Paul and Dustin begin a discussion on the TULIP of Calvinism, also known as the Doctrines of Grace. What does the Bible say about salvation, God's sovereignty, and the role of man? We begin by looking at the first two points: Total Depravity and Unconditional Election.

Chapters:
00:15 Welcome to the Calvinism Discussion
00:18 Calvinism, TULIP, and Its Historical Origins
04:13 The Gospel, Calvinist-Arminian Disagreement, and Humility
10:07 Human Sinfulness, Spiritual Deadness, and the Need for New Birth
28:57 John 12, the Cross, and the Reach of the Gospel
42:11 Unconditional Election, Foreknowledge, and Romans 9
1:02:26 Final Invitation and Podcast Sign-off

Is Calvinism Biblical? (Part 1)

What does Scripture say about being male and female, and does science agree? In this episode of Answering Pilate, we start with the Bible's account of creation and look at the nature and design behind manhood and womanhood. We cover complementarity, meaning equal dignity with different design, and what that means for the home, marriage and work today. We also look at how cultural scripts can twist biblical roles. Then we ask "What is a woman?" and turn to the biology of embodied sex, intersex cases and chromosomes, and the David Reimer case as a challenge to the idea that gender is only a social construct. We end with how Christians can respond with compassion and truth to gender dysphoria and claims about transition, including what history and medical outcomes show. The last word is on finding our identity in Christ.

A Biblical Conversation On Gender (Ep. 26)

Our culture is in moral freefall and Christian influence keeps shrinking. How did we get here, and what should believers do about it? This episode asks whether the church carries part of the blame. It looks at how God's judgment can look like being "handed over," how churches slowly lose their saltiness, and why Christians pulled back from public life and culture-making. Along the way it covers why every vocation is ministry, the cost of retreating into Christian bubbles, the discipleship failures at church and at home, how shallow evangelism produced shallow faith, and how the loss of biblical thinking left education and ideology open for others to shape. It ends with practical next steps for the home and the church, and a call for Christianity to shape all of life.

Why the Moral Collapse in Our Culture? (Ep. 25)

Is ethnonationalism compatible with the Christian faith? In this episode, we look past the usual prooftexts and test ethnonationalism against the whole story of Scripture. We explain why ancient Israel, the church and the modern nation-state are not the same thing. We also ask what should define a nation: ethnicity, or shared moral and civic commitments.

From there we talk about Christ's reign and postmillennial hope, and the limits of political power. Government can restrain evil, but only the gospel creates the people a Christian social order needs. We cover civil government after Noah, natural law and justice, and how the Great Commission undoes ethnic fatalism. We also discuss the order of loves, love of neighbor, and why Christian identity outranks ethnic identity. We close on the beauty of unity in Christ across cultures, and on the church gathered from every nation as the clearest sign of Christ's present reign.

The Gospel And Ethno-Nationalism (Ep. 24)

Is ethno-nationalism a biblical framework for Christian political engagement, or does it contradict the gospel's multiethnic vision? In this episode we revisit Christian nationalism through the lens of ethno-nationalism — defining our terms, weighing the role of rhetoric, and asking what Scripture actually teaches about ethnic and national distinction. We work through Genesis 11's dispersion at Babel alongside Acts 2's reversal at Pentecost, consider how Deuteronomy 32 and Acts 17 speak to borders and the boundaries of the nations, and examine the church's multiethnic witness in relation to culture and civil order. Finally, we press into the order of loves: should Christians love their unsaved ethnic or national neighbors more than fellow believers from other nations? We close with a preview of future theological and political topics.

Is Ethno-Nationalism Biblical?

In this episode we trace the history of baptism from the earliest days of the church through the Reformation, weighing what Scripture and church history each contribute to the debate. We look at early Christian practice and the case for believers' baptism, how and why infant baptism appeared and spread in the early church, and what baptism actually does — does it save, or is salvation only through the blood of Christ by faith? Along the way we follow believers' baptism through the Middle Ages and Reformation, and close by asking whether Christians can disagree well on baptism without hostility.

A History Of Baptism

In this episode we explore why Christians should engage the public square and why moral neutrality in government is a myth. We work through Christ's lordship, human sin, and the purpose of civil government — asking whether modern states are bound to the Mosaic Law, and why political theology should begin at Creation rather than Sinai. Along the way we consider natural law and the need for Scripture, what civil law should enforce, the Noahic covenant and general equity, progressive revelation, the church and the state, religious liberty without liberal neutrality, and borders, migration, and the state's duty to protect. We close by rejecting both theonomy and liberalism as adequate frameworks for Christian political witness.

Christ, Conscience, and the Public Square: A Christian Political Theology

The Lindsay Clancy case has been reframed by much of the culture as a tragedy of mental illness — but what happens when compassion overrides accountability, and the victims disappear from the story? In this episode we work through the case with a biblical lens on justice, guilt, and moral agency: the facts and defenses being offered, the limits of psychiatric and chemical explanations for evil, and the way media and social platforms shape public judgment through emotional narratives. We take up 'toxic empathy,' premeditation and the insanity defense, and what justice should require even in cases of severe mental disturbance. From there we make a theological case for accountability rooted in the image of God, address why altered faculties (whether from medication or intoxication) do not erase guilt, and contrast medical solutions to suffering and depression with the biblical care of souls. Finally we trace the wider worldview — from abortion to feminism — that underwrites selective sympathy and diminished responsibility, and close on why naming sin honestly is necessary for both justice and the hope of the gospel.

Lindsay Clancy and the Culture of Death

In this episode, we dig into how covenant theology shapes our view of civil government, Christian nationalism, and public ethics. Starting from a Baptist and Reformed foundation, we work through the fulfillment of the old covenant in Christ, the law of Christ, and the place of imprecatory prayer. From there we unpack theonomy — what it is, how it differs from historic Reformed and Baptist thought, and why we're only partially persuaded by general equity theonomy. We wrestle with the hard question of God's severe Old Testament judgments in light of sin, justice, and redemption, then offer a broader biblical-covenantal alternative that grounds civil government in the creation order from Adam and Noah rather than Moses. We close by considering church, state, and public morality under the new covenant, and preview where the conversation goes next.

Episode 19 — Covenant, Civil Government, and the Limits of Theonomy

Why should anyone believe the Bible in the first place? In this episode we start where every worldview must — with the question of ultimate authority — and work through the difference between general and special revelation, the limits of inherited faith, and why evidence alone can't produce belief without the Spirit. From there we look at how the biblical worldview actually makes reality intelligible: logic, reason, and science all rest on the sustaining order of a rational Creator. We close on what makes human beings unique — dignity, morality, and meaning grounded in the image of God — and how to help the next generation move past a borrowed faith into one that's genuinely their own.

Why Do I Believe The Bible?

Randall Church (@answeringpilatepod) · Zencastr

Randall Church (@answeringpilatepod)

Dr Paul Dean, Dustin Meadows and others discuss matters of the day in light of Pilate's ultimate question: What Is Truth?