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Theology for the Curious
Debating theology that makes sense of life and faith. A team of regular people discuss issues of theology, faith and life. Uncovering bible thinking from cutting edge, to conservative, to all things in-between. A lively debate show that gets you thinking, challenging the relevance of God, scripture and faith to today's contemporary outlook.
Episodes
145 episodes
Ep.143 - Israel and Palestine – a Palestinian perspective w/ Dr Ghada Karmi
October 7th 2023—marked the beginning of the latest in a decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine. On that day, Hamas launched a coordinated attack on southern Israel which led to the death of civilians and the taking of hostages. Isr...
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49:18
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Ep.142 - Contrast and Comparisons: Faith and Doubt - Irreconcilable enemies or necessary companions?
It was John F. Kennedy who once famously said, “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan”. Failure is a thing nobody wants to have or own. Another word the vast majority of Christian people are equally reticent to own, is the word ‘do...
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41:31
Ep.141 - Contrast and Comparisons: White Jesus, Black Jesus w/ Prof. Edward Blum
Who was Jesus—and what did he look like? And more significantly, what colour was his skin? In this provocative episode, the Curious team are in conversation with professor Edward Blum who, alongside Paul Harvey, co-wrote the intriguing and high...
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49:39
Ep.140 - Contrast and Comparisons: Power and Abuse w/ Bekah Legg
Power can be a very emotive word. How do we understand it? There is perhaps no such thing as a truly impotent individual, for everyone holds a degree of power whether they realise it or not. No one is immune from wielding a form of power. The q...
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48:35
Ep.139 - Contrast and Comparisons: Presence and Absence
What do we mean by God’s presence? Are we always assured of its tangible reality? In spite of Jesus’s promise to never leave us or forsake us, we also understand the painful tension of scriptures like Psalm 13:1—“How long, O Lord? Will You forg...
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33:15
Ep.138 - Contrast and Comparisons: The Gospel of ‘Me’ or ‘We’ w/ Lisa Sharon Harper
Despite the great value of individual quiet times, singular Bible reading plans, and personal commitments to church ministries; the great danger prevails that as Christians we are in danger of increasingly privatising our faith. Could it be tha...
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1:01:00
Ep.137 - Contrast and Comparisons: Grace or Grit - Do we earn our way or receive it?
What do we mean by “salvation by works”? What does Scripture say? What did the early christians believe? What about the medieval church? And how did the turbulent waters of the reformation confront that? Historically the good works that we do, ...
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52:13
Ep.136 - Contrast and Comparisons: Original Sin or Original Goodness – Where does the human story begin?
What does a nineteenth century German philosopher, (Friedrich Nietzsche), a thirteenth century Italian theologian, (Thomas Aquinas), and a fifth century African bishop (Saint Augustine); all have in common? They all believed in the tension and ...
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44:20
Ep.135 - The Road to Reformation: Reformation - What Now?
What did the reformation teach us? There is no definitive answer to this question, largely because in asking it we are not simply zeroing in on a decade or two, but we’re spanning up to two centuries of significant history! The reformation rein...
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40:56
Ep.134 - The Road to Reformation: Wars and Rumours of Wars
To many, the sixteenth century reformation conjures up almost romantic images of sacrifice, heroism and courage far beyond the call of duty. And yet there was a darker side to all the heroics and sacrifice. A side of brutal conflict, of hostile...
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47:57
Ep.133 - The Road to Reformation: Fugitives, Heretics and Heroes of the English Reformation - English Reformation Pt.3
William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, Anne Boleyn, John Jewel and John Foxe all carried one thing in common; they each became significant voices in the ongoing growth and development of the English Reformation. From the dogged tenacit...
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1:08:08
Ep.132 - The Road to Reformation: Elizabeth and England’s Reform— English Reformation Pt.2
Elizabeth stands as the longest reigning Tudor monarch. From being crowned queen of England on the death of her half sister Mary I in 1558, she reigned a remarkable 44 years on the throne. Having no heir, Elizabeth I was not only the longest-re...
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38:26
Ep.131 - The Road to Reformation: Henry, Edward and Mary—English Reformation Pt.1
Who was Henry VIII and how did he come to power? Why did his marriage to Catherine of Aragon get into to trouble? Who was Anne Boleyn and why did she become such a significant influence among the Protestants and yet simultaneously such a thorn ...
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51:12
Ep.130 - The Road to Reformation: Knox and the Fire of Scotland
Scotland was a land of religious conflict and tension long before the sixteenth century reformation and the arrival of such thunderbolts as George Wishart and John Knox. As early as the late 14th and early 15th centuries, Scotland experienced h...
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55:07
Ep.129 - The Road to Reformation: Rome Bites Back (The Counter Reformation)
Accounts of the reformation are often wonderful, even glamorous, courageous and adventurous but predominantly centred around the rise and development of Protestantism. But what did that mean for the then established Roman Catholic Church? How d...
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45:33
Ep.128 - The Road to Reformation: The Anabaptist Problem
One of the pondering questions that arose out of the reformation was that of the Anabaptist’s. Who were they? Why were they so vilified? What led both Catholic and Protestants alike to despise them as much as they did with equal animosity? Were...
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43:49
Ep.127 - The Road to Reformation: John Calvin and the Geneva Effect w/ Matt White
There has perhaps been no other figure more celebrated yet more vilified, more appreciated yet more misunderstood, more eulogised over and yet more criticised and condemned, than the controversial French born theologian John Calvin. To some Cal...
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54:42
Ep.126 - The Road to Reformation: Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation
Who was Ulrich Zwingli? How does a priest, turned soldier, turned protester, turned reformer, end up dead on a field in a five kilometre square piece of land in the Swiss town of Kappel? What were the forces, the difficulties and conflicts, and...
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46:10
Ep.125 - The Road to Reformation: The First Shout of Protest
Few in church history could ever fully comprehend the enormity of impact the event of October 31st, 1517 in Wittenberg could produce on the global church. Martin Luther’s inquisitive protest against the machinery of indulgences, was launched in...
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38:08
Ep.124 - The Road to Reformation: The Church Before Luther
Some imagine that justification by faith, the great rallying cry of the reformation, was a specifically Protestant invention, and more particularly, a Luther invention! Yet as early as 1511 (6yrs before Luther), Cardinal Gasparo Contarini came ...
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54:51
Ep.123 - The Road to Reformation: Why the Reformation? w/Nick Page
In his book A Nearly Infallible History of the Reformation, writer Nick Page claims that the effects of the sixteenth century European reformation, created and defined denominational identities, changed our perspectives of God, living an...
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43:35
Ep.122 - Seven Churches Speak: Deceiving Ourselves to Death - Laodicea
Life consists of a number of markers that indicate whether we are doing life well. Those who are seen in good health, in reasonable wealth, and comfort, in plenty; or often a judged to being in a good place and doing something right. And yet in...
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54:46
Ep.121 - Seven Churches Speak: Power to the Powerless - Philadelphia
Sometimes one of the most difficult aspects of faith is when we appear to be doing everything right but things don’t appear to be getting any better. All too often we mistakenly assume that good behaviour invariably equates to an easier life! T...
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41:32
Ep.120 - Seven Churches Speak: The Walking Dead - Sardis
The Dutch philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard wrote; “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true”. The Sardinian church were guilty of both. First they believed th...
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43:45
Ep.119 - Seven Churches Speak: Compromise that Kills - Thyatira
The one time professional cricketer turned missionary to China and Africa, Charles T Studd once declared, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him“. Total surrender is a richly understoo...
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39:22