Truce - History of the Christian Church

Donate to help keep Truce going! Who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance for the United States? On this episode of Truce, we examine the conditions under which the Pledge was written and Francis Bellamy, the man responsible for our famous creed. Along the way we learn about Bellamy's belief in Christian Socialism, the Social Gospel, and Charles Sheldon's book "In His Steps". Even though it is one of th...

Do you love the Truce Podcast? Be a part of supporting the show by giving to keep the show going. You can send a traditional check (made out to Chris Staron) to: Chris Staron PO Box 3434 Jackson, WY 83001 Or donate online using a credit card at: https://trucepodcast.com/donate/ Please note that Truce is not a non-profit and money given to us cannot be deducted on your tax returns. We did this on p...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast We've spent the last several weeks asking the question: "Is the United States an empire?" Now we want to go even deeper: "Is empire always a bad thing?" So we invented a game that will explore that question. It's Capture the Flag... with resources. Topics discussed: Is empire alwa...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast The United States, a "Christian" nation, has a bad habit of forgetting its own people. Really. We'll prove it to you! We forget that the territories are a part of our country. Why does that matter? It impacts if/when they can vote and allows us to withhold federal aid. That matter...

Donate a little to help the show on either Patreon or Paypal Remember to post #nowherenearcuba this week! When we were done conquering the west, done warring with Mexico, done fighting Native Americans, we looked out across the Pacific Ocean and said... "huh... I wonder what's over there?" The truth is that the United States is an empire. We accomplished that by fighting wars and by seeking out re...

Donate a little to help the show on either Patreon or Paypal Please fill out our listener survey here: https://forms.gle/G5euVtM3JistChuz7 What do you think of when you hear the word "empire"? Maybe Great Britain? The Soviet Union? The Mongols? Sure. But what if I told you that the United States is also an empire. And always has been. Our guest this episode is Daniel Immerwahr, author of the book...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast Is the USA a Christian nation? There are a lot of people who argue that it is. And a lot of others who say that it is not. Which is it? What do we gain by calling it a Christian nation? Our guest this episode is Dr. Gregg L Frazer, author of The Religious Beliefs of America's Foun...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast Was the American Revolution biblical? There are lots of people who argue that the United States is a Christian nation. But our nation is founded on revolution. The Bible is clear that we are to obey our leaders. How do we reconcile the fact the Revolution was not a Christian act w...

Were the founding fathers of the United States Christians or Deists? That question has been at the heart of a debate that comes up all the time in the Church: is the United States a Christian nation? Our guest for this episode is Dr. Gregg L Frazer. He's the author of The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders and God Against the Revolution. Donate a little to help the show on either Patreon or P...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast Are you curious about why Truce is covering the topics that it is? Wondering where this thing is going? We've heard you! In response to the confusion of our audience, we've put together this special interview episode to answer some of your questions. Chris is joined by Eric Nevins...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast In Russia during the Soviet era, hundred of posters and magazine covers were printed to encourage people to abandon their faith. They were state-sponsored and designed to be interpreted even by people who could not read. This propaganda clearly tied anti-Christian sentiment to the...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast How strong was the soviet mythology? Strong enough to make a young boy turn in his own parents. At least... that's what the communist government of Russia wanted their people to believe. They created a myth around a boy named Pavlik Morozov who they deemed Pioneer 1. Select Source...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast Vladimir Prokhnevskiy moved to the United States as a Christian refugee from Ukraine. He and his family left that country after enduring oppression from their governments. He spoke with Chris about what it was like to live in such poverty, how his father was threatened with work i...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast After the fall of the Romanov dynasty, Russia fell into the hands of the Bolshevik political party. They led the country into one of the darkest chapters in world history when religious people and dissidents were targeted, imprisoned, and murdered. This history is hard to hear but...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast When the Russian tsars fell, they left a power vacuum. Who would rule Russia after the Romanov dynasty? The Bolshevik's rose to power, led by Vladimir Lenin. Lenin immediately began persecuting anybody he didn't like. In this episode, we'll examine the dark realities behind the Ru...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast What is the difference between communism and socialism? They get used interchangeably in our culture, but do they really mean the same thing? In this episode, we'll give a textbook definition of each and then see how those ideas change in the wild. Our guests today are my friend B...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast "We did our best, but it turned out as it always does". Kind of a dark statement, no? It is a popular Russian phrase that kind of encapsulates the spirit of Russian history. People who try hard to make a change, but that change is not exactly great. In this episode of the Truce Po...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast Christmas and New Years can be a stressful time for us. But what if you had to celebrate two Christmas' and two Years'? Our special guest Jennifer Eremeeva (author of Have Personality Disorder Will Rule Russia) is an American married to a Russian. Each year they have the potential...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast Merry Christmas! As a bonus, we are featuring some stories from the Christian Podcasters Association Christmas Episode Exchange. Each person in the group was allowed to submit a 5-minute mini-episode on the theme of Christmas. I've collected a few of them here and some more will b...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast Rasputin - the rogue monk who changed the face of the world. Or did he? Grigory Rasputin was a wandering monk from Siberia. A peasant. A long-haired man with a family. Through a series of connections with powerful people, he became the right-hand man of Nicholas II, the Russian ts...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast This is the second in a two-part story about the fall of the last czars of Russia. Their murder had a ripple effect across history. After them came Lenin and the rise of communism and the USSR. The modern American church changed to keep up. If Russia was going for collectivism and...

Become a patron of the show and help me make even more great episodes! Donate by visiting www.patreon.com/trucepodcast One murder changed the course of Christian history. And it wasn't of a pope or church leader - it was the murder of Russia's last czars, the Romanovs. This is the beginning of our series on how communist Russia shaped modern Christianity in America. Tsar Nicholas II made many cruc...

Truce is back with a special guest: Phil Vischer, one of the creators of the VeggieTales video series. He's also the creator of the new Laugh and Learn Bible and one of the hosts of the Holy Post Podcast (strongly recommended). You can find our bonus material for this episode at www.patreon.com/trucepodcast. Links: https://philvischer.com/ Topics discussed: * How did Phil create VeggieTales? * How...

Truce is back for a third season! We'll begin with a conversation with Phil Vischer, creator of the popular VeggieTales animated series and the author of the new Laugh and Learn Bible. Then we're going to take a sharp turn and study Russia: how did tsarist Russia fall, how did communism gain its hold, and how did that shape the American church. I promise you, it's going to be fascinating! Subscrib...

Napoleon Bonaparte. No question he was a military genius and was partially responsible for modernizing Europe. But there are some things we just aren't sure about. Like, was Napoleon a Christian, a Muslim, or a poser? In this, the final episode of season 2, we're going to explore the faith history of one of the most influential men of all time. We're joined by Pastor Justin Butler (highlandccky.or...