What is Macrina’s Table?
Macrina’s Table is Cross and Crown’s speaker series, geared toward starting intellectual conversations in the local church.
Having good conversations about history, philosophy, theology, art, ethics, etc., is an important part of Christian community. Some of the most fruitful periods in church history have come out of good conversation (around Macrina the Younger’s table, for instance, or Luther’s). Today, the church is one of the last places where those kinds of conversations are possible. The church needs it, and so does the world.
Upcoming Speakers
Michael Jones (Inspiring Philosophy YouTube Channel) – 10/11/24 –How Sci-Fi & Fantasy Explain Why God Allows Suffering
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For more details, see below.
Past Speakers and Topics
Dr. Jordan Cooper – Theosis
Dr. Joel Biermann – Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture: A Reappraisal
William Schumacher – Serious, Diverse, and Peaceful: America’s Strange Religion
Community Discussion of Anselm’s Proslogion
Evan Underbrink – Theopoetics
Dr. Leo Sanchez – Immigration and Christianity
Community Discussion of Roger Scruton’s Why Beauty Matters
Dr. Kent Burreson and Dr. Beth Hoeltke – From Baptism to Burial: Death, Life, & New Creation
Zach Eshelman – Liturgy in the City: A Folk-Formative Approach
Dr. Joel Oesch – The Near and Far God
Dr. Adam Koontz – The New Testament church’s relationship to the world around them
Dr. Benjamin Schumacher – The Lessons of Paradox
Dr. Joel Biermann – Work and Rest
Dr. Erik Herrmann – C.S. Lewis: The Joy of Beauty and Mirth
Who was Macrina?
Macrina the Younger lived in the A.D. 300s. When her parents died, she turned the family estate into a Christian community. There she taught her younger brothers philosophy and theology and modeled a life of profound spirituality1. Their home became a center of theological conversation for the group that became known as the Cappodocian Fathers – Gregory of Nyssa and Basil the Great, two of Macrina’s brothers, and their friend, Gregory of Nazianzus. The Cappodocian fathers helped formulate and defend the doctrine of the Trinity. Gregory of Nyssa wrote a biography of Macrina in which he called her “sister and teacher at the same time.” He also said that she was the only one he trusted to answer the objections of unbelievers to the resurrection of the dead.
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1. See Jaroslav, Pelikan, Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism.
Macrina’s Prayer
You, O Lord, have freed us from the fear of death. You give our bodies, which you have made with Your hands, to the earth to rest in safety until the last trumpet sounds. Then You will take our mortal and unsightly remains and transfigure them with immortality.
To free us from sin and from the curse laid upon us, You took both sin and the curse upon Yourself. You crushed the head of the dragon that had seized men by the throat. You shattered the gates of hell and trampled the devil, death’s lord, beneath Your feet. You cleared the way for our resurrection. You broke the flaming sword and restored to Paradise the man who was crucified with You and implored Your mercies.
Remember me, too, in Your kingdom. Do not let the slanderer stand against me in the way or let my sin be found in Your eyes, if I have been led astray by the weakness of my nature. O You Who have the power to forgive sins on earth, forgive me, that I may be refreshed, and when I put off my body let me stand before you with my soul unspotted and undefiled. Amen.
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2. Adapted from Nyssa, Gregory, The Life of Macrina.
Upcoming Speaker Details:
Michael Jones (Inspiring Philosophy YouTube Channel) – 10/11/24 – How Sci-Fi & Fantasy Explain Why God Allows Suffering
The problem of suffering is one of the biggest challenges for Christianity. But the answer might not be too complicated. In fact, it might be explained by appealing to the fantasy worlds we imagine ourselves. When we create stories we most often create stories of triumph. We consider these to be better possible worlds. A world where there is evil that is defeated is far better and rewarding than a world where no evil existed at all. This is why when we watch movies, we don’t watch movies without conflict. In fact, we prefer worlds with conflict & evil as long as the evil is triumphed over. So if such worlds are intrinsically better why wouldn’t God create a world like this as well? The answer to suffering is the law of triumph, where good triumphs over evil, which also creates the greatest type of soul building. So we can see in our own choice of worlds God would probably prefer the same, merely for the fact that it creates triumph.
Michael Jones received a Masters in Philosophy from the University of Arizona. He runs the non-profit, Inspiring Philosophy ministries, which aims to counter objections to Christianity and present an intellectual case for the truth of Christianity. His YouTube channel, Inspiring Philosophy, has over 400,000 subscribers and over 95 million views.