Theology: It’s a dry term that conjures images of old academics writing dusty books that will never be read.

However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The study of theology is the study of who we are as humans, and how we can make sense of both God and the complexities of the world .

So, who are the theologians we should all know about?

Meet our guests

Links

Special thanks to our season sponsor Zondervan Academic. Get discounts on MasterLectures video courses and exclusive samples of their books at zondervanacademic.com/undeceptions

Get a copy of the McNutt’s excellent book ‘Know The Theologians’ here.*

A transcript of this episode is available here. Please note, that due to software not all exchanges between guests will be completely accurate.

Extras

Check out these helpful links below for more info on what was discussed in this episode.

To Read

• Ever wondered why theology matters at all? Here’s John Dickson himself writing about why Theology is important – even if there is (hypothetically) no God!
• If lists are your thing – here’s Christianity Today’s helpful ‘Ten Reasons Why Theology Matters‘
• Check out McNuttshell Ministries for all things Jennifer Powell McNutt and David McNutt here
• Irenaeus of Lyon was one of the first Christian thinkers to combat unorthodox ideas about Jesus – specifically gnosticism. Here’s an explainer of what that was
• There’s so much to read about all the theologians mentioned in this episode – but if we had to pick one to go deep on, John of Damascus is a fascinating bloke, writing about Christianity as the rise of Islam was taking place
• As promised – here is Anselm’s ontological argument for the existence of God!

To Watch

• This clip from LutheranSatire is both fun – and thought-provoking – when it comes to understanding the complexities of theology!
• Something we touched upon in this video was the difference between Eastern and Orthodoxy and Protestantism – this video helps explain it
• The BBC’s real-life version of Horrible Histories is a funny – and informative – way to learn about some of the topics discussed today, including about the Flagellants! Skip to around the eleven-minute mark of this clip!  
• We’ve spoken about Thomas Aquinas a lot here on Undeceptions. Here’s a great video courtesy of The School of Life, on why he matters

To Listen

• Check out Jennifer Powell McNutt’s last Undeceptions outing on our episode ‘The Reformation’ here
• Our episode ‘Jesus Philosopher‘ also provides some important background on some of the topics discussed in this episode
• Here’s a great extended interview, courtesy of episode sponsor Zondervan, on the McNutt’s latest work

… and finally

• Get yourself a “theologian baseball card”, one of McNutt’s innovations (courtesy of Zondervan) here (scroll down the page)