The Theology Pugcast

Cluster B is a recognized set of psychological disorders. In this episode, the Pugsters discuss an article by Christopher Rufo that argues that our culture, government, and educational system has promoted these as virtues, with the result that society is being driven by Cluster B personalities. Along with looking at the problem, the guys discuss ideas about what to do about it.

Today the Pugcast is live at Evangelical Reformed Church in Tacoma, Washington and Chris and Glenn are joined by Dr. John West of the Discovery Institute. Together they discuss the strange and disconcerting tendency of evangelical intellectuals to prefer the company and approval of secular elites to fellow Christians. Tune in and learn about Christian Stockholm Syndrome!

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Today the Pugs reflect on a short essay by Patrick Deneen published in the Post-Liberal Substack, entitled, In Defense of Order. In the essay Deneen reflects on a book, originally published in 1974 by Russell Kirk, The Roots of American Order. The call to order is hardly heard today over the cacophony of voices praising, and demanding liberty. Yet according to classical thinkers, liberty without order ultimately leads to tyranny. And more and more that seems to be the case in our time. Join the Pugs today as they ruminate on the nature of ordered liberty.

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Since C. P. Snow's landmark book, The Two Cultures intellectuals have wondered whether or not it is possible to bridge the divide between the sciences (or STEM), and the humanities. Another way of putting it is, "What's the connection between facts and values?" Today on the Pugcast the guys welcome philosopher and engineer, Mitch Stokes of New Saint Andrews College. Mitch was recently awarded a grant to explore this very question. And Mitch's intriguing thesis is beauty is the bridge. Join us for a free-flowing conversation!

Just how deep a dive is possible when it comes to Tolkien and metaphysics? About as deep as Thomas Aquinas goes, according the New Saint Andrews Fellow, Jonathan McIntosh. In this free ranging discussion the Pugs dive into the creation story of the Silmarillion, the nature of power and language, G. K. Chesterton, and dozens of other things. Tolkien nerds will now be able to nerd out in a whole new way!

Are you a Calvinist who has a weakness for G. K. Chesterton? Join the club! What attracts readers to Chesterton is the combination of artful prose, joyous gratitude, and serious attention to perennial truths. Wouldn't it be great if more Calvinists were like him? Well, according to Douglas Wilson we once were and we can be again. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation with Doug on all things Chesterton and Reformed. And check out his informative book for yourself.

Today the Pugs are joined by political philosopher, Dr. Joshua Mitchell of Georgetown University. Dr. Mitchell is the author of American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time. Unlike many thinkers who blame cultural marxism for the slide of the Left into identity politics, Dr. Mitchell believes the true source of the problem is a Christian heresy. The Left has turned doctrines like sin and atonement into a framework for a political program of purgation. Certain groups are scapegoated in the interest of cleaning the stain of social sins such as racism. The problem, of course, is this doesn't truly atone for anything. Our only hope for atonement is found in Christianity. Without a revival of genuine Christian faith the American experiment will end in failure.

Today the Pugs respond to an article by Matthew B. Crawford--the author of Shop Class as Soulcraft--entitled: What is Vitalism? After distinguishing what Crawford is talking about from the vitalism of earlier thinkers, the Pugs sympathetically reflect on his main argument--namely, that the over-management of life by the professional managerial class infantilizes people and makes them weak and incompetent. His solution is a return to the real world and manual and mental competence. Tune in and see if you agree!

An increasing trend has sprung up in the West, the Netherlands and Canada most recently, where assisted suicide and euthanasia have become fashionable options for people not merely suffering interminable diseases during the latter days of their lives but for young and old who are just tired of living for one reason or the other, whether its recurrent depression, an eating disorder, or a bad break-up. Tom introduces this disturbing trend, and the guys engage it from many angles, offering theological and ethical analysis on the one side, but also ministerial and sound counsel on the other.

Listen in for a short Q&A session following our previous episode. 

The Pugsters were together live again this week, meeting at the Preservation Company in Huntsville, Alabama. The guys talked about an article called “Believe in Believers,” an appeal by a conservative English secularist to his fellow atheists and agnostics not to view the “Religious Right” as their enemies, but to see them as essential to the battle against the Woke. The Pugsters talked about the practical and theoretical parts of the article’s ideas.

On today’s episode Tom and Glenn are joined by two guests, Architect David Stocker and Philosopher Doug Groothuis, while Chris is tending denominational business at the PCA General Assembly. The conversation surrounds aesthetics, beauty, and its connection to divine glory. David’s insights from the world of architecture are fascinating and richly practical in helping us get started bringing beauty into our homes and lives. Doug’s insights from philosophy likewise help us shape a larger vision of beauty as we embody divine glory.

Listen in for a short Q&A session following our previous episode. Also--learn what E. M. Bounds has to do with George and his preaching ministry!

On today's show the gang is recording in Memphis again, and this time they're joined by George Grant. George has many writing projects, but one of his recent ones addresses the life and ministry of Thomas Chalmers. George Grant is a remarkable pastor and scholar, and if he's impressed with Thomas Chalmers, that's saying something. Listen in as George waxes grandio-eloquent about this important 19th century Scots churchman, encourages us to read deeply, and reminds us of the hope a joyful church gives to our broken world. Enjoy!

While at the PCA General Assembly in Memphis the Pugcast caught up with Dr. Ben Dunson, the editor of The American Reformer. This short interview is an introduction to a young, but increasingly influential journal that has been recently cited by the New York Times as playing a role in the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Listen in for a short Q&A session following our previous episode, Fire in the Streets.

The Pugsters recorded in Memphis this week, where Chris was attending the PCA General Assembly. In this show, the guys have another conversation with Doug Groothuis, Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics at Denver Seminary, about his latest book, Fire in the Streets. The book and the discussion focus on Critical Race Theory and Critical Theory more broadly. The guys talk about the various ideas that make up CRT and critique them from the perspective of a biblical worldview.

The Pugs are down one member today--Glenn couldn't make it. But don't panic, they are joined by another historian, Christian Cuthbert, authority on Jonathan Edwards and all around good guy. Jonathan shares the content of a paper he is presenting at the Jonathan Edwards conference in Belgium in July of 2023. Chris and Tom have fun interacting with Christian as the show is recorded in person at the beautiful Blake Center for Faith and Freedom of Hillsdale College, located in Somers, CT. It's a short show this week, but a rich one. Enjoy!

On today's show Chris introduces the discipline of Axiology to listeners. Axiology is a division of philosophy--like metaphysics, ethics, or epistemology, but with the focus on the concept of value. Chris uses his recent talk at the Thank God for Bitcoin Conference as the starting point for this discussion. Before the end the Pugs discuss the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic value, value and its relationship to the Real, and what the classic film, Casablanca can teach us about value in a world that is falling apart. Enjoy!

Working off an article about the inability of modern writers on the Vikings to understand their conversion to Christianity, the guys discuss the weaknesses of Norse religion and the answers Christianity offered them. Glenn tells a number of stories about Vikings and explains how Norse Christianity saw itself as the fulfillment of pagan mythology. To round out the discussion, the guys talk about Lewis and Tolkien’s love of “Northerness,” the real virtues of Norse culture in the midst of its vices, and the need to recapture those virtues purged of its pagan vices.

On today’s show Tom and the guys look at how technocratic rationalists are increasingly longing for something deeper and fuller even though their search mostly remains within the bounds of modernist assumptions and relativism.  The guys look at Tara Burton’s article Rational Magic: Why a Silicon Valley culture that was once obsessed with reason is going woo in the New Atlantis. The range of topics this episode engages is rich and timely.

In this week’s episode, the Pugsters riff off a Twitter thread and article contrasting the way Aragorn is portrayed in the movies and in the books. But Aragorn isn’t really the point. His character in the books but not in the movies displays magnanimity, or great-souledness (if that’s a word). The guys talk about the ideas roots in Aristotle, how the concept was Christianized in the Middle Ages, and why we should recover it.

On today's show the Pugs respond to an article published in First Things entitled: Don't Spare the Rod, by Daniel Buck. Buck is a public school teacher and in the article he describes the break down of the order that had once at least partly been kept in public school classrooms. The guys reflect on their own educations in public schools and wonder aloud, "What should Christians do about public education?"

On this week's episode Tom engages insights from Vigen Goroian's article (and book chapter) on Chesterton, Rallying the Really Human Things. The guys join Tom in discussing things human and the humane and the requisite theological and trascendent frame which grounds such things. For example, Christian virtues ripped from their theological mooring become barbaric and inhumane once unleashed on a civiliazation apart from God in Christ.

Article Referenced:

Malcolm Guite’s book, Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God, provides the Pugster’s with the starting point for this week’s episode. After a summary of some of Guite’s ideas about imagination as the means by which reason and intuition are united, making the imagination an essential tool for understanding reality, the guys engage in their usual wide-ranging discussion taking Guite’s ideas in new directions and ending with some suggestions on how to grow and stretch our imaginations.

Kemper Crabb is a musician who was involved in the “Jesus Music” of the late ‘70s and ‘80s that later turned into CCM, an Anglican priest working in a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, and a scholar of medieval literature and history, among other things. On today’s episode the Pugsters have a wide ranging conversation with Kemper, including an inside look at the history of Christian and popular music, the influence of medieval music and instruments in Kemper’s work, Tolkien, and things we need to recover from the medieval mind.

Once upon a time Thomas Aquinas referred to theology as the "Queen of the Sciences"--but what was he referring to? Today the Pugsters take up the crisis of knowledge. The tendency today is to reduce everything to material and efficient causes--in other words, to a material basis. Whole dimensions of human life are now considered too subjective to warrant referring to them as knowledge. Nevertheless, into the void ideology has inserted itself, and now, not only is every discipline aping the material sciences, everything is now politics--especially leftist politics. But once theology held things together to the glory of God. Today the Pugsters express their longings for a return of theology to its royal calling.

A timely discussion of the biblical reality of the spiritual realm, the angelic, the demonic, and Christ’s victory over Satan, death, hell, and the grave. Tom introduces the problematic placement of the place of angels and demons in contemporary theology and the need to retrieve the rich biblical vision which shaped classic Christian orthodoxy. Chris and Glenn chime in with a wealth of insight and perspective as the guys unpack this theme. Further, Tom brings into the discussion the biblical atonement theme of Christus Victor, Christ’s triumph over Satan and the bondage he has held creation under until Christ’s triumph over evil on the Cross.  The guys each contribute to the import of such a biblical emphasis in having a full understanding of the work of Christ over evil and our confidence in Him.

Today’s Pugcast is a discussion of Naomi Wolfe’s Substack piece, “Have the Old Gods Returned?” which is a reflection and development of the ideas in Jonathan Cahn’s The Return of the Gods. The premise is that with the rejection of Christianity, God’s protection over the Western world has been withdrawn and the old gods—demonic entities that were pushed to the margins by Christianity—have now returned. The guys discuss some specifics of the pieces and reflect on the biblical and historic Christian ideas of the demonic and its influence on culture. A resurgence of demonic activity may be the best explanation for the unprecedentedly rapid spread of cultural and social chaos and the way governments, education, media, and big tech are marching in lockstep across the globe to promote these destructive ideologies and practices.

The Pugsters welcome apologist and philosopher Doug Groothuis to the show this week to talk about neither apologetics nor philosophy but music. Doug is a jazz fan who has published articles and concert reviews for “All About Jazz.” We talk about the elements that make jazz what it is, jazz performers and standards, and how jazz points to an approach to other activities beside music, including Pugcasts and teaching.

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In this brief bonus show C. R. Wiley interviews Rory Groves, author of Durable Trades, about what he will be speaking about at The Traditional Fatherhood Intensive. TFI is a two-day conference being held in Vancouver, Washington, May 5-6, 2023 and will feature C. R. Wiley, Rory Groves, and Nate Spearing. To learn more and to register simply follow this link--

Today's show looks at Jacques Ellul's 'Those whom God wishes to destroy He first Makes Mad' from his book The Betrayal of the West. Tom introduces the topic by looking at how civilizational self-contempt became a defining orientation of Western cultures once it took a nihilistic and idolatrous turn from the Christian vision. Once culture lost its ground and aims in true transcendence the meaning and purpose at the heart of things was eclipsed and everything become seen as limiting and oppressing the only cultural value left: absolute autonomy. The guys join the discussion with fascinating insights into how irrationality and madness now largely define the times.

The Man Who Was Thursday is considered by many critics to be G.K. Chesterton’s masterpiece. Published in 1908, it has never gone out of print. It’s simultaneously a comedy, a mystery, a philosophical action-thriller, a spoof on anarchism and German philosophy, and a serial romp from the real into the surreal and back. The guys talk about the book, its themes, and its relevance for today. Spoiler alert: you can’t deal with the book without giving away some of the plot, but hopefully not too much. And even with the spoilers, the book has a lot more going on than just the plotline.

Today the Pugsters take up the notorious Klaus Schawb's prediction for an ideal future: "You will own nothing and you will be happy." Just what sort of human being would you need to be in order for this to be appealing, or even make sense. Chris proposes--you would need to be a plastic pleasure monkey. But is that so? Or are there other truer ways to think about human beings? If so, what are they? On today's show the guys turn to Christian metaphysics, Aristotle, and the US Declaration of Independence to find out!

This week’s show engages one dimension of our current identity crisis in the West by attending the increasing loss of our ability to discern, define, and acknowledge the distinction between created natures and purposes and the artificial and constructed. Tom, Chris and Glenn unpack the topic by looking at the history of this loss and some of its core ingredients: theological and philosophical errors about divinity, creation, humanity and the increased use of scientific technique in bending nature to our will and wishes. In looking at the character and consequences of this shift in Western thought and culture, the guys discuss some of the rich analysis of Oliver O’Donovan in his classic work: Begotten or Made? and Mathias Desmit’s work: The Psychology of Totalitarianism.

This week’s Pugcast has another special guest. While Glenn is still away, Tom and Chris are joined by Labin Duke, the Executive Director of the Blake Center for Faith and Freedom of Hillsdale College in Somers, Connecticut. Labin introduces our audience to the fascinating history, mission, and vision of the Center. Extending the reach of the Hillsdale vision of faith and freedom into the spiritual and political barrenness of New England is bold yet opportune. The gentleman unpack the challenges as well as opportunities of such a venture as Mr. Duke further gives details about the upcoming programs offered by the Center. You’ll not want to miss this rich interview.

On today’s show Chris and Tom host the show without Glenn, but they are joined by Michael Warren Davis, author of the entertaining and informative book, The Reactionary Mind. Mike helps the pugs understand the differences between conservatives and reactionaries, and why genuine conservatives are actually the latter. Along the way the conversation ambles from Savonarola (a good guy) to Nom Chomsky (a very bad one). Tune in and see why you might actually be a reactionary and why that’s a good thing.

Few people today know about the remarkable career of Sabine Baring Gould. Anglican priest, father of fifteen, archaeologist, anthropologist, author of novels, short stories, hymns, biographies, and travelogues, amateur painter and ironworker, translator, preserver of folk music, the list goes on and on. Tony Esolen commented that he could only have lived in the nineteenth century. Using Baring Gould’s life as a starting point, the guys discuss Tony’s comment, examining why the nineteenth century produced such a wide-ranging genius, where we might find them today, and what we can do to begin recovering similar capacities today.

Listen in for a quick Q&A following yesterday’s episode: The New Asceticism

In some pockets of the Protestant world ‘asceticism’ is a dirty word. It brings works righteousness and unbiblical acts of self-abuse to mind. But is that the whole story? Jesus said, ‘When you fast’ not ‘If you fast.’ In other words, it’s expected, and there’s a right way to do it. So, perhaps it comes as a surprise that self-denial is actually growing in popularity, and it’s doing so outside the church. Why is it happening, and what should we think about it. Tune in for the conversation!

Today the Pugcast welcomes the versatile artist Jack Baumgartner. Jack is a farmer living with his wife and six children outside of Wichita, Kansas. Jack is a musician (the banjo you hear on this episode is Jack), a painter, printmaker, woodworker, furniture maker, and puppeteer. He’s also a thoughtful Christian whose faith is reflected in all of his work. Chris has collected Jack’s work for years. By the end of the show you’ll probably want to too.

In this episode, the guys discuss mythology and its significance for Tolkien. Glenn presents several theories about myths and their roles in cultures as a doorway into understanding Tolkien’s goal of creating a mythology for England. In the process, the guys explore some of our current cultural mythologies and the lessons and deeper meaning of myth in general and Tolkien in particular.