God, Law, and Liberty

Are Christians Even Pursuing in Law the Righteousness that “Exalteth a Nation” (KJV)?

David Fowler — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 19:00:00 +0000

In today's episode, David explains how he misread and applied Proverbs 13:24 (KJV) -- “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people -- and why and how Jesus Christ was a stumbling block to a righteous view of law during much of his career in law and political advocacy.

What Weapon Do Christians Actually Choose for Their Warfare?

David Fowler — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 16:35:00 +0000

This short episode passes on what David wrote coming out of his study and prayer time this morning. It is for any who might find fear, worry, or doubt creeping into their thinking about something — anything, really. Maybe even the outcome of the upcoming elections? He see lots of that in the Tennessee part of the so-called Bible-belt right now. It is based, ironically, on the beauty of Christ underlying Romans 8:7 (KJV) “[T]he carnal mind is ENMITY AGAINST GOD: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

The Beauty of a Christian View of Law and Its Ugly Opposite

David Fowler — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:35:00 +0000

Today David explains why law, rightly understood, becomes a beautiful form of art when rightly applied to politics, law, and public policy advocacy. He also shows how Christians have been taken captive by what he calls the "dark arts" of law. Which one will you practice when you vote?

From Christianity to Nihilism in Christian Political and Legal Thought

David Fowler — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Today's episode has two parts. In the first, David uses Abraham Kuyper's description of the four worldview that can apply to politics and law and David summarizes the fifth, nihilism. In the second part, David explains the nature of the worldview capitulation being made by many Catholics and Evangelicals in law and public policy. It not only explains why he expects little "gospel fruitfulness" to come from that sphere, but it may help listeners evaluate candidates for the upcoming election cycle.

Is Saving America from [fill in the blank] Like Making “Mud pies in the slums?”

David Fowler — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 17:00:00 +0000

With mid-term elections on the horizon, David provides a sobering assessment of his 12 years as a state senator and 18 years as a pro-family lobbyist in answer to two haunting questions drawn from Scripture and the writings of John Owen, Abraham Kuyper, and John Owen. His answer looks at the glory of Christ and its relation to how Christians think about the future of politics, public policy, and law in America.

Why Socialism Is Not an “Economic Problem.”

David Fowler — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 17:20:00 +0000

Today is a short, hopefully helpful bridge between Tuesday's publication on socialism and this Saturday's publication pertaining to a politics for the glory of Christ. David explains what Christians know about socialism that most economists and politicians usually don't. David's thoughts on socialism and Christ are drawn from specific works of John Owen and Herman Bavinck. An audio of the material used from Bavinck is at senatorfowler94.substack.com.

What Will Stop the Rise of Socialism?

David Fowler — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:40:00 +0000

In today's limited episode, David uses a fundraising letter from a national Christian public policy and political advocacy organization to help us consider whether its proposed work toward stopping the rise of socialism will be fruitful or unfruitful.

Fruitful Politics or Unfruitful? That is the Question.

David Fowler — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000

It has taken 30 years for the Holy Spirit to begin to work out in David what he thinks it means to have "gospel fruitfulness" in the sphere of law and politics. Today’s episode provides the scriptural foundation for what kind of "labors" he thinks will lead to that fruitfulness, regardless of the sphere of labor to which one is called. It re-sculptured his Christian political imagination beyond what he had once asked or thought possible. Listen to find out why.

Gospel Grounds for Developing a Christ-Centered Political and Legal Imagination

David Fowler — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Today David provides what he calls “gospel grounds” upon which he believes the imagination of Christians - their vision - for legal and public policy advocacy might be expanded beyond doing politics the way the world does but only better because “we believe in Jesus!” You won’t want to miss what’s in his modernized version of a chapter in John Owen’s Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ about a particular glory in Christ. It may begin to reshape your vision for politics and law even as it did his a few years ago.

Re-evaluating the Christian Political and Legal Imagination

David Fowler — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:30:00 +0000

In today’s episode, David dives into insights he gained from his interview with Jason Farley. He explores the assessments Mr. Farley made regarding the current Christian mindset in sphere of political and legal advocacy. Most importantly, David offers an idea for expanding the Christian political imagination beyond doing business-as-usual better than the other side.

Jason Farley Interview Part 2: Change the Culture or the Church?

David Fowler — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:15:00 +0000

Today's episode continues where the interview with Jason Farley left off last week. The audio picks up with a look at SCOTUSs abortion decisions and flows into a look at the Court’s decision in 2015 about state marriage licensing statutes, Obergefell v. Hodges. It's an eye-opening look at the church's complicity in the kiind of soceity we live in.

Supplement: How SCOTUS Helped Shape Our View of Politics

David Fowler — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:45:00 +0000

This short episode explains two paragraphs of a United States Supreme Court decision that has influenced the thinking of many Christian leaders that it is politics and law that can shape and create culture.

Interview with Jason Farley on Shaping Culture and the Law

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Today's episode is David's interview with Jason Farley (regular guest of Knox Unplugged) on legislation and its influence or effect in forming or transforming a culture. The discussion raises a serious question: Is the way some Christian leaders think about and speak publicly into the the sphere of politics and legislation Christian or something else? Don't miss this one. (The second part of the interview will be published next Friday)

REALLY IMPORTANT: Does Apologist William Lane Craig Need Metaphysics?

David Fowler — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 04:40:00 +0000

This short episode is very important to understanding a video clip of apologist William Lane Craig circulating on. social media in which he says he is unable to affirm or deny the Nicene Creed (325 A.D.) about the Son of God being begotten of the Father. His agnosticism on this subject drives home the importance of the metaphysical considerations that have passed from the evangelical mind. It also demonstrates what Kuyper said about apologetics and illuminates James 2:19.

Will enacting “Christian laws” Have a Positive Educative Effect in our Day?

David Fowler — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Today, David explains something in his first book on politics (published in 2013) that needs fixing. He goes public with the reason, because the thinking he once held to seems prominent among many Christians today. David walks us through a consideration of whether a sound knowledge of the Holy Spirit's essential work and the nature of sin are to be found in Christian political rhetoric and engagement today

A Sobering Look at Christian Political Engagement

David Fowler — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Today David takes a sobering look at what is revealed when the wisdom Christ is made unto us by God is applied to the way many Christians today think of politics. He explains why a Christian worldview looks weak in this sphere and the sin Christians are tempted to as a result. Might it reveal the sin of outright unbelief in Christ, as was once true of him?

The Shocking Gospel Promise Political Pharisees Often Miss

David Fowler — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 01:00:00 +0000

Today David offers a second way in which he believes a number of Christians have lost touch with Christ when it comes to politics, law, and public policy. It shocked the Pharisees of old, and it will probably shock the political pharisees among today's Christians. Find out what it is.

Is the Predominant Christian View of Politics Pharisaical?

David Fowler — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Is there evidence that a number of Christian political candidates (Republican mostly) and a number of the Christians who support them have, in Abraham Kuyper's words, "lost touch with Christ"? Would the Apostle Paul say to them, "Oh foolish Christians, who has bewitched you?" Today David looks at how our view of justification and sanctification affects our view of politics and what we think it can accomplish.

The "Social Question": Can the Move Toward Socialism be Stopped?

David Fowler — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

The question headlining today’s topic comes from Abraham Kuyper’s opening remarks at the First Christian Social Conference convened in the Netherlands in 1891. The news this week makes it clear that our nation is facing the same "social question" addressed by him at that conference: Is socialism or communism a better way to order our social relations in regard to material possessions? Today examines two options before us in light of one Republicans previously offered that failed to stem the rising movement toward socialism. What is the Christian's answer?

What "Created Equal" Unintentionally Created

David Fowler — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Today, David offers his final reflection on our nation’s 250th anniversary by taking a look at what happened to "created equal" on the way to the 21st Century. He uses the insights from two speeches given by Abraham Kuyper at the turn of the 19th century to explain the rise of socialist in our nation and to offer a corrective he believes the church must make if there are going to be another 250 years under our original written Constitution.

The Ghost of Ben Franklin: "Did you keep our republic?"

David Fowler — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 13:40:00 +0000

Today David looks at what was meant by the term "republic" prior to the constitutional revolutions throughout Europe in 1848, their meaning when Benjamin Franklin remarked that our nation was founded as.a republic, and whether we still have a republic. The change in meaning to the present is very revealing, telling us what must change in politics, law, and the church.

SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION: WHAT IS THE STATE AND WHY THE ANSWER MATTERS?

David Fowler — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:25:00 +0000

The following comes from my time this morning with the Lord, and realized it would provide an excellent introduction to what I will release ON SATURDAY as my normal podcast. It is my answer to what is "the state," and why our knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ must define it.

A 250th Anniversary Look at the Declaration's View of Civil Government

David Fowler — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:05:00 +0000

On this 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, David examines what it says about the purpose of civil government and why it is instituted in light of the Apostle Paul’s warning not to be "spoiled" by philosophies of men that are not "after Christ. Is what the Declaration says about civil government more in accord with John Locke's 17th century philosophy or the theology of Abraham Kuyper? And if the former, what should future generations aspire to?

Resolving Yesterday's Question into an Aspirational Declaration for Future Generations

David Fowler — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Today David gives his answer to whether the following statement in the Declaration of Independence is more influenced by enlightenment hubris than sound Christian theology: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." The difference between the one and the other is manifest in a new version he's authored and would encourage future generations to bring to fruition.

Is There an Overlooked Hubris in the Declaration of Independence?

David Fowler — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Today, David applies the Apostle Paul's declaration that true wisdom and knowledge are found in the revelation of "the mystery of God, of the Father and of Christ (Colossians 2:3) to a famous sentence sentence in the Declaration of Independence often quoted by Christians. Does that statement contain a clue that the signatories had been taken captive by the vain philosophies of men? Today he sets the stage for the concluding answer he will release tomorrow. Don’t miss either episode.

The Seduction of Today's Christian Political Advocates

David Fowler — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Today's episode explains why and how well-intentioned Christian political advocates, notably in regard to the politics of abortion, can be taken captive by the empty traditions and philosophies of men that are “not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). David shows why enacting "righteous" statutes is not really the issue in our day; it's far bigger than many Christians think.

What Might an Evangelical Approach to Legal and Public Policy Advocacy Look Like?

David Fowler — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Recent episodes have put an emphasis on growing in our knowledge of Christ in relation to how Christians should think about certain abortion legislation being proposed, but shouldn't that apply to the way Christians think and talk about law and public policy advocacy generally? What might that look like? Two passages of Scripture and a comment by John Owen provide an answer to which David adds to applications.

Looking for Christ in the "Abolition of Abortion" Legislative Movement?

David Fowler — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Today we consider the response to pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf published by the Foundation to Abolish Abortion (FAA), proponents of legislation presented under the rhetoric of "equal protection" for the unborn. Some of FAA leaders want the SBC to take up the issue next week. What wisdom does FAA offer? What do we find of Christ in its counsel?

Spiritual Wisdom and the "Abolition of Abortion"

David Fowler — Fri, 29 May 2026 09:30:00 +0000

How is it that Christ was "MADE unto us" wisdom and how does that affect our understanding of wisdom when it comes to political issues? David uses 17th century theologian John Owen to help us understand the "why" and "how," and then applies that to the published political counsel of long-time pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf against enacting legislation to indict abortive mothers for felony murder, championed by the Foundation to Abolish Abortion (FAA) and Christian podcaster, Seth Gruber.

Is Much of Christian Legal Advocacy Foolishness to God?

David Fowler — Fri, 22 May 2026 09:30:00 +0000

Today's episode is intended to help you evaluate whether a rather standard kind of constitutional argument made by Christian legal advocates accords with Scripture's definition of wisdom. David explains how he came to understand "spiritual wisdom" and offers that in relation to wisdom provided by National Right to Life's General Counsel about challenging Roe v. Wade.

A Much-Needed Constitutional Primer by Legal Scholar Adam Macleod

David Fowler — Fri, 15 May 2026 09:30:00 +0000

Today's episode jumps right into the introduction of law professor Adam Macleod, a renowed expert on common law, by the Chair of the Tennessee Senate's judiciary committee in 2019. Professor Macleod testified about the relationship of common law to the forgotten and overlooked Ninth Amendment, and their relationship to the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee that "persons" are not to be deprived of "life" without "due process of law." Everyone needs to absorb his testimony, even if it takes repeated listens. It is the understanding of the Constitution and the legislative branch rarely taught in law schools!

The End Abortion Battle Came to SCOTUS Monday

David Fowler — Tue, 05 May 2026 03:35:00 +0000

Today’s publication is in lieu of one on Friday because of the importance of federal court decisions over the last four days. I address the importance of understanding recent decisions by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and SCOTUS regarding the FDA's rule allowing mifepristone (RU-486) to be dispensed by mail.

What May Be the Most Overlooked Consideration in Christian Politics

David Fowler — Fri, 01 May 2026 09:30:00 +0000

Today, David uses his own misguided reason for seeking public office and Puritan theologian John Owen to explain what he believes is the most important consideration when it comes to Christian political engagement and serving in public office and yet often gets lost. He will close by applying it to the political firestorm raised in several states by the end-abortion-now movement.

SHORT SUPPLEMENTAL EPISODE: A Key to Understanding the Glory of Christ

David Fowler — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:40:00 +0000

These brief thoughts by John Owen on the glory of Christ are not just excellent, but they will also be a helpful supplement to what the Holy Spirit put into my heart to release on Friday. I’ll be addressing what I believe is most needful and wanting in Christian political engagement today.

Hosea Gives Politically Interested Christians Some Sound Political Advice

David Fowler — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:30:00 +0000

David hopes last week's publication left you wondering what Christians are to do if our way of seeing the world has allowed politics to become disproportionately important. That's today's topic. As a way forward, David offers his personal political story, examples drawn from his experience, and Hosea's instructive, probative, and sobering words and their application to politics.

The Effect on Christian Politics of Misunderstanding the Times

David Fowler — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:40:00 +0000

Today's episode expands on what David said last week about the importance of “understanding of the times” when assessing Christian engagement in political and legislative advocacy. David uses a Scriptural metaphor to explain what he sees missing in the way Christians understanding our times. And he explains how it has affected the approach to politics taken by both end-abortion-now advocates and traditional right to life advocates. At a fundamental level, they are the same.

Planting "Garden Laws" in a Society Like Ours

David Fowler — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Today, David takes the next step in what we began to cover last week — what it might look like to be spiritually minded (Romans 8:6) in trying to apply the juridical aspects of the “law of Moses” to abortive mothers in our day. The spiritually-minded may find in today's publication some considerations that make the answer harder than some who desire to be teachers of the law might think it is.

Being "Spiritually Minded" About the Law of Moses

David Fowler — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:30:00 +0000

When it comes to legislation, many Christians look to the "law of Moses" to flesh out what is right and wrong and, increasingly, determine what sanctions should be applied to certain wrongful acts. It is part of the "whole counsel of God," but is there a way to flesh out this law that is "of the flesh" vis-a-vis "spiritually minded"? Today, David offers a context for thinking about those laws that he believes is spiritually minded and begins to apply it to legislative efforts to "end abortion now."

SPECIAL LIMITED EPISODE: On Being Carnally or Spiritually Minded About Law?

David Fowler — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Today’s short limited edition is an excerpt drawn from John Owen’s treatise, The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded." It is an important precursor to this coming Friday’s episode in which I will begin to offer my application of this excerpt to present efforts to end abortion now. We must be "spiritually minded" (Romans 8:6) about the subject of law, because "law is spiritual" (Romans 7:14). Owen addresses a deceiful allure that can keep us from being so minded.

"Walking by the Spirit" of an Antinomian Fear in Politics?

David Fowler — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Today David looks at how some theonomists and abortion abolitionist might respond to what he said last week about Paul's 3-point summary in Timothy about what obeying the law of God means. Is it antinomian? To that end he considers what Paul meant when he told Timothy that some who desire to be teachers of the law don't use it lawfully because they neither understand what they say or what they affirm.

Paul's 3-Point Summary of the Law of God for the Regenerate

David Fowler — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:20:00 +0000

If we say with the Apostle Paul that "law is spiritual" can't that lead to antinomianism? Does a fear of antinomianism lurk behind the thinking of some theonomists? Is it behind the rhetoric of some abortion abolitionists who recently castigated all who did not think that Tennessee's legislators should make an abortive mother indictable either for first or second degree murder? Paul gives all those interested in law and public policy something to chew on.

The Regenerate's Key to Understanding the "Law of God"

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 10:55:00 +0000

Today begins a consideration of the relationship the regenerate have to “the law of God.” What was missing in my understanding of that relationship was a fully-developed, biblically sound understanding what is meant by image of God. I believe the phrase has become a shibboleth in a society of unregenerate persons, and is a mystery even for many Christians. I explain why and offer two consequences of a wrong or incomplete understanding of that image.

Sanctification and its Two Main Graces

David Fowler — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:05:00 +0000

Certain events in Tennessee on Tuesday prompted me to release this SPECIAL and ABBREVIATED episode of GLL. It will be helpful to some who were the object of those events. However, it is also a helpful as a supplement to recent podcasts and a precursor to Friday’s.

Is There A Forgotten Relation Between God's Law and Proposed Legislation?

David Fowler — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Today's episode considers an aspect of “the law of God” that is often overlooked when it comes to how Christians think about proposed legislation that would conform to it. Paul's letter to the Romans, John Owen, Robert Haldane, and Abraham Kuyper provide insights we need. In the coming weeks, this aspect of the law of God will be applied to two legislative proposals: One that would again imposed criminal sanctions on an abortive mother and one that would again define the martial relationship as one man and one woman.

What Makes the Dominion of Sin (and Grace) Objectively Real

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 10:30:00 +0000

This week Jason Farley returns to help lay the final jurisdictional footer for building a Christian understanding of God's law, its purpose, and how it informs the way Christians use the jurisdiction God has given them in the legal and policy spheres. Find out why the key to understanding the two objectively real dominions we must deal with in law and politics -- that of sin and of grace -- is, in Jason's words, that "everything is connected."

Special 3 Minutes Teaser to Friday's "Jurisdictional Realism"

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 20:00:00 +0000

This 3 minute "episode" will provide some valuable depth to Friday's episode with Jason Farley in which we look at the biblical key to why “jurisdictional realism” is real, not a metaphor. These 3 minutes, recorded on-the-spot, are my realization of how limited and constricted my thoughts about jurisdiction have been.

A Forgotten Fundamental to Understanding Our Times

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Today, Jason Farley's interview with me helps us understand what metaphysics and the metaphysics of sin are and how their disappearance from our thinking changed our times. It is a look at the missing fundamentals of Christian thought that has undergirded recent episodes on original sin and the dominion of sin in relation to law and politics.

Have Evangelicals Failed the Free Exercise Clause Test?

David Fowler — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Today David explains why he said last week that the use to which evangelicals have put the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause “diminishes the glory of Christ respecting what Christ accomplished on the Cross.” Find out how evangelicals failed to deliver what the Founding Father's expected from Christians to make "permanent" the "free government" they established, and what Christians can do going forward.

Special Edition: Christian Liberty (Puritan syle) v. SCOTUS Free Exercise Clause

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:01:00 +0000

Special Edition: Last Friday, I said I thought the use by evangelicals of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Free Exercise Clause emphasis on “religious acts” to mean protection for certain for civil conduct “diminishes the glory of Christ respecting what Christ accomplished on the Cross.” The following quotations from one of the leading Puritans on the dominion of sin and Christian liberty will be helpful preparation for this Friday's explanation of what I previously said.

The Protestant Doctrine That Explains the Free Exercise Clause

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

What is the relationship between the protestant understanding of the doctrine of original sin and the purpose of First Amendment’s Free Exercise of Religion Clause? The U.S. Supreme Court's failure to consider that doctrine has made its interpretation of that clause wrong. But I believe its interpretation and evangelical reliance on it for protecting civil conduct demeans the gospel. It was for good reason that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story warned "the future experience of Christendom" would be determined by the duties assigned to our nation's churches by the Free Exercise Clause.

Special Edition: Have We Overlooked a Most Important Law?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:10:00 +0000

I offer the following explanation of Romans 7:20-21 by John Owen from 1667 that I hope provides a better understanding of the effect the “dominion of sin” has on what we can expect from our politic enagement and be helpful to understanding better the importance of tomorrow’s email about the real purpose of First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.

Making Biblical Sense of the Mess in Minneapolis

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Why are large numbers of people in Minneapolis, many educated, choosing to do things that to many of us just don’t make sense? Is Christ, the prophet to His Church, revealing something to His people? If so, what is it? Is the answer something more than "Sinners sin"? I think so. My answer may be controversial, but I think it affects the "strategy" we need going forward?

Richard Dawkins and a Calvinist Agree!

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:30:00 +0000

In this 4 minute "Special Edition, I discuss how Richard Dawkins, the atheistic evolutionary biologist, and a strict Calvinist, J. Gresham Mechen, agree on one thing: Certain Christians have abandoned Christianity. It shows up in how we approach the transgender issue in law and public policy. I'll be back on Friday to examine whether sin has a metaphysic that we see at play in Minneapolis.

An Overlooked Heresy in the Christian View of Law and Politics

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Today I discuss how a heresy I unwittingly embraced affected what I thought my 30 year engagement in law and politics could accomplish. Do you think my description of that heresy and its application is dominate among evangelicals and Roman Catholics? I do, and I explain why.

Why Educated People Don't Know What a Woman Is

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Our society and law have progressed from prohibiting access to contraceptives in 1879 to a Supreme Court argument this week about human sexuality to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley asking a Doctor if a man can get pregnant. Why has this "evolution" occurred and gone in only one direction? And why don't we ask "Why" questions anymore? It's all of one piece. Something fundamental is missing in our thinking. {My reference to Kansas should be Nebraska]

Does Romans 3:3 mean "Faith of God" or "Faithfulness of God"?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:25:00 +0000

This is a special ediction because I'm asking you to consider telling me if I am missing something about the meaning of the words "faith of God" in my understanding of Romans 3:3, "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the FAITH OF GOD without effect?" (KJV). I ask in sincerity because I noticed this morning that ALL translations since the KJV, even the NKJV, translate "faith of God" as "the faithfulness of God." As I thought about the difference, I began to think the "faithfulness-of-God"-translations may be missing something important that is in the KJV.

SCOTUS Justices Play a Dirty Trick on the States

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:15:00 +0000

Today I explain the dirty trick the U.S. Supreme Court played on the states to foist on them a new understanding of human meaning, a new anthropology. You will see how the Court degraded the high view of marriage expressed by Massachusetts and Connecticul statutes dating from 1879 to the constitutional protection of fornication in 1972!

Justice Brown-Jackson Gives Us a Peak into the Future

God, Law & Liberty, David Fowler — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:00:00 +0000

This is for those who want to dig a bit deeper into "understanding the times" that I explained last week using SCOTUSs decision in Eisenstadt v. Baird. Two short audio clips of TN Senator Marsha Blackburn's interrogation of then judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson and my explanation of them demonstrate the cosmological merry-go-round of metaphysical nihilism we are on. Don't miss understanding the cosmology she is writing into our law.

How SCOTUS Helped Disorder God's "Ordered Liberty"

God, Law & Liberty, David Fowler — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 19:00:00 +0000

Today, I explain how the United States Supreme Court came to understand the word “liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the changes in society's understanding of the cosmos that influenced it. Understanding the evolution of that word is critical to everyone who wants to understand our times and know better how to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5 KJV). "Sons of Issachar" should not miss this one.

Answering a Christian Legislator's Great Question

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Today, I pass on my answer to a great question asked by a Christian state legislator who listened to last week’s podcast about working to restore God’s “ordered liberty”: If we are to do that, how should we have argued for the bill not allowing men to compete in women’s sports? Equally important is what can we learn about ourselves by thinking through the two different approaches?

The "Ordered Liberty" That Re-Ordered My Understanding of Everything

God, Law & Liberty, David Fowler — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 16:30:00 +0000

Today David explains how the thoughts of Puritan John Owen in his monumental work, Christologia, completely re-ordered his thinking about law and legal and public policy advocacy in recent years, and how those thoughts relate to the God’s creational intention for every Christian in the present. Creation, the image of God, Sin, and the “ordered liberty” of government that rests on the child in the manger all come together in one glorious scriptural truth about Christ's mediation in this final advent edition.

Advent Story 2: Preparing Gentiles to Receive the Kingdom of God's Son

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The Holy Spirit had Isaiah record a prophesy that "the government shall be upon his shoulder"--a baby in a manger. Today, David examines what no one ought to overlook: Even SCOTUS knows that God prepared the Western world for His Son's Kingdom. But the Spirit also said the scope of his governance and of its peace would increase. What are Christians and non-Christian to think of that part of the prophesy today? On that front, I say the news is still good and full of peace.

An Advent Story: Law and the "Fullness of the Time"

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The apostle Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Today I examine how reason led to an understanding of law by 50 B.C. that was ready for the law to become incarnate. Its the story we need to hear in our day, especially Christian lawyers. It's amazing! And I explain why the story of the person of Jesus is more important than ever.

Isaiah 55 Defines Winning and Provides a Thought for Christian Lawyers

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 13:25:00 +0000

Today we examine the test Isaiah gives us to determine whether our thoughts on the subject of winning are God's thoughts or conform to those of our age. And I will examine that test in light of a recent case argued by Christians before the United Sates Supreme Court and how I used to apply that test and compare both them to how Isaiah might have us apply his test.

Really? Loving the Person of Christ is the Key to Winning?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 03:00:00 +0000

Part 2 of my Thanksgiving gift to you on "winning" in a society rife with exhausting rivalries. Today we look at what John Owen meant when he spoke of "loving the person of Christ"--what I submit is the key to how we think about winning and how we go about winning.

Winning in a Society Defined by Rilvary

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 04:15:00 +0000

Today's episode is Part 1 of my Thanksgiving gift to you. It responds to the fact we live in a society defined by rivalry. One person's win means other people must lose. One group's "win" means the other groups lose. It's exhausting. So, I pray my offering will help you go back into your part of rivalrous world after the Thanksgiving weekend with joy and peace (Isaiah 55:12 ). And I pray it will jump start an Advent season filled with more of the same. Look for Part 2 Wednesday morning.

Senator Marsha Blackburn and Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson, "What is law?"

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Today we consider Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson's answer to "what is a woman?" at her U.S. Senate confirmation hearing 3 years ago. Her answer was ridiculed, but she said something important about law that was missed. Her answer will help us understand why lawyers no longer believe in law. And we will consider how she might have answered if asked the question, “What is law?”

Why Jesus Would "Double Down" on Today's Christian Lawyers?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 12:30:00 +0000

Today's episode expands on last week’s episode by explaining why I think Jesus might "double down" on his "woe" for today's Christian lawyers. The reason: lawyers are taught not to believe in law and that can hinder others in coming to know Christ. That was true of my experience as lawyer, legislator, and lobbyist. Blackstone, Kuyper, Holmes, and Einstein help prove my thesis.

A Simple Way to Challenge SCOTUS's 2015 Marriage Decision

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 17:55:00 +0000

A 2 minute explanation of a simple way to bring a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision about marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges. A few sentences from the written opinion of a former professor of Constitutional Law at Notre Dame is the key.

GREAT NEWS: SCOTUS Denies Appeal in "'Kim Davis" Marriage Case

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 20:35:00 +0000

Special Report: Don't let those who may have led you to believe the Kim Davis case might be the one SCOTUS would use to overturn Obergefell now become naysayers and pessimists to discourage you. Don't let anyone "cover up" what I said was wrong in the Davis case from the get-go. And find out what can be done now to get a good "Obergefell case" to the Supreme Court.

Would Jesus Pronounce "Woe" on Today's Christian Attorneys?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 12:30:00 +0000

Jesus had a pretty damning word in his day for some of the practicing lawyers among His people. Today, I explain why I think they apply to many Christians practicing law today and why the people of God need to know what they are doing. Why? Because Jesus said his people were being "hindered" by the lawyers of his day.

Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Isaiah

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 17:20:00 +0000

In the recent contention over Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes and comments about the nation of Israel, that Tony Perkins and others in the sphere of public policy have now commented on, have you seen anyone address the application of the prophecy in Isaiah 49:1-3, particularly v. 3, “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified’”? I haven’t, so I will offer one that goes beyond semanical wrangling of the word "Israel."

What Kind of "Win" Should Christians Make a Priority in Law and Politics

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 11:00:00 +0000

A Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview for a national Christian ministry recently commented on needing to win a certain case in the U.S. Supreme Court and on how to win. The question we examine today is whether his thoughts on the subject are his own or those informed by God's word. The answer depends on something I once never considered: Our knowledge of and love for the person of Christ.

When Does Winning Become Losing?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:30:00 +0000

Today we examine the belief of a “Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview” for a national organization about the importance of winning as a guiding principle. We examine this belief in light of the argument Christian lawyers recently made in favor of the unconstitutionality of state laws prohibiting "conversion therapy." We will also compare his belief that "the left" is being "ridiculous" against my belief that Christians are denying what they believe is true.

Have "Christian worldview thinkers" Missed the Good News of Christ

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 18:15:00 +0000

Last week we examined the questions a Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview suggested for discerning “Who is a Christian?” and “Who is on our team?” Today, we take that examination a step further. Is it possible that getting the “right answers” to worldview questions has obscured the good news of Christ, the actual gospel? Is it possible that the good news of Christ is better than we can imagine? David says the answer to both questions is "Yes!"

Has Christian Politics Lost Touch With Christ?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Today's episode examines two questions suggested by a Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview at a national political and policy organization to determine, according to him, "Who is actually a Christian" and "Who is on our team." Abraham Kuyper provided a critique to the two suggested questions, but the Apostle Paul provided the one question we really need to ask. Today's episode may explain why policy discussions rarely include Christ.

Which Politics: Conservative or Christ

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 15:25:00 +0000

Today, David looks at a recent statement by a Christian pro-family policy organization fitness standards for combat service to see what arguments complementarian thinking about men and women leaves Christians about women in combat. Complementarian thinking is the "in" word for political conservatives when addressing the male-female "divide," but is that an unnecessary Christ-denying capitulation? David explains how he would now approach these issues.

Exposing the Limits of Reason as the Way Forward

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 20:45:00 +0000

Today, David resumes his consideration of whether philosophical reasoning can be the way to bet back to a Christian view of law. Reasoning's imits, he explains, are demonstrated when the question is whether women should fight in combat roles. David explains why the prevalence of complementarian thinking in Christian circles can't answer this question and offers an asnwer Scripture provides.

Why is there "Free Speech"? And is it really "free"?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 14:15:00 +0000

WHY is "free speech" so important, beyond just saying it is or “it’s in the Constitution"“ And WHY did Jesus say (Matt. 12:37) "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." This is my 4 minute stab at answering these "why" questions.

Remembering What is Missing is the Way Forward

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:15:00 +0000

I started not to post today, because I needed “time off” to process the assassination of Charlie Kirk before continuing on the topic proposed at the conclusion of last week’s episode: Is reason the way forward in law. But what came to mind this morning is too important in view of all the talk in today's media about needing a new way forward. I ask and answer why logical reasoning seems to bounce off so many whose thinking is not logical or consistent. My conclusion: What’s preached in our churches must change to what Paul preached.

Senator Kaine, Charlie Kirk, and Rights

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is a four minute response to Senator Kaine’s comments about human rights that I pray honors God, and that Charlie Kirk would applaud. I recorded it earlier this week, but it seems appropriate today because the issue of rights will now swirl around Kirk’s work and assassination. It is what I would say if I were a United States senator having a platform to respond to the issue of rights. Query: Why do we think we have any rights?

Reason and Eschatology Applied to Legislative Advocacy

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Increasingly, Christians offer a return to the philosophical reasoning of the ancients as the way forward in addressing public policies that put at issue what it means to be human. Getting back on the right road, as C.S. Lewis put it, toward the consideration of human meaning in public policy is necessary. But how does the eschatology of a Christian view of law apply to philosophical reasoning as the way forward?

The Eschatology of a Christian View of Law

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 11:15:00 +0000

Law is inherently eschatological. Today's episode explain why that is so, the eschatology that now informs society and law and why, and the practical implications in law and politics of that seemingly heady and "theological" topic.

A Christian View of Law in Legislative Advocacy

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 13:45:00 +0000

Today’s episode is a “supplement” to this coming Friday’s episode on the eschatological implications of briefs filed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Ethics and Public Policy Center with SCOTUS on transgenderism. Would you encourage or discourage the legislator argument I offer in today’s episode about women serving in the military? Remember: Legislators don’t have to make legal arguments to explain their vote on legislation.

Look What Got Filed with SCOTUS

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Certain aspects of the Christian view of law found in Romans 7:14 were broached in two briefs filed with the United States Supreme Court! Today, David discusses those briefs, describing what he appreciated and what he would have done differently. Along the way, he explains how Christology and Christian eschatology inform his analysis. "Law is [indeed] spiritual" as the Apostle Paul wrote.

A Christian View of Law Applied to Parental Rights Legislation

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:30:00 +0000

Christians should give thanks for a “Christian” outcome in a judicial dispute over a particular parental right, but I believe that is not enough. I believe the end or telos of a Christian view of law would strive to restore in law parental rights as an authority delegated by God with a prescribed jurisdiction give for certain ends—”godly offspring” (Malachi 2:15). Today I explain the legislative proposal I offered Tennessee’s legislature that would moved law in that direction.

The Abolition of Parental Rights and Their Restoration

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Today, David explains why “parental rights” is now just a power game, and gives examples of Christian legal and policy advocates effectively conceding that the determinative power over what those rights are rests with a U.S. Supreme Court that has embraced a lawless, disintegrated cosmos. He also briefly summarizes what Christians must do to restore real and objectively determinable parental rights. It’s a must-listen episode for those with children and grandchildren.

The Secret to Overthrowing the Cosmology of SCOTUS

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 14:40:00 +0000

Today, David explains how Christianity succumbed to the cosmological revolution of Kant and Nietzsche, the specific adoption of that cosmology by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the secret to a launching a successful Christ-centered counter-revolution. But, he says, it won't begin so long as Christians lawyers and policy makers put their faith in being able to manipulate to their immediate advantage U.S.Supreme Court precedents over the last 100 years grounded in the new cosmology.

The Long Descent From a Christian View of Law

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 16:03:00 +0000

Today episode provides a brief historical snapshot showing how the US. Supreme Court now thinks of "marriage" in relation to the law, how it used to think of marriage, and how Christ specifically informed that law less than 200 years ago. Seeing the transition from the presernt to a Christian view of law will be shocking, as it once was to me.

Are Christian Lawyers/Legislators Making "Progress"?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 21:00:00 +0000

David looks at how today’s “climate of opinion” can cause Christians to be deceived into thinking Christian lawyers and legislators are employing a Christian view of law. It will also help us see that Christians unjustifiably thought progress toward a Christian worldview was being made when, on June 18th, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Tennessee’s law prohibiting medical interventions to treat a minor’s gender dysphoria.

Applying a Christian View of Law in a U.S. Supreme Court Case

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 21:45:00 +0000

If a Christian view of law is spiritual and covenantal, what does that look like when arguing before the United States Supreme Court? Today, David looks at the approaches taken by two different Christian camps in United States v. Skrmetti that addressed the constitutionality of Tennessee's law prohibiting medical treatments for a minor's gender dysphoria. The two represent two different cosmologies, not just different legal arguments!

Why Answer a Law Question You Didn't Ask?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 14:00:00 +0000

C.S. Lewis once wrote that it may seem he was “trying to answer questions you never asked." Some may think that about my recent discourses on God's covenant secret in relation to law. But Lewis also said those answers often "do not make sense until a man has reached those places.” Today, I hope those discourses will make sense. That "secret" explains what kind of thinking about or engagement in law and politics is salutary and what is in vain.

The Untold Story Behind the "Secret" to a Christian View of Law

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Today David talks about what he learned six months ago that is fundamental to the "secret" behind a Christian view of law. It helped him see why his worldview was more informed by Darwin and Nietzsche than Christ, and it further reformed his approach to legal and public policy advocacy.

The "Secret" to a Christian View of Law

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 22:00:00 +0000

Did you know that a Christian view of law hinges on a secret that God only makes known to those who fear him? Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” Today, David explains how a Christian cosmology of law is embedded in that verse. And he explains how coming to know that secret after even decades in evangelical churches awakened him from the Nietzschean cosmology that had informed his view of politics and law for decades.

Is Law Really Metaphysical?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 11:30:00 +0000

The Apostle Paul writes that “the law is spiritual,” but what does that mean? Today, David answers that question. And the answer will explain why he said last week that the answer to “What is a Christian view of law?” depends on a person’s metaphysics. The answer Scripture provides is the only antidote to the metaphysical nihilism that infects so many Christians engaged in law and public policy advocacy, from professionals to preachers.

What is a Christian View of Law?

David Fowler — Fri, 30 May 2025 14:35:00 +0000

What is a Christian view of law? According to Romans 7:14, the answer depends on one’s metaphysics. Today David explains why some Christians would find such an answer too philosophical and speculative sounding to be Christian, even perhaps even unbiblical. But Herman Bavinck and Abraham Kuyper told us more than 100 years ago this would happen. Kuyper even saw the Calvinism he loved grinding to a metaphysical halt.

God's Secret is for Imaginative Children

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Tue, 27 May 2025 12:10:00 +0000

Today’s episode is an “extra” for this week in anticipation of Friday’s podcast on “A Christian View of Law.” It is a sermon David preached on Psalm 25:14 in November 2023 to re-ignite the imagination of those who might have lost the wonder of the “secret” God reveals to “those who fear him.” David's story as a member of a secret society for BMOCs and Chesterton's "Ethics in Elfland" expose how easily we can easliy lose ourselves in a made-up "real" world.

Christian or Christian-ish

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 23 May 2025 21:45:00 +0000

What is a “Christian” view of law? David says the answer depends entirely on what the word “Christian” means. So, in this episode, he explains why he thinks the word has lost it original meaning,; pans an emerging alternative, “Jesus follower;” and sets the stage for next week’s topic: Are “Christians” using the law lawfully?

SCOTUS and Evangelicals Unleash the Sexual Revolution

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 16 May 2025 21:10:00 +0000

Today, David looks at what esteemed jurist Joseph Story said about the First Amendment’s “Free Speech Clause”—debated this week in the U.S. Supreme Court—and a type of harm it did not protect. Today, even that harm makes no sense, and so it is allowed to proliferate. David explains what is missing in even doctrinally sound Christian thinking that prevents the scourge of pornography from being addressed properly in our law.

Sons of Issachar Report on the Death of Evangelicalism

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 09 May 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Today’s episode is David’s report on a “autopsy” performed by a few of the remaining sons of Issachar in America on the “Death of Evangelicalism.” Its death was pronounced by a Final Judgment, aptly named, issued by the United States Supreme Court in 2015. If you want to appreciate why evangelicalism seems so fruitlessness in culture and law, you will want to listen to the report. Thankfully, he notes, the dead are raised to life again according to the Gospel.

Romans 7:14: What Makes Law "Spiritual"?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Tue, 06 May 2025 11:30:00 +0000

America's Still-Born Reformation Regarding Religious Liberty and Civil Law

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 02 May 2025 17:15:00 +0000

History shows that our nation was to continue the "reformation" struggle in England between religious liberty and religious tolerance that had ended with restoration of the monarchy and the Church of England's primacy. But, recent First Amendment religious liberty arguments made to the U.S. Supreme Court show that we have forgotten that history and God' purpose for our nation. Today, David will demonstrate that esteemed early Justice Joseph Story wrote about it, picking up language used by John Owen and contained in the 1658 Savoy Declaration. He'll show the U.S. Supreme Court once understood it, too. This week shows that it is time for the Church to get back to the mission given it pertaining to harmonious reconciliation of religious liberty and righteous and just civil law.

Misapplying the Free Exercise Clause in Public Schools

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 21:15:00 +0000

This week the U.S. Supreme Court considered the application of the Free Exercise Clause to certain books read to elementary aged children as part of Maryland's public school curriculum for "story time." The case itself should be a warning to Christians. In 1901, Herman Bavinck explained what was going on by which he predicated the predicatment these parents find themselves in. The prophet Jeremiah tell us what we should and should not be doing if we want to see the situation change.

The Free Exercise Clause Encapsulates the Gospel

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 16:45:00 +0000

Easter is the perfect time for Christians to reflect on the providence of God in constituting our nation in such a way that the Free Exercise Clause codified a great gospel doctrine. It brings to a particular resolution the history of a debate that can be traced back to 16th century English theologian, William Perkins. Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson wrote of it. So, whenever someone says to you that the Constitution is a secular instrument because it doesn’t mention God—and it doesn’t— the information in today's podcast will allow you to share with him or her what is at the heart of the Gospel.

John Adams and our Providential Constitution

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 23:15:00 +0000

The full text of John Adams’s letter saying “our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people” has been forgotten. In the forgotten portion, he wrote “this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the world” if certain specific things happened. What were they? Did they happen? If so, what should we do? In the mid-1800s, van Prinsterer gave an answer that would keep us from “whitewashing sepulchers.” Some will want to discuss this further at the conference announced in today’s podcast.

The Politics of the Hasty and Confounded

David Fowler — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 20:35:00 +0000

The old saying, "haste makes waste" seems to be coming true as a result of the way some Christians have been approaching certain legal and political isssues. Many say to me, "The situation is urgent; its dire. Putting a 'stop' to a human and sexual ethic that's 'in the gutter' requires action." That's the attitude I took to these issues most of my time in politics. Isaiah, the Apostle Peter, John Owen and what they say about Jesus Christ is upsetting the way I've thought about things. Don't forget to ask for the extra material I offer.

National Religious Broadcasters Take on Florida's Legislature

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 23:20:00 +0000

Today's episode demonstrates why William Blackstone and Lord Coke said those who don't have an education in the rudiments of common law mess up the law with their statutes. Proof of their proposition is in the legal advice given the NRB to oppose legislation in Florida addressing slander (and libel). The situation also shows how Christian legal advocates have effectively capitulated to the transgender movement and, because of that, are arguably urging their clients to do so as well. But, there is a way back, and this legislation provides a way to do it.

Free Exercise Meets Parental Rights in the US Supreme Court

David Fowler — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 21:00:00 +0000

SCOTUS will soon hear oral arguments in a case brought by parents challenging a Maryland law that requires elementary school children to "participate in instruction on gender and sexuality against their parents' religious convictions and with-out notice or opportunity to opt out." The argument for the law's unconstitutioinality is grounded in the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. Today, David explains why that clause is used when its original purpose has nothing to do with cases of this kind.

Freedom of Speech 2: What Kinds of Speech Are "Free"

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:30:00 +0000

In this final episode on the Free Speech and Press Clause, David explains what kinds of speech are protected by law and what kinds could cause a person problems under the law. The answer, he explains, depends on the worldview that law is grounded in. Absent a particular change in that worldview (drawn from Hebrews 7), the use of even biblical language may not have the legal protection it has had.

Freedom of Speech-Part 1: How Freedom of Speech Can Be Lost

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 18:30:00 +0000

The common law right to freedom of speech is being lost in Europe and even England where it developed. Will the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause prevent that loss in our nation? Don't say yes too quickly. Today, I explain why the Christian understanding of that right can be made to yield to lies. The United States Supreme Court has us headed in that direction. Freedom of speech, like everything else, depends on what kind of world our various magistrates (and the public that elects them) think we live in.

The Golden Age Applied to Law, Politics & Civil Government

David Fowler — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:45:00 +0000

In this final episode on the Golden Age, David sums up what that means in relation to how Christians think about sin, law, politics, and civil government.

The Golden Age and Today's Zionism

David Fowler — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 12:30:00 +0000

Part 2 in the 3 part series on the Golden Age builds on the prophesies of Isaiah and demonstrates the revelation of the new cosmology ushered in by Christ (1 Corinthians 3 is key) and what that means for Zionism and the expection of a future Golden Age. The direction of the first creation is now "reversed"!

The "Golden Age" Is Old News Mr. Trump

David Fowler — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 19:15:00 +0000

Today's episode is the first in a 3-part series pertaining to the "Golden Age" for America that was a popular tag-line upon Trump's inaguration. Don't keep living in a deteriorating and dying cosmology. If you have been steeped in pessimistic theology or think any president might usher in a Golden Age for our nation, these three short podcasts and the scriptures I share are for you. Look for Part 2 on Wednesday and Part 3 next Friday.

Why Christian Leaders Seem to Have Made Peace with Homosexual Marriage

David Fowler — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today I explain why I think Christianity is suffering from a Trintiran heresy. It has manifested itself among some noted evangelical ministers and in the work of many of our most significant state and national Christian legal and policy advocacy organizations. I didn't fully understand their aversion to restoring male-female marriage in law until this week. It crystalized when I learned that Tennessee Republicans, mostly evangelical, UNANIMOUSLY voted for legislation to make if OFFICIAL that male and female are irrelevant to the nature and purpose of a marital relationship. Tennessee's Christian Governor signed it into law. Here's the story. To see what I referred to, the video is at senatorfowler94.substack.com.

Evangelicalisms War Subtle War Against the Image of God and Humanity

David Fowler — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 16:30:00 +0000

Today's episode ties together a question I got this week from a state legislator (outside Tennessee) to Biblical theology about the image of God, and I will tie that to two sound decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in the later half of the 19th and 20th centuries. I think you will see how much we have lost in law, because too many evangelical churches have lost an understanding of the image of God. Sound theology and doctrine matter to law.

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, Meet Abraham Kuyper

David Fowler — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 20:17:00 +0000

Abraham Kuyper and retired NBA superstar Charles Barkley both see something in a "Golden Age" that may produce an unintended consequence. Kuyper offered a solution to the problem Barkley sees at the First Christian Congress in 1891. His solution, though, is not a choice between mere socialism or mere capitalism or between envy and greed. The church must lead the way.

Do our Issachars know this?

David Fowler — Sat, 18 Jan 2025 13:45:00 +0000

By understanding the times, the Sons of Issachar knew what Israel should do. But do we understand ours? David explains what he didn't understand about our times during most of the 30 years he was a political leader in Tennessee. From Newton to Locke to Bastiat, David traces the development of our times and examines the cosmological nature of the Independence declared in 1776.

Why a Push for Natural Law Among Christians?

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 01:20:00 +0000

There is renewed interest in natural law among Christians as a means of supporting legal and public policy positions in the public square. But why? David suggests that if we understand how the conversation changed from the days of Thomas Aquinas, we might not be so keen on the idea. To properly evaluate the merits of natural law's reasoning process, Sons of Issachar must understand the nature of the conversation taking place among our thought leaders--on the airwaves, in capitols, and in courtrooms.

“Christian” Nihilism in the U.S. Supreme Court?

David Fowler — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 18:01:00 +0000

Today David examines Tennessee’s attorney general's defense before the U.S. Supreme Court of the state’s law prohibiting medical treatments for a minor’s gender dysphoria. It’s important to understand because it’s the same argument Christian legal and policy advocates are using around the country. Are the arguments based on a nihilistic or biblical cosmology? Listen to find out.

Nihilism Takes the Podium Before the United States Supreme Court

David Fowler — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 18:40:00 +0000

Today David takes quotes from the arguments made last week by the U.S. Department of Justice to the United States Supreme Court explaining why it thinks the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause is violated by Tennessee's law prohibiting the use of medicine to treat a minor's gender dysphoria. His analysis of them will show why Christians must take the prevailing nihilistic cosmology and its application to law seriously.

The Relation of the Incarnation to Law and Playing “Judicial Politics”

David Fowler — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 12:46:00 +0000

Today, David looks at the Incarnation through the lens of excerpts from John Owen’s Christologia and Isaiah 61 to show its application to law and its relation to how Tennessee’s law prohibiting medical interventions to “treat” a minor’s gender dysphoria is being defended before the United States Supreme Court.

The Relationship Between Faith and Christians playing “Politics” in the U.S. Supreme Court

David Fowler — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 23:08:00 +0000

When Christians lose the metaphysic and cosmology of Colossians 1:15-20, we fall prey to the “empty traditions and philosophies of men.” David uses John Owen’s exposition of Hebrews 11:1, legislative testimony from the most prominent pro-life lawyer in America, and what the founder of a Christian law school said he teaches his students to show how a wrong metaphysic and cosmology turns making the argument of law into counting votes on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Do Christian Legal Arguments on Transgender Laws Violate the First Three Commandments?

David Fowler — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0000

Two weeks ago, David argued there were Fifth Commandment problems with the legal arguments submitted by Christians to the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of Tennessee’s law prohibiting the use of medicine to address a minor’s gender dysphoria. Today David looks at the briefs submitted on behalf of four Christian organizations to explain why he thinks there are problems with the first three commandments, too.

Answering Two Questions I’d Ask if I Were You

David Fowler — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 19:27:00 +0000

Having explored the ways in which the arguments of a leading Christian legal advocate conform to the way the godless think about the world we live in, David raises two objections that might be made against his analysis. He answers them with the help of William Blackstone and a conversation between his friends at Choc Knox Unplugged. Getting a free copy of David’s short monograph, Toward Christian Nihilism-A Short Study in Contrasting Policy Approaches, will make clearer what’s going on.

Fifth Commandment Problems: “Christian” Legal Arguments That Conform to the World

David Fowler — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 17:03:00 +0000

Is it a “legal strategy” or a Fifth Commandment problem when Christian legal advocates eschew common law and its application to current legal issues involving human sexuality? David uses an amicus brief recently filed by a leading Christian legal advocacy organization with the U.S. Supreme Court and William Blackstone to answer that question and shows how its rights-based legal argument conforms to the way the ungodly think about rights.

Have Christian Legal Advocates Embraced a Subjective, Relativistic View of Law?

David Fowler — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:24:00 +0000

A question about natural law from a lawyer-lobbyist about Christians embracing natural law provides a foundation for today’s look at the arguments made by Christian legal advocates to SCOTUS in defense of Tennessee’s law prohibiting medical interventions to treat a minor’s gender dysphoria. David explains how their arguments unwittingly embrace a subjective-oriented, relativistic understanding of law, not a Christian one.

Telling SCOTUS to Think Like Enlightenment Philosophers. Really?

David Fowler — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 15:51:00 +0000

This week friend of the court briefs were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on a case out of Tennessee that is of civilization defining importance—whether bodies are essential to human meaning. David briefly explains the brief he submitted and compares it to one filed by the scholarly Ethics and Public Policy Council with its Judeo-Christian ethic. He explains why the latter’s brief seems to call for a return to good old bad days of the Enlightenment that undermined biblical Christianity and ushered in nihilism.

Is the Bible All We Need for Political Engagement?

David Fowler — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:22:00 +0000

Today David begins to look at a third group he now sees involved in politics, those he calls neo-Theonomists. The prophet Isaiah as well as the person who prepared the soil for Abraham Kuyper’s political engagement, Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, speak wisely to those who with a Benthamite view of the Bible run to the Capitol to press for enactment of certain laws of God.

Moving Beyond a Neo-Covenanter and Neo-Baptist Blame Game

David Fowler — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 18:29:00 +0000

Today David offers a Biblical touchstone for improving on the church-state problems that contributed to our law no longer having a Christian foundation. Demonstrative of those problems are two historical situations that may explain why the Danbury Baptists may have sided with the Enlightenment-influenced, Gospel-averse Thomas Jefferson for President. There is “blame” enough for every stripe of Protestant to share in and now it’s time to move forward.

Neo-Baptists: Tearing Down the Wall the Danbury Baptists Wanted

David Fowler — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 18:14:00 +0000

Who, in David’s terminology, are the neo-Baptists that he finds involved in politics and law? Is their engagement “better” than that of neo-Covenanters? Today, David discusses the distinction between Baptistic theology and that of the “old” Covenantors and how that theology worked itself in history. He explains how that led the Danbury Baptist Association to support Thomas Jefferson for President. Did the “old” Baptists help Jefferson lay the foundation for a “wall of separation” that the neo-Baptists of today decry?

What Makes a Law Just and a Nation Righteous

David Fowler — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 18:40:00 +0000

David takes today’s episode to develop a historical context for next week’s discussion of neo-Baptist engagement with law and politics. Without this context, the Gnostic nature of that form of engagement will be less clear. David uses the work of 18th-century Scottish theologian, Thomas Boston, and the Apostle Paul's first letter to Timothy to explain the role of law in non-Gnostic terms.

The Neo-Covenanters: Who They Are and Why Their View of Law and Politics is Gnostic

David Fowler — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 14:31:00 +0000

Are you part of the neo-Covenantal tradition or the neo-Baptist tradition when it comes to law and politics? Today, David defines these two groups based on 30 years of dealing with Christians in the legal and policy spheres. In this episode, though, he explains why the neo-Covenanters are Gnostics and would have Calvin and Kuyper rolling in their graves.

What a Gnostic Benthamite Christian Lawyer Looks Like: Me.

David Fowler — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:26:00 +0000

David begins his examination of what he considers the two predominate views among Christians on law and politics, those he calls the neo-Covenanters and neo-Baptists, with how he realized he read the Bible like the legal positivist, Jeremy Bentham, and why reading the Bible that way is gnostic, not Christian. Is being a heretic easier than ever before? The answer may surprise you.

The Law of Nature Jeremy Bentham and I Overlooked

David Fowler — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 13:23:00 +0000

Common law authority William Blackstone said that man “must in all points conform to the will of his nature,” and this will was called the “natural law.” Today, David explains how he overlooked the most fundamental law of human nature because he read the Bible like a disciple of legal positivist Jeremy Bentham. From his experience, David offers a proposition about the state of evangelicalism in America.

The Pursuit of Righteous Laws and the Presidential Election

David Fowler — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 15:34:00 +0000

Evangelicals of all stripes want to live in a country that has righteous laws or, we might say, law in accord with God’s law. And to that end the debate rages among those voting for Trump because they are evangelicals and those not voting for Harris because they are evangelical. The recent comments of David French and the formation of “Evangelicals for Harris” and the evangelical rejoinder to them quickly come to mind. Today, David launches a short series that talks about the evangel of righteousness that seems to have been lost in the din of politics.

Have Christian Legal and Policy Advocates “Kept God’s Law”?

David Fowler — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:56:00 +0000

This week David shares four statements by Jonathan Burnside, Professor of Biblical Law at the University of Bristol (England) Law School, about how the Bible presents “Biblical law” that came flooding back to his mind when, last week, he read a conversation God said Jeremiah would have with those of God’s people who did not like his prophecies. Would we, like them, say, “How have we forgotten your law?”

What Do Concerns About Electoral and Legislative Outcomes Say About Us?

David Fowler — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 17:09:00 +0000

At a recent gathering of political and legal advocates from around the nation, most of whom were Christians, these questions were asked: “What keeps you up at night?” and “What is most urgent to you?” David uses an excerpt from C.S. Lewis’s The Weight of Glory, an excerpt from John Owen’s Christologia, and Hebrews Chapter 4, to provide insight into what the questions and the way they were framed says about our understanding of the Gospel.

Can Dionysius and Christians Both Sit at the Republican Party’s Table?

David Fowler — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:51:00 +0000

What Political Alternatives Do Christian Have?

David Fowler — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 22:37:00 +0000

After the events of the last 10 days, some Christian policy organizations are circling back to how Christians should respond to the new Republican Party Platform. Today, David uses Isaiah and John Owen to probe whether observations made by one prominent national organization go deeply enough in explaining how 45 years of work were, in its words, “wiped out in hours.”

Examining the Pagan Predicates of the New Republican Party Platform

David Fowler — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 14:18:00 +0000

Changes in the Republican Party’s platform’s planks regarding abortion and marriage riled Christian political advocates who actively sought a minority report with different language. But did they read the Preamble? Today, David explains why he thinks its provisions represent the best of humanistic hubris and explain why abortion and marriage were left to walk the proverbial plank.

What Constitutes “Doing Good” in Politics and Public Policy

David Fowler — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 17:26:00 +0000

In his discussion of the ruler’s function, Peter tells persecuted Christians to “do good.” Is that limited to doing good deeds, or can his exhortation apply to how one does politics and drafts legislation? David says it includes the latter and gives real life examples from the last few years to demonstrate what the “good” is and isn’t in relation to a Biblical anthropology.

Rethinking How Evil Rulers are Overcome

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 14:16:00 +0000

As noted last week, the metaphysics of law and sin are first seen in the opening chapters of Genesis and more clearly revealed in Romans. But what are we to make of the exhortations by both Paul and Peter to overcome evil rulers by doing good? Are these exhortations the eternal word of God or mere artifacts of a different time in history? If the former, how can that overcome the power of corrupt civil governments over our lives?

Ignorant Fools in Office and What to Do About it.

David Fowler — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 16:51:00 +0000

The Apostle Peter gives us description of rulers that helps us evaluate those who hold office in all three branches of our civil government. The result isn’t pretty. But his recommendation for how to respond to “ignorant fools” in public office seems wrong and is at odds with what we think and do today. But if God’s word is true and eternal, does that mean we’re missing something? Is it in our understanding of how the Bible speaks of law and sin?

Did Al Mohler Make a Metaphysical Misstatement about the November Elections?

David Fowler — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 14:19:00 +0000

Dr. Al Mohler said this week that there will be “two rival understandings of reality facing off” in the November elections. Is that true? David asks and answers several questions about the nature of law that probe the accuracy of Mohler’s assessment. More importantly, is there evidence that evangelical Christianity doesn’t even present a rival understanding of reality to that held by the Democratic and Republican parties.

Lord Bracton’s Rule of Law and the Trump’s Conviction

David Fowler — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 21:11:00 +0000

The conviction of former President Donald Trump generated lots of comments about the rule of law. Some said it was the end of the rule of law and others said it was demonstrative of the rule of law. What if neither observation is correct? David uses the thoughts of Lord Henry deBracton, the father of the common law, to examine rule of law and in what sense, if any, it exists today.

Political Discipleship Issues Exposed

David Fowler — Fri, 31 May 2024 14:00:00 +0000

David recounts a recent conversation with a member of Congress on pending legislation that demonstrates what happens when Christians are not discipled well in the faith and in the law respecting their office. No “Christian America” will come from such leaders. But it will come if Christians understand what Ezekiel 36 teaches about how God brings a once-Christian nation not just from captivity but to restoration and advancement.

Applying Theonomy to Civil Law Rightly Requires the Right Cosmology

David Fowler — Thu, 23 May 2024 15:15:00 +0000

Theonomy is predicated on the Triune God but it pertains to a certain cosmology. So, how are Christians to think of theonomy and its application in relation to a legal system the structure and content of which are now divorced from both its history and the cosmology that gave rise to it? David tackles that subject with a new two-part thesis for “applied theonomy.”

Are Some Christian Nationalists “Mucking Up Everything”?

David Fowler — Thu, 16 May 2024 22:13:00 +0000

Christians who have been unengaged in politics are now beginning to engage. So, why would the host of one of David’s favorite podcasts suggest many of them are “mucking up everything?” David provides an answer by explaining a key issue period in Medieval Christendom discussed in that podcast and by tying it to a key U.S. Supreme Court decision, and to observations about law by Hale Institute director Jeff Shafer.

Understanding the Pastor/Politician Discipleship Problem

David Fowler — Fri, 10 May 2024 13:02:00 +0000

A recent interview of an evangelical pastor disappointed by his friend, Virginia Governor Youngkin, signing a same-sex “marriage” bill into law reveals how Christian discipleship falls short, not just with those wanting to hold office, but often with the pastors and policy organizations supporting them. David explains why what may sound and look good to many people in the pews too often turns out so disappointing.

A Thesis for What Leads to Enactment of Righteous Civil Laws

David Fowler — Thu, 02 May 2024 19:30:00 +0000

The floundering of the pro-life movement since Roe v. Wade was reversed provides the context for David asking in today’s episode, “What makes for a Christian community, state, or nation, and where in that process do righteous civil laws come into play?” In answer, David offers for consideration a thesis drawn from a re-examination of the Great Commission in Matthew 28.

How do you disciple a nation in law and politics?

David Fowler — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 15:32:00 +0000

Today, David talks about how discipling a nation (Matthew 28:19) might look different from what is being done today in law and public policy. He uses a statement made on the Tennessee House floor this week by an influential Christian Republican to show what he thinks is missing. He also offers part of a speech he recently gave to a group of Christian lawyers and policy leaders as a way forward.

What Does “Disciple the Nations” Mean for Law and Politics?

David Fowler — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:02:00 +0000

God promised “nations” would come from Abraham and Jesus told his disciples to disciple the nations. With that in mind, David uses scripture and some observations from Choc Knox and Jason Farley (Knox Unplugged) to explain how this kind of “nation building” is influencing the focus of his work in law and politics.

Nation Saving or Nation Building?

David Fowler — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 14:01:00 +0000

Many Christians, including preachers, politicians, and policy organizations, seem bent on “saving” America from further ruin by various means. Is that really the purpose for which the mystery of God was revealed in the person of Christ? Does the covenant with Abraham, illuminated by the new covenant in Christ, suggest a national purpose relative to law and civil government that Christians have not considered? And what kind of politicians and policy makers (and preachers) would we need, given our present ones seem to have failed us. Join David as he works through these questions.

How and Why Jesus Matters in Law and Civil Government

David Fowler — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 13:41:00 +0000

Eric Metaxas’s new book, Letter to the American Church, Biden’s use of the image of God in proclaiming Transgender Awareness Day, and 29 years of direct legal and policy advocacy have brought home to me with increasing urgency observations made about Christianity and society by Abraham Kuyper in the 1890’s. Is Christianity and the work and activism of most Christians in law, civil government, and public policy Christ-less? How does it matter? John Owen’s Christologia provides a needed answer.

Thinking Through “Practical Christian Politics” with Kuyper

David Fowler — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 17:07:00 +0000

In a speech given in 1891 to open the First Christian Social Congress, Abraham Kuyper nailed the problem Europe was experiencing and that America is now experiencing. His precise definition of the problem and concise explanation of it will help us evaluate whether the “practical politics” practiced by evangelical legal and policy organizations is exposes the absence of something vital to Christianity and culture.

Religious Victory or Retreat?

David Fowler — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 20:16:00 +0000

SCOTUS’s Trump Ballot Decisions Exposes a Faithless Christianity

David Fowler — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 05:00:00 +0000

With its 9 to zero decision on Monday reversing Colorado’s removal of Donald Trump from the ballot, the United States Supreme Court schooled some Christian legal and policy organizations on how the Fourteenth Amendment works. And in doing so it exposed the “Hagar method” of legal advocacy they are employing to “protect” parental rights. Don’t be seduced by the promise this method holds out because God seems slack in His promises.

Exposing the Christian Divide over a Civilization-Defining SCOTUS Decision

David Fowler — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 16:29:00 +0000

When the United States Supreme Court held in 2015 that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited states from issuing marriage licenses to only male and female applicants, it didn’t expand the definition of marriage, but abolished it. Today David explains why this was a civilization defining decision, how gay rights lawyers are using it to redefine the parent-child relationship, and how certain Christian legal and policy organizations seem not to understand what happened to our nation.

Justice Alito Scorches Christian Policy Leaders and Pastors

David Fowler — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:17:00 +0000

This week Justice Alito released an opinion in a case in which Christians were presumed to be unfit to sit as jurors in a case involving a lesbian. David uses remarks from the Hale Institute’s Jeff Shafer and from Rosaria Butterfield to explain why Christian legal and policy leaders and pastors should have known such a result was coming. In doing so you will also learn how Christian organizations are working to “queer” parental rights in the states.

What Would Exercising Dominion in Law Look Like?

David Fowler — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 20:20:00 +0000

Do you think of the world as an allegory? If not, why not? Today David takes a look at those questions using exchanges between Choc Knox and Jason Farley and then explains how the “world as allegory” could better inform our understanding of the dominion mandate in relation to law and its development.

Lessons for the Dominion Mandate from Recent Pro-Abortion Victories

David Fowler — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 14:53:00 +0000

The United States Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence got better with the reversal of Roe v. Wade last summer. So, why, if the “law” got better at the constitutional level is the law in the states getting worse than under Roe’s abortion regime? David tackles that question using observations by Choc Knox, Jason Farley, and George Grant. The answer may surprise you.

Satan Clubs and the Cosmological Soil for Exercising Dominion

David Fowler — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 18:36:00 +0000

Today David uses the Satanic Temple’s description of its after school Satan Clubs, Karl Marx’s critique of religion, and an exchange between Jason Farley and George Grant to look at the fundamental change that took place in our “creation cosmology” and how that relates to the dominion mandate.

The Dominion Mandate Meets Positive Law

David Fowler — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 16:20:00 +0000

The proposed federal “Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act, and similar legislation in the states, may look like it is in furtherance of the dominion mandate, because parents have God-given rights and a God-given jurisdiction in relation to their children. Today David explains why there could be nothing further from the truth than that assumption.

Looking at the Dominion Mandate in Real Time

David Fowler — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 18:19:00 +0000

In recent years, the “dominion mandate” in Genesis 1 has come alive for many Christians. Today David begins a three-week series that looks at various considerations for its fulfillment. This week, he looks at its application in the context of abortion legislation, and the divisions it has exposed among Christians. Has this situation exposed something that must precede taming the wilderness?

How I Would Analyze and Vote on Upcoming Abortion Legislation

David Fowler — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 19:19:00 +0000

Today David explains why, if he were still a state Senator, he would evaluate forthcoming legislation in several states that would subject pregnant women to a criminal sanction through the prism of Matthew 6:33 and how he would do it. Then he will give the remarks he would provide in a legislative hearing. Finally, he closes with a challenge to Christians on both sides of the issue.

Re-Evaluating the Pro-Life Establishment’s Approach

David Fowler — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:34:00 +0000

Recent videos by EndAbortionNow have focused on two approaches often taken by mainline pro-life organizations to justify their approach to abortion legislation. David looks at those approaches, as well as his own in times past, to see if they align with the gospel. He points to aspects of the gospel that would have Christians re-calibrate their perspective on this and any number of other political and electoral issues.

Do Some Abortion Abolitionist Have a Gospel Problem?

David Fowler — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 22:22:00 +0000

A new video by EndAbortionNow.com asserts that women who make an abortion decision should be subject to criminal penalties. Some in the video contend that not doing so denies to her the gospel. Today, David uses Sinclair Ferguson’s The Whole Christ and Robert Haldane’s Exposition of Romans to consider whether such thinking reveals a problem with our understanding of the gospel.

Applying the Christmas Story to the Abortion Abolition Movement’s Proposed Law

David Fowler — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 18:10:00 +0000

Last week another video was released by EndAbortionNow.com “revealing the main issue” that “is keeping abortion alive in this nation.” Surprised by what it was, David puts in under the microscope of the good news that is the Christmas story, asking if the new law the movement proposes can be the death knell to abortion in our nation?

What’s Missing from Christian Political Engagement?

David Fowler — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 15:58:00 +0000

Fundamental theological truths about God are generally considered unimportant to Christian political engagement. David explains why that is the problem. This episode will help you evaluate whether the politicians and policy and legal organizations you support can make a difference.

A 1938 SCOTUS Decision and the Rise of “Nominal Christianity”

David Fowler — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 20:50:00 +0000

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1938 rejected the Christian understanding of the world and, therefore, it changed our understanding of law. David will explain the decision and give examples from his lobbying work to demonstrate how it helped change Christianity. It gave rise to what he calls “nominal Christianity.”

Thinking Through the Pastor Jeff Durbin-Speaker Mike Johnson Abortion Law Differences

David Fowler — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 17:18:00 +0000

Last week pastor Jeff Durbin of Arizona released a video that “revealed” new U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s opposition to a bill two years ago in Louisiana that would have treated the unborn as persons entitled to equal protection of the laws. Today David wades into the controversy to examine what kind of cosmological thinking may lie behind it with the hope that God might use the situation to edify and build up in love the Body of Christ.

What Arguing for a Biblical Cosmology in Law Looks Like

David Fowler — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 20:40:00 +0000

David takes the issue of abortion pending before the Supreme Court in Iowa and contrasts the way in which the pro-life cause was argued by the state’s attorney general to the way he presented the argument in a brief he wrote filed on behalf of pro-family organizations in 32 states. You’ll see the difference between just trying to win and trying to win in a way that restores the cosmology that produces a right to life.

Exposing the Subtle Breaking of a State’s Constitutional Covenant and its Consequences

David Fowler — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 23:09:00 +0000

In today’s episode, David uses a lawsuit pending in the Iowa Supreme Court testing its judicially created state “constitutional” right to abortion to show what the breaking of that de facto covenant by the judicial branch looks like. The Court’s high sounding but meaningless words hide what amounts to a road to tyranny our founding fathers would have recognized and resisted.

Is Christian Nationalism Going to Work

David Fowler — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 19:03:00 +0000

David responds to a listener’s question about how to restore in our law the Biblical cosmology on which the Western Legal Tradition was grounded, and how such an effort would inform and shape “Christian nationalism.”

Listener’s Email Helps Identify the Political and Legal Challenge Ahead

David Fowler — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 17:26:00 +0000

Today, David offers his thoughts and analysis on comments and questions he received by email from an astute listener. This episode will provide a great overview of recent topics leading to a challenging observation by Jeff Shafer, director of the Hale Institute, about the way the cosmos was once conceived by lawyers vis-à-vis the cosmos the U.S. Supreme Court has foisted on us all.

What Guarantees Success in Politics and Policy Work?

David Fowler — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 18:38:00 +0000

Today, David brings together past episodes on the “law of faith” and the eternal covenant to evaluate the justification for laws protecting minors from “gender transition procedures” that was given in a national op-ed written by a Christian state legislator. He will look at how to evaluate the legislator’s labor—was it “in the Lord” or “in vain”?

A big picture look at the Hamas – Israeli war

David Fowler — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 19:14:00 +0000

The outbreak of war in the Middle East provides the perfect context for today's episode as David provides the scriptural support for why the biblical covenants need to fit into our cosmology and, therefore, into our engagement with law and public policy. The material David covers today challenged the way he had been taught over the years to think about conflict in the Middle East.

The Foundation for Knowing What We Should be Doing

David Fowler — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 14:59:00 +0000

David uses A.W. Pink, noted 20th century theologian, to look at whether we can know what we should be doing—in our lives and our politics—if we do not understand the various covenants in the Bible. As Pink notes, the temporal covenants reveal to us “the divine side” of what God planned to do with his creation, from beginning to the end, even before He created.

The Missing Worldview Element for a Faithful Christian Politic

David Fowler — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 17:21:00 +0000

Today David notes a pervasive aspect of social order and law that seems to be wholly missing from the Christian worldview or, more broadly, Christian cosmology. He uses Herman Bavinck, A.W. Pink, William Blackstone, the U.S. Constitution, and a familiar 1992 SCOTUS decision to demonstrate his point. Faithful politics must begin to deal with this forgotten cosmological reality.

Does Your Favorite Politician “Contend for the Faith”

David Fowler — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:59:00 +0000

Today, David reports on a meeting in Washington, DC featuring remarks by four Christian conservative members of Congress and one former member. God, Jesus, faith, and Bible verses were referenced easily during the evening, with one prominent leader saying he would continue to “contend for the faith.” But was he doing that? Find out why David ended the evening saying, “I just can’t do this kind of thing anymore.”

Does Your Favorite Politician “Contend for the Faith”

David Fowler — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:59:00 +0000

What Does Faith-Filled and Faith-less Politics Look Like

David Fowler — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 23:44:00 +0000

If Christians are to live “by the law of faith” what does that look like as a practical matter? Today, David uses two real-life examples to demonstrate the difference and then gives his thoughts, drawn from his own failure and from Luke 18, on the principle from which faith-filled politics should spring.

What Does a Son of Issachar Look Like in the World of Law and Politics Today?

David Fowler — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 19:20:00 +0000

Because the sons of Issachar had an “understanding of the times,” they knew what Israel should do. But do the people who lead us in politics and in law, even the Christians, really understand the times, what historian Carl Becker called the “climate of opinion” that determines whether any argument—for law or otherwise—can even make sense? Today David uses Becker and the Scriptures to help us understand the times and whether our leaders understand them.

What Is a Cosmology Worldview vis-à-vis a Biblical Worldview?

David Fowler — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 18:51:00 +0000

Today David explains why he ended last week’s program saying he was “giving up” on a Biblical worldview if it was not set in the context of a Cosmological worldview. He speaks to what the former led to in his political thinking and lays the foundation for putting a Biblical worldview inside a Cosmological worldview for the sake of reshaping the way Christians engage in politics and law.

Power Politics and the Discipling of the Nations

David Fowler — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 14:07:00 +0000

Despite the Moral Majority, the Christian Coalition, and subsequent Christian policy and political organizations, Christian virtue in our society has waned. Some think that is a sign of the end times. David examines what this says about our knowledge of God and creation and offers a reason for hope found in the strangest of places.

What Should We Expect Our Laws to Do?

David Fowler — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 14:01:00 +0000

Every year thousands of pieces of proposed legislation are filed by state legislators across the country, and hundreds become enacted law. Ever thought about what we expect those laws to do based on what the Bible says law does and how God uses law? David offers valuable insight on why the “good” laws we get enacted seem to do so little good.

How Would William Blackstone Evaluate Today’s Christian Legal Advocates

David Fowler — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 18:13:00 +0000

David uses a quote from William Blackstone’s famous Commentaries about common law that explains the two foundations for human law and how they were applied to various kinds of social issues. He uses it to test the legal arguments being made in court by leading pro-family advocates in defense of laws involving children and medical procedures affecting their reproductive systems. The contrast may shock you.

Can the U.S. Constitution be a Sufficient Legal Substitute for God?

David Fowler — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 13:24:00 +0000

Having eliminated all the alternatives for grounding an ethical legal system to that grounded in a “transcendent and immanent” God, law professor Arthur Leff turns us to the U.S. Constitution as a possible substitute. Both David and Leff find trust in an authoritative Constitution misplaced and unworkable. The evidence is found even in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision reversing Roe v. Wade.

Why Intelligent and Educated People Reject Reasoned Policy Arguments

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 17:09:00 +0000

Ever wonder why some policy positions or legal arguments are not simply a matter of logic or reason or common senses. For you they are plain as day. For instance, how could any educated person think a biological boy can become a girl? David will explain what changed over the centuries that led educated people to throw out reasoning based on “the facts” as basis for law and public policy.

S3:E88 Law and Cosmology: Other Vain Attempts to Ground Law

David Fowler — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 14:30:00 +0000

Today, David disposes of a couple of popular theories for establishing an authoritative ground for law once the God of the Bible is banished. He uses an exchange between Justice Clarence Thomas and the attorney for the United States in last year’s oral arguments on abortion to demonstrate how those systems cannot produce a consistent and coherent system of law. No wonder God sits in the heavens and laughs (Psalm 2:4).

Law and Cosmology—The Folly of Alternatives to God-Based Legal Systems

David Fowler — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 16:49:00 +0000

This week, David begins to examine the alternatives to a Christian based legal system that mankind has come up with and how the late Yale law professor Arthur Leff, an atheist, debunks them as non-authoritative and unworkable. Leff provides great insight into what he calls a search for the “metaphorical equivalent” to the God of the Bible.

Law and Cosmology: How Do You Answer, ‘Says who?”

David Fowler — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 13:53:00 +0000

Today David begins to take listeners through the question Yale law professor asked in 1971—on what basis can we have an authoritative legal system that can answer the equivalent of “sez who?” question of the playground bully. You will be surprised by Leff’s answer. Law professor Philip Johnson called it “the modernist impasse.” It is a guide to understanding what is going on in American law and the trouble law faces.

Law and Cosmology

David Fowler — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 16:14:00 +0000

We think we know what law is, but perhaps not. Law has always been rooted in an understanding of the nature of the cosmos, what it is for, and how it works, i.e., cosmology. Two cosmologies are and always have been at war with one another, and, in today’s podcast, David will use the preface to Berman’s Law and Revolution to explain the challenge we have in thinking of law cosmologically.

What Kind of Cosmos Puts Juneteenth on its Public Calendar?

David Fowler — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 20:50:00 +0000

At the Choc Knox Live event we hosted in Franklin last month, panelist Dr. George Grant said, “If you want to change a culture, you have to change the calendar.” On today’s episode, panelists Jason Farley and George Grant will explain why that is so, and what changed that has turned Christmas into a holiday season and June into Pride Month?

The Forgotten War Over Law in America

David Fowler — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 15:49:00 +0000

Few today know of the contest between Thomas Jefferson and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story over the conception of law that would guide the newly formed United States.

The legacy of Story’s victory—the triumph of common law over positivist law—is available to us today if we will employ it against the legal positivists of our day.

Why Common Law Meets Resistance on the Right and Left

David Fowler — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 23:13:00 +0000

When you talk about common law, you are likely to run into two kinds of opposition—the uninformed who you can help, and those who hate the thought we don’t get to make up the law. It’s not anything new to our country. David will help you answer the critics and use a SCOTUS decision to help you spot those critics who have a self-interested political agenda.

Making Practical the Application of the Biblical Conception of Law

David Fowler — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 22:00:00 +0000

Today David uses apparently contradictory verses in Proverbs to demonstrate how easy it is to read the Bible according to the legal positivism of Jeremy Bentham. Then he applies the wisdom hidden in that apparent contradiction to how we should argue in federal court in support of the constitutionality of state laws prohibiting the application of transgender procedures to minors. Today’s episode may tell you if you’re really a legal positivist.

From God to Man: The Transformation of America’s View of Law

David Fowler — Fri, 26 May 2023 14:59:00 +0000

Today David explains how America transitioned from the biblical conception of law espoused by Bracton and Blackstone from the 13^th through the 18^th centuries to Jeremy Bentham’s positivistic, utilitarian conception of law embraced by Oliver Wendell Holmes who changed the conception of law held today by most Christian lawyers. The applicability in our day of quotes from Holmes over a century ago will be eye-opening. To paraphrase Dorothy’s comment to Toto, you don’t live in a Christian cosmos anymore.

Do Christians Have a Biblical Conception of Law?

David Fowler — Fri, 19 May 2023 00:03:00 +0000

Today David uses the remarks of Dr. Jonathan Burnside, Professor of Biblical Law at a law school (believe it or not) but in the United Kingdom to demonstrate how the Christian’s conception of law may be more shaped by Jeremy Bentham than the way the Bible presents law to us. It explains why common law makes little sense to people today.

Lawyers and Legislators Who Don’t Know What Law Is

David Fowler — Fri, 12 May 2023 17:33:00 +0000

Having previously explained what law is and that common law is real law, David takes audio clips from remarks made by a Representative in Tennessee who is a lawyer to demonstrate what you should not believe and yet so many, including Christian lawyers, believe. If you want insight into what is wrong in our legal and political system, this episode is for you.

Is the Christian’s Conception of Law Biblical or Atheistic?

David Fowler — Fri, 05 May 2023 21:00:00 +0000

Everybody has a conception of law. So, what is the Christian’s conception of law today? Does it align with a biblical conception of law? What might be a sign that we do or don’t have a biblical conception of law? To answer these questions over the next few weeks, David begins with a short primer on what common law is and the modern conception of it invented by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

“Christian” Political Power Plays

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:08:00 +0000

Do Christians abandon a biblical cosmology and conception of law to form alliances with those who reject those things for the sake of enacting legislation? Yes. But why would they do that? The answer explains the recent actions of the “Tennessee Three” and this week’s disruption of the Montana’s legislature by transgender activists.

Transgenderism, Biological Sex, and the Image of God

David Fowler — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 17:10:00 +0000

Conversations and controversies about transgenderism and the two biological sexes heat up by the week. But what is the connection between the image of God and the two biological sexes? Animals have two sexes and God is pure spirit, non-corporeal. So, what is the essential about being made in the image of God, and is it being overlooked?

Transgenderism, Biological Sex, and the Image of God

David Fowler — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 17:08:00 +0000

ransgenderism—Turning Molehills into Mountains, Swallowing Gnats and Camels

David Fowler — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 14:46:00 +0000

Following the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, the conversation about transgenderism seemed to turn up another notch. A particular news story caught my eye that made we wonder if evangelicals are prepared to engage in the conversation in a meaningful way that goes beyond mere behavior or biology.

Why Can’t Fathers Be Mothers?

David Fowler — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 00:13:00 +0000

Transgenderism says men can have babies and feminine products should go in men’s restrooms. There are only two reasons that stand in the way of such thinking. Today David covers the second, and it is a reason only available to Christians.

Evangelical Deficiencies and the Rise of Transgenderism

David Fowler — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 21:59:00 +0000

David introduces a short new series with transgender affirming testimony offered to the Tennessee legislature by an ACLU attorney and a minister who is a “follower of Jesus.” In the mini-series David will explain two doctrinal deficiencies within evangelicalism over the last 200 years that have made their testimony perfectly logical to so many. Only as these two doctrinal deficiencies are addressed will our nation’s present course change.

Seeing “Transgender Care” for Minors and Parental Rights Correctly

David Fowler — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:48:00 +0000

Today David draws on Abraham Kuyper to explain an “ah ha” moment he had last week regarding previous episodes discussing legislation in multiple states seeking to end “transgender care” for minors. It was the moment in which Kuyper’s distinction between religion for the sake of God vis-à-vis the sake of man came into focus and became practical and real.

Are the Means and Purposes of Christian Political Engagement Today Idolatrous?

David Fowler — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 21:16:00 +0000

Today David reflects on recent conversations with Christian policy makers regarding transgender legislation and on the growing emphasis by Christians on restoring “civil liberty” in light of what Hosea, Isaiah, and Augustine have to say. What might they tell us about the way Christians now “do” politics and their motivations for engagement, and what might that mean in the years to come?

The Government’s New Role: Promoter of Dignity

David Fowler — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 19:39:00 +0000

In A Christian Manifesto, Francis Schaeffer connected Rousseau’s worldview to ours by the term “sociological law.” Today, David explains how that connection works and why it has become the basis for an increasing number of government officials (and others) to think that law is to “promote dignity.” Promoting dignity is at the heart of the battle over transgender legislation.

‘Christian’ Legislation in Multiple States Puts Cancel Culture in Control

David Fowler — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 20:03:00 +0000

Legislation in multiple states will take on the issue of gender affirming care. Christians will support it and not realize that the reasons given for it deny the existence of any real law. This means real parental rights can no longer be based on real law. That leaves cancel culture in driver’s seat to cancel the parental rights and civil liberties that Christian so greatly prize. Welcome to world Rousseau’s civil religion created when the evangelical gospel went Gnostic!

Christian Nationalism: Is Rousseau’s ‘Religion’ the Foundation of Christian Nationalism?

David Fowler — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 17:51:00 +0000

The root of Christian Nationalism lies in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s interpretation of Jesus’ mission in coming into a pagan world. It reads like what many evangelicals preach and believe. His reinterpretation of the Gospel paved the way for a purely secular state. It allowed religion to exist for the sake of the state, not God.

Christian Nationalism: The False View of Civil Government on Which It Rests

David Fowler — Sat, 14 Jan 2023 00:18:00 +0000

Christian nationalism arises out of justification for civil government and civil liberty grounded in bad theology. David uses Scripture and Abraham Kuyper to explain how a current Christian publication on this subject rests more on Rousseau’s contract theory of just government than on what the Bible says about God.

Why Christianity Has Rendered Itself Irrelevant

David Fowler — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 20:58:00 +0000

Christianity is no longer relevant to civil law and government. Many Christians want it to be or become relevant again. Today David uses Abraham Kuyper to explain why Christianity has made itself irrelevant. Without that understanding, we will have no clue why it will remain irrelevant despite all our Christian political action.

Christians Who Destroy Christianity Trying to Protect It

David Fowler — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 21:19:00 +0000

In today’s episode David will explain why leading evangelicals, in the name of protecting religion, presumably Christianity, are instead destroying it. The distinction between objective and subjective Christianity was on full display in the letter submitted to two United States Senators by Presbyterian minister, Dr. Kim Park, president of the National Association of Evangelicals regarding the Respect for Marriage Act.

Is Your Politics “Theocentric”?

David Fowler — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 21:41:00 +0000

What is a theocentric worldview? What is a theocentric view of law and civil government? Today David will explain what it is, what happened last week that exposed some of his non-Theocentric thinking, and what effect theocentric thinking should have on the way we look at politics.

Building Blocks—A Necessary Perspective

David Fowler — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 23:39:00 +0000

Today David explains how Psalm 37:1-5 applies when things are going wrong all around us. It provides the necessary perspective for those who see the need to restore what few people even know they have lost, the Western Legal Tradition.

Building Blocks—A Necessary Perspective

David Fowler — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 23:39:00 +0000

Building Blocks—Are Christians Allying Themselves with ‘Deeds of Darkness’?

David Fowler — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:02:00 +0000

The Apostle Paul says Christians are not to “have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,” but are to “expose them.” Yet, when it comes to legislation being filed around the country opposing “gender affirming care” for minors, many Christians are being tempted to join those whose worldview is darkness and, therefore, ultimately unfruitful. David exposes the “dark” worldview to which many are falling prey by using observations by J. Gresham Machen taken from Christianity and Liberalism.

Building Blocks—Where Does Science “Fit” Today in Law and Policy

David Fowler — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 13:49:00 +0000

Last week we learned how common law is rooted in a Biblical cosmology. Today David uses excerpts from interviews with Jeff Shafer and legislation being filed around the country pertaining to transgenderism to explain why science not only can be of no real help on this legal issue, but how its current use is undermining law and parental rights in particular.

Building Blocks—The ‘Nature of Law’ We Once Believed

David Fowler — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 09:33:00 +0000

In June, the United States Supreme Court decided a 2nd Amendment controversy and reversed Roe v. Wade citing William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England as authority. After you listen, you will be astounded to learn how much the cosmology of Genesis Chapters 1 through 3 informed Blackstone’s description of the nature of law. You will know what even most Christian lawyers don’t know about law.

Building Blocks—Finding the “Beautiful” in Law

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 20:35:00 +0000

When faced with a difficult task—like restoring the Western Legal Tradition—convictions based on truth are essential. But what will inspire the courage necessary to the task: truth alone or truth that is beautiful. If the latter, what can be said that makes law beautiful to anyone?

Building Blocks—Finding the “Beautiful” in Law

David Fowler — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 20:35:00 +0000

Building Blocks—Don’t Be Gullible

David Fowler — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 09:02:00 +0000

If the Western Legal Tradition is to be re-built, then it is good to know what the “other side” sounds like, what arguments they make. Today, David takes audio clips of arguments made by a Republican state legislator who is a lawyer and professing Christian to expose humanistic legal thinking. His arguments swayed other Republicans into not supporting legislation that allowed a man and woman to marry without having to first get permission from the government.

Building Blocks—Understanding the Two Kinds of Legal Systems and Why That’s Important

David Fowler — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 20:28:00 +0000

Few today would know the difference between common and positive law legal systems, positive laws and negative laws. Even fewer would think the difference matters—law is law. Today David uses part of conversation between Choc Knox and Jason Farley from Choc Knox Unplugged to explore the difference and why it is vitally important to a country of immigrants.

Building Blocks—Resisting the “Hobnail boot” of Totalitarianism

David Fowler — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:56:00 +0000

We live in a totalitarian condition disguised by the fact we still hold elections. Today, with help from Theology Pugcast, David explains why that is so and what must be recovered in Christian thinking if civil liberty is to be rebuilt.

Building Blocks

David Fowler — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 18:16:00 +0000

David begins a new series today by taking a story from a headline this week about Governor Youngkin “restoring parental rights” and explaining why he is doing no such thing. With this story, Matt Walsh’s explosive story about Vanderbilt’s transgender procedures on minors, and the help of Dr. Tom Price from Theology Pugcast, David explains the first building block.

Restoring the Ruins—Foundation for Hope

David Fowler — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 14:07:00 +0000

To close this series on the ruins of America’s legal tradition, rooted in the Western Legal Tradition, David explains the surest foundation any Christian can have that it can be restored. The foundation for that sure and certain hope, he explains, rests on a covenant seldom discussed in evangelicalism.

Restoring the Ruins—Getting a Right Conception of the Constitution

David Fowler — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:30:00 +0000

In today’s episode, David uses a conception of the Constitution expressed by five U.S. Supreme Court justices in the 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that affirmed the abortion holding in Roe v. Wade. He weaves it, along with a common every day legal practice involving millions of Americans a year, into the theme on which the whole story of the Bible rests.

Restoring the Ruins- Is Restoring Law and the Constitution Futile Obedience?

David Fowler — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 15:30:00 +0000

In the penultimate episode of this series, David addresses head on the prevailing pessimism for any expectation for cultural progress if Jesus is indeed returning soon. Is obedience then simply for the sake of personal sanctification? A close look at the thread of the Noahic covenant running from Genesis through the epistles gives us a different perspective that should attend our current labors.

Restoring the Ruins—Respect for Marriage Act and Eschatology

David Fowler — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Eschatology affects the way we look at legislation. Today David explains how eschatology affects the way Christians will look at the Respect for Marriage Act pending in Congress and an even more fundamental issue—what does pursuing the Kingdom of God and His righteousness look like in this context.

Restoring the Ruins: Why Do Christians Think Like Losers?

David Fowler — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 11:56:00 +0000

It is hard to work toward restoring our nation’s ruined legal and constitutional foundation when today’s prevailing eschatology says those efforts are divinely appointed to fail. The Christian eschatology that produced the Western Legal Tradition was rooted in the belief that by the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ all things were being made new. What changed? Is there any Scripture we can point to that objectively assures us our restorative labors in this world are not in vain? Absolutely!

Restoring the Ruins—The Right Perspective is Necessary

David Fowler — Fri, 19 Aug 2022 13:20:00 +0000

Last week David explained how a change in eschatology undermined the foundations of Western Legal Tradition. Today he begins to lay the foundation for how we need to think about time and history if that foundation is to be restored. He explains how an evolutionary view of time and history has replaced that which the Bible says is true of God and creation.

Restoring the Ruins—What Does Eschatology Have to Do with Law?

David Fowler — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 11:53:00 +0000

Eschatology can be a contentious subject in evangelicalism. But few realize the critical role it played in development of the Western Legal Tradition. Even fewer know why today’s prevailing eschatology undermined and helped lead to the loss of the Western view of law. Don’t be “left behind” in your knowledge of the rise and fall of the Western view of law.

Restoring the Ruins—Is the ‘Western Legal Tradition’ Gone?

David Fowler — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 05:04:00 +0000

Colleges increasingly minimize or fail even to teach Western Civilization, and that means the Western Legal Tradition on which our law and Constitution rest are jettisoned too. But what is that tradition and is it even important now? Does it relate to anything the U.S. Supreme Court does now?

Restoring the Ruins—Justice Thomas Explains How Common Law Thinking Works

David Fowler — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 11:42:00 +0000

How is the Constitution relevant to our modern problems especially if it is going to be interpreted based on the common law meaning of the words at the time it was ratified? For example, how does that work when the “arms” referenced in the Second Amendment envisioned muskets? David walks us through Justice Clarence Thomas’ explanation of how the justices think about the common law, and then show how we all think the same way every day.

Restoring the Ruins- Justice Thomas Show How to Repair the U.S. Constitution

David Fowler — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 08:07:00 +0000

Today, David takes Clarence Thomas’ majority opinion in the Court’s decision protecting the 2nd Amendment from encroachment by the state of New York to demonstrate a right understanding of common law and its importance to the Constitution. That five other Justices signed onto the opinion makes understanding it vitally important.

Restoring the Ruins— What is Common Law and Why Even Care?

David Fowler — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 11:51:00 +0000

In 20th century, teaching common law fell into disrepute in law schools. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court based two constitutional decisions on the common law. Today, David explains why Christian should care about common law and insist that an understanding and appreciation of it be diffused throughout the church.

Is Saving America from [fill in the blank] Like Making “Mud pies in the slums?”

David Fowler — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 15:30:00 +0000

Applying a Christian View of Law to a Legislator's Argument

God, Law & LIberty, David Fowler — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 13:20:00 +0000

Today's episode is a "supplement" to Friday's upcoming episode on the eschatalogical implications of briefs filed by the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops and the Ethics and Public Policy Center with the U.S. Supreme Court relative to transgenderism. As you listen, remember, a Christian legislator is not restricted to making a legal argument to explain his or her vote. Would you encourage or discourage the argument I offer and why? "See" you Friday!

Exposing Evangelicalism’s Subtle War Against the Image of God and the Common Good.

David Fowler — Tue, 01 Feb 1025 15:50:36 +0000

Today's episode ties together a question I got this week from a state legislator (outside Tennessee) to Biblical theology about the image of God, and I will tie that to two sound decisions by Supreme Court at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries. I think you will see how much we have lost in law, because too many evangelical churches have lost a robust understanding of the image of God. Sound theology and doctrine matter to law.