Podcast Overview

Author

456: Nestingen - The Gospel and Repentance

10/05/26

13 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough! In this episode, we continue our conversation about repentance, reading Rev. Dr. James Nestingen’s article on the Gospel and Repentance. We discuss Luther's view of the Gospel’s relationship to repentance, preaching a doable law, and what awaits those who leave the Church in a state of unrepentance. This and much, much more on this week’s episode of the podcast.
455: Nestingen - Preaching Repentance Is a Problem

09/26/26

13 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

In this episode, we sit with Rev. Dr. James Nestingen’s writing on the gospel and repentance. We talk at length not only about law and repentance, but also about the consequences of therapeutic culture for the preaching and reception of calls to repent in the churches. If the law is known by its uses, who is the user? What is it to have a God? What do you have if you have one? How does it work? How does the law summarize the non-negotiables of creaturely life? Can the devil use the law? What is the preacher’s use of the law? How does this lead us to the topic of repentance? All this and much, much more on this week’s podcast.
453: Athanasius - Against the Wiles of Satan

09/12/26

13 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

The Cost of Discipline. In this episode, we sit with St. Athanasius and his writings on the life of St. Antony. How did Christians in the 4th century view spiritual warfare and affliction? What is the relation of discipline to prayer, piety, and resisting temptation? What did 4th century Christians think about virtues and vices, and whether they were (or weren’t) related to the Christian life? Is it better for Christians to seek a place of solitude or community when focusing on heavenly things versus worldly things? How does Mammon factor into this? What does Scripture teach about the evil one, demons, dark powers, and evil spirits? Do we as modern Christians agree with Athanasius and Antony’s views about spiritual warfare, and if not, why? This and much, much more on this week’s episode.
- Spiritual Disciplines
- Repentance
- Wisdom
- Angels
- Fasting
- Conscience
- Idolatry
- Good Works
- Hell
- Sacrifice
- Sanctification
- Holiness
- Obedience
- Satan
447: Forde - The Argument about Christ and Salvation

08/01/26

9 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

Ride On… In this episode, we engage a listener question — is Lutheran teaching double predestination within his debate with Erasmus? How are we to understand arguments for the bound will, such as: “Man’s will is like a beast standing between two riders. If God rides, it wills and goes where God wills… If Satan rides, it wills and goes where Satan wills. Nor may it choose to which rider it will run, or which it will seek; but the riders themselves fight to decide who shall have and hold it”? And so, we discuss God’s will, divine necessity, predestination versus election, the preacher's vocation, the effects of free will theology on American churches, the scandal of arguing for a bound will in relation to Christ, and much, much more on this episode of the Banned Books podcast.
Free Faith Not Free Will (HWSS 25)

03/19/26

4 mins

By Steven Paulson

In this episode, Dr. Steven Paulson speaks at the most recent Here We Still Stand Conference on Martin Luther’s teaching in The Bondage of the Will.
Breaking and Turning Stiff Necks (Proverbs 29:1-3)

01/23/26

5 mins

By Daniel Emery Price | Scott Keith

In this episode of Tough Texts, Dan Price and Scott Keith look into Proverbs 29.
416: Luther - To this office of the law, however, the New Testament immediately adds the consoling promise of grace through the gospel

11/13/25

9 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

Don’t Look Back in Anger. In this episode, we continue reading Martin Luther’s Smalcald Articles, focusing on contrition, repentance, and freedom. Why does the law need to terrify and leave us hopeless? How does attention to the self lead us into death and hell? What happens when belief is preached as something “we do” rather than something “done to” us? Likewise, when repentance is self-activated and self-actuated, what are the consequences for our daily lives? This and much, much more on this episode of the show.
Why is Luther's Bondage of the Will Ignored?

10/27/25

6 mins

By Scott Keith | Caleb Keith | Adam Francisco | Steven Paulson

In this live episode of the Thinking Fellows, Caleb, Scott, Steve, and Adam discuss why Martin Luther’s The Bondage of the Will is one of the most important yet most overlooked works of the Reformation.
413: Debrief on the Bondage of the Will

10/24/25

12 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

The Never-Ending Story of our Bound Will & Election. In this episode, we write an epilogue —so to speak— to our series on the Bondage of the Will and wrap up our thoughts about the Here We Still Stand Conference 2025. We ask, “From whence comes a preacher?” Where does one go for gospel-comfort and the gifts of salvation? What is the Gospel? What is the purpose of the Church? What are the practical consequences of having a will that is bound up to sin, the world, and the evil one? What happens when the churches reject the “hinge” upon which all doctrines turn? And we talk about fantasy and science-fiction writing, 80s children’s movies, and other pop culture nostalgia.
Free Will is a Fiction: An Introduction to the Bondage of the Will with John Hoyum

10/21/25

11 mins

By John W. Hoyum | Kelsi Klembara

Kelsi is joined by Pastor and 1517 contributor, John Hoyum, to discuss Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will.
The Bondage of the Will: A Simple Overview

10/14/25

5 mins

By Scott Keith | Caleb Keith | Steven Paulson

What led Martin Luther to write The Bondage of the Will? This podcast explores the historical background and central message of one of Luther’s most significant works.
412: Forde - The gospel, and only the gospel, spells the end of the hidden God

10/11/25

12 mins

By Christopher Gillespie | Donavon Riley

For What It’s Worth. In this episode, we conclude our reading of Gerhard Forde’s "Captivation of the Will." We discuss the conclusion of Luther’s treatise on the bound will, arriving at Christ and election, which reveals Erasmus’s fundamental error — his argument for the human will is actually the original sin, choosing between good and evil.