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Read, Watch, Listen: 8 Theology & Technology Resources

��Ƶ — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 21:25:13 +0000

Technology has advanced rapidly in the last few years, and now in a pandemic, we are more reliant on technology to study, work, communicate, and form relationships than ever before. Though the purpose of technology is to make things simpler and more convenient, it also opens the door to questions around ethics, morality, mental health, equity, and community to name a few. As you read, watch, and listen to these resources, we hope they invite deep questions and discussions about the impact and intersection of technology and theology in your community.

Edited by Heather A. Horst and Daniel Miller

Through a range of case studies from Facebook to Second Life to Google Earth, Digital Anthropology explores how human and digital can be defined in relation to one another, from avatars and disability; cultural differences in how we use social networking sites or practise religion; the practical consequences of the digital for politics, museums, design, space and development to new online world and gaming communities.

By Donald E. Knuth

How does a computer scientist understand infinity? What can probability theory teach us about free will? Can mathematical notions be used to enhance one’s personal understanding of the Bible? Perhaps no one is more qualified to address these questions than Donald E. Knuth, whose massive contributions to computing have led others to nickname him “The Father of Computer Science”—and whose religious faith led him to understand a fascinating analysis of the Bible called the 3:16 project. In this series of six spirited, informal lectures, Knuth explores the relationships between his vocation and his faith, revealing the unique perspective that his work with computing has lent to his understanding of God.

Listen to the founders of TheoTech interview people about “integrating faith and tech, theological takes on the latest tech news, stories from the frontlines of industry, book summaries, and more.”

By Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson imagines an alternate universe where scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians live in seclusion behind ancient monastery walls until they are called back into the world to deal with a crisis of astronomical proportions.

Directed by Jeff Orlowski

Dr. Kj Swanson says, “If you’ve had questions for yourself or for younger generations about how the massive changes in internet technology and social media over the past 15 years may be affecting us, carve out time immediately for this documentary. Interviews with tech leaders and social psychologists, along with dramatization of how one family undergoes these dynamics, highlight the vital importance of educating ourselves not just about how we use technology, but how technology uses us. This doc also serves as an excellent intro to Dr. Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (2019) ISBN: 9781781256855.”

By Alister McGrath

Einstein’s revolutionary scientific ideas have transformed our world, ushering in the nuclear age. The current pace of scientific and technological progress is simply astounding. So is there any place for faith in such a world? Einstein himself gave careful thought to the deepest questions of life. […] In this book, McGrath examines the life and work of Einstein, explaining his scientific significance and considering what Einstein did and did not believe about science, religion, and the meaning of life.

Chris Ridgeway and Adam Graber tackle conversations about the integration and intersection of theology and the technology we use on a day to day basis.

Krista Tippet interviews Kevin Kelley, founding editor of WIRED and a “philosopher technologist,” about our role in the rapidly approaching tech evolution of AI and the importance of asking questions.

Special thanks to Dr. Kj Swanson, Dr. Pat Loughery, and Kate Rae Davis, MDiv for their contributions to this list.

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9 Theology and Trauma Books to Read

��Ƶ — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 15:00:52 +0000

As a student at ��Ƶ, there are a few things that are fundamental, such as reading thought-provoking books and studying at the intersection of theology and trauma. These intersections are where we encounter new ideas, challenge assumptions, and join in meaningful conversations. They invite us to pause and think deeply, whether they be at the corner of theology and psychology, or . We hope you are able to take time to explore some of these reads and join us as we continue to explore and ask questions at the intersection of theology and trauma.

by Shelly Rambo

“In Spirit and Trauma, Rambo draws on contemporary studies in trauma to rethink a central claim of the Christian faith: that new life arises from death. Reexamining the narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus from the middle day-liturgically named as Holy Saturday-she seeks a theology that addresses the experience of living in the aftermath of trauma.”

Surprising Connections between Neuroscience and Spiritual Practices That Can Transform Your Life and Relationships

by Curt Thompson, MD

“Dr. Thompson reveals how it is possible to rewire your mind, altering your brain patterns and literally making you more like the person God intended you to be. Explaining discoveries about the brain in layman’s terms, he shows how you can be mentally transformed through spiritual practices, interaction with Scripture, and connections with other people.”

A Journey Of Faith In The Face Of Severe Learning Disability

By Frances Young

Theologian Frances Young writes a personal narrative about her son’s learning disability and “hope and help for all who struggle with faith in the face of unremitting suffering.” Though not distinctly about trauma, Young asks difficult questions about life, God, and how we are to respond in the midst of difficult circumstances.

By Resmaa Menakem

“In this groundbreaking work, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of body-centered psychology. He argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn’t just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police. My Grandmother’s Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.”

by Thomas Lewis (et. al)

“A General Theory of Love demonstrates that our nervous systems are not self-contained: from earliest childhood, our brains actually link with those of the people close to us, in a silent rhythm that alters the very structure of our brains, establishes life-long emotional patterns, and makes us, in large part, who we are.”

Living in the Afterlife of Trauma

By Shelly Rambo

“Shelly Rambo rereads the Thomas story and the history of its interpretation through the lens of trauma studies to reflect on the ways that the wounds of race, gender, and war persist. Wounds do not simply go away, even though a close reading of John Calvin reveals his theological investments in removing wounds. This erasure reflects a dominant mode of Christian thinking, but it is not the only Christian reading.[…] Again, the visceral display of Jesus’ wounds, when placed at the center of Thomas’ encounter in the Upper Room, enacts a vision of resurrecting that addresses the real harm of the real wounds of war.”

By Elie Wiesel

“First published in 1958, Night is the autobiographical account of an adolescent boy and his father in Auschwitz. Elie Wiesel writes of their battle for survival and of his battle with God for a way to understand the wanton cruelty he witnesses each day. In the short novel Dawn, a young man who has survived World War II and settled in Palestine joins a Jewish underground movement and is commanded to execute a British officer who has been taken hostage. In Day, Wiesel questions the limits of conscience: Can Holocaust survivors forge a new life despite their memories?”

Theology in a Ruptured World

By Serene Jones

“Central to its overall theme is an investigation of how individual and collective violence affect one’s capacity to remember, to act, and to love; how violence can challenge theological understandings of grace; and even how the traumatic experience of Jesus’ death is remembered. Jones focuses on the long-term effects of collective violence on abuse survivors, war veterans, and marginalized populations and the discrete ways in which grace and redemption may be exhibited in each context.”

The Bible’s Traumatic Origins

By David Carr

“Human trauma gave birth to the Bible . . . the Bible’s ability to speak to suffering is a major reason why the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity have retained their relevance for thousands of years. In his fascinating and provocative reinterpretation of the Bible’s origins, the author tells the story of how the Jewish people and Christian community had to adapt to survive multiple catastrophes and how their holy scriptures both reflected and reinforced each religion’s resilient nature.”

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What To Do After Graduation

��Ƶ — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 14:00:45 +0000

Next week, on June 29, our whole community will gather at Town Hall Seattle for Commencement 2019. It’s the momentous end of a busy academic year, a chance to celebrate, remember, and connect together before entering the spacious, sunny months of July and August. And for the 59 students who will be walking across that stage, graduation represents the end of years of grueling labor, rigorous personal development, and courageous conversations.

So the question arises: What next? Besides celebrating with loved ones (and maybe taking a nap), how do you mark the end of such a significant chapter and begin transitioning toward whatever’s ahead? We shared that question—What should I do after graduation?—with our alumni community, asking for advice, stories, and resources. Here are some of their answers:

Explore

“After I graduated I gave myself two full months to live life before I started looking for a job. I road tripped and camped through Crater Lake, Grand Tetons, and Rocky Mountain National Parks for about two weeks and then traveled to Rome, Morocco, and Los Angeles. I did all of this because I wanted to revisit some significant places in my story and have a new adventure to reclaim the part of myself I set down as school took up so much time and space. I’m forever grateful I was able to do these things so I could get centered again, remember that the world is big and beautiful and full of possibility, and take that stance/mindset to step into my professional role as a therapist.” –Krystina Ptasinski (MA in Counseling Psychology, ’16)
“After graduation, I went on a pilgrimage to Norway—a decision prompted by several classes I’d taken, including Multicultural Perspectives and Celtic Spirituality. My pilgrimage was to explore the (primary) land of my ethnic/ancestral roots. I knew that I had family scattered about Norway—not many contacts, but enough info to risk going.” –Eric Nicolaysen (Master of Divinity, ’12)

Center

“Two things that were helpful for me: 1) Go to the doctor and get a full physical. Grad school can be stressful, and stress is tough on your body. Get a full picture of your physical health and make some plans to recover. 2) Take a lot of naps over the next few months. You have probably lost a lot of sleep over the last few years, and graduation in and of itself is wonderfully exhausting. Get some rest!” –Ashley Wright (MACP, ’16)
“I think everybody should join me on a . Let’s get out of the city, inhale the ridiculous beauty of the Pacific Northwest, gain healing wisdom from Mother Earth, and reconnect with our own inner, still voices.” –Michelle Allen (MACP, ’14)

Read?

“This one probably seems preposterous, since right now some of you might feel like you never want to look at a book again. But the summer after graduation, I listened to of the entire Harry Potter series (yes, audiobooks count) and it was exactly what I needed—a sweeping, fantastic story that managed to transcend my day-to-day life while still helping me feel more closely connected to the world around me.” –Beau Denton (MACP, ‘17)
If you’re looking for summer reading ideas, check out these faculty recommendations for incoming students on the Matriculate blog. Because every ending is really another beginning, right?

Whether you’re graduating next week or just looking forward to a couple months without classes, we hope the summer ahead is full of rest, connection, and the opportunity to grow more deeply into yourself. And in the meantime, we’d love to see you at Commencement next Saturday—either in person at Town Hall or , where we’ll be streaming the whole ceremony live.

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Resources for Resistance in Lent

��Ƶ — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 19:08:35 +0000

Jesus’s humanity was on full display in the wilderness: he experienced hunger and thirst, he wandered, and he knew the temptation of sacrificing calling on the altar of short-term ease or glory. During Lent, then, when we remember Jesus in the desert and we reflect on our own wilderness, we are affirming that there is beauty and dignity in the very nature of humanity—even in our hunger, our doubt, and our wandering.

In the face of systems that seek to divide, belittle, and harm certain people based on some aspect of their humanity, this affirmation is nothing less than an act of resistance. And resistance, like all prophetic work, requires a deep well from which we can draw. What inspires your resistance? How is your own humanity affirmed even as you’re working to affirm others? What spiritual formation practices might grow the depth and clarity of your work in the world?

We brought those questions to folks in our community and put together this list of recommendations. May these resources bring rest, fresh insight, renewed hope, and an emboldened sense that we are not alone as we work against de-humanizing systems.

“I’m eager to go beyond theologies of suffering and survival to also examine the theologies of life, flourishing, strength, meaning-making, and #blackgirlmagic that stem from black women’s experiences and perspectives.” –Dr. Christena Cleveland

This is a stunning, revolutionary series Dr. Cleveland is facilitating during Lent, grounded in the conviction that “patriarchy and whiteness need to be exorcised from biblical interpretation.” If you find that high Church rhythms feel too entwined with historically oppressive systems, we can’t recommend this series enough. You can , then become a patron to follow the rest.

Christena Cleveland’s work above feels so crucial because, in part, the dominant expressions have for too long been aligned with the patriarchal, white supremacist forces that undergird oppressive systems. In , two pastor-historians offer compelling historical accounts of the American Church’s role in harmful power structures, and Lisa Sharon Harper and Dr. Soong-Chan Rah then share vital theological reflections and words of confession and repentance. If human affirmation is an act of Christian resistance, then confession and repentance are at once social and spiritual practices. We’re grateful to this book for demonstrating that so powerfully.

At the heart of confession and repentance is the dynamic expression of lament. Lament is the declaration that this is not right, the grief that our embodiment of God’s image falls so short of the Christological affirmation of humanity. From the somber confession of Ash Wednesday to the anguish of Holy Saturday, lament is at the heart of Lent. This episode of , a project from Aaron Niequist and friends, is a guided journey of music, prayer, and scripture that creates space for lament to do its work.

We’ve shared this one before, but we keep coming back to it. Many folks in our community resonate with the thought-provoking, contemplative art by Scott Erickson, and we particularly love the prayerbook he created with Justin McRoberts. If you’re looking to add some depth and beauty to the rhythms of your spiritual practice—not just during Lent—this is a beautiful place to start.

A number of folks also recommended the from artist, author, and minister Jan Richardson. Each week, this blog features a reflection on a text from the lectionary, accompanied by a work of original art. We believe that integrating art with spiritual formation will deepen and energize our practice, and Jan’s work explores this beautifully.

For years, the work of Richard Rohr has challenged our assumptions, opening us to an image of Christ that is bigger, bolder, and more open than we ever imagined. is no different. Rohr guides us through a series of readings for the Lenten season (and beyond), encouraging us to grow into people who are more and more open to surprising, transformative encounters.

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A Black History Month Reading List

��Ƶ — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:00:33 +0000

Black History Month is an invitation to listen to the stories and insights of Black individuals and communities in America in a way that affirms and celebrates dignity and humanity. It is a crucial annual rhythm, but one that cannot—and should not—be contained to just one month (not to mention the shortest month) out of the year.

So as we near the end of February, we asked faculty, staff, and students to weigh in on texts by Black authors that have challenged, provoked, enlightened, and inspired them. The stories and ideas recommended here are enough to keep us reading and learning all year long. And may it be so.

by Angela Davis
“This woman is an idol to me—profoundly courageous, thoughtful, able to see and speak to intersections between race, class, gender, and systems of oppression, like few I have read. This woman lost her professorship to a threatened governor of California, Ronald Reagan. She went to court and took it back!” –Dr. Ron Ruthruff, Associate Professor of Theology & Culture

by Charlene A. Carruthers
“This book offers collected insights on collective liberation that are clear and deeply personal, by way of Black liberation and the Black radical tradition. Carruthers offers a critical voice rooted in ‘Black radical, feminist, queer, and anti-capitalist theories and practices.’ It is fire and it offers readers a way to sharpen their views and action.” –Jennifer Fernandez, Assistant Instructor

by Terrance Hayes
“The poems in this collection are crafted with a velocity that burned as I read and is burning still, months after finishing. With an ear to history and an eye on the present, Hayes writes about Black life in a country that has demonized and violated Blackness for centuries. Both political and personal, his work astutely diagnoses our national systems while still packing the romance and desire of a classic sonnet. The relationship between prophet and artist has never seemed clearer to me.” –Beau Denton, Content Curator

by Ijeoma Oluo
“Oluo’s work is a powerful, enlightening, and accessible ‘actionable exploration of today’s racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.’ With chapter titles such as ‘What is Racism?,’ ‘What If I Talk about Race Wrong?,’ ‘What are Microaggressions?,’ and ‘Talking is Great, but What Else Can I Do?,’ Oluo’s work should be required reading for all.” –Millicent Haase, Master of Divinity student

by Angie Thomas
“Several months ago I read The Hate U Give and found it profoundly impacting. It helped me to see in a small way what it must be like to be a young woman of color trying to be herself while also trying to fit in to both the exclusive, predominantly white high school she attends and the poor, diverse neighborhood where she lives. It is a Young Adult book, fairly easy to read on the surface, and very thought-provoking both while you are reading it and as you process it later.” –Cheryl Goodwin, Director of Institutional Assessment & Library Services

by Ibram X. Kendi
“I dare you to read a book on history for Black History Month. You will discover that racist ideas don’t create systems of oppression, but rather systems of oppression need racist ideas to do the evil and intentional work of racism. Thank you, Dr. Kendi.” –Dr. Ron Ruthruff

by James Baldwin
“I grew up reading novels by Baldwin but this was the first book of his essays that I picked up, and it changed me. The spiritual work being done by Baldwin in these pages is arduous as it demands that the reader think differently, see differently, do differently. His reflections are just as relevant today as they were in 1955 when they were written.” –Jennifer Fernandez

For contemporary fiction, Kate Davis, Director of the Resilient Leaders Project, offers a few recommendations:

Anything by Toni Morrison, but both and have stayed with me for their personal-meets-mythic/biblical narratives.
by Zadie Smith, which (among many other themes) offers complex views on religious differences in family dynamics.
by Yaa Gyasi crosses continents to lament the legacy of slavery both in North America and in Africa.
by Nigerian author Ayobami Adebayo struck me for framing relationship choices within context (what we think of as ‘conservative’—monogamy—is wildly progressive for the protagonists) and for the devastating impact of religious beliefs on a woman’s body and mental wellbeing.

Roundup: Emerging from Lent

��Ƶ — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 17:05:48 +0000

As we near the end of the Lenten season, we are wrestling individually and communally with the movement of Holy Week, the challenges of wilderness, and the remembrance of death unto life. Here, we’ve gathered a few of the resources that are helping ground us in this season. May they allow you to pause, breathe, and feel the movement and hope of new life—even long after Easter Sunday has passed.

The music by the Brilliance is often rooted in the church calendar. Their Lent album is a thoughtful invitation to reflect on the questions and challenges of this season. Though facing doubt and pain head-on, the beautiful surprise of this album is that it is not at all without hope.

In this On Being conversation with Krista Tippett, the Irish poet John O’Donohue (a frequent inspiration here at ��Ƶ) reflects on how living itself is a creative act. O’Donohue reminds us that the movement of new life, which we celebrate on Easter Sunday, can spark new expressions of beauty in how we live, relate, and create.

In Holy Week we reaffirm our belief in death that leads to life and wilderness that fosters transformation. Though not explicitly Lent-related, Counting Descent, a collection of poetry by Clint Smith, is a vivid, haunting embodiment of the paradoxical beauty and hope that can emerge even in the wake of great suffering and injustice. You can watch Smith reading the title poem .

This album comes recommended by MA in Counseling Psychology student Nicolle Maurer, who writes that Gullahorn’s music is “paradoxically full of hope and despair, longing and gratitude,” which makes it fitting for this season. The line “even hell is not a God-forsaken place” seems especially apt for Holy Saturday.

Artist Scott Erickson, whose work is currently on display in our second-floor Commons, created a prayer book with writing by Justin McRoberts, and it’s stunning. You can get a copy for next year’s Lenten season, or let it ground and inspire you even now, as the church calendar move toward Pentecost and Ordinary Time.

Intersections blog

And in case you missed them, here are three Lent reflections written by ��Ƶ community members: Our Collective Wilderness by Beau Denton, Content Curator; The Quest of Transformation by Dr. J. Derek McNeil, Senior Vice President of Academics.

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