Arguably Shakespeare’s greatest play, Hamlet will catapult us into the modern era of literature. To unpack that notion, we’ll explore the following questions:

1. In what sense does Hamlet have a foothold in both the classical and modern eras?
2. How does Hamlet grapple with the Biblical, covenantal tension between man’s significance, on the one hand, and insignificance, on the other?
3. Why is Hamlet’s conversation with his conscience an answer to Machiavelli?

Recommended Reading: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Modernity continues to emerge with the writings of Montaigne and Shakespeare. On today’s episode, Rabbi Rocklin will help us address the following questions:

1. Why did Montaigne love history as a tool to understand the human character?
2. How does Montaigne’s approach to education diverge from his contemporaries’ such that we might recognize his approach in today’s world of education?
3. What sets Shakespeare’s plays apart from his contemporaries’ and makes his works relevant throughout the centuries?

Recommended Reading: Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life. New York: Harper Perennial, 2001.

The study of Kabbalah—Jewish mysticism—will play an outsized role in shaping not only Western thought but even modern science. To explore the topic, we’ll turn to the following questions:

1. What is Kabbalah and why did it become important, as an area of study, for Christian thinkers and scholars?
2. How does Kabbalah further develop the notion of human agency?
3. What role did Kabbalah play in the development of modern science?

Recommended Reading: Coudert, Allison P. Hebraica Veritas: Christian Hebraists and the Study of Judaism in Early Modern Europe. Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2024.

The amount of bloodshed that took place following the Protestant Reformation is staggering. As we try to make sense of the religious wars, we’ll explore the following questions:

1. What role did chivalric virtues play in bolstering Protestantism in France?
2. Why did local Catholics in the Low Countries oppose an inquisition against Protestants?
3. How did the Treaty of Westphalia, which recognized Protestantism as legitimate, differ from the Peace of Augsburg a century earlier?

In the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation, religious Europe continued to splinter. On today’s episode, Rabbi Rocklin will answer the following questions:

1. How did John Calvin’s views of free will and predestination lead to a culture in which hard work and monetary success was seen as valuable?
2. How does Anglicanism occupy a middle ground between Lutheranism and Calvinism?
3. Over the course of the Council of Trent, how did the Catholic Church clarify its doctrine in response to Luther’s criticisms?

Erasmus was arguably the greatest scholar and foremost humanist of the Northern Renaissance. As we learn more about him, we’ll explore the following questions:

1. How was Erasmus’ Greek language scholarship foundational to the Protestant Reformation?
2. What were Erasmus’ basic criticisms of the Catholic Church? How did those critiques differ from Luther’s?
3. Why is it still important to read Erasmus today, despite his fundamental character flaws?

Recommended Reading: Shepherd, Victor. Interpreting Martin Luther: An Introduction to His Life and Thought. Canada: Regent College Publishing, 2008.
Reverend Dr. Victor Shepherd’s website: https://victorshepherd.ca/

Political turmoil swept across Europe in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. To help us expand the topic, Rabbi Rocklin will answer the following questions:

1. How did Luther’s approach to religious reform encourage a rise in centralized power?
2. Why was it necessary to divide the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Augsburg?
3. How did Rashi, an eleventh century Jewish scholar, indirectly influence Luther’s interpretation of scripture?

Few events in Christian history had a more dramatic impact than the Protestant Reformation. As we survey this seismic event, Rabbi Rocklin will answer the following questions:

1. How did the spirit of the Renaissance that swept through Europe foster a culture that could lead to the Reformation?
2. What theological debates led to Martin Luther’s eventual split from the Roman Catholic Church?
3. How is Luther’s insistence that the Bible can be translated into the vernacular an outgrowth of his view of the ordinary man?