Paleo Protestant Pudcast

It is back-to-school time and the co-hosts, Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) are getting ready for classes. This makes it a good time to reflect on the kind of education that nurtures confessional Protestant piety and practice -- for both ministers and church members.

The recording starts with each member of the "broadcasting team" talking about upcoming classes at Hillsdale College and how we situate ourselves within the framework of classical education, the "Great Books," and liberal education.

From there the conversation explores the relationship between confessional Protestantism and the kind of learning that at least pastors need, which points back to ties between the Reformation and the Renaissance, which then leads to the Renaissance's recovery of ancient Greek and Latin authors and the way Humanism cultivated Protestant understandings of education. At the very end comes some commentary on whether the Bible qualifies as a "Great Book" or is merely a "Good Book."

The co-hosts "did the reading" for this discussion which included a critique of "The Great Books," a review of a book about the Bible and classical education, and college students on the appeal of liberal education.

No sponors this episode. The Pudcast transcends money.

To put the question even more pointedly, with lots of stereotyping to go round, when do Lutherans of German descent who settled mainly in the northern mid-western states pay attention to Baptists in the South? This was the subject of the recent recording when co-hosts, Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) discussed Scott Yenor's article on what Southern Baptist conservatives might learn from Missouri Synod Lutherans about "the left's" attack on denominational institutions. Part of the discussion involved the Southern Baptist Convention's place in conservative politics and the New Calvinist movement. Another part involved the dark side of church politics -- how much officers and members need to strategize and organize to defeat opponents within a communion where everyone is supposed to agree.

Articles the co-hosts mentioned included: Korey Maas on the controversy in the LCMS over Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; and the place of civil rights politics in the LCMS controversy. For any Presbyterians who might see parallels in the Lutheran and Baptist controversies with the Presbyterian conflict of the 1920s, especially over control of seminaries, this discussion at The Reformed Forum may be of use.

This episode's sponor is the National Public Radio show, "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me."

The topic this time is evangelical sacramentalism courtesy of a good short article by Gillis Harp, a retired professor of history at Grove City College. With Dr. Harp, the co-hosts, Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) talk about the recent elevation of the sacraments among Protestants, whether this is a function of Protestants trying to retrieve the church fathers or re-enchant worship services, and the relationship between preaching and the Lord's Supper. Spoiler alert: readers may be surprised to hear an Anglican (Dr. Harp) defend a high view of preaching.

Listeners may want to consult Luther's Small Catechism, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the Shorter Catechism on the Lord's Supper to see the language used to describe the benefits of the sacrament.

The death of Pope Francis and the election of a new pope -- Leo XIV -- were the circumstances for co-hosts, Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) to talk about relationships between Protestants and the papacy. The conversation ranged widely, from assessments of Francis, speculation about Leo, and general observations about Christianity's need for a sound pope. Keeping up with all of the articles about either Francis' legacy or Leo's prospects is impossible. But these were some of the articles the co-hosts consulted before being recorded.

The Lutheran, Reformed, and Anglican heirs of the Protestant Reformation continue to make news by not attracting attention from observers of American Protestantism. The co-hosts, Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian), talk about two recent articles about traditional Protestantism that either imply or claim that such Christianity is down on the mat for the count (think boxing). One is Brad East's "Goldilocks Protestantism" and the other is Casey Spinks "Does Traditional Protestantism Have a Future?" The conversation may not be as hopeful as some listeners want. But along with the last episode on non-denominational Protestantism, this one reveals further challenges that confessional Protestant communions face.

Follow some of us -- Miles Smith @ivmiles and D. G. Hart (for now) @reallyoldlife.

This time co-hosts Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) talk about whether non-denominational Christianity is the future of American Protestantism and what stake confessional Protestants have in denominational structures. The basis for discussion is sociologist Ryan Burge's analysis of church statistics whose numbers indicate the remarkable increase of non-denominational Protestantism. Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Congregationalists may sound like the ecclesiastical equivalent of Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, and Buick, but institutions matter to Christian faith and practice as much as they do to the manufacturing and sale of automobiles.

Follow the Anglican co-host @ivmiles and the Presbyterian co-host @oldlife.

The Pudcast returns with co-hosts Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) in the after glow of a very long holiday season -- that seems to get longer the older the observer becomes. The recording starts with question of whether the five to six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years -- when everyone seems to return to pandemic levels of output in the workplace -- is too long. Included is attention to the particular aspects of holiday observance among Lutherans and Anglicans (with Lutherans getting lots of credit for using the phrase, "The Divine Service" most often). Material that stimulated the discussion was Ross Douthat's speculation that secular liberalism has run out of steam and Eli Lake's report on the Jewish-Americans who wrote so many of the secular Christmas songs. Listeners who have not seen Whit Stillman's movie, "Metropolitan" should do so asap even if it is no longer Christmas or Advent or Debutante Ball season.

Owing to the recent death of former POTUS, Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump's election victory, the co-hosts also speculated about the effects of past and future presidents on the religious vibe in the United States and elsewhere.

Bonus content: here is an introduction to Washington Irving's Old Christmas, a story that shaped American customs surrounding the holiday.

When most confessional Protestants are preparing for end-of-calendar-year holidays, they are likely thinking about Lutheran seminary education. For that reason, this discussion with co-hosts Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) will be a treat. The basis for discussion is an article that Korey Maas wrote for the Acton Institute publication, Religion and Liberty, on the late 1960s controversy at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis which led to the exodus of confessionally liberal Lutherans not only from the seminary but also from the LCMS altogether. Among the points of controversy was the doctrine of inerrancy, which gave the conflict a certain resemblance to the Presbyterian controversy of the 1920s. Spoiler alert: the co-hosts never mention beer and only bring up Presbyterianism at the end of the episode. So you have to listen to the end (at least it's not behind a paywall).

The article by Korey Maas who is still not on Twitter (formerly called Twitter) is here. The LCMS statement on the authority and infallibility of the Bible is here.

Miles Smith is still @ivmiles and D. G. Hart is still @oldlife.

As is always the case, the pudcast would not exist without the incomparable assistance of @presbycast.

The vibe for this recording was solemn even if the co-hosts Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian) were also excited for the upcoming marriage of our only confessional Protestant bachelor (sorry ladies). The reason for the somber mood was Miles Smith's piece at MereOrthodoxy on evangelicals and politics. There he suggests that American Protestants have lost a sense of nations sitting under God's judgment. In which case, the presidential campaign and the results could be less a story of redemption than they reveal God's rebuke of an errant society.

From that starting point, conversation ranged to the degree to which confessional Protestants suffer from viewing the United States as a redeemer nation, how millennialism affects nationalism, differing estimates (Augustinian or Eusebian) of Christian government, and even whether Christians can learn a tragic sense of politics from H. L. Mencken.

No sponsors, but it should have been Joy dishwashing detergent.

We did try, the we being co-hosts Korey Maas (Lutheran), Miles Smith (Anglican), and D. G. Hart (Presbyterian). The plan was to have a Zoom chat with listeners. We did but only one listener showed up. We will have to take another run at this.

Even so, the lack of other chatters and despite some technological glitches, the co-hosts still managed to talk about what it means to belong to the church, the importance of the institutional church (over against parachurch competitors), and the degree to which cultural or civilizational Christianity reinforces church ties. Among the titles that we mentioned in connection with the effects of the Cold War on church life in the United States were Stephen Bullivant's Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America; Darin Lenz's article, "'Hail Luther's Contribution': A Sixteenth-Century Reformer in Cold War America" in Church History; and Kirk Farney's Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier. Even "The Crown" came up (still working on "The Wire") in relation to the episode that features Billy Graham's preaching for Queen Elizabeth (Season 2, ep.6).

No sponsors this time. We would hate to sully any company or institution with this sorry technological performance.