Liberalism, Modernity, and Its Discontents

The question of how people of faith should think about what is often called "liberalism" is a major subject for debate today. Many Christians, for instance, regard liberalism and modernity more generally essentially incompatible with Judeo-Christian thought and tradition. This lecture explores and challenges the premises of this claim while also providing an alternative perspective about how to approach the relationship between liberalism and the faiths of the West in the future.

Recommended Readings

R.R. Reno, "The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism," First Things, October 2017: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/10/the-spirit-of-democratic-capitalism

Samuel Gregg, “First Things and the Market Economy: A Response to R. R. Reno,” Public Discourse, September 20, 2017: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/09/20106/

Michael Matheson Miller, “Does Capitalism Destroy Culture?” Intercollegiate Review, July 17, 2018: https://home.isi.org/does-capitalism-destroy-culture

Dylan Pahman, “On Wealth and the Bible: The First Christians Were Not Like David Bentley Hart,” Public Discourse, October 3, 2016: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2016/10/17950/

Patrick J. Deneen, "Aristopopulism: A Political Proposal for America," First Things, March 20, 2019: https://www.firstthings.com/media/aristopopulism

Samuel Gregg, “Patrick Deneen and the Problem of Liberalism,” Public Discourse, May 14, 2018: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2018/05/21024/