Two Lutheran (LCMS) men bring a theological lens to the world, and relate the state of the world back to theology. Topics are timely, challenging, and fearless. We’ll probably make you nervous, sometimes make you angry, but never leave you bored. We are the stones who cry out.
Honor and loyalty are closely related concepts — even nearly, but not quite, identical. In this third (and final) part of our series on honor, we address the matter of loyalty — what it is, what it is not, when it is due, and, perhaps most importantly, when it is not due. To God and nation, a man owes absolute and unconditional loyalty; to family and country, man owes a high degree of loyalty; to all else, man owes only a conditional loyalty (if any at all).
Further, a teacher, particularly a teacher of the Word, is not personally owed loyalty because he teachers the word; rather, it is the Word to which one’s loyalty is owed. A teacher who was once true, but has become false, must be deserted and abandoned, as the higher duty to God always trumps. A corporate entity — whether a baker, a school, or a church — is generally not, in and of itself, owed any duty of loyalty at all.
Many attempt to exploit man’s sense of loyalty, but it is incumbent on the Christian man to know to whom loyalty is owed and to whom it is not owed.
Romans 13:7 (ESV): »Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.«
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Honor was once something that was taken deadly seriously in the West. It was not a matter about which one joked. A man would go to great lengths to maintain his honor, and a woman would go to great lengths to defend hers. In our modern culture, honor has been all but forgotten by the bulk of the population — it has become something so foreign, so alien that most men no longer even know what the word means.
But honor is necessary to maintain civilization, and so are shame and guilt. Unto the one who conducts himself according to the Moral Law and conforms his behavior to the norms of his civilization we bestow honor, and upon the one who falls short of these standards we heap shame to add to the guilt of his conscience. Together, honor, shame, and guilt form part of the foundation upon which society and civilization rest; without these, no civilization can long endure. As Christian men, we must endeavor to restore these things to our society, before it is too late and we have fallen too far.
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All men are made in the image of God. Not all men are in the image of God. These two statements may seem contradictory, but they are not, because they reference different aspects of what it means to be an image of God — and what it means to be regenerate (i.e., to be on the path we call Sanctification). The regenerate man is in the image of God in a way that the unregenerate man is not, because the regenerate man is justified and is being sanctified. This distinction is key, and is often conflated (both accidentally and deceptively) in modern, Christian (at least seemingly) discourse.
A helpful way to think about the distinction: Last week, we went over the image of God with emphasis on image; this week, we go over the image of God with emphasis on of God.
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Man was made in the image of God. This certainly sounds good — even impressive —, and it is frequently used by modern (supposedly) Christian commentators to justify all sorts of things. But what even is an image? If you do not know what an image is, how can you expect to even begin to understand an image of God?
In this episode, we lay the groundwork for understanding what precisely it means for man to be the image of God, what it means for us, and what we should do with it.
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When Christ says that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the word used for “truth” is ἀλήθεια, which includes within its lexical scope ‘uncovering’ or ‘revelation’ (it is a negating word, like “innocence” in English). That which covers, distorts, or perverts the truth is contrary to God, for God is Truth. As Christians, it is our duty not only to believe and speak the truth about matters written in God’s Word, but also to believe and speak the truth about matters written in God’s Creation.
When Christ stood before Pilate, Pilate asked Him: Quid est veritas? What is truth? (Veritas is the Roman goddess of truth, Aletheia the Greek.) His inquiry may very well have been in earnest, for truth was certainly a core pursuit of Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman philosophy — something with which a statesman was expected to have some familiarity. Little did Pilate know (at the time) that it was Truth Himself Who stood before him.
The modern world would seek to reduce most things to matters of opinion, and, even in those cases where an admission is made that what is at stake is truth, the modern world will often pick the lie. The Christian is not permitted to concede such territory, for God is Truth and all Truth is One. To deny the reality (i.e., the truth) of Creation is, ultimately, to deny the Creator Himself, which is blasphemy or even apostasy.
It is meritorious and dutiful to defend the truth, but we must be willing to defend all truth, not simply those that are acceptable in the eyes of society or do not come at a personal cost. The truth, like the Law, is absolute — cursed is the man who does not keep it whole and undefiled.
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The connection of mankind to the earth, to the soil is not accidental. It was from the dust that God formed the first man, Adam, and it is to dust that we shall all one day return. We must not treat the earth as accidental or incidental. We were each born in a place — on a particular piece of land. A nation cannot exist without a territory over which it exercises exclusive dominion. We cannot be fully human without connections to places developed over the course of our lives.
It is God Who sets the times and the boundaries of the nations — He gives certain lands to certain peoples for certain spans of time. Those who are faithful are blessed and continue into the future; those who are faithless are cursed and cease to be a nation through the loss of their territory. Land is not incidental; it is a matter of life and death, blessing and curse; and the occupation or usurpation of land by aliens is no trivial matter, for it is genocide.
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Honor and loyalty serve as the foundation of any civilization worthy of the name and any culture worthy of respect. As these have faded from our culture, we have seen a rise of treacherous — and even treasonous — behavior and a concomitant decline in Christianity. If we are to rebuild what has been permitted to decay or has been maliciously destroyed, then we must re-inculcate honor and loyalty, and we must comport ourselves accordingly. The Christian, first and foremost among men, should be a man of unimpeachable honor, and honor and loyalty are virtually synonymous. But we must also have a frank discussion of betrayal and treason, and a meaningful redress of those who are guilty of such heinous crimes.
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When things are proceeding as they should, when matters are rightly organized, power and authority are virtually synonymous, and they are at least reposed within the same men. But things in this life do not always proceed as they should. A king may lack the power to exercise his authority or he may abuse his power by exceeding his authority, and the same sort of problems may occur in the Church — a teacher or a cleric who was once faithful may turn from the truth and begin to teach falsely.
Unlike the prince or the magistrate who does possess some authority by virtue of his office, the teacher or the cleric possesses no authority with regard to the things of God simply by virtue of his office; rather, within the Kingdom of the right hand of Christ, authority is a matter of truth — the man who repeats God’s truth after Him wields authority when he does so, but only insofar as he does so. The words of a faithful teacher must be heeded because they are the very words of God, but the words of a false teacher must be rejected and the teacher shunned if he does not repent. It is not the office that commands authority, but the Word of God.
This is a necessary wisdom call that Christian men must make; we must assess whether a teacher or a cleric is holding true to the Word of God. Similarly, we must assess whether a prince or a magistrate has exceeded his authority and become a tyrant. With regard to the kingdom of the left hand of Christ, we may bear with error or even some level of wickedness, but no such thing may be tolerated with regard to the right-hand kingdom, for false teaching is an affront to God and must never be permitted to continue.
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Eschatology is the study of the end of all things. Scripture speaks, in many places, about the end times and what will take place leading up to and in those days. However, such matters are not the core of the Christian faith, and no Christian man should dedicate all of his time to investigating such things. Far too many become obsessed with end-times prophecies to the detriment of their faith and those around them.
Nevertheless, these prophecies exist in Scripture and the end times are part of the totality of Christian truth — these matters cannot be ignored. What, then, are we, as Christians, to make of these prophecies, signs, et cetera? In this episode, we discuss the truly Christian approach to the end times (to include the ‘timeline’, as it were) and the related prophetic portions of Scripture. There is Christian profit to be found in every word from God, but some require more wisdom than others in the approach.
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Deism posits that God created the world, and then walked away — a sort of clockmaker with the Universe being His clock. To the contrary, Christianity advances a view of God as active in His Creation. Certainly, every single thing that happens in the Universe happens with God’s knowledge of it and permission for it, but, beyond that, God also actively intervenes in time — both to help and to harm.
The Book of Job is, perhaps, one of the clearest narratives of Divine (and infernal) intervention, but God acts in Creation from the beginning of Scripture to the very end. God is, however, not the only supernatural being who intervenes (or interferes, in the infernal case) in the affairs of men; Satan and his demons also exert their influence upon reality. If we cease to believe in the supernatural — and not just as some abstraction or intellectual conceit, but rather as something very real and significant —, then we fall below the level of Christian belief and veer instead into something akin to the Sadducees, who denied both the resurrection of the dead and the existence of the supernatural.
Part of the Christian life is recognizing the reality that we live in the midst of spiritual warfare, with a conflict that rages all about us, even if we cannot physically see it. But beyond this, when we minimize (or ignore) the intervention of God in His Creation, we cease to recognize God’s providence. Every good and every perfect gift comes from God, and we should give thanks for all that God gives us, from the smallest of gifts up to the greatest. And we should even rejoice in times of adversity, for God has promised that He works all things together for the good of those who believe.
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“For unto us a Child is born and unto us a Son is given; dominion shall rest upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Angel of Great Counsel, for I will bring peace upon the rulers and well-being to Him. Great is His dominion — and there is no end to His peace — upon the Throne of David and over His Kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness, from now unto eternity. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.”
The Lord is a God of peace, and those who follow Him are to be peacemakers, but to be a peacemaker does not mean to be a doormat or to refuse to utilize violence when and where morally warranted. In this life, peace will always be imperfect, for we live in a fallen world wherein suffering is both inevitable and inescapable, but the eschatological peace found in Scripture, in God’s promises is an absolute peace. As Christians, we have the perfect peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, upon which we can rely — whatever may come in this life.
Peace applies to all of the estates and spheres of life, but it does not apply univocally or identically. The peace that is appropriate to the home and that which contributes to that peace is not the same as the peace that applies to politics, and the latter may be sacrificed more readily in pursuit of higher goals. These are matters of wisdom, and the Christian must know how to comport himself in the home, in society, in the State, and in the Church — peace applies to them all, but not equally and not identically.
Where there are higher duties (e.g., in the State, in the Church), then a false peace may be sacrificed in pursuit of those higher duties. In the State, security trumps peace; in the Church, Martin Luther may have put it best: “Peace, if possible; truth, at all costs.”
Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
On Violence
Jul 17, 2024
‘The life of man upon the earth is warfare, and he is born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward.’ — Job 5,7
We live in a fallen world. We can speak of a perfect world — and that is assuredly our goal and our destination, as Christians —, but the realities of this world cannot be ignored — Christians are not exempt from living in the world. From the very beginning of our species — when wicked Cain rose up and slew righteous Abel —, violence has never left our shadow. Although it was most certainly not part of God’s original or intended design for Creation, violence is just as certainly part of its fallen state.
It is not that violence is itself a good; rather, it is that violence is sometimes required to protect the good. When a man enacts violence upon a home intruder to defend himself, his wife, his children, and his goods, he is using violence toward a righteous and morally praiseworthy end. Throughout the pages of Scripture, God Himself uses violence against His enemies — from the genocide of Canaan to the Final Judgement, God employs violence consistently and constantly. Although violence will be absent from the new Creation, it will never be absent from this fallen one.
As Christians, we must not condemn violence qua violence for to do so would be to condemn God, which is apostasy; rather, we must know how to apply wisdom to these matters so that we align our actions and our beliefs with what God has commanded — and He both proscribes and prescribes violence, depending on the circumstances.
It is also necessary for the Christian, in order that he might act in wisdom, to understand the law — to understand the differences between and among things like advocacy, incitement, and fighting words. These are not trivial, unimportant, or tangential matters, for the life of man upon the Earth is one of conflict; even times of peace are seldom entirely free from violence, and they are often ephemera. A man must always do his duty, and at times that duty may demand violence — the police officer who protects his city, the soldier who defends his nation, the housefather who defends his home.
We are not and cannot be more moral than God, and of Himself He says:
“The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name.”
Show Notes
Brandenburg v. Ohio
Wikipedia, Justia, Oyez, LII (Cornell)
See Also
Further Reading
Joshua
Judges
Parental Warnings
The word “ass” is used once at ~01:39. The term “pissed off” is used once around the same time.
Seeing Satan on the Move, Part I of II
Jul 10, 2024
This week’s episode is a crossover with the Renaissance of Men podcast from Will Spencer. In a wide-ranging discussion (over more than six hours), we covered everything from the reasons we started the Stone Choir podcast and the state of the LCMS to (in the second part) World War II and conspiracy theories. This will be all you are ever likely to hear. Within hours of publication, Will pulled the content and disavowed us after coming under pressure from within the church. So it goes.
Show Notes
Parental Warnings
None.
Confronting Sin
Jul 03, 2024
When confronting sin, the Christian must distinguish between the private and the public. The private or secret sin should generally not be published (and is subject to Matthew 18), but the public sin is generally already published (and is not subject to Matthew 18). The primary goal of confronting private sin is to retain or to regain the erring brother; the primary goal of confronting public sin is to rebuke the false teacher and to protect those who would otherwise be led astray.
In these matters, there are three core duties: the duty to God (which includes defending His honor and His truth), the duty to receive correction, and the duty to correct or rebuke. Confronting sin and correcting error are central parts of the Christian life. When theological or doctrinal controversies arise, there is both opportunity (e.g., for all parties to deepen in knowledge and faith) and danger (e.g., if false teaching is not rebuked and false teachers silenced, then wickedness may spread). How to approach specific situations is a matter of wisdom, but one that Christian men are absolutely not permitted to avoid.
Silence in the face of false teaching is complicity in it. Silence in the face of false belief on the part of a brother is indifference (i.e., hatred) of that brother. As iron sharpens iron, we must help our brothers to stay on the strait and narrow. And as the shepherd defends the sheep, so we must be watchful for false teachers.
Show Notes
“The Question of Procedure in Theological Controversies” by Kurt Marquart
The Large Catechism, the Eighth Commandment, Public Sin
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
Target Selection
Jun 26, 2024
In any conflict, there are at least two sides. In the life of man upon this earth, there is constant conflict with and against the world, the flesh, and the devil. As Christians, it is incumbent upon us — particularly as Christian men — to know what are our duties in this life; for a soldier, he must know his orders and where to execute them. If we are to oppose Satan and his forces, then we must know where he is attacking or where he plans to attack — this is the issue of target selection.
When we choose topics for this podcast, we choose them because they are places that Satan is attacking or places that Satan will (soon) attack. The goal is to prepare Christian men to fight back, to defend the Church and her children. In today’s episode, we discuss some of the ways a man can know where Satan is attacking, where Satan will attack, and how a Christian should and must respond.
If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.
— St. Martin Luther
Show Notes
Information on veiling (This site also offers veils for purchase.)
See Also
“Binding Adiaphora” (tradition)
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
Love: Marriage & Sex
Jun 05, 2024
Marriage is fundamental not only to individual men and women, but also to society writ large. Without marriage, there are no families; without families, there are no nations. The first relationship between two human beings was marriage — of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Without marriage there is no future for the human race.
And yet we often gloss over the actual nature of marriage — partly in deference to modesty and partly because we have so long employed euphemism that many have simply forgotten what marriage actually is. In this episode, we have a frank discussion of the nature and essence of marriage and distinguish it from many of the things our society so often pretends fall under the umbrella of ‘marriage’.
It is advisable to screen this episode before permitting your children to listen to it.
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Show Notes
Ephesians 5
See Also
Further Reading
“On Sexual Immorality, Temptation, and Marriage”
“Disordered Loves”
[“On the Nature of Woman”](On the Nature of Woman)
Parental Warnings
This entire episode may not be suitable for young children. Parents: You should screen this one first. This is a frank discussion of the nature and essence of marriage, which, rather obviously, involved discussing sex.
Love: Family, Friends, Tribe, and Nation
May 22, 2024
Love and duty are matters of concentric circles — to the closer is the greater duty and the greater love owed. In the previous episode in this series, we covered the facets of self-sacrifice love (agape) and charity (caritas); in this episode, we cover familial and brotherly or fraternal love, emotional (amor) and intellectual (dilectio) love, and piety (the historical, proper sense) and paternal love — three pairs, as it were. We call these facets, because it is not that love can be dissected and broken down into constituent parts; rather, it is that love is expressed in different ways between different people at different times. The love a husband has for his wife is not the same as the love a man has for his nation.
If we are commanded to love, then we must certainly understand what it means to love. We must know whom (and what) we must love and what is the nature and scope of that love. The world would deceive us by calling that which is not — and often even that which cannot be — love ‘love’. As Christians, we are commanded to be wise, and love — to whom it is owed and how it must or must not be expressed — is assuredly a matter of wisdom.
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Show Notes
Deus Ex Machina - Apple and the Ghost of Steve Jobs (Myth20c - Ep270)
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
“Homosexual fornication” and “sodomy” are used as descriptors for an example around the 40:00 mark, but the matter is not discussed in detail or explicitly.
Love: Sacrifice and Charity
May 15, 2024
Love is a multifaceted thing. Sometimes this complex nature can be masked in English by the use of the umbrella term “love” (or even by the exclusion of concepts that really fall under that umbrella — e.g., “friendship”). In this first episode in our (planned) three-episode series on love, we discuss agape (i.e., self-sacrificing or sacrificial love) and caritas (i.e., charity), their interrelationship, and some of their connections to other facets of love (e.g., storge [i.e., familial love]).
Love is a matter of who is doing the thing, whom is receiving the thing, and what the nature and scope of the thing is. The love — more accurately, the scope and nature of the love — you owe to your wife (agape, eros) is not the same as the love you owe to your siblings (agape, philia) or to your nation (pietas). Love is a matter of wisdom, one that has fallen into neglect in Christian discourse.
All that is called love is not.
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Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
Leadership
May 01, 2024
Leadership is a natural aspect of the interrelationships of men. Any given group of men, left to its own devices, will form into a hierarchy, with a leader at the top. The modern world would have us deny this reality, because it runs directly counter to Egalitarianism.
To men, God has given many gifts, but He has given them unequally — this is part of His design, and we are not permitted to deny or to ignore it. The husband is the head of his wife — he must lead, and she must submit. The leader is the head of his group, of his organization, of his church, of his nation — he must lead, and those under him must support and follow. It is not a mindless, slavish following of orders that is commanded or in sight; rather, it is a right recognition of the existence of hierarchy and one’s place within it.
We are endeavoring to rebuild from the wreckage of a shipwrecked world, and the reestablishment of hierarchy and of leadership is no small part of that task.
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Show Notes
Exodus 18
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
Ecumenism in the Trenches
Apr 24, 2024
Christian men exist in two kingdoms (the right and the left ‘hands’ of Christ) and three estates (family, Church, and State). Many modern men neglect the fullness of this reality via excessive focus on the Kingdom of the right hand of Christ (i.e., the Church). Further, and perhaps worse, many pastors believe that their role in the right-hand Kingdom entitles them to honors, respect, or other deference with regard to the left-hand kingdom — it does not.
The domain of the pastor is the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments. The domain of Christian men is all three of the estates of life — family, Church, and State. With regard to family and State, Christian men have many duties, but pastors have only one — silence. The role of the pastor is local and circumscribed; the role of Christian men is not exclusively so. The pastor qua pastor has nothing to say with regard to the State, to the kingdom of the left hand of Christ — that is the domain of Christian men.
As Christian men, we must work together on the issues facing us, and that regardless of which kingdom or which estate. Pastors have their role and we have ours; the former must learn their limitations and the latter must do their duty.
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Show Notes
“Headship, Authority, Agency”
Dunbar’s number
See Also
Further Reading
Augsburg Confession, Art. V
Augsburg Confession, Art. XIV
Parental Warnings
None.
The State of the Churches
Apr 17, 2024
Knowledge is not what saves us, but faith cannot be devoid of content, for one must have faith in something. Part of being a Christian is, unsurprisingly, knowing the content of the Christian faith. Or, perhaps, this would be surprising to many, given the state of knowledge and belief among those claiming to be Christian — even among the best (in terms of knowledge and right belief) of those claiming to be Christian.
In today’s episode, we return to the state of the churches. This time, we examine the general state of knowledge and belief among Christians. Do Christians even know the basics of the faith? For most, the answer is very clearly: No.
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Show Notes
Ligonier — “State of Theology” Survey Results
Pew Research Center — “Religious Landscape Study” Survey Results
See Also
Further Reading
“The Apostle’s & Nicene Creeds, verse by verse” [PDF]
Parental Warnings
None.
Tithing
Apr 10, 2024
All that we have comes from God. As we covered in the episode on jealousy, we are, in fact, to be jealous, to be protective, of the things that are ours. However, this must be balanced against the fact that much of what we hold we hold in trust. There are things which are solely ours and there are things which are ours for the sake of serving God and neighbor.
Ultimately, we are stewards of this Creation, and we owe duties to God. One such duty is the duty to render thanks to God in the form of tithes. A tithe, simply, is an offering ‘off the top’ of a portion of what God has given us as thanks for the whole. How much we tithe, how we tithe, to whom we tithe, and other related questions are matters of wisdom. Unlike Old Testament Israel, we do not have explicit rules telling us what to tithe, when, and to whom. However, God does invite us to test Him by bringing in the fullness of the tithe, and where God invites us to test Him, it is not only foolish, but sinful, to refuse.
»“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.«
— Malachi 3:6–12 (ESV)
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Show Notes
Malachi 3:6–12
Genesis 4:3–7
Genesis 14:17–20
Genesis 28:18–22
Leviticus 27:30–33
Numbers 18:21–32
Deuteronomy 14:22–29
Deuteronomy 26:12–15
2 Chronicles 31:2–10
Luke 11:42–44
Luke 18:11–12
Hebrews 7:4–10
Philippians 4:14–20
Deuteronomy 16:16–17
Leviticus 5:11–13
2 Corinthians 8:1–15
2 Corinthians 9:6–15
Luke 21:1–4
1 Chronicles 29:3–9
See Also
Further Reading
“Let Us Test the Lord”
Parental Warnings
None.
Inheritance
Apr 03, 2024
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
All that we have and all that we are flows from God, and yet, as covered in previous episodes, God acts in time via means. Your height and your intelligence, God transmitted to you via your ancestors, via your nation; your material prosperity, God transmitted to you via your forebears and your country; and your faith, God transmitted to you via faithful forebears and His written Word (whatever copies of which you may own, someone had to print). It is a tripartite inheritance that is bestowed upon us by God — biological, material, and spiritual.
The modern world, with its manifold lies — among them, the idea of the ‘blank slate’ — would have us believe that we are atomized individuals instead of parts of a greater whole. Each generation is a link in a chain extending back through Noah to Adam, and it is incumbent on each generation to faithfully pass forward the inheritance — preferably improved — that it received from those who came before. Without inheritance, there is no prosperity, there is no continuity, and there would be no salvation, for it is our adoption as sons of God that makes us inheritors of eternal life.
We must jealously guard our inheritance, faithfully preserve it, and dutifully transmit it.
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Show Notes
Numbers 27
Luke 12–15
1 Kings 21
Genesis 15
See Also
Further Reading
“inheritance” [Bible Hub]
kléronomia (inheritance) [Bible Hub]
Dowry [Wikipedia]
Parental Warnings
None.
Jealousy
Mar 27, 2024
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
The modern world would have us believe that jealousy is a purely negative matter — we all know the tropes. Scripture teaches something entirely different. God tells us that one of His names is Jealous. To be jealous of the things that God has given us is not only not sin, but an affirmative duty for every Christian. You must be jealous of your wife, jealous of your children, jealous of your property, and jealous of every other good and perfect gift that has come down from the Father above.
To fail to be jealous is, in fact, to sin.
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Show Notes
Bible Hub: jealous
Bible Hub: envy
Bible Hub: zealous
Bible Hub Topic: Jealousy
See Also
Further Reading
The Magdeburg Confession [Amazon]
Parental Warnings
None.
The Required Confession
Mar 13, 2024
When the world demands that we speak falsely about the faith, we are required to speak the truth; when the world demands that we speak truthfully about the faith, but neglect certain truths, then it is those very truths the world tells us to ignore that we must profess all the more loudly. Satan, although he is the father of lies, does not always lie; where it is possible to do so, it is often far more effective to mislead with the truth — to lie by omission. This is what the world so often demands of Christians today.
If the world says we must call slavery sin, then we affirm that Scripture does not call slavery sin and even commands it in places. If the world says we must tolerate homosexuality or false religions, then we affirm that Scripture condemns such things as abomination. If the world tells us that it is fine to say that our sins crucified Christ, that the Romans crucified Christ, and that Pilate crucified Christ, but that we must not say that the Jews murdered Christ, then we affirm in no uncertain terms that the Jews murdered Christ.
There are no optional parts of Scripture — we, as Christians, are required to affirm the full counsel of God. To deflect with an irrelevant truth is no less a lie than an affirmative false statement. Whether you are fated to be a confessor or a martyr is in God’s hands, but it is in your hands to decide whether you will follow God or yield to the world.
There is no promise of salvation for those who apostatize by denying the Word of God.
If I profess with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace to him, if he flinches at that one point.
— St. Martin Luther, Confessor
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Show Notes
Scripture readings from the end of the episode:
Acts 7:51–53
John 8:34–47
Matthew 12:14
John 5:18
John 7:1
John 7:19–20
John 10:31
John 11:8
John 11:53
Matthew 26:3–4
John 5:16–17
Acts 2:22–25
Acts 2:36–41
Acts 3:14–15
Acts 5:27–33
1 Thessalonians 2:14–16
Luke 23:13–16
Matthew 27:20
Luke 23:18–23
Matthew 27:24–26
HB 1076 (the South Dakota law mentioned in the episode) [PDF]
IHRA definition of “antisemitism” (with examples)
See Also
Lex injusta non lex est.
Further Reading
Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article X
Anti-BDS laws
Parental Warnings
The word “masturbation” is used once in the middle of the episode.
Technology
Mar 06, 2024
Technology is a part of our daily lives. In fact, technology has been a part of the daily life of man from the beginning. Whether that technology is relatively simple — a garden hoe or a flint knife — or incredibly complex — a nuclear reactor or a quantum computer — it is, nevertheless, technology, which is to say that it is a material application of science (i.e., knowledge) to achieve a human end.
Technology may be good, bad, or neutral, but it cannot be truly or fully assessed in the absence of an assessment of the attendant intention of the men who develop and deploy it. For the Christian, there are additional considerations. Some technologies bring with them intrinsic or even inherent risks, and this grows more pressing by the day. We must be intentional with our use of technology, and we must recognize that neither is all knowledge good nor is all ignorance evil.
Neither knowledge nor its material application (i.e., technology) is amoral. As Christians, we must be aware of the risks and of the right mindset with regard to technology and our use of it. The Church faces novel threats and we do not have the benefit of any insight from past Christians, for what we face they could not even conceive. We are in an uncharted land, because we are the ones who have been tasked with making the charts.
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Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
“Before the Deluge”
Parental Warnings
We discuss the demonic in this episode.
Repentance
Feb 28, 2024
Repentance consists of contrition and faith. Contrition is sorrow for sin, the terrors of conscience that are attendant the realization of the nature of sin and God’s wrath toward it; faith, in this case, is the entirety of the Christian life — the ‘and then what’, which follows regeneration. But more than this, to be truly repentant is to turn from one’s sins and move toward God. In the Greek (μετανοια), repentance is a ‘change of one’s mind’, or, in the verbal form, ‘to change one’s mind’ — literally, ‘to think differently [about]’.
When we are regenerated, we think differently about the sins of our past (and about the sins we still desire to commit) — we recognize that they are sins and that they are contrary to the will of God. And not only do we think differently about these matters (i.e., have that μετανοια, that change of mind), but we also seek to undo the harms that we have done — there are works that follow true repentance.
In a very real sense, repentance is the core of the Christian life. We are saved, of course, by the work of Christ and the free gift of faith, but a living faith will always produce good works, and chief among those works are repentance and what flows from it. We read the Word of God, which convicts us of our sins, we feel sorrow for these sins (i.e., contrition) and we turn from them (i.e., repentance). This is the Christian life in this world.
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Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
Homily (coming soon)
Parental Warnings
There is some discussion of sexual sins (not in explicit terms) shortly after the one-hour mark.
Slander
Feb 14, 2024
Once taken, a man’s reputation is nearly impossible to restore to him. In the 8th Commandment (and many other places in Scripture), God enshrines and makes abundantly clear that He hates slander and the man who spreads it. And yet Scripture goes further: Not only must we not slander our neighbor, but we must rebuke the one who does so. Scripture calls the one who hears slander but does not rebuke the slanderer evil.
Next to his life, wife, and possessions, the most dear thing a neighbor has is his good name and reputation. As Christians, we know that we must aid our neighbor in maintaining all that is his, and this certainly includes his reputation. Slander destroys families, friendships, organizations, churches, and entire societies. A godly prince would wield the sword against the slanderer, but every individual Christian has a moral duty to rebuke the slanderer and not to repeat what he has heard.
In this episode, we will examine the contours of what “slander” encompasses, and what we, as Christians, must do in this life.
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Show Notes
See Also
The Large Catechism: The 8th Commandment
Further Reading
“The Question of Procedure in Theological Controversies” by Kurt Marquart
Parental Warnings
None.
Galatians 3:28
Feb 07, 2024
Galatians 3:28 is, perhaps, the most abused verse in modern churches (a term that should, arguably, be in quotes), and this is not without reason. Satan attacks where he knows there is purchase to be found or headway to be made. In entirely unambiguous terms, Galatians 3:28 affirms the very real existence of race, hierarchy, and sex (i.e., that we are created either male or female) — the very things that the modern world constantly attacks and denies.
We must be careful readers when it comes to Scripture. God does not choose His words idly and we should not skim over them. We do not usually focus on a single verse to this extent, but it is incumbent on faithful Christians to defend where the battle is joined. In today’s episode, we will arm you to detect abuses of this verse, to defend yourself against those abuses, and to understand the wealth of what God has transmitted to us in a mere twenty-three words).
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Show Notes
Galatians (The entire letter will take you no more than fifteen minutes to read.)
“What We Believe” from the ‘Black Lives Matter’ website [via Archive.org]
See Also
Further Reading
“Singleness in the Church”
Parental Warnings
None.
Apostasy
Jan 31, 2024
By the time Josiah, King of Judah, noticed that pagan worship practices had crept into the land of Judah — and even into the Temple itself —, apostasy, wickedness, and idol worship were rampant. The Temple was filled with altars to and symbols of false gods, the area around the Temple and around Jerusalem was filled with centers of false worship, and the valley adjacent to Jerusalem even saw the sacrifice of children to demons. Undoubtedly, these false beliefs and false practices did not creep into Judah all at once — Satan brought them in bit by bit.
The apostasy of Judah was not the first time humanity lost the Word of God (although perhaps none have done this as literally as Judah forgetting the actual scroll somewhere in a pile of rubble in the Temple); by the time of Judah’s apostasy, Israel (the Northern Kingdom) was already apostate and in the process of being eradicated by the Assyrians. We see the same happening all over the world as the sons of Noah lost the Word of God over time — some certainly faster than others. And, of course, the entire world, save Noah and his immediate family, had lost or rejected God’s Word by the time of the Flood.
Today, the churches face a similar crisis as that which faced Josiah: We are beset on all sides by false worship, and false shepherds and wolves have even brought these false beliefs and false practices into the church. We have fallen so far that supposed pastors, priests, and teachers will recoil when presented with the words of God. This does not mean that there is no hope, but it is surely a call for repentance and prayer. Josiah would not see the destruction of Judah, which God promised as recompense for their wickedness, but his grandson would.
Let us not be like the wicked Northern Kingdom or the apostate Southern Kingdom.
Joel 2:12–14 (ESV):
»“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD your God?«
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Show Notes
2 Kings 17
2 Kings 22
2 Kings 23
Matthew 7
Matthew 24
Matthew 25
Mark 1
Luke 8
1 Timothy 4
2 Peter 2
See Also
“The Gods of the Copybook Headings” by Rudyard Kipling [Wikipedia]
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
The Gnostic Heresy
Jan 24, 2024
Gnosticism is one of the oldest religions of man. When Satan tempted Eve in the Garden, it was with an invitation to learn secret — explicitly forbidden, in this case — knowledge. From the mystery cults of Ancient Greece and Rome to modern Pentecostalism, Mormonism, and any of dozens of other cults, Gnosticism has always been a major font of false religion and corruption.
Christianity is not a mystery religion; Christianity is a religion with mysteries. The Sacrament is a mystery, because we cannot fully understand it, but it is not a mystery in the sense of being secret knowledge — we proclaim it publicly before the world and it is set forth in God’s Word. Anyone who claims that you must have some secret knowledge in order to be a good or a full or a proper Christian is lying to you and attempting to drag you into heresy and apostasy. There is no secret knowledge in Christianity.
In today’s episode, we do not go over the specifics of any of the various Gnostic cults — ancient or modern; rather, we go over the core of the Gnostic claims and the foundation of their beliefs: the existence of mystical or esoteric knowledge, the salvific nature of this supposed knowledge, dualism, and the denial of the flesh (i.e., the material).
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Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
The Judaizing Heresy
Jan 17, 2024
Judaizing has been a problem in the Church from the beginning. Even St. Peter fell prey to the Judaizers and their attempt to import into Christianity the false beliefs of Judaism. Today, Judaizing takes a number of forms. In this episode, we will cover circumcision, the use of “Yahweh” (and “Yeshua”), and several related matters.
As Christians, we must always ask ourselves both what the source of the thing is and what the purpose of the thing is. When it comes to Judaizing, the source is not God and the purpose is from Satan. The Jews do not have a special relationship with God or even any relationship with God, because they rejected His Son, and the Word of Scripture is clear:
No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
Why would we, as Christians, who have the Son by Faith, ask the Jews, who reject the Son and therefore do not have the Father, anything about religion?
What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?
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Show Notes
“Circumcision’s Psychological Damage” — one article among many
Twitter Thread on “Yahweh”
If you do not have Twitter, click here.
See Also
Old Lutheran Synod: “Do You Renounce Jewish Unbelief and Blasphemy?”
The old baptismal rite of the LCMS, which included explicit renunciation of certain, enumerated heresies, including Judaism.
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
We have a frank discussion about circumcision, including some technically ‘explicit’ language, in this episode — you may wish to screen it before listening to it with your children.
True Religion
Jan 10, 2024
Man is, by nature, religious. The Atheist or the agnostic is no less religious than the Buddhist, the Muslim, or the Christian. The question is not whether or not a man is religious, but which God or gods he worships. As Christians, it is incumbent on us not just to recognize this reality, but also to recognize how it plays out in our world, in our culture, and in our own lives.
We may believe that because we attend church on Sundays (perhaps even also on Wednesdays), read our Bibles, and do all the things that Christians are supposed to do that we have no idols or that we have not fallen for any of the idols of our day. But is this true? When we examine our beliefs in light of Scripture, we may find that we have been indoctrinated into certain beliefs by the world. To hold such false beliefs is to have an idol.
Today, we find that even pastors and teachers have fallen for some of these idols — and will even defend them more vigorously and more vehemently than they will defend the Word of God. And so we turn again to the genealogy of ideas. What do we believe and why do we believe it? And, more importantly: What should we, as Christians, believe?
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Show Notes
Ezekiel 33
See Also
“Fear Not, O Little Flock, the Foe”
If you would like to hear more Gospel, see this previous episode: “You Are Forgiven”
Further Reading
Small Catechism
First Commandment
Second Commandment
Large Catechism
First Commandment
Second Commandment
Parental Warnings
None.
Liturgical Life
Dec 20, 2023
Unlike the Old Testament Israelites, New Testament Christians are not required to observe any particular set of feasts, festivals, or commemorations — Scripture does not lay out a Church Year that we are required to follow. However, the Christian standard is not ‘What is required?’, but rather: ‘What is profitable?’ When we ask, instead of what we must do, what we should do for the sake of unity, instruction, and order, we arrive at a far different answer from that of most modern Christians, who have jettisoned from their faith much of the historic practices of the Church.
Whereas we affirm that neither we nor you, as Christians, are required to observe the feasts, festivals, and commemorations of the Church and her historic calendar, we also resolutely contend that these observances are good for the body of Christ. It is in the cyclical and seasonal observances that we live out of lives as Christians and recognize our brothers-in-Christ, who are living out similar lives. There is a difference between the minimum of the faith and the fullness of the faith — we want you to have the latter.
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Show Notes
Liturgical Year [Wikipedia]
Church Year [Encyclopædia Britannica]
See Also
Owen Cyclops’ Church Year Calendar, as featured in the show art
Ad Crucem’s Church Year Calendar
Daily Devotions from Confident.Faith
Further Reading
The (Lutheran) Church Year Explained
Free Church Year Calendar Download from CPH (You do not need to agree to receive emails.)
Parental Warnings
None.
The Church
Dec 13, 2023
What do we mean by “Church” or “church”? When we use this term (or these terms, when writing permits distinguishing them with the capital letter), we really mean a handful of distinct things — it is important to keep these clear. In today’s episode, we go over the Church (universal), the church (institutional), and the church (local, congregational). For the Christian, there is great comfort in recognizing the reality of the Church, even when the churches may be in disarray.
“In short, according to Lutheran teaching, it is faith in the Gospel which in every case establishes membership in the Christian Church. To him who believes the Gospel, membership in the Christian Church may not be denied; of him who rejects the Gospel, membership in the Christian Church may not be asserted. Excommunication pronounced against true believers does not deprive them of membership in the Church.”
Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics
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Show Notes
Augsburg Confession:
Art. VII: Of the Church
Art. VIII: What the Church Is
Apology of the Augsburg Confession:
Art. VII & VIII: Of the Church
Smalcald Articles:
Part III, Art. XII
See Also
Apology of the Augsburg Confession:
Art. XV: Of Human Traditions in the Church
Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration:
Art. X
Further Reading
Christian Dogmatics by Francis Pieper:
Vol. I
Vol. II
Vol. III
Index (you do not need this volume, but it is nice to have)
These volumes can be found online as PDFs.
Church and Office by C. F. W. Walther
This volume may not be available online as a PDF.
Parental Warnings
None.
Very Eastern, Less Orthodox
Dec 06, 2023
We are told to ‘test the spirits’, and this is a blanket admonition. You should test the things we say on this podcast against the Word of God; you should test the things your pastor says against the Word of God; you should test the things you believe against the Word of God. Yes, there are things that belong to natural revelation — to wisdom that can be gained from exploration of God’s Creation —, but, where Scripture speaks, Scripture is binding and final.
In today’s episode, we will subject Eastern ‘Orthodoxy’ both to Scripture and to natural revelation, which is to say human wisdom derived from God’s good creation. At the end of this episode, we fully believe that you will be left with a simple and unavoidable conclusion: Whatever the EO may have been historically, they are no longer Christian today.
The practice they call ‘hesychastic prayer’ is not prayer, but it is a very real spiritual practice — the problem is that those spirits with which it seeks (and even obtains) communion are not of God, but of an entirely different master. And God has spoken on the matter:
»“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.«
— Matthew 6:7–8 (ESV)
These are not idle or unimportant matters. To believe the things taught by the EO is to endanger one’s soul. If you or anyone entrusted to your care has ever expressed or pursued any interest in the EO, then we strongly encourage you to listen carefully to this episode — perhaps more than once. We also encourage you to ask question, if you have them — we will try to respond promptly.
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Show Notes
“At the Kremlin in 1943: Stalin presented Orthodox leaders with a proposal: the Soviet state that had destroyed their Church would bring it back”
“Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church” [Wikipedia]
See Also
“The Monks Who Spent Years Turning Themselves into Mummies—While Alive”
Sokushinbutsu (the Japanese name for the process) [Wikipedia]
Further Reading
“Distinction” (Philosophy) [Wikipedia]
See also Duns Scotus [Wikipedia]
“Eastern ‘Orthodoxy’”
Parental Warnings
We discuss the demonic in this episode (and also, briefly as an example, sex), so you may wish to screen it before listening to it with your children.
Nota
When speaking of “distinctions”, I deliberately did not mention the difference between “logical“ and “formal” or “conceptual“ distinctions, because that difference was not relevant or helpful for the episode. If you are interested in the philosophy of this, please start with the links under the “Further Reading“ section.
God’s Gifts, Man’s Duties
Nov 22, 2023
Whether our gifts are many or few, great or small, God has most assuredly prepared beforehand opportunities for us to use those gifts to serve our neighbors. We, in fact, have a duty to use what God has given us for the good of our neighbor. All that we have we hold in trust as stewards, for all comes from God and all belongs to God.
It is through our good works that we demonstrate, both to ourselves and to the world, that we have a living faith. There are no hard and fast rules or mathematical formulae to determine precisely what one should do with what one has been given — these are matters of wisdom. But we know the basics: Faithfully pursue your work, come to the aid of family and neighbor, and render good works when and where God provides you the opportunity.
The Christian life is not found in pilgrimages or hair shirts or in putting crosses on every surface in one’s home. The faithful Christian baker makes good bread; the faithful Christian shoemaker makes good shoes; the faithful Christian woman keeps a good home; a faithful Christian man diligently pursues his calling — whatever it may be. These are not matters over which to be anxious or about which to fret or worry; God knows what we need and he knows what our neighbor needs, and He has so ordered things that our neighbor can aid us and we can aid him. The Christian life is lived out in many thousands of small interactions, all undertaken with thanks for the good gifts, all of which flow from God.
»17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.«
— James 1:17 (ESV)
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Show Notes
Previous episodes:
Persuasiveness Matters
Conspiracy Theories and Truth
The Fear of the Lord
Some recommended Scripture passages:
Matthew 6:25–34
Matthew 25:1–13
Romans 12:3–13
Romans 14:1–12
1 Corinthians 4:2
1 Corinthians 12:1–11
1 Corinthians 15:58
Ephesians 2:10
Colossians 3:18–4:1
1 Peter 4:7–11
James 1:16–18
Luke 12:35–48
Luke 16:1–13
Proverbs 3:27–28
Proverbs 16:3
Proverbs 22:29
Ecclesiastes 9:9–10
See Also
Further Reading
“Family Trump Strangers”
Parental Warnings
None.
Capitalist Idolatry
Nov 15, 2023
Of all the idols of modern man, Capitalism may be one of the most challenging to overcome. Not because the wickedness of Capitalism is not manifest, for it is (and we will demonstrate this in today’s episode), but because it has been sold as the only alternative to Communism — a system so wicked that no Christian can possibly support it. Yet the choice is not binary, and those who would claim that it is seek to mislead the Christian into supporting a system that is, in point of fact, anti-Christ.
It is the lack of concern for one’s neighbor — a feature built into the Capitalist system and inextricable from it — that should immediately raise alarm bells for the Christian man. Under Capitalism, it is the maximum extraction of profit (itself a dubious category, insofar as it is a vague term) that serves as guiding principle, and yet this is an alien and hostile thing to the Christian system of ethics and morality. Need it even be said that the extraction of maximized profits runs diametrically counter to the second-greatest commandment:
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Throughout the pages of Scripture, God repeatedly states His concern for the poor, the needy, and the exploited, and yet Capitalism relies, in no small part, upon the extraction of profits from those very categories of the most vulnerable. Ours is not a Marxist critique of Capitalism, but a Christian one. The central question: Is Capitalism compatible with Christianity? We answer in the negative.
Mammon is an old god, an idol served by many men from may nations across many centuries. The love of money is not the root of all evils, but, in the words of Scripture, it is certainly the root of many evils, and, in fact, may serve as the stumbling stone upon which faith may founder:
»For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.«
— 1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)
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Show Notes
Mises Definition of “Capitalism”
See Also
Berlin State Museum: Coin Collection
The ‘boots’ theory of poverty [Wikipedia]
Further Reading
On Trade and Usury by Martin Luther [PDF]
Parental Warnings
None.
The Lord’s Supper
Nov 08, 2023
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also, He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
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Show Notes
John 6
1 Corinthians 11
Luke 22
Mark 14
Matthew 26
See Also
The Mode of Christ’s Presence in the Supper
Further Reading
Small Catechism: The Sacrament of the Altar
Large Catechism: The Sacrament of the Altar
Augsburg Confession: Of the Mass
Apology of the Augsburg Confession: Of the Mass
Epitome of the Formula of Concord: The Lord’s Supper
Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord: The Holy Supper
Parental Warnings
None.
Dispensing with Dispensationalism
Nov 01, 2023
Dispensationalism is a modern heresy. (No, we are not going to bury the lede.) Taking shape, primarily, in the 1800s and 1900s, Dispensationalism posits a distinction between God’s plans for ‘Israel’ and the Church — this is contrary both to Scripture and to the historical teachings of the Church. God is no polygynist — He has but one bride.
Today, the churches, particularly in the US, are rife with Dispensationalist teachings, and it is our duty as Christians to refute these lies. God has only ever had one plan for humanity and one path to salvation — declared to the first man, Adam, in Genesis 3:15 and echoed throughout the pages of Scripture; there is no path to the Father except through the Son. In today’s episode, we go over the history of Dispensationalism, what Dispensationalism teaches, and why we, as Christians, must oppose this particularly pernicious false doctrine.
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Show Notes
Exegesis of Genesis 12 (As promised near the end of the episode.)
A Brief History of Power: What Is Dispensationalism?
A Word Fitly Spoken: Dispensationalism [Overcast]
A Word Fitly Spoken: Cyrus Ingerson Scofield [Overcast]
Luther’s Preface to the Book of Romans
See Also
The Augsburg Confession, Art. XVII — “Of Christ’s Return to Judgement”
“Dispensationalism Today” by Charles Ryrie [PDF]
Further Reading
John Nelson Darby [Wikipedia]
Plymouth Brethren [Wikipedia]
Cyrus Ingerson Scofield [Wikipedia]
Samuel Untermeyer [Wikipedia]
Amillennialism [Wikipedia]
Dispensationalism [Wikipedia]
Revelation by Louis A. Brighton from the Concordia Commentary series [Amazon]
This commentary is from the Concordia Commentary series from CPH, and, thus, is from a Lutheran perspective, which is to say it teaches Amillennialism.
A Case for Amillennialism by Kim Riddlebarger [Amazon]
This book is from the Reformed perspective, and so, naturally, includes Reformed distinctives, but it still gives a good overview of Amillennialism and also spends times refuting various Millenarian claims.
Parental Warnings
None.
The Reformation, Its Causes, and Its Consequences
Oct 25, 2023
The Reformation was not the beginning of the problems in the Western Church, nor in the Church more generally. Over the centuries before the beginning of the Reformation, generally accepted as 31 October 1517, the Church faced a number of heresies, divisions, and other problems. Yet God has always seen her through these tumultuous waters.
Today, we find ourselves yet again in need of reformation, for the existing church bodies are corrupt — virtually all from the top down. This does not mean that there are no faithful churches, that there are no faithful congregations, but we do, indeed, find ourselves virtually bereft of faithful, ‘official’ leadership.
To address these challenges and to restore Christendom, we will have to work together. Not as Lutherans or Reformed or Baptists or Romans or whatever other tradition or denomination we may call our own, but as Christians. This is not a call to abandon our distinctives or our doctrinal convictions; rather, it is a call to work together across these lines in the kingdom of the left hand of Christ.
God willing, our grandchildren will see a Christendom we have known only in history books.
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Show Notes
The Book of Concord
See Also
Facing Wokeism as a Church (After Lutheranism Part 4)
The Book of Gomorrah by St. Peter Damian
Further Reading
The Apostles’ Creed
The Nicene Creed
The Athanasian Creed
Parental Warnings
None.
The Sword of Christ by Giles Corey
Oct 18, 2023
Modern churches, by and large, have been subverted — we all know this. Is the subversion of the churches an argument against Christianity? Of course not. The Church fought for decades against the very sort of infiltration and subversion that is, today, destroying our churches before our very eyes.
Further, the Christian faith is the foundation of the West — the West is Christendom and Christendom is the West. Without a restoration of the Christian faith, there will be no revival in the West. As Christians, we must know both where the battle is joined and how we are to fight.
In today’s episode, we are joined by an editor from Antelope Hill Publishing to review the book The Sword of Christ by Giles Corey and discuss the issues raised in the book (and maybe a tangent or two).
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Guest
TaylorEditor at Antelope Hill Publishing
Show Notes
The Sword of Christ by Giles Corey
Save 10% at checkout with discount code “stonechoir102023”
Further Reading
The Magdeburg Confession
Parental Warnings
This episode contains some discussion of human sacrifice and sex crimes and passing mention of pornography. The book itself contains a number of chapters that are unsuitable for younger readers (but they are not the target audience, anyway).
Disclosure
Although we did receive free review copies of the book, we have not been compensated in any other way (nor are we compensated if you purchase the book via the links on this page).
Listener Feedback 002
Oct 04, 2023
Our second listener feedback episode. It took us only five months this time (the last one took six). If you have more questions, submit them now to make it into the next listener feedback episode.
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Show Notes
Myth of the 20th Century: Stone Choir after Dark — Good versus Evil
Podcast Apps
Overcast (iOS): App Store, Web
Podcast Addict (Android): Web
Bibles
Generally: BibleHub.com
ESV: Web, Reader’s Edition (Premium) Amazon or ChristianBook.com (also available in leather), paperback: Amazon or ChristianBook.com, imitation leather: Amazon or ChristianBook.com
NKJV: Reader’s Edition
CSB: Reader’s Edition (also available in a premium version)
ALV (Bibliotheca): https://writpress.shop/
Study Bible: TLSB: hardcover or leather (both larger print)
Premium Bibles: Schuyler
Bible Apps:
Literal Word: iOS or Android, Web ESV or NASB
Logos: Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, or Android (even Kindle)
Bible Reviews: CSB, ESV Treveris versus Quentel
See Also
Further Reading
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (If you’d like to try your hand at Middle English.)
Gulag Archipelago Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3
Two Hundred Years Together
The Jewish Revolutionary Spirit
Helping the Retarded to Know God
Parental Warnings
None.
Normalcy Bias
Sep 27, 2023
Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Much less so is tomorrow guaranteed to be the same as yesterday. And yet we, as human beings, have a tendency to think of the world as a sort of constant or given — we do not by nature adequately assess the likelihood of catastrophic or even merely significant change.
This is not to say that we should be pessimists, alarmists, or paranoiacs; it is, however, to say that we should spend more time thinking about the information we encounter in our lives and what it means for us, for those entrusted to our care, and for our collective future. As men — specifically men, not just the generic sense — it is our duty to protect those whom God has entrusted to our care, and part of this is having an appropriate and accurate view of the world.
In today’s episode, we discuss normalcy bias — what it is, why it matters, and how to counteract it. Everything, ultimately, is in God’s hands, but much work remains for us while it is still day.
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Show Notes
James Stockdale (including his paradox) [Wikipedia]
See Also
Black Starting the Power Grid
Practical Engineering [YouTube]
Wikipedia
NREL
Further Reading
I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read
Parental Warnings
None.
Baptism Now Saves You
Sep 20, 2023
The Sacraments are a key — a central — part of the Christian life. And yet there are disagreements about the nature of the Sacraments — what they are and what they do. As Christians, when disagreements about doctrine, dogma, or theology arise, we turn to one source — God’s Word.
In today’s episode, we go over the theology and the doctrine of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. We do so from an admittedly and unashamedly Lutheran position; however, we ground everything we say in the Word of God. In essence, today’s episode is a Bible study. Undoubtedly, some of you (or your traditions) will disagree with some of the things we say, but listen carefully to the passages of Scripture and make sure that you are disagreeing with men and not with God.
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Show Notes
The Small Catechism: Baptism
The Large Catechism: Baptism
Christian Basics: The Solae [YouTube]
See Also
Stone Choir: “Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews”
Further Reading
The Smalcald Articles: Baptism
The Book of Acts
Acts 2:37–39
Acts 8:12–13
Acts 8:36–39
Acts 9:18–19
Acts 10:44–48
Acts 16:14–15
Acts 16:30–34
Acts 18:5–11
Acts 22:16
Parental Warnings
None.
You Are Forgiven
Sep 13, 2023
If you are in Christ, then your sins are forgiven. Yes, Christ paid the price for all sins on the Cross, but it is only those who are in Christ — those who have faith — who benefit from this forgiveness. And this forgiveness is total, God promises not only to forgive, but says that He will forget our sins — a total erasure.
‘As far as the east is from the west,
so far does He remove our transgressions from us.’
As Christians, we are called to turn and show the same forgiveness and mercy to our brothers and sisters that God has shown to us in Christ. Forgiveness is part of the Christian life with regard to the Christian’s relationship to God and also with regard to the Christian’s relationships with others. The Law accuses us — it reveals our sins —, but we are not called to despair, but to repent and rejoice. God has already forgiven all of your sins; in the words of Christ:
“It is finished.”
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Show Notes
Psalm 139 (ESV)
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
A Young Man’s Life
Sep 06, 2023
The modern world presents many challenges for and to the young man, particularly the young man who would be a Christian. Often men, and particularly young men, may feel that they have been forgotten or written off by society. In today’s episode, we focus on the issues that concern young men — here and now.
As Christians, we must contend with the fact that, although we are sons of God and predestined for glory, we yet live in a fallen world plagued by sin, temptation, and suffering. The promises of God always come true, but they do so in His perfect time, not our imperfect one. And so, for the Christians, the question must be twofold: What does God say about these matters? What is our role in these matters?
The world offers terrible advice to young men, and so do many of those who not only should know better but also have a duty to offer sound advice. We will try to undo some of that terrible advice and replace it with advice that is both consonant with God’s Word and with the reality of the world we all inhabit. The answer for the Christian man is not withdrawal or despair, but engagement and perseverance.
God calls us to be men, so that is what we must do.
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Show Notes
“On the Nature of Woman”
“On Sexual Immorality, Temptation, and Marriage”
Donate to Stone Choir
See Also
“Birth Control Pills Affect Women’s Taste in Men”
“Abortion”
Episode 22: “On Women: Scripture and Ontology”
Episode 23: “On Women: Feminism”
Episode 30: “Against the Clockwork Universe”
Watch Some Chickens
Further Reading
Proverbs 31 (ESV)
Matthew 6 (ESV)
The First Commandment, the Large Catechism
Parental Warnings
These is some frank discussion of sexual matters in this episode, but not in explicit terms.
There is a brief discussion of the mechanics of hormonal birth control.
The Left Hand of Christ
Aug 30, 2023
The State is the left hand of Christ; it is that final prepositional phrase — that imports so much of the meaning — that is often ignored. As Christians, the ‘political’ realm is not a realm of indifference or adiaphora — and this is particularly true for Christian men. We are not called to separate ourselves from the world (except with regard to righteous behavior), but to be engaged in the world — put another way: to be in the world but not of the world.
Where Christians retreat, Satan advances. The times are evil and the Church must respond accordingly. It is incumbent on the Christian man to do his duty, and such duty most certainly includes a political dimension.
So what may Christians do with regard to the kingdom of the left hand? What must we refrain from doing? What is merely permissible? In this episode, we lay the foundation for a series on government, on the political, on the left-hand kingdom.
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Show Notes
Gottesdienst: On Resisting the Government:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
See Also
The Magdeburg Confession
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
We discuss capital punishment — primarily in the context of Scripture — in this episode.
6000 Years and Counting
Aug 23, 2023
The ‘scientific’ consensus is that the Earth is some billions of years old (on the order of four-and-a-half billion years old) and that the Universe is some fourteen or so billion years old. But Scripture paints a different picture. Which may, should, or must the Christian believe?
Is the contention of the so-called ‘scientific community’ even reasonable? Which is to say: Does it stand up to scrutiny? Knowledge is warranted true belief, and so it is vitally important to ask upon what warrant the scientists base their beliefs.
As we will show in this episode, the Christian position is — unequivocally — that the Earth is ancient in terms of created age and young (some six thousand or so years) in terms of chronological age and that God created all things in six literal, twenty-four-hour days. As to the supposedly ‘scientific’ position? Well, it does not stand up particularly well under scrutiny.
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Show Notes
Hexameron [Wikipedia]
See Also
“Geochronologically Speaking”
“James Tour: The Origin of Life Has Not Been Explained” [YouTube]
“James Tour & Stephen Meyer Bring Clarity to the Origin of Life Debate (Ep. 1)” [YouTube]
Discover Science [YouTube Channel]
“Copying and Pasting Passwords”
(Relevant for the math involved in the latter part of the episode.)
Creation.com
CreationWiki.com
Further Reading
Cosmic background radiation [Wikipedia]
DNA [Wikipedia]
RNA [Wikipedia]
mRNA [Wikipedia]
Chirality [Wikipedia]
“The Significance of Chirality in Drug Design and Development”
“Nature’s mirror: The code for chirality”
“Understanding the Thalidomide Chirality in Biological Processes by the Self-disproportionation of Enantiomers”
Amino Acid [Wikipedia]
Abiogenesis [Wikipedia]
Neo-Darwinism [Wikipedia]
Modern Synthesis [Wikipedia]
Hard Problem of Consciousness [Wikipedia]
Qualia [Wikipedia]
Probability [Wikipedia]
Blood Clotting
“How it all starts: initiation of the clotting cascade”
“Coagulation Cascade”
Coagulation [Wikipedia]
Vision
Visual Phototransduction [Wikipedia]
“Phototransduction”
Labeling of Fertilizer [Wikipedia]
Deoxyribose [Wikipedia]
Organophosphate [Wikipedia]
Books
Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael Behe
Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique edited by J. P. Moreland, et al.
Also available on ChristinBook.com.
Parental Warnings
None.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: False Teacher, Traitor, Damned
Aug 16, 2023
Like MLK, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a false teacher. Also like MLK, Dietrich Bonhoeffer studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Unlike MLK, Bonhoeffer is a deeply dangerous theologian, because where MLK lacked subtlety and cunning, Bonhoeffer most certainly did not.
When Bonhoeffer writes or speaks, he may very well sound Christian — may very well even be Christian (in his comments) here and there in his writings —, but he uses Christian terms with anti-Christian definitions= (for instance, he calls the Crucifixion and the Resurrection myths). Scripture commands the Christian to be on his guard against false teachers — to be as wise as a serpent and the judge the spirits. Bonhoeffer denies almost every core tenet of the Christian religion at some point in his writing.
And yet Bonhoeffer is held up as a towering figure by many supposed Christian leaders. He is called a theologian, a pastor, a teacher, and a martyr. In this episode, we examine those claims by looking at what Bonhoeffer actually wrote — what he actually believed and taught. You will be left with a very different image of this man than the one so very many pastors — to their discredit and to the misfortune of their sheep — have had instilled in them.
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Show Notes
“Bonhoeffer” and “Vatican II” [Google Ngram]
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
Persuasiveness Matters
Aug 09, 2023
Whether the topic is religion, politics, or something else, a persuasive argument will always be more effective than a merely correct argument. Of course, we must make the truth our goal, but simply having the right conclusion is insufficient, at least if we are attempting to bring others around to our point of view or over to our side. Often, persuasion is a matter of time and patience, but how we go about interacting with others is a key part of whether or not we are effective in our pursuits.
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Show Notes
“Christian Nationalism Is The Only Godly Option”
See Also
Myth of the 20th Century crossover episode
Parental Warnings
None.
Conspiracy Theories and Truth
Aug 02, 2023
The existence of one conspiracy theory is not necessarily proof of the existence of any other conspiracy theories. That we have been lied to about a great many things, does not necessarily prove that we have been lied to about all things. It is, regardless of how we may feel about it, necessary to assess truth claims, often necessarily to personally assess them.
As Christians, truth is fundamental to our worldview, for our religion rests upon truth claims — verifiable truth claims. This does not mean that we must take a stance or have an opinion on every claim sent forth into the world by other men, but it does mean that we have a duty to hold to the truth when it comes to important claims, and to assess that truth, insofar as we are capable.
Under present conditions, we are faced with a great many lies — both of commission and of omission or manipulation; there are those who would have us disbelieve truths and there are those who would have us believe lies — neither outcome is compatible with a proper, Christian view of the world, of reality. How are we to wade through the morass? In this episode, we address a few of the sillier conspiracy theories, and the very serious issues underlying them.
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Show Notes
Buzz Aldrin Talks about the Moon Landing [YouTube]
Calculating the Circumference of the Earth:
IBM Video Explaining Eratosthenes’ Methods [YouTube]
Carl Sagan Explaining Eratosthenes’ Methods [YouTube]
Himawari 9: Wikipedia, Live Feed
Himawari 8: Live Feed
Nuclear Weapons:
Smoke Rockets [YouTube]
See Also
Eratosthenes [Wikipedia]
X-Ray Memorial
Wikipedia
Van Allen Radiation Belts:
Wikipedia
YouTube
Further Reading
Flat Earth [Wikipedia]
Vanishing Point [Wikipedia]
X-rays are referred to as ‘Röntgen rays’ in German, because of this man [Wikipedia].
Parental Warnings
None.
The Big Lie
Jul 26, 2023
The truth does not fear examination. That which is true will hold up under scrutiny. As Christians, we are beholden to believe the truth — no matter how unpopular or unpleasant.
Today, we examine one of the foundational myths (read: lies) of the modern world. Virtually all of the evils we see around us today can trace their genesis to the era covered by this episode. This episode may make you uncomfortable, but the truth is worth the cost.
The truth will set you free.
Subscribe to the podcast here.
Show Notes
How many died at Auschwitz?
See Also
American Pravda: Understanding World War II
American Pravda: Holocaust Denial
You Gentiles by Maurice Samuel [Archive.org]
Germany Must Perish by Theodore Kaufman [Archive.org]
A Last Appeal To Reason [Archive.org]
Europa the Last Battle [Video]
The production quality of this video is somewhat shaky, but the information presented is accurate (and readily verifiable).
Further Reading
Typhus [Wikipedia]
Parental Warnings
This episode includes frank discussion of war and some of the things that happen during war (e.g., rape, murder). Additionally, the entire topic of this episode is the Holocaust, which is something you should discuss with your children, but you may not want this episode to be their introduction.
The Revolutionary Spirit
Jul 05, 2023
Christians must be ready — in season and out of season — to speak the truth. We are not Christians only some of the time, and Christianity, unlike Islam, has no provision for dissimulation — you may not feign to be something other than Christian for the sake of convenience or even safety. Even at risk of life or limb or honor, the Christian must boldly proclaim Christ and Him crucified.
This duty to speak the truth pertains not only to matters of the Christian religion, but also to all other matters. It is not the (perhaps uncharitable formulation of the) Kantian conception of truth — that one must never tell a falsehood of any kind —, but rather a duty to speak the truth when and where the truth is demanded. For instance, the 8th Commandment prohibits us from bearing false witness against our neighbor, and this duty does not terminate upon that neighbor’s death.
The Christian is a Christian at all times and in all things. As Christians, we are to forgive our personal enemies (inimicus), but this does not mean that we have no political or religious enemies (hostis) — for those who are enemies of God are enemies of all Christians. It is the duty, in fact, of Christians to oppose the enemies of God and His Church. And so, in today’s episode, we continue our series on the Jews.
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Show Notes
“Ancient Jewish History: Banking & Bankers”
Prior Stone Choir episode discussing usury beginning at the 51m50s mark.
Confident.Faith daily lectionary readings
See Also
“Marranos, Conversos, Anusim, & New Christians”
Further Reading
The Jewish Revolutionary Spirit — E. Michael Jones
“Why Did Russian Jews Support the Bolshevik Revolution?”
“The Jews Who Dreamed of Utopia”
Parental Warnings
None.
Lies, Betrayal, and Murder — the Fruits of Another Spirit
Jun 28, 2023
For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!
— 1 Thessalonians 2:14b–16 (ESV)
Over a course of millennia, the Jewish people have shown a pattern of behavior (one that continues to this day) that has brought them into near-constant conflict with their neighbors. Many of our Christian forefathers have commented on this matter (e.g., John Chrysostom, Martin Luther, Paul). It is not inappropriate for Christians to ask questions about the Jews, about their behavior, and about their actions down through history.
In this episode, we examine the history of the Jewish people from just after the time of Christ until just before the Enlightenment. It is in the annals of history that the Jews have proven themselves to be, in the words of Scripture, ‘enemies of all mankind’ who ‘displease God’. Not idly does Christ speak of them as the Synagogue of Satan (n.b., the words He chose).
Christians need not fear the truth, no matter how unpopular (or, in some cases, illegal) it may be. Again, the words of Christ: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28 [ESV]).
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Show Notes
Not Conformed: “Witchful Thinking”
St. Simon of Trent [Wikipedia]
“Did God Prevent the Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple?”
See Also
St. John Chrysostom: Homilies against the Jews
Further Reading
The Complete List of the 1030 Jewish Expulsions in Human History
On the Jews and Their Lies
I am not aware of a full English translation that is available as a PDF. If you read German, the original is, of course, available (cf. Vom Schem Hamphoras).
Parental Warnings
We briefly touch on the occult in this episode.
Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews
Jun 21, 2023
The terms “Hebrew”, “Israelite”, and “Jew” are often conflated and they do, indeed, have overlapping meanings, but they are also distinct terms that sometimes reference diametrically opposed things. A “Jew” can be one who is religiously a Jew, ethnically a Jew, or even one who truly believes (for Scripture speaks in this way). “Israel” can mean the man, the nation, or the Church. It is incumbent on Christians to make careful and correct use of these terms, not to be incautious or sloppy.
Many heresies have arisen in the history of the Church due to deliberate or careless misuse of terms — and many of these heresies persist into the present. For instance, without a false understanding of what the terms “Israel” and “Church” mean, there would be no such thing as ‘Christian’ Zionism. In this episode, we go over the Scriptural (and a bit of the historical) case with regard to the Jews — who they are, what they’ve done, and what that means for Christians.
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Show Notes
Proto-Hebrew Alphabet [Wikipedia]
cf. the Phoenician alphabet [Wikipedia]
If you would (for some reason) like the full-resolution and -quality version of this image, then click here.
See Also
“‘We Curse Christianity Three Times a Day’: Can Jews and Christians Truly Reconcile?”
Birkat haMinim [Wikipedia]
Further Reading
Targum [Wikipedia]
Parental Warnings
None.
Michael ‘Martin Luther’ King: Marxist Agitator
Jun 14, 2023
Last week, we explored the ‘theology’ of Michael ‘Martin Luther’ King; this week, we explore his politics, with a focus on the men and women with whom he surrounded himself. Birds of a feather flock together, and Michael King spent his life surrounded by truly wicked men, many of them Communists. As Christians, we must learn to avoid the trees that produce poisonous fruit, and there can be no doubt what kind of tree Michael King — and the larger ‘civil rights’ movement — was.
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Show Notes
Selma to Montgomery Marches [Wikipedia]
Read through this article and ignore the editorializing — see if these ‘marches’ sound peaceful to you.n
Selma to Montgomery March [King Institute at Stanford]
Same as above: See if this sounds peaceful to you.
Translation: 'Strengthen the ranks of the International Red Aid! : Let's snatch eight innocent black youths from the hands of the American bourgeoisie!'
See Also
Further Readingn
"The troubling legacy of Martin Luther King” by David Garrow
Parental WarningsnThere is some blunt discussion of sex crimes in this episode and mention of prostitution.
Michael ‘Martin Luther’ King: Arch-Heretic
Jun 07, 2023
Michael “Martin Luther” King, Jr., is one of the ‘saints’ of the modern world’s religion. We are told — constantly — that he was a devout Christian. Does this narrative hold up to scrutiny? With many men, there is little enough evidence of what they did or did not believe when they pass, but, in the case of Michael King, there is abundant evidence — created by King himself over a course of decades — of precisely what he did and did not believe with regard to the Christian religion. You may be surprised by the truth.
In today’s episode, we will be going through the writings of Michael King to draw out just precisely what he did — and, perhaps more importantly, did not — believe about the Christian faith. Once you have listened to the evidence, the conclusion will be inescapable: Michael King was no Christian. From there, it gets only worse: Next week, we will examine his politics, his associates, and his personal life. At the end of this episode, you will know he was no Christian; at the end of next week’s episode, you will know what he truly was.
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Further Reading
“Influence of Mystery Religions on Christianity” in which King confesses that his “Christianity” is a man-made, syncretistic evolution of Oriental mystery religions.
“Humanity and Divinity of Jesus” in which King denies Jesus Christ is God.
“What Experiences of Christians Living in the Early Christian Century Led to the Christian Doctrines of the Divine Sonship of Jesus, the Virgin Birth, and the Bodily Resurrection” in which King denies everything in the title.
“The Christian Pertinence of Eschatological Hope” in which King denies the Second Coming, Judgment Day, and life everlasting.
“The Apostle’s & Nicene Creeds, verse by verse” [PDF]
Errata
Woe incorrectly refers to Joseph Campbell as William.
Parental Warnings
Brief mention is made of prostitution.
The Timeline of Recriminations
May 31, 2023
In this episode, we go through the timeline of what has transpired since the LCMS — largely at the behest of Matthew Harrison — published the so-called “Annotated Large Catechism”. The behavior of Synod has been anything but Christian, and wicked deeds should be exposed to the light of day. Satan is on the move, and far too many men in collars are far too willing to do his bidding.
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Show Notes
“The New Large Catechism of the LC-MS stream”
“The Apostasy of Missouri”
Article includes ‘complaint’ letter from Ben Meyer, Daniel Ross, and Erik Johnson, video of interaction with police, and video of Maanum’s (first) announcement.
“The Book of Concord Will Endure”
Lutherans for Racial Justice [archive link]
Bios for Matthew Gonzalez and Joshua Salzberg [archive link]
“He Believes Hitler Went to Heaven — and Wants to Take Over the Lutheran Church” [archive link]
https://twitter.com/CoreyJMahler/status/1616490061377175573?s=20
https://twitter.com/CoreyJMahler/status/1616581582612987906?s=20
See Also
1st Thread from Ryan Turnipseed [Twitter]
2nd Thread from Ryan Turnipseed [Twitter]
"Talking Heads: On Headship, Teaching, and Women in the Church”
“Against the Antichrist"
“Statement on the death of George Floyd and the ensuing riots” [archive link]
“Letter to President Harrison of the LCMS”
Contrast Harrison’s Response to the Terrorist Attack in Waukesha [This is not actually a link because he said nothing about it.]
“Waukesha: One Year Later”
Further Reading
"‘In All Things’: 20,000 attend LCMS Youth Gathering”
LCMS National Youth Gathering
Kennedy v. Louisiana [Wikipedia]
Warning: This fact pattern is deeply unpleasant.
Lawrence v. Texas [Wikipedia]
“Test of Pastoral Orthodoxy”
This article is another reason some LCMS pastors are less than fond of me (Mahler).
“Of Fools and Demons”
A bit more about our adversaries.
Parental Warnings
This episode will probably not interest children, and some sensitive topics (including pedophilia and rape) are briefly discussed throughout.
Errata
At one point, I (Mahler) state that I handed the AALC a hard drive with information pertaining to Jordan Cooper, but I misspoke, because what I handed them was, in fact, a flash drive.
Against the Clockwork Universe
May 24, 2023
God is both transcendent — above all things — and immanent — pervading and sustaining all things. From the grand scale of galaxies down to the microscope scale of cells, molecules, and atoms, God is involved in everything in His Universe. Contrary to this reality, Deism would argue that God created the Universe and then stepped back to let it run — like a very complex clock.
Deism has crept into both our culture and the Church over time. In the Church, Deism often takes the form of a semi-Gnostic denial of the flesh via a denial of the consequences of sin. Contrary to this, the Christian faith teaches that not only is God involved in all things, but also that there are temporal consequences of sin that are not removed, in many cases not even alleviated, by faith in Christ.
The eternal consequences of sin are removed from the Christian by the blood of Christ, but the temporal consequences generally remain. A denial of temporal consequences is often tantamount to a denial of the flesh, which is a Gnostic denial of God. Right doctrine affirms both the flesh and the spirit, and God’s transcendent and immanent control over both.
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Show Notes
Microchimerism [Wikipedia]
Ceremonial Deism [Wikipedia]
Issues, Etc. — 3412 “A Story of Adoption and Reconciliation – Mary Kruta and Deaconess Rose Adle”
See Also
“Forever Connected: The Lifelong Biological Consequences of Fetomaternal and Maternofetal Microchimerism”
Jefferson ‘Bible’ [Wikipedia]
Further Reading
“Naturally acquired microchimerism: implications for transplantation outcome and novel methodologies for detection”
“Male microchimerism in women without sons: quantitative assessment and correlation with pregnancy history”
“Of Miracles” by David Hume [Wikipedia]
PDF
Microchimerism (ScienceDirect)
Parental Warnings
The second half of this episode contains a frank (and extended) discussion of sexual matters. You should discuss these issues with your children, but you may not want them to listen to this episode.
The Generational Divide
May 17, 2023
Curses and blessings are not always — or even usually — individual affairs. The sins of the fathers do, in fact, fall to their sons. A wicked generation can doom all those who follow, but a righteous generation can bestow blessings on children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In this episode, we look at the nature of generations, how they are treated in Scripture, and what these things mean for us today.
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Show Notes
See Also
Bezmenov on Ideological Subversion
longer version
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
The introductory Old Testament reading mentions rape.
Sweat the Small Stuff
May 10, 2023
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Too many despair of finding solutions to the problems we face because they focus on the wrong things. We face grand problems, certainly, but those are largely not our concern, at least not our daily concern. The right focus for most men is the everyday — putting in an honest day’s work, being a good husband, and raising godly children.
There is no immediate solution to every problem we face and no leader can resolve everything overnight. The Christian life is lived out in the small matters, even more than it is in the grand ones. We prove our faith with our works. The works, of course, do not save us, but they do naturally flow from a living faith. With regard to the kingdom of the left hand, we have a great deal of control and we should strive to make things better as we are able — plant trees, help your neighbor, think of the future. With regard to the Kingdom of the right hand, that outcome is in God’s hands, and we have no need to worry.
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
— Martin Luther
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Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
Some (not explicit) discussion of sexual matters.
Listener Feedback 001
May 03, 2023
Our first listener feedback episode. It took us only six months — please calibrate your expectations accordingly. If you have more questions, submit them now to make it into the next listener feedback episode.
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Show Notes
At Any Cost: Interracial Marriage (01 May 2023)
"And so in summary, interracial marriages are not sinful per se.
However, in the modern context, they are virtually always sinful per quod.
And so it is right teaching for Christians to say that these unwise unions should be avoided.
It’s that simple."
Augsburg Confession, Art. VII — Of Monastic Vows
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Art. VII — Of Monastic Vows
See Also
Hymns by Martin Luther
Further Reading
The Book of Gomorrah by Peter Damian
Parental Warnings
None.
The Fear of the Lord
Apr 26, 2023
Thou shalt have no other gods.
What does this mean?
We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
In our modern context, we often gloss over the first word in that list: fear. We know that we should love and trust God, but we have come to neglect that we must also fear Him. The word “fear” appears hundreds of times in Scripture, and a great many of those instances are part of commands to fear the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is not an animalistic fear or the sort of fear that one has for an encounter with a bear or a particularly nasty storm, but it is also not entirely other from that sort of fear. The proper fear of the Lord for the Christian is a filial fear — the right and good fear that a son has for his father. In fact, we cannot properly love or trust God without first fearing Him.
The fear of the Lord is good; it is the beginning of wisdom; it revives the soul.
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Show Notes
“fear”
See Also
Further Reading
Job
Parental Warnings
None.
Judge (Not)
Apr 19, 2023
The Law is God’s eternal, unchanging, unchangeable will and all men are required to order their lives according to it — including Christians. Although Christians are no longer under the curse of the Law, this does not mean that we are not to comport our behavior with the Law. As regenerate Christians, we walk in the Law and thereby produce fruits in keeping with a living faith.
Similarly, Christians are to assess, to discern, to judge. We must judge not only our own actions — assessing whether or not they are in accord with God’s Law —, but also the actions of fellow Christians, whom we must rebuke as brothers when and where they transgress. God’s Word, in fact, gives the steps we are to follow when rebuking brothers. The world will latch on to the words “judge not” and attempt to make this the whole of what Scripture teaches, but that is most certainly not the case. Scripture does not contradict Scripture, and in many places Christians are told to judge. Consequently, we must carefully examine what is meant — and what is not meant — by “judge not”.
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Show Notes
Formula of Concord: Epitome, VI - The Third Use of the Law
Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, VI - The Third Use of the Law
Large Catechism: Eighth Commandment
Further Reading
Question of Fact
Question of Law
Parental Warnings
None.
All Sins Are Not Equal
Apr 12, 2023
You have undoubtedly heard the phrase 'all sins are equal' at some point in your life, but you have just as assuredly not found it in Scripture — it is not there. The Word of God does not teach that all sins are equal; in fact, it teaches quite the opposite: some sins are worse than others.
In this episode, we go through Scripture highlighting a number of sections that deal with degrees of sin or sinfulness. This episode serves both as a standalone episode on the topic of the supposed 'equality of sins' and as a foundation for next week's episode which will cover Antinomianism.
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Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
On Women: Feminism
Apr 05, 2023
…
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Show Notes
Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants
Wider die Mordischen und Reubischen Rotten der Bawren
As it turns out, I don’t have a copyright-free version of this essay from Luther in English. If anyone knows of such an English version, please let me know.
See Also
Feminism [Wikipedia]
Elizabeth Cady Stanton [Wikipedia]
Revolutions of 1848 [Wikipedia]
Revolutions of 1917–1923 [Wikipedia]
Further Reading
“On the Nature of Woman”
“Not a Shoreline, but a Cliff”
“The Theory of the Inborn Inalienable Human Rights in the Light of God’s Word”, Lehre und Wehre, Vol. 12, October 1866
“Killing Abortionists Is Moral”
Parental Warnings
None.
On Women: Scripture and Ontology
Mar 29, 2023
God assuredly knows the purposes for which He made His creatures, the proper ends toward which their lives should be oriented. We can order our lives according to God’s Word and God’s design, and He will bless us, or we can rebel against His Word and His design, and we will suffer. When it comes to the issue of woman and her place in creation, practically the whole of modern society has chosen the path of rebellion.
Women today strive for and grasp at nearly every possible path other than the one designated for them by God. Genesis is clear: Woman was made for man to be a helper for him. This is woman’s telos, this is her purpose, and it is also her only chance at happiness and joy. When we rebel against our nature, we find only misery, suffering, and pain; Feminism is rebellion against the nature of woman — it is the embracing of the woman’s curse in the Fall. As Christians, we cannot be Feminists; rather, we must believe, teach, and confess what God says in His Word about woman, her nature, and her purpose.
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
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Show Notes
See Also
Further Reading
Parental Warnings
None.
Scripture and Slavery
Mar 22, 2023
The modern world contends that slavery is incompatible with Christianity and that Christians must oppose slavery. Is this what Scripture teaches? The Christian must always turn to Scripture, not to the Enlightenment or to the secular oracles who proclaim newfound morality and a progressive revelation.
Scripture actually deals with slavery at length and in detail. In this episode, we go through the Scriptural teaching on slavery. The world may believe whatever it likes, but the Christian must hold firm to the Word of God — and Scripture does not oppose slavery.
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Show Notes
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Deuteronomy
Romans
Philemon
See Also
C. F. W. Walther on Slavery
Further Reading
δουλος (slave)
Parental Warnings
None.
Against the Antichrist
Mar 15, 2023
Matthew Harrison is head of the largest (supposedly) Confessional Lutheran body in the Western world — the LCMS. During his tenure, he has overseen the greatest decline in membership in the history of the LCMS, the closure of LCMS schools and congregations, and the collapse of LCMS organizations. Now, to top off his legacy, Harrison is pushing false doctrine via 'new' versions of core confessional, Lutheran documents (e.g., the Small Catechism and the Large Catechism). He is even exporting this doctrine abroad.
Of course, the focus on exporting doctrine is nothing new — Harrison has spent his tenure with his focus everywhere but on the sheep God entrusted to his care (and for which God will one day command him to account). Harrison and those around him personally hate this podcast and its hosts, because we are speaking the truth about the Christian faith and about what men like Harrison are doing to the Church. In this episode, we review Harrison's recent letter 'denouncing disturbing ideologies'.
Christians do not speak as Harrison speaks. We will all have to choose a side. For their part, the following men have thrown in their lot with Satan and the kingdom of Antichrist:
Matthew Harrison, President of the LCMS
Peter K. Lange, 1st Vice President of the LCMS
John C. Wohlrabe Jr., 2nd Vice President of the LCMS
Scott R. Murray, 3rd Vice President of the LCMS
Nabil S. Nour, 4th Vice President of the LCMS
Christopher Esget, 5th Vice President of the LCMS
Benjamin T. Ball, 6th Vice President of the LCMS
the 35 District Presidents of the LCMS
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Show Notes
"President Harrison denounces disturbing ideologies"
"Statement on the death of George Floyd and the ensuing riots"
The New Catechism of the LC-MS [YouTube]
YouTube review of the 'Annotated' LC.
See Also
Coverture [Wikipedia]
"The Stranger" by Rudyard Kipling
"Letter to President Harrison of the LCMS"
"Test of Pastoral Orthodoxy"
"We Are Stronger Together"
"The Apostasy of Missouri"
Further Reading
C. F. W. Walther on Slavery, Humanism, and the Bible
Antifaschistische Aktion
"On the Year-Zero Revolutionary"
Parental Warnings
The word "jackass" is used once in this episode at around 01:30:00.
On Human Race: Racism
Mar 08, 2023
Racism is not a sin. The modern-day ‘sin’ of racism was invented in the 19th century and then imported into the churches from the decadent and decaying culture. If you think that racism is a sin, then you have been misled.
In this episode, we go over the history of the term “racism” — where it originated and how it entered our modern culture — and take a look at how Satan is using it to destroy the Church. This is the culmination of our series on race and the most important episode in the series. This episode may make you uncomfortable, but the truth is worth the price.
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Show Notes
Racism and Overcoming the Idolatry of Babel [YouTube]
Partiality
“Racism” in Webster’s Dictionary (1828)
If you want to read the resolution from the second half of this episode, it can be found in the proceedings of the 2019 convention, which can be found here.
See Also
Magnus Hirschfeld [Wikipedia]
Further Reading
Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, Art. I
Racism by Magnus Hirschfeld
Parental Warnings
Some discussion of sexual matters, but not in explicit terms.
On Human Race: IQ
Mar 01, 2023
God has given to men many attributes, and these attributes are not evenly or equally distributed. Some men are taller than others; some men are faster than others; and some men are more intelligent than others. The subject to human intelligence — IQ — makes many uncomfortable for a number of reasons, but it is no less real and no less a part of God’s good ordering of Creation than is height or any other attribute.
Intelligence is largely genetic — overwhelmingly so, in fact. If your parents are or were intelligent, then it is very likely that you will be so as well. This holds even more true for human populations (e.g., races), as they share a common genetic pool. Some races are more intelligent than others. IQ is not the same from one nation to the next.
Now, the issue of human intelligence can certainly be, in and of itself, a fascinating area of study or research, but that is not our primary concern; rather, we are concerned with how human intelligence interacts with the Church. Is there a minimum intelligence for the preservation of the Church and her treasury of God’s Word and truth? Can the Western Church survive if all her members are replaced with foreign souls? Can the Church survive the ongoing replacement of Europeans by alien peoples?
These are not idle questions and the answers are not so much a matter of life and death, but of eternal life and eternal death. We have been given a sacred trust — the Word of God and His bride, the Church. Whether we will be faithful or flounder remains to be seen, but the present trajectory is most certainly grim.
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Show Notes
Normal/Standard Distribution
σ = standard deviation (sigma)
See Also
Race and IQ Studies
The referenced clip from The Wire (language warning)
Further Reading
The Bell Curve
Intelligence Quotient
Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Parental Warnings
Some of the terms used in this episode are considered offensive in modern speech, but are all used in their technical sense.
The show notes include an image and video clip with a number of expletives.
Errata
When discussing the four-sigma numbers at ~00:07:21–00:07:38, I (Mahler) failed to note that I was working with a decimal chart and did not convert from decimal to percentage (which I should have done) and so stated — twice — that the four-sigma portion of the population is “point one percent”, when, in fact, I should have said that it is 0.001%. Point one percent of one when working in decimal (1.0 being 100) is, in fact, 0.001%, but it is decidedly unhelpful not to mention that one is working with a decimal chart, and thus implying 0.1%. (It is actually 0.000892201505099236%, but I suspect I can be forgiven for rounding.)
On Human Race: Scripture and Soteriology
Feb 22, 2023
Race is a biological and a theological reality. The God Who created the Universe also created the races of men. The differences between and among the races of men have very real consequences for society, for neither the individual nor the average member of a given race is identical to or interchangeable with members of another race.
Scripture is not silent on these matters — God is not silent on these matters. Society would simultaneously have you deny the reality of human race and focus on a (deliberate) misconception of it in detrimental ways. In this episode, we ground our five-part series on race in the Word of God. There is truth in Creation, for it was written by the Author of all truth, but God did not leave these matters to ‘chance’ or simply to the discernment of men. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture speaks of the reality and the importance of human race.
What God has created, let not man deny or destroy.
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Show Notes
See Also
WFS: Dispensationalism
WFS: Scofield
Parental Warnings
None.
On Human Race: Behavior and Society
Feb 15, 2023
What maintains societies? What destroys them? There are many factors that contribute to whether a society flourishes or fails — natural resources, weather conditions, IQ [two weeks], et cetera —, but a fundamental, unavoidable fact is that the quality of the men and women who comprise a society is intimately and causally connected to the level and the success of that society.
Human behavior is downstream from race, because race is a matter of genetics. The behavior of individuals influences society and aggregates into civilization. A society comprised of violent, uncontrolled criminals will never achieve great things; a society comprised of lazy, unintelligent men will never reach the stars.
As Christians, these are not matters of indifference — what kind of men we produce or permit in our societies directly affects our neighbors and, yes, the Church. In this, the second episode of our series on race, we will be tackling the uncomfortable questions of race, behavior, criminality, and related issues. Last week was genetics and next week will be Scripture — this week is behavior and society.
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Show Notes
FBI Violent Crime Data (2019)
STI Data from the CDC
See Also
Twin Studies
Genetic Contribution to Criminality
Parental Warnings
This episode frankly discusses crime and related matters. You may not want to play this one for your children.
On Human Race: Foundational Matters
Feb 08, 2023
We are all sons of Adam — no Christian can deny this. However, we are not all sons of Japheth, nor are we all sons of Ham, and nor are we all sons of Shem. The descent of the nations (i.e., races) of man are given in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10). Nature is entirely in accord with Scripture. The nations can be seen in a number of ways — geographically, genotypically, behaviorally.
In this episode, we will be covering the fundamentals of human race. In a future episode, we will cover the theological import of these facts (if you are looking for Galatians 3:28, please wait for that future episode). This topic makes many Christians uncomfortable, but discomfort is not the standard — truth is. Test what we say against Scripture and against the natural facts.
Nothing we say in this episode (except some of the scientific matters) would sound at all out of place to the overwhelming majority of your ancestors — yes, even the Christian ones. So you must ask yourself: Was the Church and every Christian wrong for thousands of years or has the modern world drifted away from the truth? We can give you the information, but you must make that decision for yourself.
As we will cover in the episode, there are four categories of men when it comes to understanding and accepting the reality of race:
the Atheist/Evolutionist (who can prove race from the science, but often denies it nonetheless);
the Marxist (who once affirmed the reality of race, but now denies it for political purposes);
the naïve Christian or otherwise (who holds 'one race, the human race', parroting the second category, perhaps unwittingly); and
the Christian who affirms the reality of God's created order, which includes race.
We are firmly in the fourth category. Listen carefully, and join us. God's truth is always better than whatever anyone else can promise.
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Show Notes
Haplogroup
Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup
Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup
Thuletide: Debunking Race Denialism
Thuletide: Race Science Infographics
"These Algorithms Look at X-Rays — and Somehow Detect Your Race"
See Also
Genesis 10 (ESV)
Parental Warnings
The word "damn" (not in the theological sense) appears once in this episode.
The Enemy’s Playbook
Feb 01, 2023
The enemy has a playbook. If you learn his playbook, then you can identify enemy action. In today’s episode, we review the enemy playbook, and show how it has been used to destroy the West and is currently being used to destroy the Church.
Unfortunately, many pastors, teachers, and others, all of whom should know better, unwittingly follow the enemy playbook and act as agents of the enemy in the process. You are commanded to be as wise as a serpent — this episode aims to help you fulfill that duty. Do not become an unwitting agent of the Enemy.
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Show Notes
Twitter Thread about the ‘Annotated’ LC
The ‘Annotated’ Large Catechism [YouTube]
See Also
Here We Stand
Jan 25, 2023
We are Lutherans — this is not something we hide. Neither do we hide the problems in our church body (in fact, we highlight them on this very podcast). However, that we recognize there are problems does not mean that we intend to leave. We remember our Confirmation Oath and we take it seriously:
Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?
We each answered “Yes.” to this question, at different times and in different congregations, but in the same Synod and in the same faith. We intend to remain steadfast to the end, come what may. Our Lutheran forebears have suffered much through the centuries for the truth of God’s Word — persecution by pope and emperor, the Thirty Years’ War (including the siege and sack of Magdeburg), suspicion and hostility from the State, the abiding interest of Satan and his minions, et cetera —, and we will follow in their footsteps if God wills it.
It is our firm conviction that Lutheranism is the correct teaching of God’s truth. In this episode, we (briefly) cover our reasons for becoming and remaining Lutheran, and we make clear that we are not going anywhere. We will fight for our Synod, because she is worth defending.
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
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Show Notes
Christian Basics: The Solae [YouTube]
“An Outsider Visits a Lutheran Church” [YouTube]
“An Outsider Talks With a Lutheran Theologian (What do Lutherans Believe?)” [YouTube]
“Is Lutheranism the True Catholic Church? (and other stuff with a Lutheran Theologian)” [YouTube]
See Also
“The Large CRTechism”
“Theology is Too Important to Be Left to the Experts”
Review of the Contents of the ‘Annotated’ Large Catechism [YouTube]
Perfect Hatred
Jan 18, 2023
As Christians, we are required to affirm the whole counsel of God — and that particularly includes those parts that the modern world would prefer to ignore, or even to condemn. We are told that love is a matter of permissiveness and that Christians must not — cannot — hate. But is that what Scripture says about the matter?
The numbers certainly tell a different story. For Scripture certainly speaks of love:
αγαπη (‘love’) — 115, NT; 15, LXX
αγαπαω (‘to love’) — 143, NT; 213, LXX
αγαπησις (‘loving’) — 0, NT; 8, LXX
αγαπητος (‘beloved’) — 61, NT; 17, LXX
but it just as certainly speaks of hate:
μισεω (‘to hate’) — 40, NT; 143, LXX
μισος (‘hate’) — 0, NT; 11, LXX
μισητος (‘hateful, hated’) — 0, NT; 4 LXX
εχθρα (‘enmity’) — 6, NT; 15, LXX
εχθρος (‘hostile’) — 32, NT; 320, LXX
We dare not attempt to be more righteous than God, and we dare not call anything God does or commands wicked. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” If God says to hate, then it is our duty to understand what we must hate, and (if possible) why.
He, who does not hate, does not love.
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Show Notes
“love”
“hate”
“enmity”
See Also
“Marquart on The Question of Procedure in Theological Controversies” {Be like this man.}
“The Myth of “Righteous Anger” What the Bible says about Human Anger” {Not like this one.}
“God’s Mandate for Righteous Anger” [PDF]
Amongst the Ashes
Jan 11, 2023
Despair is never the correct response. We live in the ashes of Christendom, and the fires are still burning. Our forefathers were faithless and we now suffer the — accelerating — consequences. However, God has clearly promised that He will relent of whatever disaster He has purposed if a nation will return to Him:
If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.
There is only one solution to the problems we face, because all Truth is One. The answer is not rolling back the clock a decade, two decades, fifty years, a century, because the rot set in long before that. The answer lies in returning to the Lord God, reading and believing His Word, and pulling out of the dive in which we find ourselves before we hit the ground at terminal velocity. We must choose between the faithlessness of our forefathers and the faithfulness of our ancestors, and everything hangs in the balance.
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Show Notes
“Crisis over the Atlantic: The near crash of Air Transat flight 236”
See Also
13th Amendment
Magnus Hirschfeld
Speaking the Truth Plainly
Jan 04, 2023
Some subjects are more important than others. No amount of discussing the best color to paint a room is likely to endanger the souls of anyone participating in the discussion or just listening to it, but the same cannot be said of discussion of doctrine and theology.
When we handle the things of God, we are duty bound to be careful, to be clear, and to be true. Needless wrangling over terms and technicalities seldom benefits and often harms.
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
However, as Christians, we do have a duty to speak of God and His truth. In almost all cases, simple is best. Speak the truth, in season and out. And, of course, know when to hold your tongue.
Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage.
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Show Notes
“Christ is physically, substantially, sacramentally present in, with, and under the bread and the wine in the Supper — as He promises.”
Epitome of the Formula of Concord: The Lord’s Supper (Read ¶¶ 6–7.)
See Also
“Would you deny Real Presence to escape the jaws of beasts?”
“On the Duty of Christian Teachers”
Paywalling God
Dec 28, 2022
Who owns the words of Scripture? Does rearranging them change the answer?
We Christians living in the West have inherited a copyright — really, an entire ‘intellectual property’ — regime that rests upon a number of premises, presumptions, presuppositions. It is contended that authors, et al., benefit from the regime. Do they? It is contended that creativity and productivity are incentivized by the regime. Are they?
Even if the contentions that undergird the present copyright regime are, arguendo, true, does that mean that it is morally permissible to subject theological works (at least the sound ones) to the strictures of such system?
What is the purpose of copyright?
What is the purpose of theology?
Are these compatible?
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Show Notes
See Also
Neglected Matters: Shaking off the Dust, Usury, Woman and Work, Head Coverings
Dec 21, 2022
In a sense, there are no minor doctrines in Scripture. It is only in relation to major, central doctrines (e.g., Atonement, Justification), that any Scriptural doctrine can be termed ‘minor’. However, the Word of God is abundantly clear:
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV):
»16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.«
There is no room in the Christian life for ignoring — and particularly not for rejecting — anything in Scripture. What God has spoken is true, for God is Truth. Those who would abandon any doctrine risk losing the whole — and their souls with it.
Neglect does not an adiaphoron make.
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Show Notes
Christian Head Coverings
Original Sin and the Nature of Man
See Also
NOW Statement of Purpose
Overton Window
Through the Window: On Frame
Dec 14, 2022
What is the difference between an immigrant and an invader? Well, it depends. The difference may be one of legality (i.e., the positive law) or it may be one of frame. If one man tells you that he is “for immigration” and another tells you that he is “against immigration”, then the latter has likely ceded ground without even realizing it. Words, of course, matter, but so does the way in which we (and others) employ them. Correct framing may win a conflict before it has even begun, but incorrect framing can just as easily make victory impossible.
For the Christian, it is vitally important to be able to identify and to assess framing. Wicked men can — and do — employ framing to ensnare the Christian, to elicit from the Christian support for wicked positions he would not wittingly support. In fact, you may hold positions contrary to Scripture because of how they were framed — and because you failed to examine what you believe.
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Show Notes
Framing Effect
Overton Window
See Also
The Psychology Behind Making Sales and Setting Price Points
Loving v. Virginia
Obergefell v. Hodges
Ezra (Read the entire book.)
Psalm 127
Creeping normality
Perspicuous and Vulgar: On the Clarity of Scripture
Dec 07, 2022
Scripture is the Word of the Lord, and the Word of the Lord is understandable by men of average intelligence. Those who deny the perspicuity of the Scriptures are wolves who accuse God of lying and who seek to lead the sheep astray. It is clear that Christians are to read Scripture and that they will be able to understand it — this is a truth found throughout Scripture, not just in a handful of places.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Satan adapts his attacks over time, and today he has focused his attack on the clarity of Scripture (for he can no longer simply keep Scripture out of the hands of the laity). The contend that Scripture is unclear, dark, unknowable is to contend that it is not Scripture and to endanger the faith. Christians must affirm — and staunchly defend — the Scriptures as the inerrant Word of God.
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Show Notes
Quark-Gluon Plasma Flows Like Water
Sonoluminescence:
YouTube
Wikipedia
John Wycliffe
John Hus
William Tyndale
See Also
Terms
Norma Normans
Norma Normata
“Geochronologically Speaking”
A Name No Man Knows
Nov 30, 2022
We are told to be as harmless as doves, but also to be as wise as serpents. There are times to speak and times to hold ones tongue; there are times to speak under one’s Christian name and times to speak under a pseudonym. Of course, there are those who would contend that the use of pseudonyms is cowardly or even sinful, but seldom are these individuals consistent — attacking one group for pseudonymity, while ignoring or even praising another that practices the same.
Is there a place for pseudonymity in the Christian church? Or are those who employ it ‘anonymous [sic] trolls’ as some would contend? As always, we must look to Scripture, but we must also look to the motives of those who seek to unmask the pseudonymous. The answer is obvious, but many Christians — certainly to include pastors — get this one wrong.
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Show Notes
Marquart on The Question of Procedure in Theological Controversies — Gottesdienst
On Anonymity — Rev. Larry Beane
See Also
Election in View of Headship
Nov 23, 2022
God acts in time via means. When it comes to faith, He acts through the Means of Grace. When it comes to Election, He acts through headship — fathers, grandfathers, chiefs, kings, tribes, nations. God does not act arbitrarily, and this is no less true of His actions in time than it is of His actions in eternity. Fairness plays no role in the matter, for fairness is not a thing.
Man is finite; God is infinite. There are doctrines that can be thoroughly understood, explored, and grasped, and there are doctrines that contain mystery — Election is a mystery. When it comes to the mysteries of the faith, we affirm the Word of God and then, with Paul, declare:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!
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Show Notes
The Spread of Christianity
Part 1
Part 2
Rick McCafferty (is a demon)
The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Art. XI — Election
See Also
Christian Nationalism Is Submission to God
Nov 02, 2022
You may have heard of the ‘two kingdoms’ doctrine and have certainly heard of the ‘separation of Church and State’, but is either of these a truly Christian position? Is God Lord only of His Church or does He also rule the kingdoms of this world? As Christians, what are our duties in the context of the State?
The Media, and many others, have spent years, now, shouting about “Christian Nationalism”, but few could even define either term. This episode is both a primer on Christian Nationalism from a Christian perspective and the definitive statement of its core nature. Christian Nationalism is simply Christianity lived out in the left-hand kingdom, for both kingdoms belong to Christ.
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Show Notes
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=nation
https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/posterity
https://news.gab.com/2021/12/christian-nationalism-is-the-only-godly-option/
See Also
According to Their Generations
Oct 26, 2022
Most modern Christians have bought into the cultural argument that the provenance of ideas does not matter, but this is not the Scriptural view of things. God is deeply interested in genealogy — and that includes the genealogy of ideas — and Christians should take the matter seriously. Ideas, beliefs, et cetera, should not be analyzed in a vacuum — they should be analyzed according to their nature and according to their source.
In this episode, we address a number of related issues including genealogy, ideas, the genealogy of ideas, ancestry, the Fourth Commandment, and morality.
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Show Notes
History of Women in the Church (mentioned in episode):
Origines Ecclesiasticae
Matthew Cochran (mentioned in episode)
The Lutheran Alternative
Problems currently facing and the future of Lutheranism.
See Also
Talking Heads: On Headship, Teaching, and Women in the Church
Oct 19, 2022
Some issues arise in time, some issues fade with time, and some issues are perennial. That which is founded in the nature of Creation, which flows from the nature of God, never ceases to be relevant to His Church, to His people. The issues of headship, teaching, and authority are perennial issues, and they often arise in the context of the relationship of men and women and the role of women in the Church or in the churches.
In this episode, we address the Scriptural and the ontological with regard to authority, headship, teaching, and the role of women — both in the Church and in the Christian life.
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Show Notes
Origines Ecclesiasticae
Matthew E. Cochran
the Lutheran Alternative
See Also
https://youtu.be/HLkxl96LV24
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