The Ad Fontes Podcast

Latest Episodes:

LAW. What is it good for? Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

How should Christians think about law? Not the Levitical law, but law itself in our nations and societies. What even is a law? How is our legal tradition founded in Greek philosophy? How did Augustine and Aquinas develop that? This week, Onsi and Rhys grill Colin on these questions and more, off the back of his recent Davenant House intensive on the topic.
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: Survival is a Style: Poemsby Christian Wiman
Colin: Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophyby Michael P. Zuckert and Catherine H. Zuckert
Rhys: Fear and Tremblingby Soren Kierkegaard
Texts Discussed
Plato: Complete Works
Treatise on Law by Thomas Aquinas
Davenant Spotlight
If you take a Davenant Hall course, become a Davenant Partner by making a monthly donation, or have made a single donation of $250 within the past year, you can join the conversation and community in the Davenant Discord server! Find out more about giving here, or about Davenant Hall here.
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

Donne Donne DONNE. Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

John Donne is one of history's great poets. He taught us that "no man is an island" and to not ask "for whom the bell tolls". Yet he is often overlooked by Protestants as a Protestant. This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys talk about Donne's life and divine poetry, the limits of language, and what we can learn from him as a Protestant poet.
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: If You Love Me: Serving the Church of Christ in Spirit and Truthby Matthew the Poor
The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine Vol. 2 - The Spirit of Eastern Christendom by Jaroslav Pelikan
Rhys: Simply Christian by Tom Wright
Texts Discussed
"Retrieving John Donne: Poetic Companion for Conflict Protestants" by Rhys Laverty
"Holy Sonnet XI (Spit in my face you Jews)" by John Donne
"Holy Sonnet XIV (Batter my heart three person'd God)" by John Donne
"Holy Sonnet XVIII (Show me, deare Christ)" by John Donne
"Satire III" by John Donne
"A Litany" by John Donne
Theo-Poetics: Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Risk and Art of Being by Anne M. Carpenter
Davenant Spotlight
If you buy books we recommed, buy via the links above to Bookshop.org!
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

Stay Classical Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

This week we come to you direct from Davenant House! Recorded during our Annual Convivium Irenicum (and so apologies for slightly subpar audio quality), Onsi and Colin talk with Michael Lynch about classical education. Or rather, how much of what calls itself classical education isn't that classical at all.
How can we remedy that? What should a real Christian classical education look like? Surprisingly, it may involve fart jokes.
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: Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Colin: Walkman by Michael Robbins
Michael: Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American Westby H.W. Brands
Texts Discussed
--
Davenant Spotlight
John Davenant's Hypothetical Universalism: A Defense of Catholic and Reformed Orthodoxy by Michael Lynch
Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.

The Life Philosophic Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

Did you know you're already a philosopher? Sorry to break it to you.
This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys discuss the role of philosophy in the Christian life, but not how you might think. Springing off of "Philosophy As A Way of Life", a Davenant essay by Peter Escalante and Joseph Minich, they lay out the current divide between analytic and continental philosophy, and explore how true philosophy is a different thing altogether: a search for truth, wherever it is found, in God's world.
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 Making of the Medieval Middle Eastby Jack Tannous
Colin: The Republic and Other Worksby Plato
Rhys: The Same God Who Works All Thingsby Adonis Vidu
Texts Discussed
Philosophy and the Christian: The Quest for Wisdom in the Light of Christ
Onsi's Tweet RE: Christianity Today
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.

Children of the Evolution May 31, 2021

Show notes

Something's changed when it comes to evangelicals and evolution. One of the hottest and most divisive topics in the early 2000s doesn't cause the arguments it used to - and it's not because everyone now believes in evolution. This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys consider why these debates have cooled, and whether that gives us a chance to consider what a "mere Christian" position on evolution, creation, and Adam and Eve might be when we look a historic Christian sources.
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: --
Colin: Swallowing the Sunby Rumi
Rhys: Spirit and Fire: A Thematic Anthology of His Writingsby Origen
Texts Discussed
"Giving Up Darwin" by David Gelertner
Confessionsby St. Augustine
Westminster Confession of Faith
Smalclad Articles
Three Forms of Unity
1689 Baptist Confession
"The Abraham Myth" by Peter Leithart

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

Brad and Wine May 24, 2021

Show notes

Is the Lord's Supper really a big deal in the Christian life? The Reformers thought so - arguably, more so than the Roman Catholics. Yet we seem to have lost that in the Reformed world today. This week, Onsi and Rhys and joined by Brad Littlejohn, President of The Davenant Institute (i.e. their boss) to talk about the distinctives and importance of the Reformed view of the eucharist.
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: Luther's Works Vol. 26 (Lectures on Galatians Ch.1-4)by Martin Luther
Rhys: Scriptureas Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Churchby Hans Boersma
Brad: What's Wrong With Rights?by Nigel Biggars
Texts Discussed
"The Real Presence and the Presence of Reality: In Defense of Reformed Sacramentology" by Brad Littlejohn
The Oxford Treatise and Disputation on the Eucharistby Peter Martyr Vermigli
Given For You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper by Keith A. Mathison
"Of the Lord's Supper, And the Benefits Conferred By It" - Book 4.17 of Institutesby John Calvin
"Of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ" - Book 5.67 of Laws by Richard Hooker

Davenant Spotlight
Politics and Faithful Citizenship: Living as Dual Citizens - Davenant House residential with Brad Littlejohn, July 26-30 2021 ($375 before June 12; $500 after)

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

ALIENS. May 17, 2021

Show notes

That's right - aliens. Belief in extra-terrestrial lifeforms no longer belongs to society's fringes, but is widespread in academia and the scientific community. NASA are returning to the moon, and Elon Musk has made space great again. Does the Christian tradition have the resources to offer counsel in a world turning again to the stars? And what does this spreading belief tell us about modernity?
This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys were joined by Davenant Teaching Fellow Joe Minich to think through these questions.
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: Selected Writingsby Meister Eckhart
Colin: Fin-de-Siecle Viennaby Carl E. Schorske
Rhys: The Cure At Troy by Seamus Heaney
Joe: Running the Lightby Sam Tallent and The Discarded Imageby C.S. Lewis
Texts Discussed
"No Longer in the Shadows, Pentagon's UFO Unit Will Make Some Findings Public" in The New York Times (July 2020)
"Flying Saucers and Other Fairy Tales" by Ross Douthat (New York Times, December 2017)
Summa Theologiae Prima Pars Q.50-64 (on angels)by Thomas Aquinas
How To Live Forever: Science Fiction and Philosophy by Stephen R.L. Clark
Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact by Jacques Vallee
The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mindby Julian Jaynes

Davenant Spotlight
Enduring Divine Absence: The Challenge of Modern Atheismby Joseph Minich

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

The Revolution Will Not Be Protestantized May 10, 2021

Show notes

Some people think the revolutions of the 18th century can be blamed on Protesantism. Yet others think that Protestant churches are too often the handmaidens of the state. What gives? This week Onsi, Colin, and Rhys are joined by Dr. Miles Smith to discuss the history of Protestants and revolution, and what we can learn from Protestants of the past.
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: Middlemarch by George Eliot
Rhys: Black and British: A Forgotten Historyby David Olusoga
Miles: Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Timeby Michael Palin
Texts Discussed
"Generous Self-Illusions": Protestants and the French Revolution by Miles Smith (subscribe to Ad Fontes to access!)
Hieroby Xenophon
Would That It Really Were 'Christian Nationalism' by Miles Smith
Defending Constantineby Peter Leithart
Davenant Spotlight
The Paleo-Protestant Pudcast

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

Let's Get It Onsi May 03, 2021

Show notes

St. Augustine is probably the Western church's greatest ever theologian, foundational for Protestants and Catholics alike. But didn't he say lots of weird (and bad) stuff about sex? And hasn't that had a long and damaging legacy? Springing off of a recent article of Onsi's, this week the hosts take a closer look at what Augustine said about sex and how the Reformation interpreted 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
Colin: Middlemarch by George Eliot
Onsi: Selected Writingsby Meister Eckhart
Rhys: The Frailest Thing: Ten Years of Thinking About the Meaning of Technologyby L.M. Sacasas
Texts Discussed
"The Beloved Icon: An Augustinian Solution to the Problem of Sex" by Onsi Kamel
"Feeling Right: Augustine on the Passions and Sexual Desires" by John C. Cavadini
On Marriage and Concupiscenceby Augustine
Confessionsby Augustine
On The Estate of Marriageby Martin Luther
Davenant Spotlight
On Original Sin by Peter Martyr Vermigli

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

Novel Gazing Apr 25, 2021

Show notes

Was the novel an inevitable result of Protestantism? And has the decline of mainline Protestantism led to the decline of the novel? Onsi, Colin, and Rhys bat these questions around this week, jumping off of Joseph Bottum's recent book The Decline of the Novel (reviewed by Rhys in the forthcoming edition of Ad Fontes!)
APOLOGY: the quality of some audio in this episode is below our usual standard, due to issues undetected during recording. We're sorry about this and will do our best to avoid it happening again. But the overall experience is fairly unimpeded!
NOTE: below, for works and books discussed on the show, we link to the products on Amazon for ease. However, we would strongly encourage you to find an alternative bookseller from which to purchase any books if possible.
Currently Reading
Colin: Middlemarchby George Eliot
Onsi: Coptic (the whole language - there's no link for that...)
Rhys: Confessionsby Augustine
Texts Discussed
The Decline of the Novel by Joseph Bottum
Ulyssesby James Joyce
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
The Handmaid's Taleby Margaret Atwood
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Davenant Spotlight
Ad Fontes

Theme Music
"Midnight Stroll" by Ghostrifter. Free to use under Creative Commons. Available here.
To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

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