Mortification of Spin

Our special guest today makes a return visit to the podcast, which can only mean that Carl and Todd have not ruined his reputation (well at least, not yet)!  Among the many hats he wears, Matthew Barrett is associate professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Theological retrieval is a process close to Matthew’s heart, and his latest book—Simply Trinity: The Unmani...

Learning from the Smyth-Fletcher Abuse Carl flies solo today as he speaks with the Rev. Dr. Peter Sanlon, an old friend and a minister in the Anglican Church in the UK. Their conversation is a somber one dealing with a horrific scandal of abuse that has emerged in the past couple of years involving a prominent Anglican minister, the Reverend Jonathan Fletcher. The full report of the abuses made pu...

Today’s special guest dared to ask questions and present statements from healthcare experts and transgender patients three years ago in his book When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment. Now, he’s been blacklisted and canceled by big tech.    Ryan T. Anderson worked for many years at the Heritage Foundation and helped found Public Discourse, a journal of the Witherspoon Instit...

After revealing some details of their personal lives, Carl and Todd get down to business. Seems a disturbing phenomenon is plaguing churches all over the country. Since the lockdown, many Christians have become too comfortable with worshipping from home over a screen…dressed in their jammies, eating donuts, and—quite possibly—not really worshipping at all.  Does it really matter? What are people m...

The cancel culture mob never sleeps, and this time they’re after one of the most well-known evangelical pastors and writers of our day. Max Lucado recently came under fire for a message he preached and an article he wrote in 2004 holding the view that marriage is between one man and one woman.  Our duo takes on Lucado’s response and all that followed when his “crime,’ according to the mob, was exp...

American culture has been moving in a progressive direction at breakneck speed, with it, the language employed to define the trends. Today, Carl and Todd explore the meaning of “Cancel Culture” and the latest “cancellation” of a prominent conservative voice by one of the most powerful corporations in the country. Ryan T. Anderson, who has been a guest on this podcast, was recently “canceled” for h...

Christian education is highly regarded among Reformed Christians, and for good reason. Teaching young believers the basics of the faith and helping the mature ones swim the deep waters of the catholicity of our creeds and confessions has been, for many years, a passion and mission of today’s guest. Lane Tipton is pastor at Trinity Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Easton, PA, and a fellow of Biblica...

Evil has plagued humanity since the Garden of Eden…and has obviously clouded Carl's judgement. In today’s conversation, the brash Brit attempts to pass as a native Texan, just because he’s been to a Willie Nelson concert at Billy Bob’s wearing cowboy boots and a Stetson. Take a moment to picture the hideous spectacle… Todd, a true native of the Lone Star State, welcomes recent Texas transplant Sco...

Carl and Todd meet to discuss a prevalent problem in the church: spiritual abuse. We know it happens, but pinpointing spiritual abuse in the church—then, working to resolve it--requires a great deal of care and wisdom.  What actually constitutes “spiritual abuse?” Do being confronted, offended, or simply hearing something you don’t like count as forms of abuse? How has the therapeutic culture we l...

Michael Hanby is associate professor of Religion and Philosophy of Science at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America. Dr. Hanby is in today to discuss recent societal changes that are taking place at breakneck speed.  The concept of gay marriage may seem almost conservative these days, considered alongside the issues we all no...

CRT (Carl R. Trueman) joins co-host Todd Pruitt, who is primed and ready for today’s discussion of…CRT! Critical Race Theory has seeped into the church—even reaching some more conservative branches of Protestantism—and it’s rapidly gaining ground. What is critical race theory? Carl makes the connection with identity politics as he describes his recent article that demonstrates CRT is another seduc...

With Todd hopelessly delayed by an extended hair styling appointment, Carl alone sits down to chat with our special guest. At the table is Andrew Walker, associate professor of Christian Ethics and Apologetics, associate dean of the School of Theology, and executive director of the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement, all at Southern Baptist Seminary. Andrew’s also an editor and...

Life is full of tragedy, sadness, and suffering. Scripture is replete with such stories from Genesis to Revelation. Why is there suffering? Why do Christians suffer? Is there any hope to be found in the midst of suffering? Carl and Todd sit down with Mark Talbot, associate professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College, who has written a very helpful book entitled When the Stars Disappear: Help and Ho...

Worship is a sacred privilege for Christians, and how we approach worship is key to revealing what we believe about our relationship with the transcendent God. With that understanding in mind, Carl and Todd invite Jonathan Cruse to talk about his book, titled What Happens When We Worship. Jonathan is an ordained minister in the OPC, and pastors Community Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo, MI. Cruse...

Brad Littlejohn and Colin Redemer join Carl and Todd for a conversation about the Davenant Institute, and to reflect on the state of education in general and of theological education in particular in the United States. You’ll learn the meaning behind the name of the institution, which was founded to solve a supply and demand problem.  Brad and Colin believe that God’s simplicity, aseity, eternalit...

Keeping track of the beautiful cities in South Carolina is not an easy task, but Todd finally gets it right as he introduces today’s guest. Jon Payne is the pastor of Christ Church Presbyterian in Charleston, SC, and serves as the executive coordinator of the Gospel Reformation Network (GRN).  Jon explains what the Gospel Reformation Network is, what brought this group of PCA pastors and elders to...

Our intrepid (and never tepid) co-hosts welcome good friend Linda Finlayson to the mix. She’s a well-known writer of children’s books, who—for the second time—risks her reputation by sitting down with Carl and Todd to talk about her latest release.  God’s Bible Timeline: The Big Book of Biblical History is the second volume in the series and it’s just off the press. The book combines some of the a...

Carl calls it “the triumph of hope over experience,” as Michael Morales bravely returns for a sit-down with our dynamic duo. Morales discusses his new book, Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption. Michael is professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and an ordained minister in the PCA. How is the book of Exodus a paradigm for salvation throughout...

The dispute between our hosts about which denomination is the greatest in the kingdom of God—the OPC or the PCA—might never end. Aiming to minimize any controversy and tension within the denomination, we bring in a sound-minded PCA southern gentleman to share some good news. Brad Isbel is a ruling elder in his church, one of the hosts of the podcast Presbycast (where he’s AKA “Chortles Weakly”), a...

Our guest is Greg Lanier, associate professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary’s Orlando campus, and a minister of the Gospel. Lanier’s new book tackles crucial questions about our Lord, including: Did Jesus ever claim to be God? What did Paul and the earliest Christians believe about the deity of Jesus, and do the same beliefs remain today among Christians? What does it mean when...

Clearly, we live in times of sexual identity chaos. Arguments that would have sounded unconscionable just a few decades ago are now plausible, and are defended, adopted, even pridefully celebrated. How did we get here? What seeds were planted that flourished into the modern thinking of sexuality as one’s primary or even sole identity? The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expr...

Believe it or not, some Presbyterians do jump the fence and become Baptist! Such is the case of Gavin Ortlund. Gavin is a theologian and pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai in California.  As the idea of doctrinal and theological retrieval has risen in prominence, what then is theological retrieval? What exactly are we seeking to “retrieve”—and why?  Gavin shares reasons why he’s communicating...

Todd Billings is professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI, and a minister in the Reformed Church in America. He’s the author of Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ, but his most recent book—The End of the Christian Life: How Embracing Our Mortality Frees Us to Truly Live—is today’s topic.  As Todd surveyed his former students...

Carl and Todd welcome a returning guest: Ismael Hernandez. He’s the executive director of the Freedom and Virtue Institute and author of Not Tragically Colored. Ismael joins in to discuss the current state of racial tension and politics in America. His experience growing up with Marxist ideals, and--later in life—joining a religious Marxist group gives Hernandez special insight into the topic.   A...

It’s been a banner year for great books, and the Spin Crew has chosen yet another winner! This time, Carl and Todd sit down with Eric Jacobsen, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, WI, and author of Three Pieces of Glass: Why We Feel Lonely in a World Mediated by Screens. What are the pieces of glass Eric refers to, and how have they changed our world?  Just a few years ago, we we...