Common Places

Some remarks by Marc LiVecche on his chapter in Protestant Social Teaching, "Just War," at the book launch party hosted by the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington D.C. Marc LiVecche is the McDonald Distinguished Scholar of Ethics, War, and Public Life at Providence. He is also a non-resident research fellow at the US Naval War College, in the College of Leadership and Ethics. Marc completed doctoral studies, earning distinction, at the University of Chicago, where he worked under the supervision of the political theorist and public intellectual Jean Bethke Elshtain, until her death in August, 2013. His first book THE GOOD KILL: JUST WAR & MORAL INJURY, was published in 2021 by Oxford University Press. Another project, RESPONSIBILITY AND RESTRAINT: JAMES TURNER JOHNSON AND THE JUST WAR TRADITION, co-edited with Eric Patterson, was published by Stone Tower Press in the fall of 2020. Currently, he is finalizing Moral Horror: A Just War Defense of Hiroshima. Before all this academic stuff, Marc spent twelve years doing a variety of things in Central Europe—ranging from helping build sport and recreational leagues in post-communist communities, to working at a Christian study and research center, to leading seminars on history and ethics onsite at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp in Poland. This latter experience allowed him to continue his undergraduate study of the Shoah; a process which rendered him entirely ill-suited for pacifism. Marc lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and children–and a marmota monax whistlepigging under the shed. He can be followed, or stalked, on Twitter @MLIVECCHE. Additional publications can be found at his Amazon author page.

Some remarks by Jake Meador on his chapter in Protestant Social Teaching, "Environmental Care," at the book launch party hosted by the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington D.C. Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy and is a writer and editor from Lincoln NE. His work has been published in First Things, National Review, Books & Culture, Commonweal, Plough Quarterly, Christianity Today, Front Porch Republic, and the University Bookman. He holds a BA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Jake lives in Lincoln NE with his wife Joie, daughter Davy, and three sons, Wendell, Austin, and Ambrose. His first book, IN SEARCH OF THE COMMON GOOD: CHRISTIAN FIDELITY IN A FRACTURED WORLD, was published by InterVarsity Press. Find him on Twitter @JAKE_MEADOR.

Some remarks by Davenant President ,Dr. Brad Littlejohn, on his chapter in Protestant Social Teaching, "The Civil Magistrate," at the book launch party hosted by the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington D.C. Dr. Bradford Littlejohn (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) is the Founder and President of the Davenant Institute. He also works as a Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and has taught for several institutions, including Moody Bible Institute-Spokane, Bethlehem College and Seminary, and Patrick Henry College. He is recognized as a leading scholar of the English theologian Richard Hooker and Has published and lectured extensively in the fields of Reformation history, Christian ethics, and political theology. He lives in Landrum, SC with his wife, Rachel, and four children. Follow him on Twitter at @WBLITTLEJOHN The full launch event with Q&A is available here:

A lecture with Q&A with Davenant Teaching Fellow Tim Jacobs entitled "Duty or Virtue: Which Does the Church Need More?" Many Christians assume morality starts with duty to commands. We search the Bible looking for commands to obey. Yet swiftly we invent new rules, and eventually accidental legalism is born. Even healthy churches struggle with this subtle moralism that breeds Pharisaism, with honesty sacrificed for appearances, or compassion for authoritarianism. How can we reform our view of duty? In this lecture, Tim Jacobs will show how biblical commands point us to the more fundamental source of ethics: the natural law based in human nature, which is itself founded on God’s nature. Attendees will learn the sources and dangers of duty-based ethics, the case for New Testament virtue ethics, and how the Reformed tradition has understood virtue. This talk will make use of Aristotle, Aquinas, John Calvin, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Jonathan Edwards.

A synthetic session titled “The Task Ahead of Us” led by Brad Littlejohn, Colin Redemer and Joseph Minich. This talk was delivered at the 2022 National Convivium hosted at Davenant House in Landrum, SC. The synthetic talk at our convivia is traditionally a final discussion that brings together key ideas from the various talks presented. The value of this discussion is in how the presented papers relate to the overall theme of Philosophy and the Christian as well as ways we can put into practice the principles gleaned therein.

A Guided Discussion titled “C.S. Lewis and the History of Religion” led by Dr. Joseph Minich and Colin Redemer.This talk was delivered at the 2022 National Convivium hosted at Davenant House in Landrum, SC. Dr. Minich is a teaching fellow for Davenant Hall and co-host for the Pilgrim Faith podcast, a Davenant Institute podcast available on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud. Colin Redemer is Vice-President of The Davenant Institute and is a Ph.D candidate with a focus on friendship in the writings of Aristotle.

A presentation titled “Re-evaluating Mark Noll, Scottish Common Sense Realism, and Charles Hodge” by Mark Hallman (Dallas Theological Seminary). This talk was delivered at the 2022 National Convivium hosted at Davenant House in Landrum, SC.

A presentation titled “Theology’s ‘Gardner’: Yielding the Fruit of Bavinck’s Theological Encyclopedia” by Dr. Gregory Parker. This talk was delivered at the 2022 National Convivium hosted at Davenant House in Landrum, SC. Dr. Parker received his Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of James Eglinton. He joined the Cairn University, School of Divinity faculty in 2022. His dissertation focuses on the relationship between the dogmatics and ethics of the 19th century Dutch Reformed theologian, Herman Bavinck. He also played lacrosse for the University of Edinburgh. He teaches courses in systematic theology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including Triune God, Narrative of Redemption, and Life and Calling.

A presentation titled “Intellectus Quaerens Fidem: John Locke’s Reading of Romans 1” by Dr. Clifford Humphrey. This talk was delivered at the 2022 National Convivium hosted at Davenant House in Landrum, SC. Dr. Clifford Humphrey is the director of Troy University’s Institute for Civic and Global Leadership. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America and Assistant Professor of Humanities at Thales College.

A presentation titled “Theology as a Science: Aquinas on How Philosophy Transforms Theology” by Tim Jacobs. This talk was delivered at the 2022 National Convivium hosted at Davenant House in Landrum, SC. Tim Jacobs is a teaching fellow with Davenant Hall. He is a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of St. Thomas.