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555: “The Article” & Biblical Critical Theory with Christopher Watkin


The Gospel Coalition published an article last week that brought together every divergent faction of the church to say, “Ick!” While many are discussing the troubling content of the article on social media, the Holy Post crew examines what is says about the troubling state of evangelical publishing. Then, new data finds liberal teens are struggling with depression at higher rates on average than conservative teens. What’s the explanation? And Phil talks to professor Christopher Watkin about his book, “Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture.” Is critical theory really as evil as some culture warriors say it is? Watkin offers a more thoughtful and Christian perspective on how to critique society. Plus, Japan discovers 7,000 new islands.


Patreon Bonus: Bonus Interview with Christopher Watkin - https://www.patreon.com/posts/79691495/


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Sponsor

0:00 - Sponsor: World Relief


0:44 - Intro

3:46 - Islands found

9:40 - The Article

29:23 - Teen mental health and politics


Sponsors


49:40 - Sponsor Hiya Health

hiyahealth.com/HOLYPOST to receive 50% off your first order.

50:47 - Interview intro


Interview with Christopher Watkin

https://twitter.com/DrChrisWatkin


53:13 - Social contract

56:20 - Christopher’s story

1:01:32 - Biblical Critical Theory

Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture - https://amzn.to/3YkH1kJ


1:04:28 - Defining critical theory

1:10:50 - Augustine

1:16:29 - Analyzing culture through the bible

1:21:50 - Eternal destiny and culture

1:24:28 - Diagonalizing

1:35:31 - End Credits


Links mentioned in news segment:

Japan just found 7,000 islands it didn’t know it had - https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/02/asia/japan-islands-double-report-intl-hnk/index.html


Please understand that I was the first one who was upset by the bad article - https://mpierce.substack.com/p/please-understand-that-i-was-the





Other resources:


The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism by Carl Henry - https://amzn.to/3IRhhH8




Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/



Holy Post Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/holypost



The Holy Post is supported by our listeners. We may earn affiliate commissions through links listed here. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.








40 Comments


trevecca okholm
trevecca okholm
Mar 14, 2023

Oh so many comments I wanted to add to this conversation!


To begin with, re: Butler's article removed from the Gospel Coalition and Skye's comment that publishers should do their job. I mentioned this to you before but still think HP might have an interesting conversation with APU prof, Jennifer Buck (a white women), who's recent book on "trap feminist theology" was quickly taken down from sale by the publisher when a couple of social media platform personalities went viral by attacking her for writing-on-black-while-white. Was that a case of the publisher not doing their job? I certainly think that is at least partially so . . . for starters, having a black women on the cover was probably no…


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MrsX
MrsX
Mar 13, 2023

Dear friends, your conversation about "The Article" was disappointing. Skye's conclusion that the fault of the publisher was that they didn't prevent the author from experiencing a backlash was off base. How could they have foreseen a backlash when they themselves support this line of thinking? The real fault of the publisher was that no one saw a problem with the views he was expressing. Christian was right when she said NO woman would be alright with the parallels he was drawing, and I concur. Unfortunately, she was shut down when she mentioned this. I will leave you with a quote from an article written about this:

"Was the problem really that they didn't have proper review process? Or was…

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Skye Jethani
Skye Jethani
Mar 13, 2023
Replying to
  1. The Gospel Coalition is not the publisher of this book. Therefore, the all-male makeup of TGC board/council is not relevant to the point I was making on the podcast. My point was about the BOOK the article was excerpted from, not the decision to post the excerpt on The Gospel Coalition's website (which is a separate, and also troubling, decision).

  2. The book is being published by Multnomah, a division of Penguin Random House—one of the largest publishers in the world. I guarantee they have women on their editorial team and at the executive level of the company.

  3. Given the subject of this book, it's the publisher's responsibility to ensure the author has carefully researched the topic and anticipated objections. And…

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kacumen
kacumen
Mar 12, 2023

I found it strange that you guys did not talk about what the Haidt article suggested was the cause of higher rates of depression among liberal girls!! If you are discussing an article and you are asking yourselves the same question the article is and the article offers an explanation, why not talk about it? In any case, the article basically says that one possible explanation for the higher rates of depression among female liberals is that liberals tend to think of themselves as victims



https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/mental-health-liberal-girls

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kacumen
kacumen
Mar 13, 2023
Replying to

I was just sharing what the authors suggest is the cause of depression among young female liberals. But let me give you my personal take. Even if what you are saying is true, even if there is a catastrophe around and even if you are a victim, the best mental framework to navigate such catastrophe and to move forward with good mental health is to think that you are capable of doing something and not helpless. That you can stir the boat in a particular direction. That you are not just a victim. To live in this world thinking that you are a helpless, powerless victim is a recipe for, well, depression. Again I am **not** denying that there are…

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Jeannine Seery
Jeannine Seery
Mar 11, 2023

Regarding the difference in depression rates I noticed that a couple of potential contributing factors weren‘t mentioned, namely race and socioeconomic status. I’d speculate that more youths living in poverty would tend to report higher levels of depression and have a more liberal worldview based on their own need. Similarly, undocumented youth might report greater levels of depression and a more liberal worldview.

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Bonnie Toney
Bonnie Toney
Apr 02, 2023
Replying to

First let me say that I appreciate you using the term “undocumented” instead of the perjoratives often tossed around in these conversations. Not all undocumented people in the US come from Mexico, though - not even close to all - and even for those who do come from Mexico, you don’t speak for all of them.

The vast majority of “undocumented“ folks in the US came here legally and have since developed documentation issues of various kinds; missing a deadline for renewing a visa is a common one, for instance.

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Jen Manlief
Jen Manlief
Mar 11, 2023

The actual study gives several valid and plausible explanations for the difference in depression rates between conservative and progressive adolescents. And also, it's interesting to me that rather than just asking adolescents what the causes of their depression is, a bunch of adults are standing outside speculating. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560321000438

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