Banned Books

Featured text: "Introduction to A Memoir of Mary Ann" — Flannery O'Connor

Pretty Girls Make Graves. In this episode, we sit with Flannery O'Connor's introduction to A Memoir of Mary Ann, a memoir of a little girl who lived for 12 years at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cancer Home in Atlanta, Georgia. Written by the nuns at the home, with a substantial introduction by Flannery O'Connor. This is a deeply moving meditation on p...

Featured text: "A Shepherd's Letter" — Bo Giertz

We're in This Together. In this episode, we sit with Bo Giertz and read his open letter to the churches -- A Shepherd's Letter. As translator, Bror Erickson says of the opening section (we read on the show), Crises and Sources of Strength: crises in the church, sources of strength in Christ, and the living hope that endures every age of the evil world.

SHOW NOTES:

Bo Giertz - A...

Featured text: "The Value and Role of Creeds and Confessions" — Carl Trueman

With Arms Wide Open! In this episode, on the eve of Trinity Sunday, we sit with Carl Trueman's essay, 'The Value and Role of Creeds and Confession.' Is there any usefulness of Creeds and Confessions at present? Are they important as historic documents? Are they authoritative for the churches? What are the biblical origins of the ecumenical creeds, an...

Featured text: "The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible" — Michael Heiser

The Mosaic Word. In this episode, we sit with Michael Heiser's book, The Unseen Realm, on reading the Bible. What are the rules of engagement when one reads Scripture? What filters do we apply to the biblical texts, and are they helpful or do they blind us? What, then, are the obstacles that prevent us from enjoying the bibl...

Featured text: "Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future" — Seraphim Rose

UFOs are Rebel Angels. In this episode, we read Father Seraphim Rose's classic text, Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future, about the true nature of UFOs and the nefarious origins of modern narratives about extraterrestrials, spaceships, what's out there in the universe, and so on. What do Christians have to say to a culture that is awash with UFO si...

Money, Porn, and Godly Relationships. In this episode, we answer emails from listeners that ask us to discuss the godly use of money and pornography addiction. How should Christians view the usage of money and possessions? What is the godly response to pornography addiction for both the husband and the wife? These and more listener questions answered on this week's episode.

SHOW NOTES:

Using Your Money To Be Happier https://youtu.b...

Featured text: "Apologia Against Those Who Decry Holy Images" — John of Damascus

Every Picture Tells a Story. In this episode, we sit with John of Damascus to listen to him teach us about the veneration of icons — what that means, why it's a subject of dispute, how scripture distinguishes between graven images and god- pleasing icons, and how this all ties into worship and vocation. This and much, much more on this week...

Featured text: "Luther and the Lion" — Sam Schuldheisz

The Lutherans, the Lion, and the gifts of Narnia. In this episode, we talk with Pastor Sam Schuldheisz about his forthcoming book, Luther and the Lion: A Narnian Catechism. We discuss how Lewis (and other Inklings) can help us catechize children and adults, how stories lead us deeper into the biblical narratives, and vice versa. How can great myths and stories be employed...

Featured text: "In Defense of Christian Ritual" — David Andersen

The Power of Ritual! In this episode, we learn from David Andersen about Christian ritual. What's the purpose and goal of ritual? How does Christian ritual differ from other religious rituals? Where do we find ritual and ceremony outside "religious" observances? When we forget or ignore ritual and ceremony, what is the effect on individuals, groups, and societie...

Featured text: "The Music of Creation" — Malcolm Guite

Where do the Children Play? In this episode, we read an Easter message from the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem. Then we read Malcom Guite's Lenten meditation on creation, the embodiment of heavenly music, and why J.R.R. Tolkien expressed a profound, deep truth through not-so-fictional fiction stories. This and much, much more in this episode of the Bann...

Featured text: "The Presence" — Berthold von Schenk

What's Love Got to do With It? In this episode, we read Berthold von Schenk's The Presence, discussing sacrifice, sacrament, human will, anthropology, the cross, Lent, Easter, Love, and the consequences of the crucifixion for worship, faith, and Christian living. Why does our focus determine how we view these things? What is the "telos" of the Lord's Supper, and where does i...

Featured text: "The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church" — Ælfric

Went to a Garden Party. In this episode, we read a homily by St. Aelfric of York for Midlent Sunday. Aelfric sermonizes about the earthly and heavenly meaning of Jesus' feeding of the five thousand — its symbolism, historical import, and how loaves and fishes exegete the Old Testament books themselves. This and many, many wilderness wanderings in this epis...

Featured text: "The Mystery of Christ and Cosmic Restoration" — John Kleinig

Cosmic Debris. In this episode, we read Dr. John Kleinig on Christ and cosmic restoration. We then discuss how and why Christians confuse mysteries with secrets, what happened to the mystagogues, and why the mystery of the Christian faith has to do with the hidden presence of Christ with us here on earth and our restoration by his restoration of all ...

Featured text: "Tolkien's Liturgical Imagination" — J.R.R. Tolkien

Lent in Middle-earth. In this episode, we discuss the Lenten subtext, language, and images in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Return of the King." What can Christians learn from fiction authors about the faith, devotional reading, understanding the world outside the churches through the view of the cross, and how all of reality is bent towards Easter at all times, in al...

Featured text: "The Discarded Image" — C.S. Lewis

A Church as Big as the Cosmos! In this episode, we enter into Lent with a reading from C.S. Lewis' The Discarded Image. We discuss the medieval understanding of life, the universe, and everything— how it can help the churches today deepen their "vision" of how God orders the universe, the church, and the human being. We converse about the Grail legend, how God's Word enc...

Featured text: "The End of Education" — Neil Postman

We Don't Need No Education. In this episode, we read The End of Education by Neal Postman, discussing the mechanisms of public education, religious catechesis, the influence of the Enlightenment and psychoanalysis on contemporary learning, and what happens when fiction replaces truth as the basis of meaning. This and much, much more on today's show!

SHOW NOTES:

The End of E...

Featured text: "Sermon of the Wolf to the English" — Wulfstan

Hungry Like The Wolf. In this episode, we read a sermon from 11th-century bishop Wulfstan. The main themes in the Sermon of the Wolf to the English (also often referred to by its Latin title, Sermo Lupi ad Anglos) are corruption and sin. These themes are apparent as Wulfstan chastises the English people for their corruption and warns of God's anger and wrath, which...

Featured text: "Between God and Satan: The Temptation of Jesus and the Temptability of Man" — Helmut Thielicke

Fight the Power! In this episode, we learn from pastor and theologian Helmut Thielecke about the gods we worship, the God that encounters us, and what technology actually does to us. What do Satan's temptations teach us about Jesus, God's Word, piety, and making sense of mystery? Is Christianity supposed to be a sens...

Featured text: "God in the Dock" — C.S. Lewis

The Hangman's Nous. In this episode, we read an excerpt from The Maniac, by G.K. Chesterton, followed by Myth Became Fact, from C.S. Lewis' book of essays, "God in the Dock." The primary question we discuss, then, is whether men and women can live a healthy and sane life with mystery, without myth, and without higher truth. What has happened to modern churches that exorcised myste...