My guest is Robert J. Monson. We will be speaking about his work at Sub: Culture Inc., Podcasting, grief, community, and contemplative prayer. His music entitled 1 Peter 4 Meditation is featured on this episode.
This episode is being released at the same time as Robert is releasing my interview with him on The Hive CHECK IT OUT!
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Peter Enns (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Abram S. Clemens professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University (St. Davids, PA). He has taught undergraduate, seminary, and doctoral courses at numerous other schools, including Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and Temple University. Enns speaks and writes regularly to diverse audiences about the intersection of the ancient setting of Bible and contemporary Christian faith. He is a frequent contributor to journals and encyclopedias, and has written, edited, and contributed to nearly 20 books, including The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament, and The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins, winner of the 2012 ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award in Religion (adult nonfiction). Enns resides in suburban Philadelphia with his wife Susan.
It’s a beautiful thing we have going. I bring you something to enjoy and you give me some money. Thanks for your generousity, today.
Today is SOUL SCHOOL. It comes to you EACH WEDNESDAY.
(aka Midweek or “hump day”)
What do we mean, if anything, by the words heaven and hell outside of post-mortem propositions?
Could the concepts mean something for us in this world, before we die? Something about our state of mind or how we live?
I found an intriguing podcast episode about CS Lewis’ short book The Great Divorce on the Kindling Podcast and I wanted to share a piece of it with you as well as some of my own thoughts. Please listen to the whole Kindlings episode linked below when you get the chance. I hope you like this installment of Soul School. Pass it on to someone who might like it too.
(You can share a snippet of audio by using the Clammr app below. Simply click the red and white logo.)
“The Inklings” were a group of authors who met together, up to twice a week, for 17 years and included the likes of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. Without the rigorous, encouraging, and collaborative nature of this group, great works like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia might not have made it to final form.
Dr Diana Glyer’s scholarly work into The Inklings took her over 20 years to compile and craft into her dissertation published asThe Company They Keep. Her scholarship altered the prevailing notion about the group and how it functioned. Her more recent general-audience book, based on that scholarship, called Bandersnatch includes the most interesting stories about CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien’s friendship and explains how we can learn from the way the Inklings worked together. Today we talk about how we can apply that wisdom into our own creative endeavors and collaborations.
Thank you for listening today! Please pass along this episode to others!
AND Scroll down for plenty of show note details on the books and people mentioned.
Diana’s first introduction into the world of Tolkien.
2:30
Wondering what the conversations of Lewis and Tolkien were like and how they influenced each other.
[ictt-tweet-inline via=”dianaglyer”]Our conversations become the spark for creative breakthrough.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
(That’s a cool quote from Diana and you can Tweet it just by clicking it. It’s like Elfin magic!)
3:30
No one had researched and written about their relationship of collaboration and influence from the inside–like a fly on the wall.
5:30
How we think about literary influence and collaboration. Process influence versus product influence.
The role of creative input and question-asking during the initial period of creative inspiration.
MIN 7:30
Looking at dairies and primary documents and drafts and the detective work of Diana’s book “The Company They Keep”.
8:30
Some examples of how Lewis and Tolkien made changes in their work because of the input of the Inklings writers group.
11:00
The myth of tortured artists and creative luminaries and how excellent creative work really happens (nearly always) by the people we admire most.
13:00
Having conversations and interactions about our creative work.
For creative geniuses and highly productive artists throughout the centuries it is NORMAL to be collaborative and interactive during the creative process.
[ictt-tweet-inline via=”dianaglyer”]The Hollywood construct of lone creative genius is highly abnormal and unhealthy.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
(That’s another cool quote from Diana and you can Tweet it just by clicking it.)
14:30
How Bandersnatch got written.
17:00
What do you do if you’re scared that your work stinks?
Inviting a bigger look at what collaboration means.
Involving others into every stage of the creative process.
21:00
Guidelines for critique:
First, know what you are looking for then…
Remember 2 things:
1. A good critique should not end up being discouraging but make you excited to go back and work on it and restless until you do.
2. Ask specifically what you need. Example (Is there too much description? Is it too wordy? Is it too formal? Is pacing okay?)
CS Lewis sent his work to friends with a note, “Is this worth working on some more? Or am I on a dead end?” The Chronicles of Narnia was almost never written because he was discouraged.
MIN 26:00
The huge importance of encouragement.
Be courageous in sharing our messy unfinished work.
MIN 27:30
The Company They Keep
Bandersnatch will be available in Fall 2016 as an Audio Book
This week is the celebration of 1 year of podcasting! #weekofSPARKle (To party with us, you can search #weekofSPARKle on Twitter for contests, videos, and zaniness, and on eBay for some tasty and whacky auction/collector’s items.)
• MORE INFO HERE
Adam Narloch and John Williamson started a podcast and after just a few episodes, they had thousands of listeners–find out why. Our conversation is wide-ranging and fantastic!
SHOW NOTES:
MIN 1:30
The deep seated need to find a home to talk about uncomfortable issues of faith and doubt.
4:30
Talking about the Bible first and having a wide range of guests, worldviews, and topics.
6:40
A no debate policy
10:00
Asking “Is this a Christian podcast?”
13:00
Realizing audience and context
14:30
Tempted to lead double lives when you can’t ask questions.
17:00
The conservative Christian bubble and fear-based groups.
26:00
The difficulty of building our lives around mystery.
We aren’t saved through scripture.
27:00
All the ideals are mystery. Many concepts can’t be measured.
29:30
Metaphor and biblical metaphor and historical truth.
A return to mystery in science and faith that beautifully underpins reality.
32:30
Confirmation bias and protecting our identity.
CS Lewis – the Weight of Glory (and other essays) influenced Adam
A Grief Observed
Surprised by Joy “temples building not built”
It’s about mercy
Francis Schaeffer
Catholic writers write about the spiritual dark night
My guest is Robert J. Monson. We will be speaking about his work at Sub: Culture Inc., Podcasting, grief, community, and contemplative prayer. His music entitled 1 Peter 4 Meditation is featured on this episode.
GUEST BIO:
