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Welcome!
On behalf of Biola University’s Center for Christian
Thought, we thank you for joining us for our 4th Annual
CCT Conference.
We’ve spent the past year exploring the big questions
pertaining to Intellectual Virtue & Civil Discourse.
This conference represents a year of research, discussion,
and collaboration among our visiting scholars, research
fellows, pastors-in-residence, CCT leadership, and many
others.
We hope this event contributes to your own deepened
understanding of the nature and significance of intellectual
character, as well as the bearing of intellectual virtue on
public discourse.
Finally, we wish to extend special thanks to Biola
University and the John Templeton Foundation, whose
generous support has made possible this year of research
on Intellectual Virtue & Civil Discourse.
Enjoy!
Gregg Ten Elshof, Steve L. Porter, and Thomas M. Crisp
CCT Directors
@ B I O L A C C T // C C T. B I O L A . E D U
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INFO
LOCATION
REFER TO NUMBERED MAP AT RIGHT
REGISTRATION:
METZGER LAWN, IN FRONT OF CALVARY CHAPEL (46)
MORNING INTRODUCTIONS // INVOCATIONS:
CALVARY CHAPEL (46)
PLENARY TALKS:
CALVARY CHAPEL (46)
BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
TALBOT EAST (45)
BUSINESS BUILDING (50)
FRIDAY EVENING BANQUET:
ANDREWS BANQUET RM, LOWER LEVEL, TALBOT EAST (45)
CLOSEST BATHROOMS TO CALVARY CHAPEL:
TALBOT EAST, FIRST FLOOR (45)
CLOSEST PARKING:
PARKING LOT A
*NO PARKING PASS IS NEEDED ON SATURDAY*
INTELLECTUAL VIRTUE & CIVIL DISCOURSE
INFO
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F R I D AY A . M .
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MAY 8
8:00AM // REGISTRATION & REFRESHMENTS
9:00AM // DAY 1 WELCOME // INVOCATION
9:15AM // PLENARY 1
JASON BAEHR (LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY)
Intellectual Virtues, Civility, and Public Discourse
For many people, the notions of intellectual character and intellectual virtue are foreign and technical seeming.
However, I’ll argue that they are especially useful for addressing a familiar breakdown of civility in contemporary
public discourse. Drawing on recent work in virtue epistemology, I’ll begin with an overview of the concepts of
intellectual character, intellectual virtues, and intellectual vices. Next I’ll argue that an intellectual virtues and vices
conceptual framework can play an important role in diagnosing and responding to the problem of incivility. Finally,
I’ll consider several objections to my argument.
10:00AM // PLENARY 2
PETER HILL (BIOLA UNIVERSITY)
Is It Good to Be Humble? What the Empirical Research Says
about Dispositional and Intellectual Humility
I will first discuss humility as a broad dispositional virtue, a characteristic studied in considerably greater detail by
psychologists than humility as an intellectual virtue (IH). After reviewing the conceptual and empirical research
on dispositional humility, I will consider the extent to which IH, as conceived by researchers in psychology, is
independent of dispositional humility and will review the rather scant IH empirical literature to date. Throughout
this presentation I will evaluate the conceptual and empirical research by psychologists on humility, both
dispositional and intellectual, from a philosophical and theological perspective.
10:45AM // BREAK + REFRESHMENTS
F R I D AY A . M .
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11:15AM // BREAKOUT SESSION 1
TALBOT EAST 107
RYAN MCILHENNY (PROVIDENCE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE)
Before the Cure: Cultivating Wisdom in the Midst of Crisis
In 1963, writing from his Birmingham jail cell, Martin Luther King revealed a key element in his philosophy of
civil disobedience--namely, that the oppressed must create a crisis accompanied by all the tensions that such a
crisis brings “to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.” Generating
a social crisis to raise awareness of injustice has played a central role in the emergence of an “immanent” or “lived”
philosophy in American history that challenges an epistemology-centered or first principles approach to issues of
social justice. This paper uncovers a tradition of radical reform in the U.S., detailing vital elements in its anatomy
and considering how such movements act not only as dialogue, especially when the mode of reasoned debate is
suppressed, but also how intellectuals might understand them as means of cultivating civic wisdom.
TALBOT EAST 108
JAMES SPIEGEL (TAYLOR UNIVERSITY)
Open-minded Disagreement
The current debate about disagreement rivals those who take the steadfast view and those who affirm
conciliationism. Those on the steadfast side maintain that resolute commitment to a belief is reasonable despite peer
disagreement. Conciliationists, however, say that peer disagreement necessarily undermines warrant for one’s belief.
Rather than take sides on this debate, I discuss the relevance of the intellectual virtue of open-mindedness to the
matter of peer disagreement. I show how both the steadfast and conciliatory perspectives, as well as some alternative
approaches aimed at dissolving or recasting the debate, are consistent with a robust and substantive display of the
virtue of open-mindedness. The epistemic norm of open-mindedness seems particularly appropriate in the context
of peer disagreement because, as a higher-order intellectual virtue (a trait pertaining to one’s conduct as a knower),
it parallels the higher-order evidential import of peer disagreement (pertaining to one’s place within a community
of knowers). Thus, I propose that the pursuit of an open-minded attitude is an intellectual norm about which all
contenders in the disagreement debate may agree.
BUSINESS BUILDING 105
CAROLYN KIM (BIOLA UNIVERISTY)
The Contribution of Chuck Colson Toward Communication and Civility in Culture
A champion of civil dialogue in public spheres, Charles Colson has been regarded by many as one of the greatest
communicators of our time. His passion was not simply to have Christians understand their own theology but also
to have them engage the culture in a civil way that would lead to transformed lives. Colson’s commitment to civility
enhances the theory of Invitational Rhetoric by placing objective truth as a core component to cultural dialogue.
Building on the main constructs of the theory that include equality, immanent value and self-determinism, Colson’s
communication style posits that to authentically recognize the value and self-determinism of others, rhetoricians
must maintain a commitment to objective truth within civility.
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F R I D AY A . M .
ADAM JOHNSON WITH ZACHARIAH BAILEY (BETHEL UNIVERSITY)
Epistemic Virtue: Integrating the Contributions of Cognitive and Moral Psychology to
Knowing
We do not have sufficient resources to acquire knowledge alone. But using unverified or untested information entails
significant risk: good information enhances understanding, bad information compromises it, and misinformation
creates subtle epistemic weaknesses that give rise to strategic vulnerabilities. Dan Sperber argues that we engage
in a process called epistemic vigilance to evaluate potential informants based on their authority and benevolence.
Epistemic authority can be understood as a privileged position with respect to the acquisition of good information.
Epistemic benevolence can be understood as the informant’s general goodwill toward the recipient of the
information. While epistemic authority is relatively well developed conceptually and experimentally, epistemic
benevolence appears underdeveloped in both conceptual and experimental spheres. We evaluate Sperber’s proposal
with respect to Jonathan Haidt’s recent findings in moral psychology. Within this approach, we explain natural
divisions in epistemic approaches that often undermine discourse and propose methods for bridging these divides.
JEFFREY DUECK (NYACK COLLEGE)
Intellect and Imagination in Civil Discourse
The intellectual virtues are often framed in terms of rational characteristics like wisdom and intelligence, and it is
commonplace to relate them to truth and knowledge taken in a primarily “cognitive” sense. While some subjects of civil
discourse are matters of conveying objective information, others delve into deep-seated differences, tensions in plurality
and exclusivity, and significant personal investment. Civil discourse involves more than merely cognitive understanding;
it involves what might be called “existential” communication and understanding as well. From Aristotle’s understanding
of mimesis and catharsis to Kierkegaard’s use of indirect modes of communication, there are many insights to gather
concerning existential matters viewed not merely as objective problems to be solved, but “dialectical knots” in need of
personal untying and interpersonal struggle. Both in general contexts as well as distinctly Christian ones, empathy and
imaginative identification can work alongside more obvious intellectual virtues to promote informed, yet compassionate,
civil discourse.
F R I D AY P. M .
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12:00PM // LUNCH
1:30PM // PLENARY 3
ROBERT AUDI (UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME)
Humanity as Common Ground:
Tolerance and Respect as Ideals in Communicative Discourse
The serious discourse needed for politics, education, and much of personal life is often marred by a failure to find
common ground, a basis from which to reach agreement or at least clarity about where disagreement lies. This paper
takes our humanity itself to provide elements that constitute an important common ground. These elements include
birth, growth, and success and failure, but there is much more. Common ground does not erase differences, but it
can provide a place from which mutual understanding and tolerance can grow. This paper argues that certain ethical
standards should be more widely recognized than they are as part of our common ground; that they support both
tolerance and humility as virtues important for both public and private discourse; and that they can enable us to
deal civilly and rationally with much of the disagreement inevitable in a pluralistic democracy. The paper offers a
partial account of both tolerance and humility, considers their bearing on disagreement, and offers formulates some
ethical principles that can contribute to achieving civic virtue.
2:15PM // PLENARY 4
RICHARD MOUW (FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY)
Looking for the Truth “Out There”: Showing Intellectual
Hospitality or Rescuing What Belongs to Us?
St. Augustine famously depicted the Christian quest for truth among pagan thinkers in terms of the Israelites
taking the Egyptians’ gold and silver with them when they fled from captivity. Others of us have seen the quest
for truth possessed by unbelievers as best characterized by a humble exercise in intellectual hospitality. Each
approach acknowledges that truth is to be gained from those with whom we disagree in fundamental ways about
the important “big” issues of life. But the two outlooks, rescuing what rightly belongs to us versus a hospitable
willingness to learn from others, foster the cultivation of very different styles of intellectual engagement. This paper
will acknowledge some insights in the rescue approach, while finally coming down on the side of hospitality.
3:00PM // BREAK + AFTERNOON REFRESHMENTS
3:30PM // BREAKOUT SESSION 2
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F R I D AY P. M .
TALBOT EAST 107
TIMOTHY MUEHLHOFF (BIOLA UNIVERSITY)
Blessing Those Who Insult Us: Cultivating Civility Through Spiritual Disciplines
The need for self-control is clear in the Scriptures’ prescription for how to respond to those who frustrate or anger
us. When cursed we are to pray for and bless “those who mistreat you” (Lk. 6:28). While a fool shows his or her
“annoyance at once” a prudent person “overlooks an insult” (Prov. 12:16). Remarkably, the apostle Paul tells us that
even when someone is undeniably in the wrong, those of us who are spiritual should seek to “restore him gently”
(Gal. 6:1). In today’s argument culture such commands not only seem wildly counter-intuitive, but unrealistic
and ineffective. How much self-control will it take to not only overlook an insult, but also be gracious? How can
spiritual disciplines such as fasting, meditation, and solitude help us cultivate intellectual virtues such as civility,
humility, and open-mindedness?
TALBOT EAST 108
MARY L. VANDEN BERG (CALVIN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY)
Incivility as Violation of God ’s Law: The Heidelberg Catechism’s Exposition of the
Commandments Against Murder and False Witness
What sorts of resources might be able to convince 21st century Christians that civil discourse is more than
merely an optional nicety or good manners? It turns out that a 16th century Reformed confession, the Heidelberg
Catechism, offers theological insights into why incivility should be considered a violation of the Decalogue’s
commandments against murder and false witness. If the catechism’s exposition of the Decalogue is correct, civil
discourse is much more than good manners. It should be understood as one of the practices God has given to God’s
people in the law, a law which is grounded in divine wisdom and intended for the flourishing of creation.
STORM BAILEY (LUTHER COLLEGE)
Liberal Pedagogy and the Salt of the Earth: Can the Virtue of the Few Change the
Discourse of the Many?
Cardinal Newman’s famous declaration that liberal knowledge is “useless” arguably addresses the conditions--not
the social value--of liberal learning. Civil discourse in ideal learning environments is a natural consequence of the
disinterested inquiry which, on this view, characterizes them. How might that same approach to knowing and
its effects on discourse be transferred from an idealized classroom to society at large? Christian faith provides the
basis for a temporal disinterest which can and should free Christian citizens from concern for their own interests
in broader social contexts. Is it virtuous, and authentically Christian, to enter public dialogue with a sense that ones
ultimate interests are alien to the issues at hand? And, could the dispositions of a few participants alter the tone and
nature of discourse in society at large? I argue that the answer to these questions is “yes.”
F R I D AY P. M .
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JOHN BARRY RYAN (MANHATTAN COLLEGE)
Squabbling Faithful or Sensus Fidelium: III Extraordinary Synod (2014) as an Instance
of Religious Convictions in Conf lict Generating Civil and Uncivil Discourse
III Extraordinary Synod (2014) discussed Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization as a
preparation for Synod XIV (2015) on the Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church in the Contemporary
World. It became newsworthy when sharp conflict among bishops on such issues as admitting divorced but
remarried Catholics without annulments to the Eucharistic table and offering pastoral care to same sex partners
became prominent. Not surprisingly, in both the secular and religious media, the conflict was cast as a struggle
between liberals and conservatives with heroes and villains on both sides. The words mercy and truth became
shorthand for what was at stake at this first round of a synod in two parts. What do these religious convictions in
conflict, with the gospel at their center, reveal about the application of the sensus fidelium in a global church in our
times?
WIL ROGAN (FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY)
Cruciform Love as the Preeminent Intellectual Virtue
In the letters of Saint Paul we find that cruciform love, the preeminent Christian virtue, also becomes the preeminent
intellectual virtue. Love is undoubtedly the preeminent moral virtue in Paul. Love is the one word in which the whole
law is fulfilled (Gal 5:14). Love is the one virtue through which every human endeavor endures (1 Cor 13:8). Those in the
body of Christ are to love one another in the cruciform pattern of Christ. But cruciform love is also the virtue by which
the highest epistemic good –– knowledge of God –– is acquired, applied, and transmitted. The one whose knowledge
lacks love “does not yet know as one ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2). The cruciform love of Jesus enacted in the cross makes
known the wisdom of God to us (1 Cor 2:6-10). And reduplication of that cruciform love makes one a superior epistemic
agent in the pursuit of the knowledge of God. This essay is an interdisciplinary project between philosophical discourse
and New Testament studies, with the hope that each discipline will illuminate the other. The concept of intellectual virtue
might illuminate the mechanics of what N.T. Wright calls the “epistemological revolution” in the thought of Paul. The
deeply christological and eschatological structure of Paul’s thought might draw our eyes to the unexpected intellectual
virtue of cruciform love.
4:15PM // BREAK
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F R I D AY P. M .
TALBOT EAST 107
ARIANNA MALLOY (BIOLA UNIVERSITY)
WILLIAM PURCELL (SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY)
Civil Discourse and the Risk of Being Better
Our paper considers what we regard as a constructive posture for civil, civic discourse based on the human,
spiritual connection fostered by vulnerability and risk. Working from diverse sources on rhetoric (Plato, Weaver),
argumentation (Brockriede), theology (St. Augustine, Bonhoeffer), social work (Brown), organizational leadership
(Laftso and Larson) and marriage therapy (Gottman), we argue that public discourse should not be a means of
advancing foregone conclusions, but rather a means of advancing ideas that are based on human relationships.
From the foundation of relationship and vulnerability ideas can be subject to scrutiny, discussion, alteration, and
improvement.
TALBOT EAST 108
DREW POPPLETON (FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY)
The Essential Other: Trinitarian, Relational Ontology, Self-differentiation, and
Interpersonal Epistemology
Calling upon the theological insights of John Zizioulas, the relational insights of psychiatrist Murray Bowen, and
epistemological insights of philosopher Esther Lightcap Meek, the presenter will make the claim that true civil
discourse will only be possible when we embrace the ‘other’ as essential to our pursuit of truth. Conversation with
the Other is not merely a civic responsibility, but also an outright necessity. Therefore, we cannot extol only those
intellectual virtues that remain cerebral in nature (i.e., the traits of a good thinker or inquirer) nor those that might
keep discourse civil (i.e., respect, openness, or a supposedly-possible dispassionate objectivity). Rather, intellectual
virtue and civil discourse must include a drive for interpersonal connection. This leads to the penultimate claim of
this paper: the greatest intellectual virtue of all is love.
LUDMILA PRASLOVA (VANGUARD UNIVERSITY)
JOHN KIM (VANGUARD UNIVERSITY)
Creating Environments for Civil Discourse
“Individual behavior in the context of discourse is likely to be influenced by individual-level as well as cultural/
contextual-level factors. The degree of engagement in discourse and the quality of discourse are facilitated in
the environment supportive of critical thinking, including critical thinking disposition of open-mindedness (vs.
intolerance) (Chiu, 2009; Facione, 2013). Cultural contexts in which open-mindedness, intellectual humility,
fair-mindedness, and intellectual courage are encouraged and modeled, and open dialogue welcomed, will
likely encourage civil discourse. This presentation is focused on theoretical and empirical exploration of factors
which may facilitate or inhibit civil discourse within organizations – specifically, civility and voice as aspects of
organizational climate. It is theorized that civility and voice influence the environment for civil discourse and, in
F R I D AY P. M .
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turn, organizational outcomes. Preliminary research findings support the model and suggest that organizational
leadership can be intentional in creating environments for civil discourse through practicing intellectual virtue.
ERIC YANG (CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE)
Inquiry, Parity, and Deference: Why the Virtue of Wisdom Trumps the Virtue of
Skepticism
Some philosophers regard a broadly Humean account of skepticism as an intellectual and civic virtue. The benefits
involved with the virtue of skepticism is that (i) it permits continued inquiry, (ii) it allows for parity among
disagreeing peers, and (iii) it eschews a problematic deference concerning controversial matters. In response, I
develop an account of wisdom and argue that the virtue of wisdom is a preferable intellectual and civic virtue to
possess over the virtue of skepticism. The primary reason is that the benefits listed in (i) – (iii) can be attained
by one who acquires the virtue of wisdom even without having developed a skeptical disposition or trait. Given
that wisdom can yield the benefits of skepticism without inheriting its costs (such as the loss of confidence, the
conflict with certain epistemic norms, etc.), we should strive to acquire the virtue of wisdom instead of the virtue of
skepticism.
PETER MEILAENDER (HOUGHTON COLLEGE)
“Some Malignity of Disposition”: Edmund Burke on Loyalty and Political Judgement
Edmund Burke’s attack on the French Revolution centers upon his philosophical criticism of theories of the “rights of
man.” Yet in several places he suggests that the revolutionaries’ most basic failure is not intellectual or philosophical, but
rather moral. He implies that this fundamental moral defect is a failure to love their country properly. Citizens who felt
proper loyalty would not treat their country as the French revolutionaries did. By exploring this aspect of Burke’s critique,
we gain insights not only into his own political thought, but also, more generally, into the role of loyalty or patriotism in
political life, and into the relationship between intellectual and moral virtue.
5:15PM // BREAK
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F R I D AY P. M .
5:30PM // PLENARY 5
DINNER BANQUET // TALBOT EAST, ANDREWS BANQUET ROOM
MARTIN MARTY (UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO)
The Virtue of Bethinking “by the Bowels of Christ”
This will take off from the favorite oath of none other than Oliver Cromwell: “My brethren, by the bowels of Christ,
I beseech you, bethink you that you may be mistaken.” “Bethink” defined: “consider or ponder something carefully.”
The argument becomes obvious: in discourse, the temptation of the presenters is to make the strongest case possible
but forgetting that there are other ways to approach the subject. The opposite of “being civil” may be “being wishywashy,” but wishy-washiness never enriches civility . . . etc. Cromwell’s reference was explicitly Christological, but
I’ll try to show that “bethinking” on such profound levels has a bearing on all discourse in our ‘religio-secular”
society.
S A T U R D AY A . M .
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SATURDAY, MAY 9
8:00AM // REGISTRATION/REFRESHMENTS
9:00AM // DAY 2 WELCOME // INVOCATION
9:15AM // PLENARY 6
ELAINE ECKLUND (RICE UNIVERSITY)
Towards Civil Discourse and Intellectual Humility in the
Science and Religion Debates
All around us we hear public discussion about faith and science. Should creation be taught in public schools
alongside evolution? Is our faith literally all in our brain? Did the universe begin with a big bang, the hand of God,
or both? How, in our scientific and religious communities, can we talk about issues related to science and faith
with a sense of intellectual humility and civility in a fraught world? Based on ten years of research examining how
scientists engage with religion and religious people engage with science, Elaine Howard Ecklund will bring data
to this discussion, exploring the conditions under which religious and scientific communities might find common
ground.
10:00AM // PLENARY 7
ROBERT C. ROBERTS (BAYLOR UNIVERSITY)
The Virtues of Pride and Humility: A Survey
Pride and humility are often presented as opposing traits, with one in the role of virtue, the other in that of vice.
Authors differ in assigning the two roles. With the help of a more precise vocabulary, I try here to sketch both
the virtues and the vices that can be called pride and the virtues and vices that can be called humility. Among the
vices of pride, the absence of which is virtuous humility, we have arrogance, vanity, snobbery, envy, haughtiness,
presumption, domination, hyper-autonomy, conceit, self-righteousness, and pretentiousness. Among the vices
of humility, the opposites of which are virtuous pride, we have self-contempt, self-diffidence, contempt for one’s
associates and associations, and careless¬ness about one’s work. Among the virtues of pride we have self-respect,
self-confidence, vigorous agency, appreciation of associates, and high standards. Among the virtues of humility
we have lack of arrogance, lack of vanity, lack of snobbery, and so on. The virtues of pride and humility, far from
excluding one another, actually stand in more positive relations to one another, the virtues of humility supporting or
enhancing the virtues of pride, and vice-versa.
10:45AM // BREAK + BREAKFAST REFRESHMENTS
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11:15AM // BREAKOUT SESSION 4
TALBOT EAST 108
ADAM C. PELSER (US AIR FORCE ACADEMY)
RYAN WEST (BAYLOR UNIVERSITY)
Respect as an Intellectual Virtue
One key ingredient of civil discourse missing from much public discourse is respect. Respect can refer to an attitude,
judgment, or feeling, but there is also a moral virtue of respect and an intellectual variant of that virtue. The person
who possesses the intellectual virtue of respect has equal basic respect for all epistemic agents, but also feels and
shows special respect for epistemic authorities and the intellectually virtuous. We explore a number of aspects of and
bases for such intellectual respect. Moreover, we distinguish intellectual respect for persons from respect for their
views. While all persons deserve basic intellectual respect, some views deserve less respect than others. Indeed, some
views expressed in public discourse are absurd and downright evil. We consider whether contempt for such views
and their purveyors is the best course of action in the public square, or whether more respectful modes of critical
response are preferable.
TALBOT EAST 109
DAVID VILA (JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY)
Piety and Politics in Yahya ibn Adi’s 10th Century Reformation of Moral
Yahya ibn Adi (b. 893, Iraq) was a Christian whose work The Reformation of Morals was written in the style of
what would later be called “mirrors for princes.” Yahya there covers such topics as “the faculties of the soul” which
differentiate the various moral qualities, namely, the “appetitive,” “irascible,” and “rational” souls. He also lists the
good and bad moral qualities, along with others whose morality is circumstantial. Surprisingly, while many of his
other writings are explicitly Christian in their exhortation to a higher morality, the Reformation of Morals makes
no mention of the Christian Scriptures, or of imitating Christ, the Apostles or other Christian saints. The virtues
and vices mentioned are those that both Christians and Muslims hold in common, and both in the categories
and the language used, trace their origins back to the Greek philosophical traditions which by the 10th century,
were becoming a common heritage of both religious traditions. Yahya ibn Adi thus shows a way forward in the
development of a common good among Christians and Muslims.
JASON MCMARTIN (BIOLA UNIVERSITY)
“Jesus Sought Me When a Stranger”: Hospitality and Intellectual Virtue
I develop the biblical account of hospitality as a fitting framework for a theological understanding of intellectual
virtue. God welcomes estranged sinners into his household as adopted heirs. In response, Christians practice
hospitality (philoxenia) by welcoming in strangers. Hospitality creates a space for the voice and ideas of the
stranger. As applied to intellectual virtue, hospitality includes intellectual courage, intellectual humility, tolerance
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of ambiguity, open-mindedness, fair-mindedness, attentiveness, and curiosity. Welcoming the stranger subordinates
ideas to the flourishing of persons, providing the motivational structure and telos for the cultivation of intellectual
virtue. Hospitality, like intellectual virtue, has an eschatological dimension: although we are already included within
the household of faith, our final home is yet to come. I conclude by considering some difficulties with employing
hospitality as a framework for intellectual virtue.
MICHAEL PACE (CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY)
Dangers of Civility
Some people complain about a “breakdown of civility,” which they regard as one of the worst problems our society
faces. Others fear that civility is dangerous and society is overly concerned with it. I argue for a philosophical
account of the nature of civility that can help us make sense of the truth in both of these attitudes, although my
focus is making sense of civility’s potential dangers. I catalog different ways that norms of civility have the potential
to lead us away from epistemic and moral ends. Norms of civility can be skewed even to the point that they require
intellectual vice and prohibit displays of intellectual virtue. Also, even norms of civility that are morally adequate
can be barriers rather than aids to us reaching consensus on important truths. These dangers, I contend, are more
than philosophers’ concerns about far-off possibilities; they are real and present dangers.
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S A T U R D AY P. M .
12:00PM // LUNCH
TALBOT EAST 108
DAVID MILLER (THE BEAR CREEK SCHOOL)
Classical Rhetoric Training: The Domination of Your Soul and the Rejection of Your
Individuality
Classical rhetoric training using the progymnasmata fosters virtue in students by its content and method of
instruction while encouraging a civilization that is more conducive to a Biblically based culture. Students in the
classical tradition are expected to read the Western canon of literature, seek to imitate it, and publicly read their
work before their peers. This method fosters humility in students as their abilities are measured against the Western
canon of literature, and their improvement hinges upon the hard-work of grammar and rhetoric drills under the
mentorship of a master teacher. Reading their work publicly also associates their writing with an audience and an
occasion. In contrast, the progressive student is taught to cultivate “self-expression” and “original voice” under the
misleading name of “creative writing” which leads to an overemphasis on the individual. Therefore, the classical
method of rhetoric works in harmony with Christian education.
TALBOT EAST 109
ADAM J. JOHNSON (BIOLA UNIVERSITY)
The Wisdom of the Atonement: Christ’s Reconciliation as a Work By, Of, and For Wisdom
This paper explores the work of Christ as a work of divine wisdom. It delves into the Scriptural understanding of
Christ as wisdom incarnate, his work as a work consisting in and revelatory of the divine wisdom, and of the effect
of his work as establishing us in wisdom. The resulting account of the atonement is an exceptionally comprehensive
one, in which the whole cosmos is affected by the death and resurrection of the Wisdom of God incarnate—the
same Wisdom that brought creation into existence. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of this view
for the at-one-ment, or reconciliation, of our theories of the atonement. As we will see, it is not only we sinners
that stand in need reconciliation, but our very accounts or speech of the work of Christ as well. And it is the same
wisdom that saves us, which will equip us for this task.
MARK THIESSEN NATION (EASTERN MENNONITE SEMINARY)
“Live as Worthy Citizens of the Gospel of Christ”: Neo-Anabaptism, Intellectual Virtue,
and Civil Discourse
As he sat in prison in August 1944 Dietrich Bonhoeffer outlined a potential book. In imagining the conclusion,
he said “the church is church only when it is there for others.” He continued, “the church must participate in
S A T U R D AY P. M .
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the worldly tasks of life in the community—not dominating but helping and serving.” As it does so “it will have
to speak of moderation, authenticity, trust, faithfulness, steadfastness, patience, discipline, humility, modesty,
contentment.” My presentation begins with cues from Bonhoeffer. It then takes up questions posed by James
Davison Hunter’s book, To Change the World. Specifically, I will explore the challenges entailed by seeking the
welfare of the cities in which we live as Christians, being a faithful presence—but a faithfulness defined by our
Theo-political identity in Christ.
DAVID HORNER (BIOLA UNIVERSITY)
Too Good Not to Be True: A Call to Moral Apologetics as a Mode of Civil Discourse
Once Christian moral teaching was widely regarded as the highest expression of ethical thought, even “too good” to
be true. This is no longer the case. Indeed, the central objection to Christianity today, from Dawkins to the editorial
pages, is typically a moral one: Christianity is “too bad” to be true. Responding to this objection adequately—”moral
apologetics”—is the chief apologetic challenge of our time. However, apologists have given little attention to
diagnosing, understanding, and strategically responding to it. This paper brings together observations about
communication and civil discourse with considerations from apologetics, epistemology, philosophical theology, and,
especially, Aristotelian-inspired ethical theory and moral epistemology, in order to understand why moral objections
are so devastating, to map out a strategic response to them, and to cast a vision for engaging together in moral
apologetics—that people could come to see Christianity and the gospel as too good not to be true.
2:15PM // BREAK
2:30PM // PLENARY 8
GEORGE MARSDEN (UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME)
C. S. Lewis: Intellectual Virtues and Civil Discourse
Lewis, though sometimes controversial, cultivated some intellectual virtues that are helpful for promoting civility.
Lewis follows Augustine in defining virtues as “right-ordered affections,” that need to be cultivated. Intellectual
virtues should operate within the framework of these other virtues. So rather than seeing rationality as simply
objective, he sees it as needing to operate in the context of properly ordered affections. In Mere Christianity he
appeals to the imagination of his audience as much as their reason. Lewis’s quest for timeless truths is another
intellectual virtue that leads him to find common ground with diverse audiences in perennial human nature.
Historical perspectives also help him to recognize how much modern people’s views need to be re-enchanted. While
his presentations have a winsome personal dimension, they ultimately point not to himself but to the realities he
sees as answering perennial human needs.
3:15PM // CLOSING RECEPTION // FEAT. ROOT BEER FLOATS
18
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to a pdf - Biola University Center for Christian Thought

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