The Libertarian Christian Podcast

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...

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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...

Cody Cook welcomes Eamonn Butler, British economist and co-founder/director of the Adam Smith Institute, for a timely discussion marking the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's seminal work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (published March 9, 1776). Butler, author of primers on Hayek, Friedman, and Mises, shares insights from his work studying and promoting the ideas o...

Mike Maharrey has been in the libertarian Christian space for a long time. In this episode he steps back from politics entirely and talks about his own story: a decades-long journey through evangelical Protestantism that eventually landed him in Eastern Orthodoxy. What drove the move, what he found when he got there, and what he'd say to other Christians who feel spiritually restless. Check out Mi...

Adoption belongs at the center of the pro-life conversation, not on its periphery. Yet Christians who can speak fluently about abortion policy often go quiet when the topic turns to adoption -- what it means theologically, what it demands practically, and why it is one of the most concrete pictures of the gospel available to the church. In this episode of the Libertarian Christian Podcast, host Do...

Host Cody Cook sits down with Patrick Carroll, a sharp libertarian opinion journalist based near Toronto whose writing appears in outlets like the Mises Institute, Libertarian Institute, AIER, and FEE (where he once served as managing editor). Carroll's Substack, Against the Left, regularly dismantles progressive arguments from a free-market vantage point—and this conversation dives deep into one...

Jennifer Townsend—adjunct instructor, death-and-dying scholar, and Heterodox Academy campus co-chair at Western Michigan University—challenges the ideological monoculture dominating higher education. Awarded for promoting open inquiry and viewpoint diversity, she shares how she openly defends free speech on a left-leaning campus without hiding her views. The conversation dives into Jonathan Haidt'...

Economist and author Bryan Caplan returns to discuss his latest book, You Have No Right to Your Culture. Bryan explains why genuine “cultural preservation” would require totalitarian control over children and future generations, why most cultural change comes from generational shifts rather than immigration, and why appeals to a “right to culture” only seem to appear when immigrants are involved....

In a more theology-heavy discussion, the Libertarian Christian Podcast welcomed guest Rev. Nicholas Quient, pastor and New Testament PhD candidate, for a deep dive into apocalyptic theology in Pauline studies. Quient contrasts the traditional Lutheran/Reformed view of Paul (individual justification and guilt), the New Perspective (covenantal nomism and Jew-Gentile unity), and the apocalyptic Paul—...

Doug Stuart interviews Caleb Franz, author of The Conductor: The Story of Reverend John Rankin, Abolitionism's Essential Founding Father . Franz shares the fascinating story of how he discovered and researched this largely forgotten figure from his hometown of Ironton, Ohio. The conversation explores Rankin's pivotal role in the abolition movement, particularly in the Ohio River Valley—a region of...

In this episode, Cody Cook interviews Joel Miller, author of The Idea Machine: How Books Built Our World and Shape Our Future . A former publishing executive, Miller reveals how books—far more than mere containers of text—have profoundly shaped civilization. He explores the "magic" of their physical form (which enabled Augustine’s transformative encounter with Romans) the timeless dialogues they a...

Doug welcomes back returning guest Jim Babka for a libertarian Christian deep dive into Donald Trump’s “second first year” in office. They walk through key events from 2025–26 and ask what they reveal about power, symbolism, and the state. Topics include: Why Trump’s second term feels so different from his first, and how anger and “getting even” seem to shape his decisions The Iran bunker‑busting...

Cody Cook sits down with Javan Lapp—a manufacturing executive, amateur historian, and Lancaster County keeper of goats—to explore the insights of 16th-century Anabaptist thinker Pilgram Marpeck into what it means for the church to be embodied without succumbing to state Christianity. Drawing from Javan’s contribution to Anabaptist Political Theology After Marpeck , the conversation examines Marpec...