We speak with Norman Horn about David Lipscomb’s role in the Stone-Campbell Restorationist movement and the Churches of Christ, including the movement’s views on scripture, tradition, and peace. We discuss Lipscomb’s views on slavery, racial reconciliation, government, democracy, and Christian political participation, as well as whether his ideas can be described as anarchist or proto-libertarian. We also cover the contents and editorial approach of The Political Theology of David Lipscomb and renewed interest in Lipscomb’s work.

Chapters:
0:00:31 Norman Horn and His New Book
0:01:52 David Lipscomb and the Restoration Movement
0:06:57 Restoring the New Testament Church
0:10:48 The Churches of Christ and the Peace Witness
0:16:33 Civil War, Pacifism, and the State
0:24:01 Lipscomb’s Family and Abolition
0:27:21 Lipscomb’s Case Against Human Government
0:33:43 Government as an Instrument of Wrath
0:38:14 Does Lipscomb Envision a Stateless Society?
0:41:30 Democracy, Anarchism, and Christian Resistance
0:51:02 Christian Political Participation
0:56:44 Lipscomb’s Continuing Influence
1:02:26 Inside The Political Theology of David Lipscomb

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Christian resistance to government power did not begin with modern libertarianism. Throughout church history, believers have challenged emperors, kings, dictators, and political systems whenever those systems demanded loyalty that belongs to Christ alone. From the early church to the twentieth century, faithful Christians have insisted that God's kingdom stands above every earthly authority.

Whether confronting Roman emperors, medieval rulers, totalitarian regimes, or modern warfare states, these anti-statist saints demonstrated that allegiance to Jesus frequently places believers at odds with the ambitions of governments.

The figures discussed in this episode come from Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Anabaptist, and Quaker traditions. They differ in theology and historical context, but they share a common conviction: political authority is limited, while Christ's authority is absolute. A fuller account of what these believers did will require you to watch the episode, but here's a brief sketch of the twelve chosen by Mike Maharrey, Alex Bernardo, and Cody Cook.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:22 All Saints and the Communion of Saints
5:19 Why Christians Need Their History
7:28 Basil the Blessed: A Holy Fool
11:09 Tertullian’s Allegiance to Christ
14:31 Revelation’s Anti-Imperial Vision
17:55 Mary of Paris Resists the Nazis
23:10 Peter Chelčický and the Church-State Divide
27:10 John Wesley’s Grassroots Transformation
32:15 Demetrius: Christian Resistance from Within
34:49 Michael Sattler and Anabaptist Pacifism
38:22 Henry Cadbury’s Witness for Peace
41:40 William Stringfellow: The State and Death
47:10 Dorothy Day and Tolkien on Power
53:41 Where to Find the Hosts

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In this episode, we speak with Jerom Sidwell, a former Hollywood visual effects producer who now creates immersive history experiences. We discuss his work in film, motion capture, digital doubles, and the way AI is affecting visual effects, especially consistency across shots.

We also talk about how he moved from business studies to Los Angeles and New Zealand before building Immersive History, including virtual reality recreations of ancient Jerusalem, the tabernacle, and other biblical settings. He explains the Immersive Bible Experience and his 1776 app, which use guided tours, puzzles, and interactive elements to help children and students learn history through active participation.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:22 Hollywood to Immersive History
3:02 AI Reshapes Visual Effects
3:28 Finding His Creative Calling
6:06 From Films to First Ideas
7:28 Pulling Viewers Into Story
9:10 Building Ancient Jerusalem
12:15 VR Experiences for Everyone
15:07 1776 Enters the App Store
18:17 Designing the Founding Experience
20:42 Why Screens Can Teach
23:37 Liberty, Principles, and Upbringing
26:54 Classrooms Using the App
28:52 Churches and Study Guides
30:58 Building the Next Timeline
32:09 Where to Find Immersive History

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Jeremy Todd joined host Cody Cook at this past weekend's Christians for Liberty Conference to discuss his Libertarian campaign for the Kentucky U.S. House seat, currently held by Thomas Massie until this coming January, describing how party members quickly gathered signatures after Massie lost the Republican primary. He attributed Massie’s defeat to attack advertising and Donald Trump’s criticism, and said he hoped to attract Massie supporters and independent voters.

Todd discussed how his Christian faith informs his libertarian views, including his opposition to imposing beliefs through political power, and criticized some evangelical support for Israel. He also addressed divisions and coalition-building in the Libertarian Party, concerns about affordability and political disengagement, and his campaign’s focus on money creation, foreign wars, lobbying, and government surveillance.

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Eastern Christianity is rarely associated with classical liberalism — but should it be? In this conversation with Dr. Dylan Pahman, author of The Kingdom of God and the Common Good and co‑editor of The Christian Roots of American Liberty, we explore the overlooked intellectual resources within the Eastern Orthodox tradition that support freedom, rule of law, spontaneous order, private property, and even free markets.

From sobornost (conciliar togetherness) to sophia (wisdom) to the liturgical worldview that shapes Orthodox social ethics, Dr. Pahman uncovers historical examples, forgotten thinkers, and surprising theological insights that challenge the stereotype of Eastern Orthodoxy as inherently statist or “caesaropapist.”

If you’ve ever wondered whether Orthodoxy has its own path to liberty — or how Eastern Christian thought can enrich the broader Christian conversation on freedom — this episode is for you.

Links:

- The Kingdom of God and the Common Good by Dylan Pahman

- The Christian Roots of American Liberty by Dylan Pahman and John C. Pinheiro

- https://cabasilasinstitute.org/

- https://x.com/DylanPahman

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:22 Orthodox Liberty Roots
1:06 What This Book Is
3:59 East, West, And Liberty
7:22 Frank And Spontaneous Order
13:05 Three Orthodox Contributions
21:41 Sabornost And Social Order
23:04 Trade, Fathers, And Providence
26:30 Monks, Property, And Commerce
31:14 Kabasilis And Monastic Freedom
34:16 Usury And Medieval Critiques
43:04 Basil On Wealth
48:33 Misreadings Of Caesaro-Papism
56:36 Orthodoxy Under Revolution
1:00:03 Orthodoxy And Islam
1:04:38 Christian Roots Of Liberty

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Life before the Industrial Revolution was not simpler, slower, or more humane. It was short, violent, filthy, and saturated with grief, and almost nobody alive today can picture it accurately. That gap is not harmless. It shapes how people respond to economic growth, to AI, and to every technology that promises to change how we live.

Chelsea Follett, research fellow at the Cato Institute and the mind behind HumanProgress.org, returns to the show with a new book, The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past. The argument is blunt: we have not only solved many of the problems our ancestors faced, we have erased the memory of them. Nostalgia fills the vacuum, and nostalgia is a terrible guide to policy. What follows takes the romantic version of the past apart and argues that gratitude for what we have is the first step toward keeping it.

Chapters:
0:22 Introduction to the Grim Old Days
1:56 Why Progress Matters
5:40 Why We Romanticize the Past
8:45 Harsh Realities of Family Life
13:54 Child Labor and Daily Work
16:24 Violence and Social Progress
20:55 Defining the Pre-Industrial Era
25:12 Fragile Paths to Progress
29:06 Sources and Historical Skepticism
32:13 The Darkest Anecdotes
34:07 Child Loss and Modern Medicine
38:27 Debunking Medieval Myths
40:46 Why the Past Still Matters

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State religious liberty laws are the part of this fight almost nobody watches. Supreme Court cases get the headlines. The statutes that decide whether a baker, a nurse, a foster parent, or a congregation ever ends up in court at all sit quietly in fifty state codes, and most Christians have no idea what their own state has on the books.

Paul Mueller, senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, co-authors Religious Liberty in the States, an annual index now in its fifth year. It scores every state on roughly fifty discrete protections grouped into twenty weighted safeguard categories. Not aspirational protections. Not vibes about whether a state feels Christian. What is actually enacted.

The rankings scramble most assumptions people bring to the map, and they make three things clear: legislation beats litigation, the red and blue shorthand fails here, and the libertarian objection to religious exemptions deserves an answer.

Chapters:
0:22 Guest Intro and Background
5:48 How the Index Works
13:33 Libertarian Tensions in Law
23:19 Why State Protections Matter
28:16 Reading the State Rankings
37:12 Why Most States Lag
40:06 Measuring Real-World Impact
44:52 Getting the Report Heard
47:53 Closing Thoughts and Podcast Plug

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Alex Bernardo stops by the LCI Greenroom to talk about his new book Politics, Economics, and New Testament Interpretation--which is available September 15th! Alex's book introduces New Testament studies while also clarifying what it means to read the New Testament with clear eyes rather than modern, leftist assumptions.

Chapters:
0:00:22 Book Launch and Methodology
0:01:54 Why the Book Matters
0:03:38 Libertarian Ethics and Christianity
0:06:14 Three-Part Framework
0:06:51 Why Background Matters
0:10:02 Scholarship and Community
0:12:47 History as Guardrails
0:15:13 When History Becomes Necessary
0:20:09 Marxist Misreadings
0:24:25 Misusing Political Categories
0:28:14 Conference and New Project
0:29:55 Romans 13 Revisited
0:34:44 Reading Paul in Context
0:36:49 The Empire Question
0:38:22 Paul and Anti-Imperialism
0:43:20 Jesus as King
0:47:15 Witness Over Revolution
0:53:11 Losing for Christ
0:58:02 Rights and Pacifism
1:01:54 New Insights from the Text
1:04:57 Default Nonviolence
1:11:25 Closing Plugs and Release Info

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