David recounts a recent conversation with a member of Congress on pending legislation that demonstrates what happens when Christians are not discipled well in the faith and in the law respecting their office. No “Christian America” will come from such leaders. But it will come if Christians understand what Ezekiel 36 teaches about how God brings a once-Christian nation not just from captivity but to restoration and advancement.

Theonomy is predicated on the Triune God but it pertains to a certain cosmology. So, how are Christians to think of theonomy and its application in relation to a legal system the structure and content of which are now divorced from both its history and the cosmology that gave rise to it? David tackles that subject with a new two-part thesis for “applied theonomy.”

Christians who have been unengaged in politics are now beginning to engage. So, why would the host of one of David’s favorite podcasts suggest many of them are “mucking up everything?” David provides an answer by explaining a key issue period in Medieval Christendom discussed in that podcast and by tying it to a key U.S. Supreme Court decision, and to observations about law by Hale Institute director Jeff Shafer.

A recent interview of an evangelical pastor disappointed by his friend, Virginia Governor Youngkin, signing a same-sex “marriage” bill into law reveals how Christian discipleship falls short, not just with those wanting to hold office, but often with the pastors and policy organizations supporting them. David explains why what may sound and look good to many people in the pews too often turns out so disappointing.

The floundering of the pro-life movement since Roe v. Wade was reversed provides the context for David asking in today’s episode, “What makes for a Christian community, state, or nation, and where in that process do righteous civil laws come into play?” In answer, David offers for consideration a thesis drawn from a re-examination of the Great Commission in Matthew 28.

Today, David talks about how discipling a nation (Matthew 28:19) might look different from what is being done today in law and public policy. He uses a statement made on the Tennessee House floor this week by an influential Christian Republican to show what he thinks is missing. He also offers part of a speech he recently gave to a group of Christian lawyers and policy leaders as a way forward.

God promised “nations” would come from Abraham and Jesus told his disciples to disciple the nations. With that in mind, David uses scripture and some observations from Choc Knox and Jason Farley (Knox Unplugged) to explain how this kind of “nation building” is influencing the focus of his work in law and politics.

Many Christians, including preachers, politicians, and policy organizations, seem bent on “saving” America from further ruin by various means. Is that really the purpose for which the mystery of God was revealed in the person of Christ? Does the covenant with Abraham, illuminated by the new covenant in Christ, suggest a national purpose relative to law and civil government that Christians have not considered? And what kind of politicians and policy makers (and preachers) would we need, given our present ones seem to have failed us. Join David as he works through these questions.

Eric Metaxas’s new book, Letter to the American Church, Biden’s use of the image of God in proclaiming Transgender Awareness Day, and 29 years of direct legal and policy advocacy have brought home to me with increasing urgency observations made about Christianity and society by Abraham Kuyper in the 1890’s. Is Christianity and the work and activism of most Christians in law, civil government, and public policy Christ-less? How does it matter? John Owen’s Christologia provides a needed answer.

In a speech given in 1891 to open the First Christian Social Congress, Abraham Kuyper nailed the problem Europe was experiencing and that America is now experiencing. His precise definition of the problem and concise explanation of it will help us evaluate whether the “practical politics” practiced by evangelical legal and policy organizations is exposes the absence of something vital to Christianity and culture.