Episodios

  • The Cost of Ambition with Miroslav Volf

    The Cost of Ambition with Miroslav Volf
    Jun 24 2025

    In this episode we’re joined by theologian and bestselling author Miroslav Volf of Yale Divinity School. His latest book is The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others is Making Us Worse.

    The question he explores is one that relates to all of us: how can we find a way to strive for excellence, rather than for superiority over those around us?

    Finding new insights in familiar Biblical passages and the Christian tradition, he’ll help us to defy our culture of merciless ambition:

    Let’s dare trust in the God who comes down to serve those who are a refuse of society. And let’s trust in that unconditional love of God that takes those of us who are nothing and places us to become sharers of the community of those who are God’s beloved children.


    This episode is drawn from an online conversation held in 2025. It’ll give you a sense of what the Trinity Forum is about: a community of people working to keep the Christian intellectual tradition alive, and to nurture new growth in it in our time, for the renewal of our culture.

    If that resonates with you, please join the Trinity Forum as a member at ttf.org. We hope you enjoy the conversation.
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    59 m
  • Living Well and Dying Well with Lydia Dugdale

    Living Well and Dying Well with Lydia Dugdale
    Jun 10 2025

    This conversation is on the practical wisdom the Christian tradition offers for something that affects all of us: matters of life and death. Dr. Lydia Dugdale will be our guide.

    Lydia has applied practices from this faith tradition in her daily work with patients and families as a physician, professor and medical ethicist in New York City. She draws deeply from it in her book The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom – which she wrote for her patients, and those who love them:


    “[Death] exists as a paradox … death has been conquered in the Resurrection of Christ, and then death is still the last enemy to be destroyed in the final resurrection of the dead.” — Lydia Dugdale


    We hope this conversation helps paint a picture of what it means to live as a Christian on the road of life, where death is not the end, but a stop along the way to eternity.

    This podcast was recorded with a live audience at a Trinity Forum evening conversation in Nashville in 2025. It’ll give you a good sense of what the Trinity Forum is about: a community of people working to keep the Christian intellectual tradition alive, to nurture new growth in it for society’s renewal, and to make it available to all.

    Related Conversations:

    Being, Living, and Dying Well, an Online Conversation with Lydia Dugdale

    Faith, Health, and Healing, an Evening Conversation with Farr Curlin and Daniel Sulmasy

    Suffering and Flourishing: Perseverance and Faith in the Midst of Pain, an Evening Conversation with Dr. Ray Barfield and Rev. Michael Walrond
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    58 m
  • Reason and Belief with Ross Douthat

    Reason and Belief with Ross Douthat
    May 27 2025

    In this conversation, author Ross Douthat draws from the tradition to tackle a foundational question: Why believe?

    Amid evidence that America’s long trend of secularization has leveled off, a perception of the limits of a strictly materialist worldview, and growing dissatisfaction with “do it yourself” approaches to spirituality, what does traditional faith uniquely offer those seeking truth in our time?


    New York Times     columnist and author Ross Douthat joins us for this conversation, making the case for Christianity and rejecting atheism, all through the lens of reason:

    “I think secularization as a deep and profound phenomenon is not real, as you can tell. I think the world remains shot through with miracle and mystery and enchantment.” – Ross Douthat

    We hope this conversation provides a look at faith from a fresh angle, and encourages you in practicing traditional faith as an answer to the search for truth in our time.


    This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in February 2025. Watch the recording here.

    Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

    Ross Douthat for The New York Times

    Matter of Opinion Podcast

    The Deep Places: A memoir of Illness and Discovery

    The Decadent Society to Change the Church

    To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism

    Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics

    Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious

    Bethel McGrew, on left vs. right brain of Christianity

    Related Trinity Forum Readings:

    The Wager; Blaise Pascal

    The Strangest Story in the World; G.K. Chesterton

    A Practical View of Real Christianity; William Wilberforce

    God’s Grandeur: Gerard Manley Hopkins selection of poems; Gerard Manley Hopkins

    Related Conversations:

    A World Transformed with Tom Holland

    The Strangest Story in the World: G.K. Chesterton and the Incarnation with Dale Ahlquist

    Truth and Trust with Francis Collins

    Faith in an Empirical World with Ard Louis and Tremper Longman
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    59 m
  • Our Souls on Technology with Andy Crouch and Jonathan Haidt

    Our Souls on Technology with Andy Crouch and Jonathan Haidt
    May 13 2025
    We were made for relationship — to be seen, loved, known, and committed to others. And yet we increasingly find ourselves, in the words of sociologist Jonathan Haidt, “disoriented, unable to speak the same language or recognize the same truth. We are cut off from one another and from the past.”On our podcast Haidt and bestselling author Andy Crouch pair up to explore how the technology era has seduced us with a false vision of human flourishing—and how each of us can fight back, and restore true community:“A person is a heart, soul, mind, strength, complex designed for love. And one of the really damaging things about our technology is very little of our technology develops all four of those qualities.” - Andy CrouchWe hope you enjoy this conversation about the seismic effects technology has had on our personal relationships, civic institutions, and even democratic foundations — and how we might approach rethinking our technologies and reclaiming human connection.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2022. Watch the full video of the conversation here. Learn more about Jonathan Haidt and Andy Crouch.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan HaidtThe Coddling of the American Mind, by Jonathan HaidtThe Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan HaidtCulture Making, by Andy CrouchPlaying God, by Andy CrouchStrong and Weak, by Andy CrouchThe TechWise Family, by Andy CrouchMy TechWise Life, by Amy and Andy CrouchThe Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World, by Andy CrouchErnest HemingwayFrancis BaconHoward HotsonGreg LukianoffWolfram SchultzThe Sacred Canopy, by Peter L. BergerEpictetusMarcus AureliusRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Brave New World, by Alduous HuxleyBulletins from Immortality: Poems by Emily DickinsonPilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie DillardPolitics and the English Language, by George OrwellThe Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah ArendtCity of God, by St. Augustine of HippoChildren of Light and Children of Darkness by Reinhold NiebuhrOn Happiness, by Thomas AquinasRelated Conversations:Rebuilding our Common Life with Yuval LevinThe Challenge of Christian Nationalism with Mark Noll and Vincent BacoteThe Decadent Society with Ross DouthatScience, Faith, Trust and Truth with Francis CollinsBeyond Ideology with Peter Kreeft and Eugene RiversJustice, Mercy, and Overcoming Racial Division with Claude Alexander and Mac PierHealing a Divided Culture with Arthur BrooksAfter Babel with Andy Crouch and Johnathan HaidtTrust, Truth, and The Knowledge Crisis with Bonnie KristianHope in an Age of Anxiety with Curtis Chang & Curt ThompsonTo listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcast and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help...
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    43 m
  • Faith and Foreign Aid

    Faith and Foreign Aid
    Apr 29 2025

    US foreign aid is unexpectedly in the news in 2025 as never before. What do Christians need to know, to help us be part of the dialogue?


    America's history of foreign aid dates back at least to the Marshall Plan that followed World War II. Many Christians have been involved. How have these believers thought about the appropriate roles of government and of faith-based institutions? What has the US been doing, with what impact? And what is the situation on the ground now?


    Three believers knowledgeable about this work join us for this episode to illustrate the scope of how faith-based foreign aid has impacted regions worldwide, share their perspectives on what a Christ-like spirit looks like in this field, and discuss where they see aid is most needed—now more than ever.

    "Jesus calls on us to help the poor, your neighbor, the stranger, the sick, the shunned, the scorned, the stigmatized. Think of Jesus embracing those in poverty, prostitution, leprosy ... the US ... is not a savior. That’s Jesus’s job. But it can be an enabler of human flourishing so that people can survive and thrive." — Mark Lagon
    • Ambassador Mark Lagon has served as the US Ambassador to combat human trafficking, and is now focused on the fight against malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.
    • Nicole Bibbins Sedaca has held leadership roles in the government, academic and NGO sectors working and teaching on democracy, human rights and religious freedom.
    • Myal Greene leads World Relief, the development arm of the National Association of Evangelicals; while serving in Rwanda, he developed its church-based programming model.

    This podcast is an edited version of our Online Conversation from April 2025. You can access the full conversation with transcript here.


    Related Trinity Forum Readings:

    • A Man Who Changed His Times; William Wilberforce
    • This Child Will Be Great; Ellen Sirleaf Johnson
    • Out of My Life and Thought; Albert Schweitzer
    • Cry, the Beloved Country; Alan Paton
    • Sphere Sovereignty; Abraham Kuyper
    • Politics, Morality, and Civility; Václav Havel


    Related Conversations:

    Abraham Kuyper’s Sphere Sovereignty with Vincent Bacote


    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.
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    1 h y 2 m
  • Finding God in the Garden with Andrew Peterson

    Finding God in the Garden with Andrew Peterson
    Apr 22 2025

    As we emerge from the Lenten season, freshly renewed by the triumph of the Resurrection, beauty and wonder are particularly present for Christians. In this episode, author and songwriter Andrew Peterson shares his insights about the importance of location and living responsibly and attentively in whatever specific place you inhabit. He discusses how deeper attentiveness to the beauty around us can awaken us to wisdom and wonder.


    This podcast is an edited version of our Online Conversation from December 2021. You can access the full conversation with transcript here.

    Learn more about Andrew Peterson.


    Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

    The God of the Garden, by Andrew Peterson

    Tim Mackey, The Bible Project’s Tree of Life podcast series

    Jaber Crow, by Wendell Berry

    William Wordsworth

    The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs

    The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape, by James Howard Kunstler

    Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith, Eric O. Jacobsen

    Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

    Rich Mullins

    10 Resolutions for Mental Health, Clyde Kilby


    Related Trinity Forum Readings:

    Bright Evening Star, Madeleine L’Engle

    A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

    Babette’s Feast, by Isak Dinesen


    Related Conversations:

    Practicing Gratitude with Diana Butler Bass


    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.
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    33 m
  • Waiting for Good News with N.T. Wright

    Waiting for Good News with N.T. Wright
    Apr 15 2025

    Throughout Lent, we've been releasing weekly episodes focused on spiritual practices.

    In the final episode of the series, this Holy Week we're considering the discipline of waiting: how we can prepare ourselves to receive good news.

    Our guide today is N.T. Wright, the Anglican Bishop and New Testament scholar. He describes how Jesus invited his hearers into a new way of understanding Israel’s ancient story of waiting, the cosmic significance of its sudden fulfillment, and its meaning for us in this in-between time of preparation to receive good news:

    "The ultimate life after death is not a platonic disembodied immortality, but resurrection life in God‘s new creation. And that new world began when Jesus came out of the tomb on Easter morning. That’s the good news. Something happened then as a result of which the world is a different place. And we are summoned, not just to enjoy its benefits, but to take up our own vocations as new creation people, as spirit-filled and spirit-led Jesus followers, bringing his kingdom into reality in our world."


    We hope that this conversation will help you as you wait and prepare to receive this good news.

    The podcast is drawn from an evening conversation we hosted back in 2016. You can find our shownotes and much more at ttf.org.

    Thank you for journeying with us through Lent.

    Learn more about N.T. Wright.

    Watch The Good News and the Good Life, with N.T. Wright and Richard Hayes.

    Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

    Who is this Man? by John Ortberg

    Related Trinity Forum Readings:

    Devotions by John Donne and paraphrased by Philip Yancey

    The Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine of Hippo, Introduced by James K.A. Smith

    Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

    Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

    God’s Grandeur: The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins

    A Spiritual Pilgrimage by Malcolm Muggeridge

    Related Conversations:

    Liturgy of the Ordinary in Extraordinary Times with Tish Harrison Warren

    Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies with Marilyn McEntyre

    Invitation to Solitude and Silence with Ruth Haley Barton

    On the Road with Saint Augustine with James K.A. Smith and Elizabeth Bruenig

    The Habit Podcast, Episode 26: Tish Harrison Warren with Doug McKelvey

    The Spiritual Practice of Remembering with Margaret Bendroth

    To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org, and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, visit ttf.org/join.
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    22 m
  • Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura

    Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura
    Apr 8 2025
    Throughout the season of Lent, we're releasing weekly episodes focused on spiritual practices.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 Makoto Fujimura 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 utilitarian values and efficiencies and industrial bottom lines. It has to…and when we love, I think we make. That's just the way we are made, and we respond to that making. So we make, and then when we receive that making, we make again.”Artistry and creativity are not just formative, but even liturgical in that they shape our understanding of, orientation towards, and love for, both the great creator and his creation.We hope you’re encouraged in your making this Lenten season that the God who created you in his image delights in your delight.If this podcast inspires you, and you’re so inclined, we’d love to see what you create, be that a painting, a meal, a poem, or some other loving, artistic expression. Feel free to share it with us by tagging us on your favorite social platform.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2021. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Makoto Fujimura.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Art + Faith: A Theology of Making, by Makoto FujimuraWilliam BlakeVincent Van GoghN.T. WrightEsther MeekJaques PépinBruce HermanMartin Luther King Jr.The Gift, by Lewis HydeAmanda GoldmanT. S. EliotCalvin SilveDavid BrooksRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Babette's Feast, by Isak DinesenFour Quartets, by T.S. EliotPilgrim’s Progress, by John BunyanPilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie DillardGod’s Grandeur, by Gerard Manley HopkinsRelated Conversations:A New Year With The Word with Malcolm GuiteMusic, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi FloydPursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda QuinnReading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten WilsonWalking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark BuchananTo 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.
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    42 m