The Protestant Libertarian Podcast

In this episode I talk with Dr. Gerard Casey, professor emeritus at University College Dublin and associate scholar at the Mises Institute, about charity and welfare. Dr. Casey argues that a libertarian approach to charity, which is based on the principles of non-aggression and localism, are a more efficient method of providing for those in need than big-government redistributive programs. Besides relying on the use of violence against peaceful people, welfare programs have a costly bureaucracy, are not targeted to those who need it most, and enable degeneracy and generational poverty. Mutual aid and friendly societies, which are voluntarily funded, avoid the moral hazards inherent in socialized welfare. They provided for the needs of truly vulnerable people throughout history, and were wildly popular after industrialization until government programs crowded them out of the market. Politicians use these programs to buy votes regardless of the social and economic costs they impose upon the population. Casey argues that Christians should care about charity and that the only solutions are libertarian.  Media Referenced:Gerard Casey on X: @Casey5122darkLet the Poor Starve: https://www.stephankinsella.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/casey-Let-the-Poor-Starve-rev.-June-2023.pdf The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!

Right before the pandemic, in February of 2020, I took on the role of interim student ministries director at my church. Then the world shut down. I hosted seven weeks of group online, and I recorded a series of videos about the basics of our beliefs for my students to watch before our weekly meetings. These short video introductions to important Biblical subjects lay dormant for nearly five years, until I decided to turn them into episodes of my podcast. The original videos (edited, of course, to remove the boring logistical information), will be posted on YouTube. There you can see my beard and my hair grow longer each week until I look like a ridiculous clown.  Longtime listeners of the show will realize that some of my beliefs have been nuanced or changed in the last five years, but I still agree with the basic outline of each episode. I hope they benefit you!  New episodes will be released every other Thursday between January 30-April 24 2025. Original show notes:What Do We Believe? Week Four: ResurrectionWeek Four in a seven-part series entitled "What Do We Believe", based on Romans 1:1-5.Paul declares in Romans 1:4 that Jesus was declared to be Son of God by the resurrection of the dead, but what does the term "resurrection" actually mean? This video explores the idea of resurrection and what it means for Jesus, Paul, and us. Here are the three discussion questions from this week:1. The resurrection of Jesus is the single most important Christian belief. Why do you think this is the case? What makes it so important? 2. If the resurrection really happened, how does it make our evangelism and our mission more significant?3. How does belief in our future resurrection give us hope?The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and Youtube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I explore Paul’s exhortation in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 where he instructs the Thessalonians that “those that don’t work, don’t eat” (3:10). Building from last week’s episode on 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, I explain how this passage functioned in its historical context and the principles that we should draw from it to think about economics and politics in the modern world. I justify the Pauline authorship of 2 Thessalonians, and then explain how the themes of persecution, eschatology, and sanctification are central to the letter. Paul encourages Christians to emulate him by embracing a cruciform lifestyle of sacrifice for others and shows himself to be an example because he performed manual labor during his stay in Thessalonica so as not to be a burden to the congregation. In 3:6-13, he challenges the ‘ataktos’, the idle or disorderly, to find work and not live off the generosity of other people. Christians should put themselves in a position to help others and charity should only be given to those who are truly in need. We explore the consequences of the principles outlined in this text for the ways in which Christians should think about modern economics and politics.  Media Referenced:1 Thessalonians 4:9-13:1 Peter 2:13-17: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-121-submit-to-the-authorities-1-peter-213-17/Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-105-jesus-and-the-rich-young-ruler/1 Timothy 5-6: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/1-timothy-5-6-widows-wealth-and-the-specter-of-socialism/New Bible Dictionary: https://a.co/d/hGlU7fDKarl Donfried; Paul, Thessalonica, and the Early Church: https://a.co/d/fCdLFc4Bruce Winter; Seek the Welfare of the City: https://a.co/d/ardheBa The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks! 

In this episode, I explain what Paul is doing when he exhorts the Thessalonians to “mind your own business and work with your hands” in 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12. I discuss the problems with historical anachronism and the difference between ancient and modern economic thought. I then discuss the wider context of Paul’s though, explaining how his fundamental moral principle is cruciformity (living a life of sacrifice for others) and his views on the nature and responsibility of the church. Paul works to fund his own ministry (1 Cor. 9) as an example of cruciform sacrifice towards his congregations. I explain how Thessalonica was a diverse, cosmopolitan trading city with an independent government, and how Paul’s trip to Thessalonica (Acts 17) resulted in synagogue leaders leveraging the local government to harass those that believe in the Gospel. I then turn to 1 Thessalonians as a letter, showing how persecution and eschatology are the two major themes that run through the letter. Paul wants the Thessalonians to imitate him (1:6-7) and explains how he is willing to work to provide for his own needs (2:9-12). Before the final section of 1 Thessalonians, Paul explains how cruciform love and the identity of the church shapes the rest of his exhortation (3:11-13). We then finally come to 1 Thess. 4:9-12. The historical and sociological background of the passage is the Roman patron-client system, where wealthy patrons give gifts of money, clothing, and food to clients in exchange for social clout and political support. Paul wants all Christians to become charitable and benefactors, and his language in 4:9-12 is a rejection of the patron-client system. Paul encourages Christians to leave and reject the patron-client system and instead work with their hands, so that they will not be in need and can help those that genuinely are. This is also an example of the cruciform character of the church to outsiders. I then explain some principles that Christians should derive from this passage and how they should shape our perception of Christian responsibility in the modern world.  Media Referenced:1 Timothy 5-6: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/1-timothy-5-6-widows-wealth-and-the-specter-of-socialism/Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-105-jesus-and-the-rich-young-ruler/1 Peter 2:13-17: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-121-submit-to-the-authorities-1-peter-213-17/Bibleworthy Podcast Appearance: https://bibleworthy.com/8Seek the Welfare of the City, Bruce Winter: https://a.co/d/aYzhQt2Empire, Economics, and the New Testament, Peter Oakes: https://a.co/d/3gsTap5The Moral Teaching of Paul, Victor Furnish: https://a.co/d/dnMNlpB The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and Youtube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! G

Right before the pandemic, in February of 2020, I took on the role of interim student ministries director at my church. Then the world shut down. I hosted seven weeks of group online, and I recorded a series of videos about the basics of our beliefs for my students to watch before our weekly meetings. These short video introductions to important Biblical subjects lay dormant for nearly five years, until I decided to turn them into episodes of my podcast. The original videos (edited, of course, to remove the boring logistical information), will be posted on YouTube. There you can see my beard and my hair grow longer each week until I look like a ridiculous clown. Longtime listeners of the show will realize that some of my beliefs have been nuanced or changed in the last five years, but I still agree with the basic outline of each episode. I hope they benefit you! New episodes will be released every other Thursday between January 30-April 24 2025. Original show notes:What Do We Believe? Week Three - Son of DavidWeek Three in a seven part series entitled "What Do We Believe", based on Romans 1:1-5."Gospel" means good news, and Paul uses the term to describe the message about Jesus and the beliefs of Jesus followers. In Romans 1:3, Paul explains that Jesus is both the 'Son of David' and the 'Son of God', both of which are terms used in the Old Testament to describe the coming promised king of the world.Here are the three discussion questions from this week:1. We don’t often think about Jesus as being an actual king; how should this change the way we look at Jesus?2. If Jesus is king, why should we be obedient to him?3. Does this shape the way that we look at political leaders and rulers today? If so, how?Part 1: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-179-what-we-believe-part-1-the-gospel/Part 2: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-182-what-we-believe-part-2-according-to-scripture/The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and Youtube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

*Streamyard defaulted to my computer microphone and not my recording microphone. I apologize for the terrible sound quality. In this episode I explore how the American progressive left and conservative right share many fundamental assumptions about the use of authoritarian power. While the political spectrum in the West is usually conceptualized as left vs. right, I argue that it should be more accurately characterized as liberty vs. authority. I discuss the libertarian non-aggression principle, which states as a moral principle that violence should never be initiated against a peaceful person, and I read from Murray Rothbard and Hans-Herman Hoppe to elaborate the point. I then compare this with conservative and progressive conceptions of power, both of which affirm the use of arbitrary state power and violence to achieve their preferred social ends. This is why our only two political options are between liberty and varying degrees of authoritarianism. I then read from Mark 10:35-45, John 15, 1 John 4, and Matthew 23, showing that self-sacrificial love for others and the rejection of worldly authoritarian powers are principles fundamental to Christianity and explain how libertarianism is a more consistent modern political application of those fundamental principles.  Media Referenced:Rothbard, For a New Liberty: https://a.co/d/2nP2PZCHoppe, A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism: https://a.co/d/0jub6a2Jesus and Capitalism: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-180-jesus-and-capitalism/Mises vs. Wright: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-178-ludwig-von-mises-vs-a-christian-scholar-round-3-n-t-wright/ The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!

In this episode I welcome back long-time friend of the show Cody Cook to discuss his brand-new book The Anarchist Anabaptist: Essays on Radical Christianity and Freedom. In this book he explores the relationship between his Anabaptist faith and libertarian political philosophy. We discuss the meaning and history of the Anabaptist movement, its relationship to the wider Protestant world, and the differences of opinion between various Anabaptist groups. Cody explains the difference between pacifism and non-violence, paedo- and credobaptism, and why many modern Anabaptists are politically progressive. We discuss the John Howard Yoder scandal and how it impacted his legacy, and Cody critiques the political perspectives of N.T. Wright and Michael Bird. Buy a copy of the book today! Media Referenced:Buy The Anarchist Anabaptist: LCI Link: https://libertarianchristians.com/book/the-anarchist-anabaptist/Amazon: https://a.co/d/0AtxLAaInterview on LCP: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/episode-389-the-anarchist-anabaptist-with-cody-cook/https://anarchistanabaptist.com/https://www.cantus-firmus.com/Cody on X: CantusFirmusCC The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the show’s profile! Thanks!

Right before the pandemic, in February of 2020, I took on the role of interim student ministries director at my church. Then the world shut down. I hosted seven weeks of group online, and I recorded a series of videos about the basics of our beliefs for my students to watch before our weekly meetings. These short video introductions to important Biblical subjects lay dormant for nearly five years, until I decided to turn them into episodes of my podcast. The original videos (edited, of course, to remove the boring logistical information), will be posted on YouTube. There you can see my beard and my hair grow longer each week until I look like a ridiculous clown. Longtime listeners of the show will realize that some of my beliefs have been nuanced or changed in the last five years, but I still agree with the basic outline of each episode. I hope they benefit you! New episodes will be released every other Thursday between January 30-April 24 2025. Original show notes:What We Believe Week Two: According to ScriptureWeek Two in a seven part series entitled "What Do We Believe", based on Romans 1:1-5."Gospel" means good news, and Paul uses the term to describe the message about Jesus and the beliefs of Jesus followers. In Romans 1:2, Paul explains that his Gospel is "according to Scripture", meaning that the message Jesus is the completion of the Old Testament story. .Here are the three discussion questions from this week:1. Why is it important that Jesus is the center of God's story?2. Is it important that we understand the Old Testament? Why or why not?Part 1: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-179-what-we-believe-part-1-the-gospel/ The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and Youtube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode I talk with Dr. James Barker, associate professor of New Testament at Western Kentucky University, who authored the brand-new book Writing and Rewriting the Gospels: John and the Synoptics, out now on Eerdmans. In this book Dr. Barker discusses the synoptic problem, the question of the literary relationship between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and offers a defense of the Farrer hypothesis, which argues Mark was the first gospel to be written, Matthew used Mark, and Luke used both. He discusses ancient rhetorical techniques, writings styles and media, and the ‘trajectory’ of editing. He then proposes that John both knew and used the synoptics, and that the development of early Christology helpfully illustrates the literary development of the gospels.    Media Referenced:Writing and Rewriting the Gospels: https://a.co/d/aQAdPq4James Barker Academia: https://wku.academia.edu/JamesBarker  The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Go to libertarianchristians.com, where you can donate to LCI and buy The Protestant Libertarian Podcast Merch! Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

In this episode, I discuss the problem of unclear economic thinking in Biblical scholarship. Terms like ‘capitalism’ and ‘socialism’ are often left undefined by the scholars who employ them, and the vague cultural notion that ‘capitalism’ is about evil and greed while ‘socialism’ is about virtue and charity characterizes the use of economic language in scholarship on the Bible. I discuss how many excellent scholars nevertheless make Jesus out to be a modern socialist despite doing excellent historical work on ancient economic systems. I define capitalism as it is understood by the Austrian school as a theory of private capital accumulation based on absolute respect for property rights. I then explain how modern economic concepts are foreign to ancient thinkers. I read through Luke 12:13-34 and explain the historical questions which need to be asked to accurately interpret this passage and explain how modern interpreters gloss over Jesus’s statements on wealth and charity with an uncritical appeal to socialism. I then explore this dynamic by reviewing the work of two New Testament scholars, Richard Horsley and Douglas Oakman, who do excellent historical analysis on ancient economic and political systems but impose modern socialist ideas onto the texts while coming to the incorrect political conclusions that all our modern problems are a result of capitalism on ‘capitalism’, when the real problem are socialist policies that they support. They allow their biases to determine interpretive outcomes. I also reveal that I am writing a book about all of this which I hope will be published in 2026.   Media Referenced:LVM vs. N.T. Wright: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-178-ludwig-von-mises-vs-a-christian-scholar-round-3-n-t-wright/LVM vs. James K.A. Smith: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ludwig-von-mises-vs-christian-scholar-round-2-james-k-a-smith/LVM vs. Michael Gorman: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ludwig-von-mises-vs-christian-scholar-round-1-michael-gorman/James Crossley: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/ep-169-the-next-quest-for-the-historical-jesus-with-james-crossley/The Political Aims of Jesus, Oakman: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0800638476?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_R1NS418YPJNNEY9DRTDS_2&skipTwisterOG=1&bestFormat=true&newOGT=1Jesus and Empire, Horsley: https://www.amazon.com/dp/080063490X?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_NBCAC8JTEJVMTVEC3M94&skipTwisterOG=1&bestFormat=true&newOGT=1 The Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com.Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod, and YouTube, @ProLibertyPod, where you will get shorts and other exclusive video content.