The physical beauty of music

The physical beauty of music

Music can be likened to a cathedral, says professional guitarist Gordon Kreplin, when it creates through silence and sound a meditative space into which one may enter and encounter God. (14 minutes)
Creation as beauty and gift

Creation as beauty and gift

FROM VOL. 67
David Bentley Hart describes how the Christian understanding of Creation as beauty and gift, as the outward expression of the delight the Trinity has in itself, reveals a vision of reality different from the pagan or fatalist vision of reality. (12 minutes)
Genealogy of a work of praise

Genealogy of a work of praise

For Good Friday, Ken Myers tells the history of the text and music behind the popular hymn, “O Sacred Head, now wounded.” (27 minutes)
Bach retrospective

Bach retrospective

In light of Passiontide and Holy Week, Ken Myers revisits three interviews — with Calvin Stapert, Robin Leaver, and Christoph Wolff — that provide an illustrative background for listeners to appreciate J. S. Bach’s theological attentiveness and scholarly genius. (36 minutes)
Music that demands an existential commitment

Music that demands an existential commitment

Jaroslav Pelikan on the radical differences between Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Passions
The dance of law and freedom

The dance of law and freedom

Calvin Stapert on the experience of joyous order in Bach’s music
The infinity of beauty in Bach

The infinity of beauty in Bach

David Bentley Hart on why Johann Sebastian Bach is the greatest of Christian theologians
The music and the notes are precious

The music and the notes are precious

Ken Myers encourages an understanding of the Church as a particular culture that should be nourished and sustained, and then describes the history of an Advent hymn written by St. Ambrose. (27 minutes)
Passions before Bach

Passions before Bach

In preparation for Holy Week, Ken Myers presents a whirlwind music history lesson with musical examples from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. (22 minutes)
Bach’s Passions in context

Bach’s Passions in context

Calvin Stapert on the evolution of an ancient musical-liturgical tradition
Music for Good Friday

Music for Good Friday

A conversation with Marcus Rathey and Michael Marissen about Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion. (12 minutes)
J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion

J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion

Divine glory and human suffering
Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 137

Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 137

FEATURED GUESTS: Gilbert Meilaender, James L. Nolan, Joel Salatin, Michael Di Fuccia, Robin Leaver, and Michael Marissen
Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 135

Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 135

FEATURED GUESTS: Bob Cutillo, Hans Boersma, Dana Gioia, Matthew Levering, Bruce Gordon, and Markus Rathey
Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 120

Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 120

FEATURED GUESTS: Douglas Rushkoff, Phillip Thompson, Jonathan Wilson, James Bratt, D. C. Schindler, and Paul Elie