God, Law & Liberty Podcast

Today David traces the meaning of the terms "state" and "republic" prior to 1776 through the constitutional revolutions throughout Europe in 1848 to what republic means now in light of the No Kings protest and use of the term "democratic republic." The change in meaning is very revealing, telling Christians what must change in politics, law, and the church.

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Today's episode compares what is said in the Declaration of Independence about how civil governments are "instituted" and for what purpose to what was said on those subjects by John Locke in the late 17th century and Abraham Kuyper at the end of the 19th century. It also offers a vision for how Christians today can be, as William Bradford said, "stepping stones" for continuing the work the Pilgrims at Plymouth set out to do.

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Today David gives his answer to whether the following statement in the Declaration of Independence is more influenced by enlightenment hubris than sound Christian theology: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." The difference between the one and the other is manifest in a new version he's authored and would encourage future generations to bring to fruition.

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Today, David applies the Apostle Paul's declaration that true wisdom and knowledge are found in the revelation of “the mystery of God, of the Father and of Christ” (Colossians 2:3) to a famous sentence sentence in the Declaration of Independence often quoted by Christians. He asks: Have Christians been taken captive by philosophies of men? Today he documents the philosophy of the time the Declaration was written to set the stage for the answer and way forward that he releases tomorrow.

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In today's episode, David explains why he believes some well-intentioned Christian political advocates, notably in regard to the politics of abortion, have been taken captive by the empty traditions and philosophies of men that are “not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). He says why he thinks enacting "righteous" statutes is not really the issue: It's far bigger than many Christians realize.

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Recent episodes have put an emphasis on growing in our knowledge of Christ in relation to how Christians should think about certain abortion legislation being proposed nationally. But shouldn't that apply to the way Christians legislators think and talk about law and public policy advocacy generally, or even a Christian with a neighbor? What might that look like? Two passages of Scripture and a comment by John Owen provide an answer, and David offer two challenging applications of it.

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Today David considers the response to pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf published by the Foundation to Abolish Abortion (FAA), proponents of legislation presented in multiple states under the rhetoric of "equal protection" for the unborn. Some of FAA leaders want the SBC to take up the issue next week. What wisdom does FAA offer? What do we find of Christ in its counsel?

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How is it that Christ was "MADE unto us wisdom" and how does that affect our understanding of wisdom when it comes to political issues? Today, David uses 17th century theologian John Owen to help us understand the "why" and "how" of wisdom, and then applies that to the published political counsel of long-time pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf against enacting legislation to indict abortive mothers for felony murder, championed by the Foundation to Abolish Abortion (FAA) and Christian podcaster, Seth Gruber.

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Today's publication is intended to help you evaluate whether a rather standard kind of constitutional argument made by Christian legal advocates accords with Scripture's definition of wisdom. David explains how he came to understand "spiritual wisdom" and offers that for comparison to the wisdom provided by National Right to Life's General Counsel about challenging Roe v. Wade

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Today's episode jumps directly into the introduction of nationally respected law professor Adam MacLeod and his testimony before the Tennessee Senate's judiciary committee in 2019. His testimony supported pro-life legislation I had drafted to challenge Roe v. Wade. It is a critical primer on the relationship of common law to the forgotten Ninth Amendment, and their relationship to the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. His testimony explains what the U.S. Supreme Court got wrong in justifying abortion. It is also the path forward for states to have the unborn declared a legal person with a right to life. 

Today’s episode is in lieu of one on Friday because of the importance of federal court decisions over the last four days. I address the importance of understanding recent decisions by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and SCOTUS regarding the FDA's rule allowing mifepristone (RU-486) to be dispensed by mail. What could a favorable mean for ending the scourge of abortion in the United States? The answer may surprise you.

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David uses his misguided reason for running for office and Puritan theologian John Owen to explain what he believes is the most important consideration when it comes to Christian political engagement and often get’s lost. He will close by applying it to the political firestorm raised in several states by the end-abortion-now movement.

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These brief thoughts of John Owen (1616-1683) on the glory of Christ are not just excellent, but they will be an aid to better appreciating Friday's publication. I will address what I see is most needed and yet often lacking in Christian political engagement, particularly in the present debates over abortion policies.

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David hopes last week's publication left you wondering what Christians are to do if our way of seeing the world has allowed politics to become disproportionately important. That's today's topic. As a way forward, David offers his personal political story, examples drawn from his recent politics experiences, and Hosea's instructive, probative, and sobering words and their application.

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David uses a Scriptural metaphor to explain what he sees missing in the way Christians understand our times. And he explains how it has affected the approach to politics taken by both end-abortion-now advocates and traditional right to life advocates. At a fundamental level, they seem to be the same.

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Today, David takes the next step in what we began to cover last week — what it might look like to be spiritually minded (Romans 8:6) in trying to apply the juridical aspects of the “law of Moses” to political issues such as the current push to criminalize abortive mothers. The spiritually-minded may find in today's episodes some consideration that make doing that harder than some might think it is.

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When it comes to legislation, many Christians look to the "law of Moses" to flesh out what is right and wrong and, increasingly, to determine what sanctions should be applied to certain wrongful acts. It is part of the "whole counsel of God," but is there a way to flesh out this law out that is "spiritually minded" vis-a-vis "fleshly" or even "carnally" minded? Today, David offers a context for thinking about those laws that he believes is spiritually minded, and begins to apply it to legislative efforts to "end abortion now."

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Today’s short limited edition is an excerpt drawn from John Owen’s treatise, The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded." It is an important precursor to this coming Friday’s episode in which I will begin to offer my application of this excerpt to present efforts to end abortion now. We must be "spiritually minded" (Romans 8:6) about the subject of law, because "law is spiritual" (Romans 7:14). Owen addresses a deceitful allure that can keep Christians from being so minded.

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Today David looks at how some theonomists and abortion abolitionist might respond to what he said last week about Paul's 3-point summary given Timothy of what obeying the law of God means. Is it antinomian? To that end he considers what Paul meant when he told Timothy that some who desire to be teachers of the law don't use it lawfully because they neither understand what they say or what they affirm.

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If we say with the Apostle Paul that "law is spiritual" can't that lead to antinomianism? Does a fear of antinomianism lurk behind the thinking of some theonomists? Is it behind the rhetoric of some abortion abolitionists who recently castigated all who did not think that Tennessee's legislators should make an abortive mother indictable either for first or second degree murder? Paul gives all those interested in law and public policy something to chew on.

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Without a sound Biblical content to the words, "image of God," the term becomes a shibboleth, something of little importance. Without that, today's policy debates become equivocal, and Christians can’t fully appreciate why Paul wrote that “the law is spiritual” (Romans 7:14). So, what is the image of God. That is the focus of today's episode.

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Certain events in Tennessee on Tuesday prompted me to release this SPECIAL and ABBREVIATED episode of GLL. It will be helpful to some who were the object of those events. However, it is also a helpful as a supplement to recent podcasts and a precursor to Friday’s.

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Today's episode considers an aspect of “the law of God” that is often overlooked when it comes thinking about proposed legislation that would conform to it. In the coming weeks, this aspect of the law of God will be applied to two legislative proposals: One that would again impose criminal sanctions on an abortive mother and one that would define the martial relationship as one man and one woman.

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This week Jason Farley returns to lay the final jurisdictional footer for building a Christian understanding of God's law, its purpose, and how it informs the way Christians use the jurisdiction God has given them in the legal and policy spheres. Find out why the key to understanding the two objectively real dominions we must deal with in law and politics -- of sin and of grace -- is, in Jason's words, that "everything is connected."

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This week Jason Farley helps me lay the final jurisdictional footer for building a Christian understanding of God's law, its purpose, and how it informs the way Christian use the jurisdiction God has given them in the legal and policy spheres. Find out why the key to understanding the two objectively real dominions we must deal with in those spheres --that of sin and of grace -- is, in Jason's words, that "everything is connected."

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Today David explains why he said last week that the use to which evangelicals have put the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause “diminishes the glory of Christ respecting what Christ accomplished on the Cross.” Find out how evangelicals failed to deliver what the Founding Father's expected from Christians to make "permanent" the "free government" they established, and what Christians can do going forward.

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Special Edition: Last Friday, I said I thought the use by evangelicals of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Free Exercise Clause emphasis on “religious acts” to mean protection for certain for civil conduct “diminishes the glory of Christ respecting what Christ accomplished on the Cross.” The following quotations from one of the leading Puritans on the dominion of sin and Christian liberty will be helpful preparation for this Friday's explanation of what I previously said.

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What is the relationship between the protestant understanding of the doctrine of original sin and the purpose of First Amendment’s Free Exercise of Religion Clause? The U.S. Supreme Court's failure to consider that doctrine has made its interpretation of that clause wrong. But I believe its interpretation and evangelical reliance on it for protecting civil conduct demeans the gospel. It was for good reason that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story warned "the future experience of Christendom" would be determined by the duties assigned to our nation's churches by the Free Exercise Clause.

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I offer the following brief explanation of Romans 7:20-21 by John Owen from 1667 that I hope provides a better understanding of the effect we can expect the “dominion of sin” to have on our political endeavors and will lead to a better understanding of tomorrow’s important episode about the true purpose of First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.

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Why are large numbers of people in Minneapolis, many educated, choosing to do things that to many of us just don’t make sense? Is Christ, the prophet to His Church, revealing something to His people? If so, what is it? Is the answer something more than "Sinners sin"? I think so. It may be controversial, but I think it affects the "strategy" we need going forward?

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In this 4 minute special edition, find out why Richard Dawkins, the atheistic evolutionary biologist, and a strict Calvinist, J. Gresham Mechen, agree on one thing: Certain Christians have abandoned Christianity. It shows up in how we approach the transgender issue in law and public policy.

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Today I discuss how a heresy I unwittingly embraced affected what I thought my 30 year engagement in law and politics could accomplish. Do you think my description of that heresy and its application is dominate among evangelicals and Roman Catholics? I do, and explain why.

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Our society and law have progressed from prohibiting access to contraceptives in 1879 to a Supreme Court argument this week about human sexuality to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley asking a Doctor if a man can get pregnant. Why has this "evolution" occurred and gone in only one direction? And why don't we ask "Why" questions anymore? It's all of one piece. Something fundamental may be missing in our thinking. [My reference to Kansas should be Nebraska]

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Today I explain the dirty trick the U.S. Supreme Court played on the states to foist on them a new understanding of human meaning, a new anthropology. You will see how the Court degraded the high view of marriage expressed by a Massachusetts statute dating from 1879 to the constitutional protection of fornication in 7 years, from 1965 to 1972!

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This special episode is for those who want to dig a bit deeper into "understanding the times" that I explained earlier this week using SCOTUSs decision in Eisenstadt v. Baird. Two short audio clips of TN Senator Marsha Blackburn's interrogation of then judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson and my explanation of them demonstrate the cosmological merry-go-round of metaphysical nihilism we are on. Understand the cosmology she is writing into our law.

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Today, I explain how the United States Supreme Court came to understand the word “liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the changes in society's understanding of the cosmos that influenced it. Understanding the evolution of that word is critical to everyone who wants to understand our times and know better how to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5 KJV). "Sons of Issachar" should not miss this one.

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Today, I pass on my answer to a great question asked by a Christian state legislator who listened to last week’s podcast about working to restore God’s “ordered liberty”: If we are to do that, how should we have argued for the bill not allowing men to compete in women’s sports? Equally important is what can we learn about ourselves by thinking through the two different approaches?

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Today David explains how the thoughts of Puritan John Owen in his monumental work, Christologia, completely re-ordered his thinking about law and legal and public policy advocacy in recent years, and how those thoughts relate to the God’s creational intention for every Christian in the present. Creation, the image of God, the Fall, and the “ordered liberty” of  government that rests on the child in the manger all come together in one glorious scriptural truth about Christ’s mediation in this final advent edition.

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The Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to record a prophesy that "the government shall be upon his shoulder"--a baby in a manger. Today, David examines what no one ought to overlook: Even SCOTUS knows that God prepared the Western world for His Son's Kingdom. But the Spirit also said the scope of his governance and its peace would increase. What are Christians and non-Christian to think of that part of the prophesy today? On that front, I say the news is still good

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The apostle Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Today I examine how reason led to an understanding of law by 50 B.C. that was ready for the law to become incarnate. Its the story we need to hear in our day, especially Christian lawyers. It's amazing! And I explain why the story of the person of Jesus is more important than ever.

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