Common Places

The second of three sessions from Dr. Benjamin Shaw's Davenant Discussion on Ecclesiastes titled "Impermanence and Permanence: Living in an Ever-changing/Never-changing World."

The first of three sessions from Benjamin Shaw's Davenant Discussion on Ecclesiastes

A guided discussion led by Ben Miller and Alistair Roberts at the 2019 National Convivium.

A lecture given by Jared Eckert at the 2019 National Convivium 2019

A lecture given at the 2019 National Convivium by Hugh Welchel of the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics.

A Short History of Freedom, Brad Littlejohn, 2019 National Convivium 9:00 – Intro and illustration, a modern misconception of freedom 16:05 – Four key questions about freedom 22:00 – A historical overview of the concept of freedom 22:15 – Ancient Greece (quotes Hannah Arendt) 24:30 – Ancient Rome 26:25 – Medieval period 28:35 – Reformation period (quotes Dutch Stranger Churches) 30:00 – English Civil War period 31:30 – Immanuel Kant 33:10 – John Stuart Mill 36:15 – Friedrich Hayek, Isaiah Berlin 46:10 – Anthony Kennedy 46:50 – Freedom as a property of communities 47:00 – Freedom threatened by man’s inner bondage 48:30 – The distinction between power and freedom 51:40 – Oliver O’Donovan 58:10 – The need for a holistic view of liberty 59:35 – Littlejohn’s fourfold holistic view of freedom 1:10:15 – Conclusion: Christian wisdom is to balance the parts of freedom to the whole

What is a corporation? We take them for granted as fixtures of our economic life, and sometimes single them out for fervent praise or blame, but rarely pause to consider what these strange creatures are. How did they arise? What are their moral and legal rights and responsibilities? In this penetrating paper, economic historian Kyle Williams traces their early development, rival understandings of their purpose and legal status, and how they ought to contribute to our economic and social life.

A Lecture on “Liberalism, Early Modern Protestantism, and the War on Poverty” by Ian Mosley — Convivium 2019

A Discussion on “Private property, taxation, welfare—principles and prudence” guided by Brad Littlejohn and Brad Belschner — Convivium 2019

A Presentation on John Jewel's Apology against Usury by Andrew Gazal — Convivium 2019

A discussion on the Keynote address 'Sphere Sovereignty and Subsidiary' by Brian Dijkema — Convivium 2019

Money, Usury, and Debt - Convivium 2019

From March 12-15 Colin Redemer, Professor at Saint Mary's College and Teaching Fellow of the Davenant Institute, delivered the lecture "The History and Philosophy of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien." This lecture covers a brief biography of Tolkien, and three major aspects of his masterpiece: what it is doing philosophically, etymologically, and as a myth for England. The lecture was delivered to several universities throughout western Ukraine. This particular recording was delivered at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Philology Department and is followed by a Q&A.

From March 12-15 Colin Redemer, Professor at Saint Mary's College and Teaching Fellow of the Davenant Institute, delivered the lecture "What is Justice." This lecture is an exploration of the theme of justice following the major arguments of Plato's Republic. The lecture was delivered to Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Economics department and is followed by a Q&A

In this talk, Davenant Teaching Fellow Colin Redemer confronts head-on the prevalent evangelical idea that Scripture alone can tell us about the existence of God and our need for him. On the contrary, as the Apostle Paul and theologians throughout history have argued, nature itself points us toward the existence of a supreme Creator who is at the same time the final end of our existence and our highest happiness. Though we can only dimly discern God by reason, this is a real knowledge, that holds us accountable and provides us a crucial moral starting point.

As Christians have challenged the cultural ethos of the Sexual Revolution, in the popular consciousness Christianity has often become associated with a fixation upon and a negative attitude towards sex. Framed only by their opposition to our prevailing sexual culture, orthodox Christian sexual ethics can seem judgmental and even pathological. Why Christians should care so much about sex in the first place is quite unclear to many. However, as we frame the Christian challenge to the Sexual Revolution by the Christian faith’s own positive account of sex, the reasons for the opposition will become more apparent and our challenge to our culture will be more robust.

The Davenant Institute sponsored a discussion in April 2018 on the nature of church authority. The event was held in Washington DC. This is the audio of the discussion session featuring Dr. Jonathan Leeman of 9 Marks Ministries and Joseph Minich, Editor-in-Chief with the Davenant Institute.

Discussions of the Reformation are often dominated by trite cliches and boring truisms. In his recent lecture "The Reformation Beyond the Slogans" Aaron Denlinger offers his listeners a broader and more historically faithful picture of the revolution that shook 16th century Europe. This is part two of the lecture.

Discussions of the Reformation are often dominated by trite cliches and boring truisms. In his recent lecture "The Reformation Beyond the Slogans" Aaron Denlinger offers his listeners a broader and more historically faithful picture of the revolution that shook 16th century Europe. Here is part I of his lecture.

Professor Colin Redemer on Friendship, Lewis & Aristotle