During the first season of Just FYI Pod: Ideas, my cohost Clark Elliston and I will countdown our ten favorite works of theology. On today’s episode, Clark discusses Friedrich Schleiermacher’s 1799 book On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers (Über die Religion: Reden an die Gebildeten unter ihren Verächtern), while I examine Natural Theology—a later compendium of two landmark 1934 texts, Nature and Grace (Natur und Gnade) by Emil Brunner, and No! Answer to Emil Brunner (Nein! Antwort an Emil Brunner) by Karl Barth.
Schleiermacher, Brunner, and Barth—all three were major figures in their respective eras, and all three remain influential in the twenty-first century. Buckle up, then, for a lengthy (but surely entertaining!) discussion of why these books still matter today. Other topics include: tilapia farming, Taylor Swift afterparties, Eat, Pray, Love (2010) vs Terrence Malick, “technical difficulties,”1 the Louvin Brothers, and the actor (60+) who should play Karl Barth in my imagined World War II-era biopic.
Links to the podcast on Spotify and Apple are found below. I’ve even added a Spotify playlist, drawing on the songs linked to the three books I’ve featured so far on our countdown. As ever, please consider liking, rating, reviewing, and sharing!
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Just FYI Pod: Ideas: My Theological Playlist
Nota bene: there are a few technical “hiccups” during Clark’s segment—nothing major, just some scattered “blips” and a handful of occasions where a digital lag caused us, amusingly, to talk over one another. All are resolved in a second or two! Please bear with us…
Really interesting discussion. I’m in the process of reading Barth’s commentary on “The Epistle To The Romans. “ I love his response to the liberal/progressive critics of his commentary: “it has time to wait.” I’m assuming he means that sooner or later they will come to realize the value of his writings. I’m thinking that he considered his theological training to be rather shallow.