Out of the Question Podcast

A podcast which uncovers the real question behind many common questions and offers Biblical solutions.

  1. Sep 8

    Are We Judging Abraham Wrongly?

    Modern believers routinely condemn Abraham for decisions Scripture never rebukes — his deception of Abimelech, his taking of Hagar, his apparent failures of nerve in Egypt. In this episode of Out of the Question, Andrea Schwartz speaks with Mark Rushdoony, president of the Chalcedon Foundation, about his September 2026 *Arise and Build* essay, "Abram Did Not Fully Understand Yet Believed God, Do We?" Rushdoony argues that this judgmental posture stems from two related errors: a moralistic reduction of Scripture to character lessons, and an antinomian dismissal of the Old Testament as no longer authoritative for Christians. When the law is set aside, all that remains is mining biblical narratives for virtues and vices — what R.J. Rushdoony called "confessing other people's sins." The heart of the conversation is the covenant ceremony of Genesis 15, where God alone passed through the split sacrificial animals in fire and smoke while Abraham watched. Rushdoony identifies this as the moment Jesus referenced in John 8:56 — Abraham saw Christ's day and rejoiced. It was a vision of substitutionary atonement centuries before the cross, and yet Abraham still received no specific answers about when or how God's promises would be fulfilled. His faith rested not in a detailed roadmap but in the character of the God who made the covenant. The episode draws a sharp contrast between this kind of faith and the consumer-based Christianity that treats the gospel as a benefits package and then questions God when providence brings suffering. True faith, as Abraham exemplified, produces obedience even in the absence of full understanding — and sanctification is the lifelong evidence that regeneration is real.

  2. Sep 1

    Is There a Theology of Insurance?

    If you've ever paid an insurance premium without a second thought, have you considered what theological assumptions undergird the entire modern insurance industry? In this episode of Out of the Question, Andrea Schwartz and Pastor Charles Roberts explore a question most Christians have never asked: Does the Bible have anything to say about insurance — and if so, does what it says challenge the way we've structured our entire approach to security, health, and the future? Drawing on R.J. Rushdoony's writings in the Institutes of Biblical Law, The Politics of Guilt and Pity, and his California Farmer columns, the hosts argue that the modern insurance apparatus — from Social Security to health insurance to corporate benefit packages — represents a massive jurisdictional transfer away from the family and church and toward the state and faceless corporate entities. Rushdoony's insight was not that all insurance is inherently sinful, but that when insurance becomes a substitute for the covenantal responsibility of families and churches, it reflects a humanistic reliance on financial security rather than faith in God's providence. The conversation ranges widely, from the biblical dowry system as a wife's original "insurance policy," to the deacons' fund as the church's proper instrument of charity, to the way birth control functions as a kind of insurance against God's sovereign blessing of children. The distinction between insurance and assurance is ultimately the heart of the matter. Christians are called not to a reckless disregard for the future but to providential thinking rooted in obedience to God's law and trust in His promises. Whether you're evaluating your own financial arrangements or rethinking the role of family and church in bearing one another's burdens, this episode offers a framework you won't hear anywhere else. Listen and consider what it would look like to rebuild covenantal structures of care — starting now.

  3. Aug 17

    Is “Being Busy” Just an Excuse?

    "Sorry, I've been busy" may be the most socially acceptable lie in modern culture. But what if the constant refrain of busyness is not a sign of productivity but a mask for misplaced priorities, avoidance of duty, and even disobedience to God? In this episode of Out of the Question, Andrea Schwartz and Pastor Charles Roberts examine the culture of busyness through the lens of biblical law and ask whether Christians have absorbed a humanistic standard for how they spend their time. Drawing on key passages — Martha's distraction in Luke 10, the excuses of the invited guests in the Parable of the Great Supper, Paul's admonition to redeem the time in Ephesians 5, and Christ's teaching on the vine and the branches in John 15 — Schwartz and Roberts argue that activity disconnected from abiding in Christ and His law is ultimately futile. They extend the conversation to the erosion of the biblical family, noting how busyness has become a ready excuse for delaying marriage, avoiding childbearing, and neglecting the Great Commission as it begins in the home. The discussion draws a striking contrast between the expanding, family-centered cultures of other religions and the shrinking, atomistic tendencies of modern Western Christianity. Whether you are a homeschool parent feeling the weight of an overstuffed schedule, a single Christian deferring marriage indefinitely, or a church member quietly sidelining your duties with "let me pray about it," this episode challenges you to examine your calendar as a moral document. What does your time reveal about whose kingdom you are building? Listen in for a convicting and practical conversation about what it means to seek first the kingdom of God — starting with your own household.

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A podcast which uncovers the real question behind many common questions and offers Biblical solutions.

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