S2. Ep 8. Empathy in Christian and Public Life

Written By Dr. Vincent Bacote

EPISODE DETAILS

This week on the Empathy Table, Ideos’ Amar Peterman is joined by Dr. Vincent Bacote, Professor of Theology at Wheaton College. 

Vince and Amar talk about the theological grounding for empathy in Christian and public life. They also discuss the work of “Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News” and the importance of Jesus’ call to love our neighbors.

At the conclusion this episode, Vince offers a robust understanding of empathy that goes beyond merely “feeling with.” By way of story and theory, he and Amar argue that empathy requires both a physical and cognitive move towards another that is both emotional and intellectual. In other words, it requires us to not only bear one another’s’ burdens emotionally, but also understand the complex realities behind the burden itself.

Dr. Vincent Bacote

In this conversation, Ideos Institute Vice President, Dr. Greg Arthur is joined by Dr. Vincent Bacote, Professor of Theology and Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College (IL), to discuss his book The Political Disciple to discuss the challenges he is seeing and studying in Christian political engagement, helpful practices for reshaping our political engagement, and the hopefulness he experiences while working with the next generation. 

Dr. Bacote (Ph.D., Drew University) is a professor of theology and the director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Publications include the books Reckoning with Race, Performing the Good News: In Search of a Better of a Evangelical Theology, and The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life. He has also contributed to books including Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues, The Church’s Social Responsibility, and Black Scholars in White Space.

Dr. Bacote is also a fellow at the Center for Public Justice and has been an assistant theology editor for Christianity Today. He has been a columnist for Comment Magazine and has had articles appear in magazines such as The Banner, Books and Culture, Christianity Today, Think Christian and re:generation quarterly and journals such as The Journal of Markets and Morality, Christian Scholars Review, Urban Mission and the Journal for Christian Theological Research.

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S2. Ep 9. Empathy, Ecology, and Faith Formation
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S2. Ep 7. Empathic Imagination, Mutual Flourishing, and Israel-Palestine