Ep. 6: Unholy Trinity: Power
Show Notes
Episode Summary
The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 wasn’t a spontaneous decision by rogue militants to commit treason, this day was decades in the making. Fueled by a network of Christian nationalists including mega-church pastors, politicians, and religious organizations, January 6 showed the lengths many evangelicals will go to to maintain power over culture. But are Christians supposed to be in power? And what has happened throughout history when they have been in power? This final episode in our series on “America’s Unholy Trinity” details not only the danger of Christian nationalism, but more importantly how the Gospel is distorted by the evangelical thirst for power.
Quotables
“Who holds power in our homes, our churches, and our culture? And who is being protected by that power?” (tweet this)
“There’s a dominating drive within our churches to convert people, rather than converse with people.” (tweet this)
“Once you dehumanize someone, there’s no limit to the violence you will perpetrate against them.” (tweet this)
“Jesus always works to bring about His kingdom through invitation, not coercion.” (tweet this)
“What are we to make of a God who entered the world as a defenseless, powerless baby and left the world as a vulnerable man on a cross? What kind of God does that reveal?” (tweet this)
“The powers that be—whether it’s Rome or Egypt or Babylon or America—are almost always in direct opposition to the Kingdom of God.” (tweet this)
“We can either embrace a Christianity that is in service of the world, or we can embrace a Christianity that uses power to control the world.” (tweet this)
“We don’t need a powerful Christianity, we need prophetic Christianity.” (tweet this)
“We Christians don’t need to be culture warriors, we need to be culture wooers.” (tweet this)
“The key players in the biblical narrative weren’t the kings and the pharaohs, but those who were outside traditional modes of power.” (tweet this)
Timestamps and References
[00:50]—Get our free ebook here!
[04:00]—Thomas Merton on power: “Power always protects the good of some at the expense of others.”
[09:45]—Phil Vischer’s tweet
[12:20]—James Dobson’s 16-page letter from 2008
[15:46]—Franklin Graham’s thoughts on the validity of the 2020 election.
[15:56]—James Dobson’s February 2021 newsletter with thoughts on what Christians should do after Trump’s defeat.
[18:09]—Eric Metaxas’ thoughts on the validity of the 2020 election.
[19:30]— “How White Evangelical Christians Fused with Trump Extremism” by Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham for The New York Times.
[24:40]—“How on earth did followers of Jesus who counseled us to pray for our enemies, love the stranger, protect orphans and widows — how did they become the voting base for a major political party in America who can be depended on to pray for the death of our enemies, to exploit our fear and mistrust of the stranger, to cut programs that help orphans and widows, and to make life miserable for gays and lesbians?” (from “Saving Jesus from the Church” lecture by Robin Meyers)
[28:30]—The Family Research Council’s mission statement
[29:37]—The Coulson Fellows
[31:38]—“Perhaps the hardest habit to break from our Constantinianism is the assumption that if we do not govern, then surely society will fall into anarchy or totalitarianism.” (from After Christendom by Stanley Hauerwas)
[33:56]— “We in the modern West are living under barbarism, though we do not recognize it. Our scientists, our judges, our princes, our scholars, and our scribes—they are at work demolishing the faith, the family, gender, even what it means to be human. Our barbarians have exchanged the animal pelts and spears of the past for designer suits and smartphones.” (from The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher)
[35:02]—Matt Walsh’s tweet
[37:19]—“The king reigns from a tree. The reign of God has indeed come upon us, and its sign is not a golden throne but a wooden cross.” (from Foolishness to the Greeks by Lesslie Newbigin)
[40:15]—2 Corinthians 12:9
[45:15]—“Can one who follows the way of the cross sit in the seat of Pilate when it falls vacant?…The place of the church is thus not in the seats of the establishment but in the camps and marching columns of the protestors.” (from Foolishness to the Greeks by Lesslie Newbigin)
Helpful Resources for Your Personal Research
“How Evangelical Media Ministry Focus On The Family Fueled Lies And Insurrectionists” by Steve Rabey for Religion Unplugged
“When Fascism Came to America” by Gary Alan Taylor for The Sophia Society
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Credits
This episode was written by Gary Alan Taylor and Melanie Mudge (read their bios here) and produced by The Sophia Society.
Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound levels were mixed by Joshua Mudge.
