Imagine that you're a teenager. You live in one of the biggest cities in the world, and your parents have just died, leaving behind a Bruce Wayne-esque amount of wealth and land. This is any kid's dream come true. The world is your oyster.

Unless your name is Anthony the Great. Then you decide to sell all your stuff, give it to the poor, and then go live in the desert for 80 years. I guess he was a little different.

Join us this week as we revisit the Desert Fathers with a close-up view of Anthony the Great!

And don't forget to leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts, and follow us on Instagram. If you like Instagram.

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"Awwww here it goes."
--Kel Mitchell, Kenan and Kel

We're back in the early church again, which means we're into the story of Christian persecution in the Roman Empire.

The 3rd Century was no pleasant time for the Romans, Christian or not. Through a series of civil wars, external threats, and economic woes, the Empire was closer to collapse than ever before.

This growing instability would not bode well for the Christians. While the faith was steadily growing, the leaders of Rome will be increasingly desperate to correct course for their sinking ship. That will lead to newer, and harsher periods of persecution.

Thanks for tuning in! As always, make sure YOU don't persecute your religious neighbors today. And follow our instagram. And buy us a coffee, if you want (link below).

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John Brown was a man on a mission from God. Or so he thought.

Less than a decade before the Civil War began, John Brown would attempt to lead a slave rebellion by taking over a military armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Although unsuccessful, he would solidify his actions as a villain of the proslavery south and a hero of the antislavery north.

Brown considered himself as a hero of the Christian faith, trying to purge the sin of slavery from the country that he loved. Even today, his role in American history is polarizing.

Join John and his wife Annie (back again to bless the mic) as they discuss the enigma of John Brown.

Oh also, John doesn't know what the 19th century is. Don't be too hard on him.

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Is our nation more divided than ever? Are we losing the ability to respectfully disagree with each other?

Welcome to our first ever bonus episode: Chump Talk. In these episodes, we'll tackle larger ideas and themes in the culture and talk to even cooler guests.

(Don't worry though, we'll be right back with your church history fix next week)

This week, John and Tom are joined by Jacob Hjortman, a beloved Swedish podcaster (and dear friend of John's) who has devoted his platform to setting the table for people from different views to sit and respectfully converse together.

We talk about the fear that we often feel in conflict, and how to navigate that fear as believers and peacemakers.

Join us as we talk about the art of awkward pauses, Finnish church culture, and a lot more.

If you speak Swedish, you can check out Jacob's podcast here.

If you speak English, you should listen to our podcast, right now!

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Have you ever heard someone say that Christianity is anti-intellectual?

Well, you should send them this episode. And have them 'like' and 'subscribe' too, that would help us a lot.

But anyways. Justin Martyr was a 2nd-century Greek man with a love for philosophy, who found the fullness of all love of wisdom in Christ. We think he's a pretty cool guy.

And today we're joined by another pretty cool guy, friend of the show Jacob Lewis. Join John and Jacob as they wax philosophically about, well, philosophy.

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As you guys know, we love presenting church history as a beautiful anthology of the story of God's people. Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the vastness of that story when we don't venture out of our own contexts.

So today, we're going to peer to the far outside branches of our Christian family tree, and discuss the origin of one of the most longstanding Christian traditions in the world: the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

To any Ethiopian (or otherwise East African) listeners, please forgive all of my flaws and mistakes, and feel free to let us know how to pronounce things properly.

Thanks for being here.

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"Why are you booing me? I'm right!"
- the early church, probably

The first century was a funky time to be a Christian, but persecution as we know it was pretty scattered and sporadic. In the second century though, things are starting to ramp up.

Join us for another episode from our "The Early Church Gets the Worm" series, and listen to us forget to edit out some fun mic noises in the first five minutes!

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In our newest piece in our series of Early Church lore, we discuss another tale of martyrdom, that of Perpetua and Felicity.

The early third Century was not an easy time for Christians in Northern Africa. But as so many tales of martyrs go, their story was one of both tragedy and triumph, as they took up the cross of Christ in the truest way.

Thanks for tuning in!

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