The Dictator

In this episode, we unpack the story of Cola di Rienzo—hailed by poets as a champion of the people but ruling as a ruthless dictator—and explore how his rise mirrors modern tyrants’ use of populist rhetoric to seize power. We’ll then turn to Scripture’s view of government as godly law-keeper and protector of honest, hard-working citizens, asking what it means for rulers today to be “a terror to evildoers” rather than a burden on the faithful.