Mike Cosper: The Church in Dark Times

Mike Cosper: The Church in Dark Times

Author: Chris Staron November 4, 2024 Duration: 40:27
Give $10/ month to help Chris make Truce What are the warning signs that a church leader will become a tyrant? How do we prevent church hurt from becoming our identity? What are ideologies and how do they become the overall focus of some ministries? Mike Cosper is the co-host of Christianity Today's The Bulletin podcast, the producer and host of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, and now the author of The Church in Dark Times. Discussion Questions: How does Mike define "Ideology"? What does it mean to have a strong ideology? Do you have any? How does this differ from having a simple belief? Why do you think so many people today struggle with anxiety? How can ideologies protect us from our anxiety? Why might that be a poor crutch? Mike recommends worship as a way to fend off anxiety. Why could that help? Is it wrong for churches and organizations to have a missions statement or goals? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Chris Staron, Truce-History of the Christian Church is a deep, journalistic look into the forces that have shaped American evangelicalism. This isn't a simple timeline of events; it's an investigation into the surprising intersections of faith, culture, and power. Staron digs into movements from fundamentalism's roots to modern political campaigns, and even examines connections to phenomena like pyramid schemes, revealing a complex history many listeners may never have encountered. Each episode is built on thorough research and thoughtful interviews, aiming to understand not just how the church arrived at its current moment, but how that story might inform a better path forward. The current season focuses specifically on the rise of the Religious Right, meticulously tracing the evolving alliance between evangelicals and the Republican Party. To tell this story, the podcast features conversations with notable guests like historians Rick Perlstein and Frances Fitzgerald, or journalist Jesse Eisinger, who bring their expertise to this nuanced narrative. Listening to this podcast feels like joining a rigorous yet accessible conversation, one that respects the subject's gravity while pursuing clarity and truth. For anyone curious about the real stories behind today's headlines concerning faith and society, this series offers essential context.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Truce - History of the Christian Church
Podcast Episodes
Republicans and Evangelicals I Jerry Falwell (part 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:15
Give to help Chris make more Truce The New Right had a plan--to bring evangelical Christians together as a voting bloc. But how to do that? They chose a few targets, people with big followings, and courted them. Jerry Fa…
Republicans and Evangelicals I Jerry Falwell (part 1) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:08
Give to help Chris make Truce Jerry Falwell was a prominent American pastor, televangelist, and conservative political activist whose life and ministry had a significant impact on American evangelicalism and politics. Bo…
Republicans and Evangelicals: Abortion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:29
Give to help Chris continue to make Truce A lot of evangelicals are now single-issue voters, and that issue is abortion. But that was not always the case. In fact, for a great deal of American history, abortion was large…
Republicans and Evangelicals: The Death Penalty [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:26
Give to help Chris continue making Truce In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the United States went years without using the death penalty. Not a single person was killed by injection, firing squad, hanging, or electric ch…
Republicans and Evangelicals | George Wallace [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:06
Give to help Chris continue to make Truce George Wallace was, as historian Dan Carter put it, "the most influential loser in American history". He was the governor of Alabama and lost multiple bids for president of the U…
Republicans and Evangelicals I Boston Against Busing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:30
Give to help Chris make Truce We talk about racism in the United States like it only happens in the South. But the nasty truth is that the North is also guilty of racist behavior. This is evident in the way that we behav…
Republicans and Evangelicals I Segregation Academies (part 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:35
Give to help Chris make the Truce Podcast In 2 Samuel 24 David is told that he must buy a certain piece of land in an act of repentance for his sins. The man who owns the land says that he'd like to give David the land a…
Republicans and Evangelicals I Segregation Academies (part 1) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:09
Give to help Chris continue Truce. Update: I would like to apologize for an error I made in the original version of this story. I stated that tuition payments to private schools are tax-exempt on the federal level. They…
Scopes Monkey Trial - 100 Year Anniversay [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:04
Give to help Chris continue making Truce I made these episodes a few years ago, but since it is the 100th anniversary of the Scopes "Monkey" trial, I thought we should revisit them! Tennessee was the first state in the U…