The Protestant Libertarian Podcast

In this episode I talk with Chelsea Follett, research fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, about her band-new book The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past. In this book she argues that the current tendency of thinkers on the left and right to romanticize the world before industrialization is misguided. Much of her book deals with the grim realities of life before the Industrial Revolution, and we discuss how marriage and family, food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, clothing, work, and leisure were all sordid affairs, and how even the wealthiest people of...

In this Theology Thursday, I replay an LCI Greenroom episode I recorded with Cody Cook and Jacob Winograd about some of the themes which I address in my book Politics, Economics, and New Testament Interpretation, particularly how New Testament scholarship has misunderstood fundamental political and economic concepts. Enjoy!

Media Referenced:

 Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation: 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/0aFo5AeD

LCI: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a...

In this episode I talk with Dr. Gerald Hiestand, senior pastor of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Illinois, about his brand-new book Justification and the Churches: Pastoral Questions at the Heart of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Theology. Without minimizing the differences between the three great Christian traditions, Hiestand demonstrates that each communion's approach to the doctrine of justification includes valid theological insights. He argues that theology is almost always a response to pastoral questions and that the Protestant concern for extrinsic acquittal, the Catholic concern for internal healing, and the Orthodox concern for eschatological glorification shape the way...

In this episode, Dr. Eric Schansberg returns to the show to discuss his book College 101: What Students and Parents Should Know About Universities. In this book, Schansberg cuts through the mythology of higher education and offers parents and prospective students advice on how to negotiate the complex college landscape. He explains why college isn’t always the right choice and how students should not go into debt to pay for schooling, how school rankings are less important than the school’s teaching styles, why paying for ‘the college experience’ is a bad investment, the economics behind the increasing cost of highe...

In this episode I talk with Richard Krauland about his book The Bridge from Science to God. Krauland discusses his background as an entrepreneur and mathematician and how his early years as a skeptic led to him finding faith. He explains how the complexities of science must lead us to the conclusion that there is a God behind it while encouraging the church to think critically about intelligent design. He also describes how his personal experiences with illness and family death shaped his appreciation for both God and science, how loving others even when we disagree with them is...

Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation: 

LCI: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

Amazon: https://a.co/d/0aFo5AeD

In this episode I talk once again with Dr. Allan Bevere about the current state of American politics and how the church should respond. We discuss the second Trump term and compare him to his predecessors (including his own first term), why America is always at war and how the church doesn’t seem to care too much, how political divisions are fueled by the social media and plague the chu...

Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation: 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/031IwQ0F

LCI: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode I talk with Scott Lackey, pastor of New Story Church in Buffalo, New York and host of the Creating Space podcast, about Paul’s letter to Rome. We discuss the challenges of studying Romans while preaching and teaching it to a lay audience. Scott then explains why Paul wrote Romans and the major themes, particularly of community formation, that shape the letter. We then work through Romans on...

Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation: 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/0aFo5AeD

LCI: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode I explore Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 2:2 that he “desired to know nothing among you [the Corinthians] except Jesus Christ and him crucified”. I explain how Paul always has the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus in mind and that Christ’s death is always conceptualized as crucifixion. In this context, Paul is appealing to the Corinthians to imitate Christ and overcome the divisions which are plaguing...

Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation: 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/0aFo5AeD

LCI: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode I talk with Dr. Brandon Crowe about his brand-new book James Revisited: Christology and Biblical Theology in the Letter of James, out now on Baker Academic. In this book Crow examines James in light of the biblical canon and Christology, showing how Jesus and the rest of Scripture illuminate and are illuminated by James. We discuss the authorship, dating and purpose of James, suggesting it might be o...

Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation: 

LCI: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

Amazon: https://a.co/d/0aFo5AeD

In this episode I talk with Dr. Mark Nanos about the Paul Within Judaism school. Paul Within Judaism scholars seek to understand Paul in his Jewish context without assuming that Paul was somehow opposed to or abandoning his Jewish heritage. Dr. Nanos explains how PWJ scholars interpret Paul, why the “Two Covenants” or Sonderweg approach is not the predominant view among PWJ scholars, and why we need to reconceptualize Paul outsi...

Order my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 

In this episode I address a question that Christians have been asking for centuries: do Paul and James disagree about faith and works? In passages like Romans 3:27-30 and Galatians 2:15-16, Paul says that we are justified by faith and not the works of the Law. In James 2:14-26, however, James claims that faith without works is dead. What’s going on here? I explore how the word ‘faith’ itself is a dynamic term which denotes action, including the concepts of faithfu...

In this episode, Bethany Bernardo guest hosts the show to interview me about my new book Politics, Economics, and New Testament Interpretation, which is now available for purchase on all major platforms! In this book I make an extended argument that the New Testament does not endorse authoritarian socialism. In biblical scholarship and theology, political and economic categories are imprecisely defined, which enables scholars to impose the modern popular paradigm of authoritarian socialism on the text, distorting both the interpretation of the New Testament and the ways in which the church applies the Bible to contemporary questions. I argue...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 

In this episode I explore the infamous “render unto Caesar” passage from Mark 12:13-17 and its parallels in Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26. What exactly did Jesus mean when he uttered this phrase? Despite centuries of misreading the text, I argue that the ancient world knew nothing of the separation between church and state; reading this passage as if it affirms the modern secular/religious divide won’t do. I then explore the narrative context of the tradition in the Synoptic gospels...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode, I replay a conversation I had with Doug Stuart on the Libertarian Christian Podcast about how to read the Bible effectively. I talk about my relationship with the Bible, why it is so important to me, and why I read it daily. I talk about the different ways of approaching the text, how I prefer to read it, and provide some strategies and insights into how Christians can read Scripture more effectively.

Media Referenced:

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 

In this episode I talk with economist Dr. Anne Bradley about how Christians can learn to think more clearly about economics. She explains why Christians should take economics seriously and the mistakes that many Americans, not just Christians, make with respect to economic reasoning. She then describes how the Christian starting point for economics must be both creation and anthropology, revealing how Genesis 1-2 reveals the need for work and productivity, as well as the value of every person. Dr. Bradley b...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode I talk with Dr. Scot McKnight about his brand-new book Jesus, People, Pharisees: Exploring the Conflict in Galilee, out now on Fortress Press. In this book Dr. McKnight argues that the popular conception of the Pharisees as legalistic, rigid, and hypocritical is fundamentally flawed and seeks to reassess who the Pharisees were historically and the actual nature of their conflict with Jesus. We discuss the popularity of the Pharisees and how they were actually the progressives of their...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 

In this Theology Thursday episode, I explore the four main “schools” of Pauline interpretation, including the Traditional (or Reformational) Perspective, the New Perspective, the Apocalyptic Paul, and Paul Within Judaism. I talk about the strengths of each perspective and how they all contribute something of significance to readers of Paul. The Traditional Perspective rightly observes that grace is entirely unmerited and that believers cannot earn salvation, the New Perspective highlights that the relationship between Jews and Gentiles is central to Paul’s thoug...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode I talk with Reverend Nick Quient, pastor of First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes and host of the New Testament Theologist podcast about his reading of Paul. We discuss his conviction that Paul must be read within an apocalyptic framework and what that means for our interpretation of his letters, the relationship between apocalyptic readings and other schools of Pauline interpretation, the authorship and interpretive methods of the 13 letters attributed to Paul, major themes such as eschatology, the...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode I talk with Dr. Jeff Roper about his book To the Ends of the Earth: Romans and the Mission of God, out now on Wipf and Stock. In this book Roper reads Paul’s letter to Rome not as a work of abstract theology but as a missionary appeal to a culturally diverse church. Roper explains the social and cultural background of the church in Rome, the tension between Jews and Gentiles, Roman attitudes towards the Spanish barbarians Pa...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this Theology Thursday episode, I explore what Paul’s comments in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 about becoming “all things to all men” and doing “all things for the sake of the gospel”. Paul is not claiming that Christians should ever compromise the gospel, which he believes is God’s power for salvation, or our moral values, but that we must wisely tailor our presentation of the gospel to meet the needs of our audience. Embedded within a larger conversation about the eating of meat sacr...

Preorder my new book Politics, Economics and New Testament Interpretation here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/

In this episode I talk with Rabbi Steven Bob about his new book When Judaism Began: Exploring the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which examines the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah through an historical and theological framework, explaining how Judaism begins during that era of history. We talk about the neglect of Ezra and Nehemiah in both Jewish and Christian circles, the historical background of the period in which they were written, and how the geographical return from exile shaped...

My first book, Politics, Economics, and New Testament Interpretation, will be released on Christians for Liberty Press on Tuesday, September 15, 2026! The thesis of my book is simple: the New Testament does not endorse modern authoritarian socialism. A massive amount of research went into this book, and I am very excited to share it with you! 

Preorder a physical copy here: https://libertarianchristians.com/store/politics-economics-and-new-testament-interpretation/ 

You can also preorder the Kindle version here: https://a.co/d/0do2v9ZW

The book will be available in both physical and electronic formats on most ma...

In this episode I talk with Stephanie Slade, senior editor at Reason magazine and author of the forthcoming book Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right, out September 1, 2026 on University of Notre Dame Press. Slade argues that fusionism is much more than the Cold War coalition between conservatives and libertarians, but is rather a philosophy in which the pursuit of liberty and virtue are bound to one another. Slade explains how a free society is impossible without the cultivation of virtue, and how libertarians and conservatives have often marginalized or even outright rejected the value of...

In this episode I explain the New Testament concept of ‘inaugurated eschatology’ and mount a biblical response to the claim that we are currently living through the end times. ‘Eschatology’ simply means ‘the study of final things’, and in theology eschatology explores how God is going to bring his plans for creation to their intended conclusion. Despite the rhetoric that the end times have begun in recent years, the New Testament authors unanimously affirm that the end of history began with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. God, according to the Old Testament prophets, would be faithful to his promi...

In the long-awaited Round 4 of our "Ludwig von Mises vs. A Christian Scholar" series I examine one of the most important questions at the intersection of biblical theology and economics: what is the relationship between justification, righteousness, and social justice? In the first half of this episode, I review James D. G. Dunn's understanding of righteousness and justification as presented in The Justice of God: A Fresh Look at the Old Doctrine of Justification by Faith. In the second half, I critically evaluate and challenge Alan Suggate's chapter in the same volume, arguing that while he rightly recognizes that...

In this episode I talk with Dr. Jason Staples about his book Paul and the Resurrection of Israel, in which he argues that the resurrection of Israel is a major motif in Paul’s thinking. Staples explains how the resurrection of Israel is based on the prophetic hope, rooted in passages like Ezekiel 37, that God would rescue and restore Israel based on His covenantal promises to them. He demonstrates that there is a distinction between “Israel” and “the Jews” in the Bible, and that God’s promises to restore all of Israel must go beyond the descendants of the southern kin...

This Theology Thursday episode of The Protestant Libertarian Podcast features a recording of a sermon I preached on Sunday, June 21, on Jesus' teaching about worry in Matthew 6:25–34. While Jesus famously commands His followers not to worry, this passage raises important questions: Does Scripture prohibit all forms of concern, and how should Christians reconcile Jesus' words with the Bible's many commands to work diligently and provide for ourselves and our families? In this sermon, I argue that Jesus' teaching can only be properly understood within the larger context of the Sermon on the Mount and His announcement that the Kingdom of...

In this episode I talk with Dr. Paul Duff, professor emeritus in the department of world religions at George Washington University and the author of the brand-new book Paul and the Corinthians: Reconstructing the Relationship and the Letters, out now on Eerdmans. In this book Dr. Duff explores 1 and 2 Corinthians , the divisions which plagued the church, and Paul’s complicated relationship with his Corinthian congregation. We talk about the theory that 2 Corinthians is a collection of several small letters Paul sent to Corinth, Paul’s identity and travels, and the city of Corinth. Duff explains the rocky relationship Paul had...

In this episode I talk with Jeremy Todd, the Libertarian candidate for Congress in Kentucky’s 4th district. Todd talks about his decision to run, his opponent and the GOP establishment, and his campaign. Todd believes that Massie represented a principled, America-first agenda and that foreign lobbyists bought his seat in Kentucky. He explains how the GOP candidate Ed Gallrein is a political opportunist who doesn’t care about the people of KY-4 and why he would not represent us in Congress. Todd argues that Massie was right about never-ending debt, government spending, and the warfare state, and would spen...

In this episode I talk with Tony Scarcello about his brand-new book Love All Our Neighbors, where he explores how churches can faithfully hold to a traditional Christian sexual ethic while genuinely loving and ministering to LGBTQ people. Tony discusses the tension many Christians feel in this conversation, the ways the church has often failed LGBTQ individuals, and why many people leave not because of doctrine but because of their experiences. He explains why the perceived conflict between truth and love is a false dichotomy, offers a positive theological vision of the traditional sexual ethic rooted in creation and...

In this episode I offer an introduction to the doctrine of sanctification. I explore how the language of sanctification is related to holiness-language, and that ‘holiness’ primarily denotes a state of being set apart for a particular purpose and is the Greek behind the NASB’s ‘saints’. I explore how holiness is related to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament by exploring Ephesians 1, then demonstrate that the Spirit was promised in the Old Testament in passages like Ezekiel 36 and Joel 2 (tracing their lineage back to Deuteronomy 30 and complimented by Jeremiah 31) which prophecy that in the eschatolog...

In this episode I talk with Dr. John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation Emeritus at Yale University and the world’s leading scholar of apocalypticism and apocalyptic literature, about his brand-new book Apocalypticism as a Worldview in Ancient Judaism, out June 25, 2026 on Eerdmans. Dr. Collins discusses his career and life-long interest in apocalypticism and his role in formulating the standard definition of apocalyptic literature. He explains how ‘apocalyptic’ should only be used as an adjective and why the noun ‘apocalypticism’, denoting a worldview of related concepts, is more appropriate. When then discuss how apocalypticism works in a...

In this episode I talk with Dr. Carl-Magnus Carlstein, lecturer on Biblical Studies at Linkoping University, Sweden, about the contribution he contributed with co-author Rebekah Eklund in New Testament Ethics, out now on Eerdmans, which explores the ethics of possessions and wealth in the New Testament. We discuss the often-neglected topic of possessions, why many Christians are uncomfortable with this topic, and why it is so significant to the New Testament. Carl explains why Luke has a unique take on this subject, how Christians tend to emphasize either radical renunciation or charity as the models for thinking about the...

In this episode I explore the relationship between God’s active and passive wrath, demonstrating how God’s wrath is often manifested by Him allowing people to suffer the consequences of their sins, which is what Paul has in mind when he thrice says that God “handed them over” to sinfulness in Romans 1. Romans 1 and Romans 6, focusing especially on Paul’s understanding of obedience, participation in Christ, sanctification, and the Christian life. I discuss the theological categories of “active” and “passive” obedience and consider whether these categories always fit neatly within Paul’s participatory and covenantal framework. A central theme throughout the...

In this episode Dr. Kevin Burr and I critique The Ballot and the Bible by Kaitlyn Schiess. Schiess is an author and co-host of The Holy Post podcast and published this book in 2023. It is an analysis of the ways in which Scripture has been used and abused in American politics, and while there is a lot of excellent content in the book Kevin and I wanted to offer a thoughtful and respectful critique of the areas in which she falls short. We discuss how the book assumes the left-right political spectrum and her own unstated commitment to center-left...

In this episode I explore an easily-overlooked text with surprising political implications. In Romans 8:29-30, Paul claims that we were “predestined to become conformed to the Image of His Son” and that because of this will have been “glorified”. What does Paul mean? In her book Conformed to the Image of His Son, Dr. Haley Goranson Jacob argues that Paul is claiming believers are conformed to Jesus’s status and  function as the Son of God who rules over creation, and that our glorification denotes a sharing in that rule. She explains how ‘glory’ when applied to humans in the Greek Old T...

In this first (official) installment of my semi-weekly ‘Theology Thursday’ series, I discuss how God enables us to overcome sin through the power of His Spirit. Reflecting on a recent sermon I heard from Matthew 5:27-30, in which Jesus equates lust with adultery and then instructs his audience to gouge out an eye or cut off a hand if it causes them to sin. While Jesus is obviously using hyperbole, he doesn’t in this passage explain precisely how one is to over the temptation of adultery (or any other sin). Fortunately, Paul fills in the gaps. Drawing on Romans...

In this episode I talk with economist Eric Schansberg about how Christians should think critically about public policy. We discuss how Christians often fail to reflect on their support for particular public policies and how our faith aligns with political and economic systems in the modern world. Schansberg explains how the Bible should shape our understanding of public policy, why there is often a discrepancy between political theory and practice, how Christians must always pursue Godly ends with Godly means, and how the function of secular law. He talks about how Christians should avoid legislating social morality and economic...

In this episode I address the popular misconception that the apostle Paul, formerly Saul, was personally responsible for the killing of Christians before his Damascus Road experience. In popular Christian imagination, Paul was the ‘persecutor and killer’ of Christians before his dramatic encounter with the risen Jesus. While Paul did indeed viciously persecute the church, there is no New Testament evidence that any believer actually died by Paul’s hand. I look at all the New Testament texts which address Paul’s pre-Damascus attitude towards believers. In Acts, he endorses the killing of Stephen, binds and imprisons Christians, and even bre...

In this episode I discuss how the covenant God made with Israel in the Old Testament was a form of an ancient Near Eastern suzerain-vassal treaty. Building from the fantastic work of Sandra Richter’s ‘Epic of Eden’ book, a suzerain vassal treaty is one in which a king or imperial power, the suzerain, makes a treaty with a lesser kingdom or people, the vassal. They are asymmetrical in the sense that the suzerain clearly holds the power but also reciprocal in that both parties are contractually obligated to one another. Generally, the vassal offers loyalty and taxes to the su...