The Ad Fontes Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Beauty Call Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

What is beauty? Is it on par with truth and goodness? And why don't people who agree about truth and goodness agree about beauty? This week, Rhys, Colin, and (eventually) Onsi discuss what a Christian philosophy of beauty means, and get into the weeds of music, architecture, and some good old-fashioned exegetical debate.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Onsi: Synopsis of a Purer Theology Vol. 1
Colin: Friendshipby Victor Lee Austin
Rhys: The Rattle Bag by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes
Texts Discussed
Augustine on the pre-eminance of sight among the senses in Confessions Book X
John Calvin on musical instruments as being of the Old Covenant

Davenant Spotlight
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Zwingli, We Hardly Knew Ye Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

What do you think of when you think of Zwingli? Sausages? Memorialism? Warfare? Despite his huge influence in the Reformation (and since), most Reformed Protestants know very little about Huldrych Zwingli. This week, Onsi and Rhys have read Zwingli: God's Armed Prophet, Bruce Gordon's fantastic new biography, and Colin quizzes them on the Reformer we hardly know.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Onsi: Celestial Mattersby Richard Garfinkle
Colin: The Wife of Bath's Taleby Geoffrey Chaucer
Rhys: Alexandria by Paul Kingsnorth
Texts Discussed
Zwingli: God's Armed Prophet by Bruce Gordon

Davenant Spotlight
Philosophy As A Way Of Life - Winter 2022 Davenant Hall class with Colin
Augustine's Anthropology, Ethics, and Politics - Winter 2022 Davenant Hall class with Onsi
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

The Second Coming of the Church Calendar Dec 13, 2021

Show notes

The Church Calendar is BACK - didn't you know? This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys talk about why that might be. Should non-liturgical churches think twice about retrieving the calendar? How does it fit with Word ministry? And what can it tell us about the natural calendar of the seasons?
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Onsi: Discourse on Metaphysics by G.W. Leibniz
Colin: "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex" by Kimberle Crenshaw
Rhys: Richard II by William Shakespeare
Texts Discussed
"Redeeming Forgiveness: The Keys of the Kingdom in Richard Hooker and Thomas Cartwright" by Onsi Kamel

Davenant Spotlight
End of Year Giving 2021
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

The Useless Poets Society Dec 06, 2021

Show notes

What is poetry? Why were Greek philosophers so wary of it? How do Scripture and the Christian tradition shape our view of it? And why is it like technology? Onsi, Colin, and Rhys consider a Christian approach to poetry in this week's episode, and are glad to find just how gloriously useless poetry can be.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading (Poems Read!)
Onsi: "Hearing of harvests, rotting in valleys" by W.H. Auden
Colin: Beowulf trans. by Seamus Heaney
Rhys: "Days" by Philip Larkin
Texts Discussed
Republicby Plato
"Commentary on Genesis 1-4" by Martin Luther

Davenant Spotlight
Ad Fontes poetry submissions
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

The Protestant Intellectual Ecosystem (Live from ETS!) Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

Coming to you LIVE from the Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting in Forth Worth, TX! Colin and Onsi, joined by Davenant colleagues Dale Stenberg and Michael Hughes, shoot the breeze and wonder about how Davenant fits into the evangelical world. Why do we attract more Millenials than Boomers? Can we build an evangelical intellectual ecosystem? And why do you wish you'd been at our after hours party?
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
N/A
Texts Discussed
The Power of the Catholic Intellectual Ecosystem by Onsi Kamel

Davenant Spotlight
N/A
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Evangelicalism Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

It's easy to dump on evangelicalism these days. But we do love it, and owe it a great deal. This week, Colin and Rhys take some time to talk about what they love about evangelicalism, for all its faults. They talk about its stress on a personal encounter with the external Word of the Gospel, the fruit its borne and how its outliving liberal Christianity, as well as what it actually is and how it differs in the US and UK.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Colin: Purgatorioby Dante (trans. by Mark Musa)
Rhys: Beast by Paul Kingsnorth
Texts Discussed
Orthodoxyby G.K. Chesterton
Pilgrim's Regressby C.S. Lewis

Davenant Spotlight
2022 Convivium Irenicum: Philosophy and the Christian
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

So, How About That Davenant Institute Huh? Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

The newest Davenant Institute staff member, Development Diretor Justin Redemer (and yes, Colin's brother) joins Onsi and Colin this week to talk about how that came about, and why he's psyched to work here. They use this as a chance to talk about the institute's mission, where it might be going, and how our work has impacted Justin as both a high-school teaher and a men's pastor at church.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Onsi: Augustine of Hippo: A Biographyby Peter Brown
Colin: Theaetetus and Sophistby Plato
Justin: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Texts Discussed
--

Davenant Spotlight
Support The Davenant Institute
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

You've Got A Friend (Or Do You?) Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

You have friends - don't you? Well, to answer that,you need to know what friendship is, and that's what our hosts try to work that out this week - beginning with Aristotle, before moving onto Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, and the Scriptures.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Onsi: Retrieving Nicaeaby Khaled Anatolios
Colin: The Oresteiaby Aeschylus
Rhys: The Unbroken Threadby Sohrab Ahmari
Texts Discussed
The Nicomachean Ethicsby Aristotle
On Christian Teachingby Augustine
Confessionsby Augustine
Sermon 336by Augustine
On Friendshipby Cicero
Summa IIaIIae 23 by Thomas Aquinas
Davenant Spotlight
Support The Davenant Institute
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

How To Do Philosophy Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

How do you do philosophy? Or, to put it in the industry's terms, what is "philosophical method"? This week, Onsi and Rhys grill Colin on what the right method of philosophy is - not a dry academic pursuit of experts, but a dialogue of questioning about reality.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Onsi: The Canons of our Fathers: Monastic Rules of Shenouteby Bentley Layton
Colin: Meditationsby Marcus Aurelius
Rhys: Zwingli: God's Armed Prophetby F. Bruce Gordon
Texts Discussed
The Soul of the Worldby Roger Scruton
"Minerva Has Left the Building" by Colin Redemer
A Discourse on the Method by Rene Descartes
The Tao Te Ching
Davenant Spotlight
Philosophy and the Christian: The Quest for Wisdom in the Light of Christ
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

Hey, Some Of My Best Friends Are Catholics Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

Can Protestants be friends with Roman Catholics? After all, the Reformers equated Roman Catholic doctrine to false teaching, and the New Testament has harsh and clear words regarding false teachers. This week, our hosts discuss why Protestants can still enjoy true friendship with Catholics, considering the differences between today and the Reformation. And Colin invites the Pope to a barbecue.
NOTE: most books below are linked via Bookshop.org. Any purchases you make via these links give The Davenant Institute a 10% commission, and support local bookshops against chainstores/Amazon.
Currently Reading
Onsi: some German thing
Colin: The Book of Optics by Ibn Al-Haytham
Rhys: The Poetry of D.H. Lawrenceby D.H. Lawrence
Texts Discussed
"Catholicism Made Me Protestant" by Onsi Kamel
Onsi's interview with Alastair Roberts on conversion to Catholicism
"The World Was Not Worthy: In Memoriam Fr. Paul Mankowski" by Onsi Kamel
Documents of the Council of Trent
Documents of Vatican II
Davenant Spotlight
A Protestant Christendom? The World the Reformation Made
Jurisdiction Regal, Episcopal, Papal by George Carleton
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

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