Transcendence, Immanence, and Why Charlie Kirk is Bad at Theology with Kevin Carnahan & Aaron Simmons

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey y'all, so this was our first live stream kicking off this online democracy summit we're doing - basically a bunch of us nerds getting together to wrestle with why everything seems to be falling apart politically and what the hell we're supposed to do about it. Kevin Carnahan and Aaron Simmons joined me to dig into Kevin's lecture about Christian citizenship, which traces this fascinating line from Jesus through Augustine to Luther to Bonhoeffer, showing how Christianity actually offers an alternative to totalitarianism rather than supporting it. We got into some pretty heated but friendly disagreement about whether you can have real democracy without religious reasons motivating people (Kevin's take) versus whether we need to secularize our arguments to avoid the fundamentalist trap (Aaron's pushback). The whole thing was this beautiful mess of trying to figure out how to love your MAGA neighbor while also maybe needing to put them in timeout, whether God prevents totalitarianism or enables it, and why Christians are just now talking about Palestine when they should've been screaming about it for months. Classic HBC nerdy chaos with some actual wisdom mixed in. You can WATCH the video on YouTube. ONLINE SUMMIT:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Democracy in Tension - NAVIGATING THE INTERLOCKING CRISES OF DEMOCRACY AND RELIGION ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Democracy today faces profound challenges – polarization, inequality, populist authoritarianism, and widespread cynicism are eroding the foundations of democratic life. Yet, what if democracy's greatest strength lies not in eliminating these tensions, but in productively embracing them?The summit will navigate the complex terrain between political equality and social justice, liberal freedom and democratic sovereignty, and ethical demands and political action. As always, the class is donation-based, including 0. INFO & Sign-Up at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.HomebrewedClasses.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Aaron Simmons is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Furman University. You can follow his Substack ‘Philosophy in the Wild.’ Kevin Carnahan is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Central Methodist University in Fayette, MO. Previous Episodes with Aaron From Pit Elders to Political Theology: Making Sense of Democratic Breakdown The Paradox of Democracy & What Comes Next A Philosopher & Ethicist Process This Election (Aaron & Kevin) Moral Clarity & the Unesay Conscience (Kevin) The Courage to Be 15 w/ Elgin Fuller & Aaron Simmons Aaron Simmons: Camping with Kierkegaard Faith After Deconstruction Philosophy & the Experience of God Do I Have a Soul? & other cultural preferences in bold. Off-Road Religion & Pandemic Philosophizing ⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Beer Camp ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is a unique three-day conference that brings together of theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. Guests this year include John Dominic Crossan, Kelly Brown Douglas, Philip Clayton, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Jeffery Pugh, Juan Floyd-Thomas, Andy Root, Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Noreen Herzfeld, Reggie Williams, Casper ter Kuile, and more! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get info and tickets here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. _____________________ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 70,000 other people by joining our⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 50 classes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends. This is Tripp, and today we are kicking off a little online summit on democracy.
0:13.2	And, well, let's just say, it's less than ideal flourishing. It is a series of human beings, institutions, traditions,
0:22.5	inheritances, and it's packed full of all the human predicament on steroids with
0:28.5	the ability for us to, this time when a political system goes out of control,
0:35.5	we got a series of global failures on the horizon, not just regional
0:42.2	ones. So we've invited a host of different, a host of different thinkers to join us.
0:48.5	They've been recording lectures from their particular perspective. Some are philosophers
0:54.0	that do political philosophy. Some
0:55.5	are theologians or scholars of religion, but we're looking at what do figures from different
1:00.7	disciplines and also different perspectives bring when raising, reflecting, and wrestling with
1:06.4	the current crisis that's taking place in the American system, and it's something that is really
1:12.7	the Western general is sharing this cultural eruption. So we invited them all to record some
1:18.5	amazing talks. If you head over to Homebrewd classes, you can join up there. You can donate anything
1:23.7	between zero and a million dollars, and you'll be able to go to the resource page
1:29.2	where you can watch the lectures at your own pace if you're if you're like me and you're used
1:34.7	to listening to audio fast you just hit that little button on the side and you could dial up
1:38.1	the speed and have Kevin talk to you while you walk the dogs and then you're like did he
1:43.6	time it so that I was picking up dog poop the first time he said the word Augustine? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. It wasn't the Holy Ghost. And then you can send questions. And so throughout this week, we're going to do a live stream tonight, Wednesday afternoon, and then another one on Friday night. But over the next
2:02.1	three or four weeks, you can watch the lectures. And then Aaron and I, who, he was on the podcast,
2:08.2	mentioned we should do something. And then a bunch of you emailed me saying we should. We're going to
2:12.3	do follow-up interviews with the different scholars that did lectures. And we'll be taking the questions that come up
2:18.2	from all of you into those lectures. So this is kind of a new format where in the summer you don't
	...

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