The Christian Imagination
A Six-Week Journey
The Christian Imagination
A Six-Week Journey
Discover the theological foundations behind everything you love about the great stories
You've felt it. That ache when a story moves you more than Sunday worship does. The suspicion that you're missing something—that real Christianity is supposed to be bigger, deeper, more integrated than what you've experienced. You've had glimpses: moments when beauty pierced you, when a meal became more than food, when heaven and earth felt closer than they should be. But you can't seem to live there. By Tuesday, it's gone.
Here's the truth: You're not broken. Your faith isn't too weak. You've just been handed a knockoff.
What if the imagination you’ve absorbed—the split between spiritual and material, the sacred Sundays and secular Mondays, the disembodied faith that lives only in your head—what if that's not actually Christianity at all? What if there's a rich theological tradition stretching back centuries that explains why beauty matters, why stories form us, why your body and your table and your work all participate in God's life—and why you've been so desperately parched without it?
What if you could learn the patterns and habits that allow you to live like the stories are true?
This course reveals the "why" behind those moments when everything clicked—and gives you the theological framework and practical tools to make it a way of life, not just something you experience at retreats or gatherings.
Six weeks. The foundations you've been missing. The integration you've been longing for. The discovery that there is no such thing as ordinary life when you have eyes to see.
What You'll Gain:
✅ Theological foundations for the things you love most
✅ Language to articulate why beauty and story matter to your faith
✅ Daily practices that sustain this vision beyond our gatherings
✅ Connection between your work, your life, and God's kingdom story
✅ A personal vision for how to build beauty, truth, and goodness around you
Six Weeks to Transform Your Vision
Six Weeks to Transform Your Vision
From Augustine to Lewis, from medieval mystics to contemporary theologians, you'll discover the deep wells that have nourished the Church's imagination for centuries—and most importantly, how it all fits together.
Week 1
Why Do Stories Make You Weep?
Something's broken. You know it every time a story moves you more than Sunday morning worship does. Every time Frodo sailing to the Grey Havens feels more real than your actual faith. Surely there's supposed to be more.
What if the problem isn't you? What if the "Christianity" you inherited is actually a knockoff version—and the real thing has been waiting for you all along, offering answers to the ache you've been feeling?
Why did God make you? What is Christianity actually for?
Why secular modernity and watered-down theology have left you with instincts fundamentally at odds with historic Christian faith
How real Christianity doesn't just explain your longing. It satisfies it.
Week 2
Why Does Beauty Hurt?
You live split in two. Spiritual things are "up there" somewhere—prayer, church, Bible reading, the important stuff. But your actual life is "down here"—your body, your work, your morning coffee, the ordinary hours that feel empty of meaning. You've been taught to endure matter while waiting for spirit.
But what if this is all wrong? What if that sunset that stops you cold, that hymn that makes you weep, that painting that feels like it's reaching through time to grab you—what if they're all trying to tell you the same thing: The material world isn't a waiting room. It's shot through with glory.
How our default theology makes us either heretics or hedonists
The real reason beauty pierces, and how to heal the sacred/secular split that's been slowly killing you
Week 3
Who Are You?
Modern life makes you small. You're replaceable at work. Your choices feel inconsequential. Your body is just a vehicle for your brain, and frankly, screens are doing most of your thinking anyway. Even when you sense you were meant for something significant, you can't shake the feeling that you're just...ordinary.
But what if the truth about you is far stranger—and far more dangerous to the status quo—than you've been allowed to believe? What if you were made to be a mediator between heaven and earth, a priest-king whose ordinary choices actually matter for eternity?
The problem: We live increasingly disembodied lives in a culture that treats bodies as either irrelevant or as mere pleasure machines
The reality: You're an embodied spirit, and the connection between what you can see and what you can't goes deeper than you think
Week 4
Why Does Life Feel So Fragmented?
You're drowning in moments that don't add up to anything. One minute you're present—really there at the table, in worship, reading to your child. The next you're scrolling, checking, drowning in notifications and to-do lists, wondering where the meaning went. You ricochet between "sacred time" (Sunday morning, quiet times) and "regular time" (the 99% of your life that feels spiritually empty).
There's a reason Sunday fades by Monday afternoon: You've been taught to live by the tyranny of the next thing. But what if you were meant for time that connects to eternity, where every moment can become sacred? What if the fragmentation you feel isn't inevitable?
How typology and patterns in Scripture reveal that your individual story is part of something cosmic
What it looks like to meet eternity in time
Week 5
Where Do We Learn to Live This Way?
You've tasted what you're missing. Maybe at one of our gatherings—that moment when the singing, the meal, the conversation all clicked together and you thought, "Oh. This is what it's supposed to feel like." But then you went home and by Tuesday it had evaporated. You're back to the grind, wondering if those moments of integration are just occasional treats, not sustainable life.
But what if they're not supposed to be exceptional? For centuries, the Church created rhythms, practices, and stories that made sacramental living normal—not a retreat experience, but ordinary Christian life. What got lost? And how do we recover it?
The problem: Our metanarratives and rhythms reflect the world's patterns, not the kingdom's
How the Christian imagination offers us individual and communal tools for a very different formation
Week 6
How Do You Bring Heaven to Your Corner of Earth?
You have a job. Maybe a family. A mortgage. You probably can't join a monastery or quit everything to "pursue ministry." And honestly, when people suggest that real Christian faithfulness requires escaping your ordinary life, something in you knows that's wrong—but you don't know what the alternative looks like.
Here's the secret: You already have everything you need. A front door. A table. Some patch of ground—literal or metaphorical—where you have agency. The question isn't whether your ordinary life can become an outpost of the kingdom. The question is: How?
How your vocations—parenting, working, creating—can become participation in God's ongoing creative work
How to build this starting where you have agency: your home, your work, your relationships
What Participants Say:
"I learned to move my faith from my head to my heart; it was no longer only intellectual, but something deeply good and beautiful as well."
"Anselm has changed me, grown me, challenged my thinking, deepened my spirituality. I like me better now. I see a wider world. I love the church more."
"I learned how to feel the love of God in my very lungs.”
Details
Details
Course Details
Format: Six weekly two-hour online sessions with one intermission week; participation is designed to be live but course can also be taken as recordings
When: Jan 15, 22, 29; Feb 5, 19, 26 (intermission week Feb 12)
Where: Online (there may be a local Colorado Springs option)
Includes:
Six teaching sessions with discussion
Curated readings from great Christian voices
Interactive exercises rooted in historic practice
Continued connection with participants
Recording access
What You'll Read
Each week includes carefully curated excerpts from the masters—short enough to read in a busy life, deep enough to transform how you see. You'll encounter voices across the centuries who've shaped Christian imagination, made accessible and applicable to your daily life.
Typically 10-15 pages a week with an option for further reading if desired.
Your Guide
Brian Brown, founder and executive director of The Anselm Society, has been helping Christians discover the sacramental nature of reality for over a decade. He studied political theology at Princeton University and the John Jay Institute, and has been discipled and trained by several world-class professors and theologians.
But this course isn't just Brian's insights—it's an interactive encounter with the great tradition itself. You'll study the voices who have shaped Christian imagination across the centuries: not just the writers you already love but the writers who shaped them.
If you've been moved by the ideas that animate the Anselm Society, this course introduces you to the giants whose shoulders we stand on.
Ready to Live What You Love?
Ready to Live What You Love?
You've tasted this fuller Christianity. You've experienced moments when everything connected. Now learn the theological foundations that make those moments possible—and discover how to live this vision every single day.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where do I access the course?
Answer: The course is hosted on Zoom for live sessions. You'll receive a link via email after registration. All recordings will be made available within 24 hours of each session through a private course portal (details sent after registration). You'll have ongoing access to all recordings and materials.
2. I can't attend the live sessions. Can I still take the course?
Answer: Absolutely. While we designed the course for live participation (the discussion component is valuable), all sessions will be recorded and available for you to watch on your own schedule. Recordings will be broken into digestible segments so you can pause and resume as needed. You'll also have access to all readings, exercises, and the discussion forum where you can engage with other participants asynchronously.
3. What's the reading load like? I'm not great with theological texts.
Answer: Each week includes 10-15 pages of reading—intentionally kept manageable for busy lives. We've selected the most accessible excerpts from each author and provide context to help you understand what you're reading. The readings are curated to be challenging but not overwhelming. If you can read C.S. Lewis, you can handle these readings. And if you miss a week's reading, you won't be lost—the sessions are designed to stand on their own.
4. Do I need to be familiar with the Anselm Society to take this course?
Answer: Not at all. This course is designed to introduce you to the theological foundations behind the work we do—whether you've been coming to gatherings for years or you're just discovering us through the podcast or social media. If you've ever felt that ache for something deeper in your faith, or if beauty and story move you more than they probably "should," you're ready for this course.
5. Is there a group or couples discount?
Answer: Yes! There’s a two-person ticket option, and you can contact us if you'd like to join with a small group. We're happy to work out group rates for 3+ people registering together.
6. What if I need to miss a week?
Answer: No problem. With one built-in intermission week (no session Feb 12) and full recordings available, you can catch up easily if life happens. The course is designed so each week builds on previous weeks, but missing one session won't derail your experience.
7. Will I be able to ask questions?
Answer: Yes, throughout each session. We're structuring the evenings with multiple discussion breaks—short teaching segments followed by time for questions and conversation. You'll also have access to a discussion forum between sessions where you can post questions, engage with other participants, and continue the conversation.
8. What's the time commitment beyond the two-hour sessions?
Answer: Plan for about 30-45 minutes of reading per week (10-15 pages), plus optional journaling or reflection exercises if you want to go deeper. The final week will include some personal application homework in lieu of readings.
9. I'm not Anglican/Protestant/Catholic. Is this course for me?
Answer: This course draws from the Great Tradition—the theological wisdom shared across Christian traditions for centuries. We'll read from Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant voices because the sacramental imagination isn't the property of any one tradition. If you're a Christian who wants to understand why beauty and story matter to your faith, you belong here.
10. What's your refund policy?
Answer: You can request a refund up to 48 hours before the course begins.
11. Will you offer this course again?
Answer: This is our first offering of this six-week format, so we're treating it as a pilot. Depending on response and what we learn, we hope to offer it again in the future. If you're on the fence, we'd encourage you to join this cohort—there's something special about being part of the first group through.
12. I'm interested in a local, in-person option in Colorado Springs. Is that happening?
Answer: We're exploring this possibility depending on interest. If you're local and would prefer an in-person option, let us know when you register (there will be a question about this). If we get enough interest, we'll set up an in-person track running parallel to the online sessions.
13. Is this course appropriate for teenagers?
Yes.
14. I still need assistance or have other questions.
Answer: For any technical assistance, questions about content, or just to talk through whether this course is right for you, please contact us. We're here to help.