The first episode in a series on faith and politics running through the midterms. James Spencer and Ashish Varma set the terms before the guests arrive.

Ashish starts with the word itself: polis, the city — the shared life of a community, of which party politics is only a narrow slice. That opens the question the series will keep returning to. Paul had no power to abolish slavery, but he could tell Philemon that Onesimus was returning as a brother, and in doing so redraw a line the empire had drawn elsewhere. That is political work, done without any political agency in the sense we usually mean.

James argues that voting is a voluntary right rather than a sacred duty, and explains why he doesn't always exercise it. Ashish tells the story of asking a pastor why the people who filled the building for ESL classes on Tuesday were absent on Sunday. Both land on 1 Corinthians 7: you don't have to change your situation to serve God where you are.

Guests across the series include Kevin Flatt, Veronica Ogle, William Cavanaugh, Vincent Bacote, and others.

Chapters:

00:00 Why this series, and what it won't do

03:06 What students expect from a political theology class

04:37 Polis: the city, and what "political" actually covers

06:00 Is the gospel political?

08:26 Paul's constraints, and ours

09:51 Political agency without political power

11:35 "The poor you will always have with you"

13:25 Nested authority: everything under God's

16:13 Philemon, Onesimus, and redrawing the line

17:43 Reimagining: children, packaging, and a can of Coke

21:06 Voting as a right, not a sacred duty

25:24 Pro-life advocacy and the children who age out

28:16 A church on the boundary lines of Chicago

32:02 1 Corinthians 7: serve where you're called

36:22 New eyes, new ears

37:39 Who's coming on the series

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