Theology for Our Times

Elise Edwards on Architecture, Hope, and Artificial Intelligence

Elise Edwards is a professor of religion at Baylor University, and a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton. Here she is in conversation with CTI's Social Impact Fellow, Sarah Joo.

Laurie Zoloth on Hope, Despair, and Artificial Intelligence

Laurie Zoloth is Margaret E. Burton Professor of Religion and Ethics at the University of Chicago. A leader in the field of religious studies with particular scholarly interest in bioethics and Jewish studies, Zoloth’s research explores religion and ethics, drawing from sources ranging from Biblical and Talmudic texts to postmodern Jewish philosophy, including the writings of Emmanuel Levinas, Hannah Arendt, and Margaret Susman. Her scholarship spans the ethics of genetic engineering, gene drives, stem cell research, synthetic biology, social justice in health care, and how science and medicine are taught. She also researches the practices of interreligious dialogue, exploring how religion plays a role in public discussion and policy.

Bishop Will Willimon on Theology and the Church

The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. He is a CTI Member taking part in the project, From Despair to Hope, made possible by funding from the John Templeton Foundation.

Willie James Jennings on the Doctrine of Creation

Willie James Jennings, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, joins Dr. Elise Edwards for a conversation about Dr. Jennings's Warfield Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary, which he delivered in March 2026 on the topic: Only Then Will We Build: Forming a Real Doctrine of Creation.

NYT Deputy Editor Lauren Jackson on Spiritual Belief in a Secular Age

Lauren Jackson, a deputy editorial director at The New York Times and the founder and host of Believing, delves into what she has learned in her reporting on religion, spirituality and artificial intelligence over the past two years. She discusses A.I. as a spiritual technology — and explains how people are engaging with religious apps and chatbot chaplains. She also explores how chatbots are challenging what it means to be human, and why she believes the work of theologians and philosophers is even more urgent now.