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. Monday, December 15, 2025

    book
    12/15/25
    12 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we head to the mailbag to answer a question about Hanukkah and Christianity.
    Monday, December 15, 2025

  5. Wednesday, August 13, 2025

    book
    08/13/25
    13 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Today on the Christian History Almanac, we remember the 7th century’s “most interesting man” and a link between the East and West.
    Wednesday, August 13, 2025

  6. The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: A Brief History of Bad Ideas (and What We Can Learn From Them) Part 1

    book
    08/09/25
    5 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Weekend Edition for August 9-10, 2025
    The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: A Brief History of Bad Ideas (and What We Can Learn From Them) Part 1

  7. The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: The Legend of Honey Mouth—St. Bernard and the Middle Ages

    book
    07/12/25
    5 mins
    By Dan van Voorhis
    Weekend Edition for July 12-13, 2025
    The CHA Weekend Edition Presents: The Legend of Honey Mouth—St. Bernard and the Middle Ages

  8. 392: Keller - What Is the Church?

    book
    05/16/25
    11 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Come Together, Right Now… In this episode, we read from Tim Keller’s sermon, which asks, “What is the Church?” We discuss the relationship between churches and culture, what the church is and isn’t, where we locate faith, whether Christian faith changes one’s values, and much more.
    392: Keller - What Is the Church?

  9. 387: Flacius - Adiaphora and Tyranny

    book
    04/12/25
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Can’t You See. In this episode, we read the Lutheran theologian Matthias Flacius, and discuss inter-church debates, the Lord’s Supper as ground zero for most church conflicts, the consequences of compromise in matters of faith, the limits of love, and when it’s time to push away from the table and go into prayer.
    387: Flacius - Adiaphora and Tyranny

  10. Episode 312: Formalism (Ritualism)

    book
    02/24/25
    7 mins
    By Wade Johnston | Michael Berg
    In episode THREE HUNDRED AND TWELVE, Mike, Jason, and Wade discuss the Protestant fear of formalism, or ritualism?
    Episode 312: Formalism (Ritualism)

  11. 380: Anselm - Bracing the Heart Against Despair

    book
    02/09/25
    9 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    You May Be Right… In this episode of Banned Books, we read Anselm of Canterbury’s Meditation on Sin and Penance. We discuss the consequences of sin, the Fountain of Mercy, Jesus’ excuses, the doctrine of simul iustus et peccator, theological presuppositions, and how we speak influences our behavior.
    380: Anselm - Bracing the Heart Against Despair

  12. 379: Chrysostom - On Wealth and Poverty

    book
    01/31/25
    8 mins
    By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley
    Dig, Lazarus, Dig! In this episode of Banned Books, we read St. John Chrysostom’s sermon on the Rich Man and Lazarus — wealth, poverty, Satanic feasts, ivory beds, spiritual warriors, Chaldean comfort dogs, and the dangers of actors and perfume on this podcast episode.
    379: Chrysostom - On Wealth and Poverty