Banned Books

Banned Books

Welcome to Banned Books, where we read and converse with the rebel children, the holy mischief-makers of God, who fight against the kind of useless religious, spiritual, and moral methods of life improvement that seeks to smother the glory of God in Jesus Christ. We want to introduce you to those who forgot everything except Jesus Christ and him crucified. We all struggle with fear of being last, lost, least, littlest, and dead, and so we are here to encourage, challenge, provoke, and maybe even offend you by introducing you to theologians who at one time or another were banned by their church, declared dangerous, or simply vilified for daring to confess that Christ alone is the way, truth, and life. Welcome rebel children, holy mischief makers, and fools for Christ. This podcast is for you.

Episodes

September 12, 2025 163 mins

Dazed & Confused.

In this episode, we continue our series on The Bondage of the Will (1525), by Martin Luther. We read Dr. James Nestingen’s historical introduction to the treatise and delve into the ways two theologians differed in their exegesis of Scripture, their interpretation of Christian doctrine, and the early and medieval church-theological traditions that influenced Erasmus and Luther as they engaged in a back-and-forth.

...

In this episode, we begin our series commemorating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s treatise, de Servo Arbitrio — The Bondage of the Will. We begin by reading Dr. Steven Paulson’s theological analysis of what’s at stake in Luther’s treatise, as well as its sharp-edged consequences for churches today. As it was received then, so it is now by dedicated students of this work: it cleaves those who seek Jesus plus philosophy, id...

Mark as Played
August 30, 2025 206 mins

Take Me to Church.

In this episode, we read Bo Giertz’s "Christ’s Church: Her Biblical Roots, Her Dramatic History, Her Saving Presence, Her Glorious Future." The Church, who is she? What kind of life is present within the church walls? Who wants to understand that life better and know more about it? We read Christ's Church and take you on a walk from her biblical roots toward her glorious future.

SHOW NOTES: Read more

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Little Plastic Castles. In this episode, we read the first Inkling, Owen Barfield, as he defends the use of old words, old stories, and old ways of expressing what’s good, beautiful, and true against modern proponents that argued for more modern “scientific” ways of judging language, esp., poetics and myth, as well as religion and culture.

SHOW NOTES: 

Owen Barfield Bio https://en.wikiped...

Liturgy Amongst the Rubble. In this episode, we read poems by W.H. Auden about pulp fiction, ancient myths, conversion, liturgy, poetics, and how industrialization and corporatism build a new Babel inside and around the churches.

SHOW NOTES: 

WH. Auden Bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Auden

The Orators (1932) https://archive.org/details/oratorsenglishst0000aude/page/20/mode/2up

Ho...

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August 8, 2025 99 mins

Wetly All the Way. In this episode, we visit with author Kathryn Morales about her new book, Remembering Your Baptism. We discuss who should be baptized and why. How many times does someone need to be baptized? Can someone fall away from baptism, and what if someone doubts that baptism saves them from judgment and death? This and much, much more on today’s episode of the podcast.

SHOW NOTES: 

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Got A Machine Head. In this episode, we read J.R.R. Tolkien’s letter to his son, Christopher, about a question of Genesis’ unfashionable status amongst Christians and those who value beautiful ‘stories.’ He also discusses Eden as it was, as it is to faith, and will be on the last day, the war of the machine, its triumph, and the consequences for modern man.

SHOW NOTES: 

The Letters of J.R...

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July 25, 2025 90 mins

The Secret of My Success. In this episode, we answer a listener's question about success and the Christian life. How does one measure success? What about when we fail? Is that God’s will? How does the cross inform the Christian definition of success? This and much, much more on today’s Christian podcast!

SHOW NOTES: 

BBC4 - In Our Time, Dragons https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002dzy4

Ho...

You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.

In this episode, we read the Outlaw God and discuss the hidden life of a Christian. How are Christians to understand the living Word, or Christ crucified before Adam and Eve, or being called into vocations that serve the kingdom of life rather than a culture of death? 

SHOW NOTES: 

Steven Paulson - Outlaw God ht...

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What Do You Mean, There’s More to This? In this episode, we answer a listener's question about Taylor Swift that leads us into a conversation about symbols and meaning, religious iconography, wild truth, and seeing reality through what’s occurring in the sacraments.

SHOW NOTES: 

Tolkein - The monsters and the critics, and other essays https://archive.org/details/monsterscriticso0000tolk

M...

Mark as Played
June 28, 2025 175 mins

Little Willy Plays in Duty. In this episode, we read Steven Paulson’s Outlaw God, discussing the appeal of the Law (in the abstract), why old Adam loves pretending he has free will, the Ninevite Conundrum, Jonah’s wormy preacher, and our obsession with placing therapy alongside Christ as a means of grace.

SHOW NOTES: 

Steven Paulson - Outlaw God https://amzn.to/4kHmP8s Read more

Mark as Played
June 21, 2025 157 mins

The Long and Winding Road.

In this episode, we answer another listener's question about civil disobedience, understanding the tension for old Adam that’s inherent within the two kingdoms doctrine, and we go down a bunch of alleyways picking through conspiracies, immigration, war, colonialism, and ice cream coveting.

SHOW NOTES: 

The Night Manager https://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Manager/d...

Mark as Played
June 12, 2025 135 mins

All That and A Bag of Chips.

In this episode, we return to Steven Paulson’s book, The Outlaw God. We discuss law and Gospel, why God sends a preacher, why we hate Christ preached, and what therapy can do for the walking dead. 

SHOW NOTES: 

Steven Paulson - Outlaw God https://amzn.to/4kHmP8s 

Outlaw God ...

Mark as Played
June 9, 2025 136 mins

Just Answer the Question. In this episode, we answer listener questions, specifically active and passive choices, active and passive righteousness, election and the bondage of the will, addiction, the limits of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the ultimate Good we all seek, and much, much more.

More from 1517:

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May 30, 2025 143 mins

Strong Words for a Strong Word.

In this episode, we read Steven Paulson’s book, The Outlaw God. We discuss preaching, doing God’s Word to listeners, calling out curses and blessing confessions, using strong words to expose and condemn the devil and the world, and much, much more.

SHOW NOTES: 

Steven Paulson - Outlaw God https://amzn.to/4kHmP8s 

...

Mark as Played
May 22, 2025 86 mins

I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.

In this episode, we discuss how pre-modern church history, the Industrial Revolution, therapeutics, language, corporate culture, and the flight of heretics from Europe in the 17th-18th century affected contemporary Western churches.

SHOW NOTES: 

The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age https://amzn.to/43cElvv Read more

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May 16, 2025 165 mins

Come Together, Right Now… In this episode, we read from Tim Keller’s sermon, which asks, “What is the Church?” We discuss the relationship between churches and culture, what the church is and isn’t, where we locate faith, whether Christian faith changes one’s values, and much more.

SHOW NOTES: 

A Vision for a Gospel Centered Life by Dr. Timothy Keller https://www.monergism.com/thethresho...

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Burning Down The House.

In this episode, we continue our discussion of election, addressing the certainty of election, how we are chosen, the human limits of perseverance in faith, why the pope is a bad example of Christian piety, and how old Adam tries to invert election by burying it in our sacrifices and pious morality.

SHOW NOTES: 

The Book of Concord (New Translation): The Confession...

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Somebody Told Me.

In this episode, we read the Book of Concord on election, and discuss why God chooses to forgive all people on the cross, why some reject the gospel, why Lutherans reject double predestination, what the consequences are to trust that we are always justified for Christ’s sake, and much, much more.

SHOW NOTES: 

The Book of Concord (New Translation): The Confessions of the ...

Mark as Played
April 24, 2025 133 mins

Over And Done With.

In this episode, we read Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope and discuss the validity of the papacy’s claims to divine authority, the response of Lutherans and Protestants to the death of Pope Francis, how to love one’s neighbor while disagreeing them, the distinction between heterodoxy and heresy, and much much more.

SHOW NOTES: 

Complete Sermons of Martin L...


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