The Libertarian Christian Podcast

Alex Bernardo stops by the LCI Greenroom to talk about his new book Politics, Economics, and New Testament Interpretation--which is available September 15th! Alex's book introduces New Testament studies while also clarifying what it means to read the New Testament with clear eyes rather than modern, leftist assumptions. Chapters: 0:00:22 Book Launch and Methodology 0:01:54 Why the Book Matters 0:0...

Ask why the free market works and most popular economics hands you a clever story about how it doesn't. Insurance companies are greedy. Real estate agents run a racket. Used car buyers are being fleeced. The stories sell books, and they rarely survive a phone call to the people being accused. John Lott has spent a career making those phone calls. Economist, former chief economist at the U.S. Sente...

Libertarians agree that freedom is worth defending, but not all libertarians believe that liberty needs virtue in order to survive. In this episode, Stephane Slade, senior editor at Reason and author of the new book Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right , argues that a free society cannot endure unless its people possess the moral habits that make freedom workable — hone...

Libertarian political strategy has always been shaped by a difficult question: should libertarians invest their energy in the Libertarian Party, or work inside one of the major parties (usually the Republican Party) to influence policy from within the duopoly? This double-header episode brings that tension into sharp relief through two contrasting voices — Mike ter Maat, who argues that the GOP is...

The ideas of the American Revolution did not appear in the summer of 1776. They had been building in colonial hearts and minds for decades, and by the time the Declaration was signed, Americans had thought harder about liberty, consent, and the limits of power than any people before them. That is the argument historian and economist Larry Reed brings to his new book Born of Ideas: How Principles,...

Does democracy need Christianity to survive? Jonathan Rauch — a gay, atheist, Jewish journalist at Brookings and The Atlantic — has concluded that it does. His 2025 book, Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy , argues that Christianity is a load-bearing wall in the American experiment, and that two decades of de-churching have left the whole structure sagging. As an outsider...

Acton University is one of the most respected gatherings in the faith-and-markets world. This year four hosts from the Christians for Liberty Network were able to find out what it was like to attend. Through a scholarship from the Foundation for Harmony and Prosperity, they spent four days at Acton University among Catholics, Calvinists, Eastern Orthodox, Jews, Muslims, and free-market thinkers fr...

Black empowerment is often framed as a debate between pro-black, welfare state progressivism and anti-black, law-and-order conservatism. But what if free markets, not big government, is the key to black empowerment ? In this episode of the Libertarian Christian Podcast, Cody Cook talks to Dr. Rachel Ferguson about the dominant narrative that racial justice requires state intervention. Ferguson dem...

Most people who want to know how to study the Bible are looking for a system. A plan to finish in a year, the "right" translation, a highlighting method that finally sticks. Alex Bernardo, host of the Protestant Libertarian Podcast and a trained biblical studies student, spent this episode dismantling that instinct. There is no single correct method. There is only the daily habit of putting yourse...

Most abortion debates fail to advance the conversation because the two sides aren't arguing on the same grounds — one side makes a moral or religious case, the other a case from women's rights; so they talk past each other. Kerry Baldwin argues that there's a better approach. In this FreedomFest debate with Michael Shermer, Baldwin makes her case. Shermer approaches abortion from a secular humanis...

Christians often talk about missions, hospitality, and loving the stranger. But few American believers ever test those convictions by stepping outside their own cultural world. This episode explores the reasons Christians should travel overseas , not as tourists chasing novelty but as disciples learning how God forms His people through displacement, cross‑cultural life, and the humility of being a...

In this episode, we discuss the new edition of Faith Seeking Freedom, which expands the original book from 102 to 230 questions and is designed to help libertarian Christians work through a wider range of topics while still keeping the book concise. We talk about the different theological backgrounds on the writing team, including Reformed and Anabaptist influences, and how those perspectives shap...

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI! Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI! Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI! Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Abortion is often framed as the cornerstone of women’s rights. But what if that framing is not only mistaken, but actively harmful to women? In this episode of the Libertarian Christian Podcast, Kerry Baldwin argues that biology and a proper understanding of justice from a libertarian perspective lead us inevitably to the conclusion that abortion doesn’t protect women’s rights . Baldwin challenges...

Housing costs have exploded across the United States and everyone seems to have a scapegoat in mind. Some blame BlackRock. Others blame immigrants. Still others blame boomers who “refuse to downsize.” But none of these explanations get us close to the real answer. If you want to know what caused the housing affordability crisis , you have to look at the one actor powerful enough to restrict supply...

Most Americans trace "separation of church and state" to Thomas Jefferson. The real origin is 150 years earlier — a devout Puritan named Roger Williams who argued from scripture that the church needed protection from the state, not the other way around. Filmmaker Andrew Linn joins Doug Stuart to discuss his documentary Church and State: Roger Williams and the Founding of Freedom of Religion . They...

If he hadn't passed away in 1995, Murray Rothbard would have turned one hundred this year. Why do his ideas still endure, inspire, and provoke? The answer isn’t nostalgia. It’s that Rothbard’s ideas continue to shape libertarian thought, economics, and the case for a free society in ways few thinkers ever have. His influence is visible in the modern liberty movement, in the resurgence of Austrian...

Christians in the West are often unsure how to think about Islam. Some fear it. Some ignore it. Others assume that polite silence is the path of peace. But should Christians fear Islam , especially when confronted with radical expressions of the faith, rising tensions in Europe, and the growing cultural pressure to avoid “offending” anyone? This episode argues that fear is the wrong response. Jay...

In this episode, Doug Stuart and Cody Cook explore the biblical concept of holiness—not as a measure of personal righteousness, but as something fundamentally "set apart" for God's purposes. Through careful examination of Old Testament etymology and New Testament theology, they reveal how holiness shifts from external separation (dietary laws, physical places) to internal transformation and separa...

Doug sits down with Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations and co-author of Woke and Weaponized: How Karl Marx Won the Battle for American Education and How We Can Win It Back . The conversation moves from Robert's personal homeschooling story to the philosophical roots of classical Christian education, then traces how collectivist thinkers — from Robert Owen to Horace Mann to John Dewey t...

Connor Boyack was my guest to discuss his book Christ versus Caesar and the Mormon case for libertarianism. We also dove into some difficult topics in the LDS church’s history and talked about how we can build a better society despite disagreement. Connor is president of Libertas Institute , a free market think tank, and has published over 30 books and sold over 3 million copies. He is best known...

In this wayback episode from 2023 that has never been shared on the Libertarian Christian Podcast, Cody Cook interviews Alex Bernardo about medieval Christianity’s integration of church and state, how liberalism paved the way for freedom of religion, and why right and left wing extremists are now questioning whether freedom was such a good idea. This is a great discussion on its own, or as a compa...

Can libertarians win meaningful victories for liberty in our lifetime? Jacob Huebert, revisiting his 2011 Mises Circle presentation " Is There Hope for Liberty in Our Lifetime? ", delivers a clear verdict: not through the paths most people chase. Electoral politics poisons principles and delivers more statism, grassroots populism like the Tea Party is less interested in freedom than its proponents...