Podcasts about mars hill audio

Spiritual formation, becoming more like Jesus Christ in thought and deed, requires a renewed mind (Romans 12:2) that avoids worldliness (1 John 2:15-17) and pursues godliness (Matthew 5:1-18). Our sanctification through the Holy Spirit requires an ongoing dependency on God wherein we grow in the knowledge of God, how his Kingdom operates (Matthew 6:33), ourselves (James 1:25), and our place in the church (1 Corinthians 12-14) and broader culture (1 Chronicles 12:32). To this end, here are some principles and recommendations in how to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Remain faithful in the reading and studying of the Bible (Psalm 119; 2 Timothy 3:14-17). Consider using one or more study Bibles. Discern your calling as a Christian if you have not done so. See Os Guinness, The Call and John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life. Be involved in a Bible-believing church. Develop your skills as a writer and speaker. See Elements of Style by Stunk and White and Stand like Lincoln, Speak like Churchill by James Humes. Read thoughtful Christian classics by writers such as Augustine and Pascal, as well as modern writers such as C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, John Stott, J. I. Packer, Francis Schaeffer, James Sire, and Os Guinness. Read periodicals such as Christianity Today, First Things, Modern Age, and The Christian Research Journal. Be aware of non-Christian culture through The New York Times, The New Yorker, Harpers, Atlantic Monthly, and other magazines. Carefully and prayerfully consider your use of electronic communications media. See Douglas Groothuis, The Soul in Cyberspace and Quentin Schultz, Habits of the High Tech Heart as well as Neil Postman, Technopoly and Amusing Ourselves to Death and William Powers, Hamlet's Blackberry. Listen to thoughtful radio programs and podcasts, such as Denis Prager, those on The Daily Wire as well as the Christian interviews done by Ken Myers on Mars Hill Audio. Take periodic times for silence and reflection (Ecclesiastes 3:7). Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Invited to the Areopagus by the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, Paul explains the "new doctrine" and how it relates to their "unknown god." He had five points: 1) God does not dwell in temples made by human hands; 2) He gives life to all; 3) He has determined the fate of every person and civilization so they might seek Him; 4) the world will be judged; and 5) He assured us of this by rising from the dead. The concept of resurrection was new to the Athenians. Some rejected Paul and some believed.

Today the Pugcast is joined by Ken Myers, the man behind Mars Hill Audio. Mars Hill Audio was founded by Ken in 1993 after working for National Public Radio and serving as editor of Eternity Magazine. Among conservative Christian intellectuals Mars Hill Audio is an important resource for keeping up with the intersection of Christian thought and cultural trends in the western world. Ken is a long time friend of Chris, but all the Pugsters are big supporters of Ken's work. By the time the interview is over you'll probably want to download the Mars Hill Audio app to your phone. Unfortunately there were some technical glitches during the recording of the interview--but we think this is a pretty great episode nonetheless. We hope you enjoy it! Visit https://marshillaudio.org/ to find Ken’s work with Mars Hill Audio. Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

Today the Pugcast is joined by Ken Myers, the man behind Mars Hill Audio. Mars Hill Audio was founded by Ken in 1993 after working for National Public Radio and serving as editor of Eternity Magazine. Among conservative Christian intellectuals Mars Hill Audio is an important resource for keeping up with the intersection of Christian thought and cultural trends in the western world. Ken is a long time friend of Chris, but all the Pugsters are big supporters of Ken's work. By the time the interview is over you'll probably want to download the Mars Hill Audio app to your phone. Unfortunately there were some technical glitches during the recording of the interview--but we think this is a pretty great episode nonetheless. We hope you enjoy it! Visit https://marshillaudio.org/ to find Ken’s work with Mars Hill Audio. Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

Today the Pugcast is joined by Ken Myers, the man behind Mars Hill Audio. Mars Hill Audio was founded by Ken in 1993 after working for National Public Radio and serving as editor of Eternity Magazine. Among conservative Christian intellectuals Mars Hill Audio is an important resource for keeping up with the intersection of Christian thought and cultural trends in the western world. Ken is a long time friend of Chris, but all the Pugsters are big supporters of Ken's work. By the time the interview is over you'll probably want to download the Mars Hill Audio app to your phone. Unfortunately there were some technical glitches during the recording of the interview--but we think this is a pretty great episode nonetheless. We hope you enjoy it! Visit https://marshillaudio.org/ to find Ken’s work with Mars Hill Audio. Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

Today the Pugcast is joined by Ken Myers, the man behind Mars Hill Audio. Mars Hill Audio was founded by Ken in 1993 after working for National Public Radio and serving as editor of Eternity Magazine. Among conservative Christian intellectuals Mars Hill Audio is an important resource for keeping up with the intersection of Christian thought and cultural trends in the western world. Ken is a long time friend of Chris, but all the Pugsters are big supporters of Ken's work. By the time the interview is over you'll probably want to download the Mars Hill Audio app to your phone. Unfortunately there were some technical glitches during the recording of the interview--but we think this is a pretty great episode nonetheless. We hope you enjoy it! Visit https://marshillaudio.org/ to find Ken's work with Mars Hill Audio. Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “The ministry of the church in contemporary America is distorted because the cultural lives of many Christians, including their deep assumptions about reality, the practice and activities that they pursue guided by those assumptions, have been decisively shaped more by modern, western culture than by the church's own account of reality as outlined in the Scriptures. This is in part because the church has too often abandoned its necessary and prophetic task of being involved in cultural formation, in favor of a more readily acceptable task of being chaplain to the cultural status quo.” ~Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio in After Evangelism “It is not the business of the church to adapt Christ to men, but men to Christ.” ~Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), English writer “If the inner psychological life of the individual is sovereign, then identity becomes as potentially unlimited as the human imagination.” ~Carl Trueman in The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self “The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it.” ~Martin Luther in the Heidelberg Disputation (1518) “We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.” ~St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), one of the first followers of St. Francis of Assisi “When I discover who I am, I'll be free.” ~Ralph Ellison (1913-1994) in Invisible Man “Coming close to death you begin to know what life means, and what it means is gratitude” ~Roger Scruton (1944-2020), English philosopher and writer SERMON PASSAGE Colossians 3:1-17 (ESV) 1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio shares an interview from 1972, in which Johnny Cash talks about faith and music – and then breaks into song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ken Myers (Mars Hill Audio) addresses our need for musical wisdom. ______ Mars Hill Audio https://marshillaudio.org/ Music in Life and Liturgy https://payhip.com/b/ALi5 Theopolis on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/c/Theopolisinstitute Sign up for In Medias Res mailchi.mp/0b01d726f2fe/inmediasres Give to our work! Become a partner! theopolisinstitute.com/give/ ________ The tabernacle, with Alastair Roberts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1nR-L19St4 Psalm 125 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPpInCgyNfo Psalm 98 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJuwPKEhU2c Psalm 12 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sidywTXXkU Psalm 120 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=SULIFaui76M Psalm 47 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=93HgY9dFX4c Psalm 1 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3igF7e-Lgs Psalm 2 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW-iT21hK7U Psalm 23 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux9zwc4zwGw Psalm 88 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbUANfrXOsw Psalm 46 Chant www.youtube.com/watch?v=93KjrXHmfz0 _ Sign up for In Medias Res mailchi.mp/0b01d726f2fe/inmediasres New audio project, the Theopolis Blogcast! Subscribe: theopolis-blogcast.simplecast.com/ Subscribe on Youtube for weekly theology videos: www.youtube.com/channel/UCu9ejEQ9Iq8-HWkQ6S53sfQ Theopolis Blog: theopolisinstitute.com/theopolis-blog/ Website: theopolisinstitute.com Twitter: @_theopolis

Paul was such an ardent preacher of the gospel, nothing was stopping him. This was a special time in history where the Greeks were invited to become a part of the vine. The will of God is not conducted using the means and methods of our advisory. God is using us turn the world back upright but we will be accused of turning it upside down. Their superstition made them follow blindly any god that they could. They had left someone out, so they made him a place. The Bible is the owner's manual for us. The Bible: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. We are not down here to make it a comfortable place for Christians to live. We want to make sure everyone can go to Heaven with us. They were doing all they could because they could sense that they were missing something. They didn't know He had set them in space. God has always had a plan for us. As a nation but also as individuals. He knows exactly how the devil is going to speak to you. The preacher was ready to tell of His grace.

*Please note that I am not particularly critiquing the actions taken by government or individuals, provided their actions are based on honest and educated assessments of data. Isolating everyone vs. isolating only a certain population (e.g. those over 60, those with preexisting conditions, etc) is a judgment call. We don't have all the data necessary to make perfect decisions, so we're experimenting and learning as we go. At what point does shutting down the economy do more harm than good, particularly in countries where they live day to day, hand to mouth? I don't know, and I don't want to judge anyone for difficult decisions.However, what I do intend to point out in this episode is that my group has erred (as a broad generalization, of course) in our discernment. Many in my group have politicized the virus to the point that we were unable to assess the gravity of the situation, we were unable to effectively love in our actions, and we were unable to wisely discern common sense judgment and action in the situation. While I am not judging for making the wrong decisions given limited information, I am judging our political idolatry and our dismissal of truths which don't fit our desired narrative.  A huge thanks to Joseph McDade for his generous permission to use his music: https://josephmcdade.com/ Thanks to Palmtoptiger17 for the beautiful logo: https://www.instagram.com/palmtoptiger17/ Discord Discussion Board: https://disboard.org/server/474580298630430751  The 80% (My Book): https://www.amazon.com/80-Conservative-Evangelicals-Prove-Relativists-ebook/dp/B07RDPW2NZ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=j.g.+elliot&qid=1573560697&sr=8-1 Various reflections related to consequentialism: https://www.dckreider.com/blog-theological-musings/category/pragmatism-and-consequentialism A fantastic moral overview of the pandemic from a Christian perspective: https://mereorthodoxy.com/moral-reasoning-coronavirus-pandemic/  Mars Hill Audio, which featured the above article in audio format: https://www.marshillaudio.org  Conservative Responses to COVID-19 Image Gallery: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CMNQ-kj1dN37sxBUPjffKwZCk1vi0dRE Democrat vs. Republican: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816501871/poll-as-coronavirus-spreads-fewer-americans-see-pandemic-as-a-real-threat?utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social Liberty University and Falwell: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ Falwell continue classes: https://www.businessinsider.com/jerry-falwell-jr-suggests-coronavirus-is-plot-to-hurt-trump-2020-3 Governer difference between KY and TN: https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/kentucky-vs-tennessee-on-coronavirus-may-be-the-best-example-of-elections-matter-in-decades/?fbclid=IwAR0QBc9J9X37IwUjxyhfRovCTTliRV7SyBgCNtWPKYvTC--w7wW6gwu2o9U FOX Hype and Changing Tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DmW_H4U-MI&t=145s Fox Questioning the Virus as a Hoax/Conspiracy: https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-news-contributor-i-am-seeing-videos-twitter-empty-hospital-parking-lots Georgia Conservative questions legitimacy of the pandemic: https://decaturish.com/2020/03/gov-kemp-staffer-accuses-officials-of-overreacting-to-covid-19-spokesperson-cites-federalist/ Environment correction article: https://medium.com/cruciformity/coronavirus-a-symptom-of-creations-brokenness-e9335ae7d8a1 Florida Church Ignores Guidelines: https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-megachurch-crowded-with-worshipers-despite-social-distancing-orders Another Church Ignores Guidelines: https://www.wesh.com/article/second-pastor-charged-with-violating-public-orders-says-church-doors-will-still-be-open-on-sunday/32003221?fbclid=IwAR3I9lL5E5WHuGR5mtMMDjbqPVAMLobnr8XJg8DCSP4SPmnRXdVAWYcl0o4# Parishoner Interview "covered by the blood": https://www.facebook.com/tboypunk/videos/3913215418696211/ Reopen America and Conservatism: https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchandler/2020/04/24/security-researchers-say-the-reopen-america-campaign-is-being-astroturfed/ A good piece on Evangelicalism and some of its problems with taking responsibility: https://religiondispatches.org/itsnotus-being-evangelical-means-never-having-to-say-youre-sorry/ Hypocrisy of the Religious Right: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/shanephipps/2020/04/20/the-christian-right-is-under-siege-by-a-pandemic-of-hypocrisy/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=FBCP-PATH Christians and Conspiracy Theories: https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/april/christians-and-corona-conspiracies.html?fbclid=IwAR0BFQWYb4Y-UUiWzugAlCC7hbwr7EF2bYIySoVwCn6zv82rh5EW5QM7KR0 Sacrificing God - my blog discussing the moral inconsistency of our response to COVID and our response to moral compromise in politics: https://www.dckreider.com/blog-theological-musings/sacrificing-god A Great Article discussing how, as I said in the episode, we need to take a humble approach of agnosticism before jumping to our non-expert opinions: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/when-everything-is-not-obvious/ I read a great article which summarizes one of the main issues I have with my conservative Evangelical group. I'll put what I believe to be a very pertinent quote from the article below: The Religious Right's Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/coronavirus-trump-evangelicals.htmlReligious nationalism has brought to American politics the conviction that our political differences are a battle between absolute evil and absolute good. When you're engaged in a struggle between the “party of life” and the “party of death,” as some religious nationalists now frame our political divisions, you don't need to worry about crafting careful policy based on expert opinion and analysis. Only a heroic leader, free from the scruples of political correctness, can save the righteous from the damned. Fealty to the cause is everything; fidelity to the facts means nothing. Perhaps this is why many Christian nationalist leaders greeted the news of the coronavirus as an insult to their chosen leader.A good summary of what Evangelical dispensationalism has helped produce, especially in the U.S. (by a respected professor via Facebook): I was raised and trained in a dispensational reading of the Bible, which is a highly-complex and chart-laden method for relegating the Bible's relevance to every other era of human history except this one.Mark Noll once quipped that it has produced a culture that focuses on the earth's first six days and the earth's future days, but doesn't want to care for the earth these days.It has also produced a culture intensely focused on children inside wombs, but will support a person who cancels programs to feed hungry children outside of them.It has produced a culture that takes pilgrimages to a theme park in Kentucky that claims to be a museum of God's creation but only has man-made things in it. It is somehow a building that contains an idea.It has produced a culture of well-intentioned people who genuinely want to study the Bible, but only to think its thoughts, not to do what it says.I know this culture well, and I love the people in it, so I talk about the culture and its assumptions and its ways and how it holds them in its grip, and the counter-intuitive way they can be free.That culture has taught its people defense mechanisms to hide its tentacles and its binding shackles.I hear these all the time when I talk about the sorts of things Jesus said to do. When I do it speaks back to me, “you're just a socialist.” “That's the social gospel.” “You're a liberal.” “You sound like a Democrat.” ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Welcome to FORMA, a podcast featuring conversations with authors, teachers, creators, and community leaders who are carefully contemplating the nature and practice of classical education and the arts.In this episode, David chats with the inimitable Ken Myers about the evolution of his career, how he sees his vocation, the creation of Mars Hill Audio, interviewing Johnny Cash (for his first ever interview!), writing his book, and much more.***This episode is brought to you by our friends at the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to FORMA, a podcast featuring conversations with authors, teachers, creators, and community leaders who are carefully contemplating the nature and practice of classical education and the arts.In this episode, David chats with the inimitable Ken Myers about the evolution of his career, how he sees his vocation, the creation of Mars Hill Audio, interviewing Johnny Cash (for his first ever interview!), writing his book, and much more.***This episode is brought to you by our friends at the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the second of a MARS HILL AUDIO series of special interviews examining politics and theology, theologian Peter J. Leithart (Between Babel and Beast: America and Empires in Biblical Perspective) discusses some of the issues raised explicitly during the current presidential campaign and the failure of many voters and observers to ask how the explosive mood of the present moment reveals deep problems in American political culture. In a recent on-line commentary, Leithart observed that “contemporary political culture is the product of a convergence of two strains of liberalism: a leftist cultural libertarianism that took off during the 1960s and 1970s, and a rightwing free-market liberalism that reached its apogee with the Reagan-Thatcher alliance.” Leithart continued: “Though they come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, both strains of liberalism are founded on a concept of freedom as the emancipation of individual choice.” Leithart suggested that the sense of dismay many currently have about our political possibilities offers Christians “a rare opportunity to take stock and ask some basic questions about our polity.” He proceeds to list a dozen or so questions we should be asking far beyond who to vote for in November: “Are gay marriage and legalized abortion deviations from American values, or expressions of them? Can we disentangle the two strains of liberalism? Can we defend free markets without endorsing free love? What does ‘freedom’ mean? . . . Can politics be humane without recognizing that human beings are souls? Are campaigning and voting the be-all and end-all of Christian political action, or are we better off diverting some of those dollars and hours to less flashy projects that have the potential to leaven political culture over the long haul?” This feature is hosted by Ken Myers, producer of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal. For more information, visit our website at marshillaudio.org.  

The campaign leading up to the presidential election of 2016 has been an unsettling season for many Americans. Against the disturbing backdrop of social and cultural fragmentation, the two principal candidates for the office seem to be equally divisive, so that whoever wins in November, we are certain to be living through a time of further discord and discontent. Is what we’re living through a sign of the failure of our political structures, or is it the logical outcome of a system with critical design flaws? Does a more hopeful future require the radical revision of some basic beliefs about the public life: about the relationship between state and society, about the purposes of government, and about how the ordering of temporal affairs accounts for the full reality of what we are as human persons? These and other relevant questions are finally theological questions, even if they aren’t always acknowledged as such. In the first of a MARS HILL AUDIO series of special interviews that discuss politics and theology, moral philosopher Oliver O’Donovan (The Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the Roots of Political Theology) discusses the Church’s historic belief that governments are an expression of God’s rule, that the reality of the kingdom of God is a necessary point of reference if we are to understand politics correctly. This feature is hosted by Ken Myers, producer of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal. For more information, visit our website at marshillaudio.org.

Today’s message shows the radical difference between Eastern and Western philosophies of life and how each has affected their cultures.

Ken Myers is the founder of Mars Hill Audio.

In 2007, MARS HILL AUDIO produced a special report on ideas about law and justice that informed some of the legal reasoning of the U. S. Supreme Court under the then-newly appointed Chief Justice John Roberts. In September 2011, we launched a series of podcasts that extend that discussion, featuring interviews with legal scholars, philosophers, theologians, historians, and journalists. Each of these podcasts will examine how the making and judging of laws are (or ought to be) guided by principles that surpass mere utility or interest. We have re-presented our original report as the first in this new series. Ken Myers Producer and Host

This issue of Audition features commentary by MARS HILL AUDIO host Ken Myers about recent on-line essays by political theorist Patrick Deneen. The four essays discussed were posted on Deneen's blog, What I Saw in America, and they each offered perspective on our current economic crisis gleaned from classical political philosophy. The essays were titled: "Abstraction," "Political Philosophy in the Details," "Whack a Mole," and "Democracy in America." Also referenced in Myers's comments is the 1976 book by sociologist Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. Patrick Deneen, associate professor of government at Georgetown University, was also a guest on Volume 91 of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal; a portion of that interview may be heard here. In this interview, Deneen and Myers discuss the thought of Wendell Berry, whom Deneen describes as a "Kentucky Aristotelian."Ken Myers also comments on an article from the May 2008 issue of Harper's by Wendell Berry. Berry's article, "Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits," identifies the destructive (yet perennially attractive) Gnostic tendency to assume that limits are bad and always in need of breaking, a tendency implicated in many forms of cultural disorder.Finally, Myers previews a new audiobook published by MARS HILL AUDIO, called The Passionate Intellect: Incarnational Humanism and the Future of University Education, by Norman Klassen and Jens Zimmermann.[NOTE: To save this podcast as an MP3 file, right-click or (for Mac users) Control-click on the link below and select the saving option your browser offers.]

With the death of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in early August, the modern world lost one of its most trenchant prophets. In many eulogies and obituaries, Solzheitsyn was identified mainly (or exclusively) as a fierce foe of the Soviet Communist system. Of course, he was that: the publication of the first volume of his massive work, The Gulag Archipelego—documenting the horrors of the Soviet labor camps—led to his expulsion from his homeland in 1974 and to the West's recognition of the suffering of many Soviet citizens. But there was something more important in his writing: a positive, hopeful vision that was often overlooked by readers too preoccupied with politics. It was a vision rooted in a Christian view of human nature and purpose.MARS HILL AUDIO has assembled a special Anthology of interviews to explore The Christian Humanism of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Guests include Edward E. Ericson, Jr., coeditor of The Solzhenitsyn Reader (2006) and The Soul and Barbed Wire (2008); David Aikman, for years a senior correspondent for TIME magazine; and James Pontuso, author of Solzhenitsyn’s Political Thought (1990). Host Ken Myers discusses with them the themes in Solzhenitsyn’s books and speeches, including his Nobel Prize speech and his controversial commencement address at Harvard in 1978.The Anthology is available on CD ($7) or as an MP3 download ($5). Also of interest is the MARS HILL AUDIO Reprint called One Word of Truth: A Portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, written and read by David Aikman, who in 1989 was granted the first—and, for many years, only—major interview given by Solzhenitsyn to an American news organization. Aikman's engaging and lively account portrays an amazing man who  devoted his life to the battle for truth. One Word of Truth also includes introductory remarks by cultural critic Os Guinness and is available as an MP3 download ($2).

A Time magazine article from 1996 nominated political philosopher Leo Strauss (who died in 1973) as one of the most influential and powerful figures in Washington. Strauss was regarded as the inspiration for Newt Gingrich's steamrolling political movement. He has since been cited as the ultimate source of our war in Iraq, since former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was a student of a student of Strauss's at the University of Chicago. An article by one libertarian writer labels Strauss the "fascist godfather of the neo-cons."What, then, to make of these recent claims by Yale political philosopher Steven B. Smith (from his 2006 book Reading Leo Strauss): "Throughout his writings, Strauss remained deeply skeptical of whether political theory had any substantive advice or direction to offer statesmen. . . . The idea that political or military action can be used to eradicate evil from the human landscape is closer to the utopian and idealistic visions of Marxism and the radical Enlightenment than anything found in the writings of Strauss."A helpful introduction to Strauss's ideas appeared last year in an article entitled "The Secret of Straussianism," by Richard Sherlock, published in the journal Modern Age. A reading of this article is the latest MARS HILL AUDIO Reprint, available as an MP3 download from the MARS HILL AUDIO website (marshillaudio.org/catalog/reprints.asp; sorry we can't insert a clickable link here, but the server is being goofy). In addition to a survey of Strauss's method of reading classical, literary, and political-theoretical texts, Sherlock also examines his posture toward religion. Read by Ken Myers, the 36-minute reading sells for $3.This Reprint is the tenth in a series that covers such various topics as the novels of P. D. James, the life of William Wilberforce, the penetrating insights of Leszek Kolakowski, the importance of manual labor, and the necessity of reading the classics. Audition listeners may want to expand the range of their aural fixations by downloading some of these unique Audio Reprints.

This issue of Audition is a free preview of a new series of programs being produced by MARS HILL AUDIO. The series, Dialogues on Justice and Judges, will look at recent and upcoming Supreme Court rulings, attending to how they represent ideas about law, justice, identity, freedom, community, and other social and cultural concepts.In this first episode, "Jurisprudence and the Roberts Court," Ken Myers, Executive Producer of MARS HILL AUDIO, interviews four legal experts who give an initial assessment of the tenure of Chief Justice John Roberts, looking specifically at the changes in the confirmation process of justices and the tendency of the Court to take on the role of legislator, especially in cases related to civil rights. The guests on the podcast are Douglas Kmiec, Professor of Law at Pepperdine University; Michael Uhlmann, Visiting Professor of Political Science at Claremont Graduate University; Terry Eastland, Publisher of The Weekly Standard; and Ed Whelan, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.The second issue of Dialogues on Justice and Judges, slated for release this Fall, will be offered for sale by MARS HILL AUDIO on CD or as an MP3 download. For more information about all of our audio products, see marshillaudio.org.

The most influential social thinkers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries all believed that religion was an outdated preoccupation which maturing, progressing societies would eventually abandon. This assumption, often called the secularization hypothesis, was held by most sociologists through most of the 20th century.One sociologist who believed early on that the story of the place of religion in modern societies was a little more complicated and variable than most of his colleagues allowed for was David Martin. Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Dr. Martin has long insisted that the fate of religion in modern societies has been dramatically different in different countries.In 2005, a collection of essays by Martin called On Secularization: Toward a Revised General Theory was published by Ashgate Press. That book was the occasion for a conversation between David Martin and MARS HILL AUDIO host Ken Myers, much of which is presented in this issue of Audition.A separate portion of this interview was featured on Volume 84 of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, which is available for purchase in an MP3 download edition.Other guests on the Journal who have addressed the issue of secularization include Steve Bruce, Zygmunt Bauman, Edward Norman, and Harry Blamires.

The meaning of the human and the meaning of the spiritual are the big themes on this issue of Audition. First, we hear an excerpt from Yuval Levin's penetrating essay, "The Moral Challenge of Modern Science," which maintains that science is not, as many claim, just a set of neutral tools. Then part of a chapter from Nigel Cameron's provocative book Are Christians Human? An Exploration of True Spirituality is featured. The section excerpted asks the question "Was Jesus human?" and looks at ways in which Jesus' humanity is often implicitly denied even while explicitly affirmed. Finally, we hear a long section from the audio documentary Best-Selling Spirituality: American Cultural Change and the New Shape of Faith. What's behind the contemporary affirmation of "spirituality" at the expense of "religion"? Ken Myers hosts this exploration of how contemporary culture is shaping how people think about the meaning of faith.For more information about these and other audio products, consult the MARS HILL AUDIO website.

This installment of Audition features interviews with the following guests:-- Leon Kass, on the people who shaped his thinking on bioethics and the meaning of the human-- Bernard Lewis, on how Islamic antipathy toward the West has been simmering since the late 17th century-- Thomas de Zengotita, on how the proliferation of signs and messages aimed to encourage us to buy things affect us in other waysAlso featured is an excerpt from the essay, "Shop Class as Soulcraft," by Matthew B. Crawford.Each of these interviews is part of much longer MARS HILL AUDIO programs which are now available as MP3 downloads.Thanks for listening!

This edition of Audition includes excerpts from five MARS HILL AUDIO interviews:--- Russell Hittinger, on ways in which modern democracies exclude public discussion about the view of human nature and human personhood on which democracy is founded--- Michael Aeschliman, on how C. S. Lewis opposed both subjectivism and scientism in arguing for the nature of the rationality of Creation--- Sir John Polkinghorne, on how science and theology are both best pursued "from the bottom up," taking the reality of Creation and our experience of it seriously--- Richard Gelwick and Thomas Torrance, on how Michael Polanyi's insights into the nature of scientific discovery provide a rich resource for theology--- Vigen Guroian, reading from his book, Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on GardeningEach of these interviews is part of much longer MARS HILL AUDIO programs which are now available as MP3 downloads.Thanks for listening!

Audition is the new podcast produced by MARS HILL AUDIO. Hosted by Ken Myers, this first issue includes an exclusive interview with theologian and bioethicist Nigel Cameron on how bioethical issues are discussed in public debate. It also features excerpts from interviews that can be heard on current and future issues of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal. Guests and topics include: • Cultural historian Stephen McKnight on the religious beliefs of Sir Francis Bacon • Biologist Tim Morris on why Creation and Redemption have to be seen as part of the same story • Music historian Calvin Stapert on how Mozart's music conveys a sense of the goodness of Creation • Orthodox theologian and master gardener Vigen Guroian on how the senses convey the transcendent • Humanities professor Paul Valliere on why Orthodox thought on politics differs from that in the Western churches • Law professor Russell Hittinger on the origins of the idea of "society" in Catholic social thought • Historian Mark Noll on how Protestants flourished in America by not asking some important questions • Journalist Stephen Miller on his book, Conversation: A History of a Declining Art. New issues of Audition will be produced at the end of every month, and will contain material from the MARS HILL AUDIO archives, from forthcoming products, and unique interviews on timely cultural issues. Thanks for listening!