Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcastseries from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. With dialogue aimed at all of thosestudying or exploring religious studies across all levels, you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications as well as a glossary below.
For this episode Dr Thomas Graff joins the podcast, Bye-Fellowand Director of Studies in Theology, Religion, and Philosophy of Religion at St Edmund’s College in Cambridge. Offering us their expertise is Professor Robin Kirkpatrick, Professor Emeritus of Italian and English Literature at the University of Cambridge.
Thomas talks us through his work studying Italian poet andwriter Dante, developing as he does a ‘theology of incarceration’ in and beyond him. We think about redemption, reconciliation, exile, power discourses and mass incarceration.
Glossary
Dante – Italian poet and writer of the 13thand 14th century, perhaps most famous for his Divine Comedy.
Ghibellines – Political and military factionsupporting the Holy Roman Emperor against the Pope in the Italian city states of central and northern Italy in the Middle Ages.
Guelfs - Political and military faction supportingthe Pope against the Holy Roman Emperor in the Italian city states of central and northern Italy in the Middle Ages.
MLK – Martin Luther King Jr, American civil rightsactivist and Baptist minister.
Panopticon – Circular prison design conceived byUtilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham to offer theoretical constant observation of prisoners in order to create a feeling of constant observation and self-regulation of behaviour as a result.
Punitive justice/Retributive justice – A system ofjustice focused on punishment in order to deter future crime.
Purgatory – A stage of the afterlife where sinners areoffered the chance to recompense for sin in order to progress to heaven.
Restorative justice – A process that brings thoseresponsible for and those harmed by crime together in dialogue to attempt to find a shared path forward.
A Level Specifications –
AQA
Philosophy of Religion
Evil and suffering
Ethics and Religion
The application of natural moral law, situation ethics andvirtue ethics to: capital punishment
Bentham and Kant
2b Christianity
Dialogue between Christianity and ethics
Pearson Edexcel
Philosophy of Religion
3 Problems of evil and suffering
6 Influences of developments in religious belief
4B Christianity:
1 Religious Beliefs values and teachings
OCR
2.c Philosophy of religion
3 The problem of evil
2.c Developments in religious thought
Christian moral principles
Scottish Highers Specifications
SQA
Christianity
Beliefs
Nature of human beings: free will; sin; stewards
Judgement; Heaven and Hell
Practices
Christian action; the Christian community
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcastseries from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. With dialogue aimed at all of thosestudying or exploring religious studies across all levels, you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications as well as a glossary below.
For this episode we are joined by Prof Joseph Webster, Professor of the Anthropology of Religion in the in the Faculty of Divinity here in Cambridge, to talk through Joe’s ethnographic fieldwork amongst Jehovah’s Witness communities in Northern Ireland and beyond. Joining us alongside him is Loïc Bawidaman, PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at theUniversity of Zurich.
Here Joe talks about how his time cleaning windows andstanding on literature carts has formed his understanding of the moral hermeneutical, and eschatological commitments of JW’s.
Glossary
Eschatology – Theological understandings of the endof this present world and what might lay beyond it.
Ethnography - An anthropological research methodoften involving immersive fieldwork that seeks to understand human culturesfrom the perspective of research participants.
Evangelism – The spreading of the gospel through interpersonalengagement.
Jehovah – A form of the Hebrew name for God thatappears in the Bible.
Ontological – Debates concerned with the nature ofbeing.
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2B Christianity:
Sources of wisdom and authority
Expressions of religious identity
Self, death and afterlife
Christianity, migration and religious pluralism
Pearson Edexcel
Philosophy of Religion
6 Influences of developments in religious belief
6.1 Views about life after death across a range of religioustraditions
OCR
2c Developments in Christian thought
Death and the Afterlife
Scottish Highers Specifications
SQA
Christianity
Beliefs
Judgement; Heaven and Hell
Practices
Christian action; the Christian community
Theme Tune - Terminate the Funk by Dub Terminator. Used under Creative Commons License.
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcast series from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. With dialogue aimed at all of those studying or exploring religious studies across all levels, you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications as well as a glossary below.
For this episode we are joined by Rob Trenckmann, PhD student in the Faculty of Divinity here in Cambridge, as we explore Rob’s research into knowledge and ‘illumination’ in the writings of St Augustine, thinking about what this means for the soul and forms of theological education. Providing their expertise is Professor Simeon Zahl, Professor of Christian Theology also in the Faculty of Divinity.
This time round, Rob takes us through Jesus’ use of parables, distinctions between the mind, the body and the soul, and what Rob describes as ‘educational romanticism’.
We dearly hope you enjoy!
Researcher: Rob Trenckmann
Expert Guest: Professor Simeon Zahl
Host: Dr Joseph Powell
Glossary –
Anthropology – In Christianity, the study of how humans relate to God
Apologetic – A defence of a faith of a particular aspect of a faith
Biblical heart – How the Bible explains the heart as the centre for physical as well as emotional, moral and spiritual faculties
Disequilibration – Being off balance, in Christianity referring to the moment before a realisation or awakening of consciousness
Dualism – A philosophical concept which sees the mind and body as separate and distinct from each other
Ethnography - An anthropological research method often involving immersive fieldwork that seeks to understand human cultures from the perspective of research participants.
Falleness – In Christianity, referring to the ‘fall’ of humanity through the sins of Adam and Eve and a subsequent rupturing in the relationship between humanity and God
Fideist/Fideism – The view that faith is more important than intellect or reasoning in assessing religious truths
Hamartyology – A branch of Christian study that relates to sin
Neoplatonist/Neoplatonism – A school of philosophy with Greek origins which has within it ideas including monism, the notion that all reality can be traced back to a single principal or thing
Pelagianism – A Christian idea which suggests the Fall did not flaw human nature and that humans can achieve human perfection through the will of God
Sanctification – The act of making something holy
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2B Christianity:
Sources of wisdom and authority
God
Self, death and afterlife
Good conduct and key moral principals
Expressions of religious identity
Christianity and science
The dialogue between Christianity and philosophy
The dialogue between Christianity and ethics
Pearson Edexcel
3 Problems of evil and suffering
Problem of evil and suffering
Theodicies and solutions to the problem of suffering
6 Influences of developments in religious belief
Points for discussion about life after death
OCR
Philosophy of religion
Ancient philosophical influences
The nature of the soul, mind and body
Arguments about the existence or non-existence of God
The challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil
Ideas about the nature of God
Developments in religious thought
Sources of religious wisdom and authority
Practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition
Scottish Highers Specifications
SQA
Christianity
Beliefs
Beliefs about God
Nature of human beings: free will; sin; stewards
Beliefs about Jesus
Judgement; Heaven and Hell
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcast series from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. With dialogue aimed at all of those studying or exploring religious studies across all levels, you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications as well as a glossary below.
For this episode we are joined by Susie Triffit, PhD student in the Faculty of Divinity here in Cambridge, to talk through Susie’s ethnographic fieldwork within a Christian church group in Bradford as she looks to explore the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on British Evangelical evangelism and worship. Offering us their expertise this time around is Professor Joseph Webster, Professor of the Anthropology of Religion also in the Faculty of Divinity.
Here, Susie talks us through violence and class barriers, battles between good and evil, and, naturally, Bible stories recreated through wrestling.
We dearly hope you enjoy!
Researcher: Susie Triffit
Expert Guest: Professor Joseph Webster
Host: Dr Joseph Powell
Glossary –
Anthropology/Theology Dialogue – An emerging area of scholarship which seeks to connect the methodologies, forms of knowledge and analysis between anthropology and theology with each other.
Autoethnography – A ethnographic method in which the researcher connects their own experiences to their research topic/subject.
Ethnography – An anthropological research method often involving immersive fieldwork that seeks to understand human cultures from the perspective of research participants.
Theodicy – An argument which attempts to explain the presence of evil in a world created/governed by an all loving God.
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2B Christianity:
Sources of wisdom and authority
Expressions of religious identity
The dialogue between Christianity and philosophy
Christianity, migration and religious pluralism
Pearson Edexcel
2 The nature and influence of religious experience
The nature of religious experience
3 Problems of evil and suffering
Theodicies and solutions to the problem of suffering
OCR
Philosophy of religion
The challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil
Developments in religious thought
Sources of religious wisdom and authority
Practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition
Ley themes related to the relationship between religion and society
Scottish Highers Specifications
SQA
Christianity
Beliefs
Beliefs about God
Nature of human beings: free will; sin; stewards
Beliefs about Jesus
Judgement; Heaven and Hell
Practices
Living according to the Gospels
Christian action; the Christian community
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcast series from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. Our discussions are aimed at all of those studying or exploring religious studies across all levels, and you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications as well as a glossary below.
This time round we are joined by Dr Suf Amichay, Junior Research Fellow at Trinity Hall Cambridge, as she takes us through her postdoctoral work which examines systems of natural philosophy and metaphysics in the Middle Ages, particularly the interaction between the Abrahamic faiths and the development of scientific inquiry in this period. Alongside us is Dr Pui Him Ip, Director of Tutorial Programmes at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.
Suf runs us through Plato and Aristotle, definitions of science, light in the so called ‘dark ages’, and the ‘creativity’ of Islamic scholarly endeavour.
We dearly hope you enjoy!
Researcher: Dr Suf Amichay
Expert Guest: Dr Pui Him Ip
Host: Dr Joseph Powell
Glossary
Atomistic – A philosophical concept which suggests the universe is made up from indivisible components called atoms.
Cambridge Platnonists – A group of 17th century Cambridge scholars influenced by the writings of Plato including figures such as Henry More and Ralph Cudworth.
Metaphysics – A branch of philosophy concerned with the structures of reality and concepts like space, time and knowing.
Modality – A mode or form in which something is expressed
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2B Christianity
Christianity and Science
The dialogue between Christianity and philosophy
2D Islam
Islam and Science
The dialogue between Islam and philosophy
Pearson Edexcel
Philosophy of Religion
Influences of developments in religious belief
Paper 4, Option 4B: Christianity
Social and historical developments
Paper 4, Option 4D: Islam
Social and historical developments
OCR
Content of Philosophy of religion
Ancient philosophical influences
Content of Developments in Christian thought
Knowledge of God’s Existence
Content of Developments in Islamic thought
Science and Philosophy
Scottish Highers
SQA
Morality, environment and global issues
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcast series from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. Our discussions are aimed at all of those studying or exploring religious studies across all levels, and you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications as well as a glossary below.
For this episode we are joined by Liam Carlton-Jones, PhD student in the Faculty of Divinity here at Cambridge, as we talk through Liam’s research which examines the relationship between eschatology and political theology in the New Testament books of Luke-Acts. Offering us their expertise is Dr Kylie Crabbe, Associate Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies in the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at the Australian Catholic University.
This time round, Liam guides us through Jewish end time themes, the question of Luke as a challenger to authority, conversation partners and imperial gossip.
We dearly hope you enjoy!
Researcher: Liam Carlton-Jones
Expert Guest: Dr Kylie Crabbe
Host: Dr Joseph Powell
Glossary –
Apologetic – A defence of a faith of a particular aspect of a faith
Eschatology – In religions, the consideration and study of ‘last things’ I.E death, afterlife, apocalypse, judgement.
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2B Christianity:
Sources of wisdom and authority
God
Self, death and afterlife
Good conduct and key moral principals
Expressions of religious identity
Christianity and science
The dialogue between Christianity and philosophy
The dialogue between Christianity and ethics
Pearson Edexcel
3 Problems of evil and suffering
Problem of evil and suffering
Theodicies and solutions to the problem of suffering
6 Influences of developments in religious belief
Points for discussion about life after death
OCR
Philosophy of religion
Ancient philosophical influences
The nature of the soul, mind and body
Arguments about the existence or non-existence of God
The challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil
Ideas about the nature of God
Developments in religious thought
Sources of religious wisdom and authority
Practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition
Scottish Highers Specifications
SQA
Christianity
Beliefs
Beliefs about God
Nature of human beings: free will; sin; stewards
Beliefs about Jesus
Judgement; Heaven and Hell
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcast series from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. Our discussions are aimed at all of those studying or exploring religious studies across all levels, and you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications as well as a glossary below.
In this episode we are joined by Michael Habashi, PhD student here in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge, to talk through Michael’s PhD work which centres dialogues between the Coptic Orthodox Church and those around it, the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican Churches with a particular focus on the immense legacy of Pope Shenouda III. Alongside us for this one is Dr Ralph Lee, Research Associate at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge.
Here, Michael divulges to us notions of global communions, ‘Oriental’ orthodoxy, church schisms and the influence of Alexandra and St Mark.
We dearly hope you enjoy!
Researcher: Michael Habashi
Expert Guest: Dr Ralph Lee
Host: Dr Joseph Powell
Glossary
Apollinarianism – A theory about the nature of Chris which suggests he had a human body and a human soul but no human rational mind, this instead being replaced by the Divine Logos or ‘word.
Arab Invasion/Conquests – A series of military conquests led by Arab leaders which stretched from the Arabian peninsula across northern Egypt and North Africa to modern day Spain in the west and to central Asia in the East.
Arianism – A theory about the nature of Christ which suggests that Christ did not always exist but was created by God the Father before time commenced and is therefore not co-existent with God the Father.
Christological – The branch of Christian theology that engages with the nature of Jesus Christ and his attributes.
Church Missionary Society – A British Anglican organisation originally formed in 1799 which in the 19th century dispatched missionary groups globally, primarily to areas with a British colonial presence including Egypt and North Africa. Now today known as the Church Mission Society.
Filioque– Latin phrase literally meaning ‘and from the Son’. The Filioque represents disagreement between Eastern and Western churches, with Western thought often suggesting that the spirit comes from the Father and the Son whereas Eastern thought often sees both the Son and the Holy Spirit as coming from the Father.
Hellenised – To make or to have been made Greek, often culturally, spirituality or linguistically.
Living in Faith and Love Documents – Statements from the Church of England surrounding sexuality, gender identity, relationships and marriage.
Nestorianism – A theory about the nature of Christ which suggests Christ had two wholly distinct natures, one fully human and one fully divine which were united in the one person of Jesus. Nestorianism also rejects the label of ‘God-bearer’ as applied to Mary believing that it obscures the human nature of Christ.
Papal Bull – An official public decree from the Pope
Primacy of Peter – The notion that the Apostle Peter was preeminent and distinguished amongst the group of 12 Apostles.
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2B Christianity
Sources of wisdom and authority
God
The dialogue between Christianity and philosophy
Pearson Edexcel
Paper 4, Option 4B: Christianity
Religious beliefs, values and teachings
Sources of wisdom and authority
OCR
Content of Developments in Christian thought
The person of Jesus Christ
Scottish Highers
SQA
Christianity
Beliefs
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcast series from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. Our discussions are aimed at all of those studying or exploring religious studies across all levels, and you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications below.
In this episode we joined by Hina Khalid, at the time of recording PhD student here in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge, to explore Hina’s PhD research which engages with the theological and philosophical worldviews of two titanic poets of the Indian subcontinent, Rabindranath Taghore and Muhammad Iqbal. Joining us for this one is Dr Ankur Barua, University Senior Lecturer in Hindu Studies also in the Faculty of Divinity.
As we are taken through the theoretical and lyrical contributions of both thinkers, Hina guides us through cosmologies, accounts of human personhood, political and spiritual crossovers and ‘serious play’.
We dearly hope you enjoy!
Researcher: Dr Hina Khalid
Expert Guest: Dr Ankur Barua
Host: Dr Joseph Powell
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2C Hinduism
Ultimate reality
The dialogue between Hinduism and philosophy
2D Islam
The dialogue between Islam and philosophy
Pearson Edexcel
Philosophy of Religion
Paper 4, Option 4C: Hinduism
Social and historical developments including challenges and responses
Religion and society
Paper 4, Option 4D: Islam
Social and historical developments including challenges and responses
Religion and society
OCR
Content of Developments in Islamic thought
Science and Philosophy
Islam and the State
Content of Developments in Hindu thought
Samsara and Karma
Hinduism and India
Scottish Highers Specifications
SQA
Hinduism
Beliefs
Islam
Beliefs
Religious and philosophical questions
Origins
Welcome to the Divinity Divulged podcast! The first podcast series from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In each episode we’ll be taking a look at one of the many fascinating research projects happening within the Faculty through conversations with the researcher and an expert guest working in their field. Our discussions are aimed at all of those studying or exploring religious studies across all levels, and you can find details on how this episode relates to A Level and Scottish Highers Specifications below.
In this episode we are joined by Professor Esra Özyürek, Sultan Qaboos Professor of Abrahamic Faiths and Shared Values here in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge, to discuss Esra’s recent book ‘Subcontractors of Guilt: Holocaust Memory and Muslim Belonging in Postwar Germany’. Alongside us is Dr Daniel Weiss, Polonsky-Coexist Senior Lecturer in Jewish Studies, also in the Faculty of Divinity.
Examining holocaust memory, state/religion interactions and social integration in contemporary Germany, Esra describes to us rejections of social norms, the notion of ‘right/wrong emotions’, perceptions of responsibility and guilt and ‘civil religious pilgrimages’.
We dearly hope you enjoy!
Researcher: Professor Esra Özyürek
Expert Guest: Dr Daniel Weiss
Host: Dr Joseph Powell
__________________________________________
A Level Specifications –
AQA
2B Christianity:
Christianity, migration and religious pluralism
2D Islam:
Islam and the challenge of secularisation
Islam, migration and religious pluralism
2E Judaism:
Judaism and the challenge of secularisation
Judaism, migration and religious pluralism
Pearson Edexcel
Religion and Ethics
1 Significant concepts in issues or debates in religion and ethics
Equality
Paper 4, Option 4D: Islam
6 Religion and society
Paper 4, Option 4E: Judaism
6 Religion and society
Holocaust
OCR
Content of Developments in Christian thought
The Challenge of Secularism
Content of Developments in Islamic thought
Tolerance
Islam and the State
Content of Developments in Jewish thought
Post-Holocaust theology
Scottish Highers Specifications
SQA
Morality, environment and global issues
Social Issues
