City on a Hill

NOTES:

We highlighted three key Bible passages today.

Hebrews 11:10 -- For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Hebrews 12: 28-29 -- Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Colossians 3:1-4 -- If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

If your identity is in a kingdom of this world that can be shaken, you will ultimately end up insecure.

We tell ourselves stories to understand who we are.

GET IN TOUCH:

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MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE),

We are pleased to welcome Dr. David Innes on the podcast today. He is the author of Scott's most highlighted book of 2022, Christ and the Kingdom of Men: Foundations of Political Life.

NOTES:

By day David is a professor of Politics at Kings College. 

By night he is a prolific author. He has written Christ and the Kingdoms of Men: Foundations of Political Life and The Voting Christian. He has also written about Francis Bacon and the Christian Citizen. He has not one, but two Amazon Author pages. 

Here is his CV. 

He writes regularly for World Magazine.

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

Government is built into creation: The sun rules the day and the moon rules the night.

Civil Government is under God. It is for your good. Its purpose is to secure life, the conditions for human prospering, and secure spiritual flourishing.

Tyranny is using public authority for private advantage.

American government comes from three streams:

A Christian stream.

A classical stream.

An Enlightenment stream.

The problem of government is how to invest it with enough authority to accomplish God's purpose and keep it from having too much authority so it abuses its authority.

GET IN TOUCH:

We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].

MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE),

Today we discuss a retrospective on 2022 from Pew Research and Gallup Polls.

NOTES:

Here are the two sources we cited:

Pew Research

Gallup Poll

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

Don't forget to check out the newsletters from last week:

The Morning Brew. Here is a link to sign up.

1440. Here is a link to sign up.

GET IN TOUCH:

We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].

MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE),

Today Scott is excited to get swag from "unbiased" newsletters. Aeric questions whether that is possible.

NOTES:

Here are the News Sources Scott recently found. Please subscribe and get him some swag! :)

One is the Morning Brew. It is mainly about economics, but some news. Here is a link to sign up. My favorite feature is made-up headlines.

The other is 1440. 1440 is when the printing press became a thing. And there are 1440 minutes in a day and they want you to use every one well. Here is a link to sign up.

Another, providing commentary and selections from both sides of the spectrum is Tangle. You can sign up for it here.

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

⅓ of American TikTok users get their news from TikTok! Pew Research

The majority of journalists surveyed do not believe that all sides of an issue do not deserve equal coverage. Pew Research

Growing shares of both Republicans and Democrats say that members of the other party are more immoral, dishonest and closed-minded than other Americans, Pew Research

GET IN TOUCH:

We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].

MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry

Today we discuss The Civil War and what we can learn from the theology that supported it. We hope you'll find it as interesting as we did.

NOTES:

This is Scott's book report on The Civil War as a Theological Crisis by Mark A. Noll.

We reference Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address which is always worth revisiting!

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

How you interpret the Bible matters. You are a creature of your context. Be humble. Do the hard work to make sure you get it right. Interpret the Bible in a community.

You can be biased by your own needs, context and story. An outside perspective is helpful.

It is easy to over-read God's providential leading through circumstances. God's work is best seen in retrospect. Even then, you can see where he providentially directed, but not necessarily why he did it!

GET IN TOUCH:

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MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry

We are pleased to have Dylan Pahman on our podcast this episode. We had a great conversation with Dylan about his book and how Christians can apply economic thinking to their Christian faith.

NOTES:

Dylan Pahman is a research fellow at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty, where he serves as executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality. He is the author of the book Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society (Acton 2017).

His academic research can be found here: https://acton.academia.edu/DylanPahman

He blogs here: https://everydayasceticism.com/

He is working on a series on Orthodox social thought: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/every-thought-captive/author/dylanpahman/

You can hear more of him on Acton’s current events podcast, Acton Unwind, where he is a "semi-regular" host: https://www.acton.org/actonunwind

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

“Life is economic, but economics is not all of life.”

Economics is the study of how to allocate scarce goods for specific ends. It involves exchanges, and thereby, requires risk.

His view of economics must take into account the inherent dignity of human beings, which he derives from Genesis 1:26-27.

Economics is therefore moral and theological by nature.

Handouts are needed primarily when it is life-and-death, say, after a natural disaster. Beyond that, an interaction that includes an exchange would generally be preferable.

He encourages churches to find creative ways to do more than mere handouts.

GET IN TOUCH:

We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].

MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry

This episode seeks to explore the idea of authority. We do start off with some nerdy things, then explore the relation of God to human authority. Hopefully, this will help us understand the difference between tyranny and appropriate authority.

NOTES:

We refer to Christ and the Kingdoms of Men: Foundations of Political Life by David C. Innes.

Bible verses included in this episode:

Matthew 28:19-20

Romans 13:1

Genesis 1:16

Genesis 1:28

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

We cannot understand authority apart from God's sovereign relationship with his creation and the story of the gospel.

Authority is a person’s moral right to direct others. — David Koyzis, We Answer to Another

To have Jesus as your king is a political position. Jesus mediates God's authority over us.

We have rights because God has authority. Rights are our authority over our own persons so that we might do what God wants us to do.

Innes suggests thinking of four spheres of authority that should not impinge on each other: Individual, Family, Church, and Government.

What we consider tyranny usually comes from the governmental sphere invading the other spheres.

GET IN TOUCH:

We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].

MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry

The mid-term election is over and Aeric did not win. But, we did learn a few things. Here are a few of our reflection on the experience.

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

SCOTT’S learnings:

So many things were out of Aeric’s (or any candidate's control).

The underlying numbers of Republican and Democrat voters in the district was a given that shaped the whole district and made the race hard to win.

The Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade overshadowed this election in a way that no one foresaw.

The world at large is not able to talk about issues. There is a knee-jerk attempt to automatically align with a tribe and pigeonhole an opponent with a tribe. No one was able to talk about substantive issues. The public has lost the capacity to discuss and even understand complex issues.

Changing underlying issues will be key to any revival of meaningful politics. 

AERIC’S learnings:

The temptations for telling people what they want to hear are great.

There are no prerequisites to service.

Christians need to put themselves in situations to deal with hard questions

There are a lot of good people in politics.

There are a lot of bad people in politics.

I am grateful for institutions

GET IN TOUCH:

We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].

MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is at the top of our favorite holiday list!

NOTES:

Here is Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Here is the article about the Mother of Thanksgiving and Abraham Lincoln.

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:

Giving thanks is a command from the Lord. And, we have so much to be thankful for! Don't let any opportunity go by without give thanks.

Thanksgiving is one Christian idea that mixes with difficulty with the American narrative. Colonialism and imperialism were already present in the earliest thanksgiving. U.S. History with Native Americans does not necessarily reflect Christian values.

Abraham Lincoln's proclamation called for contrition and repentance rather than feasting. He, of course, was in the midst of the Civil War. Humility will always become God's people.

GET IN TOUCH:

We'd love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].

MUSIC:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry

We are so excited to have Dr. David Koyzis, author of Political Visions and Illusions, as the climax to our book report!

We did a book report on the Political Visions book in the past several episodes and invited Dr. Koyzis to bring the conclusion to the book. I think you will enjoy his perspective on how the ideologies in the book mimic the true gospel. He gives good advice to the church about how to think about our relationship with political entities.

Dr. David Koyzis is an experienced theologian who taught for 30 years at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario, and is currently a Global Scholar with Global Scholars Canada. He has attained a Ph.D. in Government and International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, a Master’s in Political Theory at Toronto’s Institute for Christian Studies, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Koyzis has authored We Answer to Another: Authority, Office, and the Image of God and Political Visions and Illusions: A Survey and Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies.

Dr. Koyzis blogs at http://byzantinecalvinist.blogspot.com.

He records music (!) at https://genevanpsalter.blogspot.com

We will be back with a new episode next week! Aeric's election is over.

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Music:

Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing

Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry