5.117: What Did Jesus Have to Say about Race/Ethnicity? (Part 2)

Today our theologians will be answering the listener-submitted question, "What Did Jesus Have to Say about Race/Ethnicity?"

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Welcome back to season five of Enter the Bible, a podcast in which we share “Everything You Wanted to Know about the Bible…but were afraid to ask.”

In episode 17 of season 5, our hosts are joined by Love Sechrest. Sechrest is Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Columbia Theological Seminary and was previously an associate professor of the New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.

Today our theologians will be answering the listener-submitted question, “What Did Jesus Have to Say about Race/Ethnicity? (Part 2)”

Show notes

Biblical books and passages mentioned

Matthew 10: Missionary Discourse
Matthew 28: The Great Commission

Topics, themes, figures, and books mentioned

Race & Rhyme: Rereading the New Testament: book by Love Sechrest (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2022)
ethnos: Greek word for Gentiles/race
Gentiles Christians, Pharisees, Sadducees
Racial and ethnic conflicts
Immigration and immigrants
Canaan and Canaanites
Intergroup relationships
Discrimination and segregation
Kingdom of heaven
Allyship

Today's Episode Hosted By

Joined by

Featuring:

Love Sechrest

Love L. Sechrest is Associate Provost and Professor of Theology at Mount St. Mary's University. Previously she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Columbia Theological Seminary (2018-2022), after 12 years of service as Associate Professor of New Testament at Fuller Seminary. Prior to earning her MDiv and PhD, she pursued a career in the aerospace industry at General Electric, managing over 300 engineers and a $50 million technology and software development budget, and eventually functioning as chief information officer of an $800 million company within Lockheed Martin. Sechrest served two terms as co-chair of the African American Biblical Hermeneutics section in the Society of Biblical Literature, and gives presentations on race, ethnicity, and Christian thought in a variety of academic, business, and church contexts.

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Hosted By:

Kathryn Schifferdecker

Kathryn M Schifferdecker is Professor and Elva B. Lovell Chair of Old Testament at Luther Seminary. Ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2001, Schifferdecker was associate pastor for five years at Trinity Lutheran Church, Arkdale, Wisconsin, before coming to Luther in 2006. Schifferdecker is a frequent contributor to Working Preacher, Word & World, and the author of "Out of the Whirlwind: Creation Theology in the Book of Job" (Harvard University Press, 2008). She is currently writing a commentary on the book of Esther.

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Katie Langston

Katie Langston is a doubter by nature and a believer by grace. She grew up Mormon in a small Utah town and still isn't sure she fits in anywhere sophisticated enough to have a Target. She's the author of Sealed: An Unexpected Journey into the Heart of Grace, an acclaimed spiritual memoir about her conversion to orthodox Christianity. Katie is Pastor of Mission and Outreach at New Promise Lutheran Church in St. George, Utah. From 2020-2025, she was the director of digital strategy for Luther Seminary's innovation team, where she oversaw digital projects aimed at cultivating vibrant Christian spirituality in a post-modern, post-Christian cultural context.

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