Cross & Gavel Podcast

This week, I discuss a recent piece (here) in Touchstone Magazine with Adam J. MacLeod entitled “How Law Lost Its Way: An Abandoned Ruling Principle & How to Get It Back.” In it, Adam discusses the role of practical reason in the development of law and the change that took place after the Enlightenment toward a positivistic conception of law rooted in power and force. We discuss his move to Texas, the meaning of the rule of law and how it was developed throughout history, the role of deliberation in the legal process, how the law was lost through power jurisprudence, and much more. Adam is Professor of Law at St. Mary’s University (profile) and a Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy (for more). Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.    

This week, we enter the world of labor law theory — more specifically, the question of faith as it relates to the rights of workers. In this episode, I am joined by law professor Alvin Velazquez to talk about a paper (here) he presented at the St. Louis University School of Law Symposium focused on the question of workplace justice. We talk about his transition from serving with a major American trade union to becoming a law professor at IU-Maurer, the role of faith in advancing workplace justice, the restoration of dignity in the labor market, the application of “prophetic pragmatism” in his developing theory, and much more. Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

This week, we talk about an all too familiar topic for law students: contracts. In this episode, I am joined by law professor C. Scott Pryor to talk about his soon to be published paper in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy: Person-Centered Pluralism About Contract Law (download here). Scott and I talk about the fundamentals of contract law, the moral obligation of promise, the significance of binding obligations, and much more. Scott holds a B.A. from Dordt College and an M.A. from Reformed Theological Seminary. He earned his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin College of Law. You can find many of his other thoughts in his blog here. Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

This week, we begin a new chapter in the life of the Cross & Gavel podcast, with a renewed effort to explore the interaction of Christianity and law. This new focus will be exclusive to the work being done by practitioners and academics in their field of knowledge, offering their small contributions to the great intellectual tradition that has made the “cathedral of the law” such a formative discipline to shape society and culture. We begin our journey thinking about what happens when a Christian attorney walks into a Bar. No, not that kind of bar . . . THE BAR. Yes, the dreaded exam, but also the very life of legal practice it entails. Our Virgil on this voyage is Dr. Jeff J. Ventrella. An adjunct at Trinity Law School and the Director and Chair of the truthXchange Fellowship. We welcome you on this journey with us and hope it proves fruitful in your own study and practice of law. Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week to talk about his brand new autobiographical work on prison ministry is Joe Ingles, who spent over 40 years ministering to prisoners on death row. His powerful book is called Too Close to the Flame: With the Condemned inside the Southern Killing Machine. RELATED CONTENT God's Law & Order - Aaron Griffith (Episode # 164) Second Chance Month - Heather Rice-Minus (Episode # 163) Break Every Yoke - Vincent Lloyd and Joshua Dubler (Episode # 138) A note to the audience: change is coming!! We will be back in a few weeks with a brand new logo and a new focus on bringining you the best conversations strcitly focused on the intersection of Christianity and law. Stay tuned and subscribe today!

Joining me today to talk about her new book on extermisn is a former homeland security official, Elizabeth Neumann. Her book is called Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace, which looks at how we develop habits of extremism and how we can break the cycle. RELATED CONTENT Agents of Grace - Dan Darling (Episode # 168) Learning to Disagree - John Inazu (Episode # 162)  

We have a very special episode today with David L. Bahsen about work and the meaning of life. His book, Full-Time, is a challeging and important contribution for resetting our worldviews to fully embrace our role as workers and Christians. I wrote a short introduction on the Cross & Gavel Substack (here) incorporating David's work with Matthew Kaemingk's Work and Worship (listen to our chat with him here) and John Witte, Jr.'s Table Talk.

Joining me this week to talk about reconciliation and civil discourse is the author of Agents of Grace: How to Bridge Divides and Love as Jesus Loved — Dan hosts the weekly podcast The Way Home, leads the Land Center for Cultural Engagement, and speaks at churches and conferences around the country. RELATED CONTENT Joy For The World - Greg Forster (Episode # 127) Learning to Disagree - John Inazu (Episode # 162) Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week to talk a little church history and political theology is the author of Cultural Santificaiton: Engaging the World like the Early Church — Stephen O. Presley. Stephen is a senior fellow for religion and public life at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy (CRCD) and associate professor of church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). Profile page here. RELATED CONTENT The Contested Public Square - Greg Forster (Episode # 113) Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.

Joining me this week to talk about her new spiritual biography of J.R.R. Tolkien is Holly Ordway. She is the Cardinal Francis George Professor of Faith and Culture at the the Word on Fire Institute and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University. Her other two books on Apologetics and Tolkien can be found here and here (respectively). For more, check out her website and Twitter account (@HollyOrdway).   Listen to my earlier conversation with Holly here on her book, Tolkien's Modern Reading. The Namárië Forum ("go towards goodness") is an opportunity for us to step back from the mandates (and madness) of law and practice, and into a space for contemplation and imagination regarding the outworking of God in our day and age. In the words of Makoto Fujimura, "[c]ultivating our imagination is essential to fully realizing our potential as God's creatures." For a brief background to this Forum, check out my article  here.