Matt and Dan kick off the new season by going full ying-yang – back to the basics. And by basics, we mean Jesus.

That’s right: before we talk Resurrection, redemption, or rewatching Wong Kar-wai films for spiritual insight, we’re starting at the source.

Who is Jesus? What’s up with his name? And why does it matter that he’s both God and human, king and servant, fully divine and yet creating awkwardness at first century dinner parties?

Related to this, the Asians grapple with the beautiful, frustrating paradox at the heart of Christian faith: the coexistence of objective truth with subjective experience and culture. Should the Gospel come with a side of hot pot?

Along the way, Matt has a spiritual flashback to his younger, more foolish theology days where he found unexpected Christological wisdom in reruns of The Golden Girls. Dan, as always, keeps things grounded, wielding paradox like a wok and frying up some tasty insights on Jesus, the Asian Way.

Resources

John Paul II: Salvifici Doloris

Graham Ward: Christ & Culture

Henri de Lubac: The Church

In this second instalment of the two-part meditation on faith, Matt and Dan move from Asia’s unique spiritual terrain toward a more universal grammar of belief.

Defying the expectations of tiger mums, they explore faith not as a possession or passport, but as a living rhythm—more pilgrimage than property.

Along the way, they challenge some sticky assumptions: that faith is an identity badge, a doctrinal treasure chest, or a battleground of truth claims.

They also sit with the Church’s role as a kind of guardian - both temple gatekeeper and maternal presence - preserving the sacred ember of faith amid the flux of ages, East and West.

Alain Badiou: St Paul - The Foundations of Universalism

Avery Dulles: The Ecclesial Dimension of Faith

Our most Asian episode yet!

Matt extols the hidden mystery of Australian country Chinese cuisine, while Dan riffs on the situation of Christians across Asia. He debunks the myth that Christian faith in the region has simply been a proxy for colonialism or a late addition to the Chinese religious menu.

They end by asking what it means to be fully Christian and fully Asian, concluding it is an increasing urgent question for Asians and non-Asians (and likely has something to do with steaming fish).

Daniel Ang: Bearing Witness in Asia

Matt and Dan light a joss stick for the ancestors and crack open a very special (and slightly spicy) episode of Awkward Asian Theologians - this time, in memory of the dearly departed Pope Francis. Yes, the Argentinian Pope who said “Pachamama” out loud in the Vatican and lived to tell the tale.

They reflect on a papacy that was as chaotically beautiful as your auntie's home altar: a bit cluttered, deeply sincere, occasionally controversial, and full of incendiary content. Matt takes a detour into the legacy of Luigi Giussani - no, not a K-drama villain, but close - while Dan channels the virtue of presence, something Pope Francis quietly re-centred in the Catholic tradition. Like the yum cha trolley that shows up with you need it most, this special episode of Awkward Asian Theologians is steaming hot and smells of the sheep.

Resources

Pope Francis: Evangelii Gaudium

Daniel Ang: Spiritual Director of the Universal Church

This is the second installment of a two-parter on the theme of mystery.

Matt and Dan use more big words to talk about how divine mystery makes itself incarnate into our experience. They also talk about how Christian grappling of divine mystery should lead to a certain posture, one that brings us to our knees rather than inflates our heads.

Look out for the use of the term "sacramental ontology".

Matt and Dan begin a two-parter on what mystery is and entails.

They use big words like "epistemology", and warn us about the risk of reducing mystery to a jingoistic stopping of further reflection on the life of faith.

They also warn us about the conceit of thinking one's way to salvation, instead of truly encountering the complexity of reality and God's working his way through our lived experience.

Graham Ward: The Unimaginable

Pope Francis: Address to Participants in the International Congress on the Future of Theology

Matt and Dan talk about the finer details of asian dinner conversations, before speaking about the Christian task of evangelisation.

They clarify the important distinction between evangelisation and "flexing" (and why one does not equate with the other). They also talk about the link between parish life and the imperative for evangelisation, and the important place of divine gift, journeying and communion in the proclamation of the Gospel.

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium

In this episode, Matt confesses to being a sedevacantist, discusses with Dan why Catholic tradition matters, and how it can be the cause of maximum emotional damage for the Asian. They also look at change and faithfulness, engaging the analogy of the body.

Second Vatican Council:Dei Verbum (esp 7-9)

Anne Carpenter’s article onMaurice Blondel & the Fights Over Catholic Tradition.