Render Unto Caesar

Michael Coren is a former conservative pundit and outspoken TV host who experienced a dramatic paradigm shift. I talk with Coren about this shift and a resulting book called Epiphany: A Christian’s Change of Heart and Mind Over Same-Sex Marriage. I encourage you to check out this episode and Coren’s book if you have a chance.

In this show we hear part of a presentation by Dr. Vandana Shiva, a scholar and seed-saving activist. From Dr. Shiva we transition to a conversation that I had with Dan Schmeiser, son of the late Percy Schmeiser. Percy Schmeiser was a small town farmer in the Canadian Prairies who fought a historic court battle with multinational agro giant Monsanto.

RUC 5a: Join us on Render Unto Caesar as we hear from Dr. Brigitte Kahl, a German biblical scholar who unpacks the life of the Apostle Paul. She claims that new insights into his life and writings may reveal just how much the greatest Christian missionary has been misunderstood… And here’s a spoiler: his message may have been a lot more political than we think.

​

RUC 5b: In today’s show I ask Professor Kahl to talk about her book on Galatians, one of St. Paul’s earliest writings. Commentators up to this day read Paul’s criticism of the LAW as a condemnation of the Jewish Torah. Such a critique has likely fanned the flames of anti-Semitism throughout the centuries. But what if Paul wasn’t talking about the Jewish law whatsoever and instead was warning early Christians about compromises with Rome? Take a listen…

In this episode I talk with Shawnee-Lanape scholar of law and author Steven Newcomb. In 2008 Newcomb wrote his landmark book Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery. In this show I talk with Newcomb about this doctrine and the connections that it has to the unmarked graves being found on residential school sites.

It has been over a year since I produced the last episode of this podcast. In that show I moderated a fascinating discussion about the Christian Doctrine of Discovery between Indigenous scholar of law, Steven Newcomb, and Archbishop Don Bolen of the Archdiocese of Regina. Today, I resurrect the show to take a critical look at Veterans Day with author and former soldier Stan Goff. In particular, I ask Stan about the role that events like Veterans Day play in our schools. In addition to this, Stan also discusses the myth of just war theory and why reactions to small scale violence shouldn’t be conflated with those between nation-states. I conducted this interview a year ago, and have decided to air it in time for Remembrance Day in Canada.

In this episode I learn more about the Pope Francis sponsored event the Economy of Francesco. I talk with two young professionals about their thoughts on  three of the event's presentation. One of the speakers is Dr. Vandana Shiva, an Indian scholar and seed-saving activist. Her presentation will connect us to the next episode where I talk with Dan Schmeiser, the son of a Canadian farmer who went through an epic court battle with multinational agricultural giant, Monsanto. 

Since the invasion of Iraq there have been a growing number of biblical scholars who have been drawing provocative parallels between the Pax Romana and the Pax Americana. One person who understands this all to well is Stan Goff. As a soldier, Goff himself was an instrument of the Pax Americana, who went through a dramatic paradigm shift while on assignment in Haiti. Since retiring Goff has written critically on the military-industrial complex and the interests that it serves. His transformation and call to discipleship is the focus of these three shows (click on Episodes A, B, C above).

Episode A: What does it means for a privileged person to be a disciple of Jesus? This has been a question I have been wrestling with for some time now. In the next two shows I discuss this question with activists and political theologians Elaine Enns and Ched Myers. In this first episode we discuss Ched's book Who Will Roll Away the Stone?: Discipleship Queries for First World Christians. Though this book was written in the early 90s, its message could not be more relevant than it is today. 

​

Episode B: In this episode we look at what it means to be a disciple of Christ and a settler through the lens of Elaine Enns and Ched Myers newest book Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization. Towards the end of the show we look at the vital role that reparations play in reconciliation, with a specific focus on the Land Back movement. 

In this show I moderate a fascinating conversation about the doctrine of discovery between Indigenous scholar of law Steven Newcomb and Roman Catholic Archbishop Don Bolen. The irony of the release date of this episode is thick. In what was Columbus Day in the United States, President Joe Biden issued a historic proclamation that the second Monday of October is also to be called Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This follows a move by the Canadian Government to recognize September 30th as the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Both of these moves signal an important shift in the conversation about the story of Turtle Island (or North America) and its inhabitants. I hope that this podcast spotlights the monumental role that the doctrine of discovery has played in that story.