Multifaith Matters

Pagans are another religious group that Christians have fears about and associate with spiritual evil. In this podcast we have a conversation with David Dashifen Kees, a Pagan and an initiate priest in the Firefly House, an organization for Wiccans, witches, magic workers, and other Pagans in the Washington DC area. David and I discuss Paganism and evangelical Christianity, including his journey to Paganism and a brief sketch of what it entails. Also discussed are various stereotypes, the challenges of the significance of evangelism to evangelical identity and practice, and how this can complicate the Christian-Pagan relationship. For more on Paganism see Christine Hoff Kraemer’s Seeking the Mystery: An Introduction to Pagan Theologies (Patheos Press, 2013), and the Pagan Portal at Patheos.

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Multi-faith Matters presents the first of our new podcasts. In this episode, John Morehead interviews Bob Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Theology at Laidlaw College in Christchurch, New Zealand. Bob is the author of Christians Meeting Hindus (2004), and Jesus and the Religions (2012). The focus of the interview is the latter book, and what Christians might learn from Jesus as a model for multifaith encounters.

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Certain religious groups make Christians very uneasy, and Satanism is a prime example, particularly during the Halloween season. In order to learn how to dispel stereotypes and fears, this video models a respectful conversation between a Christian and a Satanist. My guest is Stephen Bradford Long, a member of The Satanic Temple, who provides an introduction to his religious tradition. Stephen discusses his religious journey, the metaphorical figure of Satan, what drew him to The Satanic Temple, why he thinks these kinds of multifaith conversations are important, and more. You can learn more about Stephen's work at his website https://stephenbradfordlong.com/. For more on The Satanic Temple, Joseph P. Laycock has written Speak of the Devil: How the Satanic Temple is Changing the Way We Talk About Religion (Oxford University Press, 2020).

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Our organization pursues multifaith engagement, but what is the practice of religious diplomacy behind it? How does it relate to dialogue and interfaith? These and other questions are answered in a conversation between Charles Randall Paul, Founder and President of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy (religious-diplomacy.org), and John Morehead, Director of FRD's Evangelical chapter and Multifaith Matters.

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In this conversation with Alan Streett, Senior Research Professor of Biblical Theology at Criswell College, we discuss the thesis of his book Subversive Meals: An Analysis of the Lord's Supper under Roman Domination during the First Century. Dr. Streett talks about the Roman form of the meal that the early church adopted, the subversive and anti-imperial nature of the meal, its radical egalitarian aspects, and how this applies the to the American church in the twenty-first century in a time of pandemic and the church's close alliance with empire.

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While evangelism is a priority for many Christians, we tend to give little attention to the ethics related to it. In our day there are charges of predatory proselytism, abuses of friendship for evangelistic purposes, and the idea that religious exclusivism equals supremacism. In this video podcast I have a conversation with Elmer Thiessen, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Emmanuel Bible College. He is the author of The Ethics of Evangelism: A Philosophical Defense of Proselytizing and Persuasion (IVP Academic, 2011), and The Scandal of Evangelism: A Biblical Study of the Ethics of Evangelism (Cascade Books, 2018). During our conversation we define evangelism and related terms, the ethics of evangelism, bring some critique to some Christian evangelistic efforts, and discuss the relationship between evangelism and tolerance.

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There has been a lot of commentary by Christians and Muslims in response to the White supremacist terrorist attack against two Muslim mosques in New Zealand. For a sample of a good collection by evangelicals see those at Christianity Today. I wanted to add my own thoughts, and I thought a conversation with a Muslim interfaith leader would be a good way to do that. In this special podcast you can watch my conversation with Safi Kaskas as we discuss issues related to the terror attack and relationships between Christians and Muslims.

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In this video podcast discussion with Judith Mendelsohn Rood, Research Scholar at W.E. Blackstone Center and Emeritus Professor of History and Middle East Studies at Biola University, we explore the background and current events in the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran. She shares a summary of the background and history, and also speaks to present challenges. A few resources are recommended including The Twilight War: The Secret History of America’s Conflict with Iran by David Crist, and Mutual Radicalization: How Groups and Nations Drive Each Other to Extremes by Fathali Moghaddam.

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Bob Roberts is pastor of NorthWood Church in Keller, TX. He's a conservative Baptist, so he's the first to say that it's sort of odd that his 30-year journey as an evangelical ministry would lead him to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the most prominent Muslim clerics in the world. He prays with them in their mosques, "breaks bread" with them, Texas-style, at his home, and has become one of the leading Christian ministers of any persuasion in what he calls the fight against Islamophobia.

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