Confessions of a High School Bible Teacher
Theology from the perspective of High School Bible Teachers
Political and economic systems of evil have plagued humanity since ancient times. Chris and Wayne explain how these realities clash with God’s Kingdom, and discuss how these ideas can inspire their students to live meaningfully.
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A surprising number of students in Chris and Wayne’s school have expressed an interesting “fear of eternity.” And not just the normal fear of the idea of hell… but fearing existing forever. Why should we be excited about eternity, and how do we help students catch that same excitement? As Chris and Wayne discuss eternity and the human perception of time, they also play with the topics of relativity, heaven, and boredom.
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In Episode 3: Church and Competition, Wayne and I tossed around a few numbers as we estimated and hypothesized how many Christian denominations there are. Depending on how you are counting, the number can span anywhere from 300-30,000. This helpful article from National Catholic helps explain the conflicting data.
The World Christian Encyclopedia says “World Christianity consists of 6 major ecclesiastico-cultural blocs, divided into 300 major ecclesiastical traditions, composed [sic] of over 33,000 distinct denominations in 238 countries (Vol. I, p. 16).”
Also, as some of you picked up in podcast episode 3, there were probably some mixed signals sent. One listener pointed out that we were sort of sounding anti-institution toward the beginning, but then seemed to advocate for the benefits of “church life” in Christian schools (an institution with potentially more oversight and bureaucracy than local churches). As we wrestle with some of these topics, one of our main motives is to get thoughts brewing, and to open cans of worms that perhaps have remained sealed on the shelf too long. So please, help us continue the conversation and keep sending us your thoughts and feedback (commenting on the website, tweeting, or Facebook). We need your brains to sort out this muddled can of worms!
Churches and parachurch organizations (like Christian schools) sometimes find themselves competing for members, marketshare, and money. In this episode, Chris and Wayne explore the difficult and complicated nature of those spaces where local churches and parachurch organizations overlap. Listen as we ask: What is the Church? How do Christian schools fit into that bigger picture? And what happens when churches and organizations operate within a capitalistic system and worldview?
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After piloting a few episodes and officially releasing some of our podcasts, one of the most frequent questions we received has been “Who is the intended audience of this podcast?”
The short and unhelpful answer is: whoever finds these conversations helpful or interesting.
If that’s good enough for you, then great! Keep listening if you like them! But for those who would like a list and a bit more explanation, here’s a better answer. Wayne has written more extensively on why we started CHSBT, to give space for conversations for those in the Christian school Bible classroom, help frame meaningful interactions with students, etc. That being said, Christian School Bible teachers are not the only people affected by or interacting with the unique cocktail of Christian culture, growing up, theology, and life. While our experience, context, vantage point, and interpretive lens will drive us toward choosing topics that are particularly relevant to High School Bible Teachers, Confessions of a High School Bible Teacher may also be helpful and edifying to other people as well. So here is a narrower list:
If you don’t fit into any of these categories but you still find these conversations helpful or interesting, then praise God! Keep listening!
Grace & Peace,
Chris
My friend Jen asked me, “So, what’s the deal with this podcast? What are you doing?” She is definitely not the only person who has asked me this question. In fact, when we started, Chris and I had to ask ourselves why would producing such a podcast even be worthwhile? The original impetus was to produce something for people like us, people who find themselves in the interesting world of Christian education with teenagers. Essentially what we realized is that Christian school teachers and students needed a space where they could explore their own theology, grow in the way they frame their discussions with students, and have a couple of voices out there talking about the things they encounter in their world.
In the United States alone, there are about 14,000 Christian Schools (Catholic or Protestant) connected to different private school associations. These schools account for over 3 million students and about 250,000 teachers. We wanted to make space at the theological discussion table for those who grow up, teach, and raise children in this unique educational faith context. While the topics we discuss will definitely apply to those who never attended or taught at a Christian school, our primary lens through which we choose and approach topics will be through the Christian school lens.
Shalom,
Wayne
In Episode 002, Chris referenced a couple of articles that look at different views of the original human population. Both articles deal with using human genetics to look at early humanity. Here are some links to articles by the Biologos Foundation and the Institute for Creation Research for your reading enjoyment.
Biologos Article:
ICR Article:
http://www.icr.org/article/does-modern-genetics-confirm-historical/
Our first two podcasts are officially up! We will be releasing a new podcast each week on Saturday.
iOS users, our podcast is now up on iTunes! You can either subscribe by searching for “Confessions of a High School Bible Teacher” in the Podcast app or by following this link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/confessions-of-a-high-school-bible-teacher/id1233585058?mt=2
Our Android using friends who have their own podcast player app should be able to follow the link in the sidebar that says “on Android”.
If you prefer to just stream straight from your web browser, you can filter posts for only podcast if you click the “CHSBT Podcasts” link in the main menu or sidebar.
Happy listening!
The first 11 chapters of Genesis serve as an interpretive battleground for many debates in Christianity. Chris and Wayne share interpretive methods and conversation advice for productive discussions on topics like creation, the fall, Noah’s flood, and the tower of Babel.
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Chris and Wayne explore the meaning of peace, and discuss how understanding Shalom can revolutionize the way that we teach theology.
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