On The Occasion
On the Occasion is a long form podcast exploring the relationship between the Christian worldview and human creativity and work.
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In his treatise on Grace, St. Augustine begins by describing why he has taken up writing on the subject: there are those of us in need of further, careful, clarification on the topic. The English translation captures this motive nicely with the phrase, “The Occasion and the Argument of this Work.” A great articulator and defender of the faith, proponent of the Church, and participant in God’s work in this world, St. Augustine’s introduction provides On the Occasion with its title and its intention. I think were he here today, a survey of our culture would commend to St. Augustine that occasions for the continuing defense and articulation of the faith remain.
On the Occasion seeks to take up, in its small way, this ongoing duty of engaging the world in faith and fullness. But rather than mounting a typical apologetic, that of a systematic philosophical defense of the faith, On the Occasion seeks to offer a constructive apologetic. What is meant by this is that we seek to find places, the occasions, in which God’s Spirit is active in this world and to present these to our listeners as a way of commending them in the Christian faith. On the Occasion seeks to supply a defense and articulation of the faith that points constantly to the work that God has done and is doing in this world.
A driving vision for On the Occasion is that God is active in this world; God’s Spirit is working in many areas of human activity; we need only learn to listen with good ears. On the Occasion seeks to capture these moments of God’s work in conversational form, with experts and interested amateurs alike, people with eyes to see and ears to hear the work that God is doing, participants and observers, practitioners and philosophers, and to define these moments of activity for the benefit of God’s people and God’s Church. Indeed, one of the underlying principles of On the Occasion is that all of creation is filled with God’s presence and activity, what theologians call the principle of immensity. On the Occasion seeks to build conversations to remind us of this fact.
Introduction