For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture

By: Miroslav Volf Matthew Croasmun Ryan McAnnally-Linz Drew Collins Evan Rosa
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  • Summary

  • Seeking and living a life worthy of our humanity. Theological insight, cultural analysis, and practical guidance for personal and communal flourishing. Brought to you by the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.
    2020-2028 Yale Center for Faith & Culture
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Christianity Philosophy Social Sciences Spirituality
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Episodes
  • The Fear to Hope: Ukrainian Pastor on Democracy, Fear, and Abundant Life in the Midst of War / Fyodor Raychynets

    The Fear to Hope: Ukrainian Pastor on Democracy, Fear, and Abundant Life in the Midst of War / Fyodor Raychynets
    Mar 13 2025
    "Do not be afraid of your fears, but cope with them—learn how to deal with them—because unless you do, you cannot live your life abundantly and fully." (Fyodor Raychynets)Evoking courage, resilience, and faith in the face of overwhelming uncertainty, Ukrainian pastor and theologian Fyodor Raychynets returns to For the Life of the World three years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In conversation with Evan Rosa, Fyodor shares his reflections on fear, freedom, and the emotional and spiritual challenges of living fully in a time of war. He discusses his response to recent global political developments, the struggle of holding onto hope, and the importance of confronting fear rather than suppressing it. Drawing from the Gospel of Mark’s iteration of Jesus walking on water, his own personal grief and therapy, and the lived experience of war, Fyodor sees fear not as something to be avoided or gotten rid of, but as something to understand and face with courage."We are in a situation where we are scared to hope.""Do not be afraid of your fears, but cope with them—learn how to deal with them—because unless you do, you cannot live your life abundantly and fully.""If I want to say to someone, ‘I love you,’ I say it. If I want to forgive, I forgive. If I want to do something meaningful, I do it now—because tomorrow is never guaranteed.""The enemy wants us to live in fear, to be paralyzed by it. But to live fully is to resist.""When Jesus scared his disciples on the water, he was bringing their fears to the surface—so that they could face them and find true freedom."Show NotesImage: “Walking on Water”, by Ivan Aivazovsky, Russia, 1888Episode SummaryUkrainian pastor and theologian Fyodor Raychynets reflects on faith, fear, and hope after three years of war.The role of fear in spiritual and personal transformation.A biblical perspective on confronting fear, drawn from the Gospel of Mark.Political and emotional reactions to recent global events impacting Ukraine.Living fully in the present as an act of resistance against fear and oppression.Faith, Fear, and FreedomFyodor Raychynets returns to discuss Ukraine’s ongoing struggle and his evolving faith."Fear to hope"—the challenge of holding onto hope when the world is falling apart.Why fear should be faced rather than suppressed.The spiritual wisdom of encountering fear: “When Jesus scared his disciples, it was for their good.”The difference between being reckless, cowardly, or courageous—all of which share the common state of fear.The Ukrainian Perspective on Global PoliticsHow Ukraine perceives the shifting stance of U.S. foreign policy.The impact of Zelenskyy’s visit to the Oval Office and international reactions.The challenge of fighting for democracy when global powers redefine the terms of war.The fear that democratic values are no longer upheld by those who once championed them.Biblical and Psychological Perspectives on FearMark’s Gospel and the fear of encountering God in unexpected ways.Fyodor quotes Carl Jung: "Where our fears lie, that is where change is most needed."Facing fear as a practice of faith and emotional resilience.The importance of naming fears, localizing them, and even “inviting them in for tea.”How unprocessed fear can lead to paralysis or aggression.Living in the Present: The Antidote to FearWhy Fyodor refuses to postpone life until after the war."We don’t know what tomorrow brings. So I live today, fully."A powerful response to fear: doing good, loving openly, and forgiving freely.The lesson of war: never get used to abnormal things.Holding onto humanity in the face of devastation.Linked Media ReferencesMark 6L: 45-52 Jesus Walks on WaterEpisode 110 of For the Life of the World A Voice from KyivEpisode 138 of For the Life of the World / Ukrainian Pastor Speaks Out: Resist Evil, Be Present, and Remember How Little You ControlUkraine War Updates - BBC NewsAbout Fyodor RaychynetsFyodor Raychynets is a theologian and pastor in Kyiv, Ukraine. He is Head of the Department of Theology at Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in Leadership and Biblical Studies, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. He studied with Miroslav Volf at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Croatia.Follow him on Facebook here.Production NotesThis podcast featured Fyodor RaychinetsEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge, Alexa Rollow, Zoë Halaban, Kacie Barrett & Emily BrookfieldA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give
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    54 mins
  • What the Devil: Christian Imagination, Morality, and Two-Step Devil / Jamie Quatro

    What the Devil: Christian Imagination, Morality, and Two-Step Devil / Jamie Quatro
    Mar 5 2025
    Mystics and prophets have reported receiving visions from the Divine for centuries—”Thus saith the Lord…”—Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola, Catherine of Siena, or Julian of Norwich. The list goes on.But what would you think if you met a seer of visions in the present day? Maybe you have.What about a prophet whose visions came like a movie screen unfurled before him, the images grotesque and vivid, all in the unsuspecting backwoods setting of Lookout Mountain, deep in the south of Tennessee.Would you believe it? Would you believe him? The beauty of fiction allows the reader to join the author in asking: What if?That’s exactly what Jamie Quatro has allowed us to do in her newest work of literary fiction, Two-Step Devil.What if an earnest and wildly misunderstood Christian is left alone on Lookout Mountain? What if the receiver of visions makes art that reaches a girl who’s stuck in the darkest grip of a fraught world? What if the Devil really did sit in the corner of the kitchen, wearing a cowboy hat, and what if he got to tell his own side of the Biblical story?On today’s episode novelist Jamie Quatro joins Macie Bridge to share about her relationship to the theological exploration within her latest novel, Two-Step Devil; her experience of being a Christian and a writer, but not a “Christian Writer”; and how the trinity of main characters in the novel speak to and open up her own deepest concerns about the state of our country and the world we inhabit.Jamie Quatro is the New York Times Notable author of I Want to Show You More, and Fire Sermon. *Two-Step Devil* is her latest work and is the winner of the 2024 Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing, and it’s also been named a New York Times Editor's Choice, among other accolades. Jamie teaches in the Sewanee School of Letters MFA program.SPOILER ALERT! This episode contains substantial spoilers to the novel’s plot, so if you’d like to read it for yourself, first grab a copy from your local bookstore, then two-step on back over here to listen to this conversation!About Jamie QuatroJamie Quatro is the New York Times Notable author of I Want to Show You More, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, and Fire Sermon, a Book of the Year for the Economist, San Francisco Chronicle, LitHub, Bloomberg, and the Times Literary Supplement. Her most recent novel, Two-Step Devil, is the winner of the 2024 Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing. It has also been named a New York Times Editor's Choice, a 2025 ALA Notable Book, and a Best Book of 2024 by the Paris Review and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. A new story collection is forthcoming from Grove Press.Quatro’s fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Harper’s, the New York Review of Books, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Bread Loaf, and La Maison Dora Maar in Ménerbes, France, where she will be in residence in 2025. Quatro holds an MA in English from the College of William and Mary and an MFA in fiction from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. She teaches in the Sewanee School of Letters MFA program, and lives with her family in Chattanooga, Tennessee.Show NotesGet your copy of Two-Step Devil by Jamie QuatroClick here to view the art that inspired Jamie Quatro’s Two-Step DevilProduction NotesThis podcast featured Jamie Quatro with Macie BridgeEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge, Alexa Rollow, Zoë Halaban, Kacie Barrett & Emily BrookfieldA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give
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    59 mins
  • The Scandal of Giving and Forgiving / Miroslav Volf

    The Scandal of Giving and Forgiving / Miroslav Volf
    Feb 26 2025

    It’s easy to forget how utterly scandalous the concepts of grace and forgiveness are. Grace is an absolutely unmerited, undeserved benevolence. Forgiveness is an intentional miscarriage of retributive justice, ignoring of the wrong by a wrongdoer.

    In Miroslav Volf’s understanding, forgiveness “decouples the deed from the doer.”

    Today’s episode features some highlights from Miroslav’s personal reflections about each chapter of his book Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, including his thoughts about one of the most painful moments in his family’s history, the death of his 5-year-old brother Daniel when Miroslav was just a small boy.

    Free of Charge was published in 2006, and we just released a 10-video curriculum series through faith.yale.edu/free-of-charge. It also includes a 48-page discussion guide with new material to help facilitate not just deeper reflection about giving and forgiving, but a viable, livable path toward these core Christian practices.

    This series is free for Yale Center for Faith & Culture email subscribers. So head over to faith.yale.edu/free-of-charge to sign up today.

    Production Notes

    • This podcast featured Miroslav Volf
    • Edited and Produced by Evan Rosa
    • Hosted by Evan Rosa
    • Production Assistance by Macie Bridge, Alexa Rollow, Zoë Halaban, Kacie Barrett, and Emily Brookfield
    • A Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/about
    • Support For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give
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    32 mins

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