Episodios

  • Chris Beha on Why He Isn’t An Atheist Anymore

    Chris Beha on Why He Isn’t An Atheist Anymore
    Mar 11 2026
    Former Harper’s Magazine editor Christopher Beha on his journey from skeptical Atheism to skeptical Christianity. Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here. For many people, faith and skepticism are opposites, but novelist and former Harper’s Magazine editor Christopher Beha argues that the two may be more intertwined than we assume. In this conversation about his new book, Why I’m Not an Atheist, Beha reflects on his journey from a devout Catholic upbringing to atheism and eventually back to Christian faith. Beha describes how an early mystical experience and later personal tragedy pushed him into deep questions about suffering, prayer, and the nature of belief. In college, those questions led him to identify as a skeptic, valuing reason and intellectual independence. Yet over time he came to see that skepticism itself has limits. The turning point came not through philosophical argument but through life itself, like falling in love and becoming part of a family. Those experiences prompted Beha to return to church, where he began hearing familiar Christian teachings in a new way: not primarily as moral demands or metaphysical propositions, but as a story centered on love and relationship–without setting aside his questions. Together, Russell and Chris reflect on what it means to believe while still wrestling with doubt, how parents might talk with children who are questioning faith, and why the path toward belief often begins not with certainty but with simply showing up. If you’ve wrestled with the Christian life being sold as putting aside all questions and doubt to choose unwavering certainty, you may appreciate hearing from Chris. Resources mentioned in this episode: Why I Am Not an Atheist by Christopher Beha Essays by Michel de Montaigne Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    54 m
  • What the Iran War Could Do to Your Soul

    What the Iran War Could Do to Your Soul
    Mar 9 2026
    On the war with Iran. On occasion, we like to record audio versions of the latest from Russell’s weekly newsletter. Read this article here. Sign up for the newsletter, Moore to the Point, where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show (and include a voice memo!) at questions@russellmoore.com Watch this episode on YouTubeSubscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    14 m
  • Jennie Allen on The Lie You Don't Know You Believe

    Jennie Allen on The Lie You Don't Know You Believe
    Mar 6 2026
    A bonus episode with bestselling author and friend, Jennie Allen, on the occasion of her new book, The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe. Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here. Many people live with a persistent sense that something is not quite right—a low-grade hum of anxiety, insecurity, or striving that never seems to go away. In this bonus episode, Russell Moore talks with author and Bible teacher Jennie Allen about the hidden lies that can quietly shape our lives for years. Drawing from her brand-new book, The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe, Allen argues that many of our struggles—whether feelings of worthlessness, being unlovable, or helplessness—can often be traced back to stories we began believing long ago. Russell and Jennie discuss how those beliefs form, often in childhood moments that seemed small at the time but quietly shaped a person’s identity. Along the way, they consider how faith, self-reflection, and grace can help people see their stories more clearly without turning the process into an exercise in blame. The discussion also moves outward—from personal struggles to cultural ones—touching on why people crave recognition, why fear so often drives public life, and how Christians can respond without being ruled by anxiety. Ultimately, Allen points toward a simple but demanding path: recognizing the lies that bind us and fixing our eyes on Christ. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Lie You Don’t Know You Believe by Jennie Allen Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    27 m
  • Allen Levi on Theo of Golden

    Allen Levi on Theo of Golden
    Mar 4 2026
    The author of Theo of Golden sits down with Russell in Andrew Peterson’s Chapter House for a conversation on the breakout novel. NO SPOILERS! Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here. Russell is joined by Allen Levi, the author of the breakout novel Theo of Golden, to ask why so many readers are hungry for a story about kindness—and whether such a person could exist outside the pages of fiction. Russell and Allen sit together in Nashville for a conversation based on questions RDM collected from listeners and friends. Without any spoilers, Levi describes Theo of Golden as a book not only about kindness, but about the reason for kindness—an ordinary holiness rooted in the reality of Heaven. Levi’s clear-eyed theology of “glory and grime” found in Golden insists that darkness is real, but it doesn’t get the last word. To close, Russell offers for Allen to share a rare on-air prayer for listeners who are exhausted by suspicion and artificiality. If you’re struggling to see how kindness is worth the cost, or if you’re weary from cynicism, this episode is for you. Resources mentioned in this episode: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi “The Confession” by Leo Tolstoy “Think Little” by Wendell Berry How to Know a Person by David Brooks Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h y 1 m
  • What if Aliens are Real?

    What if Aliens are Real?
    Mar 2 2026
    A thought experiment on the realness of aliens, and what that would mean. ⁠Watch this episode on YouTube On occasion, we like to record audio versions of the latest from Russell’s weekly newsletter. Read this article here. Sign up for the newsletter, Moore to the Point, where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show (and include a voice memo!) at questions@russellmoore.com Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    16 m
  • Richard Reeves on Why Young Men Are Struggling

    Richard Reeves on Why Young Men Are Struggling
    Feb 25 2026
    What happens to a society when its boys grow up without a script for becoming men? Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here. In this conversation, Richard Reeves—author of Of Boys and Men (selected as a 2024 Summer read by President Obama), and founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men—walks through the data and the deeper cultural currents beneath the struggle of the journey of boys becoming men. From rising male suicide rates to widening education gaps, and from sports betting addiction to body-image pressures once thought to belong mainly to girls, Reeves argues that boys and men are not so much acting out as checking out. Reeves suggests that we tore up the old scripts of masculinity—and for good reason—but never replaced them with a compelling vision of what it means to be a man today. In that vacuum, some young men retreat to screens, pornography, and gaming; others gravitate toward louder, angrier answers. But Reeves sees something else underneath the check-out: a hunger for formation, for purpose, for being told not just what not to be, but what to become. The conversation turns to the church’s unique opportunity at this moment. Russell and Richard reflect on Joseph as a model of quiet strength, the importance of rites of passage, the power of male friendship, and the simple but often neglected message young men need to hear: we need you. In a time when many men feel optional, this episode is an invitation to recover a vision of manhood rooted not in dominance or drift, but in responsibility, community, and hope. Resources mentioned in this episode: Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    56 m
  • Why Do Faithful Christians Defend Harmful Things?

    Why Do Faithful Christians Defend Harmful Things?
    Feb 23 2026
    Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here. Russell answers a listener question about how we should perceive seemingly harmful political beliefs in our church congregations. Submit your own question for the show! Email questions@russellmoore.com — and remember: attach a voice memo! Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    26 m
  • Jen Wilkin on Recovering Bible Literacy

    Jen Wilkin on Recovering Bible Literacy
    Feb 18 2026
    What if the church’s biggest discipleship problem isn’t disbelief—but disinterest in learning? Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here. In a recent subscriber-only livestream, Russell Moore welcomes Bible teacher and author Jen Wilkin to examine what her recent Christianity Today essay calls “the great omission”: the quiet disappearance of learning from the center of Christian discipleship. Wilkin contends that the church has often replaced structured, outcome-oriented learning with looser models built around community or immediate application. The result, she argues, is not deeper connection but a generation of well-meaning Christians who struggle to articulate even foundational doctrines. Through conversation and livestream chat questions, Moore and Wilkin explore how this shift happened—through the offloading of Sunday school structures, the fear of asking too much of busy people, and a reluctance to let learners sit in confusion long enough for understanding to take root. Throughout, they underscore a central conviction: the church does not need gimmicks so much as it needs courage to teach again, trusting that truth learned deeply can actually be handed on. Get access to future subscriber-only livestreams! Subscribe to Christianity Today–Click here for 25% off a subscription. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Great Omission – Jen’s article Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h