The Good Life

Looking Into the Cosmos with Edgar Allan Poe - Dr. Harry Poe

Today I had the privilege to speak with Dr. Hal Poe, a professor at Union University in Jackson, TN. Dr. Poe is a distant relation to Edgar Allan Poe, the poet and short story writer. Dr. Poe is the author of Evermore, a fascinating book about his older cousin. Today we discuss the wide-ranging talent of this often-misunderstood writer. There are so many interesting things about Poe that it's hard to know where to begin. For instance, did you know that:

• Edgar Allan Poe wrote more humorous stories than horror stories.
• Dorothy Sayers considered him the father of the mystery story.
• Poe's life closely parallels that of C.S. Lewis leading up to Lewis's conversion.
• He wrote a book about the cosmos where he explains a general theory of relativity, one hundred years before Einstein produced it.

If your view of Edgar Allan Poe was only formed by your public school literature class, after you listen to this interview you'll never see him the same way again. 

 

• Evermore: Edgar Allan Poe and the Mystery of the Universe
• Bonus Article: C.S. Lewis Was a Secret Government Agent

 

Money, Politics, and the Rise of Evangelicalism with Jake Nelson

How did Evangelicalism become the cultural force that it is? How did it come to be associated with conservatism? What role does money play in the growth of religious consciousness in America? These are just some of the questions I discuss with today's guest, Jake Nelson. Jake has an M.A. from the University of Tennessee and has written on the rise of Evangelicalism in the early 1900s. If you're interested in the relationship between money, politics, and Christianity, this is a podcast for you. 

• One Nation Under God - Kevin Kruse
• Anointed with Oil - Darren Dochuk
• American Apocalypse - Matthew Avery Sutton
• God's Own Party - Daniel K. Williams

Wholly Citizens with Joel Biermann

How do we serve God and live in the world? What relationship should the church have with the state? My guest today, Joel Biermann, answers those questions and more in his book, Wholly Citizens. Joel is a professor at Concordia Seminary, where he teaches systematic theology. Our discussion features a two-kingdom approach, but nothing like the two-kingdom view many of us have heard. He emphasizes the Reformation view of Martin Luther, as well as that of Calvin, in illustrating the robust relationship between church and state.  

• Wholly Citizens
• The first of 3 Lectures on the Wholly Citizens, delivered at Concordia Seminary (to see lectures two and three, click "Next" at the top right-hand corner). 

The Season of Lent

Why do some Christians observe Lent? What is the point of fasting/asceticism? In this podcast, I talk briefly about the purpose of Ash Wednesday/Lent in the Church calendar and how it can help us become more like Christ. 

Becoming Aggressively Happy with Joy Clarkson

Today I am joined by Joy Clarkson. You may recognize her last name (she's the daughter of Sally Clarkson), but her writing stands on its own. She's written a wonderful book by the title of, Aggressively Happy.  In this episode, we discuss why she would call her book such a unique name, the necessary role of sadness in pursuing a happy life, and why living with the end of the world in mind is a good thing. Joy recently graduated from St. Andrews in Scotland with her Ph.D. in theology and will soon take a job teaching in London. 

• Aggressively Happy
• A collection of Joy's articles can be found here. 
• Her podcast, Speaking with Joy

The Reactionary Mind with Michael Warren Davis

What is a reactionary and why would anybody claim to be one? That's the question I discuss today with Michael Warren Davis, author of The Reactionary Mind: Why Conservative Isn't Enough. Michael has written for Crisis, The American Conservative, and many other magazines. He describes a reactionary not as one pining for a return to a pristine order, but who purposefully reorients one's life toward what is eternal. We discuss the Middle Ages, Savonarola, the Puritans, and others who teach us how societal blessings come to those who pursue eternal things.

The Reactionary Mind

Articles at The American Conservative

 

The Gift of Christmas

In this bonus episode, I read an article by David Frost, entitled, "Christmas Offers a Glimpse of a World That is Lost" from The Telegraph, a UK newspaper. He tells the story of a Christmas carol written in 1400 and later lost but was rediscovered in the mountains of Appalachia. There is a deeper meaning behind the story as well.

Merry Christmas!

What Are Christians to Do? - Rod Dreher

Rod Dreher joins me for a wide-ranging discussion of his previous book, The Benedict Option , and his most recent book, Live Not By Lies. We talk about what changed between his writing the two books, how Christians choose to sleepwalk through much of the cultural onslaught, and what we should do in preparation for what is coming. 

 

Books: 

The Benedict Option

Live Not By Lies

Blog

The American Conservative

 

Inoculation vs. Insulation: How do we prepare our children for living in the world?

In our recent paideia sermon series, we looked at many passages that give us wisdom when training our children. This article by John Stonestreet at the Colson Center speaks to that topic. He contrasts inoculation with indoctrination as two methods of preparing our children to be "in the world but not of it." In this episode, I cover the article's highlights and offer some brief commentary on why parents should guide their kids through cultural questions rather than pretending those questions don't exist. 

A Practical Guide to Culture - John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle

 

Grace and Gratitude

These are just a few thoughts on the need to cultivate gratitude since it doesn't come naturally. I read a brief article by my friend Brandon Meeks on showing God's love to the least around us and talk about our responsibility to look beyond ourselves and see how we too can show God's grace to others. 

 

Brandon Meeks' Substack Newsletter