We The Peace

This episode helps land the plane by discussing the transcultural (fixed) truths that we can build our theology upon. These biblical truths are meant to guide people as they create theology in the world. 

This episode unpacks various principles to help leaders become more Jesus-centered in their theology. Through these principles, it helps leaders and those reading the Bible discover ways to honor different theological perspectives and positions.    

How has colonization impacted the way we see God and salvation? Josh is joined by Dr. Randy Woodley to talk about his experiences as a Native American who has been actively decolonizing his faith for many years and teaching others to do so. He explains how, in many ways, Jesus was decolonial.

Why is it so important to decenter western theology? In this episode, author, leader, activist, and pastor Sandra María Van Opstal joins We The Peace to talk to us about decentering white, western theology for the betterment of the church and its witness to the world.

In this episode, author and professor Dr. Angela Parker tells us why it is so important to understand the Bible from your own social location. Through her experiences in the academy, she explains why it’s healthy to question many of the ways we’ve interpreted biblical text. How does your own cultural background impact your own reading of the text?

In this episode, author and spiritual director, Osheta Moore, joins the show to talk about the ways she has come to embrace the Anabaptist theological traditions of peacemaking, nonviolence, and belovedness. Osheta shares the ways she has to  navigate the intersections of being an African American woman and an Anabaptist, and how Jesus, Howard Thurman, and other important figures have guided her way.

In this episode, Josh is joined by Dr. Vince Bantu, author, President of the Meachum School of Haymanot, and Assistant Professor of Church History and Black Church Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dr. Bantu helps us see that the white, western lens of understanding God is not a new phenomenon that started in America but one that first began in the 4th century with Constantine in Rome. Get a rapid history lesson to see how we got to where we are today, and why the western colonial framework of understanding God is antithetical to the gospel movement God started in the 1st century.

In this episode, Josh sits down with East African priest, theologian, and professor Father Emmanuel Katongole to talk about the ways the church in the West can learn from the church in East Africa. Fr. Katongole speaks to the important ways followers of Jesus can reject tribalism and its harmful consequences and cling to a vision of unity that brings all Christians from around the globe to sit at the same table.

In this episode, we unpack the way Christian leaders can develop a Jesus-centered theology. Using a popular analogy about God as the Elephant, Josh explores how we can listen to fellow Christians of other cultural and ethnic perspectives to better know and understand God.

In this episode, Josh goes behind the veil to answer these questions: What is theology? Where did theology come from? How is theology made? Who are the gatekeepers of theology? Through this, Josh shows how biased we can be when creating and promoting theology from a western perspective. This episode will help you get a grasp of the discipline of theology so you can better address the biases in your own thinking.