Distinctive Christianity

In this interview, we interview Dr. Barry Alan Shain about his book The Declaration of Independence in Historical Context. What is the Declaration of Independence, and how does it both fit within and stand out in its context? What were the real “causes” that “impelled” the 13 colonies (now, states) to separate themselves from the British Empire, and what should that mean in how we understand America’s origins – and even America, today? Barry takes us through many of the now largely-neglected debates of the time, as well as some of the evidence that should be considered when telling America’s founding story. Moreover, is it obvious that the American colonists were more on the side of freedom and equality than the British Imperial system? And why should the truth matter when talking about our past and what it means today?

Book: The Declaration of Independence in Historical Context

Other resources by Dr. Barry Shain:

The Myth of American Individualism

The Nature of Rights at the American Founding and Beyond

Other resources:

Peripheries and Center; The Constitutional Origins of the American Revolution by Jack Greene

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy by Annette Gordon-Reed

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Britain and the American Dream by Peter Moore

The Enlightenment by Norman Hampson

John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty by Arthur Cash

LDS Resources:

D&C 98; 101.77-80

President John Taylor: JD 23.63

President George Albert Smith

Sample of President Ezra Taft Benson:

-“The Constitution - A Glorious Standard”

-“Our Priceless Heritage”

-“The Constitution - A Heavenly Banner”

-“Our Divine Constitution”

Also see Many Are Called but Few Are Chosen by H. Verlan Andersen

In this episode, we welcome Dr. W. Paul Reeve to discuss his book Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. Though many will know some of the history of the race-based priesthood and temple ban within the LDS community (that was ended in 1978) – most do not know the history of the racializing of the Mormon community itself by the broader American public. In this episode, Dr. Reeve will take us through the history of how Mormons were considered a distinct “race”, a non-white race with degraded bodies – and a “barbaric” society that was a threat to what was considered a “civilized” American democracy. This is, in part, the context for the racial regulation from within – in order to integrate into a segregated American society, and be welcomed as full citizens. Moreover, Paul will take us through the origins of the priesthood and temple restriction upon black LDS, the debate over slavery in Utah territory between Brigham Young and Orson Pratt, and answer the question of whether President Spencer W. Kimball’s revelation in June 1978 was a radical innovation – or part of a conservative “[return of] Mormonism to its universalistic roots” of broad racial acceptance.

Book: Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness

Also check out these two amazing websites:

- Century of Black Mormons

- This Abominable Slavery

Other books by Dr. Reeve:

- This Abominable Slavery: Race, Religion, and the Battle over Human Bondage in Antebellum Utah

- Making Space on the Western Frontier: Mormons, Miners, and Southern Paiutes

- Between Pulpit and Pew: The Supernatural World in Mormon History and Folklore

Other resources:

- Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery; The Last Segregated Hour: The Memphis Kneel-Ins and the Campaign for Southern Church Desegregation by Stephen Haynes

- The Curse of Ham by David M. Goldenberg

- “Miscegenation”: Making Race in America by Elise Lemire

- Conflict in the Quorum by Gary Bergera

- “Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An Historical Overview” by Lester Bush

- Gospel Topics Essay: “Race and the Priesthood”

- Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality; The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History by Matthew Harris

- E.g. “Celestial Marriage” by LDS apostle George Q. Cannon

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. William Dennison to discuss the new book The Problem of Evil by Christian and Reformed philosopher Cornelius Van TIl. Dr. Dennison has edited this previously unpublished work, and written a very helpful introductory essay to aid the reader in seeing the relevance of Van Til's essay to more contemporary discussions. Dr. D frames both some believing and non-believing attempts at addressing and answering the problem of evil - or the origins of evil, and its implications. How we address the question is framed by our starting points, and our epistemological commitments (whether stated or unstated, consistent or otherwise) will structure how we prioritize aspects of the issue. Dr. Dennison takes us on a tour of the issue, beginning with the question: “Does Christianity have an Achilles’ heel?” How did Van Til frame this same question – and what were some of the highlights of his analysis. Van Til's most poignant and quotable line of the essay is that "God is his own theodicy". Dr. D helps us understand the wisdom of such a point, in spite of what some may superficially see as eluding the problem.

Book: The Problem of Evil by Cornelius Van Til 

Check out: Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church (also here and here)   

Other writings by Dr. D: 

• Karl Marx (also hear our previous interview: here) 
• The Young Bultmann: The Context for His Understanding of God, 1884-1925  
• Paul’s Two-Age Construction and Apologetics 
• In Defense of the Eschaton: Essays in Reformed Apologetics 

         - including: “Common Grace, Antithesis and Plato’s View of the Soul” 

Other resources: 

• Confessions; The CIty of God by Augustine 
• Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck 
• Biblical Theology by Geerhardus Vos 
• Greg Bahnsen: here and here 
• “To See Darkness, To Hear Silence”: St. Augustine, Herman Bavinck, and the Incomprehensibility of Evil” by Travis Ryan Pickell 
• Evil and the Cross by Henri Blocher

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Loren Pankratz to discuss his article: “Mormonism’s ‘Great Secret,’ Freedom, and Evil”. What is the Problem of Evil, both in terms of the existence of evil and of “gratuitous evil”? Is it a problem of equal weight upon the Christian and LDS traditions, given their differing views of the nature of God and gods? Today, Loren takes us through the Christian thinking of Alvin Plantinga and others and how they have argued in defense of God in a way that takes into account the Problem of Evil – and then uses that analysis to see if Mormonism can avail itself of the same philosophical reasoning. Loren argues that the differing accounts of who God is, who/what Jesus is, and of the origin of creation leads to incompatible accounts of why evil exists, and of the hope that eventually it will cease. We end with a discussion of the differing concepts of “grace” and how the differing traditions view the Cross as essential to salvation.

Article: “Mormonism’s ‘Great Secret,’ Freedom, and Evil”

Also hear our previous interview: here

Other resources:

“King Follett Discourse”; “Sermon in the Grove” by Joseph Smith

Gospel Principles: “Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader and Savior” and "Exaltation" (also here and here)

"Sister's Participation in the Gathering of Israel" by President Russell M. Nelson

“His Grace Is Sufficient” by Brad Wilcox

Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Courageous Women of the Bible by McArthur Krishna

A Rational Theology by Elder John A. Widtsoe

The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball

• hear our interview with Eric Johnson about Kimball's book here

Conflict in the Quorum by Gary Bergera (also see here)

God, Freedom, and Evil by Alvin Plantinga

“The Existence and Irrelevancy of Gratuitous Evil” by Kirk R. MacGregor (Philosophia Christi 14 (2012):165-180)

“The Humean Obstacle to Evidential Arguments from Suffering: On Avoiding the Evils of ‘Appearance’” by Stephen J. Wykstra (International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 16, 1984, 73-93)

Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer

The Many Faces of Evil: Theological Systems and the Problems of Evil by John S. Feinberg

Evil and the Cross by Henri Blocher

“To See Darkness, To Hear Silence”: St. Augustine, Herman Bavinck, and the Incomprehensibility of Evil” by Travis Ryan Pickell

Also see the “Introductory Essay” by William Dennison in The Problem of Evil by CVT

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Richard M. Gamble to the show to discuss his book In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American Myth. How did the teaching of the Incarnate Lord, Christ Jesus – a warning to Christians, ministers and about the Church – become secularized and mythologized into a defining mission of the political kingdom of the USA? We start off discussing Civic Religion, and in particular the American Civil Religion. The claims of “secularism” notwithstanding, we go through how the American Civil Religion contains doctrines, creeds, hymns – and even has a patriotic form of “social gospel”, with both political right and left claiming a range of the form it takes. Though right and left claim competing narratives of the American Religion, they share a common framework within which they make religious appeals – often without explicit reference to the Christianity they distort. With that framing, Dr. Gamble takes us through the actual history of the reference “city on a hill”, and the story of how a teaching of Jesus became utilized by Governor John Winthrop in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Richard then takes us through a tour of how it eventually became a defining creedal statement first utilized by the International Left, via President-elect John F. Kennedy – and then used as a rallying call and defining creedal statement for a Republican coalition by President Ronald Reagan. What’s at stake in the twisting of Scripture for contemporary politics, regardless of the political side who does it? This is “the story not of how the metaphor helped make America what it is today but the story of how America helped make the metaphor what it never was”.

Book: In Search of the City on a Hill: The Making and Unmaking of an American Myth

Also, Book TV: In Search of the City on a Hill

Other resources by Dr. Gamble:

- The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation

- A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Road to Righteous War

- “Gettysburg Gospel: How Lincoln forged a civil relgion of American nationalism”

- “Breaking the Spell of American Civic Religion”

- Review of Wolfe’s Case for Christian Nationalism

CSPAN Lectures:

- “American Civil Religion during the Cold War”

- “American Churches during WWI”

Also check out this amazing resource: The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be an Educated Human Being

Other resources:

The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT) by R. T. France

The Eschatology of the Psalter by Geerhardus Vos

In Defense of the Eschaton; "Dutch Neo-Calvinism and the Roots for Transformation: An Introductory Essay"; "Review of VanDrunen's Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms" (WTJ) by William Dennison

Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America’s Millenial Role by Ernest Lee Tuveson

“Civil Religion in America” by Robert Bellah

The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding by Eric Nelson

Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn by Christopher Cox

Coolidge by Amity Shlaes

Trump Administration statement, “100 Days in, Trump’s Golden Age puts American workers first”, on the U.S. Department of Labor Blog, by Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer: “We are witnessing a resurgence of the same grit, determination, and ingenuity that built our country into a shining city on a hill.”

Clip 1: Barack Obama’s 2016 DNC speech

Clip 2: President Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Speech

Clip 3: President Reagan Eulogy for Crew-members of USS

Clip 4: President Lyndon B. Johnson Remarks on Vietnam

Clip 5: President-elect John F. Kennedy

Clip 6: President Trump at National Prayer Breakfast

Clip 7: Jeanine Pirro sworn in as interim US attorney for Washington, D.C.

Clip 8: LDS Prophet-President Russell M. Nelson in General Conference

I hope the listener can hear the flexibility of the use of this creedal statement; everything from hope, to ethical government, to pride - to justice, etc.

For the LDS Prophet-President - the "creedal statement" is about stopping "contention" - something he, earlier as an LDS apostle claimed originated in the premortal "war in heaven" when people with bodies here now chose Jesus over Satan in regard to Heavenly Father's plan. (Christians should keep in mind that "Heavenly Father" and "Jesus" are "two separate beings and persons" in LDS theology.)

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Kim Riddlebarger to discuss his book The Lion of Princeton: B. B. Warfield as Apologist and Theologian. Who was Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield and why does he matter, even today? From B.B.’s work in textual criticism to apologetics, his work on patristics to his career reviewing books – the great Princeton professor is as relevant as ever, addressing and improving the defense and understanding of the Christian Faith, for friend and foe alike. Kim also answers some of the recent criticisms he has received, from epistemology to even his articulation of the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity – as well as the question of whether or not he a “fundamentalist”?

Book: The Lion of Princeton: B. B. Warfield as Apologist and Theologian

Check out The RiddleBlog

Check out the podcast: The Blessed Hope Podcast

Other books by Dr. Riddlebarger:

- The Case for Amillenialism: Understanding the End Times

- The Man of Sin: Uncovering the Truth about the Antichrist

- First Corinthians (hear our interview here)

Resources by B. B. Warfield:

- Check out Kim’s article on Warfield’s bibliography

- “The Biblical Doctrine of the Trinity” (also see here, and here)

- “The Resurrection: A Historical Fact”

- “The Plan of Salvation”

Other resources:

The Theology of B. B. Warfield by Fred G. Zaspel

The Bible, Protestantism and the Rise of Natural Science by Peter Harrison

Shaman and Sage by Michael Horton

Process and Providence: The Evolution Question at Princeton, 1845-1929 by Bradley Gundlach

Toward a Reformed Apologetics: A Critique of the Thought of Cornelius Van Til by Keith A. Mathison

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self; To Change All Worlds by Carl R. Trueman

Check out our interviews with Dr. Lydia McGrew: here, here and here

In this episode, we release on our podcast feed an interview conducted by Bradley Campbell of God Loves Mormons with Dr. Matthew Emadi about the biblical temple - how it points to and is fulfilled in Christ Jesus. The interview also discusses some implications for how we understand and discuss LDS temples and Mormon temple theology.

Original Video - Utah Pastor: Why Latter-day Saints Miss the TRUE Temple

God Loves Mormons; YouTube Channel

Interviews with Bradley Campbell: here, here, and here

The Royal Priest by Matthew Emadi (also see here)

The Temple and the Church's Mission by G.K. Beale

Who is God? by Richard Bauckham

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Matthew Emadi to discuss John 14.28, wherein Jesus Christ states: “for The Father is Greater than I”. Do Christians get Christ right? LDS prophets and apostles, as well as laymen and apologists have used this verse to defend the LDS Jesus as a lesser god than their (and Jesus’) Heavenly Parents are. How have Christians understood this passage, how have they understood it – and do Christians truly avoid this verse, as written, because of our theology? Matt takes us through this and helps us understand how Bible-believing Christians should approach this passage and demonstrates that we do not avoid this verse in our understanding of who and what Jesus is. 

Check out: Salt Lake School of Theology 

Other resources by Dr. Emadi: 

The Royal Priest: Psalm 110 in Biblical Theology (hear interview about this book here) 

What is a Church? (hear interview about this book here) 

“What Do Mormons Believe About God?” (TGC) 

LDS resources:

For a basic LDS Christology, see the Gospel Principles manual, chapter 3: Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader and Savior. (Notice the complete lack of a distinct divine nature, at all. Indeed, in the seminary manual for 2 Peter 1 emphasizes: “Each of us has a divine nature”.) 

For comparison on several passages, see Understanding Paul by LDS scholar Richard Lloyd Anderson; as well as The Articles of Faith by Elder James Talmage and the A New Witness for the Articles of Faith by Elder Bruce R. McConkie. 

One prominent example of LDS usage of John 14.28 is found in “The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. (Also hear responses here, here and here) 

Other resources: 

“No Longer Accretions. The Problem of Roman Catholicism in Dialogue with Gavin Ortlund”; Same Words, Different Worlds: Do Roman Catholics and Evangelicals Believe the Same Gospel?; A Christian’s Pocket Guide to the Papacy; A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Mary: Mother of God?; Engaging Thomas Aquinas: An Evangelical Approach (also see here) by Leonardo De Chirico 

“An Earnest Plea to Roman Catholics”; “The Failure of Eastern Orthodoxy”; “Cyril Lucaris: Calvinist Patriarch/Orthodox Saint”; “Filioque: How Eastern Orthodoxy Anathematizes the Church Fathers” (Ancient Paths TV; also see here, here, here, and here)  

Confessions; The City of God by Augustine (also on John 14.28 here) 

The Courage to Be Protestant by David F. Wells 

The Cross of Christ by John Stott 

Knowing God by J.I. Packer 

John Calvin’s Letter to Cardinal Sadoleto (1539) 

When it comes to whether church father Irenaeus appeals to “tradition” in a way that subordinates Scripture to the Church, see here – as well as read what scholar J.N.D. Kelly states on the matter: 

 “Did Irenaeus subordinate Scripture to unwritten tradition? The inference has been commonly drawn, but it issues from a somewhat misleading antithesis. Its plausibility depends on such considerations as (a) that, in controversy with the Gnostics, traditions rather than Scripture seemed to be his final court of appeal, and (b) that he apparently relied upon tradition to establish the true exegesis of Scripture. But a careful analysis of his [Against Heresies] reveals that, while the Gnostics’ appeal to their supposed secret tradition forced him to stress the superiority of the Church’s public tradition, his real defence of orthodoxy was founded on Scripture. Indeed, tradition itself, on his view, was confirmed by Scripture, which was ‘the foundation and pillar of our faith”. Secondly, Irenaeus admittedly suggested that a firm grasp of ‘the canon of the truth’ received at baptism would prevent a man from distorting the sense of Scripture. But this ‘canon’, so far from being something distinct from Scripture, was simply a condensation of the message contained in it. Being by its very nature normative in form, it provided a man with a handy clue to Scripture, whose very ramifications played into the hands of heretics. The whole point of his teaching was, in fact, that Scripture and the Church’s unwritten tradition are identical in content, both being vehicles of the revelation. If the tradition conveyed in the ‘canon’ is a more trustworthy guide, this is not because it comprises truths other than those revealed in Scripture, but because the true tenor of the apostolic message is there unambiguously set out.” (Early Christian Doctrines, pp. 38-39) 

Christianity and Liberalism; The Person of Jesus by J. Gresham Machen 

Justification Reconsidered: A Pauline Theme by Stephen Westerholm 

Cracking the New Perspective on Paul by Robert Cara 

We Become What We Worship; The Temple and the Church’s Mission by G.K. Beale

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Paul Gottfried to discuss his book Fascism: The Career of a Concept. Given the problem of definition and of historical ignorance that often colors modern political discourse, what even is (and is not) fascism? In other words, what is a “single, coherent account” of fascism, the definition of which is “historically and conceptually delimited”? Paul takes us into the history and contours of generic fascism, as well as the ideas and culture surrounding it. What was the general political spectrum in Europe of the interwar period, where was Fascism on that spectrum – and what was Fascism interacting with which determined its more precise meaning? We also ask Dr. Gottfried some questions about Right and Left, why Fascism only seemed to grow in historically Latin Catholic countries, whether Fascism is a Christian heresy - and whether the Reformation was a left phenomenon. 

Book: Fascism: The Career of a Concept 

Check out: Chronicles (especially the print magazine) 

• E.g.: “Three Conceptions of Conservatism” by Paul Gottfried 

Other books and articles by Dr. Gottfried: 

Multiculturalism and the Politics of Guilt  

Antifascism: A Course of a Crusade 

The Strange Death of Marxism: The European Left in the New Millennium 

Revisions and Dissents: Essays 

             - See especially the chapter: “Defining Right and Left” 

After Liberalism: Mass Democracy in the Managerial State 

• “Don’t Blame Fascism” 
• “Who Isn’t Fascist?” 

Recent media example of the relevance and importance of this subject: here

Other resources: 

Fascism: Comparison and Definition; A History of Fascism, 1914-1945; Franco: A Personal and Political Biography by Stanley G. Payne 

Political Religions; The New Science of Politics; Science, Politics and Gnosticism by Eric Voeglin 

“’It Can’t Happen Here’: Right-Wing Extremism in Pennsylvania, 1933-1942" by Philip Jenkins 

“God Does Not Exist” by Benito Mussolini 

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Christopher Watkin to discuss his book Jacques Derrida. There are things that Derrida saw as myths and illusions – such as logocentrism and phonocentrism. There are many myths people wrongly put upon Derrida – such as language being meaningless, him being a complete “moral relativist”, being a “Marxist”, and confusing objective truth with determinate truth. From what Derrida saw as myths to myths often said about Derrida, Dr. Watkin takes us through the contours of Derrida’s thought and method and helps us understand him accurately. What is deconstruction? And how should a Biblical Christian seeking to be consistent respond to Derrida? And how should a Christian think about language, given our Triune God who has revealed Himself in Scripture? 

Book: Jacques Derrida 

Christopher Watkin’s Website 

Other books by Dr. Watkin: 

• Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Make Sense of Modern Life and Culture 
• From Plato to Postmodernism: The Story of Western Culture Through Philosophy, Literature and Art 
• Thinking Through Creation: Genesis 1 and 2 as Tools of Cultural Critique 
• Michel Foucault 

Other resources:

Jacques Derrida by Geoffrey Bennington and Jacques Derrida