Thinking Christian: Bible, Theology, and Culture

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Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why.Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don’t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text.Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors.Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith.Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

  1. 11h ago

    Should Christians Support Livestreaming an Execution?

    Should Christians support livestreaming an execution? James Spencer and Ashish Varma weigh capital punishment, the Bible, and spectacle. James Spencer and Ashish Varma respond to the proposal to livestream the execution of a man who committed a mass murder, a plan later called off. They ask what the Bible says about capital punishment, from Genesis 9:6 and the image of God to why Israel's law prescribed death for crimes like kidnapping and cursing one's parents. They also test the claim that a public execution would deter crime. Robert Jeffress, pastor of a large Baptist church in Texas, said there was no moral or biblical reason to oppose livestreaming the execution. James argues that there are such reasons, including what watching does to the audience and the dignity owed even to those who deserve punishment. James and Ashish then give their own, differing answers on whether a modern government should practice capital punishment at all. Part 2 releases Friday. In this episode: Is there a biblical or moral reason not to livestream an execution? A response to Robert Jeffress Genesis 9:6, the image of God, and what capital punishment signified in ancient Israel Does a public execution deter crime? Severity versus the certainty of being caught Spectacle and voyeurism, from Making a Murderer and the gladiatorial arena to the livestream Should governments practice capital punishment today? Two different answers, with the book of Hosea Go deeper: Christians and Politics Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

  2. 2d ago

    Norman Wirzba on Land, Life, and Dominion | Faith & Politics #15

    Norman Wirzba — Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Theology at Duke and author of This Sacred Life and Love's Braided Dance — joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma for the tenth episode in the faith and politics series. Wirzba grew up farming and wanted to be a farmer, then went through graduate school without encountering a single farmer on a syllabus. Reading Wendell Berry changed that, and gave him a way to see that agricultural traditions open the major philosophical and political questions rather than sitting off to one side of them. The conversation moves from what happens when land stops being a source of life and becomes a financial asset, through data centers and the water they need, to a reframing of dominion that may be the most useful thing in the hour: mastery understood the way a musician masters an instrument — you become a student of it, and what you master is better for your engagement with it. It closes on the difference between being pro-baby and pro-life, and on the Colossians hymn as evidence that the early Christian vision was never about individual souls escaping the world. Go deeper: Christians & Politics Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.orgAbout James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/jamesThe Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/frameworkOrder Digital Discernment: amazon.com Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org Chapters: 00:00 Introductions 01:31 No farmers on the syllabus 04:36 From Yale to environmental ethics to Wendell Berry 09:58 The Old Testament and living with land 11:25 When land becomes a financial asset 14:39 Data centers and the water question 17:22 Auditing what we actually use AI for 20:38 Vines and bugs on a Roman temple of peace 24:51 The fantasy that humans don't need 30:44 Technology is never simply a tool 34:06 Do you want to disappear? 37:54 Bucking bales and embodied knowing 39:19 The garden as vocation 42:34 Mastery: the guitar, not the machine 48:36 The Anthropocene and a car without brakes 56:26 Pro-baby or pro-life? 1:00:26 Colossians 1 and the scope of redemption Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

  3. 5d ago

    Suicide Prevention in the Church: A Biblical Guide for Pastors (David Gilleland)

    Suicide prevention in the church: David Gilleland, author of Holding Hope, explains how pastors can recognize warning signs, ask directly, and walk with people toward hope. David Gilleland spent nearly a decade managing suicide prevention programs for the National Guard and Army Reserves before becoming a pastor. As a pastor, he found that most church leaders had received no suicide prevention training in seminary. He and James Spencer walk through his new book, Holding Hope: A Biblical Guide to Suicide Prevention for Church Leaders, from the warning signs pastors miss to why asking directly about suicide is the surest way to know. The aim is not to turn pastors into clinicians but to equip them to care faithfully. The conversation questions a church culture shaped by self-sufficiency, where talk of victory leaves little room for the lament of Psalm 88. Gilleland contrasts the people in Scripture who took their own lives with Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and Job, who wanted to die but turned to God. James reads Saul’s end as the fruit of a life ruled by fear of people rather than fear of the Lord. They also ask whether suicide is a sin without reducing that question to a verdict on a suffering person’s eternal destiny. In this episode: How can pastors and church leaders recognize the warning signs of suicide? Is suicide a sin, and how should pastors respond to grieving families? Saul, Elijah, Moses, Jonah, and Job: suicide and despair in Scripture (1 Kings 19) Psalm 88, lament, and a church culture of self-sufficiency Biblical counseling, professional care, and why referral can be an act of love Guest: David Gilleland, former pastor, biblical counselor, and author of Holding Hope: A Biblical Guide to Suicide Prevention for Church Leaders.Holding Hope and free church resources: davidgilleland.com If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, US). Go deeper: Faith and Mental HealthAbout David Gilleland: thinkingchristian.org/guests/david-gilleland Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.orgAbout James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/jamesThe Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/frameworkOrder Digital Discernment: amazon.com Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · SpotifyAdvertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

    Suicide Prevention in the Church: A Biblical Guide for Pastors (David Gilleland)

  4. Oct 28

    Johnson Amendment Lawsuit: Can Pastors Endorse Candidates? (Troy Miller)

    Can pastors endorse political candidates? Troy Miller, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters, explains NRB’s Johnson Amendment lawsuit against the IRS. The Johnson Amendment was added to the tax code in 1954 by then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson. It bars 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Miller explains why NRB went to court in 2024 and why the case was narrowed to pastors speaking to their congregations. He also explains how a consent decree with the Justice Department now depends on an appeal to the Fifth Circuit over the Anti-Injunction Act. He and James clarify what the case would and would not change for churches, broadcasters, and podcasters. The conversation questions the assumption that keeping faith out of public life produces neutrality. Miller argues that someone’s worldview always guides law and policy. He traces a long history of pastors speaking to moral questions, from the Black Robe Regiment to Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms. James weighs the risks of pastors speaking about candidates and why the case may matter most for local politics. He also notes the irony that for-profit corporations face fewer limits on political activity than nonprofits. In this episode: What is the Johnson Amendment, and how did Lyndon B. Johnson add it to the tax code in 1954? Why National Religious Broadcasters sued the IRS, and what the consent decree with the Justice Department would protect The Anti-Injunction Act and NRB’s appeal to the Fifth Circuit Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists, and the separation of church and state Why the case covers pastors and their broadcasts but not other Christian broadcasters or podcasters Guest: Troy Miller, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters. Go deeper: Christians and PoliticsAbout Troy Miller: thinkingchristian.org/guests/troy-miller Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don’t settle for a narrower vision than God’s word offers. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.orgAbout James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/jamesThe Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/frameworkOrder Digital Discernment: amazon.com Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · SpotifyAdvertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

    Johnson Amendment Lawsuit: Can Pastors Endorse Candidates? (Troy Miller)

  5. Oct 26

    Why Should Christians Engage Politics? (Vincent Bacote) | Faith & Politics #13

    Why should Christians engage politics? Vincent Bacote of Wheaton College argues that political engagement needs a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach. Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College, joins James Spencer and Ashish Varma to ground political life in stewardship and common grace. Politics, he argues, is one part of humanity's larger calling to manage the world God gave us, and Americans hold more political agency than most people in history. That agency changes how we read Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. Many evangelicals can say they should care about politics but cannot say why from what they believe. Bacote and Spencer trace how issues get handed to Christians by trusted leaders rather than formed by theology, and how that has let evangelicals be defined as a voting bloc. Bacote also presses on James Davison Hunter's faithful presence: start small, because you are not the Messiah, but keep dreaming of a better common good. In this episode: Why Christians need a theological foundation, not an ad hoc approach, for political engagement Common grace, Abraham Kuyper, Psalm 8, and the stewardship of public life Romans 13:1–4, 1 Peter 2, and what changes when citizens have political agency Voting as public witness, evangelical identity, and how race and abortion became political issues James Davison Hunter's faithful presence, small steps, and how to keep politicians from drawing our lines Guest: Vincent Bacote, professor of theology and director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College. Go deeper: Christians and Politics About Vincent Bacote: thinkingchristian.org/guests/vincent-bacote Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework Order Digital Discernment: amazon.com Subscribe: YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

  6. Oct 22

    Who Pays for the Data Center? AI, Politics, and Faith: Politics and Faith #14

    Continuing the faith and politics series, James Spencer and Ashish Varma turn to artificial intelligence — starting with the data centers going up across the country, which consume enormous land, power, and water while generating far fewer local jobs than the factories and mills they're often compared to. From there the conversation widens. Both push on the promise of efficiency: whether a technology that lets you work faster has actually given anyone time back, what gets lost when a middle schooler reaches for the calculator instead of the long-form work, and why the steps toward a goal may matter as much as the goal. James introduces the idea of the tyranny of small decisions — that we adopt technologies one at a time, with clear near-term benefits and no view of where the accumulation leads — and argues that Christians at least have a telos against which to measure the trade. They also discuss what a soft transhumanism looks like when it becomes ambient, why converging interests don't require a conspiracy, and where ordinary practices of resistance are still available. Chapters (approximate, from speaker turns — verify against the final cut): 00:00 Data centers: land, power, water, and jobs that don't come 02:25 Does theology touch everyday life at all? 06:39 The efficiency promise, and what it actually delivered 12:49 Efficiency for whom? Paper, batteries, and hidden costs 15:00 The calculator, the long way, and what process builds 16:30 Phil Jackson and trusting the steps 18:33 The tyranny of small decisions 22:45 No telos, no way to weigh a trade-off 25:06 What would you give up to not have the data center? 26:00 Sealed devices and the compromises we already made 32:17 Vinyl, print books, flip phones: the analog return 36:29 Practices of resistance: skip the summary, read the page 43:10 Local action and Hauerwas on assimilation 45:27 Converging interests aren't a conspiracy 51:00 Soft transhumanism and the limits we can't engineer away 58:20 Bodies that need to move, creation that has limits 1:02:00 Atrophy: what we lose the capacity to do   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

  7. Oct 22

    Michael Rhodes on What the Bible Says About Politics | #12

    Michael Rhodes — lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist College in New Zealand, former pastor, and author of Practicing the King's Economy and Just Discipleship — returns to discuss his new book, Reimagining Biblical Politics: What Scripture Says About Public Life and Why It Matters. Rhodes wrote the book deliberately without addressing contemporary American political issues, hoping to give a partisan-divided church something it could use together. His argument is that Scripture speaks about politics constantly, and in many voices: John says get out of Babylon, Jeremiah says seek its welfare, Paul says submit and also flees a trial he considers unjust, and the Hebrew midwives lie to Pharaoh and are blessed for it. Underneath the diversity, one claim holds everything together — the Lord reigns. He distinguishes outpost politics, the public life of a people living under God's reign, from pilgrim politics, how that people engages nations that don't recognize it. Both are political; only one usually gets called that. The conversation turns to why churches gather less diversity than their neighborhoods, what Rhodes learned from a conversation after Trayvon Martin's death, and why Daniel worked for Nebuchadnezzar and criticized him anyway. Go deeper: Christians & Politics Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.orgAbout James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/jamesThe Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/frameworkOrder Digital Discernment: amazon.com Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org Find more from Michael at https://michaeljrhodes.substack.com  Chapters: 00:00 The book, the podcast, the Substack 02:12 A choir of political voices 06:25 Faithful action that doesn't look alike 09:38 Outpost politics and pilgrim politics 14:04 Why blurred lines are a gift 18:34 What Scripture demands and what it leaves open 22:33 Rounding up at the checkout 25:07 Where local political action actually happens 29:09 Is justice the church's job or the state's? 32:33 The house church in China 34:19 The lines churches inherit 38:13 Who arranges the chairs 42:00 Same footage, different verdict 46:13 Who sets the table 51:30 Daniel worked for Nebuchadnezzar and criticized him 52:20 Learning to see what you're not seeing 59:49 When presidents quote Scripture about America 1:03:12 Designed poor: a Memphis neighborhood   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

  8. Oct 21

    Be Afraid: Horror, Trauma, and What Our Fears Are Discipling Us Into (Kutter Callaway)

    Horror is one of the few genres that refuses to let you look away, and it is one of the few that got people back into theaters after COVID. Dr. Kutter Callaway of Fuller Theological Seminary joins Dr. James Spencer to talk about his new book, Be Afraid: What Horror Reveals About Facing the Darkness, and what happens when a self-described scaredy cat decides to study the genre like an anthropologist instead of writing it off. The conversation moves from the difference between the best of horror and the tenth sequel, to the common Christian worry that watching a film exposes you to something spiritually dangerous, to the argument that fear itself is not the problem since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Callaway makes the case that the real question is where our fears are pointed and which systems are training them. Along the way they discuss Stranger Things and the institutions that manufacture the monsters, the shift from defeating the monster to living with it as a picture of trauma, Albert Borgmann on the inconspicuous patterns that reshape a life, and why the slasher genre only works if we already believe bodies are sacred. The episode closes where horror and artificial intelligence meet, on embodiment, and why a disembodied future should trouble Christians more than anything on the screen. Go deeper: Dorothy Sayers, Film, and Christian Art Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers. Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.orgAbout James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/jamesThe Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/frameworkOrder Digital Discernment: amazon.com Advertising and partnership inquiries: info@thinkingchristian.org Find the book at beafraidbook.com. Find more from Kutter at https://www.kuttercallaway.com.    Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

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Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction. Thinking Christian is a podcast about the Bible, theology, and culture for Christians who sense that something in today's church isn't working and want to understand why.Reading the Bible as the final authority for life and faith means questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision of reality than God's word offers. Each conversation goes past the headlines to the ideas and inconspicuous patterns underneath them: how we read Scripture, what shapes our politics, how technology shapes us, what faithful discipleship looks like, and where familiar Christian habits don’t fit the patterns emerging from the biblical text.Hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press), with co-host Dr. Ashish Varma. Episodes include guided series on Scripture, theology, and church history alongside conversations with scholars, pastors, and authors.Calm, careful, and theological conversations for uncompromising faith.Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org

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