On today's show Tom, Glenn, and Chris trace the theological heritage of historic Christian and Reformed moral theology as it drew upon and developed natural law thinking as one resource for moral wisdom and engagement with culture. As we address moral challenges of our age, we have a rich heritage in our faith, from the early Church through various Protestant and Reformed lines, to draw upon as we aim to unpack biblical ethical wisdom in our time. The natural law tradition is one such line which the Reformed line classically embraced and developed in light of its core theological insights. The ..read more

Today the Pugs are pleased to interview Brian Suave' and Benjamin Garrett about their new book, Haunted Cosmos. It's a fun and free-ranging interview about a cosmos that is more than just "stuff." During the conversation the question, "Why are Reformed believers seemingly less willing to entertain the ongoing activity of angels and demons in our world?" is considered, along with many other fascinating questions. Tune in and prepare to hear a discussion that discusses fairies, cryptids, and aliens and what we should make of them. Fun!   Order Haunted Cosomo: Doing Your Duty in a World that ..read more

Today Chris shares some of his work on artificial intelligence and the prospects for a wholesome humanism. The question he's attempting to answer is, "Is it possible to preserve permanent things such as traditional family life when the technology we have developed can easily tears wholesome life to shreds?" In other words, is dystopia inevitable, or can we have an apple pie American wholesomeness and still have rocket ships? Join us for a little science fiction fun!   Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0 ..read more

The Pugs are still enjoying themselves at Oxford, and today they are joined by the venerable Alister McGrath at the Lamb and Flag, a pub known to have been frequented by C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the other Inklings. (The famed Eagle and Child pub is just across the street and hopefully soon to reopen follow a Covid shutdown and change in ownership.) The crew is also joined by a live audience of loyal Pugcast fans at the end of an entertaining pub crawl across the city! The conversation with Dr. McGrath is rich, ranging widely over both Lewis's work in apologetics and Dr. McGrath's. &n ..read more

Today the Pugs interview Jeff Shafer about the brave new world of children without biological parents. What happens when children become products that we assemble from the gene pool and sell to the highest bidder? We don't have to wonder, it's already here. Jeff is a lawyer and the director of the Hale Institute. His recent lecture, "Machine Anithumanism and the Inversion of Family Law" was published on a couple of prominent Substacks and came to the attention of Tom and Chris at a recent Hale Institute event they both participated in. Tune in a learn about the talk that has Matthew B. Crawfor ..read more

In this episode, the Pugsters take a look at Mariology from a Protestant perspective. While they don’t agree with a number of elements of the Catholic doctrines of Mary, the guys agree that Protestants don’t pay enough attention to her and that there are many valuable things she can teach us. As usual, the conversation ranges over a variety of topics, including the term “Mother of God” vs. Theotokos, prayer to saints, what virginity meant in the ancient world, and relics.   Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0 ..read more

Today the Pugs are pleased to welcome to the show Tilly Dillehay, author of My Dear Hemlock. Tilly has taken Lewis's ingenious book, The Screwtape Letters as inspiration for her book in which Madame Hoaxrot (a female Screwtape) instructs a junior temptress named Hemlock (her Wormwood) in the fine art of leading a young woman astray. It's a fun episode, and one with many reflections on the spiritual hazards that women find tempting. We hope you enjoy the show--if "fun" and "enjoy" can be thought of as the right words for such a diabolical subject.   Order My Dear Hemlock at Canon Press: ht ..read more

Today the Pugcast is pleased to welcome Anthony Esolen on the show! Tony is a prolific author and translator. Perhaps his best known work is his translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. Today the pugs ask Tony for his thoughts on Artificial Intelligence, particularly Chatbots and Large Language Models (LLMs). As you might infer from the title of the show, he is less than impressed. The conversation is free-flowing and we think Tony's thoughts are always erudite and fascinating. We hope you agree!     Follow Dr. Esolen on Substack: https://anthonyesolen.substack.com/   Order his tra ..read more

The Pugcast is pleased to welcome Brad Littlejohn back on the show to discuss his latest book, Called to Freedom. If there's one thing western culture seems to celebrate, it's freedom. But just what are we talking about when we speak of it? Does freedom mean doing anything you want, just so long as no one gets hurt? If so, is that even possible? That seems to imply freedom is either amoral or even immoral, and that can't be right. Fortunately we have rich wells to draw from in scripture and western philosophy on the matter and Brad is a faithful guide to those riches. Join the show and learn w ..read more

While we don’t have a full podcast episode for you today, we do have something even better! A Pugcast Pilgrimage: Lewis, Oxford, and Our Postmodern Age (Our Pugcast Documentary filmed Spring 2024) is now publicly available on Youtube. Thank you again to all our Indiegogo supporters who made this possible!   Follow this link to find it: https://youtu.be/7OYYuK2Y7d0   Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8 ..read more