The Protestant Libertarian Podcast

In this episode I explain the New Testament concept of ‘inaugurated eschatology’ and mount a biblical response to the claim that we are currently living through the end times. ‘Eschatology’ simply means ‘the study of final things’, and in theology eschatology explores how God is going to bring his plans for creation to their intended conclusion. Despite the rhetoric that the end times have begun in recent years, the New Testament authors unanimously affirm that the end of history began with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. God, according to the Old Testament prophets, would be faithful to his promises, and in the end would rescue his people, pour out his Spirit, reestablish the temple and sacrifices, and install a Davidic king on the throne. Jesus accomplishes all these goals, and so the Old Testament ‘end of history’ is inaugurated by Jesus, who then gives his Spirit-enabled people the ability to build his kingdom until his final return. Inaugurated eschatology, the idea that the end times have already begun, is central to New Testament theology and must shape our faith and practice today.
 
Media Referenced:
Ascension, Kingdom, and Eschatology: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-235-ascension-kingdom-and-eschatology/
Apocalypticism: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-272-the-apocalyptic-worldview-of-ancient-judaism-and-christianity-with-john-j-collins/
1 Corinthians 2:6-18: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-257-the-rulers-of-this-age-are-passing-away-1-corinthians-26-8/
Ephesians 1: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-248-far-above-all-rule-and-authority-ephesians-115-23/
Ascension: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-233-the-ascension-of-jesus-with-ross-hastings/

The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.
Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!

In the long-awaited Round 4 of our "Ludwig von Mises vs. A Christian Scholar" series I examine one of the most important questions at the intersection of biblical theology and economics: what is the relationship between justification, righteousness, and social justice? In the first half of this episode, I review James D. G. Dunn's understanding of righteousness and justification as presented in The Justice of God: A Fresh Look at the Old Doctrine of Justification by Faith. In the second half, I critically evaluate and challenge Alan Suggate's chapter in the same volume, arguing that while he rightly recognizes that justification has profound social implications, he reaches mistaken economic conclusions that are inconsistent with both Scripture and sound economics. Beginning with the Old Testament and Paul's letter to the Romans, I argue that Dunn is right to emphasize that righteousness is both vertical and horizontal, encompassing our relationship with God and our relationships with others. Those who are justified by grace through faith are incorporated into God's covenant family and transformed by the Holy Spirit, meaning that justification necessarily has social consequences. I then argue that Suggate incorrectly concludes that these social implications justify coercive government redistribution, whereas the biblical vision of righteousness is better embodied through voluntary cooperation, peaceful exchange, and Christian charity. Drawing on the Austrian School of economics, particularly the work of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek, I critique Suggate's analysis of markets, wealth, and social justice, contending that free markets foster social harmony, reward service to others, and provide the conditions for genuine charity without resorting to state coercion. Ultimately, I argue that Paul's vision of justification calls the church to embody the cruciform righteousness of Christ through lives of sacrificial love, demonstrating that biblical concern for the poor is not only compatible with economic liberty but is best realized through voluntary rather than coercive means.
 
Media Referenced:
Mises Round 1, Michael Gorman: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ludwig-von-mises-vs-christian-scholar-round-1-michael-gorman/
Mises Round 2, James K.A. Smith: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ludwig-von-mises-vs-christian-scholar-round-2-james-k-a-smith/
Mises Round 3, N.T. Wright: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-178-ludwig-von-mises-vs-a-christian-scholar-round-3-n-t-wright/
 
The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.
Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!

In this episode I talk with Dr. Jason Staples about his book Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, in which he argues that the resurrection of Israel is a major motif in Paul’s thinking. Staples explains how the resurrection of Israel is based on the prophetic hope, rooted in passages like Ezekiel 37, that God would rescue and restore Israel based on His covenantal promises to them. He demonstrates that there is a distinction between “Israel” and “the Jews” in the Bible, and that God’s promises to restore all of Israel must go beyond the descendants of the southern kingdom. Ephraim, the northern kingdom, had effectively been dissolved into the nations, and Paul’s mission to the Gentiles is a fulfillment of the promise to restore Israel. Staples dives headfirst into Romans 2 and 9-11, showing how in passage after passage Paul believes the restoration is being accomplished through faith in Israel’s Messiah Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, which enables those who are a part of Abraham’s family to obey God. In Romans 9-11, Paul describes the plight of Israel in great detail, demonstrating through detailed interpretation of key Old Testament passages how the remnant of Israel will in fact be saved on the final day and how the incorporation of Gentiles into God’s people through faith and the Spirit is a fulfillment of God’s promises. We then finally explore the contemporary application of Staple’s insight for modern Christian theology.
  
Media Referenced:
Paul and the Resurrection of Israel: https://a.co/d/00Y25mXY
Jason Staples Website: https://www.jasonstaples.com/
Jason Staples on X: @jasonstaples
 
The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.
Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!

This Theology Thursday episode of The Protestant Libertarian Podcast features a recording of a sermon I preached on Sunday, June 21, on Jesus' teaching about worry in Matthew 6:25–34. While Jesus famously commands His followers not to worry, this passage raises important questions: Does Scripture prohibit all forms of concern, and how should Christians reconcile Jesus' words with the Bible's many commands to work diligently and provide for ourselves and our families? In this sermon, I argue that Jesus' teaching can only be properly understood within the larger context of the Sermon on the Mount and His announcement that the Kingdom of God has arrived. Rather than condemning responsible planning, Jesus exposes the misplaced priorities and false securities that often lie behind our anxiety, especially our tendency to trust wealth, status, politics, or other good gifts more than God Himself. Looking at passages such as Matthew 6, 1 Timothy 6, Romans 8, and the example of the early church, I argue that the antidote to worry is not wishful thinking but confidence in God's kingdom, which has been inaugurated through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ and will one day be fully consummated. As citizens of that kingdom, we are called to seek first God's reign, examine the priorities that shape our lives, and live with the hope that God will ultimately vindicate His people and make all things new. The sermon concludes with three practical applications for learning to live free from worry by placing Christ's kingdom above every earthly concern.
 
Media Referenced:
Patience Sermon: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-174-patience-and-the-fruits-of-the-spirit-sunday-sermon/
Faith Sermon: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-163-faith-and-the-fruits-of-the-spirit-sunday-sermon/
Ephesians Sermon: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-144-ephesians-and-the-church-sunday-sermon/
Revelation Sermon: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-136-the-book-of-revelation-sunday-sermon/
 
The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.
Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!

In this episode I talk with Dr. Paul Duff, professor emeritus in the department of world religions at George Washington University and the author of the brand-new book Paul and the Corinthians: Reconstructing the Relationship and the Letters, out now on Eerdmans. In this book Dr. Duff explores 1 and 2 Corinthians , the divisions which plagued the church, and Paul’s complicated relationship with his Corinthian congregation. We talk about the theory that 2 Corinthians is a collection of several small letters Paul sent to Corinth, Paul’s identity and travels, and the city of Corinth. Duff explains the rocky relationship Paul had with his Corinthian congregation and the various issues he addresses in 1-2 Corinthians. We talk about the divisions which plagued the church (1 Cor. 1-4), issues of sex, celibacy, and marriage (1 Cor. 5-7), eating meat sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. 8-10), the collection for Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1-4, 2 Cor. 8-9), and Paul’s defense of his ministry (2 Cor 2-7, 10-13). We conclude by discussing the relevance of Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians for the church today. 
 
Media Referenced:
Paul and the Corinthians: https://a.co/d/0cmDcKKB
Jesus Followers in the Roman Empire: https://a.co/d/0aQ8zIZS
 
The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.
Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!