Believe to See

We speak with Evangeline Denmark, author of Curio, about Gothic fiction from the Bronte sisters to Beauty and the Beast.

We talk with violinist Terri Moon about what the Baroque view of music can teach us today.

"Keeping Advent" founder Ian Speir explains what the liturgical calendar teaches us about art. http://www.keepingadvent.com/

Novelist Ashlee Cowles discusses young adult fiction: what it is, and why it's important.

In this debut episode, hosts Matt Mellema and Marcus Robinson explain the Believe to See Podcast and what we'll be doing with it.

In this episode, we talk with guest Brian Brown about the reasons for the Anselm Society, how an Arts Guild works, challenges facing artists in the church, and even whether some traditions are more hospitable to the arts than others. We also talk about whether Shakespeare's language should be updated, and what we've been reading and listening to lately. Music links Brian mentions: New College Oxford Christmas album: https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Carols-College-Oxford-Higginbottom/dp/B0012JT6DU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481127453&sr=8-2&keywords=new+college+oxford+christmas Chanticleer Christmas album: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Hearts-Joy-Chanticleer-Christmas/dp/B001L5M5A6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481127407&sr=8-2&keywords=chanticleer+christmas

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were members of a group called the Inklings--writers who met to challenge and inspire each other in their work. Yet despite widespread appreciation for their writing, and even though many work tirelessly for the Kingdom, few Christians today choose to make their most precious thoughts, work, and identities vulnerable to the criticism of others. This talk exploded myths about the Inklings, showed where you can see Lewis in Middle Earth and Tolkien in Narnia, and most importantly, revealed how Christians today can learn to cut through shallow praise and truly sharpen each other as iron on iron. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Did you enjoy our events with Michael Ward and Malcolm Guite? Then you'll love this evening with the third part of the trifecta. Their friend Diana Glyer is also a powerful speaker, Lewis/Tolkien/Inklings expert, and profound contributor to the scene of the Christian imagination. Diana is a professor of English at Azusa Pacific University, where she teaches on literature and theology. She has published extensively on Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings, including contributions to The C. S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia and C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy. She is the recipient of the Wade Center's Clyde S. Kilby Research Grant (1997) and APU's Chase A. Sawtell Inspirational Teaching Award (2002). Her latest book is "Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings. More info: http://www.anselmsociety.org/events/2015/7/17/diana-glyer

The opening lines of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri launched Rod Dreher on a journey that rescued him from exile and saved his life. Dreher found that the medieval poem offered him a surprisingly practical way of solving modern problems. Following the death of his little sister and the publication of his New York Times bestselling memoir The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, Dreher found himself living in the small community of Starhill, Louisiana where he grew up. But instead of the fellowship he hoped to find, he discovered that fault lines within his family had deepened. Dreher spiraled into depression and a stress-related autoimmune disease. Doctors told Dreher that if he didn’t find inner peace, he would destroy his health. Soon after, he came across The Divine Comedy in a bookstore. In the months that followed, Dante helped Dreher understand the mistakes and mistaken beliefs that had torn him down and showed him that he had the power to change his life. Dreher knows firsthand the solace and strength that can be found in Dante’s great work, and distills its wisdom for those who are lost in the dark wood of depression, struggling with failure (or success), wrestling with a crisis of faith, alienated from their families or communities, or otherwise enduring the sense of exile that is the human condition. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Rod Dreher is nationally famous as a "localist" and proponent of Christians creating communities that stand as a beacon of hope to the world around them. His new book on Dante is absolutely wonderful, and keeps getting better as it goes. It's a privilege to have him here to talk with us. Rod is a senior editor at The American Conservative and the author of How Dante Can Save Your Life, Crunchy Cons, and The Little Way of Ruthie Leming. His work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Post, the Dallas Morning News, National Review, First Things, and the Wall Street Journal, and broadcast on NPR’s All Things Considered and BBC Radio. He lives in St. Francisville, Louisiana, with his wife Julie and their three children. More info: http://www.anselmsociety.org/events/2015/10/30/how-dante-can-save-your-life

We've all been moved by something beautiful, be it the majestic glory of a snow-capped mountain or the homey chords of a country song. And most of us have been told that beauty can point us to God. But this often clashes with how we’re used to approaching God, where we’ve taught ourselves that beyond our daily bread, it is only the invisible and spiritual that matter. How would God have us think about beauty? We often find God in unexpected places, but are there places we should expect to find Him? Can we balance the earthly beauty that moves us and the God of beauty that made it? In this conversation, dynamic speaker Junius Johnson will explore why beauty moves and inspires us, and how we were made to encounter God more deeply through it. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Junius Johnson is a scholar, freelance writer, and musician. His captivating conversation with us during his last visit kept an entire room on their toes as our ideas were challenged and strengthened. And that was before he started an exploration of the moral themes in the Marvel superhero movies! Junius is assistant professor of historical theology at Baylor University. He previously taught sacred music at Yale Divinity School, where he was affiliated with our friends at the Rivendell Institute. More info: http://www.anselmsociety.org/events/2015/2/21/does-beauty-matter

We see strangers more often than friends, sit in gridlock more often than in conversation, and hunger for a deeper community we have never seen. Like the character Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, we know isolation far better than we know communion. Yet communion was designed to shape us as individuals and communities. An evening with award-winning poet Scott Cairns, Guggenheim Fellow and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow. Using his own poetry and prose, Scott will explore how we can recover the crucially communal way in which we must understand our identity. More info: http://www.anselmsociety.org/events/2015/9/5/a-hunger-for-communion