Acton Line

Latest Episodes:

Taking rites seriously with Francis Beckwith Jul 27, 2022

Show notes

Francis Beckwith, professor of philosophy and church-state studies at Baylor University, discusses the lecture he gave at Acton University 2022 entitled, “Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith.” Sarah Negri, Acton’s research project coordinator, sits down with Beckwith to discuss how religious rites such as marriage have a special significance not typically recognized in civil law, and how religion is unfairly set up as in conflict with reason, when in fact rites and religious observances can be profoundly reasonable. In addition, they talk about the difference between conscience and religious freedom, and how using these two similar but distinct concepts as a basis for legal decisions may have different social ramifications.

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About Francis J. Beckwith

Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith

The Heart Has Its Reasons | Church Life Journal

Is it Time to Rethink the School Prayer Cases? | Anchoring Truths

Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith | Kresta in the Afternoon

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Check your financial privilege Jul 20, 2022

Show notes

Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, discusses his new book, “Check Your Financial Privilege,” and how cryptocurrency can aid in pulling people out of poverty. Dan Hugger, Acton’s librarian and research associate, sits down with Gladstein to discuss what's happening, for example, in Nigeria, where human rights activists depend on Bitcoin for donations. In Cuba, those who saved in Bitcoin managed to stay afloat after a dual-currency system devalued the peso. In El Salvador, where remittance fees and exchange rates can eat away a simple money transfer to family members in need, Bitcoin offers hope with lower fees and faster transactions.

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‘Check Your Financial Privilege’

About Alex Gladstein

The Quest for Digital Cash | Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin's Price Surge Amid Doubts: What Would Aquinas Say? | Forbes

Crypto and Blockchain: A flash in the pan or something more? | Acton Institute

Should you bet on Bitcoin? | Acton Institute

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Mike Cosper on ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ Jul 13, 2022

Show notes

“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is one of the most popular Christian podcasts of the past year. It chronicles how Mars Hill Church in Seattle went from one of the most influential multisite evangelical churches in the U.S. to an abuse- and scandal-ridden nightmare, finally having to shut its doors for good in 2014 following the resignation of its charismatic founder, Mark Driscoll.

Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of marketing and communications, sits down with Mike Cosper, producer, writer, and host of the podcast, to discuss the lessons from the stories Cosper tells in “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” as well as the problems associated with celebrity pastors and church institutions.

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‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ Podcasts | Christianity Today

About Mike Cosper

Is Christianity doing more harm than good to American men? | Acton Institute PowerBlog

Saving men requires the leadership of laymen | Acton Institute PowerBlog

Faithfulness Is the Future of the Church | Acton Institute

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Fatherhood, fraternities, and moral formation Jul 06, 2022

Show notes

Anthony Bradley, professor of religious studies at The King’s College, NYC, and Acton research fellow, sits down with Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of program outreach, to discuss the importance of fatherhood as well as Dr. Bradley’s new research on the good that fraternities do in the way of moral formation of young men.

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About Anthony B. Bradley, PhD

Black Marriage Matters | Acton Institute

Saving men requires the leadership of laymen | Acton Institute

Is Christianity doing more harm than good to American men? | Acton Institute

Mobilizing Fathers to Close Prisons - Dr. Anthony Bradley | BreakPoint

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Literature and the scandal of holiness Jun 29, 2022

Show notes

Award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson has written an exciting new book—“The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints”—on how we’re called to live beyond a merely mundane existence of settling for small goals. In fact, we’re called to live a life of holiness. Wilson instructs us on how hearing the call to holiness requires cultivating a new imagination—one rooted in the art and discipline of reading. Reading with eyes attuned to the saints who populate great works of literature enables us to see how God opens up ways of holy living.

Sarah Negri, Acton’s research project coordinator, sits down with Wilson to discuss how literature has the power to show us what a truly holy life looks like.

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The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints

About Jessica Hooten Wilson

Jessica Hooten Wilson on Solzhenitsyn Against Propaganda | Acton Institute YouTube Channel

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Betsy DeVos on fixing education Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

Betsy DeVos joins Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of marketing and communications, in the studio to discuss her new book, “Hostages No More.“

In her book, DeVos writes about her experiences working in the Trump administration and how the “woke” curriculum is negatively impacting our children’s learning. She also lays out a detailed approach to fixing America’s badly broken education system and securing a prosperous future for our kids.

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Hostages No More by Betsy DeVos | Center Street

About Betsy DeVos

Redemption, not retreat: Betsy DeVos' vision for redeeming U.S. education | Acton Institute PowerBlog

Betsy DeVos and Sal Khan on education and entrepreneurial disruption | Acton Line Podcast

What's driving the decline of religion in America? Secular education | Acton Institute PowerBlog

The Myth of a Value-Free Education | Acton Institute

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How savings banks and credit unions help prevent poverty Jun 15, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of program outreach, sits down with Dr. Richard Turnbull, the director of the Center for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics, to discuss how banks and credit unions develop a culture of savings, independence, and poverty prevention. Do trends in the direction of large, national, even global banking institutions best serve these ideals? And what are the implications of the loss of diversity in institutional and local provisions for personal saving? What does all this tell us about the nature of civil society?

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About Dr. Richard Turnbull

Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics

4 arguments for the free market | Acton Institute

Brexit: One last roll of the dice? | Acton Institute

How to rebuild the economy after COVID-19 | Acton Institute

Boris Johnson: The great survivor? | Acton Institute PowerBlog

John Calvin and God's civil government | Acton Institute PowerBlog

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Reason, nature, and the human good Jun 08, 2022

Show notes

Daniel Wagner, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of philosophy at Aquinas College, sits down with Dan Hugger, Acton’s librarian and research associate, to explore the Aristotelian-Thomistic account of the human good, natural law, and living well. Why should we seek to know ourselves? How is the human good related to excellence and virtue? How do we reconcile this account of the good with the divergent moral views we see in the world?

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About Daniel Wagner

The Elements of Philosophy: A Compendium for Philosophers and Theologians | William Wallace, OP

Aristotle | Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Aquinas 101 | The Thomistic Institute

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'Conservatism: A Rediscovery' Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Sam Gregg sits down with award-winning political theorist Yoram Hazony to discuss Hazony’s new book, “Conservatism: A Rediscovery.”

Hazony argues that the idea that American conservatism is identical to “classical” liberalism, which has been widely held since the 1960s, is seriously mistaken. According to Hazony, the best hope for Western democracy is a return to the empiricist, religious, and nationalist traditions of America and Britain. These conservative traditions brought greatness to the English-speaking nations and became the model for national freedom for the entire world.

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Conservatism: A Rediscovery

About Yoram Hazony

Edmund Burke Society & The Russell Kirk Center

What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference, by Dan Hugger | Acton Institute

The Post-Liberal Right: The Good, the Bad, and the Perplexing, by Sam Gregg | Public Discourse

Patrick Deneen and the Problem with Liberalism, by Sam Gregg | Public Discourse

Nationalism and the Future of Western Freedom, by Yoram Hazony | Mosaic Magazine

What Is Conservatism? by Yoram Hazony | American Affairs Journal

The Challenge of Marxism, by Yoram Hazony | Quillette

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The next generation of church leaders May 25, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of Acton Line, Dylan Pahman, research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality here at Acton, sits down with Jeff Fisher, professor of theology and director of spiritual formation, and Branson Parler, professor of theology and director of theological education, both of the Foundry, to discuss their entrepreneurial alternative to traditional Christian higher education for ministry leaders. Topics range from the specifics of how the Foundry works to broader questions of the economic and identity crises of colleges and universities across the country. What is the role of the Church in training the next generation of pastors and teachers? Is the Foundry’s model the new way forward or a further symptom of the breakdown and silo-ization of the university?

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The Foundry: Strengthening and Supporting Church Leaders

About Branson Parler and Jeff Fisher

New seminary head aims to revive church life and an entrepreneurial spirit in Venezuela | Acton Institute

Lincoln Christian University Revamping Its Model, May Sell Campus | Christian Standard

Abilene Christian University eliminated a $4.5 million budget deficit and reimagined itself | Mindstream

Hundreds of Positions Eliminated at Evangelical Colleges and Universities | Christianity Today

The Great Upheaval | Arthur Levine & Scott Van Pelt

Deschooling Society | Ivan Illich

After Whiteness | Willie James Jennings

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