In this episode of the First Things Podcast, Matthew Rose joins editor Rusty Reno and associate editor Julia Yost to reflect on the fiftieth anniversary of the Death of God. Our Father in heaven was pronounced dead by Time Magazine in 1966, in what we may be tempted to dismiss as an odd (and very Sixties) episode in liberal theology. But Matt argues that the Death of God theologians were ahead of their time: Now more than ever, we live as though God were dead—by viewing secularity as the highest development of Christian ethics, and the post-Christian person as the most Christian person. Then, Julia interviews Rusty about his new book, Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society. We are leaving the democratic age and entering a meritocratic one. What will be the consequences? Lifestyle liberalism is all fun and games for the disciplined bourgeoisie—but Rusty explains how its drawbacks “trickle down” to the working class. Our society is falling apart, which Rusty says is good news and bad news. Why is he optimistic that Christians will be the leaven in our decadent culture? Finally, Julia hosts a game of “Stump the Editors” with Rusty, senior editor Mark Bauerlein, and literary editor Matthew Schmitz. Play along and test your knowledge of lists in literature! (And learn how to pronounce Walter Bagehot’s surname.)
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