Banned Books

Featured text: "Luther for Armchair Theologians" — Steven Paulson Breaking Your Rules — In this episode, we continue our reading and conversation about Dr. Steven Paulson's breakdown of Martin Luther's explanation of the two kingdoms. Marriage, children, preaching, serving our neighbor, and standing up to evil. SHOW NOTES: Luther for Armchair Theologians https://amzn.to/3zVq44z — CONTACT and FOLLO...

Featured text: "Luther for Armchair Theologians" — Steven Paulson I've Got a Gun aka The Whole Armor of God. In this episode, we read and discuss Dr. Steven Paulson's breakdown of Martin Luther's explanation of the two kingdoms doctrine. Faith, family, and false idols form the backbone of our talk. SHOW NOTES: Luther for Armchair Theologians https://amzn.to/3zVq44z — CONTACT and FOLLOW BannedBooks...

Featured text: "Democracy in America" — Alexis de Tocqueville In this episode, we read and discuss Alexis de Tocqueville's apology for religion's relevance to politics in Democracy in America. What happens when the two kingdoms are divided or collapsed into each other? SHOW NOTES: Democracy in America, p.330 (PDF) http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/LojkoMiklos/Alexis-de-Tocqueville-Democracy-in-A...

Featured text: "Tocqueville's Faith" — Alexis de Tocqueville Faith in What? Faith in Who? In this episode, we read Robert J. Delahunty's article about Alex de Tocqueville's faith. Tocqueville is a remarkable study in Enlightenment faith because he straddles the line between Christianity and the Enlightenment: Law and religion, belief and despair that concerns the relationships between Church and S...

Featured text: "God is Not Great" — Christopher Hitchens "Remember again part of our charge against religion, our belief that it is fundamentally wicked and antihuman, is precisely its eschatology. Religion is predicated on the idea that our time here is short and should be shorter, that our job is to bring on the end of days. This is just a veil of tears and guilt and shame. This, the only life w...

Featured text: "God is Not Great" — Christopher Hitchens "We were baffled by climatic and cataclysmic events: earthquakes, tidal waves, storms, lightning. All of this was to us terrifying. Religion works as an attempt, then, to make sense of things. We are pattern-seeking mammals, after all. It's a good thing that we are, because if we weren't pattern-seeking mammals, our curiosity would have no o...

Featured text: "God is Not Great" — Christopher Hitchens Christians Aren't Good, or Moral. In this episode, we continue to read and discuss Christopher Hitchens' speech on religion and morality. Does religion delete our need to confront reality? SHOW NOTES: "God is Not Great" https://ffrf.org/outreach/awards/emperor-has-no-clothes-award/item/11978-christopher-hitchens   Hitchens books: https://amz...

Featured text: "God is Not Great" — Christopher Hitchens God is Good… or Not. In this episode, we read and discuss Christopher Hitchins' speech about religion and morality. What's the point of attaching the forgiveness of sins to morality? SHOW NOTES: "God is Not Great" https://ffrf.org/outreach/awards/emperor-has-no-clothes-award/item/11978-christopher-hitchens   Hitchens books: https://amzn.to/3...

Featured text: "A God Torn to Pieces: The Nietzsche Case (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture)" — Friedrich Nietzsche The God that won't stay dead. In this episode, we wrap up our discussion of God, Nietzsche, and how Jesus fights against our attempts at self-atonement. SHOW NOTES: A God Torn to Pieces: The Nietzsche Case (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture) https://amzn.to/3fXcir1   A God...

Featured text: "A God Torn to Pieces: The Nietzsche Case (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture)" — Friedrich Nietzsche God is Dead again, because of us. In this episode, we discuss whether Friedrich Nietzsche was closer to the kingdom of God than most modern Christians, and how we can learn from him. SHOW NOTES: A God Torn to Pieces: The Nietzsche Case (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture) ht...

Featured text: "A Prayer for Memorial Day" A Prayer for Memorial Day. Donavon Riley and Christopher Gillespie read and reflect on a Memorial Day prayer from the Lutheran Book of Prayer — on the sacrifices made for freedom, the place and limits of civic duty, and the grace by which we are saved through faith in Christ apart from our works. SHOW NOTES: A Prayer for Memorial Day https://blog.cph.org/...

Featured text: "Nietzsche and Christ" — Terry Eagleton God is Dead. In this episode, why the New Testament is more radical than Friedrich Nietzsche in its critique of false religion and false gods. SHOW NOTES: Eagleton - Nietzsche and Christ http://trinitycollegechapel.com//media/filestore/sermons/EagletonNietzsche231108.pdf   Terry Eagleton bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Eagleton   1979...

Featured text: "Nietzsche and Christ" — Terry Eagleton Nietzsche is Dead. In this episode, learning from Friedrich Nietzsche how to repent and believe in Christ Jesus as Savior. SHOW NOTES: Eagleton - Nietzsche and Christ http://trinitycollegechapel.com//media/filestore/sermons/EagletonNietzsche231108.pdf   Terry Eagleton bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Eagleton   1979 Life of Brian church...

This, That, and Another Thing. In this episode, we do a pastoral debrief, discussing vocation, doctrine, and the daily struggles and afflictions of Christians. SHOW NOTES: Strauss–Howe generational theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss–Howe_generational_theory   — CONTACT and FOLLOW BannedBooks@1517.org Facebook Twitter Telegram SUBSCRIBE YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Overcast Goo...

Three Men Enter, One Man Leaves. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Scott Keith about Christian doctrine and vocation. How do we live faithfully in Christ while simultaneously living in our vocations in a sinful, evil world? SHOW NOTES: Dr. Scott Keith https://www.1517.org/contributors/scott-keith   Scott Keith is the Executive Director of 1517 and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Concordia Universit...

Featured text: "Difference between Tolerating Injustice and Violence, and Remaining Silent" — Martin Luther A Seditious Gospel. In this episode, Martin Luther preaches when Christians must rebuke sinful rulers, and when the Gospel becomes a seditious doctrine. SHOW NOTES: Luther's Works, Volume 69 (Sermons on the Gospel of John 17-20), p. 237 & 248 https://amzn.to/2Q7MpLe Bo Giertz, The Hammer of...

Featured text: "The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It" — Robert Capon Guilty, Until Proven Gospeled. In this episode, we conclude our reading and discussion of Robert Capon's, The Mystery of Christ & Why We Don't Get It. How does the Gospel of Jesus Christ free us from wallowing in guilt and living in the comforting freedom of knowing we've been chosen in Christ since the foundation...

Featured text: "The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It" — Robert Capon You Know, The Next Thing. In this episode, we continue reading Robert Capon's The Mystery of Christ, and Why We Don't Get It. We further discuss pastoral care, exegesis, the purpose of theology, and where Christian preaching points us. SHOW NOTES: Robert Farrar Capon, "The Mystery and Guilt" from "The Mystery of Ch...

Featured text: "The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It" — Robert Capon You Know, The Thing. In this episode, Robert Capon on The Mystery of Christ, and Why We Don't Get It. We discuss exegesis, pastoral care, preaching, and the task of a theologian. SHOW NOTES: Robert Farrar Capon, "The Mystery and Guilt" from "The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It" https://amzn.to/3dUHq...

Featured text: "Gravity and Grace" — Simone Weil Turning Inward to Attack Evil. In this episode, we continue to discuss Simone Weil on Evil. The importance of Jesus' sacrificial death as expiation and redemption and what happens when we try to make good apart from God. SHOW NOTES: Simone Weil, "Evil" from "Gravity and Grace" https://amzn.to/3t1gwSF   109: Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning,"...

Featured text: "Gravity and Grace" — Simone Weil Am I Evil? In this episode, we continue to read and discuss Simone Weil on Evil. Violence, suffering, and justice. What part does human evil play in Jesus' sacrificial death? SHOW NOTES: Simone Weil, "Evil" from "Gravity and Grace" https://amzn.to/3t1gwSF   109: Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning," part 1 https://www.1517.org/podcasts/banned-b...

Featured text: "Gravity and Grace" — Simone Weil Oh goodness, it's so evil. In this episode, we continue reading and discussing Simone Weil on evil. If God alone is good what does that mean for our understanding of ourselves and the world? SHOW NOTES: Simone Weil, "Evil" from "Gravity and Grace" https://amzn.to/3t1gwSF   The History of the World According to 'Ancient Aliens' https://youtu.be/vDq8v...

Featured text: "Gravity and Grace" — Simone Weil Am I Evil? In this episode, Simone Weil on evil. What is evil, and how is it distinct from what is good? How does our understanding of evil, or our ignorance of it, affect the churches? SHOW NOTES: Simone Weil, "Evil" from "Gravity and Grace" https://amzn.to/3t1gwSF   The History of the World According to 'Ancient Aliens' https://youtu.be/vDq8vQ0t67...

Featured text: "Gravity and Grace" — Simone Weil Idol Talk. In this episode, we return to Simone Weil's book, Gravity and Grace. Idolatry is the topic of conversation. What is an idol? In what ways does idolatry infiltrate our churches, and what are the consequences? How do we guard against it? SHOW NOTES: Simone Weil, "Idolatry" from "Gravity and Grace" https://amzn.to/3t1gwSF   — CONTACT and FOL...

Featured text: "Gravity and Grace" — Simone Weil Into The Mystic. In this episode, we read and discuss the crucifixion as interpreted by Simone Weil, an anarchist, philosopher, and mystic. SHOW NOTES: Simone Weil, "Idolatry" from "Gravity and Grace" https://amzn.to/3t1gwSF   — CONTACT and FOLLOW BannedBooks@1517.org Facebook Twitter Telegram SUBSCRIBE YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Overca...