counsel to suffering Christians, and what it means to love God for God's sake.

Oct 14, 202148:31
Apprenticeship to Jesus, with Dr Catherine Wright

Apprenticeship to Jesus, with Dr Catherine Wright

Dr Catherine Wright joins Sam for a conversation about apprenticeship to Jesus. Unfolding themes from her book, Spiritual Practices of Jesus: Learning Simplicity, Humility, and Prayer with Luke's Earliest Readers (IVP Academic, 2020), Dr. Wright discusses how Luke's gospel, especially  as read with the help of the early church fathers, calls readers to a relationship that entails new ways of relating to poverty, status, and desire.

Sep 30, 202148:08
On Humanity and Humility, with Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin

On Humanity and Humility, with Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin

Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin joins Sam for a conversation about how to communicate the gospel with humanity and humility. Drawing out themes from her book, Confronting Christianity (Crossway, 2019), Dr. McLaughlin addresses some common pitfalls of Christian apologetics, the difficulty and promise of genuine listening, and (perhaps?) the hardest question raised by the claims of the Christian faith. 

Sep 14, 202144:44