An Arm-Twisting Confession. In this episode, we read Martin Luther’s Smalcald Articles on the gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Why did he have to have “his arm twisted” to write them? What is he trying to teach the churches about the gospel? How does the gospel circumscribe and define the Church, worship, and Christian life? Why does something written in the 1530s matter today? We look to answer all these questions and more on this episode of the Banned Books podcast.

This is the fourth installment in our article series, “An Introduction to the Bondage of the Will,” written to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Bondage of the Will.

The reason Christians argue so much about the sacraments is because, deep down, they matter.

Today on the Christian History Almanac, we head to the mailbag to answer a question about practices surrounding Holy Communion.

The “mystery of faith” entails the article of faith: Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and, finally, his Parousia.

Protestants, in my view, don’t suffer from a Goldilocks problem. They have an arrogance problem.

Wetly All the Way. In this episode, we visit with author Kathryn Morales about her new book, Remembering Your Baptism. We discuss who should be baptized and why. How many times does someone need to be baptized? Can someone fall away from baptism, and what if someone doubts that baptism saves them from judgment and death? This and much, much more on today’s episode of the podcast.

We don’t need another brand. We need a people who remember who they are. And that’s us, Gen-X.

When you step into the Lord’s house, he gives you a liturgical imagination to see with eyes of faith all of his goodness and grace.

By making a big deal of every baptism, of every confirmation, of every rite of matrimony, the Church takes a stand against the intrusion of consumerism, secularism, identity politics, subversive subcultures, gender dysphoria, and the like.

What I was missing—what so many are missing—is a Church that doesn’t just speak about Christ, but delivers him.

The Church needs mystics again. Not fringe figures, but saints ablaze with love.