Our favorite Old Testament scholar is back to talk about the Book of Daniel. Dr. John Walton says the apocalyptic passages of Daniel—which deeply influenced those End Times charts popular among evangelicals—aren’t really predictive of the future in the way we think. And the story of Daniel isn’t necessarily a manual for how Christians ought to live in a post-Christian society. Prepare to have your mind blown as you learn what apocalyptic visions in the Bible are really about. Also this week—how ...
Apr 07, 2021•2 hr 34 min
Have you wondered why so many megachurch leaders have been embroiled in scandals, or why there are so many Christian celebrities today? It’s not accidental. It’s the predictable outcome of the systems behind much of popular consumer Christianity. In this special episode co-produced with the Love Thy Neighborhood podcast, Jesse Eubanks joins Skye to explore the way business interests and economics have replaced Christian values to drive many parts of American evangelicalism. Featuring multiple in...
Mar 31, 2021•47 min
Is evangelical purity culture to blame for the murder of eight people at spas in Atlanta? Or is anti-Asian racism the cause? What about America’s gun culture or mental illness? Phil, Skye, and Christian discuss the many facets of the tragedy and get vulnerable about their own history with evangelicalism’s obsession with sex. Then, Skye talks with Richard Stearns, president emeritus of World Vision, about his new book on leadership. Stearns recalls his own battle with purity culture when he tried...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 26 min
Recently author/professor Karen Swallow Prior was asked what she considered the biggest problem facing the church today, and answered, "an impoverished imagination." So Phil sat down with Karen to talk through what she means by that, and her belief that a lack of imagination-forming reading results in, among other things, our propensity to believe conspiracy theories and our extreme discomfort with uncertainty. Karen also convinces Phil he really, really needs to read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 18 min
What is the greatest threat facing Christianity in the U.S. today? Socialism? Cancel culture? Wokeness? Not according to Dr. Russell Moore. He says it’s “means-to-an-end-Christianity” which seeks to use Christ to achieve some other goal. This, he argues, is what’s fueling everything from Christian nationalism to the cover up of sexual abuse in churches and ministries. Don’t miss his wide-ranging conversation with Skye. Also this week, the podcast crew discusses the “Seven Mountain Mandate” behin...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 27 min
Filling his songs with faith and the theology of respected white leaders like John Piper and Tim Keller, Lecrae became a darling of white evangelicalism. When he spoke out against racial injustice in 2017, all that began to change. Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, record producer and Christian activist Lecrae sits down with Phil to talk about being called “too Black,” Fallkirk Center co-founder Charlie Kirk’s recent attempt to “cancel” him, and, in the midst of it all, why he still has hope for...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 13 min
How do you know if you’re a Christian nationalist? Kaitlyn Schiess is back with Phil and Skye to unpack Samuel Perry’s top 10 indicators of Christian nationalism and they add a few of their own. They also discuss why there’s so much overlap between Christian nationalism and Christian fundamentalism. Plus, Phil explains how the evolution of contemporary Christian music reveals what’s happened to the American church. Then, Skye talks with Preston Sprinkle about his new book “Embodied: Transgender ...
Feb 24, 2021•1 hr 26 min
Here we go again. The evangelical world is shocked by another leadership scandal. This time it’s the report that famed apologist Ravi Zacharias sexually abused women for years before his death in 2020. Kaitlyn Schiess joins Phil and Skye to discuss the story, and why so many ministries fail to investigate their famous leaders or take abuse allegations seriously. Then, Skye talks with Charlie Dates, senior pastor of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago, about his decision to leave the Southern B...
Feb 17, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Before the 2020 election, many self-identified “prophets” within the charismatic movement decalred God had revealed to them that Donald Trump would win. Millions of followers believed them. How are they now reconciling their divine revelations with reality? The Holy Post crew looks at another failed prophecy in the 1840s that changed American Christianity. Also this week, Phil deputizes Mike Erre as his pastor to determine whether his sarcastic response to a Twitter critic violated Jesus’ comman...
Feb 10, 2021•1 hr 24 min
Evangelicals used to believe the way to transform America was through revivalism. Increasingly, they now believe it’s through revolution. Why are so many buying into Christian nationalism? What is it? And what can we do about those caught in this heretical gospel of political domination? Phil, Skye, and Christian discuss the issue. Also this week, Dr. Derwin Gray—former NFL player and lead pastor of a multiethnic church in North Carolina—joins Skye to talk about his new book on the Beatitudes, “...
Feb 03, 2021•2 hr 36 min
Was Donald Trump good or bad for the Republican Party? The GOP lost the presidency and the Senate, but in 2020 the party gain seats in the House and Trump also got more votes than any Republican candidate ever! Conservative columnist and veteran of three Republican administrations, Peter Wehner, joins Skye to talk about the future of the party after Trump, and why evangelicals are the group most easily seduced by political power. Also this week, Kaitlyn Schiess joins Phil and Skye to discuss Bid...
Jan 27, 2021•2 hr 31 min
Jemar Tisby (The Color of Compromise) rejoins Phil to discuss his new book, How to Fight Racism. Actual, real steps to be part of the solution, not part of the problem! Plus David French posits that the American church has been infected with something called “Southern shame culture,” which sends Phil on a journey into the “Lost Cause” narrative, confederate monuments, revisionist history and the overwhelming desire to “defend our tribe” and punch back at enemies, real and imagined. It’s a wild, ...
Jan 20, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Everyone is trying to make sense of the attack on the Capitol last week by a violent pro-Trump mob displaying Christian symbols—including us! Kaitlyn Schiess joins Phil, Skye, and Christian to talk through the madness. Skye explains why this attack is fundamentally different from political violence in America’s past. Phil worries about the loss of objective truth and why responses on Facebook are so much worse than Twitter. The discuss why so many Christians and Christian leaders still support D...
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 8 min
We’re starting the new year with a look back. John Fea, history professor from Messiah College, author of “Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump,” and the official historian of the Holy Post podcast, says 2020 was a year that “unveiled” the truth about American evangelicalism. He also explores how different court evangelicals have responded to Trump’s loss, and what may happen next. Fea also looks at Phil’s recent video about the history of evangelicalism, and how the Second Great Awa...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Recently, Young Earth Creation (YEC) champion Ken Ham took exception to Phil's statement that Ham "rejects mainstream science." In the flurry of social media activity that followed, a number of YEC experts took Phil to task, claiming he was wrong on several facts. Phil dug deeper and realized he WAS in fact wrong on a couple of things, but right on a bunch more. So this week Phil lays out what he got wrong and what he got right as we take a deep dive into the fascinating history of the movement ...
Dec 30, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Trump supporters who believe the election was stolen, including Eric Metaxas and the My Pillow Guy, marched on Washington D.C. to blow their horns and sell their merch. Notable was the absence of many of the President’s evangelical allies. Why didn’t they show? Influential black pastors are leaving the Southern Baptist Convention over their blanket opposition to Critical Race Theory. Given the SBC’s racist heritage, have they chosen the wrong battle? Sociologist Ryan Burge reports on the widenin...
Dec 23, 2020•55 min
Advances in medical technology have produced a Covid-19 vaccine in record time, but some of these advances have a dark side. Gene editing technology may end some diseases, but should we interfere with the conception and birth of those who carry certain genes? And what about creating enhanced humans? Bioethicist Calum MacKellar joins Skye for an important, and somewhat disturbing conversation about the new era of eugenics we are entering. Also this week, the Holy Post crew discusses a new book ab...
Dec 16, 2020•1 hr 29 min
Conservatives have recently found a new boogeyman—Critical Theory. Even Mr. Trump has issued an executive order declaring Critical Theory to be “anti-American,” and last week the presidents of six Southern Baptist seminaries said critical theory is incompatible with Christianity. Their statement, however, never defined what Critical Theory is nor what makes it unchristian. Theologian David Fitch is back to talk about the controversy and offers a more thoughtful way to assess which aspects of Cri...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 20 min
In November, seven states (both red and blue) had initiatives on their ballots to either decriminalize or legalize some drugs including marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and LSD. Every measure passed. As the U.S. continues to rapidly abandon its war on drugs, how should Christians respond? And if these addictive and dangerous substances are legalized, what happens next? Bonnie Kristian is back to talk about her recent op-ed arguing for an end to the drug war from an evangelical perspective. Also this ...
Dec 02, 2020•1 hr 20 min
The cultures which produced the Bible were collectivist, but most modern Western Christians are immersed in individualism. Biblical scholar and missionary, E. Randolph Richards says this causes many of us to misinterpret critical aspects of the Bible, or miss them altogether. He talks with Skye about his latest book, “Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes.” Also this week—has a decline in religious authority caused a decline in empathy in America? And how did we go from expecting institut...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 19 min
The CEOs of Facebook and Twitter testified before Congress this week about the toxic spread of misinformation on their platforms and the harm it causes to society. Sadly, many Christians are complicit in this trend. Daniel Darling is back to talk about how Christians must change the way we engage social media if there’s any hope of redeeming it. Also this week, Trump’s favorite television preachers have made a spectacle of praying for a miraculous election victory, but when does Christian prayer...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr 20 min
The exit poll data from the election is in, and it looks like white evangelicals are as politically conservative and Republican as ever. Professor of political science from Eastern Illinois University, Ryan Burge, joins the Holy Post crew to discuss the findings. He says Democrats should give up on white evangelical voters who are now more Republican than Christian. Burge also looks at the formative power of cable news, why pastors are afraid to address the idolatry of politics in their pews, an...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 24 min
It’s 2020, did anyone really expect the election to be easy? The morning after the vote, a sleep-deprived Holy Post crew discusses what the incomplete results mean for the country and the church. The country hasn’t repudiated Trumpism, but they don’t seem to be embracing progressivism either. Did evangelicals still “hold their nose” and vote for Trump, or do exit polls show they’re deeply inhaling? An article from Christianity Today’s president, Tim Dalrymple, helps explain the evangelical divid...
Nov 04, 2020•59 min
With less than a week until the election, Phil and Skye are joined by Kaitlyn Schiess to discuss what should, and should not, influence how Christians vote. First, they talk about reactions to Skye’s video (not Phil’s, he had nothing to do with it!) about abortion, and the different ways the issue is viewed by evangelicals. They also unpack recent articles about the election from three Christian leaders—John Piper, Al Mohler, and Joel Hunter. It is just a coincidence that the two retired pastors...
Oct 28, 2020•1 hr 23 min
Author and cultural commentator, Os Guinness, says, “If people don’t understand the 60’s, they can’t understand today.” Skye talks with Os about the re-release of his classic book, “The Dust of Death” and how the 60’s counterculture planted the seeds for the cultural upheaval and division we’re seeing in 2020. Also this week, can the National Association of Evangelicals restore the reputation of evangelicalism in America? The Gospel Coalition offers 6 wise suggestions for political engagement, a...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 14 min
The most esteemed New Testament scholar alive today is back on the show! N.T. Wright discusses his new book about John’s gospel, “Broken Signposts.” Wright talks to Skye about two competing visions of power and freedom at work in the world today, and how the church sometimes fails to follow the right one. He also unpacks how “identity” has become the dominant framework in our culture, how it’s a reaction to colonialism, and the danger it poses to Christian unity. Also this week—Is America having...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 24 min
Does the Bible have anything to say about the police? What about racial diversity? Are Christians called to submit to the government or reform it? Professor and Anglican priest, Esau McCaulley, talks about his new book, “Reading While Black,” and the African-American tradition of Scripture interpretation that avoids the either/or (conservative vs. liberal) thinking typical in the white church. Also this week, Phil shares about his experience being interviewed by Kirk Cameron and goes on a rant a...
Oct 07, 2020•2 hr 33 min
The Holy Post crew discusses the new Netflix documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” about the way social media is contributing to the breakdown of society and how Facebook’s algorithms make reasonable people into extremists. Also this week, Skye and Josh Lindsay—his co-host on The Movie Proposal podcast—interview actor and screenwriter, Luke Barnett, about his new comedy “Faith Based.” Barnett explains how his long experience in the church informed the project, why Christian movies follow such a pre...
Sep 30, 2020•1 hr 15 min
The United States now has more guns than people, and while overall violent crime is down the number of mass shootings is set to break a record in 2020 and suicides from guns is rising. How should Christians think about America’s gun culture? David French is back to offer a legal and moral argument for why most attempts at gun control are misguided. He says more legal gun ownership protects freedom, and Skye wonders if a public square filled with guns limits it. And if we can’t reduce the number ...
Sep 23, 2020•2 hr 30 min
At numerous points throughout American history, Christians had a choice to confront the evils of racism or quietly ignore them. In a challenging conversation Jemar Tisby, author of “The Color of Compromise” and host of the “Pass the Mic” podcast, explores key moments from the arrival of the first African slaves in 1619 to the rise of the Religious Right in the 1970s when the white church in America chose silence or complicity rather than faithfulness. He also explains how Christian arguments to ...
Sep 16, 2020•2 hr 35 min
