Well Read Christian
Mark Stanley
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Top 10 Well Read Christian Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Well Read Christian episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Well Read Christian for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Well Read Christian episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
The Greatest Defense of Free Speech (John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty”)
Well Read Christian
09/23/21 • 39 min
John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) penned the most powerful and winsome defense of the freedom of speech, but it is not without its presuppositions. Those assumptions have eroded in our culture, which means the freedom of speech is eroding, too. Are human beings mouthpieces of power and prejudice, or is the truth a valuable common ground from which we can evaluate each other’s ideas? Mill concludes that censorship is hubris and indoctrination is cowardice.
Links
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The Presumption of Atheism
Well Read Christian
05/21/20 • 27 min
From Ricky Gervais to reputable scholars, the contemporary trend for atheists is to argue for the assumption of atheism to avoid the burden of proof. But is it true that atheism doesn’t make a knowledge claim, and therefore is the rational starting point? Should we presume atheism when examining worldviews? Does atheism get a pass when shouldering the burden of proof? Does arguing for God sound a lot like arguing for Bigfoot? Definitions, details and discussion to follow.
Links
Visit our website: https://www.wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: https://www.wellreadchristian.com/blog
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Solzhenitsyn: Introduction to The Gulag Archipelago (1/3)
Well Read Christian
05/20/21 • 42 min
Aleksander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) is one of the most important writers of the 20th century for his extensive writings which exposed the lies of the Soviet Union with courage, conviction and character. From the warfront for the motherland, to the slave labor camps, and then into exile, Solzhenitsyn absorbed the experience of an entire nation and documents the atrocities committed in the name of overthrowing class oppressors. Along the way, he learns that good and evil runs not between party lines, class, or race, but through the middle of each human heart.
Episode Notes
- The featured painting is an oil on canvas by Boris Kustodiev called "Celebration Marking the Opening of the 2nd Congress of the Comintern on Uritsky Square in Petrograd on 19 June 1920." It was painted in 1921. It is on display at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg
- The featured piece is by Sergey Rachmaninov, a Russian composer of the 20th century. The piece is called Piano Concerto #2 in C Minor, Op. 18. Rachmaninov escaped Russia after the socialist revolution of 1918 and settled in the United States. It seemed fitting to select a Russian composer who fled Russia following the socialist revolution. Plus, it is my favorite piece of all time.
Frankl: Finding Meaning In Everyday Life (2/2)
Well Read Christian
07/16/20 • 55 min
Is the meaning of life something which can actually affect our daily lives, or is it an abstraction for philosophers? Viktor Frankl is convinced that a lack of meaning causes depression, addiction, aggression and boredom. He believes the key to finding meaning is realizing that life’s meaning is not a question that you ask life, it is a question that life asks you. Even the task of suffering courageously can be a means of fulfillment. Our sole and brief life offers one chance to act rightly before being forever sealed into the past. The task of being worthy of your sufferings, if that is your fate, might not be so meaningless after all.
Episode Notes
- The featured watercolor is called One Spring by Karl Robert Bodek (1905–1942) and Kurt Conrad Löw (1914–1980), who survived the Gurs concentration camp. It was painted in 1941.
Links
Visit our website: https://www.wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: https://www.wellreadchristian.com/blog
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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGxz4OH1-hVD0fL9AWR4Xg
Aesthetics: A Christian Philosophy of Art (3/3)
Well Read Christian
11/12/20 • 40 min
What is the difference between art and propaganda? What makes some painters better than others? A Christian philosophy of art is desperately needed in our ugly and twisted culture. Francis Schaeffer, the Christian thinker of the 20th century, has valuable insights on how to judge art, as well as practical advise for art appreciation and Christian artists today. In this final installment, we bring together the final pieces of a Christian philosophy of art.
Episode Notes
- The featured oil on canvas is called Girl With the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). It was painted in 1665.
- The featured piece is Claire De Lune by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), a French neo-classical romantic composer. This is one of my favorite pieces of all time, from one of my favorite all-time composers.
Links
Visit our website: https://www.wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: https://www.wellreadchristian.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellreadchristian
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WellReadChrist1
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGxz4OH1-hVD0fL9AWR4Xg
Nietzsche: Introduction to Genealogy of Morals (1/3)
Well Read Christian
09/12/19 • 51 min
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is one of the most radical, untamed and influential philosophers of all time. Often categorized as an Existentialist, Nietzsche is remembered for his blistering and unapologetic denouncement of religion, especially Christianity. Nietzsche declared that “God is dead” and spent a large portion of his intellectual efforts demolishing the remnants of Christianity’s influence, including the moral framework established by two thousand years of cultural dominance. Genealogy of Morals is one of his last works, and seeks to expose the sinister roots of Christian ethics, explore the true rise of morality among humans, and predict the inevitable collapse of society into nihilism until a “Superman” will lead humanity to greater heights.
Notes
- The featured painting is an oil on canvas by Caspar David Friedrich, painted in 1818. It is titled, "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog." I selected it because it is widely considered one of the greatest masterpieces from the Romantic Era––an era that was destroyed by the horrors of the 20th century. Furthermore, it seems to beautifully symbolize man as Nietzsche sees him. A lone wanderer navigating a mysterious and unknown future. The tone and color matches Nietzsche's work brilliantly.
- The featured piece is by Hanz Liszt, a Hungarian composer of the 19th century and contemporary of Nietzsche. The piece, Sonata in B Minor, is one of the most influential and powerful sonatas after Beethoven's. Similarly to the chosen artwork, it, too, marks the best and last one of its kind before the death of Romanticism after World War 1.
Links
Visit our website: https://www.wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: https://www.wellreadchristian.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellreadchristian
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WellReadChrist1
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGxz4OH1-hVD0fL9AWR4Xg
Aesthetics: C. S. Lewis on Judging & Enjoying Art (2/3)
Well Read Christian
10/08/20 • 40 min
In his book An Experiment in Criticism (1961), C. S. Lewis suggests that instead of judging a book by how it was written, we should judge it on the kind of reading it inspires. If readers are deepened, continually drawn back to the work, only to find they love it more and more, then it is a good book. If not, then it is merely a book fit for entertainment, not a true piece of art. On Lewis’ view, beauty is transcendent, but art is personal. What if this philosophy was extrapolated to encompass all art? And what is Lewis’ view on the importance of art? Is art something which helps develop us, or does it merely provide a kind of escape from reality?
Episode Notes
- The featured oil on canvas is called Girl With the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). It was painted in 1665.
- The featured piece is Claire De Lune by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), a French neo-classical romantic composer. This is one of my favorite pieces of all time, from one of my favorite all-time composers.
Links
Visit our website: https://www.wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: https://www.wellreadchristian.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellreadchristian
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WellReadChrist1
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGxz4OH1-hVD0fL9AWR4Xg
Aesthetics: Art, Beauty, and the Good Life (1/3)
Well Read Christian
09/10/20 • 51 min
If The Odyssey is so good that it is still in print after thousands of years, don’t you think it might be worth a read? If Bach is still treasured 250 years after his death, would you consider that there is something you’re missing? The question of art and beauty is not abstract and philosophical, it immediately concerns what it means to live a good life and enjoy the best possible experiences. The postmodern axiom, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, turns out to threaten your happiness! The Christian impulse, which sees beauty in the universe, grounded in the nature of God, once again matches our deepest intuitions and our critical conclusions about art, beauty and the good life.
Episode Notes
- The featured oil on canvas is called Girl With the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). It was painted in 1665.
- The featured piece is Claire De Lune by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), a French neo-classical romantic composer. This is one of my favorite pieces of all time, from one of my favorite all-time composers.
Links
Visit our website: https://www.wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: https://www.wellreadchristian.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellreadchristian
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WellReadChrist1
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGxz4OH1-hVD0fL9AWR4Xg
Why Christians Should Read Literature (feat. Well Read Catholic)
Well Read Christian
08/13/20 • 41 min
Episode Summary
The Well Read Christian (Mark Stanley) and The Well Read Catholic (Patrick Callahan) come together to discuss Christianity, our long heritage of reading and benefiting from classic literature, church history, our favorite Great Books, and more!
Well Read Catholic Links!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellreadcatholic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellreadcatholic/?hl=en
Find them on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Our Links
Visit our website: https://www.wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: https://www.wellreadchristian.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellreadchristian
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/WellReadChrist1
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGxz4OH1-hVD0fL9AWR4Xg
Tolstoy: What Can Beauty Teach Us? (3/4)
Well Read Christian
08/15/19 • 45 min
EPISODE SUMMARY
There are brief moments in our lives where we are thrust out of ourselves and granted to see life as exceptionally magnificent, but also too close to touch, and impossible to fathom. For some people, it is love, poetry, friendship or maybe a film which causes us to see our world as a beautiful and cohesive whole for a fleeting and mysterious moment. For Andrei, it is the sky over a battlefield, a few notes in a song, and the cold grip of death. What do these moments of profound insight and deep emotion show us about life?
EPISODE NOTES
- Buy War and Peace and actually read (or listen) to it! You won't regret it.
- See our full introduction to the series and more information on our website. wellreadchristian.com/tolstoys-war-and-peace
- The intro music for this series is a section from a piece by Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844—1908) titled The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship. Rimsky-Korsakov was a contemporary of Leo Tolstoy and my favorite Russian composer of the era. I hope you enjoy the segment and the podcast.
- The artwork is titled Battle of Moscow, 7th September 1812, painted in 1822 by Louis-François Lejeune.
- Episode title changed from "What Can Our Intuitions Tell Us About Reality?" to "What Can Beauty Teach Us?" on 8/20/19
Links
Visit our website: wellreadchristian.com
Check our our blog: wellreadchristian.com/blog
facebook: facebook.com/wellreadchristian
twitter: twitter.com/WellReadChrist1
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FAQ
How many episodes does Well Read Christian have?
Well Read Christian currently has 48 episodes available.
What topics does Well Read Christian cover?
The podcast is about Christianity, Literature, Beauty, Classic Literature, Apologetics, Religion & Spirituality, God, Classic, Podcasts, Books, Education, Philosophy, Jesus and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Well Read Christian?
The episode title 'Aesthetics: Art, Beauty, and the Good Life (1/3)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Well Read Christian?
The average episode length on Well Read Christian is 45 minutes.
How often are episodes of Well Read Christian released?
Episodes of Well Read Christian are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of Well Read Christian?
The first episode of Well Read Christian was released on Jul 30, 2019.
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