Paul’s interview with Dr. Carolyn Weber from Monday, October 3, 2011: Carolyn_Weber.mp3

Dr. Carolyn Weber is the author of Surprised by Oxford, her memoir of coming to faith in Christ after arriving at Oxford as an agnostic. From the publisher:

Surprised by Oxford is the memoir of a skeptical agnostic on a surprising journey toward a dynamic personal faith in God. When Carolyn Weber arrived at Oxford for her graduate studies in Romantic literature, she felt no need for God. Her childhood in a broken but loving family taught her to rely on reason and intellect—not faith—for survival. What she didn’t know was that she was about to embark on a love story of her own—one much deeper, more colorful, and more surprisingly God-shaped than any she’d read before.

From issues of fatherhood, feminism, and doubt to doctrine and love, Weber explores the intricacies of coming to faith with an aching honesty and insight echoing that of the poets and writers she studied. Rich with illustration and literary references, Surprised by Oxford is at once gritty and lyrical; both humorous and spiritually perceptive.

Organized according to the Oxford Liturgical academic calendar, Surprised by Oxford tells the real-life tale of a young woman’s search for—and eventual discovery of—purpose, identity, faith and what it really means to be human.

Somewhere in America on some Sunday morning the first man or woman walked into a worship service with a baseball cap on and a cup of coffee in their hand.  It is now quite common. The pastor would surely offer three or four impressive reasons why this was the “missional” way to go, but I can assure you that when the decision was made, serious theological concerns were not invited to participate. ~Dr. Timothy Tennent

Dr. Timothy Tennent is the President of Asbury Theological Seminary. He joins me on Monday, October 3 to discuss the address he delivered in early September at Asbury’s annual Convocation titled Our Mission to Theologically Educate in which he decried the church’s “bumper sticker theology,” market-driven services, and “God is, like, my pal”  approach to worship:

Who has lost sight more of the depth of human sin, the certainty of God’s judgment and the call to repentance and transformation at the feet of a crucified savior than today’s populistic, evangelical churches? I knew something was amiss when I read the line from the well known pastor Walt Kallestad who wrote in his book, Entertainment Evangelism, that “the church needs to be friendlier than Disneyland.” I knew that somehow we had lost our way when prayers of repentance and confession quietly disappeared from the order of services. I knew we were charting some new path when I heard Jason Upton’s worship chorus, “Into the Sky.” Thankfully, there is a growing realization among many of us who call ourselves evangelical that we have inadvertently participated in an obscuring of the Gospel which is not unlike what we have so vociferously decried in Protestant liberalism. It seems that Satan can work at both ends of the shop.

Paul”s interview with Dr. Timothy Tennent on Monday, October 3, 2011: Dr_Timothy_Tennent.mp3

You can listen to the entire address here: http://media.asburyseminary.edu/podcasts/files/audio/F11A23%20-%209-8-2011%20-%20Dr%20Timothy%20Tennent%20-%20Our%20Mission%20to%20Theologically%20Educate.mp3

Dr. Tennent is the author of Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How the Global Church is Influencing the Way We Think About and Discuss Theology (Zondervan, 2007).

Each week on this blog we will highlight the best of our intellectual callers to The Paul Edwards Program with a new feature we are calling the “Clarion Call of the Week.”  This week’s honors go to “Dean” from Troy who called Paul in response to Eugene Robinson’s column criticizing Governor Chris Christie for his weight. Robinson suggested Christie should “eat a salad and take a walk.” After listening to “Dean” from Troy, however, I’m thinking Governor Christie should consider biking across New Jersey.

clarion_call_093011.mp3