This week we’re discussing a series of articles exploring what we’re gaining and losing as fewer Americans are committed to religion and attending church. Even some non-believers are beginning to worry that the decline in religion may not be good for society, but does it also represent a new opportunity for the message of Christianity? Then, N.T. Wright is back to discuss his new book with co-author Michael Bird, “Jesus and the Powers.” While everyone knows mixing faith and politics can be dangerous, Wright says there’s also a danger when we refuse to mix them. He talks to Skye about what the Bible says on matters of church and state, and why we should defend liberal democracy despite its many problems. Also this week: Is the sun alive? And a Florida man shares the Bible at Walgreens on Easter.
0:00 - Sponsor - Richmont Graduate University - Join a Christian mental health counseling program! Use referral code HOLYPOST at checkout to skip the application fee. Go to https://www.richmont.edu/
0:35 - Intro
1:21 - Show Starts
3:08 - Theme Song
3:30 - Sponsor - Wheaton Graduate School - Learn in a rich, rigorous Christian environment - www.wheaton.edu/holypost
4:34 - Kaitlyn’s new show announcement!
8:08 - Curiously, Kaitlyn Trailer - Go to holypost.com/follow to check it out!
10:15 - Florida Man Strikes Again (with a Bible) on Easter
13:43 - Does the Sun Dream of Electric Sheep? Consciousness and the Sun.
19:43 - The Cost of the Churchgoing Bust
28:52 - How Trump Fills the Secular Void
44:19 - Is Trumpism Emptying Churches?
52:24 - Sponsor - Hiya Health - Go to www.hiyahealth.com/HOLYPOST to receive 50% off your first order
53:28 - Sponsor - Faithful Counseling - Get 10% off your first month at www.betterhelp.com/HOLYPOST
54:33 - Interview
56:02 - Why Doesn’t Separation of Church and State Work?
1:14:02 - Does the Kingdom of Heaven Imply There Will Be No Government?
1:17:10 - When Should Christians Submit to Governing Authorities?
1:24:56 - The Value of Liberal Democracy
1:30:15 - End Credits
Links Mentioned in the News Segment:
Florida Man Arrested for Hitting Manager with a Bible on Easter
The Sun’s Consciousness
Trump is Emptying Churches
How Trump Fills a Void in an Increasingly Secular America
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/05/trump-religion-secularism-authoritarian-populism/
The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust
Other resources:
Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies by N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird: https://a.co/d/7tCBCK8
Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/
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If you’re hoping to “win back” the country for Christianity, you’re going to have to at some point recognize and repent of the intrinsic disrespect for women that the complementarian and anti-abortion platforms so prevalent in modern American Christianity embody. Robbing women of bodily autonomy in general, telling ten-year-old girls that their bodies are inherently sinful and tempting to grown men, condemning us to have to wait until we are “dying enough” for life-saving medical care, and so much more - it all denies the humanity and image-bearing status of women. These concepts rob us of the free will gifted to all humans by God, and beyond that, of even the acknowledgment of our capacity for free will. It’s not…
Alfred North Whitehead for more on Panpsychism. He’s also a big figure in process theology.
The Vacuum episode: Kaitlyn was preaching! I loved it! She's great - such a seasoned, cogent, concise thinker!
A few things:
Kaitlyn's new pod: Good for you on the launch of the new podcast. I love the premise. I must not be doing the podcast thing "right" because the web page interface doesn't give me a spot to "like" and "rate" anything, but I'll be glad to get your voice elsewhere. I've resisted full immersion in Apple's "utopia" too long now and it shows?
Wright: I loved that you had him on and he had lots of good things to say. I'd never realized the "utopian" angle to both the USAmerican and French systems and I think he's on to something there. Brother Tom will always be a hero for me -- in the 00s he opened the…
I always appreciate Tom's voice and perspective. Good stuff!