The Ad Fontes Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ad F*?!#s Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

How should Christians think about profanity? Scripture makes clear commands about our speech, yet Scripture itself seems to use some choice language at times. How do we reconcile this? And how have great Christian minds of the past approached these things?
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.
Currenly Reading
Onsi: The Idiotby Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Colin: The Aeneidby Virgil
Rhys: The White Ship by Charles Spencer
Texts Discussed
Commentary on Ephesians by John Calvin
Selected Literary Essays by C.S. Lewis

Davenant Spotlight
Maps of Misreading: The Hidden Influence of Horace in Augustine's Confessions - Davenant October Fellows Lecture

CCM: A Reformed Protestant Defense? Oct 04, 2021

Show notes

Colin's back, and he thinks that on our previous episode (with John Ahern), Rhys and Onsi gave contemporary Christian music (CCM) too hard a time. Isn't it a good thing that the best songwriters and producers in the world are making CCM, and that Christian music is worth so much money? Doesn't writing the perfect pop song for Christ demonstrate virtuosity and poetry? And isn't it sustaining the church the last place where communal singing happens?
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.
Best and Worst CCM Songs:
Onsi BEST: "Creed" by Rich Mullins/"Soul Will Sing" by Travis Greene
Onsi WORST: "Oceans" by Hillsong
Colin BEST: "We're Blessed" by Fred Hammond
Colin WORST: "Way Maker" by Leeland/"Graves Into Gardens" by Elevation Worship
Rhys BEST: "Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman/"Great is the Lord" by Steve McEwan
Rhys WORST: "Who You Say I Am" by Hillsong
Texts Discussed
Four Birds of Noah's Arkby Thomas Decker
Review of Four Birds of Noah's Arkby Colin Redemer

Davenant Spotlight
A Protestant Christendom? The World the Reformation Made
Jurisdiction Regal, Episcopal, Papal

Thank You For The Music Ministry Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

Somewhere, right now, people are arguing about church music - and it's been that way for nearly 2000 years! Why is that? This week, Onsi and Rhys are joined by John Ahern to discuss big questions which have recurred again and again in church history: music or lyrics? Performers or laypeople? How (if at all) do we fund church music? With particular reference to the Middle Ages, our hosts consider how church history can inform our CCM dominated moment.
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: Schuyler Quntel RSV Bible
Rhys: The History of Christianity in Britain and Irelandby Gerald Bray
John: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke/Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Texts Discussed
Confessionsby St. Augustine
Docta Sanctorum Pactum by Pope John XXII

Davenant Spotlight
Quarter for the End of Blogs

Medieval Mythbusting Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

Calling something "practically medieval" is never really a positive thing. But were the so-called Dark Ages really so dark? Onsi, Colin, and Rhys set out to bust some medieval myths prominent among Protestants, and in Western culture at large. They talk about technology, science, sex, death, feudalism, personal piety, and more.
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: History of the Pelopennesian Warby Thucydides
Rhys: The Stripping of the Altarsby Eamon Duffy
Texts Discussed
"Petrarch's Conception of the 'Dark Ages'" by Theodor Ernst Mommsen
The Lay-Folks' Catechism
The Light Agesby Seb Falk
The Pillars of the Earthby Ken Follett
"The Neglected Craft: Prudence in Reformed Political Thought" by Adam Carrington
The Lamp
Davenant Spotlight
A Protestant Christendom? The World the Reformation Made
Jurisdiction Regal, Episcopal, Papal

Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

13 Messy Christian Personal Lives You NEVER Knew About... Number 7 Will SHOCK You! Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

We talk a lot about the sin and scandal of public figures in the Church... but do we talk about talking about it? That's what Onsi, Colin, and Rhys do this week! How can a philosophy and theology of sin affect the way that we talk about it?
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 Arabs: A Historyby Eugene Rogan
Colin: Dune by Frank Herbert
Rhys: The Pillars of the Earthby Ken Follett
Texts Discussed
The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast
Kanye the Pious
Unintended Consequences of Failure Porn

Davenant Spotlight
Mere Orthodoxy
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

Never Marry a Philosopher Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

Have childless philosophers ruined Western civilization? Why are great intellectuals usually such terrible fathers and husbands anyway? And is it easier to be a theologian parent than a philosopher parent? This week, Onsi and Rhys are joined by Davenant Teaching Fellow Alastair Roberts to discuss the relationship between celibacy and the intellectual life.
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: America's Great Game: The CIA's Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East by Hugh Wilford
Rhys: The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Scienceby Seb Falk
Alastair: assorted commentaries on Joel!
Texts Discussed
The tweet that started the discussion
Beyond Good and Evilby Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
JD Vance on the "childless left"
Fear and Tremblingby Soren Kierkegaard
On the Affections of Fathers to Their Childrenby Montaigne
Davenant Spotlight
Natural Law and Scriptural Authority - Davenant Hall Fall 2021 Class (register by September 10th!)
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

Spring To The Lord Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

It's the middle of summer... so we're talking about spring! Launching off of "Ver Erat Aeternum", an Ad Fontes essay by E.J. Hutchinson, Onsi, Colin, and Rhys discuss the season. Why is it historically associated with Paradise in different cultures, and is that right? And are created phenomena like the seasons meant to teach us anything?
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: Church Dogmatics by Karl Barth
Colin: Republic by Plato
Rhys: Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays by Paul Kingsnorth
Texts Discussed
Metamorphosesby Ovid
"East Coker" by T.S. Eliot
"The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot
Hexameronby St. Ambrose
Through New Eyesby James B. Jordan
God of All Thingsby Andrew Wilson
Davenant Spotlight
Ad Fontes Print + Digital Subscription
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

MAKE PIETY GREAT AGAIN Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

What is piety? What happened to it? And can we make it great again? This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys talk about piety (not to confused with "pietism" or "piousness") - our natural bonds and relationship to those around us. They cover its place in the ancient world, what the Reformation had to say, and what (if anything) it might look like today.
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 Iliadby Homer (trans. Robert Fagles)
Colin: Children of Menby P.D. James
Rhys: The Odyssey (Audiobook)by Homer (trans. Robert Fagles; read by Ian McKellan)
Texts Discussed
Euthyphroby Plato
The Aeneidby Virgil
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Institutes III.ii by John Calvin
The Hidden Structure of the Ten Commandmentsby Rabbi David Fohrman
Man of the Houseby C.R. Wiley
The Household and the War for the Cosmos by C.R. Wiley
Minari
Davenant Spotlight
Support the work of The Davenant Institute
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

Free Willin' Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

Do you have free will in listening to this podcast? Listen and find out! This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys discuss free will, launching off of The Davenant Institute's new translation of Peter Martyr Vermigli''s On Free Will and the Law. They discuss the Greek myths and philosophers, totaly depravity, God's foreknowledge, and the pastoral relevance of a clear doctrine of free well.
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: Walkmanby Michael Robbins
The 21: A Journey into the Land of the Coptic Martyrsby Martin Mosebach
Colin: After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis' 'The Abolition of Man' by Michael Ward
Rhys: Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayerby C.S. Lewis
Texts Discussed
On Free Will and the Lawby Peter Martyr Vermigli
The Odyssey by Homer
Treatises Against the Anabaptists and the Libertinesby John Calvin
Paradisoby Dante
The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Loveby Augustine
Journal of Inklings Studies
Davenant Spotlight
The Ad Fontes Website
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

Persecution and the Art of Podcasting Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

Does this podcast have a hidden meaning? Probably not. But plenty of history's great writings have hidden meanings (well, maybe they do). This week, Rhys and Colin discuss esoteric writing, where the author's real meaning is veiled, and apparent only to a small inner group with the right knowledge (often to prevent themselves getting killed). Springing off of Leo Strauss' Persecution and the Art of Writing they talk about the benefits and dangers of esotericisim in philosophy and literature, and then wonder whether Scripture is esoteric in some way.
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: The Blind Guides of the Classical Education Movementby Shawn Barnett
Rhys: Either/Orby Soren Kierkegaard
Texts Discussed
The New Thinkery Podcast
Persecution and the Art of Writing by Leo Strauss
Planet Narniaby Michael Ward
Either/Orby Soren Kierkegaard
Fear and Tremblingby Soren Kierkegaard
Politicsby Aristotle (section on natural and unnatural slaves)
The Art of Biblical Narrativeby Robert Alter
Davenant Spotlight
Davenant House
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

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