A Tribute to Ken Myers and the Mars Hill Audio Journal

Aside from the Bible, the single best resource to keep me focused on the truth is the Mars Hill Audio Journal produced by Ken Myers. In the current issue, Ken speaks about his purpose for the journal: “The overarching, or undergirding, project of this journal is an effort to seek wisdom about the ways in which modern western culture has rearranged our understanding of just about everything: God, the self, freedom, human dignity, community, reason, education—culture itself. I launched this project twenty-one yeas ago not because I thought everything modern was bad, but because I believed that the distinctively modern assumptions driving our cultural life were inconsistent with Christian belief and practice. And those assumptions are often embedded in the institutions and practices that make our way of life distinctively modern” (vol. 118, cut 5).

He achieves his purpose by interviewing authors whose books address issues relevant to Christianity and modernity. Myers knows the authors’ works, asks pertinent questions, and makes relevant comments so listeners get a sense of the purpose and scope of each book and some of its content. The discussions are beautifully executed.

Myers also selects a variety of titles from diverse disciplines. For example, he recently discussed the book God and Charles Dickens with its author, Gary Colledge. The thesis of the book is that, contrary to popular belief, Dickens’ Christian convictions and practices are on display throughout his fiction. I purchased the book and devoured it. In the current issue, Myers talks with Daniel M. Bell Jr. about his book, The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World. This was an obvious choice, for Bell’s book fits Myers’ purpose hand in glove.

Ken Myers produced a book in 1989, and he writes a column for the bimonthly magazine, Touchstone; but primarily he interviews authors. The image that comes to mind regarding his work is John the Baptist pointing toward Jesus and saying, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Myers points to authors and books that keep listeners in touch with the Word. I find something valuable in virtually every issue.