Trinity Forum Conversations

Latest Episodes:

The Strangest Story in the World: G.K. Chesterton & the Incarnation Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

The Strangest Story in the World: G.K. Chesterton & the Incarnation

C.S. Lewis famously credited G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man as a key step in his turn from atheism to Christian faith. The book audaciously surveyed the broad sweep of human history, then zeroed in on the Incarnation of Christ. How, Chesterton asked, could such a mysterious and startling event come to be known as the center point of history? And how did this intellectual mystic offer a fresh path into this story for so many?

In this episode, we dive into one of Chesterton’s greatest works and explore the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus Christ alongside Dale Ahlquist, one of the world’s leading experts on G.K. Chesterton:

“Philosophy and religion come together for the first time when Jesus comes. Why is that so strange? Because the spiritual life and the intellectual life have finally run into each other in a big way. And how does it come? It comes in the most unexpected way possible.”

Our 100th podcast episode illustrates what we do here at the Trinity Forum: keeping the Christian intellectual tradition alive, while also nurturing new growth – for our own time, and for future generations.

This podcast is an edited version of our Online Conversation recorded in 2024. You can access the full conversation with transcript here.

Learn more about Dale Ahlquist.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

The Everlasting Man, by G.K. Chesterton

C.S. Lewis

Evelyn Waugh

G. K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, by Dale Ahlquist

Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton
The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece, by Dale Ahlquist

George MacDonald

C.S. Lewis

Charles Dickens

William Shakespeare

J.R.R. Tolkien

The Benedict Option, by Rod Dreher

Alan Jacobs

H.G. Wells

Roger Kipling
George Bernard Shaw

Related Trinity Forum Readings:
The Strangest Story in the World, by G.K. Chesterton
Bright Evening Star’, by Madeleine L’Engle
Babbette’s Feast, by Isak Dinesen
The Gift of the Magi & Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen, by O. Henry
Why God Became Man, by Anselm
The Spirit of the Imagination: Selections from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with an introduction by Malcolm Guite
Handel's Messiah
The Oracle of the Dog, by G.K. Chesterton
The Golden Key, by George McDonald

Related Conversations:
Waiting on the Word with Malcolm Guite
Advent: The Season of Hope, with Tish Harrison Warren
Renewing the Joy of Advent, with Hannah Anderson

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Perfectly Human with Amy Julia Becker Jan 21, 2025

Show notes

Perfectly Human with Amy Julia Becker

We live in a time when our value is often assessed and affirmed largely in terms of our productivity. Entire industries are built around pushing us to optimize our output, maximize our results, unlock our potential, break barriers and records, and perform perpetually at peak.

Often drowned out by the din of such appeals is the simple truth that to be human is to be limited, vulnerable, and mortal. And for many of us, such limitations are impossible to ignore.

Today's episode features our recent conversation with award winning writer and speaker, Amy Julia Becker, who addresses questions about what it means to be perfectly human, and what understanding disability reveals to us:

"To see disability in terms of brokenness is to really misunderstand, I think, this idea of human limitation. [And] also to misunderstand ourselves as beloved, as ones who do not need to produce or perform in order to be acceptable to God, for certain, but even to one another. But instead to be able to actually start from a place of belovedness and move into the world from that place with our limitations but also with an assumption that we have gifts to offer, which might look really, really different from one person to the next.” - Amy Julia Becker

We hope this conversation helps you wrestle with questions of human limitations, perfection, and our belovedness before God, as we consider anew what constitutes the good life.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in March of 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Amy Julia Becker.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope, by Amy Julia Becker

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen

Bright Evening Star by Madeleine L'Engle

Wrestling with God by Simone Weil

Bulletins from Immortality poems by Emily Dickinson

Letters from Vincent Van Gogh

Words Against Despair with Christian Wiman

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer Jan 07, 2025

Show notes

Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer

The start of a new year prompts the reflection that if we are not intentionally modeling our life after Jesus, we are likely being formed by something or someone else. Adrift in the cultural current, we're likely to be carried to places we never consciously chose and wonder how we got there.

In Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer explores what it means in our times to be a disciple of Jesus -- to be with him, to become like him, and to do as he did:

“ It seems to me that the telos of the spiritual journey in the Christian way is becoming a person of love through deepening union with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…It's the two greatest commandments: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, that Jesus put at the center of apprenticeship to him.” - John Mark Comer

We hope this conversation encourages you to move slowly as you abide with Jesus this year, and by his grace are transformed into a person of deeper love, joy, and peace.

This podcast is an edited version of a conversation recorded in 2024. Learn more about John Mark Comer.

Episode outline

00:00 Introduction to Practicing the Way
01:00 Formation is Inevitable
02:26 John Mark Comer's Background and Influences
05:21 Evangelical Discipleship and the Influence of Dallas Willard
08:05 From Burnout to the Inner Journey
11:26 Being Christian and Being an Apprentice of Jesus
21:04 The Destructive Power of Hurry, and the Pace of Love
26:13 The Practice of Contemplation and Abiding
33:17 Final Thoughts and Prayer

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, Live No Lies, God Has a Name, Garden City, Practicing the Way, all by John Mark Comer

Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard

Jacques Philippe

St. Therese

N.T. Wright

Gary Haugen

Robert Bellah

Mother Teresa

Dorothy Day

Francis Chan

John Stott

Three Mile an Hour God, Kosuki Koyama

Mary Oliver

Marjorie Thompson

Kurt Thompson

Brennan Manning

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Augustine's Confessions, with an introduction by James K. A. Smith

Bright Evening Star, by Madeleine L’Engle

A Practical View of Real Christianity, by William Wilberforce

Wrestling with God, by Simone Weil

Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard

Why God Became Man, by St. Anselm

Related Conversations:
Making as a Spiritual Practice with Mako Fujimura

Writing as a Spiritual Practice with Jonathan Rogers, Tish Harrison Warren, and Doug McKelvey

Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Waiting on the Word with Malcolm Guite Dec 24, 2024

Show notes

On Friday, December 18, 2020, in partnership with Regent College, The Rabbit Room, and The C.S. Lewis Foundation we were delighted to host the renowned poet, singer-songwriter, and Anglican priest Malcom Guite for a conversation about his work of poetry, Waiting on the Word.

Learn more about Malcolm Guite.

Watch the full Online Conversation and read the transcript from December 2020.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Waiting on the Word, Malcolm Guite

As You Like It, Shakespeare

John Milton

Robert Louis Stevenson

C.S. Lewis

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Christmas, by John Betjeman

North, by Seamus Heaney

St. John of the Cross

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare

The Forge, by Seamus Heaney

O Sapientia, Malcolm Guite

Thomas Clarkson

George Herbert

The Apologist's Evening Prayer, C.S. Lewis

The Agonie, by George Herbert

John Donne

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Station Island XI, Seamus Heaney and St. John of the Cross

Adam Crothers

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis

In the Bleak Midwinter, Christina Rossetti

In Drear Nighted December, by John Keats

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

William Wordsworth

Steve Bell

Jack Redford

T.S. Eliot

Hebrew Melodies, Lord Byron

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Geoffrey Chaucer

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Devotions, by John Donne and paraphrased by Philip Yancey

God’s Grandeur: The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Four Quartets, by T.S. Eliot with an introduction by Makoto Fujimura

Related Conversations:

Lecture given by Malcolm for the C.S. Lewis Foundation

Laing Lectures given by Malcolm at Regent College

Steve Bell & Malcolm Guite: Live at the West End

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music.

Heaven & Nature Sing with Hannah Anderson Dec 10, 2024

Show notes

Heaven & Nature Sing with Hannah Anderson

Advent invites us to enter into the joy of the season through rhythms of remembrance, renewal, and waiting. But often, our very familiarity with the Advent story can leave us dulled to the miracle and joy of the season.

In her book of Advent reflections, Heaven and Nature Sing, author Hannah Anderson invites us all into a fresh reading of the Christmas story by drawing together 25 meditations on the beauty of creation:

“What I believe creation invites us back to is reorienting ourselves, not only to God, but to our environment and perhaps even to our own bodies and to ourselves. And so when we are giving our attention to the patterns and rhythms and cycles of creation it has the potential to be an access point for some deeper truths that maybe we've forgotten or we've overlooked.” - Hannah Anderson

This podcast is an edited version of a conversation recorded in fall of 2022. Learn more about Hannah Anderson.

Episode outline

00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Advent

01:51 Introducing Hannah Anderson and Her Work

02:28 The Inspiration Behind 'Heaven and Nature Sing'

04:39 Attentiveness to Creation and Its Lessons

07:57 The Link Between Caring for Creation and Others

11:58 The Legend of the First Christmas Tree

15:27 Jesus' Birth and the Concept of Habitat

19:11 The Brutality and Honesty of Nature

22:49 Reconnecting with Nature in Modern Times

26:49 Practical Steps to Attune to Nature

29:32 Closing Thoughts and Poem

31:07 Final Farewell and Podcast Information

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

All That's Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment, by Hannah Anderson

The Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit, by Hannah Anderson

Heaven and Nature Sing, by Hannah Anderson

An Immense World, by Ed Yong

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Bright Evening Star, by Madeleine L’Engle

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard

Babette’s Feast, by Isak Dinesen

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

The Gift of the Magi and Two Thanksgiving Gentlemen, by O. Henry

God’s Grandeur: the Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Related Conversations:
Waiting on the Word, with Malcolm Guite

Joy to the World: Caroling Christmas and Christian Formation, with Keith Getty

Advent: The Season of Hope, with Tish Harrison Warren

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society.

Abraham Kuyper's Sphere Sovereignty with Vincent Bacote Nov 26, 2024

Show notes

Abraham Kuyper’s Sphere Sovereignty with Vincent Bacote

In this episode of the Trinity Forum Conversations podcast, host Brian Daskam and guest Dr. Vincent Bacote explore Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper’s contributions to Reformed theology, with particular emphasis on his concept of sphere sovereignty:

“Kuyper helps us to see that we can be Christian in public spaces without having to turn those public spaces into churches and that we don't have to have a triumphalistic aspiration in order to be faithful in those spaces.” - Dr. Vincent Bacote

Kuyper believed that different domains of life, such as church, government, education, and family, each have their own integrity and should operate independently within their God-given roles. As Dr. Bacote argues, Kuyper's ideas can help modern Christians engage more faithfully and imaginatively in public life without succumbing to triumphalism or tribalism. They also address Kuyper's controversial views on race and how to critically appreciate his positive contributions despite his flaws.

This podcast is an edited version of a conversation recorded in fall of 2024. Learn more about Vincent Bacote.

00:00 Introducing Dr. Vincent Bacote, professor and Trinity Forum Senior Fellow

00:57 Who is Abraham Kuyper?

01:54 Understanding Kuyper’s Concept of Sphere Sovereignty

04:33 Sphere Sovereignty in Practice

14:35 Kuyper's Views on Race

21:36 Applying Kuyper's Ideas Today

32:10 Vince’s Thoughts on Christians Shaping Culture

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

The Spirit in Public Theology, Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper, by Vincent Bacote

Contours of the Kuyperian tradition, by Craig Bartholomew

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Sphere Sovereignty

Wrestling with God, Simone Weil

Children of Light and Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr

Politics, Morality, and Civility, by Vaclav Havel

The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt

The Federalist Papers

A Practical View of Real Christianity, by William Wilberforce,

Who Stands Fast?by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Related Conversations:
Hope Beyond Tribalism with James Mumford

Faith, Fear & Conspiracy with David French

The Fall, the Founding and the Future of American Democracy

How to Be a Patriotic Christian

Extremism and the Path Back to Peace with Elizabeth Neumann
Democracy & Solidarity with James Davison Hunter and David Brooks

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Democracy & Solidarity with James Davison Hunter and David Brooks Nov 12, 2024

Show notes

Democracy & Solidarity with James Davison Hunter and David Brooks

One of the biggest questions in the Christian life is what it means to love one's neighbor, both in the personal and the public spheres. While these questions have always been challenging and contested, they seem to have grown increasingly divisive and demoralizing.

So how do we begin to restore and reweave solidarity and a love for neighbor into our civic fabric?

Today's episode features our recent evening conversation with sociologist and author James Davision Hunter and cultural critic and author David Brooks. Together they help us explore the cultural roots of America's crisis of solidarity, and what it may mean to move together towards a renewed commitment to the common good.

“Until we understand the depth that the enemy is in fact not the other side, but in fact the enemy is the nihilism that insinuates itself within almost all of our public institutions, and not least our political institutions, we're really not taking the full measure of the crisis in front of us.” - James Davison Hunter

We hope this conversation helps you consider how you’re engaging in relationships, and how the smallest acts of seeing another person and listening to their story can help begin to restore our social fabric and establish new cultural norms.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in September of 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about James Davison Hunter and David Brooks.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Culture Wars by James Davison Hunter

The Death of Character by James Davison Hunter

Science and the Good by James Davison Hunter

To Change the World by James Davison Hunter

Democracy and Solidarity by James Davison Hunter

The Social Animal by David Brooks

The Road to Character by David Brooks

The Second Mountain by David Brooks

How to Know a Person by David Brooks

George Marsden

Aristotle

The Public Philosophy, by Walter Lippman

Arthur Schlesinger

John Bowlby

Parker Palmer

David Hume

Edmund Burke

Eddie Hillison

Simone Weil

Mother Theresa

American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, by Sam Huntington

Clarence Thomas

The Upswing, by Robert Putnam

Howard Usock

Nicholas Epley

The Communist Manifesto

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Wrestling with God, Simone Weil

Children of Light and Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr

Politics, Morality, and Civility, by Vaclav Havel

The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt

The Federalist Papers

A Practical View of Real Christianity, by William Wilberforce,

Who Stands Fast?by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Related Conversations:
Hope Beyond Tribalism with James Mumford

Faith, Fear & Conspiracy with David French

The Fall, the Founding and the Future of American Democracy

How to Be a Patriotic Christian

Extremism and the Path Back to Peace with Elizabeth Neumann

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Extremism and the Path Back to Peace Oct 29, 2024

Show notes

Extremism and the Path Back to Peace with Elizabeth Neumann

The appropriation of Christian images and language by extremists who advocate violence has become a shocking feature of our time. Surveys show alarming numbers of people who self-identify as religious expressing openness to political violence. Against such a distortion of Christian witness, how can we faithfully live out our calling to be people of peace?

Today's episode features our recent conversation with national security expert Elizabeth Neumann, who offers insight and a sobering perspective on how radicalization has taken root among us and what we can do:

“Find ways to check your in-group assumptions about their narratives. Particularly when the narratives involve others.” - Elizabeth Neumann

As we approach a national election, we hope this conversation helps you thoughtfully evaluate your own assumptions, and strengthens you to serve as a non-anxious presence within your broader community.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in October of 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Elizabeth Neumann.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Kingdom of Rage: the Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace, by Elizabeth Neumann

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Children of Light and Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr

Politics, Morality, and Civility, by Vaclav Havel

The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt

The Federalist Papers

A Practical View of Real Christianity, by William Wilberforce,

Who Stands Fast?by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Related Conversations:
Hope Beyond Tribalism with James Mumford

Faith, Fear & Conspiracy with David French

The Fall, the Founding and the Future of American Democracy

How to Be a Patriotic Christian

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

The Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent Bacote Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

The Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent Bacote

As the lines between faith, politics, and patriotism have become, in some quarters, increasingly blurred, it is increasingly important to understand the origin, ideas, and consequences of Christian Nationalism — what it means, why it matters, and how best to respond.

“Responsible Christian patriots try to show how Christianity can be a service to the nation; extreme nationalists make Christianity a servant of the nation.” - Mark Noll

“If you think about the cross: patriotism, rightly construed from a Christian point of view, will put the flag at the foot of the cross. Christian nationalism wants to drape the [flag] over them. So is God serving your country, the sponsor of your country, or are you, as a Christian, operating wherever you are and having loyalty, but not your primary loyalty to your country over God?” - Vincent Bacote

We hope you find this conversation insightful and helpful as you consider the state of our culture and shared political life, and your role in reviving responsible Christian patriotism.

This podcast is an edited version of an Online Conversation recorded in June of 2021. You can access the full conversation with transcript here. Learn more about Mark Noll and Vincent Bacote.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll

God and Race in American Politics: A Short History, by Mark Noll

The Civil War as Theological Crisis, by Mark Noll

In the Beginning Was the Word: The Bible in American Public Life, by Mark Noll

The Political Disciple, A Theology of Public Life, by Vincent Bacote

Reckoning with Race and Performing the Good News, by Vincent Bacote

The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the legacy of Abraham Kuyper, by Vincent Bacote

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

City of God by St. Augustine of Hippo

Children of Light and Children of Darkness by Reinhold Niebuhr

Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.

Truth & Trust with Francis Collins Oct 01, 2024

Show notes

What does wisdom mean for Christians in an age of polarization, cynicism, and distrust? In confronting the unique concerns of our time, what can help us become wise?

On our podcast, Dr. Francis S. Collins joins us to discuss his new book, The Road to Wisdom, illuminating how truth, science, faith, and trust work together to help us discern the best path forward in life:

“I think the time has come for many of us to say, I think I need to be part of a solution here. I need to say, it's not enough to say things shouldn't be like this. I'm ready to say, I shouldn't be like this. Let me try to get my house in order, get my worldview reset to the truth, to faith, if that's who I am, and not let all of this other noise out there knock me off my road to wisdom in a way that's bad for me and bad for my society.” - Francis Collins

We hope this conversation helps you reflect on the acquisition of wisdom, and how Christians in particular might become agents of healing and trust building in the midst of a cynical and polarized culture.

This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in September 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Francis Collins.

Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Jonathan Haidt

The Road to Wisdom, by Francis S. Collins

The Language of God, by Francis S. Collins

René Descartes

David Hume

Related Trinity Forum Readings:

Telling Truth to Kings, by Reinhold Schneider

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Politics and the English Language, by George Orwell

Augustine's Confessions