Is modern life quietly replacing God with something else? In Episode 60 of Thinking Christian, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Ashish Farma welcome back historian and theologian Dr. Kevin Flatt (Associate Dean of Humanities, Redeemer University) to explore one of the most urgent and underexamined ideas in Christian thought today: Sacred Social Order.

Every civilization in human history — from ancient China to Mesoamerican empires to early Christian Europe — understood that human society must align with something higher than itself. That intuition isn't gone. It's been replaced. By nationalism. By progressive identity movements. By civil religion. By the cult of the individual.

In this wide-ranging conversation, James, Ashish, and Kevin map how the West lost its sacred social order, what quietly took its place, and what the Church must 

recover — including a radical rethinking of time, space, the Sabbath, and Christian catechesis.

If you've ever felt like the world is moving too fast, or that something foundational has been hollowed out — this episode names what it is.

Key Takeaways:
What "Sacred Social Order" means — and why virtually every pre-modern civilization shared it
How secularization doesn't create a vacuum; it creates replacement religions (nationalism, identity politics, civil religion)
Why the American founding contains an unresolved ambiguity between Christian and Deist foundations — and what happened when that ambiguity tilted secular
How technology is catechizing us into seeing time and space as things to master, not gifts to steward
The striking biblical parallel between Sabbath laws and land laws — and what exile means for a church that ignores both
Why literal gardening might be one of the most counter-cultural spiritual practices a Christian can adopt today
What a Christian catechism for our moment needs to address — and what sacred values compete against it

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Subscribe to our YouTube channel

To read James's article on this topic, check out his author page on Christianity.com.

📢 Stay Connected & Keep Growing!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to Thinking Christian so you never miss an insightful conversation!

Is modern life quietly replacing God with something else? In Episode 60 of Thinking Christian, Dr. James Spencer and Dr. Ashish Farma welcome back historian and theologian Dr. Kevin Flatt (Associate Dean of Humanities, Redeemer University) to explore one of the most urgent and underexamined ideas in Christian thought today: Sacred Social Order.
Every civilization in human history &mdash; from ancient China to Mesoamerican empires to early Christian Europe &mdash; understood that human society must align with something higher than itself. That intuition isn't gone. It's been replaced. By nationalism. By progressive identity movements. By civil religion. By the cult of the individual.
In this wide-ranging conversation, James, Ashish, and Kevin map how the West lost its sacred social order, what quietly took its place, and what the Church must&nbsp;
recover &mdash; including a radical rethinking of&nbsp;time, space, the Sabbath, and Christian catechesis.
If you've ever felt like the world is moving too fast, or that something foundational has been hollowed out &mdash; this episode names what it is.
Key Takeaways:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">What "Sacred Social Order" means &mdash; and why virtually every pre-modern civilization shared it</li>
<li aria-level="1">How secularization doesn't create a vacuum; it creates replacement religions (nationalism, identity politics, civil religion)</li>
<li aria-level="1">Why the American founding contains an unresolved ambiguity between Christian and Deist foundations &mdash; and what happened when that ambiguity tilted secular</li>
<li aria-level="1">How technology is catechizing us into seeing time and space as things to master, not gifts to steward</li>
<li aria-level="1">The striking biblical parallel between Sabbath laws and land laws &mdash; and what exile means for a church that ignores both</li>
<li aria-level="1">Why literal gardening might be one of the most counter-cultural spiritual practices a Christian can adopt today</li>
<li aria-level="1">What a Christian catechism for our moment needs to address &mdash; and what sacred values compete against it</li>
</ul>
Get early access and a bonus with a <a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/thinkingchristian/membership">Patreon membership</a>.
Subscribe to our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Useful_toGod">YouTube channel</a>
To read James's article on this topic, check out his author page on <a href="https://www.christianity.com/author/james-spencer/">Christianity.com</a>.
📢 Stay Connected &amp; Keep Growing!
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to Thinking Christian so you never miss an insightful conversation!

Christians shouldn’t just think. They should think Christian. Join Dr. James Spencer and guests for calm, thoughtful, theological discussions about a variety of topics Christians face every day. The Thinking Christian Podcast will help you grow spiritually and learn theology as you seek to be faithful in a world that is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that deny Christ.

Find more from James at https://www.thinkingchristian.org/.

Christians shouldn&rsquo;t just think. They should think Christian. Join Dr. James Spencer and guests for calm, thoughtful, theological discussions about a variety of topics Christians face every day. The Thinking Christian Podcast will help you grow spiritually and learn theology as you seek to be faithful in a world that is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that deny Christ.
Find more from James at <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">https://www.thinkingchristian.org/</a>.

Christians shouldn’t just think. They should think Christian. Join Dr. James Spencer and guests for calm, thoughtful, theological discussions about a variety of topics Christians face every day. The Thinking Christian Podcast will help you grow spiritually and learn theology as you seek to be faithful in a world that is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that deny Christ.

Thinking Christian: Clear Theology for a Confusing World

Christians shouldn&rsquo;t just think. They should think Christian. Join Dr. James Spencer and guests for calm, thoughtful, theological discussions about a variety of topics Christians face every day. The Thinking Christian Podcast will help you grow spiritually and learn theology as you seek to be faithful in a world that is becoming increasingly proficient at telling stories that deny Christ.
Find more from James at <a href="https://www.thinkingchristian.org/">https://www.thinkingchristian.org/</a>.

What if every culture in history knew something about God that Western modernity made us forget?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/5e27a451-e6e6-4c51-aa03-a7370003783c/clips/e5a855fc-94bd-40f5-a182-b47400e5929a/transcript