Episodes

  • A Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf

    A Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf
    Apr 30 2024
    A Life Worth LivingWhat 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 important. I mean this is the life of fullness. This is his life of weight. [It is the] arduous life that is, in fact, the truly happy life.Despite the real challenge of human suffering and pain, Volf argues that happiness is possible and that an examined life that grapples with the good in our emotions, circumstances, and actions is a life worth living.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in early 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Miroslav Volf.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Exclusion and Embrace, by Miroslav VolfLife Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, by Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun, and Ryan McAnnally-LinzFriedrich NietzscheRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor FranklOn Happiness, by Thomas AquinasBrave New World, by Aldous HuxleyHow Much Land Does a Man Need, by Leo TolstoyWrestling with God, by Simone WeilRelated 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 BuchananMaking as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto FujimuraConnecting Spiritual Formation & Public Life with Michael WearThe Kingdom, the Power & The Glory with Tim AlbertaTo 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 SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.
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    33 mins
  • The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory with Tim Alberta

    The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory with Tim Alberta
    Apr 16 2024

    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 in our political and civic engagement, no matter who it is that we ultimately vote for, no matter what policies we support, that our allegiance is never to the Donkeys or to the Republicans. Our allegiance is never to a political figure.

    “We have a king, we have a kingdom, and the best way for us to retain our saltiness is to prioritize that allegiance and that allegiance alone.”

    We hope this conversation, coming in a heated election year and at a time of great political import for our nation, is, in fact, a kind of spiritual balm to you. May Tim’s guidance help us to retain our distinctiveness as we engage in the public square for the common good.


    This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in early 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Tim Alberta.


    Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

    American Carnage, by Tim Alberta

    The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim Alberta

    Rush Limbaugh

    Robert Jeffress


    Related Trinity Forum Readings:

    Children of Light and The Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr

    City of God, by Augustine

    Politics, Morality and Civility, by Václav Havel


    Related Conversations:
    A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
    Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd
    Pursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
    Reading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten Wilson
    Walking as a Spiritual Practice with Mark Buchanan
    Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura
    Connecting Spiritual Formation & Public Life with Michael Wear


    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.
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    42 mins
  • Connecting Spiritual Formation and Public Life with Michael Wear

    Connecting Spiritual Formation and Public Life with Michael Wear
    Apr 2 2024
    Connecting Spiritual Formation and Public Life with Michael WearIn 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 need to retrieve a sense that we live in a moral universe in which moral decisions are not optional. We make moral decisions all of the time, and our politics is actually not absent of moral assertion. “You could say our politics today is actually more robustly full of moral assertions than it has been at any other time this century.”We trust that you’ll be encouraged by Michael’s call to gentleness in our politics and his practical suggestions of Christian practices that help orient our hearts in the midst of cultural confusion and political fractiousness.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in early 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Michael Wear.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas WillardReclaiming Hope, by Michael WearThe Spirit of our Politics, by Michael WearChristian SmithAmerican Grace, by David Campbell and Robert PutnamThe Allure of Gentleness, by Dallas WillardEitan HershThe Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas WillardRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Abraham Lincoln: The Spiritual Growth of a Public ManLetter from Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King Jr.City of God, by AugustinePolitics, Morality and Civility, by Václav HavelRelated 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 BuchananMaking as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto FujimuraTo 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 SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.
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    33 mins
  • Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura

    Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto Fujimura
    Mar 26 2024
    Making as a Spiritual Practice with Makoto FujimuraIf 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 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 VanGoghN. T. WrightEsther MeekJaques PépinBruce HermanMartin Luther King Jr.The Gift, byLewis 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 SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.
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    41 mins
  • Walking as a Spiritual practice with Mark Buchanan

    Walking as a Spiritual practice with Mark Buchanan
    Mar 19 2024
    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, our fellow travelers, and the God we worship:“Hurry is the enemy of attentiveness. And so love as attentiveness is listening and caring and noticing, cherishing, savoring, being awestruck, these things that we feel in a relationship. I am deeply loved by this person because they notice me. I think that that’s how God’s built it. And we can’t get that if we’re moving too fast, if we’re in a hurry.”We hope you’re encouraged this Lenten season as you learn to walk at godspeed, seeing this embodied act as a profoundly spiritual practice.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2023. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Mark Buchanan.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:AristotleSøren KierkegaardJean-Jacques RousseauGod Walk, by Mark BuchananSimone WeilThe Three Mile an Hour God, by Kosaku KoyamaWanderlust: A History of Walking, by Rebecca SolnitKnowing God, J.I. PackerKai MillerRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Pilgrim’s Progress, by John BunyanPilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie DillardGod’s Grandeur, by Gerard Manley HopkinsLong Walk to Freedom, by Nelson MandelaBrave New World, by Alduous HuxleyRelated 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 WilsonTo 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.
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    36 mins
  • Reading as a Spiritual Practice Jessica Hooten Wilson

    Reading as a Spiritual Practice Jessica Hooten Wilson
    Mar 5 2024
    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 akin to acquiring travel supplies for the good life:“What I'm hoping to see more of is that the church becomes again those people of the book that really try to make others belong and strive for a deeper connection, versus the party atmosphere that our world always is tempting us to do.”We hope you’re encouraged this Lenten season as you learn to read as a spiritual practice, finding grace and wisdom for living well along the way.This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2023. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Jessica Hooten Wilson.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Learning the Good Life: Wisdom from the Great Hearts and Minds That Came Before, by Jessica Hooten WilsonGiving the Devil His Due, by Jessica Hooten WilsonThe Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints, by Jessica Hooten WilsonReading for the Love of God: How to Read as a Spiritual Practice,, by Jessica Hooten WilsonWalker PercyThe Life you Save May Be Your Own, by Flannery O'ConnorFyodor DostoevskyBoethiusAugustineMystery and Manners, by Flannery O’ConnorSt. BasilOrigenPeople of the Book, by David L. JeffreyA History of Reading, by Alberto ManguelJeromeAndy CrouchDana GioiaDorothy SayersRoss DouthatLife Together, by Dietrich BonhoefferJulian of NorwichDante AlighieriEugene PetersonRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Revelation, Flannery O'ConnorThe Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassAugustine's ConfessionsThe Grand Inquisitor, by Fyodor DostoyevskyMoses Man of the Mountain, by Zora Neale HurstonGod's Grandeur: the Poems of 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 QuinnTo 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 SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.
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    29 mins
  • Pursuing Humility, with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn

    Pursuing Humility, with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn
    Feb 20 2024

    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 live a life of freedom:


    “One of the dangers among religious folks is that they can become stuffy boars. And it is hilarity that frees us from that. We don't take ourselves so seriously. We can laugh at our own foibles. If you look carefully… it's not hard to identify humble people. You'll find the freedom that they have to just enjoy life and enjoy other people, enjoy the successes of another person rather than being envious of it. Things like that. And so that's why humility, the most basic of the virtues, opens us up to a life of freedom.”


    May Foster’s call to humility, and pastor and writer Brenda Quinn’s practical insights on living it out in leadership and community, inspire you this Lenten season to contemplate the humility of Jesus and the way of the cross.


    This podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2022. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn.


    Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:

    Learning Humility, by Richard Foster

    Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster

    Streams of Living Water, by Richard Foster

    Sanctuary of the Soul, by Richard Foster

    The Life With God Bible, contributed to by Richard Foster
    C.S. Lewis

    Timothy Keller

    The Frenzy of Renown


    Related Trinity Forum Readings:

    The Long Loneliness, by Dorothy Day

    Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

    Who stands Fast, featuring Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    Babette's Feast, by Isak Dinesen

    Wrestling with God, by Simone Weil


    Related Conversations:
    A New Year With The Word with Malcolm Guite
    Music, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi Floyd


    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.
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    37 mins
  • Word Beneath the Words with Malcolm Guite

    Word Beneath the Words with Malcolm Guite
    Feb 6 2024
    Word Beneath the Words with Malcolm GuiteWe’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 in fact, when we look at the teaching of Jesus, it's mostly an appeal to the imagination as a way of perceiving truth in a fresh way. He tells stories and parables.”We trust that you’ll be inspired by the beauty of Guite’s poetry, and by the ways in which the poetic imagination brings healing to the false divide between the subjective and the objective.04:44 The Connection Between the Priestly and Poetic Vocations12:02 The Role of Imagination in Apprehending Truth17:48 The Responsibility of Language and the Power of Words23:24 The Idea of Being Spoken into Being32:25 The Destructive Power of Words36:23 The Importance of Intellectual HospitalityThis podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2024. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Malcolm Guite.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:John DonneLove, Remember, by Malcolm GuiteParable and Paradox, by Malcolm GuiteTheology and the Poetic Imagination, by Malcolm GuiteThe Singing Bowl, by Malcolm GuiteWaiting on the Word, by Malcolm GuiteLifting the Veil, by Malcolm GuiteSounding the Seasons, by Malcolm GuiteThe Word Within the Words, by Malcolm GuiteGerard Manley HopkinsGeorge HerbertR.S. ThomasSeamus HeaneyJohn KeatsSamuel Taylor ColeridgeWiliiam WordsworthWilliam ShakespeareC. S. LewisSir AndrewsMere Christianity, by C.S. LewisThe Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. LewisJohn MiltonEdmund SpenserThomas ClarksonPilgrim's ProgressDiana GlyerDavid's Crown, by Malcolm GuiteRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Spirit and Imagination, selections from Samuel Taylor Coleridge with an introduction by Malcolm GuiteBulletins from Immortality: Poems by Emily DickinsonGod's Grandeur: The Poems of Gerard Manley HopkinsSacred and Profane Love, featuring the poetry of John DonneRelated Conversations:A New Year With The Word with Malcolm GuiteMusic, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi FloydTo 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 SocietySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for our podcast artwork.
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    42 mins