White Horse Inn Blog

Michael Horton recently had the opportunity to talk with Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith, author of Soul Searching and Souls in Transition. Dr. Smith coined the phrase “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” to describe the faith of most religious teens, and the religion he fears of their parents as well. In this interview, Mike talks to Dr. Smith about his various writing projects, his view of youth ministry, and his suggestions for the way forward.

Is it more important to “be the gospel” to others or to “preach the gospel”? To our surprise, 69 percent of the Christians we polled sided with the idea of “being the gospel.” On this broadcast, the hosts continue to interact with the results from our recent survey of Christians at a conservative evangelical convention; this time dealing with issues relating to the theme of the Great Commission.

On this program, the hosts interact with the results of a recent survey of general Bible knowledge taken at a Christian convention. In this survey, Christians were asked whether or not they agreed with various ideas such as, “There is no one who does good, not even one, there is no one who seeks God.” Though this is a famous Bible verse from Romans 3, half the people we surveyed failed to recognize it, and ended up disagreeing with the theology that it puts forth.

On this edition of White Horse Inn, Michael Horton talks with Rev. Christopher Wright, the international director of the Langham Partnership and author of The Mission of God (2007) and The Mission of God’s People (2010). This past October, Rev. Wright called for a second Reformation at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa. Mike inquires about this address and many other issues relating to his recent publications.

According to Michael Horton, an alternative title for this broadcast could be, “You’re so vain, you probably think this psalm is about you.” On this special program recorded live at the Desiring God Conference in Minneapolis, the hosts discuss the predominance of me-centered Bible interpretation. Featuring numerous readings from best-selling evangelical books and devotional guides, the hosts argue that most Christians today are not engaging in proper biblical exegesis, but rather are reading themselves and their own stories into the text of Scripture. Sitting in for Ken Jones for this program is Steven Nichols, author of Ancient Word, Changing Worlds and Jesus: Made in America.

According to sixteenth-century Roman Catholics, the Bible was a dark and obscure book that required an infallible interpreter. Given many of the abuses and interpretive mistakes made by Rome, the Protestants were unconvinced and began to argue for sola scriptura, that the Scriptures themselves were clear on the central points of law and gospel. But what are the implications of this view? Does it mean that each of us has the right to private interpretation? What about the role of creeds and confessions? that’s what’s on tap this week at the White Horse Inn

When Jesus returns will he separate the sheep and the goats based upon good works? How are we to understand Jesus’ teaching about this in Matthew 25? What about the parable of the wedding banquet; how does this story relate to our view of last things? On this edition of White Horse Inn the hosts will discuss these questions and more as they wrap up their series on the Parables of Jesus.

Jesus taught that a person is not worthy of being his disciple unless that person hates his father and mother. In fact, he goes on to say that a disciple of his must also “hate his own life.” On this program, the hosts will take a look at texts such as this as they discuss parables of costly discipleship in their continuing series through the Parables of Jesus.

What is the basic point of the parable of the Good Samaritan? Most people would probably say that it’s a nice story that teaches us to be helpful to those in need. But as we’ve been seeing in this series, there is a deeper meaning that many overlook. On this program, the hosts will walk through this and other similar parables relating to the theme of sin and grace. The White Horse Inn: know what you believe and why you believe it!

On this program, the hosts will discuss the parable of the Prodigal Son and other similar narratives. Through each of these tales, the point Jesus makes is that something lost is suddenly found. In fact, Jesus taught that his mission was “to seek and save that which was lost.” But in the Prodigal Son story, we find that Jesus’ primary point is to show that the religious leaders of his day, represented by the older brother in the parable, were the ones who were truly lost.