Mortification of Spin

As you may know, our hosts are avid readers. But what you don't know may surprise you ... Carl enjoys snuggling up to a good comic & Todd's keen on the Scratch and sniff, pop-up variety but Aimee's leaps and bounds ahead of the boys with the more mature palette, devouring her fair share of Seventeen magazine. Our shining examples of readers beg the question: why read? Outside of studying the Bible, should reading be considered a godly discipline? Should Christians read poetry? Novels? Or only biographies and ... Harry Potter? 

Wesley Smith, lawyer and an award winning author, recognized as an expert thinker in the field of bioengineering and a "Great Defender of Life" for his work against assisted suicide and euthanasia, joins us today as we bask in the glories of the one-star Best Western conference room. Wesley is calling in from Cali - how fortunate he should be deprived the novelties of weak coffee and Todd's disgruntled face as he eats another day-old donut. Of course, the trials we face here pale in comparison with today's topic. Wesley bears much knowledge on bioethics, a field of study that tests the ethics and philosophical implications of medical practices and procedures. With the sanctity of life increasingly questioned, "do-harm medicine" is growing in practice. We live in a backwards world where death is more valued than life, and the disabled not worthy of all the medical efforts. Don't be surprised to find yourself catching your jaw during this one!

In Reformed Theology, we hold firm to the tradition of true doctrine - we believe it's invaluable to aiding an understanding of our faith and more importantly we believe scripture to be the supreme and normative source of what we believe. Yet why are so many evangelicals leery of combining the words: 'tradition' and 'true doctrine'? In the end, they help define divine realities, and more importantly, lend accurate descriptions of God. Maybe more alarming is not the lay person who misunderstands traditional doctrine, but those who don't preach it from the pulpit or teach it from the lectern. It's necessary that the Church connect scripture to the traditional doctrinal statements lest she get swept away by every wind of novel doctrine.

Name 10 ways to destroy your child’s imagination. Ok, we'll give you 5 to start: 1. Mechanize your kid, 2. pad their resume, 3. send them to Yale, 4. stifle their natural talents and, if you do nothing else, 5. deter any natural tendency to admire God's vast creation. This is but a taste of the (outlandish?) commentary to expect from Dr. Anthony Esolen, professor of English at Providence College and author of Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. To those of us glued to our screens or whose suffocated imaginations are inhibited by too many distractions, Dr. Esolen is a breath of fresh air.

Today we have Rusty Reno on the line for a special XL Bully Pulpit. Rusty is editor of First Things Magazine, formerly taught theology and ethics at Creighton University, and has authored many theological books of which one is a topic of today's conversation: Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society. We are worlds away from the Garden and in the wake of that fateful bite we now navigate amongst many evils. So can we go back to the Garden? What lasting influence do we bring to bear on our pagan societies? Rusty shares quotable insights to sharpen our perspective on these (and many more) questions any Christian should be asking.