“Nourishing the Soul” ft. Wheaton College’s Philip Graham Ryken I Saturdays at Seven – Season Two, Episode One

In the first episode of the second season of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Philip Graham Ryken, Professor of Theology and President of Wheaton College. Ryken opens by defining how he Biblically and theologically understands evangelicalism, the global contexts in which evangelicalism exists, and the contributions that Wheaton faculty, staff, and graduates have made to evangelicalism. Although political and social polarization has impacted popular perceptions of evangelicalism in recent years, Ryken expresses his optimism for how Biblical and theological perceptions will endure and serve as a means for rethinking how Christians live and serve within political and social orders. Ream asks Ryken to talk through his calling to ordained ministry and how that calling intersects with his calling to serve as a faculty member and president at Wheaton. Ream and Ryken talk about Ryken’s habit of writing, from where the questions come that he pursues, how those questions are addressed in sermons delivered on campus in chapel and in various churches, and how those sermons often serve as the basis for chapters in books. Ream and Ryken close their conversation by discussing Ryken’s personal understanding of the academic vocation, how the academic vocation is nurtured and exercised amongst educators at Wheaton, and the ways that the relationship shared by the Church and the university are critical for the present and future health of the academic vocation.