s mercy in judgment a sign of weakness? In part 2 of their capital punishment conversation, James Spencer and Ashish Varma ask whether the death penalty fits God's long-suffering.

Ashish Varma argues that Old Testament laws calling for death were less a mandate than an image of how serious sin is, an image fulfilled at the cross, which in his view takes capital punishment off the table for church and state. James Spencer agrees with the trajectory but not its cleanliness: Ruth shows mercy as the spirit of the law, yet Nadab and Abihu and Ananias and Sapphira show that God's long-suffering has limits.

Many Christians assume that a society without the death penalty looks weak and leaves victims' families without justice. James and Ashish answer that mercy in judgment is not weakness but still judgment, that vengeance belongs to God, and that vehement Christian support for the death penalty sits poorly with the logic of the cross. They end closer together than they began, with Bonhoeffer and the Hitler question still open.

Part 1: Should Christians Support Livestreaming an Execution?

In this episode:
Is mercy in judgment a sign of weakness, or is it still judgment?
Ruth, Nadab and Abihu, and Ananias and Sapphira on God's long-suffering and its limits
Henri Blocher, Hosea, and reading Old Testament law as an image of God's love and judgment
Victims' families, "vengeance is mine," and Genesis 9:6 in the death penalty debate
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Stanley Hauerwas, and who is fit to decide when mercy ends

Go deeper: Christians and Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

s mercy in judgment a sign of weakness? In part 2 of their capital punishment conversation, James Spencer and Ashish Varma ask whether the death penalty fits God's long-suffering.
Ashish Varma argues that Old Testament laws calling for death were less a mandate than an image of how serious sin is, an image fulfilled at the cross, which in his view takes capital punishment off the table for church and state. James Spencer agrees with the trajectory but not its cleanliness: Ruth shows mercy as the spirit of the law, yet Nadab and Abihu and Ananias and Sapphira show that God's long-suffering has limits.
Many Christians assume that a society without the death penalty looks weak and leaves victims' families without justice. James and Ashish answer that mercy in judgment is not weakness but still judgment, that vengeance belongs to God, and that vehement Christian support for the death penalty sits poorly with the logic of the cross. They end closer together than they began, with Bonhoeffer and the Hitler question still open.
Part 1: Should Christians Support Livestreaming an Execution?
In this episode:
<ul dir="ltr">
<li>Is mercy in judgment a sign of weakness, or is it still judgment?</li>
<li>Ruth, Nadab and Abihu, and Ananias and Sapphira on God's long-suffering and its limits</li>
<li>Henri Blocher, Hosea, and reading Old Testament law as an image of God's love and judgment</li>
<li>Victims' families, "vengeance is mine," and Genesis 9:6 in the death penalty debate</li>
<li>Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Stanley Hauerwas, and who is fit to decide when mercy ends</li>
</ul>
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/politics">Christians and Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Subscribe: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinking_christian?sub_confirmation=1">YouTube</a> &middot; <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-christian-clear-theology-for-a-confusing-world/id1712162582">Apple Podcasts</a> &middot; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCi6K1PjPXzhrNVGAPTLX">Spotify</a> Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>

Is Mercy in Judgment a Sign of Weakness?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/87a2a634-d531-48af-9448-b4f1010f421f/transcript

Jonathan Leeman — president of 9Marks and author of Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ's Rule — joins James Spencer for the eleventh episode in the faith and politics series.

Leeman uses "political" functionally rather than partisanly: all of life falls under the rule of Christ, and the local congregation is meant to exemplify what that rule looks like. His central image is the embassy. Soil is just dirt until an authority consecrates it as belonging somewhere — and when a congregation gathers in Christ's name, it becomes something like the temporary geography of his kingdom, holding a deputized authority to declare who belongs and what the gospel is.

From there: why the Bible functions as a constitution rather than a legal code, and Leeman's distinction between straight line and jagged line issues — those where the path from text to political conclusion is direct, and the far larger set where Christians can reason faithfully and land in different places. He argues most of the trouble in churches comes from treating the second kind as the first.

He closes on where political formation actually begins.

Go deeper: Christians & Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Chapters:

00:00 9Marks and what it exists to do

01:33 Which church, and what "political" means

04:57 Philemon and resituating what's already there

08:43 Why an embassy

11:04 Consecrated soil and the geography of the kingdom

15:33 What church authority actually is

20:23 Delegated versus deputized

22:06 The scattered church as political threat

23:50 Telling governments their limits

28:03 The Bible as constitution, not case law

34:41 Sending people into political vocations

41:07 Wisdom from God to do justice

43:04 Straight line and jagged line issues

46:38 Where political formation begins

 

Jonathan Leeman &mdash; president of 9Marks and author of Political Church: The Local Assembly as Embassy of Christ's Rule &mdash; joins James Spencer for the eleventh episode in the faith and politics series.
Leeman uses "political" functionally rather than partisanly: all of life falls under the rule of Christ, and the local congregation is meant to exemplify what that rule looks like. His central image is the embassy. Soil is just dirt until an authority consecrates it as belonging somewhere &mdash; and when a congregation gathers in Christ's name, it becomes something like the temporary geography of his kingdom, holding a deputized authority to declare who belongs and what the gospel is.
From there: why the Bible functions as a constitution rather than a legal code, and Leeman's distinction between straight line and jagged line issues &mdash; those where the path from text to political conclusion is direct, and the far larger set where Christians can reason faithfully and land in different places. He argues most of the trouble in churches comes from treating the second kind as the first.
He closes on where political formation actually begins.
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/series/christians-politics">Christians &amp; Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>
Chapters:
00:00 9Marks and what it exists to do
01:33 Which church, and what "political" means
04:57 Philemon and resituating what's already there
08:43 Why an embassy
11:04 Consecrated soil and the geography of the kingdom
15:33 What church authority actually is
20:23 Delegated versus deputized
22:06 The scattered church as political threat
23:50 Telling governments their limits
28:03 The Bible as constitution, not case law
34:41 Sending people into political vocations
41:07 Wisdom from God to do justice
43:04 Straight line and jagged line issues
46:38 Where political formation begins
&nbsp;

Jonathan Leeman on the Church as Embassy | Faith & Politics #16

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/02ed8bc2-482e-42b1-9707-b4b30157b713/transcript

Should Christians support livestreaming an execution? James Spencer and Ashish Varma weigh capital punishment, the Bible, and spectacle.

James Spencer and Ashish Varma respond to the proposal to livestream the execution of a man who committed a mass murder, a plan later called off. They ask what the Bible says about capital punishment, from Genesis 9:6 and the image of God to why Israel's law prescribed death for crimes like kidnapping and cursing one's parents. They also test the claim that a public execution would deter crime.

Robert Jeffress, pastor of a large Baptist church in Texas, said there was no moral or biblical reason to oppose livestreaming the execution. James argues that there are such reasons, including what watching does to the audience and the dignity owed even to those who deserve punishment. James and Ashish then give their own, differing answers on whether a modern government should practice capital punishment at all.

Part 2 releases Friday.

In this episode:
Is there a biblical or moral reason not to livestream an execution? A response to Robert Jeffress
Genesis 9:6, the image of God, and what capital punishment signified in ancient Israel
Does a public execution deter crime? Severity versus the certainty of being caught
Spectacle and voyeurism, from Making a Murderer and the gladiatorial arena to the livestream
Should governments practice capital punishment today? Two different answers, with the book of Hosea

Go deeper: Christians and Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Should Christians support livestreaming an execution? James Spencer and Ashish Varma weigh capital punishment, the Bible, and spectacle.
James Spencer and Ashish Varma respond to the proposal to livestream the execution of a man who committed a mass murder, a plan later called off. They ask what the Bible says about capital punishment, from Genesis 9:6 and the image of God to why Israel's law prescribed death for crimes like kidnapping and cursing one's parents. They also test the claim that a public execution would deter crime.
Robert Jeffress, pastor of a large Baptist church in Texas, said there was no moral or biblical reason to oppose livestreaming the execution. James argues that there are such reasons, including what watching does to the audience and the dignity owed even to those who deserve punishment. James and Ashish then give their own, differing answers on whether a modern government should practice capital punishment at all.
Part 2 releases Friday.
In this episode:
<ul dir="ltr">
<li>Is there a biblical or moral reason not to livestream an execution? A response to Robert Jeffress</li>
<li>Genesis 9:6, the image of God, and what capital punishment signified in ancient Israel</li>
<li>Does a public execution deter crime? Severity versus the certainty of being caught</li>
<li>Spectacle and voyeurism, from Making a Murderer and the gladiatorial arena to the livestream</li>
<li>Should governments practice capital punishment today? Two different answers, with the book of Hosea</li>
</ul>
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/politics">Christians and Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Subscribe: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinking_christian?sub_confirmation=1">YouTube</a> &middot; <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-christian-clear-theology-for-a-confusing-world/id1712162582">Apple Podcasts</a> &middot; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCi6K1PjPXzhrNVGAPTLX">Spotify</a> Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>

Should Christians Support Livestreaming an Execution?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/8aa10a5c-8d34-4bd4-a44a-b4f1010e4122/transcript

Norman Wirzba — Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke and author of This Sacred Life and Love's Braided Dance — joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma for the tenth episode in the faith and politics series.

Wirzba grew up farming and wanted to be a farmer, then went through graduate school without encountering a single farmer on a syllabus. Reading Wendell Berry changed that, and gave him a way to see that agricultural traditions open the major philosophical and political questions rather than sitting off to one side of them.

The conversation moves from what happens when land stops being a source of life and becomes a financial asset, through data centers and the water they need, to a reframing of dominion that may be the most useful thing in the hour: mastery understood the way a musician masters an instrument — you become a student of it, and what you master is better for your engagement with it.

It closes on the difference between being pro-baby and pro-life, and on the Colossians hymn as evidence that the early Christian vision was never about individual souls escaping the world.

Go deeper: Christians & Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Chapters:

00:00 Introductions

01:31 No farmers on the syllabus

04:36 From Yale to environmental ethics to Wendell Berry

09:58 The Old Testament and living with land

11:25 When land becomes a financial asset

14:39 Data centers and the water question

17:22 Auditing what we actually use AI for

20:38 Vines and bugs on a Roman temple of peace

24:51 The fantasy that humans don't need

30:44 Technology is never simply a tool

34:06 Do you want to disappear?

37:54 Bucking bales and embodied knowing

39:19 The garden as vocation

42:34 Mastery: the guitar, not the machine

48:36 The Anthropocene and a car without brakes

56:26 Pro-baby or pro-life?

1:00:26 Colossians 1 and the scope of redemption

Norman Wirzba &mdash; Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke and author of This Sacred Life and Love's Braided Dance &mdash; joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma for the tenth episode in the faith and politics series.
Wirzba grew up farming and wanted to be a farmer, then went through graduate school without encountering a single farmer on a syllabus. Reading Wendell Berry changed that, and gave him a way to see that agricultural traditions open the major philosophical and political questions rather than sitting off to one side of them.
The conversation moves from what happens when land stops being a source of life and becomes a financial asset, through data centers and the water they need, to a reframing of dominion that may be the most useful thing in the hour: mastery understood the way a musician masters an instrument &mdash; you become a student of it, and what you master is better for your engagement with it.
It closes on the difference between being pro-baby and pro-life, and on the Colossians hymn as evidence that the early Christian vision was never about individual souls escaping the world.
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/series/christians-politics">Christians &amp; Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>
Chapters:
00:00 Introductions
01:31 No farmers on the syllabus
04:36 From Yale to environmental ethics to Wendell Berry
09:58 The Old Testament and living with land
11:25 When land becomes a financial asset
14:39 Data centers and the water question
17:22 Auditing what we actually use AI for
20:38 Vines and bugs on a Roman temple of peace
24:51 The fantasy that humans don't need
30:44 Technology is never simply a tool
34:06 Do you want to disappear?
37:54 Bucking bales and embodied knowing
39:19 The garden as vocation
42:34 Mastery: the guitar, not the machine
48:36 The Anthropocene and a car without brakes
56:26 Pro-baby or pro-life?
1:00:26 Colossians 1 and the scope of redemption

Norman Wirzba on Land, Life, and Dominion | Faith & Politics #15

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/c484a5c3-f6e0-42f9-9119-b4b30158803f/transcript

Suicide prevention in the church: David Gilleland, author of Holding Hope, explains how pastors can recognize warning signs, ask directly, and walk with people toward hope.

David Gilleland spent nearly a decade managing suicide prevention programs for the National Guard and Army Reserves before becoming a pastor. As a pastor, he found that most church leaders had received no suicide prevention training in seminary. He and James Spencer walk through his new book, Holding Hope: A Biblical Guide to Suicide Prevention for Church Leaders, from the warning signs pastors miss to why asking directly about suicide is the surest way to know. The aim is not to turn pastors into clinicians but to equip them to care faithfully.

The conversation questions a church culture shaped by self-sufficiency, where talk of victory leaves little room for the lament of Psalm 88. Gilleland contrasts the people in Scripture who took their own lives with Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and Job, who wanted to die but turned to God. James reads Saul’s end as the fruit of a life ruled by fear of people rather than fear of the Lord. They also ask whether suicide is a sin without reducing that question to a verdict on a suffering person’s eternal destiny.

In this episode:
How can pastors and church leaders recognize the warning signs of suicide?
Is suicide a sin, and how should pastors respond to grieving families?
Saul, Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and Job: suicide and despair in Scripture (1 Kings 19)
Psalm 88, lament, and a church culture of self-sufficiency
Biblical counseling, professional care, and why referral can be an act of love

Guest: David Gilleland, former pastor, biblical counselor, and author of Holding Hope: A Biblical Guide to Suicide Prevention for Church Leaders.
Holding Hope and free church resources: davidgilleland.com

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, US).

Go deeper: Faith and Mental Health
About David Gilleland: thinkingchristian.org/guests/david-gilleland

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify
Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Suicide prevention in the church: David Gilleland, author of Holding Hope, explains how pastors can recognize warning signs, ask directly, and walk with people toward hope.
David Gilleland spent nearly a decade managing suicide prevention programs for the National Guard and Army Reserves before becoming a pastor. As a pastor, he found that most church leaders had received no suicide prevention training in seminary. He and James Spencer walk through his new book, Holding Hope: A Biblical Guide to Suicide Prevention for Church Leaders, from the warning signs pastors miss to why asking directly about suicide is the surest way to know. The aim is not to turn pastors into clinicians but to equip them to care faithfully.
The conversation questions a church culture shaped by self-sufficiency, where talk of victory leaves little room for the lament of Psalm 88. Gilleland contrasts the people in Scripture who took their own lives with Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and Job, who wanted to die but turned to God. James reads Saul&rsquo;s end as the fruit of a life ruled by fear of people rather than fear of the Lord. They also ask whether suicide is a sin without reducing that question to a verdict on a suffering person&rsquo;s eternal destiny.
In this episode:
<ul dir="ltr">
<li>How can pastors and church leaders recognize the warning signs of suicide?</li>
<li>Is suicide a sin, and how should pastors respond to grieving families?</li>
<li>Saul, Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and Job: suicide and despair in Scripture (1 Kings 19)</li>
<li>Psalm 88, lament, and a church culture of self-sufficiency</li>
<li>Biblical counseling, professional care, and why referral can be an act of love</li>
</ul>
Guest: David Gilleland, former pastor, biblical counselor, and author of <a href="https://link.amazon/B0bnrknaE">Holding Hope: A Biblical Guide to Suicide Prevention for Church Leaders</a>. Holding Hope and free church resources: <a href="https://www.davidgilleland.com/">davidgilleland.com</a>
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, US).
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/series/faith-and-mental-health">Faith and Mental Health</a> About David Gilleland: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/guests/david-gilleland">thinkingchristian.org/guests/david-gilleland</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don&rsquo;t settle for a narrower vision than God&rsquo;s word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Subscribe: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkingChristian?sub_confirmation=1">YouTube</a> &middot; <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-christian-clear-theology-for-a-confusing-world/id1712162582">Apple Podcasts</a> &middot; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCi6K1PjPXzhrNVGAPTLX">Spotify</a> Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>

Suicide Prevention in the Church: A Biblical Guide for Pastors (David Gilleland)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/d1d6ad4a-2855-4dea-a809-b4ec0112afea/transcript

Can pastors endorse political candidates? Troy Miller, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters, explains NRB’s Johnson Amendment lawsuit against the IRS.

The Johnson Amendment was added to the tax code in 1954 by then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. It bars 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Miller explains why NRB went to court in 2024 and why the case was narrowed to pastors speaking to their congregations. He also explains how a consent decree with the Justice Department now depends on an appeal to the Fifth Circuit over the Anti-Injunction Act. He and James clarify what the case would and would not change for churches, broadcasters, and podcasters.

The conversation questions the assumption that keeping faith out of public life produces neutrality. Miller argues that someone’s worldview always guides law and policy. He traces a long history of pastors speaking to moral questions, from the Black Robe Regiment to Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. James weighs the risks of pastors speaking about candidates and why the case may matter most for local politics. He also notes the irony that for-profit corporations face fewer limits on political activity than nonprofits.

In this episode:
What is the Johnson Amendment, and how did Lyndon B. Johnson add it to the tax code in 1954?
Why National Religious Broadcasters sued the IRS, and what the consent decree with the Justice Department would protect
The Anti-Injunction Act and NRB’s appeal to the Fifth Circuit
Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, and the separation of church and state
Why the case covers pastors and their broadcasts but not other Christian broadcasters or podcasters

Guest: Troy Miller, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters.

Go deeper: Christians and Politics
About Troy Miller: thinkingchristian.org/guests/troy-miller

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify
Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Can pastors endorse political candidates? Troy Miller, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters, explains NRB&rsquo;s Johnson Amendment lawsuit against the IRS.
The Johnson Amendment was added to the tax code in 1954 by then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. It bars 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Miller explains why NRB went to court in 2024 and why the case was narrowed to pastors speaking to their congregations. He also explains how a consent decree with the Justice Department now depends on an appeal to the Fifth Circuit over the Anti-Injunction Act. He and James clarify what the case would and would not change for churches, broadcasters, and podcasters.
The conversation questions the assumption that keeping faith out of public life produces neutrality. Miller argues that someone&rsquo;s worldview always guides law and policy. He traces a long history of pastors speaking to moral questions, from the Black Robe Regiment to Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. James weighs the risks of pastors speaking about candidates and why the case may matter most for local politics. He also notes the irony that for-profit corporations face fewer limits on political activity than nonprofits.
In this episode:
<ul dir="ltr">
<li>What is the Johnson Amendment, and how did Lyndon B. Johnson add it to the tax code in 1954?</li>
<li>Why National Religious Broadcasters sued the IRS, and what the consent decree with the Justice Department would protect</li>
<li>The Anti-Injunction Act and NRB&rsquo;s appeal to the Fifth Circuit</li>
<li>Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, Jefferson&rsquo;s letter to the Danbury Baptists, and the separation of church and state</li>
<li>Why the case covers pastors and their broadcasts but not other Christian broadcasters or podcasters</li>
</ul>
Guest: Troy Miller, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters.
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/politics">Christians and Politics</a> About Troy Miller: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/guests/troy-miller">thinkingchristian.org/guests/troy-miller</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don&rsquo;t settle for a narrower vision than God&rsquo;s word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Subscribe: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinking_christian?sub_confirmation=1">YouTube</a> &middot; <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-christian-clear-theology-for-a-confusing-world/id1712162582">Apple Podcasts</a> &middot; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCi6K1PjPXzhrNVGAPTLX">Spotify</a> Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>

Johnson Amendment Lawsuit: Can Pastors Endorse Candidates? (Troy Miller)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/214eb56e-77c0-41a8-ac64-b4ec013d09f7/transcript

Why should Christians engage politics? Vincent Bacote of Wheaton College argues that political engagement needs a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach.

Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College, joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma to ground political life in stewardship and common grace. Politics, he argues, is one part of humanity's larger calling to manage the world God gave us, and Americans hold more political agency than most people in history. That agency changes how we read Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.

Many evangelicals can say they should care about politics but cannot say why from what they believe. Bacote and Spencer trace how issues get handed to Christians by trusted leaders rather than formed by theology, and how that has let evangelicals be defined as a voting bloc. Bacote also presses on James Davison Hunter's faithful presence: start small, because you are not the Messiah, but keep dreaming of a better common good.

In this episode:
Why Christians need a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach, for political engagement
Common grace, Abraham Kuyper, Psalm 8, and the stewardship of public life
Romans 13:1–4, 1 Peter 2, and what changes when citizens have political agency
Voting as public witness, evangelical identity, and how race and abortion became political issues
James Davison Hunter's faithful presence, small steps, and how to keep politicians from drawing our lines

Guest: Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College.

Go deeper: Christians and Politics About Vincent Bacote: thinkingchristian.org/guests/vincent-bacote

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Why should Christians engage politics? Vincent Bacote of Wheaton College argues that political engagement needs a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach.
Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College, joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma to ground political life in stewardship and common grace. Politics, he argues, is one part of humanity's larger calling to manage the world God gave us, and Americans hold more political agency than most people in history. That agency changes how we read Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.
Many evangelicals can say they should care about politics but cannot say why from what they believe. Bacote and Spencer trace how issues get handed to Christians by trusted leaders rather than formed by theology, and how that has let evangelicals be defined as a voting bloc. Bacote also presses on James Davison Hunter's faithful presence: start small, because you are not the Messiah, but keep dreaming of a better common good.
In this episode:
<ul dir="ltr">
<li>Why Christians need a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach, for political engagement</li>
<li>Common grace, Abraham Kuyper, Psalm 8, and the stewardship of public life</li>
<li>Romans 13:1&ndash;4, 1 Peter 2, and what changes when citizens have political agency</li>
<li>Voting as public witness, evangelical identity, and how race and abortion became political issues</li>
<li>James Davison Hunter's faithful presence, small steps, and how to keep politicians from drawing our lines</li>
</ul>
Guest: Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College.
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/politics">Christians and Politics</a> About Vincent Bacote: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/guests/vincent-bacote">thinkingchristian.org/guests/vincent-bacote</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Subscribe: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@thinking_christian?sub_confirmation=1">YouTube</a> &middot; <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-christian-clear-theology-for-a-confusing-world/id1712162582">Apple Podcasts</a> &middot; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCi6K1PjPXzhrNVGAPTLX">Spotify</a> Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>

Why Should Christians Engage Politics? (Vincent Bacote) | Faith & Politics #13

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/1ef30e64-2a61-45ec-b02f-b4b2013ef32a/transcript

Michael Rhodes — lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in New Zealand, former pastor, and author of Practicing the King's Economy and Just Discipleship — returns to discuss his new book, Reimagining Biblical Politics: What Scripture Says About Public Life and Why It Matters.

Rhodes wrote the book deliberately without addressing contemporary American political issues, hoping to give a partisan-divided church something it could use together. His argument is that Scripture speaks about politics constantly, and in many voices: John says get out of Babylon, Jeremiah says seek its welfare, Paul says submit and also flees a trial he considers unjust, and the Hebrew midwives lie to Pharaoh and are blessed for it. Underneath the diversity, one claim holds everything together — the Lord reigns.

He distinguishes outpost politics, the public life of a people living under God's reign, from pilgrim politics, how that people engages nations that don't recognize it. Both are political; only one usually gets called that.

The conversation turns to why churches gather less diversity than their neighborhoods, what Rhodes learned from a conversation after Trayvon Martin's death, and why Daniel worked for Nebuchadnezzar and criticized him anyway.

Go deeper: Christians & Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

Find more from Michael at https://michaeljrhodes.substack.com 

Chapters:

00:00 The book, the podcast, the Substack

02:12 A choir of political voices

06:25 Faithful action that doesn't look alike

09:38 Outpost politics and pilgrim politics

14:04 Why blurred lines are a gift

18:34 What Scripture demands and what it leaves open

22:33 Rounding up at the checkout

25:07 Where local political action actually happens

29:09 Is justice the church's job or the state's?

32:33 The house church in China

34:19 The lines churches inherit

38:13 Who arranges the chairs

42:00 Same footage, different verdict

46:13 Who sets the table

51:30 Daniel worked for Nebuchadnezzar and criticized him

52:20 Learning to see what you're not seeing

59:49 When presidents quote Scripture about America

1:03:12 Designed poor: a Memphis neighborhood

 

Michael Rhodes &mdash; lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in New Zealand, former pastor, and author of Practicing the King's Economy and Just Discipleship &mdash; returns to discuss his new book, Reimagining Biblical Politics: What Scripture Says About Public Life and Why It Matters.
Rhodes wrote the book deliberately without addressing contemporary American political issues, hoping to give a partisan-divided church something it could use together. His argument is that Scripture speaks about politics constantly, and in many voices: John says get out of Babylon, Jeremiah says seek its welfare, Paul says submit and also flees a trial he considers unjust, and the Hebrew midwives lie to Pharaoh and are blessed for it. Underneath the diversity, one claim holds everything together &mdash; the Lord reigns.
He distinguishes outpost politics, the public life of a people living under God's reign, from pilgrim politics, how that people engages nations that don't recognize it. Both are political; only one usually gets called that.
The conversation turns to why churches gather less diversity than their neighborhoods, what Rhodes learned from a conversation after Trayvon Martin's death, and why Daniel worked for Nebuchadnezzar and criticized him anyway.
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/series/christians-politics">Christians &amp; Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>
Find more from Michael at <a href="https://michaeljrhodes.substack.com">https://michaeljrhodes.substack.com</a>&nbsp;
Chapters:
00:00 The book, the podcast, the Substack
02:12 A choir of political voices
06:25 Faithful action that doesn't look alike
09:38 Outpost politics and pilgrim politics
14:04 Why blurred lines are a gift
18:34 What Scripture demands and what it leaves open
22:33 Rounding up at the checkout
25:07 Where local political action actually happens
29:09 Is justice the church's job or the state's?
32:33 The house church in China
34:19 The lines churches inherit
38:13 Who arranges the chairs
42:00 Same footage, different verdict
46:13 Who sets the table
51:30 Daniel worked for Nebuchadnezzar and criticized him
52:20 Learning to see what you're not seeing
59:49 When presidents quote Scripture about America
1:03:12 Designed poor: a Memphis neighborhood
&nbsp;

Michael Rhodes on What the Bible Says About Politics | #12

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/70d67657-fb53-449a-9722-b4b30152636b/transcript

Continuing the faith and politics series, James Spencer and Ashish Varma turn to artificial intelligence — starting with the data centers going up across the country, which consume enormous land, power, and water while generating far fewer local jobs than the factories and mills they're often compared to.

From there the conversation widens. Both push on the promise of efficiency: whether a technology that lets you work faster has actually given anyone time back, what gets lost when a middle schooler reaches for the calculator instead of the long-form work, and why the steps toward a goal may matter as much as the goal. James introduces the idea of the tyranny of small decisions — that we adopt technologies one at a time, with clear near-term benefits and no view of where the accumulation leads — and argues that Christians at least have a telos against which to measure the trade.

They also discuss what a soft transhumanism looks like when it becomes ambient, why converging interests don't require a conspiracy, and where ordinary practices of resistance are still available.

Chapters (approximate, from speaker turns — verify against the final cut):

00:00 Data centers: land, power, water, and jobs that don't come

02:25 Does theology touch everyday life at all?

06:39 The efficiency promise, and what it actually delivered

12:49 Efficiency for whom? Paper, batteries, and hidden costs

15:00 The calculator, the long way, and what process builds

16:30 Phil Jackson and trusting the steps

18:33 The tyranny of small decisions

22:45 No telos, no way to weigh a trade-off

25:06 What would you give up to not have the data center?

26:00 Sealed devices and the compromises we already made

32:17 Vinyl, print books, flip phones: the analog return

36:29 Practices of resistance: skip the summary, read the page

43:10 Local action and Hauerwas on assimilation

45:27 Converging interests aren't a conspiracy

51:00 Soft transhumanism and the limits we can't engineer away

58:20 Bodies that need to move, creation that has limits

1:02:00 Atrophy: what we lose the capacity to do

 

Continuing the faith and politics series, James Spencer and Ashish Varma turn to artificial intelligence &mdash; starting with the data centers going up across the country, which consume enormous land, power, and water while generating far fewer local jobs than the factories and mills they're often compared to.
From there the conversation widens. Both push on the promise of efficiency: whether a technology that lets you work faster has actually given anyone time back, what gets lost when a middle schooler reaches for the calculator instead of the long-form work, and why the steps toward a goal may matter as much as the goal. James introduces the idea of the tyranny of small decisions &mdash; that we adopt technologies one at a time, with clear near-term benefits and no view of where the accumulation leads &mdash; and argues that Christians at least have a telos against which to measure the trade.
They also discuss what a soft transhumanism looks like when it becomes ambient, why converging interests don't require a conspiracy, and where ordinary practices of resistance are still available.
Chapters (approximate, from speaker turns &mdash; verify against the final cut):
00:00 Data centers: land, power, water, and jobs that don't come
02:25 Does theology touch everyday life at all?
06:39 The efficiency promise, and what it actually delivered
12:49 Efficiency for whom? Paper, batteries, and hidden costs
15:00 The calculator, the long way, and what process builds
16:30 Phil Jackson and trusting the steps
18:33 The tyranny of small decisions
22:45 No telos, no way to weigh a trade-off
25:06 What would you give up to not have the data center?
26:00 Sealed devices and the compromises we already made
32:17 Vinyl, print books, flip phones: the analog return
36:29 Practices of resistance: skip the summary, read the page
43:10 Local action and Hauerwas on assimilation
45:27 Converging interests aren't a conspiracy
51:00 Soft transhumanism and the limits we can't engineer away
58:20 Bodies that need to move, creation that has limits
1:02:00 Atrophy: what we lose the capacity to do
&nbsp;

Who Pays for the Data Center? AI, Politics, and Faith: Politics and Faith #14

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/b1dbba38-f988-4ef0-a6ac-b4b20159dcf9/transcript

American Christians with his answer: the church’s task is to preach the word of God.

Asked whether churches should urge members to enlist, buy war bonds, and preach the issues of the war, Barth answers with a counter-question: does the church know its mission is to preach the word of God according to Scripture? From there he supports the fight against Hitler while refusing to let the church become an instrument of the state, rejecting both identification with any political party and a “timeless” spiritual ministry cut off from the present. James and Ashish connect this to the Barmen Declaration, Stanley Hauerwas, and the German Christians’ surrender to Nazism.

Barth challenged 93 American Protestant leaders who claimed that Christian principles depended on winning the war, and the same reasoning returns in every “most crucial election.” James and Ashish argue that the church must speak its own language rather than a party’s talking points, loving the world on God’s terms rather than its own. Being in the world but not of it, they suggest, is a matter of allegiance, not only personal morality.

In this episode:
What is the true function of the church in wartime, according to Karl Barth?
Should the church identify with any political party?
Why Barth rejects a “timeless” spirituality and calls the present God’s time
The Barmen Declaration and the German Christians’ capitulation to Nazism
Speaking the church’s own language instead of a political party’s talking points

Go deeper: Christians and Politics

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com

Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify
Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org

American Christians with his answer: the church&rsquo;s task is to preach the word of God.
Asked whether churches should urge members to enlist, buy war bonds, and preach the issues of the war, Barth answers with a counter-question: does the church know its mission is to preach the word of God according to Scripture? From there he supports the fight against Hitler while refusing to let the church become an instrument of the state, rejecting both identification with any political party and a &ldquo;timeless&rdquo; spiritual ministry cut off from the present. James and Ashish connect this to the Barmen Declaration, Stanley Hauerwas, and the German Christians&rsquo; surrender to Nazism.
Barth challenged 93 American Protestant leaders who claimed that Christian principles depended on winning the war, and the same reasoning returns in every &ldquo;most crucial election.&rdquo; James and Ashish argue that the church must speak its own language rather than a party&rsquo;s talking points, loving the world on God&rsquo;s terms rather than its own. Being in the world but not of it, they suggest, is a matter of allegiance, not only personal morality.
In this episode:
<ul dir="ltr">
<li>What is the true function of the church in wartime, according to Karl Barth?</li>
<li>Should the church identify with any political party?</li>
<li>Why Barth rejects a &ldquo;timeless&rdquo; spirituality and calls the present God&rsquo;s time</li>
<li>The Barmen Declaration and the German Christians&rsquo; capitulation to Nazism</li>
<li>Speaking the church&rsquo;s own language instead of a political party&rsquo;s talking points</li>
</ul>
Go deeper: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/politics">Christians and Politics</a>
Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don&rsquo;t settle for a narrower vision than God&rsquo;s word offers.
Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">thinkingchristian.org</a> About James Spencer: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/james">thinkingchristian.org/james</a> The Thinking Christian Framework: <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/framework">thinkingchristian.org/framework</a> Order Digital Discernment: <a href="https://amzn.to/4zf0Xsm">amazon.com</a>
Subscribe: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkingChristian?sub_confirmation=1">YouTube</a> &middot; <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-christian-clear-theology-for-a-confusing-world/id1712162582">Apple Podcasts</a> &middot; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3PCi6K1PjPXzhrNVGAPTLX">Spotify</a> Advertising and partnership inquiries: <a href="mailto:info@thinkingchristian.org">info@thinkingchristian.org</a>

Karl Barth on Church and Politics: Is the Church at War? | Faith & Politics #10

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/15595c89-6e99-4acc-a073-b4e9000f04e5/transcript

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why.

Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don’t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text.

Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors.

Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith.

Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why. Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don&rsquo;t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text. Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors. Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith. Episodes, articles, and questions: <a href="http://thinkingchristian.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://thinkingchristian.org&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1793101185691000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0pRkBIb9TL81w5uxzgoS8C">thinkingchristian.org</a>

Thinking Christian with Dr. James Spencer reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers. Each week, James, co-host Dr. Ashish Varma, and guests (biblical scholars, theologians, pastors, and authors) take up the questions Christians face: politics and Christian nationalism, technology and AI, biblical manhood, suffering and mental health, how to read Scripture well, and what faithful discipleship looks like now. Calm, careful, and grounded in the text. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, transcripts, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

Thinking Christian: Bible, Theology, and Culture

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