Common Places

A lecture with Q&A by Davenant Institute Vice-President, Colin Redemer, entitled "Old Aristotle, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Aquinas." Everyone knows that Aristotle left us a completed ethical system. What this lecture presupposes is, maybe he didn't? A close reading of Aristotle shows that his theory is constantly friscalating near the edge of completion, but that the author is self-aware of his system as flawed. In this lecture, Colin Redemer demonstrates Aristotle's self-aware shortcomings, before pivoting to see how Thomas Aquinas, in the first part of the second part, question 4, of the Summa Theologiae, responds to Aristotle's system of thought. The ways in which Aquinas' theory fulfills the dream of eudaimonia from Aristotle's ethical system will be revealed by shining the light of divine revelation upon it.

A lecture with Q&A by Davenant Hall Teaching Fellow, Dr. Michael J. Lynch entitled "Calvinism and Thomism: Friends or Foes? An Early Modern Consensus on Predestination, Reprobation, and Free Choice." Roman Catholic and Reformed theologians alike have assumed and even argued that one of the differences demarcating these two traditions concerns the hotly debated doctrines of predestination and free choice. Predestination, with its focus on the inscrutable grace of God, is often associated with a stern and austere John Calvin. Free choice, on the other hand, is associated with his Roman Catholic opponents indebted to Thomas Aquinas, emphasizing whenever possible the necessity of man's exercise of his will. Yet, what if early modern Calvinists talked like Thomists and early modern Thomists talked like Calvinists? In this lecture, Dr. Lynch demonstrates that early modern Catholics and Protestants were not only asking all the same basic questions related to predestination and free choice but that the Reformed an

“Calvin on Divine Love and Human Litigation” with Eric G. Enlow (Dean, Handong University Law School)

“21 Disputed Theses on the Subject of Religious Liberty”, Bradford Littlejohn (President, the Davenant Institute)

“A Protestant Integralism? Lessons from Puritan New England” with Timon Cline Law Clerk (Office of New Jersey Attorney General)

“The Virtues and Vices of Private Property” with C. Scott Pryor (Professor of Law, Campbell University)

“Originalism and Judicial Restraint: Lessons from the Lutheran Reformation" with John Ehrett (Counsel, Office of US Senator Josh Hawley)

Davenant Discussions, Friendship, Forgiveness, and Repentance - Nick Higgins (Session 1) by Davenant Trust

Davenant Discussions, Finding Unity - Nick Higgins (Session 2) by Davenant Trust

Davenant Discussions, Between Legalism and Antinomianism - Rev. Dr. Jady Koch by Davenant Trust

Davenant Discussions, Ancient Temple Theologies in Light of the Old Testament - Dr. Sam Negus by Davenant Trust

Davenant Discussions, Where Shall Anthropology Be Found in Wisdom? - Dr. Benjamin Quinn by Davenant Trust

Davenant Discussions, The Doctrine of Assurance - Dr. Jonathan Master (Session 1) by Davenant Trust

Davenant Discussions, The Doctrine of Assurance - Dr. Jonathan Master (Session 2) by Davenant Trust

A lecture with Q&A by Davenant Hall Teaching Fellow, Ryan Hurd. The sheer and utter delight of the theologian is knowing and speaking of God. As we consider the development of theology as a science or formalized discipline, we find that two things are especially important: the making of categories in theology, and of habits in the theologian. Analogous to Aristotle’s "Ten Categories", or even the Transcendentals, the development of categories was the production of adequate or reduced summaries which sweep in everything within both the natural and supernatural orders in a condensed fashion. After centuries of sweat and no small genius, the “divine names” and “trinitarian notions,” in the natural and supernatural order respectively, resulted. For example, we find the divine names “simplicity, infinity", and others of that sort; “wisdom, goodness, and others of that sort”; “incorporeality, impassibility", and others of that sort; “reasoning, laughing", and others of that sort: these adequately reduce everythin

A lecture with Q&A by Davenant Press Editor-in-chief (and Davenant Hall instructor) Onsi Kamel entitled "The Birth of Secularity: Henry More, Metaphysics, and the Battle for God's Spirit." In recent decades, intellectual historians have attempted to chart the development of “secular modernity,” generally locating its origins in medieval or Protestant metaphysics. Key claims of these genealogies crumble under scrutiny, not least of all blaming the Reformation for a metaphysical revolution. And yet the metaphysical gulf separating the medieval and modern periods is undeniable: the world of Kant and Schleiermacher is not the world of Albertus Magnus and Duns Scotus. If historians wish to better understand the development of secularity, a more helpful entry point is a seventeenth-century debate about the immateriality of the soul, the nature of space, and the spirit of God. Central to this debate was Henry More (1614 - 1687), a Cambridge Platonist philosopher now largely forgotten, but prominent in his lifetime.

A lecture with Q&A by Davenant Teaching Fellow, Dr. Matthew Hoskins Today, Christians must defend the idea that Christ is God. Yet for much of church history, they had to defend the idea that he is human. How, and why, did they do it? In this lecture, Dr. Matthew Hoskin explores how the last four of the Seven Ecumenical Councils upheld the truth that God really became flesh. Beginning with the confession of "one person in two natures" from Chalcedon (451), the lecture will then explore its influence on the symphonic vision of Maximus the Confessor and Constantinople III (681), and how John of Damascus and Nicaea II (787) articulated the full impact of the incarnation and God's intrusion into our lives and our worship. Understanding these councils will cause us to bow in worship of the Triune God and his works as we celebrate Christmas.

A lecture with Q&A by Davenant Teaching Fellow, Rev. Dr. Matthew Colvin entitled "The Real Jesus Code: Subtlety and Indirection in Jesus' Communication. Given how familiar Christians are with the Gospels, it is remarkable how much of Jesus' communication - both spoken and unspoken - still puzzles us. How can we make sense of Christ's most puzzling moments of teaching? In this lecture, Dr. Matthew Colvin explores neglected nuances of Jesus’ communication - specifically, moments involving indirection, whether verbally or by the use of coded symbols. After discussing the motives for indirection, the lecture will consider these communications by using Second Temple and Rabbinic Jewish sources to illuminate their meaning with new nuance and vividness.

A lecture with Q&A by Davenant Teaching Fellow, Eric Hutchinson entitled "Maps of Misreading: The Hidden Influence of Horace in Augustine’s Confessions." Augustine's engagement with the poet Virgil in the "Confessions" has been much researched. On the other hand, his engagement with another great Roman poet, Horace, has been almost entirely neglected. Yet we know Augustine read Horace; at key points in the "Confessions", he refers to and alludes to his poetry. The time has come to reappraise Horace's influence on Augustine. In this lecture, Dr. E.J. Hutchinson will specifically explore how knowledge of Horace's influence illuminates Augustine's famed comparison of himself to Virgil's wandering hero Aeneas. A close reading of a unique Latin phrase lifted directly from Horace's "Odes" reveals that Augustine does not want his readers to think of the "Aeneid" alone in a simple or straightforward way. Instead, he uses Horace, and particularly one of Horace's poems about Virgil, to formulate his own nuanced respo

"Teaching Books, Teaching Arts: A View of Classical Christian Literary Training" - Joshua Patch by Davenant Trust