Tolkien Heads

This week, Rhys and Colin are joined by Davenant House Groundskeeper Jonathan McKenzie to discuss the virtue of moderation. Prompted by Davenant Press's recent publication A Treatise on Christian Moderation, they discuss the philosophical history of moderation, how it relates to both physical and intellectual pursuits, and how it fits into the pursuit of holiness.

Timestamps
00:00:00-00:14:00 - intro; defining moderation with Aristotle
00:14:11-00:32:57 - Joseph Hall and the civil war; physical and intellectual moderation
00:33:07-00:46:49 - objections to moderation; moderation as an extreme
00:46:49-end - what we're reading; spotlight; end

Texts Discussed
A Treatise on Christian Moderation by Joseph Hall

Spotlight
Ad Fontes Winter 2024 print edition available now!

What We're Reading
Jonathan: David Pareus and Richard Baxter
Colin: King Lear by William Shakespeare
Rhys: Poet of Revolution: The Making of John Milton by Nicholas McDowell

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
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To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

Recorded in August 2023, Colin hosts this special live episode with the return of Onsi Kamel and our most featured guest, Colin's brother Justin.

Colin, Onsi, and Justin discuss a paper Onsi delivered at the Bay Area Thomas Aquinas Society conference on a Thomistic view of "place". Albert the Great, Thomas' mentor, saw close links between metaphysics and his view of place physics - a physics which we now know is outdated. What did he believe about place? Does it hold up today with modern science? Can we salvage anything from medieval views of place and metaphysics?

Timestamps
00:00:00-00:11:35 - theology and science; Thomistic physics and metaphysics; place
00:11:43-00:23:51 - Albert the Great on place; place and form; what the sun does
00:24:02-end four elements; is space relative or absolute?; why space matters

Texts Discussed
De Natura Loci by Albert the Great

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
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Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/l7ldfn

To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

Happy New Year! Rhys and Colin are back together to discuss Made Like the Maker, the second volume in Colin's modernization of Thomas Traherne's Christian Ethics. They talk about who Traherne was, before diving into the nature of Christian ethics, what wisdom of "the whole" means, and Colin's provocative introductory essay to the book.

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Timestamps
00:00:00 – 00:08:31 - welcome; intro to Thomas Traherne
00:08:40 - 00:22:10 - the nature of Christian ethics
00:22:21 - 00:27:03 - wisdom and knowledge of the whole
00:27:13 - 00:42:00 - the spiritual technology of Christian poetics
00:42:08 - end - what we're reading; spotlight; wrap-up

Currently Reading
Colin: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Rhys: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy   


Texts Discussed
Made Like the Maker by Thomas Traherne
"Errantry" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Spotlight
Natural Theology: A Biblical and Historical Introduction and Defense (Second Edition) by David Haines

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/l7ldfn

To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

It's a Christmas special! This week, Rhys and Colin discuss an unlikely candidate for a Christmas story: The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Is there anything festive to be fount in this famously bleak post-apocalyptic story? Much in every way!

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Timestamps
00:00:00 – 00:11:17 - welcome; introduction to The Road
00:11:28 - 00:21:18 - The Road as a love story; Platonic forms; materialism
00:21:28 - 00:31:54 - the Word of God; carrying the fire
00:32:04 -00:46:31 the truth about the world; effeminacy
00:46:41 - end - what we're reading; Davenant Spotlight, wrap-up

Currently Reading
Colin: The Harmonian Man by Charles Fourier
Rhys: Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon


Texts Discussed
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Spotlight
Give to Davenant's 2023 End of Year fundraising campagin!

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/l7ldfn

To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

This week, Rhys and Colin continue their readthrough of Begotten or Made? by Oliver O'Donovan. Continuing through Chapter 3, they discuss the realities of artificial insemination by donor, covering the ethics of donor anonymity, and the motives behind AID verses adoption.

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Timestamps
00:00:00 – 00:19:08 Intro; recap; the ends of the procreative organs; representation by effacement or replacement
00:19:19 - 00:27:29 - donor anonymity
00:27:41 - 00:47:03 - is AID like adoption?
00:47:13 - end - What We're Reading; Davenant Spotlight; wrap up

Currently Reading
Colin: Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Defining Difference by Audre Lorde   
Rhys: The Road by Cormac McCarthy   


Texts Discussed
Begotten or Made? by Oliver O'Donovan

Spotlight
Give to Davenant's 2023 End of Year fundraising campagin!

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/l7ldfn

To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

This week, Rhys and Colin continue their readthrough of Begotten or Made? by Oliver O'Donovan. In Ch. 3, O'Donovan finally addresses the topic of artificial insemination, addressing questions about the ends of medical intervention; the differences between cure, compensation, and circumvention in treatment; and the ethics of involving a third party in the reproductive process.

Subscribe to Ad Fontes from just $2.50 per month! Gain access to our quaterly print editions and exclusive interviews, and support our work.

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Timestamps
00:00:00 – 00:10:39 - Intro; recap; the possibility of artificial insemination by donor
00:10:50 – 00:24:43 - the ends of AID; the multiple goods of the procreative organs; cure, circumvention, and compensation
00:24:54 – 00:38:39 - ethics of the third party in AID; reproduction a private act; proxy relationships and their limits
00:38:38 – 00:50:14 - the Patriarchal and Levirate patterns in Scripture; problematic anonymity of AID
00:50:23 - end - What We’re Reading; Spotlight; wrap-up

Currently Reading
Colin: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Rhys: Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes


Texts Discussed
Begotten or Made? by Oliver O'Donovan

Spotlight
Davenant Hall Hilary Term Class Registration (REGISTER NOW!)

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/l7ldfn

To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

This week, Rhys and Colin are joined by Nathan Johnson, Provost of Davenant Hall, to discuss his Ad Fontes article "When Rights Go Wrong: Simone Weil on Uprootedness and the Way Forward". Why are obligations more important than rights? What roots do human societies need to flourish? And is rootedness compatible with multiculturalism? They discuss all these questions and more!

Subscribe to Ad Fontes from just $2.50 per month! Gain access to our quaterly print editions and exclusive interviews, and support our work.

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Timestamps
00:00:00-00:13:21 - Intro; introduction to Simon Weil and The Need for Roots
00:13:31-00:30:52 difference between rights and obligations; Weil vs. the social contract
00:31:03-00:54:14 the need for roots; roots and multiculturalism
00:54:24-end - what we're reading; spotlight; wrap up

Currently Reading
Colin: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass  
Rhys: Covenant: The New Politics of Home, Neighbourhood, and Nation by Danny Kruger
 Nathan: The Shining Human Creature by Thomas Traherne

Texts Discussed
"When Rights Go Wrong: Simone Weil on Uprootedness and the Way Forward" by Nathan Johnson
The Need for Roots by Simone Weil
"The Iliad, or the Poem of Force" by Simone Weil

Spotlight
Made Like the Maker by Thomas Traherne (pre-order now!)

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download:

This week, Rhys and Colin resume their walkthrough of Begotten or Made? by Oliver O'Donovan.

Having discussed "the psychological case" in transsexualism, they now discuss O'Donovan's account of "the social case". What are we saying when we refuse to admit someone is "in the wrong body", yet make social allowances for them? Should medicine be marhsaled in service of social problems? And whose job is it to make someone face reality? All these questions and more are hashed out this week.

Subscribe to Ad Fontes from just $2.50 per month! Gain access to our quaterly print editions and exclusive interviews, and support our work.

Subscribe here: https://adfontesjournal.com/subscribe/

Timestamps
00:00:00-00:07:00 - Intro; Begotten or Made? recap
00:07:13-00:30:30 - "The social case" in transsexualism; reality claims; changes in trans issues; accommodation at scale; can you put the breaks on?; thankfulness for reality
00:30:40-00:38:43 - Who is responsible for burdening someone with reality?; can we avoid the reductio ad absurdum?;
00:38:53-00:45:23 - Welcome v. acceptance of reality; vocations of the body
00:45:33-end - What We're Reading; Davenant Spotlight; wrap up

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 Florentine Codex by Bernardino de Sagahun
Rhys: A Prefeace to Paradise Lost by C.S. Lewis 

Texts Discussed
Begotten or Made? by Oliver O'Donovan

Spotlight
Communicating God's Trinitarian Fullness by Joe Rigney

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/l7ldfn

To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

We're back! This week, Rhys and Colin are joined by James Wood, discussing his recent Ad Fontes article "How Abraham Kuyper Lost the Nation and Sidelined the Church."

They discuss Kuyper's approach to church and state, the critiques made by his forgotten foil Hoedemaker, and how their debates are relevant to contemporary debates about politics and the renewal of the church.

Subscribe to Ad Fontes from just $2.50 per month! Gain access to our quaterly print editions and exclusive interviews, and support our work.

Subscribe here: https://adfontesjournal.com/subscribe/

Timestamps
00:00:00-:00:11:09  - Intro and introduction to Abraham Kuyper
00:11:18-00:24:16 - Kuyper on church and state; Hoedemaker's objections
00:24:28-00:34:17 - Hoedemaker, a bridge between Reformation political theology and modern liberal politics; Christians and public schools
00:34:28-00:52:16 - important dead Dutch guys; staying or going in compromised denominations
00:52:26-end - what we're reading; conclusion

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: Starry Messenger by Galileo Galilei
Rhys: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 
James: City of God by Augustine; Reformed Ethics by Herman Bavinck; TheToxic War on Masculinity by Nancy Pearcey

Texts Discussed
"How Abraham Kuype Lost the Nation and Sidelined the Church" by James Wood
"Calvin's Complex Ecumenism" by James Wood
Aaron's Rod Blossoming by George Gillespie
The Two Kingdoms: A Guide for the Perplexed by Brad Littlejohn

Music
Intro and Outro:
Midnight Stroll by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/2gic0s

Link Music:
New Road by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/l7ldfn

To find out more about The Davenant Institute, visit our website.

In Onsi's final episode as a host, he, Colin, and Rhys talk about the dominant force in American Protestantism: the non-denominational megachurch (or, to its truest admirers, "hot dog church"). Does Davenant do hot dog church? What are its strengths? How does it fit into the Reformation tradition?

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.

Texts Discussed
"Catholicism Made Me Protestant" by Onsi Kamel
Confessions by Augustine

Spotlight
Second Annual Bay Area Davenant Dinner (Saturday August 12 2023)