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Institute on Religion & Democracy

@theird.bsky.social

231 followers 134 following 512 posts

The Institute on Religion & Democracy is an ecumenical Christian think tank committed to responsible Christian witness in society rooted in historic church teaching. We affirm democracy, human rights and religious freedom for all. www.theird.org

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 3h

Members of Congress are pressing Syria’s transitional authorities to uphold their commitment to an inclusive society governed by the rule of law, and IRD's In Defense of Christians is advocating about the arbitrary detention of a Syriac Christian mayor.

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IDC Strongly Supports Congressional Letter Urging U.S. Intervention in Arbitrary Detention of Suleiman Khalil

Since February 8, 2025, Suleiman Khalil has been held by Syrian Transitional Government security forces without formal charges or due process.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 7h

The surprise hit indy film “Obsession” has a fitting warning for the “name it, claim it” Christians who have advanced a false prosperity gospel, Davison Drumm reviews.

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Obsession: Not a 'One-Wish-Willow' God

God answers prayers but does not always give the desires of our hearts, and for good reason, Davison Drumm writes of "Obsession."

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

How do we respond to critical theory?

juicyecumenism.com

The Roots of the Culture War - Part 2

Critical theory ... is ultimately negative, offering no vision of the future, only a comprehensive rejection of what is.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The age of great national denominations with millions of members is ending in America, @markdtooley.bsky.social writes in @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social.

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Can Global Methodism Thrive in Post-Denominational America?

American Protestantism has largely moved beyond denominations.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

DEI and Critical Theory have receded from public attention, but they are still living ideologies with many people firmly committed to them. IRD’s Rick Plasterer considers Carl Trueman’s “To Change All Worlds: Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse.”

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The Roots of the Culture War - Part 1

Critical theory poses the crucial question in the intense ideological struggle of the West and America in particular: 'What is a human being?'

Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

America’s previous longtime consensus for universal religious freedom is fraying, IRD’s @markdtooley.bsky.social writes.

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Anti-Blasphemy Laws in America?

America’s previous longtime consensus for universal religious freedom is fraying. Policies that targeted traditional Christian merchants who would not cater...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

For all its theological and intellectual riches, the Catholic Church can contribute towards, but cannot guide, an intrinsically Protestant country.

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'I Will Make a Way in the Wilderness and Rivers in the Desert'

The age created by the Second Great Awakening is closing. Who, or what, will lead us out of the desert?

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Without the Spirit infusing every part of lives—which includes healing and wholeness—we are very much like a house without power. Sure you can live in it, and many have in the centuries before us, but something vital is missing.

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When the Power Goes Out

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

American politics today is ugly. But it has been worse, writes Doug Bandow.

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Killing Insurance Executives Who Practice Insurance

While market economics cannot determine our ultimate objectives, it can help us decide what we want and how to get there.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Creativity, property rights, and the technological advances that follow are part of God’s common grace.

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Creativity, Ownership and God's Common Grace

Creativity, property rights, and the technological advances that follow are part of God’s common grace, Gabriel Neville reviews on To Invent is Divine.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Government checks for stay-at-home married mothers? Author Anne Bradley addresses IRD's Christians for Capitalism program.

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Christians for Capitalism with Anne Bradley

IRD hosts Dr. Anne Bradley presenting on capitalism, socialism, and Christian responses to the economics of the political Left and Right.

Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Is evangelism capable of addressing the burdens of a broken world? In this timely Good News magazine article from 1967, Leighton Ford answers with a resounding yes, insisting that Christ’s lordship brings eternal life, personal transformation, and a renewed responsibility toward others.

goodnewsmag.org

Good News Re-visted: Is Evangelism Relevant? - Good News Magazine

In this timely article from 1967, Leighton Ford argues that evangelism remains relevant because its message is Jesus Christ, whose lordship transforms both individuals and society.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Here Stephanie Slade makes the case that a return to fusionism—which united the classical liberal defense of individual freedom with the Judeo-Christian tradition of moral virtue—is essential to the survival of a free and virtuous society.

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Stephanie Slade on Fusionism

The fusionist philosophy united the classical liberal defense of individual freedom with the Judeo-Christian tradition of moral virtue.

Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The director for Mission to the World (MTW), a global mission-sending agency of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), writes on the Ukrainian-led churches they support.

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Front-Line Ukrainian Church Abounds with Gratitude as its ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ Erodes

Ukrainian Christians are pursuing higher-level needs like faith, love and gratitude even as their lower-level needs are unmet.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Join us this Wednesday, September 23 for our monthly Providence editors' luncheon as we welcome Uriel Epshtein, CEO at Renew Democracy Initiative, which supports political dissidents and democracy advocates globally. RSVP: theird.org/events/septe...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

WATCH: Historian Thomas Kidd of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary seeks to challenge a myth of religious decline. His new book reveals how faith remains vibrant and essential to human flourishing, backed by global data.

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Thomas Kidd on 'The Death of Religion?'

Thomas Kidd's "The Death of Religion?" reveals how faith remains vibrant and essential to human flourishing, backed by global data.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

“Hebrew Catholics” is how some Catholics of Jewish background describe themselves—a way of saying: I have entered the Catholic Church, but I have not ceased to have a Jewish story.

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Moving the Ball Forward on Jewish-Catholic Relations

Hebrew Catholics may be something of a prophetic presence in the Church because their existence forces Catholics to remember Jewish roots still alive.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

WATCH: Pentecostal pastor Joe Castleberry spoke to the IRD staff on Matthew 27:45-50 themed “Never forsaken.”

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Wednesday Worship with Joe Castleberry

The Institute on Religion and Democracy hosted Dr. Joe Castleberry in Washington, D.C., to deliver our Wednesday Worship sermon on September 16. Castleberry,...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

“God is willing to give the love, the joy, the peace always which He gives once.” -John Wesley

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The Peace of God

The peace of God is an inexplicable gift, yet one available to us all at any moment writes John Wesley Institute Director Dr. Ryan N. Danker.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Join us Thursday, Sept 17 as we host Dr. Anne Bradley with 6pm reception. Author of Counting the Cost: Christian Perspectives on Capitalism, Bradley will discuss the idea of government checks for stay-at-home married mothers. RSVP: theird.org/events/chris...

Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The new morality of individual autonomy and the religious nature and purpose of Catholic institutions are at odds in a hostile legal environment.

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The Challenges of Fidelity to Catholic Faith by Catholic Institutions - Part 3

A fundamental clash is between ... Catholic sanctity of life morality ... and the secular quality of life morality.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

@sostrovsky.bsky.social of The Newshour joins @markdtooley.bsky.social to discuss his new documentary about the impact on churches of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Churches and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

This week I spoke with correspondent Simon Ostrovsky of The Newshour on PBS to discuss his new documentary about the...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

“Our lives, our faith, our common bonds are all about story – parable,” Tucker Eskew writes recalling 9-11 in the White House. “And the way suffering and joy, injustice and forgiveness, evil and the protection from it are all foretold and explained by the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

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Remarks to St. Paul's on the Anniversary of 9-11

The following remarks by Tucker Eskew were delivered to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia, on September 11, 2011,...

Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The American settlement was supposed to end the pattern of historic persecution against Anabaptists, but Alex Littlefield argues it has returned as New York State fines Amish schools that decline to require their students to vaccinate.

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How Far Can New York Push to Mandate Amish Vaccination?

Can New York compel a religious community to vaccinate its children, or close its schools, or surrender land to cover penalty for refusal?

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Jesus’ warning to the church in Sardis challenges congregations to look beyond attendance, programs, and other visible signs of success. True vitality is measured not merely by how many people participate, but by whether lives are being transformed into the likeness of Christ, writes Stephen Rankin.

goodnewsmag.org

A Name for Being Alive, But… - Good News Magazine

A church may have a reputation for vitality while lacking the lasting fruit of Christlikeness that marks genuine spiritual life.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Every reformation raises an important question: will it endure?

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Christian Reformed Church Wins Battle as Calvin University’s War Continues

Even as Calvin University’s official positions comply with the Christian Reformed Church, the campus reality is different, writes Joe Toly.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

In Religious Freedom after the Sexual Revolution, author Helen Alvaré addresses common accusations against religious institutions holding traditional sexual standards, showing these standards to be well-supported by empirical evidence.

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The Challenge of Fidelity to Catholic Faith by Catholic Institutions - Part 2

Alvaré addressed common accusations against religious institutions holding traditional sexual standards, showing these standards to be well-supported by empirical evidence.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

“It matters not how long we live, but how well.” -John Wesley

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Living Well Makes an Impact

“It matters not how long we live, but how well,” John Wesley wrote in 1760 in a pastoral letter to Dorothy Furly.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

As a new University of Virginia Dean comes under attack for her Jewish and Israeli identity, Alex Littlefield asks the school to apply its non-discrimination rules evenly.

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Antisemitism and the University of Virginia’s Selective Protections

The University of Virginia shields favored identity groups while leaving Jewish students and an Israeli dean exposed to ethnic targeting.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

What should we think about billionaires? They should be neither exalted nor despised. Earning so much is a sign of economic productivity, not moral goodness. But creations like Amazon have benefitted millions, maybe billions, of people, Doug Bandow argues.

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Are Billionaires Heroes or Villains? It Depends!

Material gains are both reward and responsibility, since we are but stewards of all that is provided by God.

Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Sanctification is more than moral improvement. It is the work of God transforming us into the likeness of Christ. Jonathan Powers explores how through baptism, Communion, and worship, the sacraments draw us into God’s presence, reorder our loves, and form us for lives of holiness and mission.

goodnewsmag.org

Sanctification and the Sacraments: Encountering the Transforming Presence of God - Good News Magazine

Through baptism, Communion, worship, and the shared life of the Church, God meets us in ordinary things and transforms us into the likeness of Christ.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Mainline Protestantism’s collapse has been a great tragedy for America. But Bill McKibben portrays the reasons for its collapse as its actual strength. And he imagines that it is now in a revival defined by political activism. He will be disappointed, writes @markdtooley.bsky.social.

juicyecumenism.com

IRD in 'The New Yorker'

Religious groups that do not believe in the uniqueness of their own faith generally do not fare well in the world and are displaced by others.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

The Godless Constitution and the Providential Nation by Steven D. Smith is timely reading for America’s 250th birthday, especially amid increasing debates over Christian Nationalism, reviews @markdtooley.bsky.social.

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Godless and Providential?

The American Constitution is not as “godless” as postliberal critics say—but the people must sustain spiritual capital for it to work.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

“Above all, add to the rest (for it is not labour lost) that old unfashionable medicine, prayer.” -John Wesley

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God Desires to Hear From Us

God is eager to hear us and more gracious than we can imagine, writes the John Wesley Institute's Dr. Ryan N. Danker.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, and personnel” by religious standards, writes Helen Alavaré, Professor Emerita of the Antonin Scalia Law School, and a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

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The Challenge of Fidelity to Catholic Faith by Catholic Institutions - Part 1

Catholic institutions are essentially religious communities, which must be able to control their “services, operations, and personnel” by religious standards.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

What does it really mean when Scripture calls us to be holy as God is holy? Jason Vickers explores sanctification as both consecration and moral transformation, showing how the Holy Spirit uses Word, sacrament, prayer, fasting, and other means of grace to make us perfect in love.

goodnewsmag.org

Made Perfect in Love: A Theological Understanding of Sanctification - Good News Magazine

Sanctification means more than being set apart for God. It is the Spirit’s gracious work of making us holy by conforming us to the perfect love, goodness, and purity of Jesus Christ.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

“Indeed the mode of showing your courtesy may vary, as Christian prudence will direct. But the thing itself is due to all: the lowest and worst have a claim to our courtesy.” -John Wesley

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Eighteenth-century British thinkers tied manners to religion, refusing to separate moral formation from outward behavior.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Spider-Man: Brand New Day shows what happens when Spider-Man misunderstands his responsibility. In doing so, it reveals an important truth about the human person and our relationship with others.

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The Personalism of Spider-Man

It is in both sacrifice and revelation that we imitate Christ, who both gives of Himself physically unto death and reveals the Father to us.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

WATCH: IRD's @markdtooley.bsky.social chats with Regent University's William Reddinger about his new book Political Thinkers for Our Time, which explains the Anglo-American political tradition through prominent thinkers such as Edmund Burke, George Washington and Alexis de Tocqueville.

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Political Thinkers for Our Time

Regent University's William Reddinger shares on his new book Political Thinkers for Our Time, explaining the Anglo-American political tradition.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

What has become of us when the places of most potential are often met with the least interest because the mass of potential is met by contrast of limited resources? asks Andrew Irwin.

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Church and a Poverty of Hope

Our institutions and structures might expect too little in the places of great need, but our God is still breathing new life into dry bones.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Forcing refugees back into Myanmar under current conditions would put them at serious risk and violate the international rule against sending people to places where they face persecution.

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Malaysia to Return Persecuted Rohingya to Myanmar

In principle, Islamic teaching calls for care of the stranger. In practice that ideal collides with local politics, economics, numbers, and nationalism.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Sanctification is not something we accomplish through our own effort, but the gracious work of the Holy Spirit, who transforms our hearts and empowers us to love God and our neighbors more fully, Suzanne Nicholson writes in Good News magazine.

goodnewsmag.org

Scripture and Sanctification: Restored to Holiness and Love - Good News Magazine

From creation to new creation, Scripture reveals a holy God who calls us to holy love—and faithfully gives us the grace and power to live it.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

WATCH: @markdtooley.bsky.social joins former U.S. Rep. Jody Hice on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to break down the recent film adaptation of The Odyssey and how, even amidst beautiful production and acting, it misrepresents pagan Greek culture.

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The Odyssey’s Odd Twist

IRD President Mark Tooley breaks down the movie release of The Odyssey, biblical worldview and pagan Greek Culture.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Wesley’s theological vision didn’t begin nor end with himself, writes Ryan Danker. How do figures like him help to connect us with the larger stream of Christian discourse that extends from Christ and the apostles, through the church fathers to the present?

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John Wesley and the Depth of the Great Tradition

Wesley’s theological vision didn’t begin nor end with himself. These figures help to connect us with the larger stream of Christian discourse that extends from Christ and the apostles, through the chu...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

“And Peter, going down from the vessel, walked on the waters, to go to Jesus. But seeing the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried, Lord, save me.” -John Wesley’s translation of Matt. 14:29-30

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Power for the Christian Life

How do we tap into the power, i.e. the grace, that God so generously offers to us?

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

This December will mark a decade since Methodism’s loss of Tom Oden, a theologian and churchman who was a giant in the theological world. Tom was a colleague to many of us and a friend to the renewal and confessing movements within Methodism. In fact, he was a friend of Wesleyans around the world.

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Thomas C. Oden: Reflections on a Giant After a Decade

When the liberated have virtually no immune system against heresy, no defense whatever against perfidious teaching, and no criteria for testing the legitimacy of counterfeit theological currency, it i...

Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The true strength of the West is adherence not to “our gods” but universal God of all humanity who establishes universal law and universal morality, with an invite to universal redemption from universal sin, amid universal human dignity, writes @markdtooley.bsky.social.

juicyecumenism.com

The Odyssey's Pagan Despair

The Odyssey film was masterfully produced and performed but, even with its Christian veneer, was pagan and depressing. It’s been...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Seemingly because of the era of strict separationism introduced by the Everson v. Board of Education (1947) decision, the American public has become accustomed to the idea that religion may and must be discriminated against in the public square.

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Clarifying Free Exercise for Religious Schools - Part 3

St. Mary Parish should prevail on the lack of general applicability in the Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s application of antidiscrimination requirements in the UPK program, and perhaps on th...

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Long before John Wesley preached sanctification, generations of Christians sought the holiness that comes through deeper communion with God. Ryan N. Danker traces the Anglican voices that shaped Wesley and shows that the search for holiness is, at its heart, the great adventure of searching for God.

goodnewsmag.org

The Search for Holiness - Good News Magazine

John Wesley’s search for holiness was not a new theological pursuit, but part of a rich Christian tradition centered on becoming like Christ through the transforming grace of God.

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Institute on Religion & Democracy @theird.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

This summer, courts in British Columbia will decide whether faith-based healthcare institutions may keep their current exemption from providing euthanasia services, euphemistically known as medical aid in dying (MAiD).

juicyecumenism.com

The Church cannot accommodate herself to a grave violation of the divine and natural law. The plight of the Catholic Church in Canada should serve as a canary in the coal mine.

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