Sightings
Items by or about Trinity Forum Fellows, Moderators, and other friends
Aikman on the New Atheism
Thu 10 Jul 2008 • Responses: 3 • by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow David Aikman, who is also Professor of History at Patrick Henry College, spoke in February for the college’s “Faith and Reason” lecture series on the “New Atheism” of writers including Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.
A press release, with links to the transcript of the text (PDF) and a free MP3 recording of the lecture, is on the college web site.
The lecture, “Weaknesses of the New Atheism,” anticipates arguments in Dr. Aikman’s new book, The Delusion of Disbelief: Why the New Atheism is a Threat to Your Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness, and will be a good introduction to that volume for people considering its purchase.
McClay at the White House
Tue 06 May 2008 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow Wilfred M. McClay recently spoke at a reception in the East Room of the White House honoring the 265th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson. You can read a transcript of his talk here, courtesy of the Ethics & Public Policy Center.
So let it be for his ideas that we honor Jefferson, above all else. And for the cause of human freedom and human dignity that he so eloquently championed. His failings may weigh against the man, but not against the cause for which he labored so heroically. That should be a lesson to us today. Like Jefferson, we all are carriers of purposes far larger than we know. Purposes whose full realization cannot be achieved in our lifetime, or even be fully understood by us, but which we are called to carry forward as faithfully as we can—as charges to keep.
Johnston on Speaking of Faith
Tue 06 May 2008 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow Douglas Johnston was featured on a recent edition of the public radio program, Speaking of Faith. The greatest threat in the post-Cold War world, he says, is the prospective marriage of religious extremism with weapons of mass destruction. Yet the U.S. spends most of its time, resources, and weapons fighting the symptoms of this threat, not the cause. The diplomacy of the future, he is showing, must engage religion as part of the strategic solution to global conflicts.
Guroian on Speaking of Faith
Fri 06 Apr 2007 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow Vigen Guroian is featured on the Good Friday edition of Public Radio’s Speaking of Faith.
The program is entitled “Restoring the Senses: Life, Gardening, and an Orthodox Easter” Topics touch on history, theology, liturgy, gardening, and literature—including the Chronicles of Narnia.
“Theologian Vigen Guroian experiences Easter as ‘a call to our senses.’ We’ll explore his Eastern Orthodox sensibility that is at once more mystical and more earthy than the Christianity dominant in Western culture. And at this time of year and beyond, Vigen Guroian does real theology in his garden as richly as in church.”
The program’s website includes audio (MP3, streaming, and podcast) as well as selected excerpts from Dr. Guroian’s writings and other resources. It will make a good meditation on this Good Friday and Easter weekend and includes some wonderful music.
Worries About Europe
Wed 13 Dec 2006 by Al McDonald
A response from the founding chairman of the Trinity Forum.
Dear Trinity Forum Friends:
This is to commend the fine essay by David Aikman on “Civilization and Crisis and Europe’s Choices.” It is a superbly reasoned piece that I fully endorse. My only reservation is that the threat of Islamic extremism is certainly as grave as David suggests and he may have even understated the danger.
My worries about Europe are even greater than David’s expressed concerns. I suspect Europe’s only chance to counter the infiltration and ultimate force of the Islamic youth movement and immigration is with a solid Christian revival as David mentioned has happened before historically. Yet, at the moment I see little acceptance in Europe by the general public or governmental officials of Christianity or even its basic tenets, ignoring almost completely the deep Christian roots that have shaped Europe’s enormous success near the pinnacle of civilization for many generations.
Kreeft Audio from Academy Week Away
Thu 16 Nov 2006 by TTF Staff
Peter Kreeft’s website is now making available MP3 audio from (some of) his talks at an Academy Week Away event in June 2005 where he talked about the worldview revealed in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
The lectures include question-and-answer time and feature material from Kreeft’s book, The Philosophy of Tolkien.
- Fated and Free—integration of predestination and freewill; an insightful perspective via Lord of the Rings
- Identity—The paradoxical nature of self
- Language of Beauty—Prose that no writer will want to miss! The power of words revealed by Lord of the Rings
Lennox on Dawkins
Tue 14 Nov 2006 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow John Lennox has a downloadable audio lecture and seminar discussing Richard Dawkins and his views on God, religion, and science.
The 2005 lecture is an MP3 hosted at bethinking.org. It’s 29 MB and runs over two hours, including questions and answers.
Cromartie and Loconte on Evangelicals in the Washington Post
Thu 09 Nov 2006 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellows Michael Cromartie and Joseph Loconte have an op-ed in the 8 November 2006 Washington Post.
“Let’s Stop Stereotyping Evangelicals”:
Of course it’s true that a handful of Christian figures reinforce the worst stereotypes of the movement. Their loopy and triumphalist claims are seized upon by lazy journalists and the direct-mail operatives of political opponents.
Yet it is dishonest to disparage the massive civic and democratic contribution of evangelicals by invoking the excesses of a tiny few.
Russ Talk on Imagination
Wed 25 Oct 2006 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow Dan Russ spoke in 2005 at a Texas conference on the Inklings.
Audio (MP3) from his two lectures is available at SermonAudio.com. The talks are titled “Theology of the Imagination” and “Theology thru the Imagination: The Works of C.S. Lewis”
Speaking of Civility
Thu 20 Jul 2006 by Peter Edman
Speaking of the tone of the stem cell debate, Senior Fellow Joseph Loconte has a piece in today’s National Review Online on the topic.
He manages to find an opponent of the President’s decision that is speaking responsibly—a sharp and depressing contrast with most of their fellows on this issue.
