Podcast appearances and mentions of Christian ethics

This lesson was taught by Kyle Fitzgerald on 7/19/2026. We are a confessional church based on the London Baptist Confessional 1689 whose ultimate authority is God's Word. Bible Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, to the Glory of God Alone. Please Visit us online at https://www.bbcstockton.church https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_de... https://www.facebook.com/bbcstockton

Looking good isn't a sin—but when does self-improvement become self-worship? In this episode, we wrestle with one of the most relevant questions Christians face today: from BBLs and Botox to braces, veneers, and hair transplants, where should followers of Jesus draw the line? Join us as we explore what Scripture says about our bodies, our motives, and whether we're pursuing God's glory or the world's approval.John 7:241 Samuel 16:7Esther 2:7Genesis 29:17 Genesis 39:6 1 Samuel 9:2 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 1 Kings 6–7 2 Chronicles 3–4 1 Corinthians 10:23–24 1 Corinthians 10:31 1 Corinthians 8:9  1 Peter 3:3–4 Proverbs 31:30 Philippians 2:3–4 Galatians 1:10

Not all cursing is sin, and not all oaths are forbidden. Lesson 35 continues the study of the third commandment and moves into cursing and swearing.Teacher Dave Rich distinguishes between sinful cursing, calling for someone's harm out of personal anger or vindictiveness, and the legitimate cursing found in Scripture, including the imprecatory psalms, Paul's warnings against false teachers, and church discipline. Rich shows that a curse becomes sin when it serves personal vengeance rather than God's glory, and that treating words like damn and hell lightly undermines the seriousness of what they actually mean.Rich then turns to swearing and oath taking, working through Matthew 5 and James 5 to argue that Jesus and James were not forbidding all oaths but the dishonest, manipulative oath taking common among the Pharisees. He traces examples of legitimate oaths from God's own promise to Abraham, Christ's testimony before the high priest, and Paul's letters, then walks through categories of prohibited swearing, including dishonest oaths, oaths to sin, and foolish oaths like Jephthah's vow.The lesson closes with practical guidance on the vows Christians do take, including wedding vows, baptism, communion, and oaths of office, and the call to take our own words seriously before God. ★ Support this podcast ★

This lesson was preached by Kyle Fitzgerald on 7/12/2026. We are a confessional church based on the London Baptist Confessional 1689 whose ultimate authority is God's Word. Bible Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, to the Glory of God Alone. Please Visit us online at https://www.bbcstockton.church https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_de... https://www.facebook.com/bbcstockton

Send us Fan MailFollowing Jesus has always been more than identifying as a Christian—it means embracing the way of Christ.In this episode of Summer Series 2026, Tim Stewart sits down with Dr. Obery Hendricks—New Testament scholar, professor, and acclaimed author—to explore what it looks like to move beyond cultural Christianity and recover the radical vision of the Gospel.Together they discuss the Kingdom of God, justice, discipleship, wealth, poverty, and why Jesus consistently called His followers to love their neighbors through tangible action. Dr. Hendricks invites listeners to reconsider what it means to faithfully follow Christ in a world that often adopts the language of Christianity while neglecting the teachings of Jesus.Whether you're rethinking long-held assumptions or simply longing to follow Jesus more faithfully, this conversation offers a thoughtful challenge to rediscover the heart of the Gospel and live it out every day.In this episode: Following Jesus beyond cultural Christianity  The biblical meaning of the Kingdom of God  Justice as a central theme of Scripture  Loving our neighbors through action  The Church's responsibility beyond its own walls  Faith that transforms communities  Living out the teachings of Jesus today Featured Resources

Difference exposes our tendency to rank people as “better” or “worse.” Theologian Brian Brock, PhD, joins Amy Julia Becker to explore a life rooted in connection, creatureliness, and love. They consider:Social hierarchy and disability stigmaDietrich Bonhoeffer, community, and moral responsibilityHuman worth and personhoodJoining Creation's PraiseS10 E8:00:00 Introduction: Joining Creation's Praise04:35 Human Beings Are Creatures11:57 Human Exceptionalism and Disability16:00 Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Disability, Moral Responsibility, and Community21:19 Euthanasia and Historical Context24:07 Creation, Redemption, and Human Worth32:22 Understanding Personhood in Modern Ethics40:59 Reimagining the Good Life Through CreationMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Joining Creation's Praise: A Theological Ethic of Creatureliness by Brian Brock_SUBSCRIBE to Amy Julia's Substack: amyjuliabecker.substack.comWATCH this conversation on YouTube: Amy Julia Becker on YouTubeJOIN the conversation on Instagram: @amyjuliabeckerLISTEN to more episodes: amyjuliabecker.com/shows/_ABOUT OUR GUEST:Brian Brock (DPhil, King's College, London) is Chair of Moral and Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has written scholarly works on the use of the Bible in Christian ethics, the ethics of technological development, the theology of disability and the doctrine of creation. He is founder and managing editor of the academic monograph series T&T Clark Enquires in Theological Ethics, is Managing Editor of the Journal of Disability and Religion and President of the Society for the Study of Christian Ethics. He is also a husband and father of three children, including Adam, who is 21, a delightful human being with Down's Syndrome and autism. His most recent book is Joining Creation's Praise: A Theological Ethic of Creatureliness.Professor Brian Brock | The University of Aberdeen__We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me:InstagramFacebookYouTubeWebsiteThanks for listening! 

In this episode of Scripture Untangled, veteran journalist Lorna Dueck sits down with Ray Pennings, Executive Vice President and Co-founder of Cardus, to explore one of Canada's most challenging moral conversations, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). Drawing from Scripture, Christian social thought, and decades of public policy engagement, Ray unpacks how faith shapes our understanding of human dignity, suffering, autonomy, community, and hope. In this episode, Ray and Lorna discuss: What happens when a nation redefines suffering, dignity, and death and how Canada's MAID debate reveals deeper questions about human worth, community, and hope. How Christians often wrestle with compassion, autonomy, and end-of-life decisions and how the Bible provides us with a deep, spiritual perspective on suffering, care, and human flourishing. What role Christians can play in Canada's most challenging moral debates and the lessons Ray learned from 25 years of engaging policymakers through Cardus. How we can navigate suffering without losing hope and a deeply Biblical perspective on death, dignity, and trusting God even in our final days. Read the transcript: https://biblesociety.ca/transcript-scripture-untangled-s13-ep12 =====Ray Pennings is the co-founder and Executive Vice-President of Cardus, a leading Canadian think tank. His work focuses on the public dimensions of faith, especially as it informs the work of the full range of social institutions and their contribution to public life. He authors a popular weekly newsletter, Cardus Insights, written to provide engaged citizens with resources for faith, leadership, and public life.  In addition to his own punditry, Ray leads a team of social entrepreneurs at Cardus who are thinking through challenges such as overcoming social isolation, cultivating public virtue, and enhancing freedom in diverse contexts, contributing to the conversation with research and data reports, public commentary, and facilitated events.  Ray holds a Master's Degree in Theology from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He has been a life-long member of the Free Reformed denomination, where he served as an elder, clerk of Synod, and as a licensed exhorter. He and his wife Kathy are based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. https://www.cardus.ca/   Canadian Bible Society: biblesociety.caHelp people hear God speak: biblesociety.ca/donateConnect with us on Instagram: @canadianbiblesocietyThe Bible Course: biblecourse.ca

The third commandment does not just forbid a four letter word substitute. It forbids treating the name of God as empty, meaningless, or vain.In this lesson, teacher Dave Rich moves the Christian Ethics and Old Testament series into the third commandment, You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain. Rich walks through the Hebrew words behind the command, nasa, meaning to lift up or carry, and shav, meaning an empty or false thing, to show that the prohibition reaches far beyond careless speech alone.Rich explains why God shifts to the third person in this commandment and what that shift reveals about the weight of his name. Since a name in Scripture represents a person's very being and reputation, to misuse the name of God is to lie about who he is. Rich argues the commandment ultimately prohibits all sin, since every person bears God's image, then narrows the focus to specific violations, including irreverent exclamations, careless profanity, and the substitutes and euphemisms Christians often reach for instead.This lesson calls listeners to examine their own speech and to consider what it truly means to hallow God's name rather than treat it as something ordinary. ★ Support this podcast ★

This lesson was preached by Kyle Fitzgerald on 7/5/2026. We are a confessional church based on the London Baptist Confessional 1689 whose ultimate authority is God's Word. Bible Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, to the Glory of God Alone. Please Visit us online at https://www.bbcstockton.church https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_de... https://www.facebook.com/bbcstockton

Send us Fan MailNEW EPISODE: This is where our conversation takes an even deeper turn.Caleb shares the story of his personal confrontation with Christian nationalism—how an invitation to participate with Turning Point USA forced him to take a much closer look at the movement and the version of Christianity it was promoting. That investigation eventually led him to write his remarkable book, Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor.We also explore the rich biblical imagery behind the title. In Scripture, Leviathan represents the mysterious forces of chaos that only God can ultimately tame. Caleb uses that ancient symbol as a powerful metaphor for Christian nationalism itself—a force fueled by fear, political idolatry, and cultural anxiety over demographic change, political marginalization, and the perceived loss of traditional values.But this isn't simply a critique. It's an invitation to faithful engagement. Caleb challenges us to respond not with condemnation but with empathy, courageous conversations, genuine listening, and radical hospitality.For anyone struggling to relate to friends or family who have been drawn into the MAGA movement or Christian nationalism, Caleb offers thoughtful, practical wisdom that I believe you'll find both hopeful and deeply challenging. Listen to Part 1 - From Neo-Nazi to Lead  Pastor: Caleb Campbell's Extraordinary JourneySHOW NOTES - including links to Caleb's book and the When the Wolves Came PodcastSupport the showBecome a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you!Ken's Substack PageThe Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

What does the Bible say about patriotism?As Americans celebrate Independence Day, many Christians find themselves reflecting on an important question: How should believers balance love for their country with their ultimate allegiance to the kingdom of God?In this episode of Apostolic Life in the 21st Century, Dr. David K. Bernard explores the relationship between patriotism and Christian faith. Drawing on biblical principles, he explains how believers can appreciate and support their nation while ensuring that their highest loyalty remains with Jesus Christ.Dr. Bernard discusses the difference between healthy patriotism and misplaced devotion and offers practical guidance for navigating the tension between national identity and heavenly citizenship.Whether you are celebrating Independence Day, wrestling with questions about faith and politics, or seeking a biblical perspective on Christian citizenship, this episode provides thoughtful and balanced insight grounded in Scripture.Apostolic Life in the 21st Century is the weekly podcast where Dr. David K. Bernard answers questions about Scripture, theology, Christian living, and current issues from an Apostolic Pentecostal perspective.Visit PentecostalPublishing.com to shop Dr. Bernard's full catalog of published works. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10 percent on your order.If you enjoy this podcast, leave a five-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast platform. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st Century with family and friends.

 Today, Leslie sits down with David Gushee, a Pastor and Professor of Christian Ethics who is also a writer of one of the most influential books of Leslie's deconstruction process—Changing our Mind. Leslie invites David to share his journey with us all trough being a Southern Baptist convert to a progressive Christian Scholar. David openly shares about his gradual theological broadening from accepting women in ministry to ultimately affirming LGBTQ inclusion in 2014, which cost him his standing in the evangelical world. They talk about the problematic clobber passages that are used to alienate and judge the LGBTQ community and the brittle nature of fundamentalist biblical interpretation. You'll want to take notes on this one, folks! Also - if you are interested in being in the book study with Leslie for “Job in Exile: A Guide for Spiritual Refugees” by David Gushee in September, please send Leslie an email and let her know! leslienease@gmail.com. To check out David's books and pre-order his new book about Job, click here. Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease.Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.Interested in working with Leslie as your Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.comIf you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire.Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here!If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community! Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dave Rich continues his study of the Second Commandment in this lesson, tackling a question every believer eventually faces: if God forbids images of Himself, why does Scripture describe Him as a lion, a lamb, a light, and even a moth?Rich walks through the Bible's own use of figurative language for God, showing how these pictures teach us about His character without becoming objects of worship themselves. He also examines anthropomorphic language, God's "arm" and His "ear", and what it does and does not mean about God's nature.From there, Rich turns to the doctrine of the Imago Dei, tracing how mankind's status as God's image bearer was distorted by the Fall, renewed in conversion, and ultimately fulfilled in Christ, "the image of the invisible God."The lesson closes with a survey of Second Commandment violations across religious history, from Mormon theology and the prosperity gospel to Roman Catholic relics and cargo cults, along with a careful comparison of how C.S. Lewis's Narnia differs from the heretical portrayal of God in The Shack.This lesson gives listeners a clear framework for thinking rightly about God, guarding against idolatry in both thought and practice, while learning to see Christ as the perfect and only worthy image of God. ★ Support this podcast ★

Was America's founding a genuinely Christian project, or has that idea been read backward into history by people who want it to be true? Dr. Ben Carson, famed neurosurgeon, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and founder of the American Cornerstone Institute, joins Joshua Lewis to make the case that the founders' faith wasn't incidental to the American project, but was foundational to it.ABOUT THE EPISODE:Carson walks through the well-known stories: George Washington's providential survival during the French and Indian War, Benjamin Franklin's call to prayer at the Constitutional Convention, John Adams' conviction that the Constitution was built for "a moral and religious people." Carson recounts these as evidence that the founders understood their rights as God-given rather than state-granted and argues this conviction is what allowed the young nation to move as fast as it did.But this episode tackles some of the harder questions about America's Christian roots. In fact, many Christians today are wrestling with where the line falls between honoring faith's role in government and slipping into theonomy or Christian nationalism (using the Bible not just to inform conviction, but to enforce practice). Josh and Dr. Carson walk through the difficult cases, including Thomas Jefferson's private letters calling Paul "the first corruptor" of Christ's doctrine, the Treaty of Tripoli's explicit statement that the U.S. government is "not in any sense founded on the Christian religion," and the uncomfortable reality that some founders held views far messier than the Sunday-school version of American history.What emerges is a conversation about the difference between a Christian moral framework shaping a leader's conscience and a Christian theocracy shaping a nation's laws and why the founders, having fled state-enforced religion in Europe, were careful to avoid recreating it here. Dr. Carson also addresses the founders' inconsistencies head-on, including slavery, and how a constitution "inspired" by Christian conviction could coexist with such a profound moral failure.If you've ever felt caught between two unsatisfying camps with "America was a secular Enlightenment experiment" on one side, and "America should be governed by biblical law" on the other, this conversation gives you a third way to think about it: historically honest, theologically grounded, and avoidant to both extremes.0:00 – Introduction0:51 – Built on Faith Children's Book1:00 – Washington's Providence Stories4:34 – Christianity Twisted by Marxism6:09 – Founders and Deism Debate8:00 – Declaration vs Constitution11:06 – Theonomy and Theocracy12:47 – Christian Ethics and Lawmaking19:12 – Washington's Christian Faith20:50 – Jefferson's Mixed Beliefs26:49 – Benjamin Franklin's Faith33:39 – Treaty of Tripoli Question35:32 – James Madison and Constitution38:05 – Christian Political Involvement RESOURCES MENTIONED:- Dr. Ben Carson's children's book, Built on Faith (co-authored with Kirk Parrish): https://www.amazon.com/Built-Faith-Ben-Carson/dp/1967002711- American Cornerstone Institute: https://americancornerstone.org- Andrew Wilson, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West: https://www.crossway.org/books/remaking-the-world-hcj/- Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: https://www.crossway.org/books/rise-triumph-modern-self-hcj/- Treaty of Tripoli (1797), Article 11 (full text): https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1796t.aspSubscribe to The Remnant Radio newsletter and receive our FREE introduction to spiritual gifts eBook. Plus, get access to: discounts, news about upcoming shows, courses and conferences - and more. Subscribe now at TheRemnantRadio.com. Support the showABOUT THE REMNANT RADIO: The Remnant Radio exists to equip believers who are hungry for the radical middle of both Word and Spirit. Subscribe for twice-weekly content on theology, church history and the gifts of the Spirit.

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As Christians, we need to stay informed about the rapidly changing world of fertility treatments, genetic testing, and IVF before making decisions or forming opinions. Join C.L. as we explore the powerful story behind the Boozer family, wrestle with difficult questions about life, embryos, technology, and God's will, and seek biblical wisdom for navigating one of the most important ethical conversations of our time.

To listen to the extra innings portion of this episode, where David discusses why it's okay for faithful Christians to identify as gay, head over to https://patreon.com/theologyintheraw to become a member of the Theology in the Raw community.Dr. David Bennett (DPhil, Oxford) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford and Associate Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall. He is the author of the bestselling memoir A War of Loves --the story of his journey from atheistic gay activist in Sydney to celibate gay Christian—and a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's College of Evangelists. His Oxford doctoral thesis, Queering the Queer in Contemporary Theology: An Augustinian Ethics of Same-Sex Desire and Gay Celibacy, is in press with T&T Clark/Bloomsbury (2027), as is his second popular-level book, Beyond Compromise: Reclaiming a Biblical Vision of Love, Sexuality, and the Kingdom of God (Tyndale House). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Second Commandment raises questions that don't always yield easy answers—and Lesson 32 of Christian Ethics and the Old Testament leans into that tension honestly. Dave Rich picks up where he left off, first addressing mental images of God, then turning to one of the more genuinely contested questions in Reformed ethics: may Christians use images of Jesus?Rich walks through the relevant biblical and theological foundations, establishing what is beyond dispute—images of any kind may not be worshiped—before working through six arguments commonly raised against pictures of Jesus in artistic or instructional contexts. He engages each argument carefully, drawing on Calvin, Packer, Frame, Grudem, Douma, and others, neither dismissing the concerns nor accepting every conclusion. The key turning point is the Incarnation itself: the biblical rationale for prohibiting images of God rested on the fact that Israel saw no form at Horeb. Jesus, as the depictable God who took on genuine human flesh, changes that calculus.Rich distinguishes between portraits designed for devotion—which he views with serious caution—and historically grounded artistic or instructional depictions, which he finds less clearly prohibited. He closes by reading Matthew 4 and Revelation 1 aloud and asking whether the mental images those texts inevitably produce are themselves a problem—and what that means for the broader question. ★ Support this podcast ★

Support for the death penalty is going down in America. But is this a sign of moral progress or moral decay? Nathan Clarkson and Joseph Holmes debate this question with political theologian and ethicist Dr. J. Daryl Charles.  References and resources American support  for the death penality going down: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/religious-statements/opinion-polls-death-penalty-support-and-religion? Religious-secular divide on the death penalty: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/06/15/unlike-other-u-s-religious-groups-most-atheists-and-agnostics-oppose-the-death-penalty/ Dr. J. Daryl Charles Recommended Resources J. Daryl Charles, van den Haag, Ernest, “On Deterrence and the Death Penalty.” Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science 60, no. 2 (1969): 141-47. idem, “The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense”; accessible at the PBS “Frontline” website. idem and John P. Conrad, The Death Penalty: A Debate. New York: Plenum Press, 1983. J. Budziszewski, “Capital Punishment: The Case for Justice.” First Things (August 2004); accessible the First Things website J. Daryl Charles, “Outrageous Atrocity or Moral Imperative?: The Ethics of Capital Punishment.” Studies in Christian Ethics 6, no. 3 (Fall 1993): 1-14. idem, “Crime, the Christian, and Capital Justice.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 38, no. 3 (1995): 429-41. idem, “Toward Restoring a Good Marriage: Reflections on the Contemporary Divorce of Love and Justice and Its Cultural Implications.” Journal of Church and State 55, no. 2 (2013): 367-83. idem, “Capital Crime and Punishment: Reflections on Violating Human Sanctity.” Touchstone (September 2002): 29-35. idem, “Lethal Rejection: Is Capital Punishment Barbaric, Uncivilized and Always Wrong?” Touchstone (September 2016): 30-36. idem, “Capital Crimes and Capital Punishment.” Public Discourse (March 14, 2023); accessible at the Public Discourse website idem, “Capital Crimes and Punishment.” Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy (September 22, 2025); accessible at the Providence website Websites The Overthinkers: theoverthinkers.world Nathan Clarkson: nathanclarkson.me Joseph Holmes: linktr.ee.com/josephholmes Dr. J. Daryl Charles: https://crcd.net/fellow/j-daryl-charles-phd/  

What's actually prohibited in "you shall not make for yourself an idol"? Dave Rich works through the Second Commandment verse by verse, and the answer is more precise than most people assume.Lesson 31 in this verse-by-verse study examines Exodus 20:4-6, comparing it carefully against its restatement in Deuteronomy 5. Rich breaks down the Hebrew terms behind "idol" and "likeness," then makes a case from the tabernacle's own furnishings (the lampstand, the cherubim) that images of created things were never the problem. The real prohibition, he argues, is worship and service directed at an image, whether of a false god or of Yahweh himself.From there, Rich traces the pattern through Aaron's golden calf, Jeroboam's calves at Bethel and Dan, and the worship of an ephod during the judges, before tackling the harder question of why Israel specifically couldn't picture God the Father. His answer rests on a simple historical fact: at Sinai, they saw no form. He also takes on what "visiting the iniquity of the fathers" really means, clearing up a phrase many readers misunderstand.This lecture sets up next week's harder question: what about images of Jesus? ★ Support this podcast ★

As Christians, we are called to be generous, but what does that look like when someone asks for money on the street? Should we give? Is there a better way to help? On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West and Dr. David W. Jones explore the ethics of giving to homeless people. They also share how to show compassion without causing harm. Then it’s on to your calls. That’s on Faith & Finance Live, where biblical wisdom meets today’s finances—weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio. Faith & Finance Live is a listener supported program on Moody Radio. To join our team of supporters, click here.To support the ministry of FaithFi, click here.To learn more about Rob West, click here.To learn more about Faith & Finance Live, click here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” — Proverbs 19:17 As Christians, we're called to care for the poor. But what should we do when someone asks us for money on the street? Should we give cash? Offer food? Keep walking? And how do we show compassion without causing harm? Dr. David W. Jones joins us to help answer those questions. He's a senior professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he has written extensively on moral, theological, and financial issues. He also completed his PhD with a focus on Christian financial ethics. According to Dr. Jones, the Bible is clear: God's people should never be indifferent to poverty. Jesus says, “Give to the one who begs from you” (Matthew 5:42), and 1 John 3:17 warns against closing our hearts to a brother in need. But the harder question is not whether we should care. It is how we should care wisely. Start With the Heart When we see someone asking for help, our first instinct may be suspicion. We may assume the person is lazy, addicted, unwilling to work, or responsible for their situation. But before deciding what to give, we should examine our own hearts. Dr. Jones describes this as the danger of being “middle class in spirit”—quietly believing we have what we have because we worked hard, while the person in need must have failed. But Jesus calls us to be “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). The gospel reminds us that God did not wait for us to deserve His mercy. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). That does not mean every request should be met with cash. But it does mean every person should be met with dignity. Compassion Requires Wisdom Giving cash directly to someone on the street is not necessarily wrong, but it may not always be the best way to help. If the money is used to support addiction or another destructive habit, our gift could unintentionally cause harm. Christian love seeks the good of the other person. That means generosity should be guided by wisdom, not guilt or impulse. One practical option is to offer non-cash help. You might keep granola bars, bottled water, or other simple items in your car. When possible, you could offer to buy a meal. These small acts can meet a real need while reducing the risk of enabling harm. The goal is not to create a rigid rule, but to ask: What is the most loving and responsible way to help in this situation? Do What You Can With What You Know In a brief encounter, you probably will not know someone's full story. You may not know whether their poverty is connected to job loss, addiction, illness, abuse, poor choices, or circumstances beyond their control. God does not require us to know everything. He calls us to be faithful. That means preparing ahead of time, responding with compassion, and helping in the wisest way available. Sometimes that may be food. Sometimes it may be a meal. Sometimes it may be directing someone to a local ministry or shelter equipped to provide deeper care. Think Beyond the Moment Some needs require immediate aid. Others require long-term involvement. If someone is suffering because of a disaster or emergency, immediate help may be exactly what is needed. But when poverty is tied to addiction, exploitation, family breakdown, or long-term instability, a developmental approach is often more effective. That may involve relationships, accountability, recovery, job assistance, counseling, and support from a local church or ministry. Most of us cannot meet every need on our own. But we can support trusted ministries that serve the homeless and poor with both compassion and structure. Start With What Is Closest The needs around us can feel overwhelming. Hunger, homelessness, addiction, and poverty are everywhere. We may want to help everyone, but we cannot. Dr. Jones points to the principle of moral proximity. We are often most responsible for the needs closest to us—our family, church, neighborhood, and local community. You may not be able to solve world hunger. But you may be able to help someone in your church, support a local shelter, serve with a ministry, or build a relationship with someone God regularly places in your path. God has not called you to solve every problem. He has called you to be faithful with what is in front of you. Generosity Reflects the Gospel When someone asks for help, we should not respond with contempt or indifference. We should respond as people who have received mercy. That does not mean giving cash every time. But it does mean asking God for wisdom, treating people with dignity, and being prepared to help in ways that truly serve their good. Biblical generosity is both compassionate and discerning. It refuses to look away from need, but it also seeks to help without causing harm. On Today's Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions: I recently received a personal injury settlement. After paying off our cars and nearly all our debt, my wife and I have about $50,000 in a high-yield savings account, no kids, no mortgage, and only two small interest-free revolving accounts left. I'm 44, earning about $80,000 to $100,000 a year, and my wife earns about $50,000. Should we invest all of this money, or is it okay to enjoy some of it? What investment options should we consider? We have an investment property that's either paid off or could be paid off with cash. Since it's basically our retirement savings and we're around 55, we're trying to decide whether to keep it or sell it. If we sell, is there a way to roll the proceeds into a retirement plan, and how should we think through that decision? Resources Mentioned: Faithful Steward: FaithFi's Quarterly Magazine (Become a FaithFi Partner) Our Ultimate Treasure: A 21-Day Journey to Faithful Stewardship by Rob West Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money Look At The Sparrows: A 21-Day Devotional on Financial Fear and Anxiety Rich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich Fool Find a Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA) FaithFi App Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every workday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God's resources. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What does the whole Bible teach about which acts, attitudes, and attributes receive God's approval? In Lesson 30, Dave Rich shifts the class into Normative Ethics — the search for answers — and announces the organizing framework for the rest of the series: the Ten Commandments.Dave opens with a survey of biblical ethics summaries, from Ecclesiastes 12 and Micah 6:8 to the Golden Rule and Paul's charge to do all things to the glory of God. These summaries, he shows, are consistent with one another — and consistent with the Decalogue, which offers exactly the right level of detail to cover virtually everything the Bible addresses in ethics.The lesson centers on the prologue and First Commandment of Exodus 20. God's self-identification — "I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt" — is not mere historical background. It is the ground of all obligation. Rescue precedes command. Grace motivates obedience. Israel's redemption from slavery is a type of the Christian's redemption from sin, death, and the devil — which means the rationale of the prologue applies fully to every believer today.The First Commandment, Dave argues, is not merely one commandment among ten. It includes all the rest. Every sin is, at its core, an act of disloyalty to God — a manufactured idol placed before Him. The commandment still confronts us. The names of ancient gods may have faded, but the human heart, as Calvin observed, remains a perpetual forge of idols. ★ Support this podcast ★

Is war ever morally justified? Can Christians support military action while still following the teachings of Jesus?In this episode of Apostolic Life in the 21st Century, Dr. David K. Bernard examines the historic doctrine of “just war” and explores what the Bible teaches about warfare, national defense, and the use of force.Prompted by current global conflicts and the reflection that often accompanies Memorial Day, this conversation addresses questions Christians have wrestled with for centuries. Drawing from Scripture, church history, and Christian ethics, Dr. Bernard explains just war theory, the principles traditionally used to evaluate whether a war is morally justified, and how believers should think biblically about patriotism, military service, and international conflict.Topics discussed in this episode include:The fundamentals of just war doctrineWhether the Bible allows for war in certain circumstancesThe role of government in maintaining justice and orderHow Christians should approach modern military conflictsThe tension between personal forgiveness and national defenseWhether you are exploring Christian ethics, seeking a biblical perspective on current events, or simply wanting to better understand this important subject, this episode offers thoughtful and balanced insight from an Apostolic perspective.Apostolic Life in the 21st Century with Dr. David K. Bernard features biblical teaching and answers to questions about theology, Christian living, and contemporary issues.Visit PentecostalPublishing.com to shop Dr. Bernard's full catalog of published works. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10 percent on your order.If you enjoy this podcast, leave a five-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast platform. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st Century with family and friends.

Most Christians agree they should read the Bible—but how often? How much? And what do you do with the genealogies and census lists? In Lesson 29 of Christian Ethics and the Old Testament, Dave Rich turns the lens on the Bible itself, examining what Scripture says about its own intake and what that means for everyday practice.Rich walks through Psalm 19, Psalm 119, Joshua 1:8, Deuteronomy 6, and the example of the Bereans in Acts 17 to build a cumulative case for what biblical engagement actually looks like. The pattern that emerges is clear: God's Word is meant to be present in a believer's life pervasively—not casually or occasionally—and the psalmist's deep love for Scripture sets the standard for how we ought to hold it.Rich also gets practical. While the Bible doesn't issue a command to read a set number of chapters daily, it does establish an expectation. He puts the numbers on the table: reading through the entire Bible in a year requires just 12–15 minutes a day—roughly 1% of a waking day. He cites a 2025 survey showing that only 31% of Protestant churchgoers read their Bibles daily and challenges listeners to consider whether their current pace is enough to genuinely know what the whole Bible teaches.This lesson is a needed wake-up call and a practical encouragement to anyone who wants to pursue biblical ethics from a foundation of Scripture they actually know. ★ Support this podcast ★

The Bible is trustworthy. But how do you know—and how do you use it rightly? In Lesson 28 of Christian Ethics and the Old Testament, Dave Rich brings the series' extended examination of scriptural authority to a close and turns the corner toward a foundational question: how do we interpret the Bible we've established as God's Word?Rich opens by tackling the charge of circular reasoning head-on. Is it logically valid to prove the Bible's authority from the Bible itself? He argues yes—and shows why that's the only coherent approach when dealing with any ultimate source of truth. Archaeological evidence and fulfilled prophecy support Scripture's claims, but they don't serve as the foundation. The Bible is its own authority.From there, Rich moves into hermeneutics—the art and science of biblical interpretation—grounding the class in the literal, grammatical, historical method endorsed by Calvin, Luther, and the church's own statement of faith. The goal is simple: discover the original, natural meaning of the text.To make that concrete, Rich walks through several interpretive errors that produce ethical errors—beginning with proof texting and then addressing what he calls hyper-literalism. Using the holy kiss, foot washing, and the head covering passage in 1 Corinthians 11, he demonstrates the difference between a timeless biblical principle and its culturally bound expression. Wooden, context-free obedience to the form can actually undermine the principle the text is trying to teach.Clear thinking about interpretation is inseparable from clear thinking about Christian ethics. ★ Support this podcast ★

Happy Mother's Day to all of the incredible mothers out there. Today's episode is a deeper conversation about the urgent need for stronger, more biblical men and women in our culture, people willing to stand for truth, protect the vulnerable, and refuse to stay silent in the face of evil.We discuss the ongoing outrage surrounding the Epstein files, the lack of accountability for powerful people, and the broader cultural failure to protect victims from wicked and predatory individuals. But this conversation goes beyond headlines. It's about morality, courage, justice, faith, and what happens when societies stop valuing strong families, strong character, and biblical principles.This episode is ultimately about hope too, because evil does not win forever. Real justice matters, truth matters, and good people still have a responsibility to speak up.

The Bible we hold is a translation of ancient manuscripts. But does that gap between the original autographs and our English Bibles introduce error we should be worried about? In Lesson 27 of Christian Ethics and the Old Testament, Dave Rich works through the transmission and translation of Scripture—and makes the case that we have every reason for confidence.Rich opens with the logic: reliable manuscripts plus faithful translation equals God's Word in English. Either piece can fail, and he walks through what happens when it does. From there he examines the manuscript evidence for the Old Testament—the Masoretic Text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Septuagint—showing that agreement across those sources is remarkably stable. The one significant variant, Psalm 22:16, turns out to have strong textual support for "they pierced my hands and feet," consistent with its unmistakably messianic context.New Testament transmission is even more extensively attested—over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, with 99.5% of the text determinable from existing evidence. Rich walks through the nature of the variants honestly, showing that the most significant ones are well known, clearly marked in modern translations, and doctrinally non-threatening.The lesson closes with a survey of English translations across a spectrum from highly literal to outright corrupt: the YLT, NASB, LSB, ESV, NIV, New Living, and then the Message, the New World Translation, the Passion Translation, and several others that distort the text to serve a theological agenda.God had a purpose in giving His Word, Rich argues, and that same providence extends to its transmission and translation into every language. ★ Support this podcast ★

How do we know the Bible we hold today actually contains God's words—all of them, and only them? In Lesson 26 of Christian Ethics and the Old Testament, Dave Rich works through the doctrine of canonicity and its direct bearing on Christian ethics. If the whole Bible teaches us which acts, attitudes, and attributes receive God's approval, then it matters enormously whether we have the right books.Rich opens with three definitions of canon—exclusive, functional, and ontological—and argues that the most important one is often overlooked. Books don't become God's Word because the church recognized them. They are God's Word by virtue of what they are. Church recognition follows divine inspiration; it doesn't create it.From there, Rich builds a case for confidence in the 66-book canon rooted in God's own stated purpose for His Word. If God speaks to accomplish something through His people, He will providentially ensure those people have access to what He has said. The near-unanimous agreement of the church across centuries on the canon—without any centralized authority enforcing it—is itself remarkable evidence of that providence.Rich also walks through what doesn't belong: the Apocrypha and Deuterocanonical books added by the Council of Trent in 1546, the Pseudepigrapha, and the Gnostic gospels of Mary and Thomas. Each is examined and found wanting. The session closes with reasons to believe the canon is closed—structurally, historically, and textually.  ★ Support this podcast ★

This third talk from a recent conference on ethics discusses the thought of Revere Franklin Weidner in his work A System of Christian Ethics.

What does the raucous laughter of Nicki Minaj and Billy Graham have to do with 14th century saint? Find out in PART TWO of our MOST requested episodes ever -- diving deep into the question "Who is Saint Julian of Norwich???" Author of Revelations of Divine Love, coiner of the phrase "All Shall Be Well," and delighter in God's delight, St. Julian is such a powerful visionary and leader we needed two episodes to do her justice. We're joined again by the The Rev. Dr. Amy Laura Hall, one of Lizzie's professors from her time at Duke Divinity School. In part two, we explore "Christ as our true mother," the nature of the devil, and we see how Julian has echoes for us to consider in today's religious landscape. We also get a little teaser for Dr. Hall's new book, out in May 2026, called ERECTING THE PULPIT: MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY FROM TEDDY ROOSEVELT TO DONALD TRUMP. Amy Laura Hall is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University, where she has taught since 1999. She is the author of four books, including Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction (2007) and Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich (2018). A noted authority on Christianity and culture in the U.S., Hall has also contributed provocative essays on Protestantism and politics to Religion Dispatches and Religion News Service. Resources mentioned in this episode: Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich by Amy Laura Hall https://www.dukeupress.edu/laughing-at-the-devil Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich trans. by Elizabeth Spearing https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/261039/revelations-of-divine-love-by-julian-of-norwich-translated-by-elizabeth-spearing-introduction-and-notes-by-a-c-spearing/ Julian of Norwich and the Mystical Body Politic of Christ By Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt --https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268022082/julian-of-norwich/ The Writings of Julian of Norwich A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and A Revelation of Love Edited by Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins -- https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-02547-6.html?srsltid=AfmBOoopOJOEaY69eupR8Rx1uxzSJyVJpaSpLJKpJoHSPKAQ9ry8HPJY Rev. Dr. Amy Laura Hall's works: FORTHCOMING: Erecting the Pulpit: Muscular Christianity from Teddy Roosevelt to Donald Trump https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/erecting-the-pulpit-9798216383475/ Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich by Amy Laura Hall https://www.dukeupress.edu/laughing-at-the-devil https://arcmag.org/home-movies-for-holy-week/ +++ Like what you hear? We are an entirely crowd-sourced, you-funded project.  SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/AndAlsoWithYouPodcast There's all kinds of perks including un-aired live episodes, Zoom retreats, and mailbag episodes for our Patreons! +++ Our Website: https://andalsowithyoupod.com Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andalsowithyoupodcast/ ++++ MERCH: https://www.bonfire.com/store/and-also-with-you-the-podcast/ ++++ More about Father Lizzie: BOOK: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/762683/god-didnt-make-us-to-hate-us-by-rev-lizzie-mcmanus-dail/ RevLizzie.com https://www.instagram.com/rev.lizzie/ https://www.tiktok.com/@rev.lizzie Jubilee Episcopal Church in Austin, TX - JubileeATX.org  ++++ More about Mother Laura: https://www.instagram.com/laura.peaches/ https://www.tiktok.com/@mother_peaches ++++ Theme music: "On Our Own Again" by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). New episodes drop Mondays at 7am EST/6am CST! 

Dave Rich returns for Lesson 25 in the Christian Ethics and the Old Testament series. After establishing Scripture's authority through inspiration last session, this lesson works through the next essential questions: Is the Bible clear enough, necessary enough, and sufficient enough to serve as the foundation for Christian ethics?Rich opens with the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture—what theologians call perspicuity—grounding it in passages from Deuteronomy, Psalms, and the New Testament epistles. The argument is straightforward: if the Word was given to ordinary Israelites, to children, to simple people across all kinds of circumstances, it is clear enough for Christians to use it for ethics. But Rich is careful to walk through honest qualifications. The unregenerate cannot fully understand Scripture. Clarity grows through study and obedience. No one comprehends all of it perfectly.From clarity, the lesson moves to necessity. Could a believer do ethics without the Bible? Rich uses a thought experiment to show why the answer is no—conscience and general revelation together are simply not enough. The Bible is the only transcript of God's words and therefore the only source of absolute ethical norms.The final section addresses sufficiency. Drawing on 2 Timothy 3 and Psalm 119, Rich argues that Scripture contains everything God requires us to know to live rightly—not as a ceiling on learning, but as a complete and binding standard. Nothing may bind the conscience that is not found there. Nothing is sin that Scripture does not call sin.This lesson lays the groundwork for everything that follows in the series. ★ Support this podcast ★

During Eastertide, Matt takes listeners through a series of reflections on the resurrection of Christ. In this episode, the focus is on 1 Peter 1, specifically vv. 3-25. Here we get a glimpse into how early Christians thought of Jesus' resurrection, specifically how it relates to the concept of the new birth and ethics. This passage reveals how the resurrection is not just a decisive past event or just the basis of our hope for the future – it is those things and more. The resurrection of Christ also has consequences for today, for it is the foundation for how we are to live presently as exiles in the world. +++Pre-order Matt's newest book, Sightings and Secrets: UFOs, Eyewitness Testimonies, and How Christians Can Make Sense of the Unknown:  https://a.co/d/0eD0cGtz Support The Bible (Unmuted) via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheBibleUnmutedMatthew's blog: https://matthewhalsted.substack.comDon't forget to subscribe to The Bible (Unmuted)!

What does Rage Against the Machine and motherly images of God have to do with a 14th century saint?  Turns out ... a LOT. We are (finally) doing one of the MOST requested episodes ever -- diving deep into the question "Who is Saint Julian of Norwich???" And in order to dive into this saint whose revelatory witness of radical love, the wounds of Christ, and laughing at the nothingness of the devil, we have called in an expert: The Rev. Dr. Amy Laura Hall, one of Lizzie's professors from her time at Duke Divinity School.  This conversation was so rich that we had to split into two parts, so join us this week for PART ONE where we get a lay of the land of 14th century England, the bubonic plague, feudalism and its violence, and in this despairing time how Saint Julian received an incandescent vision of Christ's love for the whole world.  Amy Laura Hall is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University, where she has taught since 1999. She is the author of four books, including Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction (2007) and Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich (2018). A noted authority on Christianity and culture in the U.S., Hall has also contributed provocative essays on Protestantism and politics to Religion Dispatches and Religion News Service. Resources mentioned in this episode: Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich by Amy Laura Hall https://www.dukeupress.edu/laughing-at-the-devil Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich trans. by Elizabeth Spearing https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/261039/revelations-of-divine-love-by-julian-of-norwich-translated-by-elizabeth-spearing-introduction-and-notes-by-a-c-spearing/ Julian of Norwich and the Mystical Body Politic of Christ By Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt --https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268022082/julian-of-norwich/ The Writings of Julian of Norwich A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and A Revelation of Love Edited by Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins -- https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-02547-6.html?srsltid=AfmBOoopOJOEaY69eupR8Rx1uxzSJyVJpaSpLJKpJoHSPKAQ9ry8HPJY Rev. Dr. Amy Laura Hall's works: FORTHCOMING: Erecting the Pulpit: Muscular Christianity from Teddy Roosevelt to Donald Trump https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/erecting-the-pulpit-9798216383475/ Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich by Amy Laura Hall https://www.dukeupress.edu/laughing-at-the-devil https://arcmag.org/home-movies-for-holy-week/ +++ Like what you hear? We are an entirely crowd-sourced, you-funded project.  SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/AndAlsoWithYouPodcast There's all kinds of perks including un-aired live episodes, Zoom retreats, and mailbag episodes for our Patreons! +++ Our Website: https://andalsowithyoupod.com Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andalsowithyoupodcast/ ++++ MERCH: https://www.bonfire.com/store/and-also-with-you-the-podcast/ ++++ More about Father Lizzie: BOOK: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/762683/god-didnt-make-us-to-hate-us-by-rev-lizzie-mcmanus-dail/ RevLizzie.com https://www.instagram.com/rev.lizzie/ https://www.tiktok.com/@rev.lizzie Jubilee Episcopal Church in Austin, TX - JubileeATX.org  ++++ More about Mother Laura: https://www.instagram.com/laura.peaches/ https://www.tiktok.com/@mother_peaches ++++ Theme music: "On Our Own Again" by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). New episodes drop Mondays at 7am EST/6am CST! 

What makes the Bible the right place to go for Christian ethics? Before addressing how source material can be misused in moral reasoning, Dave Rich steps back to answer a more foundational question: why is Scripture authoritative in the first place?In Lesson 24 of the Christian Ethics and the Old Testament series, Rich grounds the authority of Scripture in the doctrine of verbal inspiration — the biblical teaching that the words of the original autographs are God-breathed. Working through 2 Timothy 3:13–17, 2 Peter 1:16–21, and John 10:34–36, he demonstrates that Scripture claims for itself the status of God's own words. That claim, he argues, is what makes it binding.Rich also examines what inspiration does and doesn't mean — distinguishing the biblical concept from the common English sense of the word — and surveys how Jesus himself appealed to single words and even verb tenses to settle disputes, showing that verbal inspiration is the only view the Bible's own use of itself supports.The lesson closes with a brief look at the doctrine of preparation: how God's sovereignty over every detail of an author's life and background ensured that what they wrote was exactly what He intended — fully human, fully divine, and fully authoritative.For anyone asking why the Bible should govern how we live, this lesson builds the foundation. ★ Support this podcast ★

In today's episode of Uncommon Sense with Ginny Robinson, I'm sharing my thoughts on a range of current events, along with answering a few listener questions.We'll be discussing recent developments and conversations surrounding Donald Trump, the ongoing discussions around the Epstein files, and a widely talked-about moment involving Pete Hegseth and his public citation of a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction. CRINGE.I also take time to talk about something deeper than headlines: the importance of both men and women returning to a biblical worldview, embracing truth, and honoring God-ordained gender roles in a culture that often blurs or rejects them entirely.--https://www.bible.com/

So many clergy members and theology nerds messaged me after JD Vance told the Pope to dial back the theology talk that I had no choice — I called my friend Kevin Carnahan, co-editor of the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics and author of an extremely technical book on just war theory that he will tell you not to read. Kevin teaches at Central Methodist University in Missouri and he showed up having apparently thought about all of this in serious depth while the rest of us were just screaming into the void. What followed was one of the best episodes we've done. We traced the actual history of just war theory from Aquinas through John XXIII's Pacem in Terris— which moved the Catholic Church so close to pacifism in practice that nearly no war could satisfy its criteria — through the moment nuclear weapons broke the entire framework, through drone warfare and AI targeting that's broken it further, and right up to a Trump administration that dismantled the actual government office dedicated to minimizing civilian harm and then had the audacity to invoke just war theory as a fig leaf. Kevin's read on the papal conflict: the Pope knows exactly what he's doing and is faithfully representing a tradition that JD Vance passed through on Peter Thiel's E-Z Pass lane. We also got into the three streams of Protestant ethics on war — peace churches, just war thinkers, and crusaders — why Hegseth fits cleanly into the crusader category, why Trump fits none of them, why the Lord of the Rings is the best undergraduate ethics text available, and what Bonhoeffer's prayer for his own country's defeat sounds like in 2026. Tripp eventually brought up Tolkien. Bo noted it took an hour and eleven minutes. Bonhoeffer was invoked. John Cobb got in at the end. The trifecta complete. For those regular Homebrewed Christianity listeners, this is an episode of another weekly podcast ⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown ⁠that I do with Bo Sanders and our (nonviolent) army of theology nerds in the chat. If you enjoy it,⁠ subscribe to the TNT feed⁠ and feel the lure to join live most Friday mornings.  ⁠⁠You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube⁠⁠ Kevin Carnahan is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri.

During this Easter season, New Testament scholar and skeptic Bart Ehrman has been making headlines again. He just released his latest book Love Thy Stranger: How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West. Last week, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat interviewed Ehrman on his podcast about his book and why he doesn't believe in God. Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra sat down with New Testament scholar Michael J. Kruger, one of Ehrman's former students, to talk about Ehrman's arguments. Kruger has found that, unlike Ehrman, his own study of biblical manuscripts has strengthened his faith. Resources Mentioned: Surviving Religion 101 by Michael J. Kruger Dominion by Tom Holland Review of Jesus Interrupted Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley discuss whether violence is immoral or amoral, whether God acts or endorses violence, and how we are supposed to act in light of these things. Questions Covered in This Episode: Does God endorse violence? In Joshua and judges it seems like God is endorsing violence; is that accurate? Where does the Bible talk about violence? Is violence immoral or amoral? Should the modern-day church then perceive itself to be a weapon of violence? Should we think in violent terms as it relates to those who oppose the Lord? How do you deal with wrong motivations? Helpful Definitions: Violence: Physical action against another person that seeks to either restrain or rebuff, and may or may not cause bodily harm. Hamas (חָמָס): Hebrew for violence Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Psalm 11:5, Genesis 6, James 4:6, Psalm 58, Psalm 3, Isaiah 53, Romans 13, Revelation “The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics” by Stanley Hauerwas “Why I'm Not a Pacifist” by C.S. Lewis Deep Discipleship Curriculum Amazon affiliate links are used where appropriate. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, thank you for supporting Knowing Faith. Follow Us:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | WebsiteSupport Training the Church and Become a Patron:patreon.com/trainingthechurchYou can now receive your first seminary class for FREE from Midwestern Seminary after completing Lifeway's Deep Discipleship curriculum, featuring JT, Jen and Kyle. Learn more at mbts.edu/deepdiscipleship.To learn more about our sponsors please visit our sponsor page.Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John Newton was a prolific writer of pastoral letters - letters which have been used of the Lord to encourage, challenge, and counsel many people beyond their original recipients.  In this bonus episode, we talk with Grant Gordon, who has studied and collated many of Newton's letters. His volume Wise Counsel, representing many of Newton's letters to the Baptist pastor John Ryland Jr., has now been updated and we hear a bit more about the features of this new edition.    Grant Gordon has pastored a number of baptistic churches in Ontario, Canada, and elsewhere, and served as an adjunct professor of Christian Ethics at Central Baptist Seminary (now Heritage Seminary, Cambridge, Ontario).    Buy Wise Counsel: John Newton's Letters to John Ryland Jr., edited by Grant Gordon   Explore the work of the Banner of Truth: www.banneroftruth.org Subscribe to the Magazine (print/digital/both): www.banneroftruth.org/magazine Leave us your feedback or a testimony: www.speakpipe.com/magazinepodcast    

Increasingly, it seems that a very public and nationalized Christianity is bouncing back as a live, contested question around the world, and there's a temptation to exist on the extremes of either loyalty to the point of idolatry, or total opposition to the point of suspicion of the human beings we need to get along with every day. That creates a dilemma for Christian witness, one that can perhaps only be solved by the courage and fortitude to live in the tension this creates, honoring everyone's dignity, and not falling into a gross idolatry of the state. Oxford's Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology Luke Bretherton joins Ryan McAnnally-Linz to name what's happening as Christianity sees a resurgence in democratic public life, and what faithful witness demands. In this episode, Bretherton reflects on Christianity's re-emergence and the theology it requires. Together they discuss the real-time collapse of secular progressivism, democratic agency, Augustine on glory and shame, how media monetizes suspicion, why community organizing outlasts protest, and how the church might tell a truer—and more costly—story about common life. Episode Highlights "The plausibility structure of Christianity is kind of back in play in the post-progressive vibe shift." "We want to have enemies—it's really hard to organize the world around love of enemies, and it's hard to make money off love of enemies." "How do you express loyalty to your particular political community—loyalty without idolatry?" "The giving over of responsibility is itself an act of self-dehumanizing." "The uncle who drives you crazy at Thanksgiving is also the one who turns up with a bake when your child is ill—that's how idolatry works." About Luke Bretherton Luke Bretherton is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford, director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life, and a canon of Christ Church. Previously at Duke University and King's College London, his work spans political theology, democracy, and grassroots politics. He hosts the Listen, Organize, Act! podcast. Books include A Primer in Christian Ethics (Cambridge, 2023), Christ and the Common Life, and Christianity and Contemporary Politics. Learn more at https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/people/rev-canon-professor-luke-bretherton and @WestLondonMan https://x.com/WestLondonMan Helpful Links and Resources A Primer in Christian Ethics: Christ and the Struggle to Live Well (Cambridge, 2023) https://www.amazon.com/Primer-Christian-Ethics-Christ-Struggle/dp/1009329022 Listen, Organize, Act! podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/listen-organize-act-organizing-democratic-politics/id1553824477 Luke Bretherton at Oxford https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/people/rev-canon-professor-luke-bretherton Show Notes “Post-progressive vibe shift”; Christianity newly plausible across UK and Europe Bible Society "quiet revival" research; young people back in Oxford churches "The plausibility structure of Christianity is kind of back in play in the post-progressive vibe shift." Meaning, purpose, character; religion in government policy commissions Tom Holland; civilizational Christianity; the post-new-atheist turn Political theology replacing secular ideology: Ukraine, Gaza, India-Pakistan Two dominant scripts: total shame vs. lost glory Augustine's third way: grace, ambiguity, open wounds "How do you express loyalty to your particular political community—loyalty without idolatry?" Local social trust still holds; national trust collapsed Social media systems that profit from suspicion: monetized idolatry "We want to have enemies—it's really hard to organize the world around love of enemies, and it's hard to make money off love of enemies." Think with the body, from place; neighbors before scripts "The uncle who drives you crazy at Thanksgiving is also the one who turns up with a bake when your child is ill." Mass mailing dissolved federated civil society: unions, denominations, guilds Moses's challenge: atomized crowd to covenantal people Strongmen and unmediated belonging; technology and concentrated power Polanyi's two responses: strong man or democratic organizing "The giving over of responsibility is itself an act of self-dehumanizing." Mobilizing vs. organizing; the Arab Spring The Westfield story: a teenager discovers her democratic agency Thick vs. thin trust: the only metric that matters #PublicTheology #PoliticalTheology #ChristianWitness #Democracy #CommunityOrganizing #FaithAndPolitics #ChristianEthics #PostProgressivism #ChurchAndState #Secularism Production Notes This podcast featured Luke Bretherton Interview by Ryan McAnnally-Linz Edited and Produced by Evan Rosa Hosted by Evan Rosa Production Assistance by Noah Senthil A Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/about Support For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Is It OK for Christians to Sue?An Apostolic believer recently asked an important question: If a Christian is injured in an accident, is it wrong to seek compensation through legal action?In this episode of Apostolic Life in the 21st Century, Dr. David K. Bernard responds to a real-life situation involving an auto accident that resulted in injuries and property damage. The listener wondered whether forgiving the person responsible means they must also give up pursuing compensation for medical expenses, damages, or pain and suffering.Dr. Bernard examines biblical principles related to forgiveness, personal responsibility, civil law, and Christian conduct. He explains how believers can maintain a Christlike spirit while navigating situations that involve loss, injury, and legal accountability.This episode offers practical guidance for Christians seeking to apply Scripture faithfully in complex real-world circumstances.Visit PentecostalPublishing.com to shop Dr. Bernard's full catalog of published works. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10 percent on your order.If you enjoy this podcast, leave a five-star rating and a review on iTunes or your preferred podcast platform. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st Century with family and friends.

In July 1991 President George HW Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to the US Supreme Court. Initial reaction to the nomination suggested there would be a contentious Senate confirmation battle that would probe Thomas's conservative views on issues such as abortion and affirmative action.  But there was no real concern that Bush's pick might not be approved. That is until one woman's testimony threatened to derail the entire process.  In this episode of History of the 90s we look back at the moment when the little know concept of workplace sexual harassment was catapulted into public consciousness.  This is the testimony of Anita Hill.  Guest Info: Rev. Dr. Traci C. West;   Professor of Christian Ethics and African American Studies at Drew University Theological School in Madison, NJ www.traciwest.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when we stop treating the Bible as a sacred object and start paying attention to how we actually use it? In this conversation, theologian David Dault reflects on interpretation, responsibility, and the ethics of reading scripture in a fractured world. In this episode with Evan Rosa, Dault reflects on interpretation, responsibility, and how readers shape the meaning and moral impact of the Bible. Together they discuss the materiality of scripture, translation and betrayal, moral seriousness, scriptural reasoning across traditions, catastrophic love, and the ethical responsibility readers bear for how sacred texts are used. Episode Highlights “To assume that we know what a text is telling us is a matter of hubris.” “The Bible doesn't tell you to do anything. You as a reader decide what to do.” “Violence is always an act of interpretation.” “We never get to a place where everything is clean and everyone benefits.” “We have to take responsibility for the violence we involve ourselves in.” About David Dault David Dault is a theologian, journalist, and media producer whose work explores religion, culture, ethics, and interpretation. He is Executive Producer and host of Things Not Seen: Conversations About Culture and Faith, a nationally distributed public radio program. He teaches in the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago. Dault's scholarship focuses on hermeneutics, religion and media, and the ethical implications of how sacred texts are interpreted and used in public life. His book The Accessorized Bible examines the material forms, cultural framing, and interpretive communities that shape how people encounter scripture. He holds degrees in theology and religious studies and frequently writes and lectures on religion, politics, and culture. Helpful Links And Resources The Accessorized Bible, by David Dault https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300153125/the-accessorized-bible/ Things Not Seen: Conversations About Culture and Faith https://thingsnotseenradio.com David Dault's personal website https://www.daviddault.com/ Show Notes The Accessorized Bible—material culture of scripture, design, marketing niches, and the ways the physical form of the Bible shapes how readers interpret and use it Bible as object, medium, and cultural artifact; Marshall McLuhan and media theory—the form of a book shaping how ideas move between minds Books as technologies of imagination and identity formation; reading as a kind of “magical” transfer of ideas from one mind into another “To assume that we know what a text is telling us is a matter of hubris.” Interpretation requires caution, humility, and the recognition that texts exceed our control Making the familiar strange again; recovering the power of scripture by refusing to domesticate it or assume we fully understand it Franz Rosenzweig on preserving the alienness of sacred texts; debate with Martin Buber on translation and clarity Translation as interpretation—translators inevitably carry values, ideologies, and cultural assumptions into the text Harold Bloom's Anxiety of Influence; interpreters “misread” texts in order to wrestle with their influence and generate new meaning Reading scripture in community; trust, vulnerability, and shared responsibility among interpreters Scriptural reasoning—Jews, Christians, and Muslims reading shared stories (Noah, Abraham, Moses) together without claiming mastery over the text Tikkun olam—Jewish ethical tradition of “repairing the world”; the world is wounded and humans participate in its healing Repentance and Repair—Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg on moral accountability, restitution, and the work of restoring relationships Violence embedded in interpretation; moral action always involves choices about attention, resources, and responsibility The “flashlight” metaphor—moral attention illuminating one suffering person while another need temporarily falls into shadow Jairus's daughter and the woman with the hemorrhage—competing moral urgencies in the Gospels “We never get to a place where everything is clean and everyone benefits.” Moral action always involves tragic limitation and competing responsibilities Levinas and infinite responsibility; the ethical demand arising from the face of the person before us Moral seriousness versus performative irony; resisting discourse driven by trolling, spectacle, and dopamine-driven outrage A Bible Is A Book—dismantling the assumption that sacred texts themselves command moral action Steve Martin's The Jerk and the phone book illustration; a sniper randomly selecting a name and deciding someone should die “The Bible doesn't tell you what to do.” Readers decide what moral actions follow from a text Reader responsibility; refusing the excuse “the Bible told me to,” recognizing moral agency belongs to interpreters Scripture as “accessory to a crime”—sacred texts used as cover for violence, exclusion, or cruelty The Bible as platform—modular text shaped by study notes, editorial commentary, illustrations, and devotional framing Study Bibles, children's Bibles, niche-market editions; publishing strategies shaping the interpretive experience Platform logic—similar to Facebook or Twitter; users curate meaning from a shared medium Proof-texting and selective quotation; constructing entire moral worlds from isolated passages Hannah Arendt on responsibility; loving the world enough to accept responsibility for it James Baldwin leaving Paris after the Little Rock crisis; refusing comfort while others bear injustice “Someone should have been there with her.” Baldwin's recognition that solidarity requires leaving safety and standing beside the vulnerable Catastrophic love—risking institutions, traditions, and comfort for the sake of vulnerable bodies Matthew 25 ethics; encountering Christ among the hungry, imprisoned, and marginalized Moral seriousness as daily practice; imperfect responsibility, persistent solidarity, doing what one can today and beginning again tomorrow #Bible #ChristianBible #BiblicalInterpretation #TheologyPodcast #ChristianEthics #Hermeneutics #Scripture #FaithAndCulture #DavidDault Production Notes This podcast featured David Dault Edited and Produced by Evan Rosa Hosted by Evan Rosa Production Assistance by Noah Senthil A Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/about Support For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Stefan Molyneux mentions his upcoming events and looks at the placebo effect, explaining how beliefs can influence health. He talks with callers about happiness, autonomy, and the difficulties in relationships, along with the differences between objective and subjective morality. He points out the role of empathy in building real connections, mixing philosophical ideas with his own experiences.GET FREEDOMAIN MERCH! https://shop.freedomain.com/SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON X! https://x.com/StefanMolyneuxFollow me on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@freedomain1GET MY NEW BOOK 'PEACEFUL PARENTING', THE INTERACTIVE PEACEFUL PARENTING AI, AND THE FULL AUDIOBOOK!https://peacefulparenting.com/Join the PREMIUM philosophy community on the web for free!Subscribers get 12 HOURS on the "Truth About the French Revolution," multiple interactive multi-lingual philosophy AIs trained on thousands of hours of my material - as well as AIs for Real-Time Relationships, Bitcoin, Peaceful Parenting, and Call-In Shows!You also receive private livestreams, HUNDREDS of exclusive premium shows, early release podcasts, the 22 Part History of Philosophers series and much more!See you soon!https://freedomain.locals.com/support/promo/UPB2025

Are there tendencies within Christian tradition that put some versions of the faith in tension with core principles of democracy? What is “Authoritarian Reactionary Christianity?” How can a pluralistic society guard against the rise of political figures—including Donald Trump—aiming to weaponize this phenomenon? In this two-part conversation, we dive into these provocative questions with the Rev. Prof. David Gushee (Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University) and discuss his book Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies. Segments to look forward to in part 2: (02:12) Christianity in the reactionary politics of France and Germany in the 20th century   (07:54) The allure of authoritarian leaders who promise to fix cultural issues  (13:06) The idealization of a past Christian nation and the ubiquitous use of anti-LGBT rhetoric in policial mobilization (18:20) The difficulty of appealing to authoritarian-leaning Christians and the influence of leaders in those communities (32:30 ) “Covenantal democracy” rooted in the Baptist tradition (35:18) The importance of civic literacy and political ethics education among Christians to inoculate against authoritarian tendencies (40:00) The importance of long-term cultural and interpersonal work to build stronger democratic norms. For more of David's work visit his website: https://www.davidpgushee.com/ Follow Ron  on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/RonSteslow Email your questions and thoughts to podcast@politicology.com or leave us a voicemail at ‪(202) 455-4558‬. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are there tendencies within Christian tradition that put some versions of the faith in tension with core principles of democracy? What is “Authoritarian Reactionary Christianity?” How can a pluralistic society guard against the rise of political figures—including Donald Trump—aiming to weaponize this phenomenon? In this two-part conversation, Ron Steslow and Rev. Prof. David Gushee (Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University) discuss these provocative questions and more as they dive into David's book, Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies. In part 1: (04:40) Ron shares a personal note with David about the impact he's had on Ron's journey   (07:24) David discussed a few of the transformative moments in his career  (13:08) The historical and current challenges Christianity poses to democratic values  (16:30) Why some Christians are skeptical of democracy and the nuanced reasons behind it (22:02 ) Authoritarian Reactionary Christianity and why it's a better term for what we're seeing  than Christian Nationalism  (28:38) How certain Christian groups prioritize their beliefs over democratic norms and values  (34:02) The cycle of secular revolutions followed by religious counter-revolutions  For more of David's work visit his website: https://www.davidpgushee.com/ Follow Ron  on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/RonSteslow Email your questions and thoughts to podcast@politicology.com or leave us a voicemail at ‪(202) 455-4558‬. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices