5.41 Ryan Helfenbein, David Schrock, & Trent Hunter • Interview • “Retrieving The Christianity of America’s Founding”

Timestamps

• 00:00 – Introducing Ryan Helfenbein
• 04:33 – Ryan’s Path From Seminary to Liberty University
• 11:30 – Falwell’s Shift: From Ministers to Moral Majority
• 16:39 – Debating the Christian Nature of America’s Founding
• 19:03 – Reappraising Founders’ Faith: Beyond the Deist Label
• 23:19 – The First Amendment’s True Intent: No Denominational Establishment
• 28:01 – How Preachers Stirred Resistance to Tyranny
• 32:05 – From Christian Roots to Secular Education
• 37:40 – The Civil War and the Christian Nation Concept
• 40:06 – Wayne Grudem’s Framework for a Christian Nation
• 46:15 – Historical Christian Character and Moral Laws
• 48:34 – Tom Holland and Christian Origins of Modern Balues
• 51:32 – Modern Religious Freedom, Immigration, and the Church’s Civic Role
• 01:01:12 – Rebuilding America and Defending Our Christian Inheritance
• 01:03:30 – Trent’s Advice for Pastors on Civic Engagement
• 01:07:06 – Recommended Resources and Outro

Resources to Click

• “Retrieving The Christianity of America’s Founding” – Ryan Helfenbein
• “Competing Visions of America at 250: Politics, Religion, and American Identity” – PRRI
• “Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas” – PRRI
• “Speaker Johnson Leads Nation in Prayer of Rededication” – Mike Johnson
• “MS NOW’s Katy Tur Forgets the Declaration of Independence’s Most Famous Line in Botched Hit on Mike Johnson” – Isaac Schorr
• “‘Christian Nationalists’ like Speaker Mike Johnson are a bigger threat than al-Qaeda” – James Carville
• “Political Strategist’s Dire Warning About Mike Johnson” – Rachel Dobkin
• “Sorry, Politico: You Don’t Get to Rewrite the Declaration of Independence” – Rachel Del Guidice
• “The Right Way to Cover the Intersection of Religion and Politics” – Heidi Przybyla
• “North Carolina pastor rejects ‘Christian nation’ claims from GOP legislators” – Cardinal & Pine Staff
• “A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers” – Jonathan Mayhew
• “The Catechism of the Revolution” – David Kopel
• “Samuel Davies: Apostle of Dissent” – R. Isabela Morales
• “George Washington, letter to John Augustine Washington” – George Washington’s Mt. Vernon
• “The Federalist Papers: No. 37” – James Madison
• “The Federalist Papers: No. 2” – John Jay
• “The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought” – Donald S. Lutz
• “Religious Tests and Oaths in State Constitutions, 1776-1784” – Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconsin
• “Constitution of Delaware; 1776”
• “Constitution of Maryland, 1776”
• “Fighting the Good Fight of Faith: 250 Years of Sacred Service of the United States Army Chaplain Corps” – Chaplain (Capt.) Joseph Feaster
• “Under providence and liberty: George Washington and the sacred birth of the Army Chaplain Corps” – Stella Naulo
• Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States
• “America’s Christian Founding?” – Bradford Littlejohn
• “A Christian Manifesto” – Francis Schaeffer
• “Is America a Christian Nation?” – Apologetic Junkie
• “Seal of Approval” – Harvard Gazette
• “The Oldest Endowed Professorship” – Harvard Gazette
• “History of the United States” – Noah Webster
• “Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic” – Benjamin Rush
• “Horace Mann and the Irony of Secular Education” – Jeffrey Polet
• Everson v. Board of Education
• “Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists” – Thomas Jefferson
• “Federal Appeals Court Upholds Texas Ten Commandments Law” – NY Times
• “Bluebonnet Learning” – Texas Education Agency
• “State Board of Education Approves Bible-infused Curriculum” – Jaen Edison
• “Long march through the institutions” – Wikipedia
• “Sanford Alters Western Culture Course” – Lee A. Daniels
• “The Politics of Official Knowledge: Does a National Curriculum Make Sense?” – Michael W. Apple
• “New Poll: Nearly Half of Americans Don’t Know What America’s 250^th is Celebrating” – Emily Ekins
• “PBS News Poll 2026” – PBS on Facebook
• “Suicide Prevention” – CDC
• “Loneliness in America 2025” – The Cigna Group
• “Teens Spend Average of 4.8 Hours on Social Media Per Day” – Jonathan Rothwell
• “Education Scorecard” – Stanford Educational Opportunity Project
• “Why U.S. Testscores are in a Generational Decline” – NY Times
• “PRRI Generation Z Fact Sheet” – PRRI
• “Almost 10% of Americans identify as LGBTQ+, largely bisexual” – Elizabeth Weise
• “Nearly 40% of Young Americans Say Political Violence is Acceptable in Certain Circumstances, Harvard Poll Finds” – Elise Spenner
• “Religion Holds Steady in America” – Pew Research Center
• “Meet Francis Grimké (1850-1937), Faithful Minister of Grace” – Sean Michael Lucas
• Theme of the Month: God (B)less America: The United States at 250
• Give to Support the Work

Books to Read

• On Rebellion – John Knox, ed. Roger A. Mason
• Did America Have a Christian Founding? – Mark David Hall
• Politics: According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture – Wayne Grudem
• BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution – Mike Gonzalez