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212: Tocqueville - Religion Considered as a Political Institution

Banned Books
07/23/21

In this episode, we read and discuss Alexis de Tocqueville’s apology for religion’s relevance to politics in Democracy in America. What happens when the two kingdoms are divided or collapsed into each other?

211: Tocqueville - Life is neither a pleasure nor a sorrow

Banned Books
07/12/21

Faith in What? Faith in Who? In this episode, we read Robert J. Delahunty’s article about Alex de Tocqueville’s faith. Tocqueville is a remarkable study in Enlightenment faith because he straddles the line between Christianity and the Enlightenment: Law and…

210b: Hitchens - Eschatology is inseparable from religious faith

Banned Books
06/30/21

“Religion is predicated on the idea that our time here is short and should be shorter, that our job is to bring on the end of days. This is just a veil of tears and guilt and shame. This, the…

If God is for Us

By Donavon Riley 06/30/21

With Jesus, troubles and sorrows, problems and worries, heartbreak and mourning are gathered up like left-over crumbs from a feast marking the celebration of victory over the enemy's forces.

210a: Hitchens - Religion is the first chance to explain human nature and the natural order

Banned Books
06/23/21

“We were baffled by climatic and cataclysmic events: earthquakes, tidal waves, storms, lightning. All of this was to us terrifying. Religion works as an attempt, then, to make sense of things. We are pattern-seeking mammals, after all. It’s a good…

209b: Hitchens - Religion abolishes obligation to live in truth

Banned Books
06/18/21

Christians Aren’t Good, or Moral. In this episode, we continue to read and discuss Christopher Hitchens’ speech on religion and morality. Does religion delete our need to confront reality?

209a: Hitchens - Is it moral to tell anybody that their sins can be forgiven?

Banned Books
06/17/21

God is Good… or Not.In this episode, we read and discuss Christopher Hitchins’ speech about religion and morality. What’s the point of attaching the forgiveness of sins to morality?

208b: Nietzsche - Seeing the alternative between Dionysus and the “Crucified”

Banned Books
06/12/21

The God that won’t stay dead. In this episode, we wrap up our discussion of God, Nietzsche, and how Jesus fights against our attempts at self-atonement.

208a: Nietzsche - Human history is built upon sacrifice

Banned Books
06/09/21

God is Dead again, because of us. In this episode, we discuss whether Friedrich Nietzsche was closer to the kingdom of God than most modern Christians, and how we can learn from him.

You Are Not Forgotten

By Donavon Riley 06/02/21

We prefer God to forgive our sin by not paying attention to it. Then our prayer is not for grace but that God would overlook and wink at us from the sidelines.

207: A Prayer for Memorial Day

Banned Books
05/31/21

Gracious Lord, heavenly Father, on this day we pause to remember the sacrifices made for freedom throughout the past centuries. We do indeed owe a debt of gratitude to those who have paid dearly for the liberty we enjoy.

206a: Eagleton - Everyone knows that Nietzsche said "God is dead"

Banned Books
05/27/21

Nietzsche is Dead. In this episode, learning from Friedrich Nietzsche how to repent and believe in Christ Jesus as Savior.

205b: Pastor Debrief on ministry, vocation, and how we learn

Banned Books
05/23/21

This, That, and Another Thing.In this episode, we do a pastoral debrief, discussing vocation, doctrine, and the daily struggles and afflictions of Christians.

205a: Scott Keith - Debrief on Two Kingdoms, Social Media, and Local Vocation

Banned Books
05/21/21

Three Men Enter, One Man Leaves. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Scott Keith about Christian doctrine and vocation. How do we live faithfully in Christ while simultaneously living in our vocations in a sinful, evil world?

God in the Arena

By Donavon Riley 05/20/21

Sin, death, and Satan may have had more than a puncher's chance to beat us, but when God stepped into the ring, they should have admitted defeat and thrown in the towel.

204: Luther - Difference between tolerating injustice and violence, and remaining silent

Banned Books
05/14/21

A Seditious Gospel. In this episode, Martin Luther preaches when Christians must rebuke sinful rulers, and when the Gospel becomes a seditious doctrine.

Fearing the Gospel

By Donavon Riley 05/14/21

Faith isn’t something that needs to be done. It’s something to be enjoyed because faith is a gift bestowed by God’s word through the hearing of the Gospel.

203: Robert Farrar Capon - A Free Gift Already Given, Without Condition, To Everybody

Banned Books
05/10/21

Guilty, Until Proven Gospeled. In this episode, we conclude our reading and discussion of Robert Capon’s, The Mystery of Christ & Why We Don’t Get It. How does the Gospel of Jesus Christ free us from wallowing in guilt and…

202b: Robert Farrar Capon - Be Authentic and Authoritative Proclaimers of the Gospel

Banned Books
05/01/21

You Know, The Next Thing. In this episode, we continue reading Robert Capon’s The Mystery of Christ, and Why We Don’t Get It. We further discuss pastoral care, exegesis, the purpose of theology, and where Christian preaching points us…

God Adds to The Number of Our Days

By Donavon Riley 04/29/21

God leads us to the refuge that’s more secure and safe than any man-made thing, more than anything we own, more than anything that owns us.

202a: Robert Farrar Capon - The Mystery and Guilt

Banned Books
04/28/21

You Know, The Thing. In this episode, Robert Capon on The Mystery of Christ, and Why We Don’t Get It. We discuss exegesis, pastoral care, preaching, and the task of a theologian.

201b: Weil - The false god changes suffering into violence

Banned Books
04/25/21

Turning Inward to Attack Evil.In this episode, we continue to discuss Simone Weil on Evil. The importance of Jesus’ sacrificial death as expiation and redemption and what happens when we try to make good apart from God.

201a: Weil - It is the innocent victim who can feel hell

Banned Books
04/24/21

Am I Evil? In this episode, we continue to read and discuss Simone Weil on Evil. Violence, suffering, and justice. What part does human evil play in Jesus’ sacrificial death?

Possessed by Pardon and Peace

By Donavon Riley 04/20/21

It’s God’s love that sets us free to love in the first place.

Fed and Nourished

By Donavon Riley 04/16/21

Jesus rejects what we believe is most necessary and instead points us to his pain, suffering, death, and self-sacrifice.

Featured Resources

Banned Books

Podcast

Welcome to Banned Books, where we read and converse with the rebel children, the holy mischief-makers of God, who fight against the kind of useless religious, spiritual, and moral methods of life improvement that seek to smother the glory of…

Crucifying Religion

Donavon Riley
07/01/19

Jesus is the end of all religion. He did not come to tweak Judaism or create a new religion. When the nails were driven into his hands and feet, when the spear pierced his side, when he said, “It is…