Can Christians Use Lethal Force
Thinking Fellows
1517 Podcasts
4.8 • 869 Ratings
🗓️ 20 January 2026
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Thinking Fellows podcast, Caleb Keith, Adam Francisco, Scott Keith, and Bruce Hillman discuss the ethics of self-defense from a Christian perspective. They explore the moral complexity of using deadly force, particularly in situations involving the defense of oneself or others. The conversation highlights the doctrine of vocation and the tension between civil responsibility and Christian witness. Drawing on personal experiences, the hosts reflect on the difficulty of making ethical decisions under extreme pressure and ultimately emphasize the Christian's dependence on Christ's forgiveness—even when actions may be morally justified.
Thinking Fellows:
Show Notes:
What's New from 1517:
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The Essential Nestingen: Essays on Preaching, Catechism, and the Reformation
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Untamed Prayers: 365 Daily Devotions on Christ in the Book of Psalms by Chad Bird
More from the hosts:
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Thinking Fellows podcast. My name is Caleb Keith. And today I am joined by |
| 0:23.4 | Adam Francisco, Scott Keith, and Bruce Hillman. The Thinking Fellows is part of the 1517 podcast network |
| 0:30.0 | of shows. You can go to 1517 org slash podcasts to see all of our shows. You can also subscribe to this show |
| 0:37.2 | on YouTube on its very own |
| 0:39.1 | YouTube channel that's just called The Thinking Fellows. And you can see short versions of |
| 0:45.0 | these episodes over on the 1517 YouTube channel as well. So if you enjoy the full length |
| 0:50.9 | content, we kind of condense some of the important questions that come out |
| 0:54.8 | of these episodes. And we do that over on the 1517 YouTube channel, usually with one or two of the |
| 1:00.9 | hosts. So go check that out. Subscribe to those if you're interested in that kind of content. |
| 1:07.2 | Somewhere, Caleb, I saw somebody refer to us as the... They said, try unthinking fellows. |
| 1:12.6 | That's true. |
| 1:13.7 | I don't know if these people are listening anymore because it was the Mormons. |
| 1:16.8 | Our Mormonism episode did really well on YouTube. |
| 1:19.7 | It was intended to, though, so I guess it did what it was designed to do. |
| 1:24.2 | Were we uncharitable to the Mormons? |
| 1:31.6 | According to the Mormons, we were both uncharitable to the Mormons according to the Mormons we were both uncharitable and completely uneducated to the Mormons yeah okay that tracks but no it was actually very |
| 1:42.2 | similar Adam brings this up it was very similar to the response from Muslims when we did the like what you should know about Islam, what Christians should know about Islam episode recently as well. In that- |
| 1:51.9 | Well, they can't claim that Adam doesn't know anything about Islam. No, it's like the claim that you, in order to have this dialogue, you needed to have one of our scholars on. |
| 2:01.0 | So you're chickens, or you don't know what you're talking about because you wouldn't |
| 2:03.8 | have a Mormon scholar on the show. |
| 2:05.8 | Now, the funny thing is, is like, the difference between a podcast and a debate is pretty |
| 2:10.7 | obvious to me. |
... |
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