The Chalcedon Podcast

For well over 500 years now, Western civilization has been in a state of civil war, with two aspects thereof in a growing conflict with one another. These two contending forces are humanism and Christianity. Humanism began its rise to power in the medieval era, and its strength was such that it captured the church, much of the academic world, and the state as well. At the same time, however, the growing bankruptcy and imminent collapse of humanism has been increasingly in evidence. By replacing God with man as the new ultimate and absolute, humanism has introduced moral anarchy into the world. If every man is his own god and law, then no order is rationally possible. Humanism, having deified rationality, must now use the irrational and coercive power of the socialist state to hold society together. This is the subject of Episode 28 of the Chalcedon Podcast.

Deuteronomy is the “go to” book for theocracy because it’s the most clear about the importance of the law and its application in the promised land where Israel would no longer be guided by the pillars of cloud and fire nor miraculously provided for by manna and water out of a rock. Wilderness season is ending, so the emphasis of the law will shift to governing a people within their own country instead of as a nomadic people in the wilderness. This is extremely helpful for the church today.

The temptation to skip over books like Numbers is a great one. After all, isn’t it just the numbering of Israel? Is there anything of significance found in its pages? R. J. Rushdoony penned an enlightening commentary on Numbers, and Chalcedon’s leadership sits down to discuss the importance of Rushdoony’s insights. This is the subject of Episode 26 of the Chalcedon Podcast

The Book of Leviticus reveals more than a way to holiness. It shows us the path to dominion—even to a realized new Garden of Eden. The laws of God are essential to modern Christian community. This is the subject of Episode 25 of the Chalcedon Podcast.

The Book of Exodus is more than a telling of Israel’s early history. It’s a motif that appears throughout the Bible and culminates in the great exodus of Christ Himself. This is the subject of Episode 24 of the Chalcedon Podcast.

R. J. Rushdoony was a true creationist which is why the book of Genesis was central to all that he taught. He would go on to write a commentary on the book of Genesis while bringing out a unique approach to the first book of the Bible. This is the subject of Episode 23 of the Chalcedon Podcast

Episode #22 - Certain religious and theological ideas are inescapable even when it involves humanism in all its forms—especially statism. Today, there is a “doctrine of the Holy Spirit,” but it is a false doctrine, and understanding it begins with understanding the Biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Are there things to which God is indifferent? Are there areas of life that are neutral, and we as man can create our own moral standards? Anyone familiar with Rushdoony’s work is familiar with the phrase “the myth of neutrality,” but are we familiar with an ancient problem in the church known as adiaphorism? The meaning of the term is “things indifferent,” or areas of life that God does not legislate and therefore man has the freedom to legislate. The end result is anything but freedom. Its consequences are sin and totalitarianism.

We are living in a time of great overreach by the civil government while protests are erupting all over the world in resistance, but what freedom are people looking for? Is it Christian liberty? What is Christian liberty? Can you have liberty without law?

“Men’s hearts failing them for fear.” (Luke 21:26) The corrosive forces of humanism are creating great fear throughout the world as the bottom falls out for man’s morality and social order. Humanity struggles to contend with an unending supply of crises because their worldview is bankrupt. Rushdoony wrote, “The only thing that can counteract and overcome the deadly personal and social effects of the Great Fear is the Great Faith,” and that means a faith that overcomes the world! This is the subject of Episode 19 of the Chalcedon Podcast.

The bad words of political systems are fascism, socialism, and theocracy, but does the average truly understand the definitions of each term? Take fascism, for example. Groups like Antifa—defined as anti-fascist—act more fascist than those they accuse, so what exactly is fascism? The same goes for socialism and theocracy. They are terms we throw around to demonize our political opponents without truly understand their meaning—especially in a Biblical sense. In this episode of the Chalcedon Podcast, we discuss the meaning of these political systems and what the Bible has to say about God’s form of government.

“Both liberties and powers are alike limited, under God, and hence under law. Liberty is limited and power is limited because the temporal order is under God.” (The One & The Many, p. 20) For fallen man, the political battle is always one of power vs liberty. Some men seek for liberty while the remaining seek for power. For example, anarchists and libertarians desire liberty while socialists, technocrats, politicians, and oligarchs seek for power. To seek power is to emphasize the “one,” while to seek liberty is to emphasize the “many.” This is an unresolvable conflict without God as the determining factor for both power and liberty, which is resolved in the law of God and the kingship of Christ. Therefore, both power and liberty are limited by law—God’s law. Part of the educational mission of Chalcedon is to restore this presupposition and further the development of its implications, and that’s the subject of this episode of The Chalcedon Podcast.

“Christian Reconstruction” is a school of thought that is diametrically opposed to the autonomous reason of man which itself has long infected Christianity. Today’s Christian assumes that fallen man is an impartial judge over knowledge and reality—that he is “neutral”—and that fallen man can be “reasoned” into faith. R. J. Rushdoony continued the battle against modern man’s pretended neutrality by building off the thinking of his mentor, Dr. Cornelius Van Til, who himself was developing the implications of the Dutch school that began with Abraham Kuyper. In this episode of the Chalcedon Podcast, hosts Mark Rushdoony, Martin Selbrede, and Andrea Schwartz share a short history of the Dutch school as well as the implications of this philosophy on modern Christianity.

In Romans 12:2, the apostle Paul writes, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” The dynamic of New Covenant living is the radical pursuit of proving the will of God for every area of life, but does that mean the Old Testament prophets are obsolete? Quite the contrary, the whole of God’s Word is for us including the law and the prophets, one of the joys of Christian living is studying the entirety of Scripture in order to see its application for life and thought. In this episode of the Chalcedon Podcast, hosts Mark Rushdoony, Martin Selbrede, and Andrea Schwartz share insights on how we can better glean God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will of God from all of God’s Word.

Rushdoony often noted that the way to build Christian civilization—or save it—is to restore the spiritual capital of faith and character. This is a central part of the work of Christian Reconstruction because it’s established upon God’s Kingdom, His law, and the covenant He established through Jesus Christ. As we labor to restore that spiritual capital, it’s important that we secure ourselves during uncertain times, and to do that means putting the Kingdom of God first before all things. There is no greater security than the firstness of the Kingdom.

Rushdoony often noted that Christian Reconstruction was not a movement but rather the definition of Christian action. For the past few decades, we saw it explicitly applied to education by way of homeschooling and Christian schools. What’s next for Christian Reconstruction, and how should approach answering that question?

Rushdoony wrote a chapter on “Extraterritoriality” in his volume Christianity and the State, in which he emphasized the importance of understanding the church as an embassy—and we as ambassadors of Christ—in the earth. The modern church needs to better understand this concept so as to truly challenge the culture as a “nation within a nation.”

Outside of the Bible itself, no other literature or writer is referred to more in Rushdoony’s writings than his mentor, Dr. Cornelius Van Til. It’s difficult to estimate the importance of Van Til on Rushdoony, but as their personal history shows, Rushdoony was more than a student of Van Til. He was a defender of the Dutchman, a colleague, and one of the most prolific expounders of applied presuppositionalism. You’ll enjoy this in-depth discussion as Chalcedon’s leadership shares not only the importance of Van Til’s thinking but also the personal history between Rushdoony and Van Til. A lot of other prominent scholars have done a great deal to expound Van Til’s apologetic, but it was Van Til’s epistemology and ethics that helped drive a young Rushdoony to develop the implications of theonomy. Learn more about the Chalcedon Foundation at http://chalcedon.edu​ https://cr101radio.com/thechalcedonpodcast/

Godly dominion and Christian Reconstruction are not a “work of the flesh,” where men presume to be able to usher in the Kingdom of God through their own works, political action, or any other humanistic means. It is the Holy Spirit who is at work in our own lives, homes, churches, and more in order to enable us to apply our faith and obey God’s commandments. In this episode of the Chalcedon Podcast, we discuss the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in advancing the Kingdom of God.

Listen as Jeff Durbin of Apologia Radio interviews Chalcedon President Mark Rushdoony on the topic: "What Do We Do In America Now?" Interview begins at timestamp 10:23. Mark R. Rushdoony Mark R. Rushdoony graduated from Los Angeles Baptist College (now The Master’s College) with a B.A. in history in 1975 and was ordained to the ministry in 1995. He taught junior and senior high classes in history, Bible, civics and economics at a Christian school in Virginia for three years before joining the staff of Chalcedon in 1978. He was the Director of Chalcedon Christian School for 14 years while teaching full time. He also helped tutor all of his children through high school. In 1998 he became the President of Chalcedon and Ross House Books, and, more recently another publishing arm, Storehouse Press. Chalcedon and its subsidiaries publish many titles plus CDs, mp3s, and an extensive online archive at www.chalcedon.edu. He has written scores of articles for Chalcedon’s publications, both the Chalcedon Report and Faith for all of Life. He was a contributing author to The Great Christian Revolution (1991). He has spoken at numerous conferences and churches in the U.S. and abroad. Mark Rushdoony lives in Vallecito, California, his home of 40 years with his wife of 42 years and his youngest son. He has three married children and nine grandchildren. → More by Mark R. Rushdoony Jeff Durbin Jeff Durbin is Pastor/Elder of Apologia Church in Tempe, and has worked for many years as a hospital-chaplain. Jeff is a popular speaker for camps, conferences, churches & schools across the nation. He has participated in outreach to various different religions across the nation and has even engaged in public debate against Atheism. Jeff was featured on a series for the History Channel called, “The Stoned Ages” about the Christian approach to drugs and alcohol. Jeff hosts a weekly radio program heard on KPXQ called “Apologia Radio” and is heard internationally via podcast at apologiaradio.com. Jeff is a World Champion martial artist with 5 Black-Belts and and has starred in popular video games and even played Michaelangelo and Donatello for the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise as well as Johnny Cage in “Mortal Combat” the world-tour. The younger crowd may have even seen him as a fighter in MTV’s “the Final Fu”. Jeff has been married to his bride, Candi, for over 14-years. Candi and Jeff have 4-children: Sage, Immagin, Saylor, and Stellar. Two more children are in heaven with Jesus, because they went to be with the Lord during pregnancy. → More by Jeff Durbin