Mere Fidelity

In The Biblical Trinity, Brandon Smith proclaims the Trinity from the Bible. The doctrine arises not from a handful of prooftexts but from the fullness of what the Bible says about God. In this edition of Mere Fi, Alastair and Matt chat with Brandon about what this project means in the broad landscape of contemporary theology. They also take a closer look at how the book of Revelation contributes to a Biblical picture of the Trinity. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: That Big Time Academic Life [0:00] A Flowering of Evangelical Theology [2:03] Traditional Cart, Biblical Horse [7:43] Politicisation [12:57] Baptism [18:29] Applicability [24:49] Revelation [30:06] The Spirit [42:50]

Does your church display an American flag or Union Jack or some other national flag? It’s been an active debate since the days of Caesar, through Christendom, and into the Modern American context: What should the relationship be between national symbols and Christian worship? Matt, Alastair, and Derek welcome Hillsdale Assistant Professor Dr. Miles Smith, IV, to bring a historian’s perspective to the debate. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: About Five or So [0:00] As a Historian… [1:26] We the (insert denomination) [3:16] Idolatry [8:01] Sunbelt Megavangelicalism [12:29] International Variations [15:20] U.S. Flag Code [20:23] Patriotic Civil Disobedience [26:04] Early Church [28:42] Other Symbols [32:00] Doing It Well or Badly [35:04] Militarism [39:23] Patriotism in General [40:40]

In Bulwarks of Unbelief, Joseph Minich argues that a felt absence of God, as experienced by the modern individual, offers a better explanation for the rise in atheism. Recent technological and cultural shifts in the modern West have produced a perceived challenge to God’s existence. Andrew, Alastair, and Derek jump right to the heart of the matter and ask some very penetrating and practical questions about Minich’s thesis. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Dun Dun Dunnn! [0:00] Technology and the Alienation of Labor [2:20] Charles Taylor’s Argument [5:30] Individual Symptoms [9:24] Disorientation [13:45] Sacred Agents [19:53] A… Proposal… [21:11] The Narrative of Maturity [28:46] Simultaneous Renegotiation of All Human Culture [30:41] Performative Atheism [36:00] Technological Spirituality [40:48]

Most of what we talk about on Mere Fidelity presupposes a lot of reading. What is the real use of reading? Is what we read more important than how we read? Why do some people who read for years never develop the habits of reading well? Alastair, Matt, and Derek discuss these questions as well as summer reading on this episode. #quitnetflix Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Extremely Illuminating [0:00] Reading well isn’t automatic. [2:56] Social Media Distractions [5:20] Performative Reading [10:47] Choosing What to Read [18:58] Thicker Books [23:20] Reading in Community [32:26] Misc. Advice [39:55]

Friend of the show, Pastor Timothy Keller, has entered into glory. He was a pivotal player in Evangelicalism over the last generation, and a great encourager of many ministers, including the cast and crew of Mere Fidelity. To pay tribute to his life and legacy, Derek, Alastair, and Matt talk to Editor-in-Chief of Mere Orthodoxy, Jake Meador. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: The End of an Era [0:00] Dechurching Countercurrent [3:02] Model Pastor [7:56] Collegiality [17:04] Bridges vs Branding [20:37] Change and Formation [24:59] Commitments and Flexibility [30:43] Passing on the Vision [38:05]

Lectio Divina is a popular form of prayer using the reading of Scripture as a means of encountering God. While its origins are in Christian tradition, Lectio Divina is sometimes associated with a kind of individualistic loose spirituality. Dr. Hans Boersma, however, makes a strong case for its use in the devotional lives of faithful Christians. Alastair, Matt, and Derek probe his case in this episode of Mere Fidelity. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: It’s soo pretty! [0:48] Thinking Sacramentally [3:18] Meaning in Encounter [5:15] The Four Steps of Lectio Divina [9:15] Communal vs Private Devotion [10:26] Privileged Technology [16:23] Quiet Times [21:14] Cultural Context [25:42] Reading Un-Modernly [31:52]

Why do we need creeds? What are they for? Isn’t Scripture enough? Dr. Phillip Cary has a very useful and smart book introducing the Nicene Creed to not only a wider audience, but take those of us who say the Creed every week even deeper into this summary of the Christian faith. In this conversation Alastair and Matt talk with Dr. Cary about the basics and about the finer points of the Nicene Creed in particular. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Clear, Brief, and Useful [1:23] About Creeds [3:28] Precursors [6:30] The Audience [8:36] Structural Integrity [15:00] Internal Priority [22:44] Athanasian Creed [28:12] Filioque [32:17] Authority of Scripture [37:46]

Josh Butler caused a big ruckus when an excerpt from his latest book was posted on a prominent Christian website. His approach using sex to talk about God drew a lot of criticism. The Mere Fi cast have a few criticisms of their own. Andrew, Matt, and Alastair discuss it all quite candidly with Josh himself in this episode of Mere Fidelity. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: The Most Popular Theologian on the Internet [0:00] Upon Further Consideration [3:12] Procreative Directionality [14:53] Continence, Celibacy, and Pleasure [22:56] Biblical Sex Language [32:27] Cart/Horse [37:05] The Veils of Language [43:59]

Christ is risen indeed! In this Easter season, Matt, Alastair, and Derek turn their attention to one of the most intriguing questions ever asked by Christians, namely, what exactly will our resurrection bodies be like? The answer may be more provocative than you think. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Good Question? [0:00] Not That Kind of Resurrection [4:13] Not That Kind of Flesh [9:58] Not That Kind of Spiritual [17:22] Continuity and Discontinuity [20:11] Like Jesus’s Body [24:27] Not That Kind of Birth [28:08] Marked by Our Histories [36:27] There’s Only One Resurrection [45:42]

How can we humans form a conception of God, Who is infinitely beyond our capacity for understanding? Analogies! They’re at least as great as sliced bread. But using analogies is like playing with fire. Each one is a path that can lead us into the light of truth and over the cliff of delusion. Fortunately, Mere Fidelity has its own elite team of theological sleuths. On this episode Andrew, Matt, Alastair, and Derek talk about how we can use the analogies in Scripture as tools to bring us closer to God, our Father, Rock, and Shepherd. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Is is is? [0:00] Longitudinal Thematic Discussion [1:20] Images for God [3:12] Sourced in Scripture [6:18] Analogy/Metaphor/Symbol/Sign [9:54] Dangerous Fruitfulness [13:49] Apophatic Controls [19:07] Direction [24:31] Names [29:11] God’s Proper Self [38:06]

Neo-Calvinism is in the air. But is it theologically relevant or merely a political phenomenon? Or did the Americans just mess it up? Cory Brock and Gray Sutanto join Matt, Derek, and Alastair to make the case for Neo-Calvinism and discuss their new book on the subject. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Family Friendly [0:00] More than Politics [2:10] Misunderstood Doctrine [9:15] Lost in Translation [13:47] Apartheid [20:12] Too Programmatic? [24:01] Necessary Context? [30:11] Common Grace [34:44] Doctrinal Development [41:43]

When students started turning in papers written by artificial intelligence, educators were caught flat-footed. We knew that machines would replace many human tasks, but we thought the humanities were immune to that. Have our writing standards fallen so low that we can no longer write better than computers? Or are we about to experience the awakening of Artificial Consciousness? Matt and Alastair discuss this situation with Jason Thacker, the Chair of Research in Technology Ethics at the ERLC. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Written by a Bot [0:00] The ChatGPT Panic [2:45] What is human? [6:48] Is intelligence important? [11:09] Going Full Hobbit [20:57] Did we do this on purpose? [28:00] Inevitable Arms Race [34:44] Covid Tech-lash [45:20] AI(dolatry) [52:34]

On this episode of Mere Fidelity, historian of history Paul Gutacker joins Matt, Derek, and Alastair to talk about the changing and sometimes fraught relationship that Protestants have had with the notions of “history” and “tradition.” Paul’s book, The Old Faith in a New Nation, particularly examines how nineteenth century debates about slavery, etc., influenced our ideas about the roles of Scripture and Church in regard to history. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Neo-Calvinism [0:30] My Fellow Subjects [2:08] Meta-history [3:22] What is Biblicism? [4:37] Misusing History [9:54] Scripture’s Changing Role [14:42] Tradition or History [18:41] Church Disputes [23:36] Foreigners [27:06] Spirit and Letter [29:35] Hermeneutical Precedent [42:42] How should pastors use history? [46:05]

What would you do with a billion dollars to strengthen the Western Church? The question is straightforward enough, but the answers are where it gets interesting. The full Mere Fi cast and crew (Andrew, Matt, Derek, and Alastair) put their heads together to figure out what project would move the needle most. Christian billionaires, pay attention! Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: An Expensive Museum [0:00] Matt: The Role of the Church [3:23] Barking Up the Money Tree? [9:22] Alastair: Think Bigger [11:24] Derek: Think Longer [15:16] Deep and Wide [19:02] Andrew: Doubts and Questions [22:14] What Would God Fund? [25:29] Denominationally Opaque Commercials [31:47] Formation [37:37] Collective Funding [44:14]

When you come across a passage of Scripture that just throws you for a loop, who do you go to for guidance? Matt turns to Alastair and Derek. Let the Mere Fi cast and crew be your Scriptural support group. Today we look at another passage from the Apostle Paul that just doesn’t really sound like what we’d expect. Along the way we encounter the beasts of Revelation, ancient dictators, and fractal Mini-Me’s. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Matt Works Out His Apocalyptic Pauline Issues [3:12] The Substance & Symbols of Lawlessness [10:18] Don’t Dehistoricize (Beasts of Revelation) [17:54] Preview Eschaton [24:19] The Restraining [33:09] How would you preach it? [41:02]

These days, it seems nobody without a doctorate in biology knows how to tell men apart from women. How did it come to this? And what can be done about it? Andrew, Matt, and Alastair talk to Dr. Abigail Favale, author of The Genesis of Gender, about how the gender paradigm arose, swallowed the concept of sex (like a "giant Pac-Man monster"), and brought into question the very existence of human nature. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: The Gender Paradigm [0:00] Sex Becomes Gender [8:24] Is Human Nature Real? [16:15] Practical Excursus [18:12] Contraceptive Context [24:11] Contradictions [31:52] Corrections [38:57]

J.R.R. Tolkien is known as the language professor who created a fantasy world and constructed several languages for fun. However, those who get to know his writing and thought well discover that behind those seemingly frivolous projects lie deeply seeded theological ideas. And where better to discuss the intersection of theology and fiction than here on Mere Fidelity. Austin Freeman, author of Tolkien Dogmatics, joins Matt, Derek, and Alastair to delve into the wealth of thought hidden in Middle Earth. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Theology & Literature [0:00] Imaginary World [4:45] Actual World [10:37] What Dogmas? [14:28] Gift of Death [20:26] Peer Comparison [27:13] Sub-Creation [35:08] The Bombadil Question [42:39]

Why are so many Canadians choosing to make use of “medical assistance in dying” and ending their lives prematurely? The Mere Fidelity crew (including Alastair’s new Plus One) tackle this vexing question and disturbing trend. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: A Problem in Canada [0:00] The Situation [3:10] The Terminology [8:04] The Act Itself [14:22] Passing the Buck [16:22] Death Catechesis [20:39] Conditions of Dying [28:35] “Good” Death [35:04] Life Extension [42:43]

There is a passage in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians that is so jarring some have doubted whether Paul could actually have written it. On its face it seems like an easy tool for antisemites to grab on to. Even Matt is having issues with these few verses. So he and Andrew and Alastair got together to talk about, Mere Fi style. Full show notes at www.merefidelity.com. Timestamps: Uncomfortable Questions [0:00] Doesn’t Feel Pauline [2:54] What Pauline Means [5:56] A Sudden Shift of Tone [11:01] The Real Bombshell [15:26] There’s Jews and There’s Jews [21:27] But Antisemitism! [26:06] In this Case, Read the Greek [38:57]

Learn more about Mere Orthodoxy at www.mereorthodoxy.com.