L’Abri Rochester

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Can America Be Reformed When The University Is The Source Of Darkness? - Vishal Mangalwadi    Vishal Mangalwadi is an Indian philosopher and social reformer who has written several popular books on the Bible’s seismic influence. Vishal has lectured in over 40 countries, published seventeen books (including The Book That Made Your World), and contributed to...

The first verses in Genesis 6 appear to be a brief and truncated prelude to the Flood narrative. Because of its brevity, there have been varying interpretations of the nature of the 'sons of god and the daughters of men' mentioned in this perplexing narrative. Interestingly, the passage is expanded upon in the New Testament (2 Peter and Jude), and especially in the extra-biblical book of I Enoch,...

The role of alcohol in the Bible is a contentious topic, with even greater debates attending the question of how we might apply the biblical material to our lives. Dr. John Anthony Dunne will be addressing this topic with readings from the final chapter of his forthcoming book, Mountains Shall Drip Sweet Wine: A Biblical Theology of Alcohol, which will be published by Zondervan next year. John Ant...

One of the dismissive phrases that has powerfully gripped our culture lately is “We rely on the science.” This is often uttered by people who have no idea what it even means; nevertheless, there is a great confusion between basing things on knowledge and basing things on faith. These are often seen as conflicting: knowledge comes from science whereas religious belief comes from faith. This just me...

In her lovely book, L’Abri (1969), Edith Schaeffer writes that she and Francis determined the purpose of L’Abri would be “To show forth by demonstration, in our life and work, the existence of God.” It sometimes appears that being a disciple of Jesus can be summarized in a series of classes or booklets, so that we become effective in such habits as prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, and living a s...

Dostoevsky said that beauty would save the world. But how? What does this mean? We can begin to apprehend what Dostoevsky so profoundly said only when we understand what it means to have a Christian poetic and once we have grappled with the nature of true Beauty. However, lest we relegate Beauty to a dry lecture, we will read through Flannery O'Connor's short story, 'Parker's Back', which displays...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Responding to the Inevitable Unravelling of Higher Education - Greg Jesson The forth and final of our interim 'conference highlights' series, Professor Greg Jesson asks how we should define and respond to the great shifts in higher education. Greg recently retired from teaching philosophy at Luther College and the University of Iowa. He was also the Directo...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The University Next Door - Christian Education in the Modern World of Identity Politics - Mike Sugimoto The third in our interim 'conference highlights' series, Professor Mike Sugimoto discusses the growing and tumultuous presence of identity politics within universities and its relationship to Christian education. Insightful, witty and well-paced, this lec...

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - The Foundations of Liberal Education: On the Birth and Purpose of the Medieval University - John Hodges - Rochester L'Abri Conference The second in our interim 'conference highlights' series, this lecture looks again to the past in order to fully understand our present. A fascinating insight into the origins of Liberal Education during the Medieval period....

2023 Conference Highlights: Higher Ed. - Western Education and its Telos (Purpose) Through Time - Peter Merz - Rochester L'Abri Conference The First in our interim 'conference highlights' series, this lecture deals with the changes in western education's purpose through time. Peter Merz of English L'Abri takes us from the ancient Greeks right up to our present moment, illuminating many ubiquitous...

Church historians sometimes speak of the Greek East and the Latin West, as if Christian history were neatly divided between the two. This tidy division omits a third branch of the early church: Syriac Christianity. This lecture will introduce the Syriac tradition with special emphasis on the value of Syriac literature for Biblical studies, including textual criticism, translation, and the history...

Nothings is more emblematic of Modernity than the ‘Machine’. Their power and efficiency have long entranced the Modern Mind. But, as the power of technique was applied not just to the Natural World but to Human Society itself, proper concerns arose. Were machines serving Man or was Man getting reduced to a cog in the machine. And today, with the rise of self-driving cars and Artificial Intelligenc...

This 40 minute lecture (followed by discussion) will introduce the vision of atonement (reconciliation and redemption) in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, the popular seven volume fairytale of magical beasts and the beloved lion, Aslan, a Christ figure. The atonement involves what is known as the Ransom Theory which can be found in some interpretations of the Bible and in early Christian the...

Science and Faith -- for many Christians (and non-Christians) this can be a difficult combination. Major flashpoints are often around theories of origins (cosmology, evolution) and neuroscience, and are seen as the cause of doubt and the road to unbelief. And discussions about science, whether among Christians or with people who are not Christian, often devolve into rather technical discussions, s...