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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Hope Beyond Tribalism with James Mumford Amidst a culture of political tribalism and personal loneliness, how can we more clearly, creatively, charitably, and faithfully think and engage with our neighbors? What kinds of practices of mind, body, and spirit, might help us to see and act with greater empathy and understanding? In his book, Vexed: Ethics Beyond Political Tribes, author James Mumford considers these questions and how often our ethical convictions get politically bundled up with...

Words Against Despair with Christian Wiman As poet Christian Wiman explains on our podcast, despair is part of the human condition: “I deal with despair because…I don't know how not to, and it would be an evasion not to. And I think if you don't feel it, then you're not paying attention.” In his new book, Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair, the acclaimed poet chases meaning through words, including memoir and poetry. And in this conversation he explains how he has found relief...

In his book, Divided We Fall, author David French explores not only the rise of conspiracy thinking, but also the tribalism and alienation that has divided the country. On our podcast, French considers why our unsettling times have proven fertile ground for the growth of conspiracy thinking, especially within the Christian community, and he offers his thoughts on  what a Christian response to conspiracy theories might entail: “Media consumption that is not thoughtfully curated can actually be...

The Fall, the Founding, and the Future of American Democracy What did America’s founders believe about human nature? How might a deeper understanding of their perspective shape the way we think about current and future challenges to our democracy? On this podcast episode, historian and author Dr. Tracy McKenzie helps us take a closer look at the founder’s view of human nature, what the abandonment of this view implies, and the tension of fallen human beings entrusted with self-governance: We...

Life, Death, Poetry & Peace with Philip Yancey Life has changed dramatically in the 400 years since John Donne wrote his Devotions. Yet despite the advances of the intervening centuries, we find that, like Donne, we are still subject to sickness and death. We still long for comfort. We still want to know what God is saying to us. Author Philip Yancey has found surprisingly relevant answers to these perennial questions in the works of John Donne. Updating the great poet’s work for modern...

How to be a Patriotic Christian The topic of Christian nationalism takes us into deep questions of how we understand and live out our allegiances to both our country and the kingdom of God, how we ought to relate to our neighbors, and how we should pursue justice and flourishing within our nation.  It's also a topic rife with confusion and uncertainty. But what is Christian nationalism, and how is it different from a robust patriotism? On our podcast we explore these questions with scholars...

The language of the Bible has often been invoked in American political discourse through the centuries. Quoted by suffragists and secessionists, invoked in arguments for (and against) American independence, the Civil War, and cited by virtually every President across parties. So how should we discern a faithful application of scripture in public life from instrumentalizing the Bible for political purposes? What can we learn from America’s history of using the Bible in politics? Theologian,...

What Really Matters with Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth Ours is an age that values and valorizes productivity, speed, and scale, and emphasizes precise and perpetual measurement and management of those markers. A whole range of organizations, including nonprofits, and even churches, as well as individuals believe that what is valuable is empirical and measurable, and that those measurements show us what's real and what really matters.  Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth today offer a...

Christian Pluralism: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference The term ‘pluralism’ has been subject to misunderstanding – even misuse – over the past several years. Some read or hear the word and think simply of a multiplicity of opinions. Others think of a sort of moral relativism that affirms your truth and my truth, no matter how contradictory they may be. Others still may think of this as some sort of squishy interfaith unity that denies matters of ultimate importance.  In a...

The relentless pull and pressure of partisan antagonisms and tribalism have fractured friendships, families, communities — and churches. In a time of conflict over what is good and confusion over what is true, what can church leaders do to cultivate a more faithful form of civic engagement? How can we learn to discern the call to love and justice amidst the clamor of political wars? On our latest podcast, three wise men, as Cherie affectionately calls them, address these pressing questions....

A Life Worth Living What makes a good life? What habits of attention, reflection, and action orient us towards knowing, desiring, and doing what is good, true, and beautiful? Such “big questions” may seem unanswerable and intimidating — but their exploration is at the heart of the human quest for meaning. Drawing on his popular Yale course, theologian Miroslav Volf joined us to reflect on what makes for a flourishing life in our times: “You realize that there are things that are much more...

The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory with Tim Alberta American Christians are certainly not immune to the anger, division, and fear that characterize our political moment. For many, the prospect of another election year is a source of dread or of numb exhaustion; others have responded with aggression or defensiveness. On our podcast, author and journalist Tim Alberta encourages us toward a better media diet, and to remember where our true allegiance lies: “I would pray alongside of you that...

Connecting Spiritual Formation and Public Life with Michael Wear In the midst of what is proving to be a frustrating, fractious, and even frightening election year, how can Christians best respond to the situation in front of us, and how can we offer a positive contribution to our common life? Drawing on the life and work of the late philosopher Dallas Willard, Michael Wear helps us explore what true spiritual formation could mean for the reformation of our polarized political life: “We...

Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura If at the center of reality is a God whose love is a generative, creative force, how do humans made in God’s image begin to reflect this beauty and love in a world rent by brokenness and ugliness? As Mako argues on our latest podcast, it’s in the act of making that we are able to experience the depth of God’s being and grace, and to realize an integral part of our humanity: “Love, by definition, is something that goes way outside of...

What does it mean to walk with God? The spiritual life is so often described as a walk, journey, or pilgrimage that it can be easy to dismiss the practice of walking as a mere metaphor. But in God Walk, author, pastor, and professor Mark Buchanan explores the way that the act of walking has profound implications for followers of the Way. Buchanan reflects on the ways in which walking can be both a spiritual practice and a means by which we can deepen our connection to the earth beneath us,...

What if we viewed reading as not just a personal hobby or a pleasurable indulgence but as a spiritual practice that deepens our faith? In her book, Reading for the Love of God, award-winning author and Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Jessica Hooten Wilson explores how Christian thinkers—including Augustine, Julian of Norwich, Frederick Douglass, and Dorothy Sayers—approached the act of reading. She argues that reading deeply and well can not only open a portal to a broader imagination, but is...

Pursuing Humility, with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn In an age when self-promotion is often celebrated as a sign of leadership and strength, humility may seem a lost virtue. Or alternatively, a form of moral condolence for the less successful. In his recent work, Learning Humility, theologian Richard Foster argues that humility is actually strength, and that learning humility is more needed than ever. As Foster explains, humility releases us from a preoccupation with self, and allows us to...

Word Beneath the Words with Malcolm Guite We’re joined on our podcast by poet, priest and songwriter, Malcolm Guite. With grace and insight, Malcolm has written of the mystery, beauty and imaginative force of language and the ways in which our imaginations apprehend truth that our reason cannot fully comprehend: “Jesus says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your strength, and all your mind. And somewhere in all those ‘alls’ is all your imagination.  And...

Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd How should we think about work within, and live faithfully within a world that was called and created to be good and beautiful, and yet everywhere is marred by ugliness and injustice?  Jazz vocalist and composer Ruth Naomi Floyd joins our podcast to discuss the intersection of music, creativity, and justice, and to help us think deeply about our role in repairing, re-envisioning, and creating new places of beauty, justice, and...