Common Places

In this address from our 2024 Davenant UK Convivium on "Renewing British Political Theology", Daniel Caballero (Ph.D candidate, Queen's University Belfast) delivers an overview of John Owen's understudied political theology and considers its relevance for today.

In this address from our 2024 Davenant UK Convivium on "Renewing British Political Theology", Dr. Graham Shearer, Lecturer in Theology at Union Theological College Belfast, draws on Augustine's famous distinction between things and signs to deliver as a diagnostic tool for the ills of modern British politics.

A lecture given at the 2024 UK Convivium by Oliver O'Donovan entitled "The Children of This Age and the Children of Light: A Biblical Apologia for Political Theology and a Critique of Its Traditional Defenders" In the keynote address of the 2024 Davenant UK Convivium on "Renewing British Political Theology", Prof. Oliver O'Donovan delivers an exposition of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager from Luke 16 in defense of the practice of political theology.

A lecture with Q&A given by Davenant Residential Teaching Fellow, Dr. Joseph Minich, entitled "C.S. Lewis as Historian of Religion." C.S. Lewis wore many hats: children’s author, Christian apologist, literary scholar. But can he be read as a theorist of the history of religion? And can reconstructing his theoretical history speak into contemporary controversies about the doctrine of God? By putting Lewis in conversation with some of his major influences (e.g. Owen Barfield) and by reading his fiction (Narnia, The Ransom Trilogy, Till We Have Faces) in conversation with several didactic works (especially Miracles), this lecture argues that we can in fact infer an implicit “history of religion” in Lewis that reconstructs religious knowing from the time of Adam, to the Ancient Near East, to the dawn of philosophical thought. Lewis’ implicit narrative reconstruction is likewise an attempt to situate his own modern moment within that same history. And while Lewis was not unaware of the risks of the modern projec

A Davenant Hall Fellows Lecture with Q&A offered by Prof. Ryan Hurd with a response by Dr. David Haines. In recent years, there has been a welcome resurgence of interest in Thomas Aquinas among Protestants. Many have recovered his masterwork, the Summa Theologiae, as a go-to resource for dogmatic questions. Even where they disagree with it, it has once more become an indispensable tool for doing theology. However, when reading the Summa, students can quickly max out the resources helpful for introductory learners. Careful reading on their own often hits a wall which can be difficult to climb. Students may feel they have a basic grasp of some of Aquinas’s big ideas and way of working, but sense that there is much more to be unlocked. In this lecture, Ryan Hurd gives some more advanced tips for reading the Summa and understanding the greater logic of Aquinas’s thought. Anyone desiring to go to “the next level” in understanding Aquinas will benefit. David Haines then offers a response to Ryan’s lecture, be

A lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “Non-violent Resistance for Just War Theorists” by Darren Yau. Darren is Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University. His research interests lie at the intersection of political theory and Christian political theology. Prior to joining the Religion department, Darren received a B.A. in Philosophy and a certificate in Early Christian Studies from Wheaton College.

A lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium “Rooted and Obliged: Simone Weil’s Vision for the Post-Liberal West” by Nathan Johnson. Nathan is Assistant Dean of Academics, Head of Program, and Teaching Fellow at New College Franklin in Tennessee. He is also Provost of Davenant Hall and author for The Davenant Institute’s magazine, Ad Fontes Journal.

A keynote seminar given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “Supererogation and Statecraft ” led by Dr. Eric Gregory. Dr. Gregory is Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Religious Ethics and sits with the executive committee of the University Center for Human Values. He is also author of a number of books and articles which includes Politics and the Order of Love: An Augustinian Ethic of Democratic Citizenship. His keynote address draws from his work in Augustian studies for advancing the theme of this convivium, “Christ and the Nations: A Protestant Theology of Statecraft.”

A lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “Theological Reflections on the Coronation of Charles III” by Dr. Alastair Roberts. Alastair is a teaching fellow with The Davenant Institute as well as with the Theopolis Institute. He has a Ph.D. from Durham University in the UK. He is coauthor of Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption through Scripture. His talk is a captivating explication of Scriptural themes and events on coronation with rich theological implications. The culmination of this talk on the royal office of Christ brought a capstone to the convivium theme, “Christ and the Nations: A Protestant Theology of Statecraft.”

A lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “The New England Dilemma: John Cotton, Increase Mather, and the Perils of Puritan Political Theology” by Flynn Evans. This talk was a break-out session on the theme of this convivium, “Christ and the Nations: A Protestant Theology of Statecraft.” University of Mississippi). Flynn is a graduate student in history at the University of Mississippi.

A lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “Commerce and the Order of Love: A Case for Economic Nationalism” by Jonathan Tomes. This talk was a break-out session on the theme of this convivium, “Christ and the Nations: A Protestant Theology of Statecraft.” Jonathan, former Library Manager at Baylor is the Academic Library Director for the US Army.

A lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “Schleiermacher as Protestant Political Theologian” by Enoch Kuo. Enoch is a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University. His research sits at the intersections of theology, political theory, and the history of science. This talk is a development of the theme of this convivium, “Christ and the Nations: A Protestant Theology of Statecraft.”

A keynote lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “Liberal Internationalism and the Protestant Augustinian Tradition” by Dr. Eric Gregory. Dr. Gregory is Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Religious Ethics and sits with the executive committee of the University Center for Human Values. He is also author of a number of books and articles which includes Politics and the Order of Love: An Augustinian Ethic of Democratic Citizenship. His keynote address draws from his work in Augustian studies for advancing the theme of this convivium, “Christ and the Nations: A Protestant Theology of Statecraft.”

A lecture given at the 2023 National Convivium entitled “Between Capitulation and ‘Christian Nationalism’: Looking Backward to Move Forward” by Dr. Brad Littlejohn. In this talk, Brad, President of the Davenant Institute, gave introductory remarks and welcome to this annual event. The theme for the 2023 National Convivium Irenicum was “Christ and the Nations: A Protestant Theology of Statecraft.”

A lecture with Q&A given at the Fall 2022 Convivium at the Davenant House by Joshua Janniere entitled “‘An Ordinance of Reason for the Common Good’: Junius’s Reformed Thomist Theory of Law.” The theme for this convivium was “Law and Wisdom."

A lecture given at the Spring 2023 Regional Convivium by Dr. Katherine Wyma entitled "“Resisting the ‘Machine:’ CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien as Models for Embodied Friendship in an Increasingly Encroaching Digital Age.” Dr. Wyma is Senior Lecturer of English at Anderson University in South Carolina. This talk is preview of a book Dr. Wyma has been working on related to navigating both the positives and negatives of living in a 24/7 digital environment.

A lecture given at the Spring 2023 Regional Convivium by Paul Shakeshaft entitled "C.S. Lewis: Author of Literary Criticism, Children’s Fiction, and…Papal Encyclicals? Love and Friendship in Lewis, Pieper and Ratzinger" Paul Shakeshaft is a Research Fellow with the Davenant Institute and holds an M.A. from the University of Buckingham where he was trained in philosophy by Sir Roger Scruton. He holds a J.D. from Regent University Law School and a B.A. from Elmhurst College. His popular writing has been published in Mere Orthodoxy, The Federalist, and Providence Magazine, and he is a former scholar-in-residence of the Kilns, the home of C.S. Lewis. Paul is currently on the development staff of the Manhattan Institute.

A lecture given by Robin Harris at the Spring 2023 Regional Convivium entitled "Virtue and Friendship in Jane Austen’s Emma" Robin Harris is a Bible curriculum writer based in North Carolina. This talk develops the friendship aspect of the theme of this conference, “The Inklings and the Great Conversation: Friendship through Literature.”

A lecture given at the Spring 2023 Regional Convivium by Dr. Kathryn Wagner entitled “Intellectual Friendship and Academic Vocation in The Place of the Lion, Gaudy Night, and That Hideous Strength.” Dr. Wagner is a scholar of medieval English literature and current Director of Academic Programming at the Center for Christianity and Scholarship at Duke University. This talk develops a contrast and convergence of intellectual conviviality in the work of Dorothy Sayers and C. S. Lewis.

Nathan Johnson, Provost of Davenant Hall, interviews Joshua Shaw on his upcoming courses, the significance of the Hellenistic tradition in early Christianity, and the calling of the teacher to help students climb the ladder of knowledge up to God. To register for Joshua Shaw's course on "Alexandrian Theology from Philo to Origen" please visit https://davenanthall.com/product/alexandrian-theology-from-philo-to-origen/ To register for classes or begin a degree at Davenant Hall, please visit Davenanthall.com