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 are storytelling creatures and the stories that we tell one another, the stories that relentlessly we hear in the public square are stories that tell us that liberty and justice and human dignity can all be upheld by leaving our hearts untouched. That's not the message of the gospel. - Tracy McKenzie
This is podcast is an edited version of an online conversation recorded in 2022. Watch the full video of the conversation here, and learn more about Dr. Tracy McKenzie.
We hope this conversation on America’s history helps you see the present with fresh insight as together we consider how Christians and the Church can play a positive role in the public and political life of our country.
Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:
The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About a Loving God and Learning from History, by Dr. Tracy McKenzie
A Little Book for New Historians: Why and How to Study History, by Dr. Tracy McKenzie
We the Fallen People: the Founders and the Future of American Democracy, by Dr. Tracy McKenzie
Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville
Related Trinity Forum Readings:
The Federalist Papers
Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville
Politics, Morality, and Civility, by Vaclav Havel
Children of Light, Children of Darkness, by Reinhold Niebuhr
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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
The Kingdom, the Power & The Glory with Tim Alberta
A Life Worth Living with Miroslav Volf
Towards a Better Christian Politics
Christian Pluralism: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference
What Really Matters with Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth
Scripture and the Public Square
How to be a Patriotic Christian
Life, Death, Poetry & Peace with Philip Yancey
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.
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