Recapping Reimagining Faith and Public Life 2022
"Discerning Truth in an Untruthful World," with Jeff Bilbro and Bonnie Kristian
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about working at John Brown University is coordinating the Reimagining Faith and Public Life series. Since 2017 we’ve brought speakers to campus every fall to talk about the intersection of Christianity, politics, and culture. Planning and hosting these speakers—often from divergent ideological perspectives—is always a highlight of my academic year.
Yesterday we hosted the 2022 edition of RFPL, which we titled “Discerning Truth in an Untruthful World.” Our guests were Grove City College professor Jeff Bilbro and journalist Bonnie Kristian. Jeff is the author of several books, including Reading the Times: A Theological and Literary Inquiry into the News. Bonnie is the author of two books, including Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community. Together, these authors have a lot to talk about.
And talk they did! During their visit to campus Jeff and Bonnie had lunch with area pastors to discuss the ways in which our epistemic crisis (to borrow a term from Bonnie’s book) has influenced their congregations and their work in discipleship over the past several years. The speakers also met with a book group comprised of students and staff, where they answered questions and shared more about the writing process.
But the main event, as it is every year, was an evening conversation. Bonnie and Jeff gave initial remarks on the event’s theme, then answered from a moderator (yours truly), and finally took questions from the audience. These conversations are always thought provoking, but this year’s was especially enriching. You can watch the whole thing here:
This year’s RFPL was supported primarily by the Center for Faith and Flourishing, and also received support from two departments at John Brown University: the Honors Scholars Program, and the Office of Academic Affairs. Finally, the American Values Coalition’s Napp Nazworth was with us throughout the day and provided lunch for the speakers and pastors — make sure to check out AVC’s work, if you haven’t already done so.
Relatedly, my review of Untrustworthy is out in Law and Liberty today. Here’s how I conclude the review:
Technology may have democratized and cheapened access to the world around us, but this has come at a price. The cost so far has been deepening and seemingly irreconcilable conflicts driven by increasingly divergent perceptions of reality itself. Whether we can change course and redeem our minds, politics, and communities may depend on how seriously we take books like this one.
Not every book is written for our moment, but this one certainly is. I highly recommend checking it out.