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Intellectual Foundations

Institutional life rests upon deeper intellectual traditions. The essays collected here explore interpretation, classical thought, history, and the humanities, and the conceptual foundations that inform governance, leadership, and authority.

Latest Articles 32 Articles
Renaissance   -   Aug 22, 2025 Sacred and Secular Voices: Men and Women of Letters in Theological and Classical Perspective
Sacred and Secular Voices: Men and Women of Letters in Theological and Classical Perspective

The Holy Bible, recognized within the Christian tradition as inspired by the Spirit, has long served as a principal authority in both church and academy. Its canon, recognized across centuries, became foundational for study and was frequently cited as sufficient for “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
Humane Letters   -   Aug 18, 2025 The Hermeneutics of Authority: Luther, Leo, and the Contest over Christian Liberty in the Reformation[1]
The Hermeneutics of Authority: Luther, Leo, and the Contest over Christian Liberty in the Reformation[1]

Did the God of the Holy Bible endow Pope Leo with papal infallibility, or did God grant Christian liberty to Luther’s constituents to stand against what they perceived as doctrinal and moral issues of the Church? The inherent difficulty with the question is that the two perspectives are mutually

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
Hermeneutics   -   Aug 18, 2025 Book Review: Richard Whatmore, What is Intellectual History?
Book Review: Richard Whatmore, What is Intellectual History?

This review examines Richard Whatmore’s contribution to the field of intellectual history, a work of notable clarity and ambition.. The review was published in the Journal of Faith and the Academy 9, no. 2 (Fall 2016): 93-95. Book Review Whatmore, Richard. What is Intellectual History? Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
Humane Letters   -   Aug 18, 2025 Book Review: Kenneth Clark: Life, Art, and Civilization, by James Stourton
Book Review: Kenneth Clark: Life, Art, and Civilization, by James Stourton

What follows is a book review I wrote shortly after completion of doctoral work which was published in the Journal of Faith and the Academy 10, no. 2 (Fall 2017): 104. Book Review  Kenneth Clark: Life, Art, and Civilisation. James Stourton. New York: Knopf, 2016. xvii + 478 pp. $35.00.

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
Renaissance   -   Aug 17, 2025 Book Review: Gary Ianziti, Writing History in Renaissance Italy: Leonardo Bruni and the Uses of the Past
Book Review: Gary Ianziti, Writing History in Renaissance Italy: Leonardo Bruni and the Uses of the Past

What follows is a book review I wrote during doctoral work on Leonardo Bruni. Professor Ianziti has written an insightful, critical work of scholarly import. That review was later published in the Journal of Faith and the Academy 8, no. 2 (Fall 2015): 97–101. Book Review Gary Ianziti. Writing

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
Renaissance   -   Aug 17, 2025 Book Review: Machiavelli: A Portrait, by Christopher S. Celenza
Book Review: Machiavelli: A Portrait, by Christopher S. Celenza

While in Italy, with Professor Celenza’s study of Machiavelli as my companion, I journeyed to the modest villa where the Florentine thinker endured his exile. In a dim room, I stood before his desk. Its grain was worn smooth by years of restless hands and restless thought. This was

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
Renaissance   -   Aug 17, 2025 Reading Bruni with the Popes: Context, Birthplaces, and Duration
Reading Bruni with the Popes: Context, Birthplaces, and Duration

Leonardo Bruni’s career unfolded within a century of intense papal change that shaped the politics, patronage, and civic culture of Italy. The two figures below place Bruni’s life against that institutional background. Figure 1 presents a complete sequence of papal reigns from Urban V to Eugene IV, tagging

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
Renaissance   -   Aug 16, 2025 A Study of Venice Through the Eyes of Leonardo Bruni
A Study of Venice Through the Eyes of Leonardo Bruni

Leonardo Bruni's "History of the Florentine People" is the story of republican glory.  The History is a tome of nostalgia written by an aged man whose life was wholly given to the development of his beloved Florence.  His narrative was an attempt to promote the future

by Shawn D. Mathis, PhD, MSc (Oxon), MA
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