And this gray spirit yearning in desire / To follow knowledge like a sinking star / Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

-Alfred Lord Tennyson, Ulysses

The essays on this site are presented by a group of permanent authors, whose constant efforts are the core of this site:

JEREMY GAYED

Jeremy graduated from Wheaton College with degrees in chemistry and political science, then received his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School .

Jeremy’s interests include theology, literature (particularly folk or fairy tales, which are, in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, “the best way — sometimes the only way — of conveying truths that would otherwise remain inexpressible”), deer hunting, and boxing. Jeremy lives with his wife, children, and dog.

THOMAS LYONS

Thomas Lyons is from Madison, WI. He went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has degrees in Economics and Sociology. He enjoys discussions of politics, philosophy, baseball, and film. He lives with his wife and two children.

JOHN FARNUM

John Farnum is a Wheaton College graduate with a physics and chemistry double major. After undergrad, he went to the University of Chicago to pursue a Ph.D in chemistry and, upon completion, went to Emory University as a postdoctoral researcher to broaden his research experience. His interests include reading classic books, playing frisbee, softball, and other sports, and jumping over various objects. He is an Illinois native but has taken well to life in the south, although he will never forsake his loyalties to the Cubs, Bears, and Bulls.

PAUL GOODELL
Paul was born in Boston and raised in Southern New Hampshire, where his parents still live. He has been an actively religious person since he was in eighth grade. He was raised in the Presbyterian tradition and converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 2004. Paul and his wife, Aubrey, are currently English teachers living in Sokcho, South Korea through 2007, although Paul is a health care policy analyst by degree. He went to school at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL (just outside Chicago, which he now considers home), where he graduated in 2002 with his BA in Political Science. After a two-year break he went to The George Washington University in Washington, DC, where he graduated in 2006 with his MA in Public Policy.

He met Aubrey while they worked at Emmaus Ministries in 2004. Emmaus is a ministry in Uptown (that is, northeastern) Chicago that reaches out to male prostitutes working and living on the streets in the city, a truly overlooked and unreached group. Working at Emmaus profoundly affected Paul’s understanding of himself, of the Church’s mission and purpose, and of the proper use and limits of government action to help society (especially the poor). His work with men who were living full time at “rock bottom” caused him to rethink many of his basic assumptions about society, including the way it works and how it should look if it is to be “good” and “just.” It also hastened his transition to the Catholic Church. It is a large part of the reason why he eventually became a part of The Only Orthodoxy.

Paul is a huge sports fan who enjoys watching American football, baseball, and basketball, in that order. He loves his Boston-area sports teams: the Patriots, the Red Sox, and the Celtics. (He acknowledges the existence of the Bruins, but prefers to ignore them, since he’s not fond of hockey.) His other interests include reading good books, eating good food, and drinking good whiskey or beer (or, preferably, both). He loves watching good movies (though not as much as he loves reading good books), and really enjoys discussing religion, politics, and sports with anyone who has an interest in any or all those subjects regardless of whether he agrees with the person. As C.S. Lewis said, what makes a friendship is not agreeing on the answer, but on the question.

BENJAMIN GAYED

Benjamin lives in Chicago with his wife and two kids. He graduated from Huntington University with a degree in chemistry and currently attends Northwestern University School of Medicine, which consumes the overwhelming majority of his time. Benjamin’s interests primarily include his kids, golf, music, and watching football.

ROBERT WAINGRO

Robert Waingro is a white, male, American Evangelical Christian in his late 20s. Waingro was raised in an urban environment in Texas, the oldest child in a large single-parent home. Both the urban setting and the role played by Waingro in his family helped to shape many of his views on poverty and social justice.  Waingro attributes his attendance at Wheaton College, where he earned a degree in Business/Economics, to providence. Robert determined a calling to serve overseas 4.5 years ago and now works in a senior management position for an International Non-Government Organization (INGO).  In American Churches Robert is most often described as a missionary, however, he considers his true vocation that of an international aid worker.  Robert tends to think of the Church as the Global body of people who call themselves Christians across denominational lines and without regard to corporate bodies; he believes that through the Church God has a plan to reach the “least of these” for His names’ sake both now and for eternity.