Author

  1. 432: Ælfric - Homily for Midlent Sunday

    book
    03/14/26
    12 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Went to a Garden Party. In this episode, we read a homily by St. Aelfric of York for Midlent Sunday. Aelfric sermonizes about the earthly and heavenly meaning of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand — its symbolism, historical import, and how loaves and fishes exegete the Old Testament books themselves. This and many, many wilderness wanderings in this episode of the podcast.
    432: Ælfric - Homily for Midlent Sunday

  2. 431: Kleinig - The Mystery of Christ and Cosmic Restoration

    book
    03/06/26
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Cosmic Debris. In this episode, we read Dr. John Kleinig on Christ and cosmic restoration. We then discuss how and why Christians confuse mysteries with secrets, what happened to the mystagogues, and why the mystery of the Christian faith has to do with the hidden presence of Christ with us here on earth and our restoration by his restoration of all creation. This episode, as Kleinig himself writes, is about how we can best commend the Christian faith to post-modern people, which is when we ourselves are captivated imaginatively by the wonder of it and live in the mystery of it.
    431: Kleinig - The Mystery of Christ and Cosmic Restoration

  3. 422: Post-Christmas and Post-New Year Debrief

    book
    01/03/26
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? In this episode, we gather for a post-Christmas, post-New Year pastoral debrief. We talk about symbols and meaning, Christmas and holidays, signs and seasons, and how modern churches quietly cleared the path for culture to push Christ out of Christmas without much resistance. We explore the strange and largely arbitrary ways the world measures time, along with the old Adam’s never-ending pyramid project. That is, his need to build meaning upward by effort, progress, and control rather than receive it as a gift. From there, we return to symbol and meaning. We ask why ancient liturgy’s nostalgia or ornamentation, but the distilled shape of reality itself, why the Lord’s Supper isn’t a side practice, but the beating heart of the Church, of worship, and of the Christian life. And why stories’ decorations for faith, but the way truth takes on flesh and finds us where we actually live. This is a conversation about time, worship, memory, and why the Church invents meaning but receives it again and again at the table.
    422: Post-Christmas and Post-New Year Debrief

  4. Friday, December 26, 2025

    book
    12/26/25
    11 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we look at a curious hymn/carol made famous by the date.
    Friday, December 26, 2025

  5. Thursday, December 25, 2025

    book
    12/25/25
    14 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we celebrate the feast of the Nativity with a special reading.
    Thursday, December 25, 2025

  6. Wednesday, December 24, 2025

    book
    12/24/25
    12 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we examine the history of Christianity and the place of trees, Christmas, or otherwise.
    Wednesday, December 24, 2025

  7. Tuesday, December 23, 2025

    book
    12/23/25
    12 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we look into a common Christmas question about dates.
    Tuesday, December 23, 2025

  8. Monday, December 22, 2025

    book
    12/22/25
    12 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we investigate the story of Santa slapping Arius at the Council of Nicaea.
    Monday, December 22, 2025

  9. The CHA Christmas History Edition Presents: Your Questions and Recommendations

    book
    12/20/25
    13 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Weekend Edition for December 20-21, 2025
    The CHA Christmas History Edition Presents: Your Questions and Recommendations

  10. 421: Chesterton - Mankind would have a much worse time if there were no such thing as Christmas or Christmas dinners

    book
    12/20/25
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Going Cold Turkey at Christmas? In this episode, we read G.K. Chesterton’s essay, On Christmas, wherein he discusses celebrating Christmas too early, vivisection, vegetarians versus turkeys, and what to do about the poor at Christmas. It’s another curmudgeonly Christmas episode with one of our favorite British apologists and satirists.
    421: Chesterton - Mankind would have a much worse time if there were no such thing as Christmas or Christmas dinners

  11. 420: C.S. Lewis - Christmas is unfortunately everyone's business

    book
    12/13/25
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    I’m Wasted, and I Can’t Find My Way Home. In this episode, we again invite C.S. Lewis to teach us about Christmas. We also discuss the early church fathers, worship, symbolism, mystery, Freud and Jung’s influence on modern Christians, consumerism and gift-giving, and, of course, Christmas: all this and much, much more on this episode of the podcast.
    420: C.S. Lewis - Christmas is unfortunately everyone's business

  12. The CHA Christmas History Edition Presents: A Few of My Favorite Things

    book
    12/13/25
    6 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Weekend Edition for December 13-14, 2025
    The CHA Christmas History Edition Presents: A Few of My Favorite Things