Banned Books

Featured text: "Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation" — Desiderius Erasmus Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man! Gillespie and Riley continue to read and discuss Erasmus' diatribe on Free Will and Salvation. How does Erasmus read the Bible and how does his interpretation continue to influence the church today? How does Erasmus' anthropology determine how the church con...

Featured text: "Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation" — Desiderius Erasmus Hey, careful, man, there's a theologian here! Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Erasmus of Rotterdam's discourse on The Freedom of The Will. In his debate with Martin Luther, how did Erasmus lose the battle but win the war over the doctrine of free will? How does it continue to influence the church today? Text: Lu...

Featured text: "The Stromata" — Clement of Alexandria You're not making Christianity better; you're making Stoicism worse. Gillespie and Riley continue their discussion of free will and predestination by reading Clement of Alexandria. Where does the doctrine of free will originate? What happens when a Christian blends biblical theology and philosophy? Why doesn't Riley like Star Wars sermons? Text...

Featured text: "Against Heresies" — Irenaeus I thought we had something, but then you do and pull this. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Irenaeus on free will and predestination. What part do Christians play in their salvation? Do we choose to sin? Who goes to hell? Text: Writings of Iranaeus Show Notes:   Iranaeus (bio) Man and the Incarnation: A Study in the Biblical Theology of Irenaeus Pap...

Featured text: "First Apology" — Justin Martyr, Tatian Just Think of This As a Friendly Test That Could Get You Thrown into Hell, Or Not... Your Choice. Gillespie and Riley continue their discussion of Justin Martyr on free will and predestination. They also read and discuss the writings of Justin's student, Tatian, on the same topic. Why do we demand that the choice be ours as regards our salvati...

Featured text: "First Apology" — Justin Martyr The Only Wrong Choice Is to Not Make a Choice... Where does the belief in free will originate? Is free will a biblical doctrine? How does Justin's teaching on free will and salvation still influence the church and western culture today? Text: Writings of Justin Martyr   Show Notes:   Justin Martyr (bio) — Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to...

Featured text: "The Collects of Thomas Cranmer" — Thomas Cranmer They're just psalms! It's OK to pray them! They're psalms! Gillespie and Riley take a listener request. They read and discuss the collects of Thomas Cranmer. Why pray? What should be the content and focus of prayer? How does old Adam fight against God's Word when the new man prays? Text: Book of Common Prayer Online   Show Notes:   T...

Featured text: "Man's Search for Meaning" — Viktor Frankl Must... continue... thinking... in... ways... that... lead... to... dying... with... meaning. Gillespie and Riley finish their reading and discussion of Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning. How has Frankl's book changed the way people discuss identity and meaning? How has this influenced the Church? Text: Viktor Frankl, "Man's Se...

Featured text: "Man's Search for Meaning" — Viktor Frankl We're all going to die. Come watch TV. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Viktor Frankl's, Man's Search for Meaning. Why has a book that was written by a psychoanalyst and neurologist about his experience in the Nazi death camps had such an effect and influence on the Christian Church? Text: Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning" , p....

Featured text: "Mission at Nuremberg: An American Army Chaplain and the Trial of the Nazis" — Tim Townsend I mean, if you spend all day shuffling words around, you can make anything sound bad. Gillespie and Riley finish their discussion of the book, Mission to Nuremberg. What happens when a pastor is called to minister to Nazi war criminals? This is the third of three episodes, where we talk about...

Featured text: "Mission at Nuremberg: An American Army Chaplain and the Trial of the Nazis" — Tim Townsend There's a lesson here and we're not going to be the ones to figure it out. What happens when a pastor is called to minister to Nazi war criminals? This is the second of three episodes, where we talk about the power of the Gospel, state-sponsored religion, and pastoral care when it's attacked...

Featured text: "Mission at Nuremberg: An American Army Chaplain and the Trial of the Nazis" — Tim Townsend Believing stuff is about the stuff, not the believing. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss the book, Mission to Nuremberg. What happens when a pastor is called to minister to Nazi war criminals? This is the first of three episodes, where we talk about the power of the Gospel, state-sponsored...

Featured text: "Church Yearbook of 1932" — Hermann Sasse See Nazis, that's why you can't have nice things. Gillespie and Riley continue their discussion of Hermann Sasse's 1932 article against National Socialism. What is the individual Christian to do when his church and neighbors confess the doctrine of the state in opposition to the Gospel of Christ? Text: Sasse, Church Yearbook of 1932   Show N...

Featured text: "Church Yearbook of 1932" — Hermann Sasse Click on the button with the picture of the Nazi on it. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss an excerpt from Hermann Sasse's 1932 article against National Socialism. What happens when the message of the church and state are indistinguishable? Text: Sasse, Church Yearbook of 1932   Show Notes:   Sasse biography   — Questions? Comments? Show I...

Featured text: "The Cost of Discipleship" — Dietrich Bonhoeffer Cheap Grace, a monument to compromise. Gillespie and Riley continue their conversation about Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, The Cost of Discipleship. This episode, more talk about grace, Nazis, and why the Gospel "but" is so important. Text: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship , p.45-49   Show Notes:   Part 1 Rudolph Bultmann Trial...

Featured text: "The Cost of Discipleship" — Dietrich Bonhoeffer Cheap grace... some people would pay top dollar for that kind of breakthrough. Gillespie and Riley take a listener request and discuss Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, The Cost of Discipleship. Grace, discipline, Nazis, and why context matters in this episode. Text: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship , p.45-49   Show Notes:   Bonhoe...

Featured text: "Why Celebrate Christmas?" — Augustine Christmas? This Is Pretty Much The Whole Package. Gillespie and Riley read and so discuss Augustine's sermon "Why Celebrate Christmas?" This episode, more rabbit trails, laughs, and discussion of Psalm 85 as the perfect Christmas sermon text. Text: Excerpt from Sermo 185: PL 38, 997-999   Show Notes:   Calientitos, Ponche Navideño Selected work...

Featured text: "The Spirit of Christmas: Stories, Poems, Essays" — G.K. Chesterton Break the cycle. Rise above. Focus on Christ in the manger. In their monumental 100th episode, Gillespie and Riley read and discuss G.K. Chesterton's "The Christmas Ballads." This episode, it's a lot of incarnation talk and a few rabbit trails along the way. Text: G. K. Chesterton, "The Christmas Ballads" from "The...

Featured text: "The Bondage of the Will" — Martin Luther Sometimes, the end is just the beginning. Gillespie and Riley conclude their reading of Martin Luther's treatise on The Bondage of The Will. This episode, they discuss the relation of emotions to God's Word and why Christians aren't skeptics. Text: Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther   Show Notes:   Free edition of "the Bondage of the Will" E...

Featured text: "The Bondage of the Will" — Martin Luther I'm sorry, but your opinion means very little to me. Gillespie and Riley start to wrap up their reading of Martin Luther's Bondage of The Will with a discussion of the Bible's clarity and why personal feelings and our need to find meaning in everything can hijack God's Word. Text: Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther   Show Notes:   Free editi...

Featured text: "The Bondage of the Will" — Martin Luther What about the reality we left behind? Gillespie and Riley wrap up (but, not really) their series on Martin Luther's treatise on The Bondage of the Will. This episode, Erasmus and Luther butt heads about how to interpret Scripture, and Luther lays out how he interprets Scripture, which will form the rest of his argument about the relation (o...

Featured text: "The Bondage of the Will" — Martin Luther Free choice? It'll blow your mind and crush your soul. Gillespie and Riley start to wrap up their series on Martin Luther's treatise on The Bondage of the Will. This episode, what is free choice according to Erasmus? What's at stake in his argument for our ability to participate in our own salvation? Where does that leave God's Word and gift...

Featured text: "The Bondage of the Will" — Martin Luther Law and Gospel? Let us grab our whiteboard. This has been a long time coming, anyways. Gillespie and Riley talk about what happens when we fail to distinguish God's word of Law from Gospel. More talk about why grammar matters. Finally, we follow a rabbit trail to it's theological conclusion and explain why we always default to law talk rathe...

Featured text: "The Bondage of the Will" — Martin Luther Worshipping the hidden God is basically a funeral with cake. Gillespie and Riley discuss the distinction between God hidden and revealed, and the consequences for how we read the Bible, preach, teach, and care for each other. Text: Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther   Show Notes:   Free edition of "the Bondage of the Will" Episode #86 , #87...

Featured text: "The Bondage of the Will" — Martin Luther Break the cycle. Rise above. Focus on letting God be God. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Martin Luther's treatise on the Bondage of The Will. This episode, why Erasmus, deep down, doesn't want to let God be God for him. Also, why we let God's Word stand unless we need it to take a knee. Text: Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther   Show N...