Trinity Forum Conversations

This episode features a conversation  we originally hosted on Friday, January 29th with artist and author Makoto Fujimura on his recent book  Art + Faith: A Theology of Making. Mako says, “I now consider what I do in the studio to be theological work as much as aesthetic work. I experience God, my Maker, in the studio. I am immersed in the art of creating, and I have come to understand this dimension of life as the most profound way of grasping human experience and the nature of our existence in the world. I call it the “Theology of Making.”We hope you enjoy this conversation exploring the theological work of creating.Learn more about Makoto Fujimura.Watch the full Evening Conversation and read the transcript from January 29th, 2021.Thanks to Windrider Productions and The Rabbit Room for their partnership on the event with Mako on January 29.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:William BlakeN.T. WrightEsther MeekThe Gift, by Lewis HydeBruce HermanT.S. Eliot Amanda GormanDavid BrooksRichard MouwLearn more about Kintsugi.Related Trinity Forum Readings and Resources:God's Grandeur , a Trinity Forum Reading by Gerard Manley Hopkins Revelation, a Trinity Forum Reading by Flannery O’Connor Letters from Vincent van Gogh, a Trinity Forum Reading by Vincent van GoghHannah and Nathan, a Trinity Forum Reading by Wendell BerryCulture Care: Mending to Make New, an Online Conversation with Mako Fujimura on August 7, 2020.Culture Care, an Evening Conversation with Mako Fujimura on September 19, 2017.Soul Care, an Evening Conversation with Mako Fujimura on March 31, 2016.Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist whose process driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time”. In addition to his work as an artist Mako is an author whose works include Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture and his just released work Art + Faith: A Theology of Making. Mako is also a senior fellow of the Trinity forum. Special thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music!

This conversation took place on February 24, 2016 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. We welcomed scholars and theologians N.T. Wright and Richard B. Hays to discuss The Good News and The Good Life. In this eastertide season we hope this conversation will encourage and inspire us to live as resurrection people.Learn more about Richard Hays and N.T. Wright.Watch the full Evening Conversation and read the transcript from February 24, 2016.Learn more about our partners: Duke Divinity School — https://divinity.duke.eduBaylor University Press — https://www.baylorpress.com/McDonald Agape Fund — https://www.mcdonaldagape.org/agape/mcdonald-agape-foundation.htmlAuthors and books mentioned in the conversation:Who Is This Man, by John OrtbergTo Change the World, by James Davison HunterThe Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich BonhoefferRelated Trinity Forum Readings:The Strangest Story Ever Told, a Trinity Forum Reading by G.K. Chesterton.Who Stands Fast, a Trinity Forum Reading by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.Devotions, a Trinity Forum Reading by John Donne, introduced and paraphrased by Philip Yancey. Richard Hayes is internationally recognized as one of the foremost biblical scholars bridging the disciplines between biblical criticism and literary studies. He served for many years, both as the Dean and the George Washington IB Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. Prior to coming to Duke, he served on the faculty of Yale Divinity School and his many books include, 'The Faith of Jesus Christ,' 'Echos of Scripture and the Letters of Paul,' 'The Moral Vision of the New Testament,' which was selected by Christianity Today as one of the hundred most important books of the 20th century, 'The Art of Reading Scripture,' and most recently, 'Reading Backwards.' He's also an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church and has preached in settings ranging from rural Oklahoma to Westminster Abbey, as well as serving on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly journals, he holds a PhD from Emory, an honorary doctorate from Gerta University, and degrees from Yale. N.T. Wright is a theologian academic author and minister who has been called by such sources as Time and Newsweek as one of the world's leading New Testament scholars and the most formidable figure in the world of Christian thought. He serves as the research professor of New Testament, the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and previously taught New Testament at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities for over 20 years, and then held various posts in the Church of England, most recently as the Bishop of Durham. Dr. Wright is the author of over 80 different books, including 'Simply Good News,' 'How God Became King,' 'Simply Jesus,' 'Surprised by Scripture,' and many others and holds honorary doctorates from over a dozen different universities.

On Friday, July 10th we welcomed distinguished professor, author, and scholar Alan Jacobs to discuss his ever-timely book The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis. In his book, Jacobs describes how after the second World War, five Christian intellectuals presented strikingly similar visions for the moral and spiritual renewal of their countries.Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and Simone Weil all believed the renewal of their respective societies in the aftermath of World War II would come through education that was grounded in a Christian understanding of the power and limitations of human beings. Alan helped us consider the ways our world is changing due to our current crisis, and look back to these Christian intellectuals and their vision for cultivating a flourishing society and rebuilding a shared sense of the common good after world-wide disruption. We hope you enjoy this conversation!Watch the full Online Conversation and read the transcript here.Learn more about Alan Jacobs.Alan Jacobs’ Books:Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a more Tranquil Mind, The Year of our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis, How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds, The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography. Baylor University Great Texts ProgramAuthors and books mentioned in the conversation:Education at the Crossroads by Jacques MaritainThe Abolition of Man by C.S. LewisVocation and Society, a lecture given at Swarthmore College by W.H. AudenChristianity and Culture by T.S. ElliotBetween Past and Future, by Hannah ArendtRationalism in Politics, by Michael OakeshottRoberts Coles - Harvard Professor.Bleak House, by Charles DickensC.S. Lewis - “The Inner Ring,” “Membership,” Abolition of Man, That Hideous Strength.Leszek KolakowskiGeorge Eliot Søren KierkegaardRelated Trinity Forum Readings and Resources:Wrestling with God, by Simone WeilOrigins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah ArendtBrave New World, by Aldous HuxleyPolitics and the English Language, by George OrwellHow Much Land Does A Man Need, by Leo TolstoyA Christmas Carol, by Charles DickensPoetry, Imagination, and Spiritual Formation, an Evening Conversation with Dana Gioia featuring the poetry of W.H. Auden.The Decadent Society, an Evening Conversation with Ross Douthat and Christine Emba. Alan Jacobs is a scholar, English literature, a writer, a literary critic. He's a distinguished professor of the humanities and the honors college at Baylor university and previously taught for nearly 30 years at Wheaton college in Illinois, a prolific author and a wide ranging thinker. He's written for such publications as The Atlantic, Harper's, Comment, The New Yorker, the Weekly Standard and the Hedgehog Review and has published more than 15 different books on a wide range of topics from literature, technology theology and cognitive psychology, including How to Think, The Book of Common Prayer, the book we're discussing today, The Year of our Lord 1943, which was named by the Wall Street Journal is one of their best books on politics for the year of 2018 and many more, including the forthcoming book, Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader's Guide to a more Tranquil Mind, which is available now.

On Friday, July 24th we were honored to host award-winning and much-beloved novelist and essayist, Marilynne Robinson for a wide-ranging conversation on the art of writing as a means of exploring truth and engaging the questions around learning to live well, to love others, and to create a home and community in an often fractious world. Robinson, known for her keen observations on humanity and religion has plumbed the depths of the human spirit in her novels, including the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Lila, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead. We hope you enjoy this conversation on “Story, Culture, and the Common Good.”Watch the full Online Conversation and read the transcript here.Marilynne Robinson's Novels | Housekeeping, Gilead, Home, LilaArticle in Breaking Ground from our event.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Marcel ProustRalph Waldo EmmersonPaul HardingWalt WitmanWilliam FaulknerJohn CalvinJonathan EdwardsMoby Dick, by Herman MellvillePiers Plowman, by William LanglandRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Sacred and Profane Love | A Trinity Forum Reading by John Donne Bulletins from Immortality | A Trinity Forum Reading by Emily Dickinson Confessions | A Trinity Forum Reading by Saint Augustine Brave New World | A Trinity Forum Reading by Aldous Huxley Marilynne Robinson is a novelist, essayist, and teacher, one of the most renowned and revered of living writers. Her novels Housekeeping, Gilead, Lila, and Home have been variously honored with the Pulitzer Prize, National Books Critics Circle Award (twice), a Hemingway Foundation Award, an Orange Prize, The Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, and the Ambassador Book Award. She's also the author of many essays and non-fiction works, including her work, “Mother Country”, and her essay collections, “Death of Adam,” “Absence of Mind,” “When I was a Child I Read Books,” “The Givenness of Things,” and “What Are We Doing Here?”. She's the recipient of the National Humanities Medal and an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to her writing has spent over 20 years teaching at the Iowa Writers Workshop, as well as several universities.

On Friday, July 17, 2020 we welcomed writer, poet, and professor Marilyn McEntyre for an Online Conversation to discuss her provocative book, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. The book focuses on the morality, power, and importance of caring for language. She notes that caring for one another is not entirely separable from caring for words. Words are entrusted to us as equipment for our life together, to help us survive, guide, and nourish one another. If language is to retain its power to nourish and sustain our common life, we have to care for it the way good farmers care for the earth.Learn more about Marilyn McEntyreWatch the full Online Conversation video and read the transcriptWatch our Online Conversation with Marilyn McEntyre and David Bailey on “Speaking Peace and Seeking Reconciliation.”Check out her brand new book called Where the Eye Alights: Reflections for the Forty Days of Lent.Authors mentioned in the conversation:Jane AustenEzra Pound - “Go in fear of abstractions.”George Steiner - Real PresencesTheodor AdornoWilliam FaulknerWendell BerryBooks mentioned in the conversation:The Road to Character, by David BrooksBlind Spot, by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. GreenwaldWinnie the Pooh, by A.A. MilneLittle Women, by Louis May AlcottThe Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel HawthorneMoby Dick, by Herman MelvilleMiddlemarch, by George EliotPrayers of the Cosmos and The Hidden Gospel by Neil Douglass KlutzBBC Radio Program - My WordRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Politics and the English Language, by George OrwellBulletins from Immortality, by Emily DickinsonLetters from Van Gogh, by Vincent Van GoghHannah and Nathan, by Wendell BerrySpecial thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music!

On Good Friday, April 10, 2020 The Trinity Forum hosted psychiatrist Curt Thompson for an Online Conversation to discuss his insights on suffering, shame, and isolation, which are felt acutely in the COVID-19 pandemic. Curt’s word for us in this time is to be of good cheer—our King is coming!Dr. Curt Thompson is a psychiatrist, author and speaker who specializes in connecting our intrinsic desire to be known with the need to tell truer stories about ourselves — showing us how to form deep relationships, discover meaning and live integrated, creative lives. Curt Thompson’s books Anatomy of the Soul and The Soul of Shame speak to the innermost desires of our hearts and souls, bringing together a dialect of interpersonal neurobiology and a Christian anthropology to uncover the key to living life fully: being known. To do that, we need genuine relationships, which can only be found when we tell the whole truth about who we are — to ourselves and others.Curt Thompson is a Trinity Forum Senior FellowLearn more about Curt ThompsonCurt’s reflection mentioned in the conversationWatch the full Online Conversation with CurtWatch our Evening Conversation with Curt on his book The Soul of Shame from October 2015Special thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music!

On Friday, September 25 we had the privilege of hosting best-selling author, thought leader, and Harvard Business and Kennedy School professor Arthur Brooks for an Online Conversation on “Redeeming a Culture of Contempt.” In his book, Love Your Enemies Brooks blends cutting-edge behavioral research and ancient wisdom to offer a better way to bridge divides and mend relationships. Brooks helps us to think about practical ways we can choose to love those we disagree with—to will their good and be agents of redemption and reconciliation amidst a divisive time.Learn more about Arthur BrooksWatch the full video and read the transcript of our conversation with ArthurResources mentioned during the conversation:Martin Luther King Jr. Sermon on Matthew 5:44Robert Putnam, Bowling AloneLetter from Birmingham Jail, a Trinity Forum Reading by Martin Luther King Jr.Long Walk to Freedom, a Trinity Forum Reading by Nelson MandelaDavid Brooks, The Social AnimalTrinity Forum Evening Conversation with Robert George and Cornel West in Nashville, TNTrinity Forum Evening Conversation with  Arthur Brooks and Justin Giboney in Washington, D.C.Special thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music!

Special thanks to Ned Bustard for the artwork and Andrew Peterson for the music!