Digital Public Square

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Coleman M. Ford to talk about his new book A Bond between Souls: Friendship in the Letters of Augustine from Lexham Press. Today, we discuss the life and work of St. Augustine as well as his understanding of friendship.Meet Dr. FordDr. Ford serves as assistant professor of humanities at Texas Baptist College. His research interests include the spirituality and pastoral theology of Augustine of Hippo, the transcendentals (truth, goodness, beauty) in the patristic tradition, virtue and ethics in the patristic tradition, Christianity in late antiquity, and the history of Christian spirituality and formation.Resources:A Bond between Souls: Friendship in the Letters of Augustine by Coleman M. FordConfessions by St. Augustine and Henry Chadwick (translator)Augustine of Hippo: Selected Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality) by Mary T. Clark (translator)Friendship and the Moral Life by Paul WadellMade for Friendship: The Relationship That Halves Our Sorrows and Doubles Our Joys by Drew HunterAugustine: A Very Short Introduction by Henry ChadwickThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker. Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. David Mathis to talk about his book Workers for Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders from Crossway. Today we talk about Christian leadership and the proper role of authority in the Church.Meet David Mathis:David serves as senior teacher and executive editor at DesiringGod.org, a pastor at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and an adjunct professor at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis. He is the author of several books, including Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines.Resources:Workers for Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders by David MathisHabits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines by David MathisThe Cross and Christian Ministry by D.A. CarsonMemoirs of an Ordinary Pastor by D.A. CarsonSticky Teams by Larry OsborneBiblical Eldership seminar with John PiperThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker. Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Russ Shafer-Landau to talk about on moral philosophy and questions of metaethics. Today, we talk about his books Moral Realism: A Defence and The Fundamentals of Ethics.Meet Dr. Shafer-LandauRuss Shafer-Landau serves as a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of Moral Realism: A Defence, Whatever Happened to Good and Evil?, The Fundamentals of Ethics, and Living Ethics. He also is the editor of Oxford Studies in Metaethics. Shafer-Landau served as President of the American Philosophical Association (Central Division) in 2021. He is currently working on a large collaborative project with John Bengson and Terence Cuneo that seeks to offer a new vindication of non-naturalist moral realism, entitled The Moral Universe (Oxford 2023) focusing on the metaphysical and normative dimensions of morality.Resources:Whatever Happened to Good and Evil? by Russ Shafer-LandauFoundations of Ethics: An Anthology by Russ Shafer-Landau and Terence CuneoMetaethics: A Contemporary Introduction by Mark van RoojenMoral Discourse and Practice: Some Philosophical Approaches by Stephen Darwall, Allan Gibbard, and Peter RailtonThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker.Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Jessica Joustra to talk about Herman Bavinck and the centrality of ethics in the Chrisitan life.Meet Dr. Joustra:Dr. Joustra is an Assistant Professor of Religion and Theology at Redeemer and an Associate Researcher at the Neo-Calvinist Research Institute of the Theologische Universiteit Kampen. She is also the Director of Redeemer’s Albert M. Wolters Centre for Christian Scholarship. She earned a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary and the Free University and an M.Div from Calvin Theological Seminary. Resources:Reformed Ethics: Created, Fallen, and Converted Humanity by Herman Bavinck and John BoltonReformed Ethics: The Duties of the Christian Life (Volume 2) by Herman Bavinck and John BoltonEssays on Religion, Science, and Society Herman Bavinck and John BoltonResponsible Conduct: Principles of Christian Ethics by Jochem DoumaJohn Bolt’s Dissertation on Bavinck’s Two Essays on the Imitatio ChristiThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker.Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Christopher Kaczor to talk about the ethics of abortion and human personhood in light of his new book The Ethics of Abortion: Women’s Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice from Routledge.Meet Dr. KaczorDr. Kaczor is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University.  He graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kaczor did postdoctoral work at the University of Cologne. He was appointed a Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life of Vatican City, a fellow of the Word on Fire Institute, and William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. He is also a winner of a Templeton Grant and has written more than 100 scholarly articles and book chapters and over 16 books on a host of issues including bioethics, human dignity, and abortion.Resources:The Ethics of Abortion: Women’s Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice by Christopher KaczorAbortion Rights: For and Against by Kate Greasley and Christopher KaczorPro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments by Randy AlcornThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker.Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Harry Lee Poe to talk about the life and faith of C.S. Lewis in light of the final volume, The Completion of C.S. Lewis, in his three part biography published by Crossway.Meet Dr. PoeDr. Poe serves as the Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union University, where he has taught a course on C. S. Lewis for over twenty years. He is the author of twenty books, including Becoming C. S. Lewis and The Making of C. S. Lewis, as well as numerous articles on Lewis and the Inklings. Poe hosts the annual Inklings Weekend in Montreat, North Carolina, and is a regular speaker on Lewis at universities and other venues around the world.Resources:The Completion of C. S. Lewis: From War to Joy by Harry Lee PoeThe Making of C. S. Lewis (1918–1945): From Atheist to Apologist by Harry Lee PoeBecoming C. S. Lewis (1898–1918): A Biography of Young Jack Lewis by Harry Lee PoeMere Christianity by C.S. LewisThe Space Trilogy by C.S. LewisThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker.Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Nigel Biggar to talk about his book What’s Wrong With Rights? from Oxford University Press and we discuss the nature of rights and the common good.Meet Dr. BiggarNigel Biggar until his recent retirement was the Regius Professor of Moral & Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford and Director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics & Public Life. He has degrees from Oxford, Regent College, and the University of Chicago. He studies the contribution of religion to the health of liberal societies; moral questions about killing (especially in relation to suicide, euthanasia, and war); forgiveness after civil conflict; the public responsibility of the media; and the public vocation of universities. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Christian ethics and public theology.Resources:What’s Wrong with Rights? by Nigel BiggarThe Idea of Natural Rights by Brian TierneyJustice: Rights and Wrongs by Nicholas WolterstorffNatural Rights: A Criticism of Some Political and Ethical Conceptions by David RitchieOn Human Rights by James GriffinThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker.Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens. 

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Patrick Schreiner to talk about his new book Political Gospel: Public Witness in a Politically Crazy World from B&H Publishing.Meet Dr. SchreinerDr. Schreiner is Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology as well as the the Director of the Residency PhD program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City Missouri. He previously taught at Western Seminary in Portland Oregon and received his Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of a number of books, including a commentary on the book of Acts, The Visual Word: An Illustrated Guide to the New Testament Books, and The Mission of the Triune God: A Theology of Acts. Resources:Political Gospel: Public Witness in a Politically Crazy World by Patrick SchreinerThe Mission of the Triune God by Patrick SchreinerThe Visual Word: Illustrated Outlines of The New Testament Books by Patrick SchreinerCity of God by St. Augustine of HippoHow the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age by Jonathan LeemanWorld Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age by C. Kavin RoweThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker.Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Ronni Kurtz to talk about his new book Fruitful Theology: How the Life of the Mind Leads to the Life of the Soul from B&H Publishing. Today, we talk about how theology can help reorient our entire life toward the fruit of the Spirit which leads to right living before God.Meet Dr. Kurtz:Dr. Kurtz earned his PhD from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently serves as an assistant professor of theology at Cedarville University. Before moving to Ohio, Ronni was a pastor in Kansas City, Missouri for seven years where he also taught theology at Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College. He is also the author of No Shadow of Turning: Divine Immutability and the Economy of Redemption.Resources:Fruitful Theology by Ronni KurtzNo Shadow of Turning by Ronni KurtzGod Without Measure by John WebsterThe Culture of Theology by John WebsterOn the Unity of Christ by Saint Cyril of AlexandriaOn the Trinity by Saint Augustine of HippoOn the Incarnation by Athanasius of AlexandriaOn God and Christ by Saint Gregory of NazianzusInstitutes of the Christian Religion by John CalvinThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Re

In this episode, I am joined by Bonnie Kristian to talk about our modern knowledge crisis and the rise of misinformation.Meet Bonnie:Bonnie Kristian is a seasoned journalist and a columnist at Christianity Today. She previously served as a deputy editor and the acting editor-in-chief of The Week. She is the author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today. Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.Resources:Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought by Jonathan RauchThe Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitmel EarleyThe Digital Public Square is a production of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and is produced and hosted by Jason Thacker.Production assistance is provided by Kadin Christian. Technical production provided by Owens Productions. It is edited and mixed by Mark Owens.