A Round-Up of Recent Offerings
Several installments lie on the horizon for us here. English renditions of a letter or two by Maximus, a meditation on the stars, some reflections on the apostle Paul, some reviews of lesser-known books (two by a French theologian), among other things. To tide us over a bit and for convenience, I want to list and link to various offerings that have appeared of late. Two Substack series and four podcast appearances:
“The Future of Hell.” Last month I posted a three-part series based on a talk I gave on the subject of the development of the doctrine of hell, particularly in Catholic tradition. There have been some lively reactions, positive and negative, in the aftermath. Really, it’s but a promissory note for a much larger project. If you haven’t yet, check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
“Reform Catholicism.” This past month I’ve served as coauthor on another Substack, David Armstrong’s Perennial Digression. It is a four-part series inspired in part by John T. McGreevy’s Catholicism: A Global History from the French Revolution to Pope Francis (W.W. Norton & Company, 2022). We take and greatly expand his notion of “Reform Catholicism,” and we recommend a version of it for today. This series has also generated rather lively reactions. But we won the approval of both David Hart and Eugene McCarraher, which is, I hear, as good as a papal imprimatur. Here are the four parts: “Reform Catholicism: By Way of Introduction to a New Series”; “The Christianity the Renaissance Wanted: More on Reform Catholicism”; “The Christianity the Council Wanted: More on Reform Catholicism”; “The Christianity You Should Want: A Conclusion on Reform Catholicism.”
“All Things New.” This is a two-part conversation over at The Plunge with Derek Holser. Its basis is an essay I wrote (forthcoming) on trauma, time, and the Incarnation. As usual, we chase down whatever fancies arise over the course of the discussion. Derek is such a generous conversationalist, and he always produces high quality stuff. You might have seen his work before. I appeared last year, for instance, to discuss George MacDonald. Audio-only and video versions are available. Check out Part 1 and Part 2.
“Third Space.” Here we have another two-part conversation, this time at the Third Space podcast with Paul Fahey. I’ve chatted with Paul many times before (he used to co-host the podcast called The Pope Francis Generation). This one’s based on my my talk and series on hell (#1 above). Paul has a lovely way of drawing out the practical implications of sometimes heady themes such as the development of doctrine and universalism. You’ll see that talent on full display here: “The Development of Hell” (Part 1) and “Threatening Hell” (Part 2).
“All the Things That Matter.” This is a new podcast / YouTube channel hosted by Sam J. Smeaton. Sam is a high school teacher and former football coach in West (I think) Texas. He and I have corresponded off and on for the better part of a decade, having traveled similar paths. He’s a smart, sincere, and overall sensible person, so I was delighted to appear in his inaugural interview for the show. We range over a whole host of biographical and theological terrain—no hope of summarizing it all here. Check it out: “Theology Talk I: Jordan Daniel Wood.”
“Gospel Simplicity.” At the time of writing this sentence, we are approximately 65 minutes away from my appearance on the fairly (and justly) popular YouTube channel, Gospel Simplicity. Austin (if I recall the name correctly!) has been successful because of his charm, curiosity, and, I suspect, because of his uncannily soothing host-voice. His content generally spans the entire gamut of Christianity in today’s America and beyond. Check out our conversation: “Maximus the Confessor, Universalism, and Mind-Blowing Theology.” See also here:
It was a pleasure having you on the channel, Jordan! And I think I’m going to have to add “uncannily soothing” to my bio, lol.
I listened to the Gospel Simplicity video about Maximus. It makes me so frustrated that this interpretation has existed for so long but yet we continually dumb it down into a religious system of retribution, winners and losers. Or maybe the faith has always existed in mystical forms alongside the fundamentalists. You mentioned how Maximus has been accepted by the mystics. Hasnt the mystical experience always pointed to a kind of panentheism, I think there have been a few Christian mystics brave enough to claim the label. If experience is authoritative, isnt there a mystical consensus around the idea that everything is one (NDEs, kundalini experiences, oneness )? To me panentheism solves so many intellectual problems I have around theodicy.