Podcast
The Ezra Institute Podcast for Cultural Reformation
Hosted by Dr. Joseph Boot · EN
The Ezra Institute Podcast for Cultural Reformation on the Fight Laugh Feast Network
26episodes
Episodes
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Think Christianly About Critical Theory
4d ago01:14:07Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Pastor Nate Wright and Dr. Joe Boot continue their discussion on Marxism by tracing how traditional Marxist theory shifted from economics to culture, giving rise to critical theory and the modern sexual revolution. They examine why Marxist economic revolution failed to take hold in the West, how thinkers like Antonio Gramsci, the Frankfurt School, Wilhelm Reich, Herbert Marcuse, and Judith Butler redirected the struggle toward family, sexuality, education, language, and institutions, and why critical theory is not a neutral tool Christians can borrow. At its root, critical theory attacks the creational structures God has built into the world—marriage, family, male and female, authority, truth, and the cultural mandate itself. Rather than reforming culture under the lordship of Christ, it seeks to deconstruct God’s order in the name of liberation. Nate and Joe argue that Christians must recognize critical theory as a rival religious worldview with its own doctrine of creation, sin, justice, and salvation—and must answer it not with compromise, but with confidence in Scripture, creation, the family, the church, and the kingship of Christ over all things.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About Marxism
2w ago01:12:32Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Dr. Joe Boot and Dr. Michael Thiessen think Christianly about Marxism — not as a political or economic theory, but as a religious worldview offering a counterfeit vision of salvation, history, and liberation. Joe traces Marx's roots in Hegel and Rousseau, unpacks dialectical materialism and conflict theory, and shows why Marxism is a fundamentally destructive project. Drawing on Marx's own writings and Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, Joe and Michael expose how Marxism parodies the Christian story — borrowing categories like alienation, reformation, justice, and freedom while emptying them of objective content. The result is a messianic vision driven by envy and resentment, with ordinary people serving as the cannon fodder of an undefined utopia. Against this counterfeit, Joe sets the true paradigm of liberation: the Exodus. From Passover blood to Sinai law, the biblical story is recapitulated in Christ — the greater Moses, the greater Joshua, the true Passover Lamb — who delivers his people not into lawless utopia but into a kingdom of righteousness, holiness, and dominion. Marxism offers a savior who covets your stuff. Christianity proclaims the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
Transcribe →The Fall of Sam Allberry and the Failure of Side B Christianity
3w ago01:09:31Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Pastor Nate Wright and Dr. Joe Boot respond to the fall of Sam Allberry and examine what it reveals about Side B Christianity, evangelical accommodation, and the church’s loss of confidence in biblical categories. Rather than focusing on scandal, they address the deeper theological issues: sexual identity, sinful desire, sanctification, marriage, singleness, and the gospel’s power to truly transform sinners in Christ.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About History: Part 2
4w ago01:11:58Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Pastor Nate Wright, Dr. Joe Boot, and Dr. Michael Thiessen continue their discussion on thinking Christianly about history. They explore how Christians should approach historical facts, disputed narratives, propaganda, and conspiratorial thinking without abandoning confidence in truth or God’s providence. Rather than interpreting history through secular neutrality, secret knowledge, or hidden powers, Christians are called to discern historical claims through Scripture, take facts seriously, reject scapegoating, and remember that Christ—not elites, cabals, or conspiracies—is sovereign over all things.
Transcribe →When the Culture War Turns Violent
Apr 2901:09:52Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Pastor Nate Wright and Dr. Michael Thiessen respond to the latest assassination attempt on President Donald Trump and examine how Christians should think about political violence, revolutionary rhetoric, and justice. They discuss the difference between reformation and revolution, personal vengeance and lawful authority, and why God’s law must shape how Christians engage the culture war in a polarized age.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About History
Apr 2201:10:44Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Nate Wright, Dr. Joe Boot, and Dr. Michael Thiessen discuss why history is never neutral and why the battle over its meaning matters so deeply. They show how only the Christian worldview can make sense of the past, present, and future, and why abandoning God’s providence leads either to despair or to control. This episode is a timely call for Christians to recover a biblical understanding of history under the lordship of Christ.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About Science and Evolutionism
Apr 801:10:49Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Nate Wright, Dr. Joe Boot, and Dr. Michael Thiessen discuss how to think Christianly about science and evolutionism. They challenge the modern myth that Christianity and science are enemies, arguing instead that modern science was born out of a biblical worldview. They also expose evolutionism as more than a neutral scientific theory, showing that it functions as a rival religious worldview with deep cultural consequences. Finally, they explore how Darwinian thinking reduces human dignity, morality, and meaning, and why only the Christian worldview provides the necessary foundation for true science and human flourishing.
Transcribe →Bill C-9: When the State Tries to Define Hate
Apr 101:10:32Tap to summarizeBill C-9 is no longer just a troubling proposal. It is moving toward becoming law in Canada, and with it comes serious questions about hate crime legislation, religious liberty, public witness, and the role of the state. In this episode, Michael Thiessen and Nate Wright revisit Bill C-9 to explain what it does, why it matters, and why Christians cannot afford to treat it as just another political issue. They discuss the difference between sin and crime, the danger of the state trying to judge motives and regulate conscience, and how this bill could affect preaching, church discipline, Christian education, and public evangelism. Most importantly, they show why this is not a distraction from the gospel, but a direct implication of Christ’s lordship over every sphere of life.
Transcribe →James Talarico and The New Public Theology of the Left
Mar 2501:08:18Tap to summarizeWhat happens when progressive politics puts on Christian language and starts quoting Scripture? In this episode of the Podcast for Cultural Reformation, Joe Boot, Michael Thiessen, and Nate Wright examine the rise of a new public theology on the left, using Texas politician James Talarico as a case study. They discuss how bad exegesis, Gnostic ideas, and counterfeit Christianity are being used to bless abortion, feminism, and the modern sexual revolution with a veneer of biblical legitimacy. The conversation explores why this moment matters, why many Christians are unprepared for theological arguments from the left, and how pastors and churches must respond with clarity, courage, and biblical faithfulness. This is not merely a clash between Christianity and secularism, but between Christianity and a public, persuasive imitation of it.
Transcribe →Think Christianly About Apologetics
Mar 1801:10:29Tap to summarizeWhat does it really mean to defend the Christian faith? Pastor Nate Wright, Dr. Michael Thiessen, and Dr. Joe Boot challenge the popular notion that apologetics is about winning arguments or piling up evidence for God's existence. Drawing from 1 Peter 3:15, they make the case that faithful apologetics begins with Christ set apart as Lord — and flows outward as bold proclamation, not intellectual competition.The team explores how the collapse of a shared Christian worldview has transformed the apologetic landscape, why pragmatism has gutted the church's witness, and why true evangelism means confronting the idols of the age with humility, confidence, and total dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Transcribe →