The Protestant Libertarian Podcast

Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 
In this episode I address a question that Christians have been asking for centuries: do Paul and James disagree about faith and works? In passages like Romans 3:27-30 and Galatians 2:15-16, Paul says that we are justified by faith and not the works of the Law. In James 2:14-26, however, James claims that faith without works is dead. What’s going on here? I explore how the word ‘faith’ itself is a dynamic term which denotes action, including the concepts of faithfulness and obedience, and that Paul and James are both arguing that true faith acts. I then look at the text more carefully, showing that Paul is not arguing against good works in general but against “works of the Law”, claiming that Gentiles are incorporated into Abraham’s family without having to adopt Jewish rites and identity markers such as circumcision and dietary laws. James, on the other hand, is arguing that faith that isn’t put into practice is dead, a sentiment with which Paul would be in full agreement. In other words, Paul and James have the same perspective on faith and works. 
 
Sign up for LCI’s 2026 Conference in Cincinnati, OH on Saturday, October 17! Many LCI content creators, including myself, will be speaking at the event, and it will be an excellent opportunity to connect with likeminded, liberty-loving Christians. Check out the event and sign up here: https://libertarianchristians.com/conference/
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, Bethany Bernardo guest hosts the show to interview me about my new book Politics, Economics, and New Testament Interpretation, which is now available for purchase on all major platforms! In this book I make an extended argument that the New Testament does not endorse authoritarian socialism. In biblical scholarship and theology, political and economic categories are imprecisely defined, which enables scholars to impose the modern popular paradigm of authoritarian socialism on the text, distorting both the interpretation of the New Testament and the ways in which the church applies the Bible to contemporary questions. I argue that the Austrian school of economics provides the only consistent, universally applicable, and irreducible definitions of socialism and capitalism, while the libertarian commitment to the nonaggression principle reframes our political categories as well. I discuss how these definitions should be employed in contextual, historically plausible readings of Scripture and explain why interpretive assumptions often obscure texts in the New Testament which relate to political and economic arrangements. I also discuss many of the passages I address in my book, explain how I conducted research, my motivations for producing such a large volume, and the impact I hope it has on Christian scholarship and discipleship. This episode I just a small taste of the much larger book, so please order a copy today!
 
Media Referenced:
Politics, Economics, and New Testament Interpretation on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0d8VdNwQ
Order through LCI: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/
 
Sign up for LCI’s 2026 Conference in Cincinnati, OH on Saturday, October 17! Many LCI content creators, including myself, will be speaking at the event, and it will be an excellent opportunity to connect with likeminded, liberty-loving Christians. Check out the event and sign up here: https://libertarianchristians.com/conference/
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!

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 
In this episode I explore the infamous “render unto Caesar” passage from Mark 12:13-17 and its parallels in Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26. What exactly did Jesus mean when he uttered this phrase? Despite centuries of misreading the text, I argue that the ancient world knew nothing of the separation between church and state; reading this passage as if it affirms the modern secular/religious divide won’t do. I then explore the narrative context of the tradition in the Synoptic gospels, showing that this tradition is retained in all three Synoptics within a larger context of Jesus’ conflict with the Jerusalem establishment and should be read as such. We also cannot divorce this tradition from the Synoptic affirmation that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah and therefore transcends all earthly power. I then analyze the tradition from a historical standpoint, explaining that Jesus is not being asked about taxation in general but rather the kensos or head tax, a tax levied by Rome against conquered peoples. This tax was very unpopular, and the Pharisees and Herodians are trying to turn the crowds against Jesus or charge him with sedition. Jesus, playing on the popular idea that coinage belongs to the emperor since it bears his image, turns the tables and says they should give what belongs to Caesar back to him after forcing his opponents to produce the blasphemous coin in the temple. Jesus demonstrates that he, not his opponents, is the one with real authority, a political lesson the church has yet to learn. 
 
Media Referenced:
James Barker on Gospels: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-181-how-the-gospel-writers-copied-each-other-with-james-barker/ 
Mark Goodacre on Gospels: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-224-johns-knowledge-of-matthew-mark-and-luke-with-mark-goodacre/ 
Gospel trajectories: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-213-jesus-the-divine-messiah-and-gospel-trajectories/
 
Sign up for LCI’s 2026 Conference in Cincinnati, OH on Saturday, October 17! Many LCI content creators, including myself, will be speaking at the event, and it will be an excellent opportunity to connect with likeminded, liberty-loving Christians. Check out the event and sign up here: https://libertarianchristians.com/conference/
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!

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/
In this episode, I replay a conversation I had with Doug Stuart on the Libertarian Christian Podcast about how to read the Bible effectively. I talk about my relationship with the Bible, why it is so important to me, and why I read it daily. I talk about the different ways of approaching the text, how I prefer to read it, and provide some strategies and insights into how Christians can read Scripture more effectively.
 
Media Referenced:
Four Strategies for Reading the Bible Sermon: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-129-four-strategies-for-reading-the-bible-sunday-sermon/
  
Sign up for LCI’s 2026 Conference in Cincinnati, OH on Saturday, October 17! Many LCI content creators, including myself, will be speaking at the event, and it will be an excellent opportunity to connect with likeminded, liberty-loving Christians. Check out the event and sign up here: https://libertarianchristians.com/conference/ 
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!

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 
In this episode I talk with economist Dr. Anne Bradley about how Christians can learn to think more clearly about economics. She explains why Christians should take economics seriously and the mistakes that many Americans, not just Christians, make with respect to economic reasoning. She then describes how the Christian starting point for economics must be both creation and anthropology, revealing how Genesis 1-2 reveals the need for work and productivity, as well as the value of every person. Dr. Bradley breaks down concepts such as scarcity, choice, and tradeoffs, how free markets help poor people and enable strangers to serve one another, the dangers of unintended consequences, and the state of America’s economy. We then talk about her economic influences, the relationship between the Austrian and Chicago Schools of economics, and the value she finds in her Presbyterian theological tradition. 
 
Media Referenced:
Dr. Bradley on X: @anne_r_bradley
Dr. Bradley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-bradley-1725a511
 
Sign up for LCI’s 2026 Conference in Cincinnati, OH on Saturday, October 17! Many LCI content creators, including myself, will be speaking at the event, and it will be an excellent opportunity to connect with likeminded, liberty-loving Christians. Check out the event and sign up here: https://libertarianchristians.com/conference/ 
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!