Many churches preach that your biggest problem is that you’re not living your best life now. Rather than calling people to repentance, they call them to “try harder, do better” so that they can be fulfilled, healthy, and happy. Reformed theology provides a doctrine to help counter this wrong diagnosis of our true problem: total depravity. But sometimes, this doctrine sounds much more like “utter depravity,” leaving nothing good or redeemable about humanity. In this episode of White Horse Inn, hosts Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, and Bob Hiller consider how we hold total depravity in tension with the goodness of humanity.

Sin and Total Depravity

Do all paths lead to God? Is the Bible history or mythology? Are we saved by grace or good works? Featuring conversations with Christians from a variety traditions, this program is designed to give you a better understanding of what you believe and why you believe it.

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What happened in American culture and in the church from the 1970s-1990s? What were the conversations and big concerns of that time when White Horse Inn recorded its first episodes? In answering some of these questions, churches can get their bearings as to what trends have impacted those who no longer sit in their pews and what to do about it.   “The early 1990s was an inflection point for American religion. Between the early 1970s and 1990s, the share of Americans who had no religious affiliation had only risen two points. But from that point forward, the nones would grow by a percentage point or two nearly every year through the following three decades.” - Ryan Burge, “‘OK Millennial’: Don’t Blame the Boomers for Decline of Religious America”   Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb discuss how modern historical events and trends have impacted church attendance today and how to respond.  CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:   The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge.   Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.   Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.”    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org  Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb  

How the Local Church Can Minister to the Dechurched

Justin Holcomb interviews Jim Davis and Michael Graham, authors of The Great Dechurching, to discuss why forty million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years. Many attribute church decline to encroaching secular trends, abuse in the church, or spiritual deconstruction. While all of these trends have spiked in recent years, Davis and Graham, with the help of Ryan Burge, reveal that these factors are not the primary causes for the erosion of church attendance and share what the church can do to turn back those estranged from her.   CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:   The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge.   Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.   Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.”    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org  Featuring: Justin Holcomb, Michael Graham and Jim Davis  

The Great Dechurching, with Michael Graham and Jim Davis

On this Easter Sunday, we join Paul at the Areopagus in Acts 17. Hosts Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, Walter Strickland, and Bob Hiller dive into Paul’s apologetic approach as he speaks to his pagan audience and how on Easter we will, like Paul, be mocked by some for preaching the resurrection of the dead, while others will want to hear more about its hope and promise.    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:   Knowing the Bible: Acts Study by Justin Holcomb   Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, and don’t miss this month’s issue, “The Head & the Heart.”   Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.     For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org   Featuring:  Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb  

Preaching the Resurrection Amidst the Mockery of the World

In Acts 13:16-41, we encounter the newly converted Paul preaching at the synagogue in Antioch. In this episode, Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb discuss what happened between Stephen’s death and Paul’s conversion, and what uniquely transformed Paul from a law-abiding Pharisee to preaching “[freedom] from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”    CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:   Knowing the Bible: Acts Study by Justin Holcomb   Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, and don’t miss this month’s issue, “The Head & the Heart.”   Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.     For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org   Featuring:  Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb  

Preaching That Frees Us from the Law

In Acts 7, we see Stephen’s sermon before the Sanhedrin. What did he say that enraged those he was speaking to and how can we model his posture of forgiveness in the face of persecution? Hosts Michael Horton, Walter Strickland, Bob Hiller, and Justin Holcomb trace Stephen’s redemptive historical tour de force that ultimately culminates in his martyrdom and ask how we can model our own lives and ministries after his example.   CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:   Knowing the Bible: Acts Study by Justin Holcomb   Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine, and don’t miss this month’s issue, “The Head & the Heart.”   Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church.    For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org   Featuring:  Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb  

Sin and Total Depravity

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