Why liberalism tends toward absolutism
In this lecture, Michael Hanby examines what causes liberalism to become dictatorial in thought and practice. (49 minutes)
When is a market “free”?
William T. Cavanaugh argues for a richer conception of freedom than the reductionist one promoted by economist Milton Friedman. (44 minutes)
The danger of not defining “freedom”
Richard Bauckham insists that an adequate understanding of freedom requires recognition of God as the ground of true human freedom
The gift of objective reality
Moral philosopher Oliver O’Donovan makes an argument for the consistency of the idea of law when it is conceived in a theological context. (40 minutes)
Freedom as conformity to reality
W. Bradford Littlejohn summarizes the definitions of liberty offered by Richard Bauckham and Oliver O’Donovan
The Life was the Light of men
In a lecture from 2018, Ken Myers contrasts the Enlightenment’s understanding of reason with the Christocentric conception of reason. (57 minutes)
Rejecting “two-tiered” Thomism
Community, the giver of freedom
Thomas H. Naylor and William H. Willimon on why suspicion about big government shouldn’t take the form of autonomous individualism
Light from Neither the East nor the West
Ken Myers reads an essay by theologian John Betz titled “Light from Neither the East nor the West.” It is the third of three essays by Betz in which he distinguishes a Christian understanding of freedom from the conventional modern definitions. (41 minutes)
Freedom on Holiday: The Genealogy of a Cultural Revolution
In this second of three essays, John Betz argues that freedom for the sake of conforming to the Good has been replaced by freedom as the space to choose whatever we want. (52 minutes)
Is irrational freedom truly freedom?
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger argues that freedom must be understood in the context of interplay of reason and the will
Freedom, real and counterfeit
D. C. Schindler contrasts the classical and Christian understanding of freedom with the modern understanding of freedom, and explains how true freedom is a condition of harmony with reality. (59 minutes)
We Hold These Freedoms: Modern, Postmodern, Christian
An essay by John Betz explores the theological grounding of real freedom. He argues that human freedom cannot be understood apart from divine freedom. (36 minutes)
God is not Zeus; you are not Prometheus
Ron Highfield addresses those who doubt Christianity’s goodness, especially as regards modern assumptions about identity, freedom, and dignity. (24 minutes)
Conventional “charismatic” speech, in service of the Zeitgeist
Richard Stivers on how the rhetoric of democracy invites tyranny
Why churches should be more attentive to space
Eric O. Jacobsen discusses New Urbanism with a Christian perspective, imagining how we might organize places in which life may be lived at a human scale and in which real community is nourished. (26 minutes)
Diagnosing our political conflicts
Michael Hanby explains why the modern pursuit of freedom — obeying its founding logic — has taken such a destructive turn. (36 minutes)
