Senior editor of The Dispatch and constitutional attorney, David French, and Holy Post co-host, Skye Jethani, discuss why the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention should waive their attorney-client privilege in the ongoing abuse investigation. Then, French explains why the increase in self-identified evangelicals between 2016 and 2020 isn’t good news, and why he now puts “evangelicals” in three different buckets. Finally, they examine claims from some neo-fundamentalists that e...
Sep 24, 2021•59 min
Data from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has found that white Christians—including mainline Protestants, Catholics, and evangelicals—are the most racist religious group in America, Robert P. Jones, the CEO of PRRI, says this isn’t a bug within white American Christianity, but a feature. He discusses his new book “White Too Long” about the lingering legacy of white supremacy in the church. Also this week, apologist Josh McDowell joins those saying CRT is the greatest threat facing ...
Sep 22, 2021•1 hr 25 min
Why are people inside the church often no healthier or happier than those outside? Author Alan Noble says we are suffering from a kind of mass psychosis and going to church won’t solve it. His new book, “You Are Not Your Own” challenges our understanding of identity and purpose, and calls us to a less modern, more Christian, vision of life. Also this week, progressive philosopher and political activist, Cornel West, says liberals need Jesus. What can we learn from him about critiquing our own tr...
Sep 15, 2021•1 hr 15 min
Last week, Texas passed a law effectively banning abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, and the Supreme Court did not immediately strike it down. Both pro-life and pro-choice advocates have erupted in response. But what does the law really mean? Phil, Skye, and Kaitlyn get into the weeds and explain why the Texas law isn’t the victory many assume. Then, Christina Dent shares about her unexpected journey from a conservative, Southern, Bible school graduate, to drug legalization advocate. Sh...
Sep 08, 2021•2 hr 36 min
Former megachurch pastor, evangelical wunderkind, and author of “I Kissed Dating Goodbye,” Josh Harris, has since left his wife and renounced his faith. He’s now pitching himself as an expert guide for other ex-vangelicals. What does his story tell us about the evangelical subculture? Then, strange things are happening at John Piper’s church in Minneapolis where leaders are clashing over issues of race and abuse. And some pastors are resigning after being accused of “the sin of empathy.” Then, J...
Sep 01, 2021•2 hr 37 min
Is the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan the right policy? And will abandoning the country ultimately cost more American lives than staying? And who’s really to blame for the mess that’s unfolding? Skye talks with David French about these issues and more in this special bonus interview. French is the senior editor of The Dispatch, an attorney, the author of numerous books, and an Iraq War veteran. This bonus episode features the first half of Skye’s hour long conversation with David French. The f...
Aug 27, 2021•33 min
With religious believers among the most likely to downplay the seriousness of both the pandemic and climate change, a recent article claims secular people and atheists are now more empathic and moral than conservative Christians. But is the problem really that evangelicals are less moral, or that they’re more easily deceived? Then, Matthew Soerens from World Relief talks about the unfolding tragedy in Afghanistan. What dangers do the thousands of Afghans who helped the American military face as ...
Aug 25, 2021•1 hr 29 min
The United Nations World Happiness Report is out, and it says the United States is still behind the world’s happiest countries. Can we learn anything from them, or does America’s diversity mean perpetual conflict? Then, pastor and author Mandy Smith says Western culture has warped our understanding of what it means to be a Christian by focusing too much on knowledge and power. The antidote? Embracing Jesus’ call to childlike faith. Also this week—covid skeptics have some explaining to do because...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 27 min
Phil’s Facebook page erupted after the recent episode about reparations—leading the Holy Post gang to ask about the limits of evangelical theology, and how American individualism has shaped our understanding of liberty, economics, and even theology. Then, a prayer service in Portland became a brawl between Proud Boys and Antifa involving paintball guns. Is it a harbinger of more conflicts to come? And a new survey finds Americans are far more confident than Brits they could triumph in a fight ag...
Aug 11, 2021•2 hr 35 min
It seems like everyone is talking about the new podcast from Christianity Today, “The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill” about the famed Seattle megachurch and its controversial pastor, Mark Driscoll. The creator of the podcast, Mike Cosper, talks to Skye about the complicated reality of Mars Hill, and what the rest of the evangelical church can learn from its story. Also this week, scientists discover a parasite that could make you live for 200 years, keep you perpetually young, and make you popular. Bu...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Earlier this year, Gregory Thompson and Duke Kwon released their book “Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair,” in which they make a biblical argument for the American church’s responsibility to repay the debts inflicted upon black communities by systemic racism and white supremacy. In this moment of political division and evangelical panic over Critical Race Theory, it’s not surprising that responses to the book have been polarized. One of the most negative and widely read revi...
Jul 28, 2021•2 hr 32 min
When news broke that the new president of the SBC lifted portions of his message from the previous SBC president’s sermon without attribution, #Sermongate erupted. The Holy Post crew unpacks the controversy, why so many pastors either outsource their sermon prep or plagiarize, and why the pressure to preach may be harming the church. Then, in a dramatic reversal, new data from Pew says mainline churches are growing while evangelical churches are shrinking. Have evangelicals been burned by their ...
Jul 21, 2021•2 hr 30 min
Calvin University history professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins Skye Jethani to discuss her bestselling book, "Jesus & John Wayne." In this episode, they look at the rise of Donald Trump among white evangelicals and how their response to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol mirrors reactions to scandals involving celebrity church leaders. Du Mez also responds to criticism of her book, and where we might find hope for the future of American evangelicalism. Part 1 - Authoritarian Pastors and ...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 6 min
This 4th of July, Hobby Lobby took out a controversial full page newspaper ad featuring quotes, or mis-quotes, from America’s founders about being a Christian nation. An editorial from Robert P. Jones says July 4th is a time to decide what we believe more—the Declaration of Independence that says all people are created equal, or the European doctrine of discovery which enshrined white supremacy? And David French asks what it really means to be a patriot and love our country well as Christians. T...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr 23 min
Calvin University history professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins Skye Jethani to discuss her bestselling book, “Jesus & John Wayne.” In this episode, they examine why white evangelicalism left behind some of its militant rhetoric after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s to embrace a kinder, gentler approach epitomized by the Promise Keepers movement, and how an aggressive vision of Christian masculinity returned after September 11, 2001. Plus, why an emphasis on racial reconciliation ultimately...
Jul 09, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Phil, Christian, and Skye do a deep dive into George Packer’s recent article in the Atlantic called “How America Fractured into 4 Parts.” Packer argues that Americans no longer agree on the country’s purpose, values, history, or meaning. Is he right? And how do Packer’s 4 Americas map onto the church? Then, Skye interviews Kyle Strobel about his new book “Where Prayer Becomes Real.” Obviously, the book is about prayer but it’s also about something even deeper and more foundational to our faith—h...
Jul 07, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Calvin University history professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins Skye Jethani to continue discussing her bestselling book, "Jesus & John Wayne." In this episode, they discuss how evangelicalism fought to maintain traditional authority structures in the home and society, except when those authority structures didn't fit their own political interests which ultimately led to the rise of the Religious Right. Part 1 - Feminism and Family Values (2:18) Part 2 - Reconstructionism and the Religious Right ...
Jul 02, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Tyler Huckabee, senior editor for Relevant, joins the Holy Post crew to defend his recent article about VeggieTales. Did Phil’s mom trick him into creating vegetable characters who are beyond God’s salvation? Then, over 1,000 Cru staff members say the parachurch ministry’s focus on diversity and racism has resulted in mission drift. Are they right or is it another example of paranoia over CRT? Then, Christian college president D. Michael Lindsay shares about his new book “Hinge Moments: Making t...
Jun 30, 2021•2 hr 33 min
Calvin University history professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins Skye Jethani (co-host of The Holy Post) to discuss her bestselling book, “Jesus & John Wayne.” In this episode, they discuss how the Cold War shaped and defined American evangelicalism, how it differed from earlier 19th-century evangelicalism, and the lingering effects of the Cold War on the way many white evangelicals still think about culture, politics, and gender. Part 1 - Revivalism and the Military (2:23) Part 2 - Billy Graham a...
Jun 25, 2021•57 min
With Skye out of town, Phil invites “hardest working man in evangelicalism” Ed Stetzer to sit in and discuss what went down in Nashville last week when 17,000 Southern Baptists all got in one room. What does it mean for Southern Baptists? What does it mean for evangelicalism? And does the mainstream media know the difference between the two? There were also two very interesting court rulings that came down last week with implications for religious liberty in America. So conservative columnist an...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 19 min
Violent crime, including mass shootings, are way up. On average over 300 people are shot everyday in America. In 2013, one of them was Taylor Schumann. She talks with Kaitlyn Schiess about her new book, “When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough,” and the side of gun violence most of us forget—the survivors. Also this week, the Southern Baptists are meeting in Nashville where, according to the mainstream media, the entire fate of evangelicalism will be decided. Are they right? Plus, Relevant Magaz...
Jun 16, 2021•2 hr 39 min
We are bombarded by more news than ever before, and many of us can no longer differentiate what’s real from what’s fake, or what’s important from what’s trivial. Jeffrey Bilbro, author of “Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News,” offers wisdom about what it means to engage the media as a Christian, why the first step may be a deeper engagement with our local church, and the value of cultivating a “holy apathy” about current events. Also this week, Phil, Skye, and Chr...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 18 min
It’s been 100 years since the Tulsa Massacre—a dark moment in American history most Americans know nothing about. Which makes Phil, Skye, and Christian wonder, what else don’t we know? Wheaton College has removed the word “savages” from a plaque honoring martyred missionaries. Was the move a result of political correctness or just common decency? Then, Phil’s recent tweet about racism and anti-racism went viral, leading him to ask—when did evangelicals become more committed to preserving the wor...
Jun 02, 2021•2 hr 34 min
Our society is more diverse than ever before yet ninety percent of churches in the U.S. remain mono-cultural. Derwin Gray says this isn’t just a problem for the mission of the church, it’s also a betrayal of the gospel itself. He talks with Skye about why he planted a multiethnic church, why so many church leaders resist this calling, and how a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel is to blame. Also this week, the military has admitted that UFOs are real but doesn’t say if they’re extraterr...
May 26, 2021•2 hr 33 min
Hold on to your bonnets, Holy Posters. Phil is joined by Kaitlyn Schiess and, while Skye’s away, guest host Mike Erre to talk about the scandals and misogyny plaguing evangelicalism. Phil wonders—are these bugs or features? And is it possible to love evangelicals but hate evangelicalism? Kaitlyn and Mike also explain what keeps them committed to Jesus and his church amid so much mess. Then, Skye talks to Baylor University history professor Beth Allison Barr about her new book, “The Making of Bib...
May 19, 2021•2 hr 40 min
It’s increasingly difficult to have conversations with other Christians. Our families and congregations can’t seem to agree even about basic facts, let alone the news or how we ought to respond to what’s happening. So, we avoid talking about anything that might be controversial—which is pretty much everything today. What happened? How did we become so divided? The Holy Post crew talks about CT president Tim Dalrymple’s recent article, “The Splintering of the Evangelical Soul,” and what is necess...
May 12, 2021•1 hr 23 min
Rene Padilla died last week at 88, and you’re probably thinking “Who’s Rene Padilla?” Phil, Skye, and Christian discuss the huge influence he had on the global church and its mission, and why so many American Christians still feel a divide between saving souls and reforming society. Then, Skye talks to Scot McKnight about his new book, “A Church Called Tov,” which he co-wrote with his daughter Laura Barringer in the aftermath of the Willow Creek controversy and Bill Hybles’ abuse. McKnight defin...
May 05, 2021•1 hr 27 min
In a recent editorial, David French asked whether the primary threat to the church comes from within or without? Phil, Skye, and Kaitlyn discuss the question and whether the church is primarily for or against the world. Plus, why are so many Christian ministries focused on protecting kids? Is it related to our fixation on the danger of hell? Then, Skye talks with A.J. Swoboda about his new book “After Doubt: How to Question Your Faith without Losing it.” He says a lot of people aren’t really dec...
Apr 28, 2021•1 hr 19 min
There’s a popular cliche among evangelicals—“The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it.” But is it really that simple? Not according to New Testament scholar, Dr. Timothy Gombis. Because we’re not ancient Near Eastern people living in a desert, he says it’s not possible to literally apply the Bible. Instead, any faithful Christian needs to learn how to improvise. Dr. Gombis talks with Skye about faithful improvisation, what cross-shaped cultural engagement looks like, and how idolatry des...
Apr 21, 2021•1 hr 26 min
Francis Chan says it’s time for Christians to take Jesus’ command about unity seriously. His new book, “Until Unity,” outlines the biblical call to be one, and why we struggle to achieve it. Skye talks with Chan about what Christian unity looks like practically, the role of racism in keeping us apart, how a focus on church growth distracted Chan from seeking unity, and how to know when disunity is the only option. Also this week, a new study finds less than 50% of Americans are now members of a ...
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 15 min
