This is just a quick shout out to anyone who is interested in finding free audio/visual resources to help in your study of the Word and the Historic Orthodox Christian Faith. I’m in my car for over 4 hours a week driving to school and work and I’m always looking for free mp3s and sermons etc to fill out my drives. I especially want to make sure that I don’t wind up in traffic stuck listening to terrestrial radio. Perhaps, I’m becoming more of a music snob or I’m just stuck in the alt rock 90’s phase (with Dave P) but the radio gets worse and worse and most of it is advertisements or Lady GoogooGaga, neither of which I enjoy. Whether it’s music or listening to content, I’m trying to be deliberate about how I spend my conscious hours. It is, in a sense, a consideration of the sanctification of time. The setting apart of our time for God-glorifying purposes. Sometimes I get that from the joy of beauty in music which reminds of the wonder of creation and art, other times it comes through deep, intense, thought; even thought, while driving 70 miles an hour down 128. The following are some suggestions for the latter.
Two thoughts:
1- Itunes has this new feature called Itunes U. You can go there and download full course lectures for entire college courses for free for many top notch schools. Just go to the itunes store and search around: philosophy, theology, biblical studies etc. Might I recommend Reformed Theological Seminary’s free courses (over 50 to choose from in Church History, Theology, Preaching, Counseling; pretty much an MDIV course load) for free download. I’m currently listening to John Frame’s course on ‘The History of Philosophy and Christian Thought’. It’s all about Augustine, early Greek thought, philosophy as it relates to theology. Also, I’m listening to a course called ‘Pauline Epistles’ which is a biblical studies course with about 48 free lectures on the biblical letters written by the Apostles Paul. It’s all free! My rides to school are all the more exciting and free from the hold of poor programming and Gaga.
2 – If your thing is Audio Books…Then check out http://librivox.org/ . This is a site in which books in the public domain are recorded and then given away for free online. Have you been wanting to read Augustine’s ‘City of God’ or something by Chesterton etc while stuck in traffic on your way home from work? Well just download it free from librivox and/or listen on your comp.
Technology is great but sometimes I find that there are so many potential sources that we have a hard time in discerning where and what is worth our time. Let me commend these two sources to you for consideration. It is my hope that they might be of help to you as you dive deep into God’s word and the study of the faith. I consider deep theological study to be one way of worshiping God with our mind. May these be resources toward to the worship of God and the edification of the saints.
Enjoy,
John