In this episode, we feature the work of three scholars affiliated with the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable (BSIR). They discuss the collegial process of BSIR and their research on northern Baptist women and their missions.
Our Guests
Dr. Laine Scales is the guest host for this episode. Laine is a professor and the PhD program director in the Diane R. Garland School of Social Work here at Baylor. She is also a co-director of BSIR.
Nadia Andrilenas is a PhD candidate in the Department of Religion in Historical Studies at Baylor University. Her research examines women’s experiences in Christianity, especially in East and Southeast Asia, and draws from World Christianity methodologies. Her dissertation will investigate how women and gender shaped early 20th century Vietnamese evangelicalism.
Dr. Laura Rodgers Levens. Laura is the Associate Professor of Christian Mission and the Director of the Master of Arts in Ministry Studies Program at BSK Theological Seminary. She specializes in interdisciplinary courses that integrate multiple academic disciplines for practical theological inquiry and training. In addition to teaching, Laura has written for numerous publications, serves on various academic and ecclesial committees, and regularly guest preaches in local churches.
Other Episodes Featuring BSIR
In this episode, Zen speaks with several people who contributed to a new Baylor University Press book called God of the Whirlwind. The book collects stories and reflections from the Black Waco community that revolve around the Black storytelling tradition in Waco related to two significant events: a lynching and a deadly tornado.
Guests
Linda Jann Lewis describes herself as a 1960's Baby Boomer who worships at the altar of Voting Rights and Civil Rights. She is a writer, having contributed to the Austin Villager, Nokoa, and multiple books. She has been featured in a film about Molly Ivins. And she helped found and remains involved with Austin Community Radio’s kazifm.org.
George Oliver is the Assistant Director of Huntsville Hornet Drama, a 1998 graduate of Huntsville High School, received his BFA in Theatre from Sam Houston, and earned a MDiv from Andover Newton Seminary (at Yale Divinity School). George is Co-Producer on the short film Ado, starring Jennifer Lewis, which was just invited to both the Florida Film Festival and the Cleveland International Film Festival, and made its Festival debut at the Flickfest Short Film Festival in Australia. He plans to begin studying Commercial Real Estate Development in the year to come.
Tyler B. Davis is a Research Administrator, Adjunct Professor in the Mexican American Studies Program and Department of Theology, and Affiliate Faculty in the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. He is also a graduate of Baylor University’s Religion Department.
Links
Buy God of the Whirlwind: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481322560/god-of-the-whirlwind/
Was the Apostle Paul a Stoic? Mm, probably not. But some people in Corinth who Paul taught about Christ may have appropriated Stoicism, subordinating it to flesh out their understanding of their new faith. That is what Timothy Brookins joins us to talk about today.
This Episode's Guest
Timothy earned his PhD from Baylor University, working on First Corinthians, Stoic philosophy, and economics. He’s gone on to publish several books, including recently Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians (Eerdmans, 2024). Timothy taught at Houston Christian University for more than a decade before making a move to University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, Texas.
Links
Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians: https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802883230/rediscovering-the-wisdom-of-the-corinthians/
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In this episode, guest host João Chaves speaks with Ronilso Pacheco about Samuel Sharpe's libertarian and anti-slavery preaching.
Ronilso Pacheco is the Jackson Scholar of Latin American Studies, director of programming at the Instituto de Estudos da Religião (Brazil). He is also a Ford Global Fellow.
João Chaves is the Assistant Professor of the History of Religion in the Américas at Baylor University and one of the Co-Directors of the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable.
Previous BSIR-related Episodes
Other Relevant Episodes
Episode Summary
In this episode, Zen speaks with Rachel Toombs about her Baylor University Press book, Good News Resounding, which is available to pre-order now. This book includes contributions from an wonderful group of scholars and artists, including works of academic prose, poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual art. It offers the reader glimpses of the beautiful world of theology and literature.
But the book tells a story, a story about a scholarly life well lived. One that included not only careful reading and thinking, but careful mentoring. The book is a festschrift honoring the career of Ralph Wood, the Baylor University Emeritus Professor of Theology and Literature. In our conversation, Rachel reflects on her experience as one of Ralph’s students. It made me once again grateful for mentors in my own life—and led me to reflect on what it means to be both a good student and a good teacher.
Guest Bio
Rachel Toombs earned her PhD from Baylor University. She has written on Flannery O’Connor and Hebrew narrative and has a recently published book with Baker Academic called Reading the First Five Books: The Invitation of the Pentateuch’s Stories (https://bakeracademic.com/p/Reading-the-First-Five-Books-Rachel-Toombs/579875). Rachel has recently been called to serve as assistant professor of Old Testament at Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
Related Episodes
Links
Good News Resounding: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481322539/good-news-resounding/
Reading the First Five Books: https://bakeracademic.com/p/Reading-the-First-Five-Books-Rachel-Toombs/579875
Episode Intro
In today’s episode, the Rev. Dr. Malcolm Foley joins us again to discuss his recently published book, The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward (Brazos Press 2025). I can’t imagine a more relevant book for the church, given the intense economic anxiety that is so pervasive in America and beyond. I’m excited for you to hear from Malcolm about greed, racism, and how Christians might bear witness to the gospel economically.
About the Guest
The Rev. Dr. Malcolm earned his PhD from Baylor University’s Department of Religion. He serves as the Special Advisor to the President for Equity and Campus Engagement. He is also a pastor at Mosaic Waco, a gospel-centered, Spirit led, multicultural church in Waco, Texas.
Related Episodes & Links
1) Black Contemplative Preaching: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Nf1w59GeWEtLstDRerk9t?si=B8jYkt3cTqCzQeBiJdsgRA
2) Theology, Ethics, and a Church in Conflict: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7DXKtwkSWGOMhkLQKuMqUp?si=agjg4IPGTCuNhiEBUzzxUA
3) The Cross and the Lynching Tree: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3BVgyMhmm49BhRWLh3HoYt?si=rUno3OOzQlO_LKqBalMFhA
Malcolm's book: https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-anti-greed-gospel/419161
Rebecca "Becky" Copeland's book: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481321426/entangled-being/
In this episode, Zen speaks with Melody Escobar about her new book Revelations of Divine Care (Baylor University Press: 2024). You can learn more about the book at this link: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481320559/revelations-of-divine-care/
Melody Escobar is a research associate with the Collaborative on Faith and Disability in the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities at Baylor University.
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In this episode, Laine Scales guest hosts a conversation with David Goatley and Brad Creed about the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable. They discuss recent research emerging from the Roundtable as well as how the Roundtable cultivates an international, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary community of scholarship through intentional mentoring.
David Goatley is the sixth president of Fuller Theological Seminary. He is a constructive theologian and globally recognized missiologist with a background in pastoral counseling.
J. Bradley Creed is the fifth president of Campbell University. He is an accomplished leader of mission-driven institutions and a scholar and historian of religion.
Laine Scales is Professor of Social Work at Baylor University and a co-director of the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable.
In this episode, Zen speaks with Leah Lomotey-Nakon, one of the newest faculty members in Baylor's Religion Department. Leah shares some of her story and discusses her research on religion and reproductive health.
Learn more about Dr. Lomotey-Nakon here: https://religion.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/leah-lomotey-nakon-phd
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In this episode, Zen speaks with Christopher Seitz about his new book The Heights of the Hills are His Also.
Learn more about the book here: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481322454/the-heights-of-the-hills-are-his-also/
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In this episode, Zen speaks with Sameer Yadav, one of Baylor's newest religion faculty. The son of Indian immigrants, Sameer was raised in a Hindu home in rural Idaho. His childhood experiences of religion are the beginning of Sameer's story of becoming a theologian. Hear more about his journey in this episode. Listen until the end to hear Sameer discuss whether mysticism has a place in Christian higher education today.
Learn more about Sameer at his faculty page: https://religion.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/sameer-yadav-phd
Other episodes you might like:
In this episode, Zen speaks with John Duncan about teaching introductory courses on the Bible and church history. The discussion includes reflections on the challenges of teaching courses like these, such as navigating issues raised by having students of various faith backgrounds in the room. John also offers strategies and examples of in-class activities he uses to teach the class.
Learn more about John by visiting his Baylor faculty profile: https://religion.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/john-duncan-phd
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In this episode, João Chaves joins as guest host, facilitating a conversation with guests Felipe Hinojosa and Stephen De Trolio. They discuss Christian nationalism, the colonial history of Christian nationalism, and the impact histories of Christian nationalism have on the church today.
This episode is a special collaboration with the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable. Learn more about the Roundtable here: https://religion.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/affiliated-programs/baptist-studies-center-research/baptist-scholars-international-roundtable-4
Learn more about the guests at their respective academic pages:
João Chaves: https://religion.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/joao-chaves-phd
Felipe Hinojosa: https://history.artsandsciences.baylor.edu/person/felipe-hinojosa
Stephen Di Trolio: https://ptsem.edu/profiles/stephen-r-di-trolio/
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In this episode, Zen speaks with Jerusha Neal (Duke Divinity School) about her new book Holy Ground: Climate Change, Preaching, and the Apocalypse of Place. How might our discourse, teaching, and preaching about climate change differ if we listened more carefully to the voices of displaced people? Listen to hear what Jerusha Neal thinks.
Holy Ground is available November 2024 from Baylor University Press: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481319072/holy-ground/
In this episode, guest host Natalie Carnes (Baylor University) speaks with Kutter Callaway (Fuller Theological Seminary) about the past, present, and future of theology and the arts.
Other Currents Episodes You Might Like:
Links to books, initiatives, and grants mentioned:
Summary
In this episode, Deirdre Fulton joins us to share about the process of updating the NRSV, and to tell us a little about her role in that process. Deirdre Fulton is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament here at Baylor University.
Themes
Bible translation, text criticism, NRSVue
Relevant Baylor Press Books
Additional Resources
In this episode, Zen speaks with Tyler Mowry about teaching religious studies in online settings, using digital humanities, and assigning AI.
Tyler is a Hebrew Bible PhD student and Learning Management System Content Specialist at Baylor University.
Links to the digital humanities tools Tyler mentions in the interview will be posted in due course.
The essay on assigning AI (written by Ethan and Lilach Mollick) is available here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4475995
Relevant Episodes:
In this episode, Zen speaks with Leslie Garrote about American Evangelicalism: its history, the challenges of studying a living religious movement, and best practices.
Leslie is currently a PhD student in Baylor's Religion Department. She is a Hispanic Theology Initiative scholar and a recipient of the Louisville Institute's doctoral fellowship.
Leslie's Recommended Readings:
Read Leslie's Anxious Bench essay here: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2024/07/what-black-women-bloggers-can-teach-american-evangelicals/
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In this episode, Zen speaks with E. Trey Clark about his new book, Black Contemplative Preaching: A Hidden History of Prayer, Proclamation, and Prophetic Witness (Baylor University Pres: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481321990/black-contemplative-preaching/).
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The Baylor University Press book plugged in the middle of the episode is By the Word Worked by Fleming Rutledge (https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481321754/by-the-word-worked/).
In this episode, Zen speaks with Dr. Joel Burnett about his cutting edge research on the Amman Theater Statue, a larger-than-life, Iron Age statue discovered in 2010. We discuss the statue's origin, its features, and its religious function. Along the way, Joel helps us understand how this statue relates to and sheds light on other ancient Near Eastern societies, including Israel and Judah only seventy miles to the west.
Here's a link to an article about the Amman Theater Statue, including numerous pictures: https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2019/12/Amman-Theatre-Statue-and-Ammonite-Royal-Ancestor-Cult
Here's a link to Joel Burnett's new book on the statue: https://www.asor.org/news/2024/05/aasor75-amman-theater-statue
Also in this episode, Cade Jarrell from Baylor Press joins us to discuss a new book by Philip Jenkins, Kingdoms of This World. You can learn more about that book here: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481319935/kingdoms-of-this-world/
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