The Russell Moore Show Christianity Today
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- Religion & Spirituality
Listen in as Russell Moore, director of Christianity Today’s Public Theology Project and Editor-in-Chief, talks about the latest books, cultural conversations and pressing ethical questions that point us toward the kingdom of Christ.
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’90s CCM, Slogans, and Joy: What We’re Reading
It’s time for the quarterly books episode of The Russell Moore Show!
Tune in as Russell and producer Ashley Hales talk about their recent reads ranging from politics to poetry. The two discuss a variety of topics including Augustine’s argument in City of God , how theological convictions become slogans, and the world of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Their conversation considers what true joy looks like, why it’s okay not to understand everything we read (even in the Bible), and how books can give us words for our most deeply felt human experiences.
Books mentioned in this episode include:
God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music by Leah Payne
City of God by Augustine
God's Rascal: J. Frank Norris and the Beginnings of Southern Fundamentalism (America's Baptists) by Barry Hankins
Joy: 100 Poems by Christian Wiman
Zero at the Bone by Christian Wiman
Four Quartets: A Poem by T.S. Eliot
Lutheran Slogans: Use and Abuse by Robert W. Jenson
A Shining by Jon Fosse
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
The Maytrees: A Novel by Annie Dillard
Additional resources mentioned in this episode include:
Petra
Amy Grant
Rich Mullins
“Christian Wiman’s Work Against Despair”
George M. Marsden
Eugene Peterson
Music & Meaning with Charlie Peacock
Owen Barfield
C.S. Lewis
J.R.R. Tolkien
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we'd love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers "a better way" for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here — we've saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
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Marvin Olasky on a Better Moral Vision
It was November 1, 1973, and Marvin Olasky—a then self-proclaimed atheist and communist—was reading an essay by Vladimir Lenin. Suddenly, Olasky began to have thoughts he couldn’t shake.
What if this is all wrong?
What if there really is a God?
Within eight hours, Olasky had decided he was no longer an atheist or a communist. He became a Christian a few years later. Olasky went on to become a leader in Christian higher education and publishing—most notably as the editor in chief of World Magazine.
On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Olasky—author of 29 books, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute—joins Moore to discuss religion, politics, and philosophy. They talk about two of Olasky’s latest book releases: Pivot Points and an extensively updated Moral Vision, which includes a new foreword by Moore.
Olasky shares thoughts on his conversion, his relationship with George W. Bush during his presidency, and the evangelical embrace of some politicians and rejection of others. He and Moore consider the state of journalism, Christian symbolism in political movements, and the danger of echo chambers. Their conversation covers abortion and the pro-life movement, the Hamas attacks, and American involvement in world politics.
Olasky encourages listeners to live a life they’ll be glad to look back on, and offers words of wisdom for doing so.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Discovery Institute
Acton Institute
Zenger House
WORLD Magazine
Pivot Points: Adventures on the Road to Christian Contentment by Marvin Olasky
Moral Vision: Leadership from George Washington to Joe Biden by Marvin Olasky
Jonathan Edwards
Cotton Mather
John Cotton
“Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Beauty, Human Evil and the Idea of Israel” on The Ezra Klein Show
“Glenn Beck Comes to Town” by Chris Good
March for Life
Living Life Backward: How Ecclesiastes Teaches Us to Live in Light of the End by David Gibson
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we'd love for you to join us and use this $20 off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers "a better way" for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here — we've saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
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Marilynne Robinson Reads Genesis as a Story of Grace
Author Marilynne Robinson has long brought layered characters and powerful plots to the page. It is perhaps no wonder, then, that she is looking to a book of Scripture that abounds with both.
On this episode of The Russell Moore Show, Moore welcomes Marilynne for a discussion of her new release, Reading Genesis. They talk about what drew Robinson to Genesis and the Mesopotamian and Babylonian myths that are often compared to it. They consider how various disciplines—from science and physics to philosophy and theology—emerge in the text. They ponder the current cultural interest in multiverse stories, what makes a narrative compelling, and the likability (or lack thereof) of Biblical figures.
Tune in for a rich conversation on justice and mercy, secularization, and how God reveals his character both in Scripture and in our lives today.
Books by Marilynne Robinson mentioned in this episode include:
Reading Genesis
Gilead
Home
Lila
Jack
Housekeeping
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Wendell Berry
Walker Percy
Frederick Buechner
Jonathan Haidt
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we'd love for you to join us. The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers "a better way" for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here — we've saved a seat for you! Use code RM SHOW for $20 off, just for listeners! Use code RM SHOW for $20 off, just for listeners.
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
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Q+A: Reasons for Christian Hope in an Election Year
Is the term evangelical worth holding on to anymore? Is it imperative that Christians participate in elections? What is the way forward for families that have been fractured by political disagreements?
These are some of the listener questions that Russell and producer Ashley Hales address on this episode of The Russell Moore Show. Tune in for a discussion that digs deep into the political dynamics of modern American life while sharing universal truths for living Christianly in a broken world.
Questions addressed during this episode include:
Does Russell read every book that shows up in his newsletter?
What are some tips for reading more regularly?
Is it okay for Christians not to participate in voting for president?
How can Christians whose families are divided over politics prioritize God and one another
What does the evangelical support of Donald Trump do to the term evangelical and its reputation?
How can believers deal with Christian nationalism in their relationships?
What is Christian nationalism?
How might the upcoming election affect local churches?
What hope is there for Christians discouraged by American politics?
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches by Russell Moore
Russell’s newsletter
“Should Christians Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?” by Russell Moore
“Incurvatus in Se”
“C. S. Lewis on Chronological Snobbery”
Do you have a question for Russell Moore?
Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
Special offer for listeners:
Russell Moore will join friends David French and Curtis Chang in Washington, DC, for The After Party LIVE! on April 19. As a faithful listener to the podcast, we’d love for you to join us and use this 20% off offer just for listeners! The After Party is a free six-part video curriculum designed for people & pastors alike, and offers “a better way” for Christians to engage in politics. Learn more and buy tickets here—we’ve saved a seat for you!
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
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Jennie Allen’s Help For Tangled Emotions
If Russell Moore’s inbox is any indication, listeners of this podcast want to talk about emotions. If you’re among them, this episode with Bible teacher, bestselling author, and founder of IF: Gathering Jennie Allen is for you.
Moore and Allen discuss what she learned while writing her new book, Untangle Your Emotions: Naming Your Emotions and Knowing What to Do about Them. They talk about healthy and unhealthy ways to view emotions, how the COVID-19 pandemic affected emotional well-being, and how our brains try to protect us in traumatic situations. They talk about how God meets us in grief and suffering, how emotions show up in the body, and how honesty about emotions can lead to deeper relationships and family connections.
Their conversation covers the power of memories, what the Bible has to say about emotions, and what it looks like to honor our emotions without letting them lead our lives.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
IF: Gathering
Untangle Your Emotions: Naming Your Emotions and Knowing What to Do about Them by Jennie Allen
Asbury Revival
Auburn baptisms
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
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Bonus Episode: Should You Watch 'The Chosen'?
Welcome to a special bonus episode of The Russell Moore Show!
Peter Wehner returns for a conversation about the television drama The Chosen, which began its fourth season on February 1, 2024. Wehner expounds on his recent article in The Atlantic, sharing how the series pleasantly surprised him as someone who historically avoided on-screen depictions of Jesus. He describes the ways that Jesus (played by Jonathan Roumie) in The Chosen has a fully-formed personality, displays emotion, and shows how intimately Jesus understood human nature—all elements that have led Wehner to love the show.
Moore and Wehner discuss how The Chosen sheds light on Jewish life under Roman occupation and the role of the Pharisees. They talk about another Christian media phenomenon—the He Gets Us campaign—and consider the wide range of responses to it. Their discussion covers political division, the relationship between the intellect and the heart in belief, and what it means for Christians to be called to faithfulness rather than success.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
The Chosen
“Jesus on the Small Screen” by Peter Wehner
Peter Wehner
The Trinity Forum
Navigating Friendship and Loss with Peter Wehner
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Jesus of Nazareth
He Gets Us campaign
E.Y. Mullins
Further Up and Further In
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Jesus Way by Eugene H. Peterson
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
Click here for a trial membership at Christianity Today.
“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices