The Holy Post

Here we go again. The evangelical world is shocked by another leadership scandal. This time it's the report that famed apologist Ravi Zacharias sexually abused women for years before his death in 2020. Kaitlyn Schiess joins Phil and Skye to discuss the story, and why so many ministries fail to investigate their famous leaders or take abuse allegations seriously. Then, Skye talks with Charlie Dates...

Before the 2020 election, many self-identified "prophets" within the charismatic movement decalred God had revealed to them that Donald Trump would win. Millions of followers believed them. How are they now reconciling their divine revelations with reality? The Holy Post crew looks at another failed prophecy in the 1840s that changed American Christianity. Also this week, Phil deputizes Mike Erre...

Evangelicals used to believe the way to transform America was through revivalism. Increasingly, they now believe it's through revolution. Why are so many buying into Christian nationalism? What is it? And what can we do about those caught in this heretical gospel of political domination? Phil, Skye, and Christian discuss the issue. Also this week, Dr. Derwin Gray—former NFL player and lead pastor...

Was Donald Trump good or bad for the Republican Party? The GOP lost the presidency and the Senate, but in 2020 the party gain seats in the House and Trump also got more votes than any Republican candidate ever! Conservative columnist and veteran of three Republican administrations, Peter Wehner, joins Skye to talk about the future of the party after Trump, and why evangelicals are the group most e...

Jemar Tisby (The Color of Compromise) rejoins Phil to discuss his new book, How to Fight Racism. Actual, real steps to be part of the solution, not part of the problem! Plus David French posits that the American church has been infected with something called "Southern shame culture," which sends Phil on a journey into the "Lost Cause" narrative, confederate monuments, revisionist history and the o...

Everyone is trying to make sense of the attack on the Capitol last week by a violent pro-Trump mob displaying Christian symbols—including us! Kaitlyn Schiess joins Phil, Skye, and Christian to talk through the madness. Skye explains why this attack is fundamentally different from political violence in America's past. Phil worries about the loss of objective truth and why responses on Facebook are...

We're starting the new year with a look back. John Fea, history professor from Messiah College, author of "Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump," and the official historian of the Holy Post podcast, says 2020 was a year that "unveiled" the truth about American evangelicalism. He also explores how different court evangelicals have responded to Trump's loss, and what may happen next. Fea...

Recently, Young Earth Creation (YEC) champion Ken Ham took exception to Phil's statement that Ham "rejects mainstream science." In the flurry of social media activity that followed, a number of YEC experts took Phil to task, claiming he was wrong on several facts. Phil dug deeper and realized he WAS in fact wrong on a couple of things, but right on a bunch more. So this week Phil lays out what he...

Trump supporters who believe the election was stolen, including Eric Metaxas and the My Pillow Guy, marched on Washington D.C. to blow their horns and sell their merch. Notable was the absence of many of the President's evangelical allies. Why didn't they show? Influential black pastors are leaving the Southern Baptist Convention over their blanket opposition to Critical Race Theory. Given the SBC...

Advances in medical technology have produced a Covid-19 vaccine in record time, but some of these advances have a dark side. Gene editing technology may end some diseases, but should we interfere with the conception and birth of those who carry certain genes? And what about creating enhanced humans? Bioethicist Calum MacKellar joins Skye for an important, and somewhat disturbing conversation about...

Conservatives have recently found a new boogeyman—Critical Theory. Even Mr. Trump has issued an executive order declaring Critical Theory to be "anti-American," and last week the presidents of six Southern Baptist seminaries said critical theory is incompatible with Christianity. Their statement, however, never defined what Critical Theory is nor what makes it unchristian. Theologian David Fitch i...

In November, seven states (both red and blue) had initiatives on their ballots to either decriminalize or legalize some drugs including marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and LSD. Every measure passed. As the U.S. continues to rapidly abandon its war on drugs, how should Christians respond? And if these addictive and dangerous substances are legalized, what happens next? Bonnie Kristian is back to talk a...

The cultures which produced the Bible were collectivist, but most modern Western Christians are immersed in individualism. Biblical scholar and missionary, E. Randolph Richards says this causes many of us to misinterpret critical aspects of the Bible, or miss them altogether. He talks with Skye about his latest book, "Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes." Also this week—has a decline in r...

The CEOs of Facebook and Twitter testified before Congress this week about the toxic spread of misinformation on their platforms and the harm it causes to society. Sadly, many Christians are complicit in this trend. Daniel Darling is back to talk about how Christians must change the way we engage social media if there's any hope of redeeming it. Also this week, Trump's favorite television preacher...

The exit poll data from the election is in, and it looks like white evangelicals are as politically conservative and Republican as ever. Professor of political science from Eastern Illinois University, Ryan Burge, joins the Holy Post crew to discuss the findings. He says Democrats should give up on white evangelical voters who are now more Republican than Christian. Burge also looks at the formati...

It's 2020, did anyone really expect the election to be easy? The morning after the vote, a sleep-deprived Holy Post crew discusses what the incomplete results mean for the country and the church. The country hasn't repudiated Trumpism, but they don't seem to be embracing progressivism either. Did evangelicals still "hold their nose" and vote for Trump, or do exit polls show they're deeply inhaling...

With less than a week until the election, Phil and Skye are joined by Kaitlyn Schiess to discuss what should, and should not, influence how Christians vote. First, they talk about reactions to Skye's video (not Phil's, he had nothing to do with it!) about abortion, and the different ways the issue is viewed by evangelicals. They also unpack recent articles about the election from three Christian l...

Author and cultural commentator, Os Guinness, says, "If people don't understand the 60's, they can't understand today." Skye talks with Os about the re-release of his classic book, "The Dust of Death" and how the 60's counterculture planted the seeds for the cultural upheaval and division we're seeing in 2020. Also this week, can the National Association of Evangelicals restore the reputation of e...

The most esteemed New Testament scholar alive today is back on the show! N.T. Wright discusses his new book about John's gospel, "Broken Signposts." Wright talks to Skye about two competing visions of power and freedom at work in the world today, and how the church sometimes fails to follow the right one. He also unpacks how "identity" has become the dominant framework in our culture, how it's a r...

Does the Bible have anything to say about the police? What about racial diversity? Are Christians called to submit to the government or reform it? Professor and Anglican priest, Esau McCaulley, talks about his new book, "Reading While Black," and the African-American tradition of Scripture interpretation that avoids the either/or (conservative vs. liberal) thinking typical in the white church. Als...

The Holy Post crew discusses the new Netflix documentary, "The Social Dilemma," about the way social media is contributing to the breakdown of society and how Facebook's algorithms make reasonable people into extremists. Also this week, Skye and Josh Lindsay—his co-host on The Movie Proposal podcast—interview actor and screenwriter, Luke Barnett, about his new comedy "Faith Based." Barnett explain...

The United States now has more guns than people, and while overall violent crime is down the number of mass shootings is set to break a record in 2020 and suicides from guns is rising. How should Christians think about America's gun culture? David French is back to offer a legal and moral argument for why most attempts at gun control are misguided. He says more legal gun ownership protects freedom...

At numerous points throughout American history, Christians had a choice to confront the evils of racism or quietly ignore them. In a challenging conversation Jemar Tisby, author of "The Color of Compromise" and host of the "Pass the Mic" podcast, explores key moments from the arrival of the first African slaves in 1619 to the rise of the Religious Right in the 1970s when the white church in Americ...

Why does everything feel like it's "us vs. them" these days? Pastor and author J.R. Briggs says it's because we've been taught to see everything as either/or, while Jesus modeled how to live in the tension of both/and. Briggs calls the space between opposing ideas the "sacred overlap." He talks to Skye about the role of mystery and paradox in Christian theology, and how it applies to contemporary...

We are deep into campaign season with Christians on all sides becoming increasingly anxious and vocal. Phil talks with Kaitlyn Schiess, author of "The Liturgy of Politics," about the false narratives shaping the hearts and politics of many Christians. She identifies these "false gospels" as prosperity, patriotism, security, and supremacy—and they're far more subtle and powerful than you might thin...