Blogging the DBU Paideia Conference - Part 3

The heart of the Paideia Conference is when papers are read. Each attendee is able to attend a number of papers about a great variety of topics read by some remarkably intelligent students. These papers discuss almost everything an intellectual could ask for, including issues of faith, purely scientific papers, and examples of literary theory, such as an analysis of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (Which my wife attended, but I didn't, so I asked her to keep a copy of it). A list of all the papers can be found here (pdf).

Jake Rogers gave an excellent talk about the theoretical state of consciousness in alternate realities, an issue being discussed by experts in the field of the philosophy of the mind. Most people probably think Christians sit around singing Kumbaya and asking Pat Robertson about metaphysical issues, but that's not the case.

Obviously this picture came from Amos Barker's Facebook profile, not the conference. He discussed the tricky exegetical habits of Origin. It was one of the most well written papers I have ever read and I really hope I can create papers as good as that some day. He's also a nice guy, as you can see in this photo where he is wrestling newborns.

Carrie Hamilton discussed the redemption story as it shows up in literature (and in movies today), particularly Beowulf and Piers Plowman. It's one of my favorite topics and she handled the material and the discussion quite well. J.R.R. Tolkien was smiling somewhere.

Blake Carlisle discussed the effects of the Renaissance on Italian social unity. He's not a historian, primarily, but I was impressed with how well he handled the historical side of this paper since it involved things I have been studying of late. It was an excellent paper on an issue I've never heard discussed. (Italian history is always swept under the rug.)

Shiffer on Schaeffer. Ph.D. student Scott Shiffer (pictured here with the rock band Petra) gave a discussion on the beliefs of Francis Shaeffer concerning the sanctity of life. It was illuminating and brought up some excellent discussion points that I will be pondering for quite some time. (This, maybe, should be the goal of all of these papers.)

Mark Boone used the conference as an excuse to show off his Lord of the Rings action figures. Just kidding, Mark told us about Augustine's "Egyptian Gold" analogy, how it related to the philosophy of Augustine's day, and how it relates to the thinking of our own time. Mark is probably the most impressively eclectic philosopher I know; he doesn't live in Plato's cave or in Hume's doubts, but he juggles the best teachings from ancient, modern, and post-modern philosphers and the Bible.

While Mark spoke, his son, Jeremiah, paid pretty good attention. It's neat that the babies of these scholars grow up thinking intimate acoustic concerts and intellectual readings are a normal part of life. Notice that Dr. Naugle is in attendance as well. This is something of a mixed blessing because the presenter gets some bragging rights to say they spoke to Dr. Naugle but they also might get some tough (but good) questions.

In the evening, we were treated to the music of a beautiful woman (who you can book here). It's my wife, of course, who was asked to fill in with some music at the last second. She did quite well. That's Dr. Naugle's ovation guitar; he's a guitar player and a drummer.

The conference was a rousing success. Dr. Naugle never ceases to amaze me with his connections, his wisdom, and his ability to put on professional enjoyable conferences that include some of the smartest people I will ever know. (He also writes good books.) You will do yourself a favor to try and join in on the excitement next year.

Blogging the DBU Paideia Conference - Part 2

Our featured speaker at the Paideia conference was Mike Wittmer, a professor of theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and author of two books that reveal his social-theological perspective as well as the fact that he grew up listening to questionable 80's bands. (The books are titled Heaven is a Place on Earth and Don't Stop Believing, I would have called them He's a Real NoWhere Man and What is and What Should Never Be, respectively, but no one's ever published me, so what do I know? )

I was impressed at how well he knew church history and how competently he was able to discuss theology alongside philosophy. His knowledge is very up to date and relevant, which made him an excellent speaker for such a conference.


His main topic at lunch was the emergent church. Even though they sound really neat, the emergent church is full of theological issues that put them at odds with actual Christianity. In a respectful manner, Mike Wittmer pointed out these problems and discussed his experience in confronting actual leaders of the movement. It's good to have a sound theologian out there combating the problems that the emergent church is creating for the rest of us.

In the evening, he discussed the topic of how we can really know anything at all. Can we know there is a God? Are we just hoping to be right in the end when we place our faith in Him? What do we say when non-believers say our faith is silly? God proves Himself to us, but we can't exactly prove Him to others; it's tough to be an intellectual in this type of conversation and our speaker discussed this delicate issue very proficiently. If people like Matt have anything to do with it, the damaging postmodern trends that are showing up in our churches will not have lasting negative effects.

(Notice I didn't say all post-modern trends, not all of them are bad, but the bad ones are often the result of abusive post-modernism, but enough of that for now.) Here's Mike's blog where you can buy his books and interact with him through his posts.

Mike Whittmer gave us two fantastic lectures and took questions from everyone on many subjects. Not many scholars are so competent at being inter-disciplinary.

The talented Jake Rogers led us in singing some wonderful old hymns; earlier that day he had read a paper about mental states in hypothetical realities. I'm not kidding.

Mike Whittmer delightfully holds up the coveted Pew Society mug awarded to scholars who headline this conference making him the envy of every author, pastor, and philosopher. (Citation needed)

Stay tuned for one more blog entry about the papers that were read over the weekend!

Blogging the DBU Paideia Conference - Part 1

Last year's conference was a tough act to follow, particularly in the area of music. After hearing Jon Foreman, Jordan Lawheed, and the venerable Charlie Peacock (see photos of last year's event here) in concert, it seemed like the conference had reached it's apex. I was pleasantly surprised when this year's concert was just as enjoyable.

The night began with the music of the charming April Geesbreght. Her songs were beautiful and engaging, as well as enlightening. She normally plays with a band but we were treated to an intimate acoustic session which went very well.

April Geesbreght explains her next song while adjusting her capo.

Scott and Lindsy Shiffer, along with their baby maren, watch April's show.

The main performer of the evening was Pierce Pettis who, as the saying goes, "doesn't write music, he writes literature." I can't think of a better way to describe his lyrics. He is a well known folk musician who often writes songs for other people, including Garth Brooks and the wonderful Sarah Groves. On his own, he is an amazing performer. I have rarely seen such virtuosic guitar playing (his approach to the acoustic is similar to that of Lindsey Buckingham) come from such a brilliant songwriter. His lyrics encouraged me and made me think, while his playing blew my mind. A rare experience. (He's also a darned good harmonica player.)

In the wings, Pierce Pettis tunes his guitars up waiting for his turn.

Pierce plays these two guitars that were hand-made in Ireland from different companies. He told me that he waited all of his life to have then and they sounded amazing all night. (He also told people that they were made by leprechauns.)

On a break, Pierce was nice enough to chat with me while he tuned his guitars. He plays through a direct box with a tube that gives his guitars a lot of presence without too much compression. It sounded amazing.

After the show, Pierce hung around and talked to his fans, the new ones he had just made and the ones who have known him for a long time. He talked about his exceptional career and confused the musicians by explaining his bizarre but effective alternate tunings. (Open c-minor with a dominant 7 + suspension? Something like that.) I bought one of his CD's and have been happy with it, if you're into singer/songwriter stuff you might consider it. (I don't work for him, this is a genuine recommendation.)

The opening act of the Paideia Conference was a rousing success. Look for two more blog posts this week to see how the rest of the 12th Annual DBU Paideia conference went.