Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 131

Related reading and listening

1. When philosophy loses its way — FROM VOL. 52 Ralph McInerny (1929–2010) speaks about themes from his 1999 Gifford Lectures, which relate how natural theology came to be regarded as pointless, resulting in a philosophical dead end.(24 minutes)
2. The need for robust Christian intellectual life — In this lecture, Robert Benne surveys the contemporary landscape in which Christian scholars attempt to integrate their faith and their intellectual life. (43 minutes)
3. Why liberalism tends toward absolutism — In this lecture, Michael Hanby examines what causes liberalism to become dictatorial in thought and practice. (49 minutes)
4. Faith as the pathway to knowledge — Lesslie Newbigin on authority and the Author of all being
5. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 162 — FEATURED GUESTS: Mark Noll, R. Jared Staudt, Paul Weston, William C. Hackett, Hans Boersma, and David Paul Baird
6. Is liberalism compatible with religious freedom? — D. C. Schindler relies on two Thomistic axioms to illustrate why liberalism — which claims to offer a minimalist conception of the common good — is ultimately incompatible with a Catholic understanding of religious freedom. (34 minutes)
7. Play as a signal of transcendence — FROM VOL. 2 Father James V. Schall reflects upon the importance of play and contemplation in ancient political thought. (7 minutes)
8. St. Irenaeus against the Gnostics — In this reading of an essay by theologian Khaled Anatolios, St. Irenaeus is remembered for his synthesis of faith and reason. (52 minutes)
9. Infrastructures of addiction — Christopher Lasch on the subversive effects of the expectation of novelty
10. Heintzman, Paul — FROM THE GUEST PAGE: Paul Heintzman is Professor of Leisure Studies at the University of Ottawa, where he is also an Affiliated Professor in the MSc in Environmental Sustainability program.
11. Peters, John Durham — FROM THE GUEST PAGE: John Durham Peters is María Rosa Menocal of English and Professor of Film and Media Studies at Yale.
12. Beckwith, Francis J. — FROM THE GUEST PAGE: Francis J. Beckwith is on the faculty of Baylor University, where he serves as Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Affiliate Professor of Political Science, Associate Director of Graduate Studies in Philosophy, and Resident Scholar in the Institute for Studies of Religion.
13. In the image of an Imaginer — Dorothy L. Sayers on the inevitability of analogical language about God (and everything else)
14. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 159 — FEATURED GUESTS: Kirk Farney, Andrew Willard Jones, James L. Nolan, Jr., Andrew Kaethler, Peter Ramey, and Kathryn Wehr
15. Resituating discussion of “science” and “religion” — Peter Harrison argues that modern Western culture’s partitioning of ‘science’ and ‘religion’ into distinct spheres is a novel categorical conception in history. (58 minutes)
16. The basic act and order of things — David L. Schindler (1943–2022) insists that the reduction of love to a matter of private and personal sentiment, piety, or good will — is one of the fundamental disorders of modern culture. Christians should know better. (39 minutes)
17. “Christianity” is gnostic — Peter Leithart on why what the Church is and practices is not a “religion”
18. The evolving connotation of “Christianity” — William Cantwell Smith on how the abstraction known as “Christianity” displaced the concrete reality of “Christian living”
19. The birth of “religion” — Brent Nongbri on how Christian disunity led to the privatization of God and the gods
20. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 152 — FEATURED GUESTS: Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Jeffrey Bilbro, Zena Hitz, James L. Nolan, Jr., Bishop Robert Barron, and Jason Blakely
21. The novelty of “science” and “religion” — Peter Harrison on the contingency of the boundaries that divide our lives
22. The scantily clad public square — Reinhard Hütter on the necessity of the virtue of religion
23. Is religious freedom a myth? — Kenneth Craycraft, Jr. details the myths about religious freedom which are so commonly held by American Christians and analyzes their fallacies. (34 minutes)
24. Impact of “infotainment” on community — From 1999 Journal interviews, Neal Gabler and C. John Summerville discuss how the mentalities conveyed by our experience with communications media work against the nurturing of community. Ken Myers also reads related excerpts from George Steiner and Oliver O’Donovan. (33 minutes)
25. Freedom, ancient and modern — In a brief excerpt from David Bentley Hart’s book Atheist Delusions, and a longer excerpt from an Areopagus Lecture by D. C. Schindler, the modern view of freedom is contrasted with the understanding of freedom present in ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Roman thought. (27 minutes)
26. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 146 — FEATURED GUESTS: Mark Mitchell, Hans Boersma, Henry T. Edmondson, III, Brian Clayton, Douglas Kries, Conor Sweeney, and Carole Vanderhoof
27. D. C. Schindler: “For Freedom Set Free” — D. C. Schindler argues that the Christian notion of religious liberty is a synthesis of the Jewish, Roman, and Greek traditions. (61 minutes)
28. Is the First Amendment religiously neutral? — David L. Schindler and Nicholas J. Healy, Jr. discuss how the First Amendment is not as sympathetic to religious freedom as is commonly believed, as it is based on contestable assumptions about the nature of “religion,” “freedom,” and “human nature.” (33 minutes)
29. The nature of freedom reconsidered — In anticipation of this Fall’s Areopagus Lecture entitled “‘For Freedom Set Free’: Retrieving Genuine Religious Liberty,” we present selections from interviews with three MARS HILL AUDIO guests who have raised questions about the modern understanding of freedom. (27 minutes)
30. Mediated: Thomas de Zengotita on Postmodernity and the Flattered Self — Thomas de Zengotita describes how communication media contribute to the widespread sense of entitlement and of identity as an autonomous chooser. The postmodern self is what Zengotita calls “the flattered self,” increasingly believing itself to be the center of the universe. (59 minutes)
31. Questioning the “sacred-secular” division — With the stage set by Michael Sandel, Jean Bethke Elshtain, David L. Schindler, and John Milbank, Andrew Willard Jones examines a medieval alternative to the modern liberal paradigm. (61 minutes)
32. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 142 — FEATURED GUESTS: Stanley Hauerwas, Perry L. Glanzer, Nathan F. Alleman, Jeffrey Bishop, Alan Jacobs, D. C. Schindler, and Marianne Wright
33. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 141 — FEATURED GUESTS: Grant Wythoff, Susanna Lee, Gerald R. Mcdermott, Carlos Eire, Kelly Kapic, and James Matthew Wilson
34. Martin Luther, Printing, and the Making of the Reformation — Historian Andrew Pettegree (Brand Luther: 1517, Printing, and the Making of the Reformation) describes how Luther’s facility for writing in German and his intuitive business sense spread ideas and transformed the distribution model of the printing industry. (55 minutes)
35. In defense of unity — Peter J. Leithart on the relationship between ecclesial unity and religious liberty
36. The missional mandate of truth — Joseph Ratzinger on the partnership of faith and reason in the coherence of love and truth
37. Only domesticated religions are safe to be free — Stanley Hauerwas on why “freedom of religion” carries subtle temptations
38. God is more than a choice — Kenneth R. Craycraft, Jr. (and Michael Sandel) on why religious freedom is poorly understood (and vulnerable)
39. A liturgically ordered (and Christ-formed) cosmos — David L. Schindler on how the renewing of our minds requires the recognition of love in the order of Creation
40. Not just other-worldly concerns — William Cavanaugh on the “religionization” of Christianity
41. Is religion just moralistic therapy after all? — Alexander Schmemann on the secularization of religion
42. How science became the omnipotent arbiter of genuine knowledge — Peter Harrison on the creation of an allegedly neutral public sphere
43. Shedding epistemic modesty — Peter Harrison on the rise of confidence in scientific progress
44. Doing business: selfishly or generously? — David L. Schindler on Adam Smith’s big mistake
45. The Church as a public reality — William Cavanaugh on how we must be disciples in public, not just citizens
46. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 125 — FEATURED GUESTS: Brent Hull, David Koyzis, Steve Wilkens, Roger Lundin, Craig Bernthal, and Kerry McCarthy
47. True transcendence, true immanence — D. C. Schindler on how believers can be practical atheists
48. Immediately yours — Todd Gitlin on the effect of media on our sense of time
49. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 114 — FEATURED GUESTS: Susan Cain, Brad S. Gregory, David Sehat, Augustine Thompson, O.P., Gerald R. McDermott, and Marilyn Chandler McEntyre
50. Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 112 — FEATURED GUESTS: Christian Smith, David L. Schindler, Sara Anson Vaux, Melvyn Bragg, Timothy Larsen, and Ralph C. Wood