I have been looking forward to having Dr. Cameron Jorgenson on my podcast for a long time. Dr. Jorgenson is one of the smartest and most thoughtful people that I know, and so it was with great anticipation that I had him on this week’s episode.
But first a little backstory. I first met Dr. Jorgenson in and around 1993/1994 at Grand Canyon University when we were both freshmen. A lot of things have changed since we first met in an introduction to philosophy class — GCU used to be a very tiny, Christian liberal arts college for one; and I’m sure our philosophical and theological outlook has also changed quite a bit since that first class. Dr. Jorgenson didn’t have his Ph.D then and I only knew him as Cameron. In our time at Grand Canyon we sort of knew each other, but often ran in different social circles. But in January 1998, six months after we graduated, we both ended up at Fuller Theological Seminary’s Southwest Campus in Phoenix. And for the next three years Cameron and I took every class together and studied relentlessly (Greek, Hebrew, Systematic Theology, Church History, etc, etc.). I can’t even tell you the thousands of hours we put in studying over coffee in various coffee shops and book stores in the Phoenix area.
And it was in this time that our friendship really began to develop and grow, and I came to really admire Cameron for his love of Christ, his intellectual rigor, and the way he put those into loving practice in the relationships and communities around him. Cameron and I then went on to live in Antigua, Guatemala with some host families for three months while we studied Spanish, followed by a trip with Fuller Southwest to Syria, Jordan and Israel. And then we ended up rooming together in Pasadena for one year as we finished up our Master of Divinity degrees at the main campus.
Cameron then went on to Baylor to get his Ph.D, and now teaches Theology and Ethics at Campbell Divinity School in North Carolina.
I give you this backstory to paint for you a better picture of the friendship I have with Cameron. Because when he and I started talking about having him on the podcast he pitched to me the idea of talking about the 7 deadly sins and relationships/marriage I wasn’t exactly sure what I thought about the idea. I talk a lot about marriage and relationships, and I’m familiar with the 7 deadly sins, but I wasn’t sure of how we might connect them and offer something to the listener of value. So I was intrigued. And my intrigue was not disappointed.
In this episode Dr. Jorgenson (sorry I keep switching from Cameron to Dr. Jorgenson) talks about what he refers to as the 7 vices, and why they should be of interest to us today, what we can learn from them, and how they can teach us in more depth about who we are and how we struggle.
In this episode we explore:
- the 7 vices (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride)how the 7 vices point out to us a “disordered desire” for something specific
- we explore in greater depth sex and food (lust and gluttony) and how they impact our relationships
- resources to help one better understand and learn from the 7 vices
- the work of Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung and her book Glittering Vices
- sex and pornography
- food and table
Please listen and subscribe to my podcast in the following places, and then leave a comment letting me know what you liked about the show, or what guest you would like to hear from. Thank you so much for your support.
Resources and People Mentioned in this Episode
Dr. Cameron Jorgenson
Grand Canyon University
Baylor University
Fuller Theological Seminary
Campbell Divinity School
Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung
Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating by Norman Wirzba
Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Food by Wendell Berry and Michael Pollan
The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry
Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si, of the Holy Father, Francis, On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis
Soil and Sacrament: A Spiritual Memoir of Food and Faith by Fred Bahnson
