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
Season 6 Update [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:10
Season 5 of the Truce Podcast was a blast! I'm hard at work on season 6, which will discuss how American evangelicals got tied to the Republican Party. It is already coming together so well! I can't wait to share it with…
Takeaway #5 - The Only Thing We Have to Fear [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:45
Give to support the Truce Podcast On March 4, 1933, FDR delivered his inaugural address. In it, he used the phrase "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". I did a little searching and this phrase is used a LOT i…
Takeaway #4 - We Are A People of the Means [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:14
Love Truce? Give a little to help support the show! "The ends justify the means" is a phrase we hear occasionally. Often it is used to justify bad behavior, so long as it creates a profitable outcome. But we Christians k…
Takeaway #3 - The Great Divorce [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:43
Give a little to help Chris continue to make Truce! In 1945, C.S. Lewis published his excellent book "The Great Divorce". It happens to be one of my favorite books. It has many themes, the biggest of which is that there…
Takeaway #2 - Extremes Lead to Extremes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:39
In the fall of 1814, the powers of Europe gathered together to discuss what to do with the continent after the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon had changed a lot in his time in power! He cowed the Roman Catholic Church, ended s…
Takeaway #1 - How Should We Deal With Heretics? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:58
Donate to help Chris make Truce! The first-century Christian Church had a lot going on. Their Savior died and was resurrected, sending the Holy Spirit and leaving them with the command to take this new message to all tri…
Inherit the Wind | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:01
US Senator Joseph McCarthy unleashed an era of suspicion on the American people as he went looking for communists. His trials, both public and behind closed doors, focused on the government as well as Hollywood and the A…
The Scopes "Monkey" Trial Part Two | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:24
Love Truce?? Donate to keep the show going! The trial was basically over. The prosecution won. John Scopes was moments away from being convicted of teaching evolution in Dayton, Tennessee. The ACLU and the prosecution ha…
The Scopes "Monkey" Trial Part One | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:38
Give to help Chris do Truce full time! Tennessee was the first state in the United States to crack down hard on the teaching of evolution in public schools. Others had dabbled, but Tennessee went all the way. The ACLU wa…
Are All Christians Anti-Evolution? | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:12
Give to help Truce! Donate here. In the 1600s, an Irish Archbishop named James Ussher did a bunch of math. The Bible is full of numbers and genealogies. He sat down and calculated that, in his opinion, the Bible dated cr…