On this special bonus episode, a group of theology faculty discuss a project that we’re about to start here at Dordt University, in which we spend the academic year reading through John Calvin’s Institutes of Christian Religion. To orient everyone for the well-over thousand page journey that is the Institutes, we talked a bit about:

• Calvin's biography
• Our first exposure to Calvin and the Institutes
• Common (mis)conceptions about Calvin - on TULIP, austerity, and the execution of Servetus
• A brief history of the Institutes, how they are organized and introduced
• Helpful tips for reading the Institutes

If you are interested in reading along during this academic year, here are some resources:

Our reading schedule: https://shorturl.at/Yow8x

Calvin's Institutes (2 volume Battles edition)

Calvin's Institutes (1 volume Beveridge edition)

Calvin's Institutes online edition (CCEL/Beveridge)

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with David Bahnsen, author of the book Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life. Bahnsen argues that rather than seeking to “balance” work with life, we should see work as a vital component of life, something be received and offered as a gift for the good of neighbor and the glory of God. Among the topics we discuss:

• Why we operate with a low, transactional view of work
• The effects of the fall on the way we experience work
• The relationship of money and meaning, and of success and significance.
• What it means to say that all honest work is "full time ministry" or "kingdom service"
• The relationship of work to ambition and to rest
• The future of work, especially in light of emerging technologies

More about the book: https://www.fulltimebook.com/

On this episode of the podcast, I talk with Professor Nancy Pearcey about her new book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes. It’s a rich conversation that draws on a wealth of social scientific and historical research about masculinity. Among the topics we discuss:

• The diagnosis of "toxic masculinity" and when the diagnosis itself becomes an attack on men
• The cultural perception of what it means to be a "good man" vs. a "real man"
• The significant divergence of research findings when it comes to committed Christian men and nominal Christian men
• Historical roots of the masculine crisis in industrialization and social Darwinism
• The significance of the rise of "alpha male" influencers like Andrew Tate
• Counsel for families, parents, and pastors in addressing the crisis of masculinity

Get the book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-War-Masculinity-Christianity-Reconciles/dp/0801075734

More on Professor Pearcey: Nancy Pearcey's latest book is The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes. Her earlier books include Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality, The Soul of Science, Saving Leonardo, Finding Truth, and two ECPA Gold Medallion Award Winners: How Now Shall We Live (coauthored with Harold Fickett and Chuck Colson) and Total Truth. Her books have been translated into 20 languages. She is professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. A former agnostic, Pearcey has spoken at universities such as Princeton, Stanford, USC, and Dartmouth. She has been quoted in The New Yorker and Newsweek, highlighted as one of the five top women apologists by Christianity Today, and hailed in The Economist as "America's pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual."