Norman Wirzba — Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke and author of This Sacred Life and Love's Braided Dance — joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma for the tenth episode in the faith and politics series.

Wirzba grew up farming and wanted to be a farmer, then went through graduate school without encountering a single farmer on a syllabus. Reading Wendell Berry changed that, and gave him a way to see that agricultural traditions open the major philosophical and political questions rather than sitting off to one side of them.

The conversation moves from what happens when land stops being a source of life and becomes a financial asset, through data centers and the water they need, to a reframing of dominion that may be the most useful thing in the hour: mastery understood the way a musician masters an instrument — you become a student of it, and what you master is better for your engagement with it.

It closes on the difference between being pro-baby and pro-life, and on the Colossians hymn as evidence that the early Christian vision was never about individual souls escaping the world.

Go deeper: Christians & Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Chapters:

00:00 Introductions

01:31 No farmers on the syllabus

04:36 From Yale to environmental ethics to Wendell Berry

09:58 The Old Testament and living with land

11:25 When land becomes a financial asset

14:39 Data centers and the water question

17:22 Auditing what we actually use AI for

20:38 Vines and bugs on a Roman temple of peace

24:51 The fantasy that humans don't need

30:44 Technology is never simply a tool

34:06 Do you want to disappear?

37:54 Bucking bales and embodied knowing

39:19 The garden as vocation

42:34 Mastery: the guitar, not the machine

48:36 The Anthropocene and a car without brakes

56:26 Pro-baby or pro-life?

1:00:26 Colossians 1 and the scope of redemption

Norman Wirzba &mdash; Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke and author of This Sacred Life and Love's Braided Dance &mdash; joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma for the tenth episode in the faith and politics series.
Wirzba grew up farming and wanted to be a farmer, then went through graduate school without encountering a single farmer on a syllabus. Reading Wendell Berry changed that, and gave him a way to see that agricultural traditions open the major philosophical and political questions rather than sitting off to one side of them.
The conversation moves from what happens when land stops being a source of life and becomes a financial asset, through data centers and the water they need, to a reframing of dominion that may be the most useful thing in the hour: mastery understood the way a musician masters an instrument &mdash; you become a student of it, and what you master is better for your engagement with it.
It closes on the difference between being pro-baby and pro-life, and on the Colossians hymn as evidence that the early Christian vision was never about individual souls escaping the world.
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/series/christians-politics">Christians &amp; Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>
Chapters:
00:00 Introductions
01:31 No farmers on the syllabus
04:36 From Yale to environmental ethics to Wendell Berry
09:58 The Old Testament and living with land
11:25 When land becomes a financial asset
14:39 Data centers and the water question
17:22 Auditing what we actually use AI for
20:38 Vines and bugs on a Roman temple of peace
24:51 The fantasy that humans don't need
30:44 Technology is never simply a tool
34:06 Do you want to disappear?
37:54 Bucking bales and embodied knowing
39:19 The garden as vocation
42:34 Mastery: the guitar, not the machine
48:36 The Anthropocene and a car without brakes
56:26 Pro-baby or pro-life?
1:00:26 Colossians 1 and the scope of redemption

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why.

Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don’t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text.

Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors.

Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith.

Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why. Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don&rsquo;t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text. Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors. Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="http://thinkingchristian.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://thinkingchristian.org&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1793101185691000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0pRkBIb9TL81w5uxzgoS8C">thinkingchristian.org</a>

Thinking Christian with Dr. James Spencer reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers. Each week, James, co-host Dr. Ashish Varma, and guests (biblical scholars, theologians, pastors, and authors) take up the questions Christians face: politics and Christian nationalism, technology and AI, biblical manhood, suffering and mental health, how to read Scripture well, and what faithful discipleship looks like now. Calm, careful, and grounded in the text. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, transcripts, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

Thinking Christian: Bible, Theology, and Culture

Norman Wirzba on Land, Life, and Dominion | Faith & Politics #15

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/c484a5c3-f6e0-42f9-9119-b4b30158803f/transcript