The Fourth Way
Summary: A podcast focusing on issues related to nonviolence, and a member of the Kingdom Outpost.
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This episode wraps up our look at the logical foundations (or foundationlessness) of government by exposing inconsistencies and incoherence of a pro-government position.
We've spent a lot of time looking at how government impacts and compromises Christianity. But that doesn't mean it can't be good for the rest of the world, right? Maybe government is something Christians should be wary of, yet something that is a necessary evil for the world's good. In this episode we take a first look at how government plays out in the real world.
April 9 is the anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's execution. Bonhoeffer was a Christian who refused to be conformed to the powers of this world, despite the capitulation or silence of most of the German church under Hitler. This episode honors Bonhoeffer by taking a look at how Government transforms a self-sacrificial, cross-bearing, service-oriented church into a morally consequentialist, ends-justify-the-means, capitulate for power, compromised organization of terror and sycophancy.
We take an even deeper dive into two big problems Christendom faces, specifically in regard to the contradictory notions of God's ordination of government and government's authority deriving from the consent of the governed (i.e. democracy).
This episode is an important recap of our subseries, "When We Do as the Gentiles Do." We looked at the four most Christian iterations of governments we could think of and how that played out. Are those examples exceptions, or are they the rule? This episode explores why Christians wielding power as the gentiles do is the logical inevitability of participation in government.
This interview is with Jason Porterfield, author of the new book, "Fight Like Jesus." We cover a bunch of topics which you can find timestamped below. 0:00 - Episode Introduction 3:10 - Jason's Introduction 11:50 - Jesus paying taxes to Caesar 20:20 - How does submission and Romans 13 play out in a modern day context 26:15 - If we can't bear the sword, can we be involved in government? Isn't abstaining from government retreatism? 31:00 - How do we think about nonviolence when real life happens, like the war in Ukraine? 42:15 - How does violence tend to do injustice primarily to the poor? How does nonviolence look like justice? 52:10 - Is nonviolence idealistic? How ought Christians to pursue the ideal through community, or an alternative politic, the church? 1:02:55 - What does it mean to be nonviolent and submissive in the face of oppressors? 1:11:05 - The Passover as liberation vs. as atonement
We take our last look at the type of government Christians create. Conservatives love to tell us how Christian the Founding Fathers were, so they should have no problem with us using them as a depiction of what it looks like for Christians to wield the power of government.
In the last episode we looked at the "Christian" government which brought us the Crusades. In this episode we are looking at our third iteration of "Christian" government as expressed in the Magisterial Reform. The Reformers were good and godly, therefore their advocacy for and application of government must have been good, right? Let's take a look...
In the last episode we looked at the first instantiation of "Christian" government in the Common Era. In this episode we are moving past the early Post-Constantinian Church and State to look at the Crusades. Are the Crusades an anomaly in Christian history, or is it the logical result of Christianity's marriage to the state?
In the last episode we saw what the State truly is. The next four episodes are a subseries, as we explore four different iterations of "Christian" government throughout history. Given what the Bible's depiction of government and what the true Kingdom looks like, these next four episodes will be vital to paint a picture for us to assess whether Christianity and the state are compatible or antithetical.
This episode shifts from a biblical understanding of government to a more logical/philosophical one. As a Christian, I consider the biblical understanding of government to be foundational for my motivations and actions. However, as I think will be shown in our next section of the season, the case against the state can be made quite strongly on philosophical grounds alone.
After having spent the first part of our season looking at how the Bible tended to view government, we now turn to the very early, antenicene church to see how they viewed government, interpreted the Bible, and handled the teachings of the early apostles. The early church views should help us best understand the understanding of Jesus in relation to government, as they are the closest to Jesus's direct teaching.
We take another look at Romans 13 and add in some passages which help add to our understanding of the New Testament's dealing with the topic of government.
A huge thanks to Seth White for the awesome music!Thanks to Palmtoptiger17 for the beautiful logo: https://www.instagram.com/palmtoptiger17/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/thewayfourth/?modal=admin_todo_tourYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTd3KlRte86eG9U40ncZ4XA?view_as=subscriberInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theway4th/ Kingdom Outpost: https://kingdomoutpost.org/My Reading List Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21940220.J_G_ElliotMy Reading List Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10h_yL0vO8-Ja_sxUJFclff11nwUONOG6/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103262818858083924733&rtpof=true&sd=trueSeason Outline: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xjGIXdNdoZWbN97kVOJk-t91i9V3FZ1u-1TdTsm5sc8/edit?usp=sharingAugustine and the Death Penalty: https://www.academia.edu/3524394/Augustine_and_the_Death_Penalty Thanks to our monthly supporters Philip Does Laverne Miller Jesse Killion ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
A huge thanks to Seth White for the awesome music!Thanks to Palmtoptiger17 for the beautiful logo: https://www.instagram.com/palmtoptiger17/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/thewayfourth/?modal=admin_todo_tourYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTd3KlRte86eG9U40ncZ4XA?view_as=subscriberInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theway4th/ Kingdom Outpost: https://kingdomoutpost.org/My Reading List Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21940220.J_G_ElliotMy Reading List Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10h_yL0vO8-Ja_sxUJFclff11nwUONOG6/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103262818858083924733&rtpof=true&sd=trueSeason Outline: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xjGIXdNdoZWbN97kVOJk-t91i9V3FZ1u-1TdTsm5sc8/edit?usp=sharing Thanks to our monthly supporters Philip Does Laverne Miller Jesse Killion ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★