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In this episode, hosts Ben and Dan discuss the significance of the 8th century deacon and scholar, Alcuin of York and his articulation of the faith to the powers of his day.   More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

The Rev. Dr. Mika Edmondson joins us on the podcast for a discussion about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy. Mika Edmondson is the pastor of Koinonia Church in Nashville, TN. He earned a PhD in systematic theology from Calvin Seminary and wrote The Power of Unearned Suffering, a book about Martin Luther King Jr.’s theology of suffering. You can learn more about Dr. Edmondson at https://www.koinonianashville.com. In this episode, we discuss the concept of theodicy in Dr. King's teaching and spend some time answering common criticism of MLK. Finally, we conclude talking about his legacy today and what aspects of his vision are yet to be realized. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

Ben invites the Rev. Dr. Mika Edmondson onto the podcast for our discussion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy. Mika Edmondson is the pastor of Koinonia Church in Nashville, TN. He earned a PhD in systematic theology from Calvin Seminary and wrote The Power of Unearned Suffering, a book about Martin Luther King Jr.’s theology of suffering. In this episode, we discuss MLK's life and the influence and inspiration he received from the American black church tradition. You can learn more about Dr. Edmondson at https://www.koinonianashville.com. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

In this bonus episode of Our Church Speaks, we're sharing an episode from the podcast Church History for Chumps and their interview of Ben Lansing. In this episode, Ben shares some of his background and the vision behind why he started Our Church Speaks. Be sure to subscribe to the Church History for Chumps podcast and follow them on Instagram @churchhistory4chumps More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

In this final episode of season 3 of the Our Church Speaks podcast, Ben and Dan discuss the life and work of Benedict and Scholastica, founders of the monastic Benedictine order. Along the way, they reflect on the importance of a rule of life and the necessity of submission to a way of life deeper than our individual, spiritual preferences. Season 4 of the Our Church Speaks episode will return in January, 2026. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

Ben and Dan tell the remarkable story of the Indian writer, activist, and Bible translator Pandita Mary Ramabai. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast, leaving a review, and supporting financially.

Ben and Dan tell the story of Olga, a merciless pagan queen of the Dark Ages who was transformed by the profound mercy of Jesus Christ, and her grandson, Vladimir, who was forever changed by Olga's faith. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

Ben and Dan reflect on the life and times of John Bunyan, a 17th century Puritan Baptist preacher and author of the seminal work of English literature, The Pilgrim's Progress. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast, leaving a review, and supporting financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1 For more about the English Civil War era of church history, listen to Ben's interview about King Charles I on the Church History for Chumps podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/church-history-for-chumps/id1686344331?i=1000697609691

Dan and Ben discuss the life and work of Macrina the Younger, an early church mother who inherited the apostle's teaching and defended the faith through her prayer and service. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

Ben and Dan recount the remarkable stories of Olaudah Equiano, William Wilberforce, and the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, including the influence of the first Great Awakening on this remarkable evangelical social reform movement. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast, leaving a review, and supporting financially.

Ben and Dan tell the story of Esther John, a 20th century Pakistani Christian convert, evangelist, and martyr. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

Ben welcomes special guest, musician and songwriter Orlando Palmer (IAMSON) to discuss the life and legacy of the 18th century composer and Lutheran saint, Johann Sebastian Bach. Along the way, Orlando reflects on his own experience growing up in a musical family and how the faith and hymnody of earlier generations continues to bear fruit in his life and creativity. You can listen to IAMSON's music here. Cover art for this episode by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

Ben and Dan talk about the Spanish teacher of the faith, Teresa of the Faith and the role and purpose of Christian Spiritual direction. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

In part two of our discussion of William Tyndale's life and martyrdom, Ben and Dan discuss life of Tyndale and the wider context of his day, including the motivations of Henry VIII's opposition to both Rome Catholicism and Tyndale's reformational vision. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1

Ben and Dan launch the first part of a two part discussion about the life and times of William Tyndale, the great reformer and translator of the Bible. They begin with the wider historical context of the reformation and then talk about Tyndale's vision for the Bible's translation and why so many of the powers of Tyndale's day opposed this vision. Cover art by Ben Lansing. More about the Our Church Speaks book and the Our Church Speaks project at ourchurchspeaks.com If you've benefited from this podcast, your support would do so much to help promote this content to a wider audience. Please consider rating our podcast and leaving a review. You can support the Our Church Speaks project financially at https://buymeacoffee.com/ourchurchspeaks?new=1