Chalcedon Podcast

In this episode, the Chalcedon team explores the missing piece in Christian education. While many Christians have rightly rejected state education and embraced homeschooling or Christian schools, the discussion argues that this alone is not enough. The real goal is not merely safer schooling or cleaner curriculum, but the formation of a new humanity in Christ and the raising up of new leadership across every sphere of life. Drawing on R. J. Rushdoony’s vision, the episode explains that Christian education must be far more than a modified version of the public-school model. It must begin with a thoroughly biblical foundation, rethink every discipline in terms of God’s Word, and equip both children and adults to live faithfully in God’s world. This is a conversation about long-term dominion, generational faithfulness, and the development of Christian leaders who can reclaim education, law, science, medicine, economics, and beyond for the kingdom of God.

Rethinking Theology challenges the idea that theology belongs only to scholars, seminaries, or the “spiritual” side of life. In this episode, Chalcedon examines how dualism, neutrality, and bad theology have weakened Christian obedience, narrowed the gospel of the kingdom, and separated doctrine from daily life. Theology must not remain abstract. It must govern work, education, politics, economics, family, and every area of life under the kingship of Christ.

In Chalcedon Podcast #65, Andrea Schwartz, Mark Rushdoony, and Martin Selbrede discuss the biblical doctrine of property as a foundational principle of Christian faith and social order. Beginning with the truth that “the earth is the Lord’s,” they explain that all property belongs ultimately to God, and man’s ownership is therefore stewardship under God’s law. The conversation explores how the Ten Commandments govern the use of God’s property, why private property is essential to family responsibility, and how taxation, inflation, inheritance taxes, eminent domain, and statist education function as forms of dispossession. The hosts contrast biblical trustee ownership with socialism, fascism, anarcho-capitalism, crony capitalism, and humanistic ideas of property detached from God’s law. They also discuss the family as God’s primary institution for dominion, the need for Christian education, estate planning, generational responsibility, honest money, land Sabbaths, and the importance of obedience in rebuilding Christian civilisation from the ground up. Recommended resources include R. J. Rushdoony’s Systematic Theology, especially his treatment of the theology of the land, and Larceny in the Heart, which addresses taxation, inflation, theft, and the slavish character of modern man.

Chalcedon Podcast #62 (Jan 18, 2026) tackles a big question: what is “Christian Reconstruction” really? Mark Rushdoony says it’s not a political brand or an instant fix—it’s a process of faithful obedience that starts with self, then family, then calling, and moves outward into culture. They also clarify: Dominion (authority under God), Theocracy (God rules), Theonomy (God’s law-word guides life). Key warning: don’t reduce this to tribes, personalities, or soundbites—exegesis and faithfulness come first. #Chalcedon #ChristianReconstruction #BiblicalWorldview #Theonomy #Dominion

This episode centers on Mark Rushdoony’s new biography of his father, R. J. Rushdoony, and why his life story matters for Christian Reconstruction. Mark explains how the book grew out of earlier biographical essays and expanded into a heavily documented historical “touchstone,” drawing on journals, letters, and family papers. He and Martin Selbrede highlight the deep Armenian and Presbyterian roots that shaped Rushdoony’s historic, kingdom-centered worldview—Armenia as the first Christian nation, his grandparents’ survival of the massacres, and his father’s ministry example. This background formed Rushdoony’s big-picture perspective on history, culture, and the certainty of Christ’s advancing kingdom, as well as his insistence that a man’s moral and religious commitments can’t be separated from his ideas. They also discuss the growing interest among younger Christians in Rushdoony’s uncompromising, whole-life application of Scripture at a time when many churches and previous generations have compromised or become syncretistic. The conversation also deals frankly with opposition, misunderstandings, and the price Rushdoony paid for telling hard truths, especially in academia and the broader church world. Mark includes painful family episodes and courtroom transcripts to correct myths and show how Rushdoony not only wrote about Christian education and liberty, but actively defended Christian schools and homeschooling in key court cases and congressional hearings. Both Mark and Martin emphasize Rushdoony’s personal character—his joy, lack of bitterness despite harsh attacks, his focus on God’s issues rather than personal grievances—and his deliberate turn from academic elites to “intelligent laymen.” They argue that all Christians, not just scholars, are called to scholarship in the Isaiah 50:4 sense: having “the tongue of the learned” to speak a timely word, stand on the shoulders of faithful predecessors, and continue the kingdom work Rushdoony only began to “scratch the surface” of. The book is presented as both a clearing of the record and a call for readers to see their own lives and family histories within God’s providential, long-term kingdom story.

In this episode of the The Chalcedon Podcast, Andrea Schwartz and Martin Selbrede explore the biblical and cultural meaning of the Sabbath, drawing from the work of R. J. Rushdoony in Salvation and Godly Rule. They argue that modern society has abandoned the biblical view of time—linear, purposeful, and punctuated by Sabbath rest—and replaced it with “deep time,” an undifferentiated stream without meaning or goal. In Scripture, Sabbath is not just a day off but a divine ordinance tied to creation, dominion, and eschatology. It divides time into meaningful segments, giving both individuals and communities a rhythm of work and rest that reflects God’s sovereignty over time and history. A defective doctrine of Sabbath leads to a defective view of work, resulting in either slavish overwork or escapist idleness. The conversation also connects Sabbath to broader cultural and technological issues. Historically, secular regimes (e.g., French Revolution) sought to dissolve biblical time by changing calendars and disrupting communal rest. Similarly, modern 24/7 work culture and technological obsession detach people from godly rhythms. Instead of retreating from technology, Christians should view it as a tool of dominion under God’s law, not as an idol or tyrant. The Sabbath reminds believers to trust in God’s provision, celebrate their labors, and prepare for future work. This future-oriented rest undergirds Christian hope and victory, culminating in the ultimate, eternal Sabbath. The episode ends by calling Christians to recover a full “sociology of the Sabbath” — reconnecting work, rest, dominion, and eschatology — as a foundation for cultural reformation.

On September 14, 2025, Andrea Schwartz welcomes Mark Rushdoony and Martin Selbrede for Episode 59 of the Chalcedon Podcast to announce Mark’s forthcoming, heavily documented biography of his father, R. J. Rushdoony—now at the printer and expected in Vallecito in October. Expanded from Mark’s 2015–16 “brief biography” essays, the book draws deeply on journals, letters, and personal papers to provide a reliable touchstone amid myths and internet rumors. It traces Rushdoony’s roots through Armenia—the first Christian nation—and shows how Armenian history (including Urartu’s check on Assyria) and a family line of ministry shaped his kingdom-centered vision. Mark also addresses painful family chapters candidly, not to sensationalize, but to set the record straight and explain the man’s enduring joy, resilience, and refusal to be embittered. Selbrede underscores why biography matters: truth is lived by whole persons, not abstractions, and Christians must know the “rock from which we were hewn.” The episode highlights Rushdoony’s practical impact—courtroom testimony, congressional hearings, and pivotal roles in defending Christian education and homeschooling (e.g., Texas cases)—and explains why younger audiences are experiencing a “flight to quality” in his uncompromising application of Scripture to all of life. Listeners are encouraged to read the biography both to understand Rushdoony’s legacy and to “stand on shoulders,” carrying forward faithful scholarship and action in church, family, and society.

Episode 58 of the Chalcedon Podcast explores the biblical concept of wealth, contrasting it with modern misconceptions shaped by materialism and state power. The discussion, led by Andrea Schwartz with Mark Rushdoony and Martin Selbrede, highlights that in Scripture, wealth is not merely monetary but encompasses strength, family, responsibility, and covenantal blessing. They stress that wealth itself is not evil, but its use determines whether it becomes a blessing or a curse. Misused wealth can lead to destruction, while biblical stewardship channels resources toward God’s kingdom purposes. A major theme centers on how the modern state manipulates wealth redistribution, fostering envy and dependence in order to expand its power. Instead of recognizing God as the true source and governor of wealth, society often demonizes the wealthy, exalts leisure over work, and erodes the family as the foundational institution of economic and cultural life. The podcast argues that biblical provisions for work, family strength, and faithful tithing create true wealth, while inflation, taxation, and eminent domain strip people of their God-given inheritance. This rootlessness feeds a culture of debt, consumption, and idol-making, whether through money, technology, or leisure. The conversation concludes that genuine wealth must be covenantal, grounded in obedience to God and exercised in service to His kingdom. Families, children, and even wives are presented as true assets in Scripture, contrary to humanistic views that reduce them to liabilities. Work is affirmed as a divine calling, not something to escape, and the Sabbath as a safeguard against idolatry of labor. Ultimately, the Chalcedon message insists that only by recovering spiritual capital—recognizing God’s law as the foundation of economics and culture—can society rebuild lasting wealth that resists decay and advances Christ’s reign in every sphere.

Join us as we examine the foundations, core principles, criticisms, and impact of Chalcedon over the past 60 years. Has anything changed? Do we need a new vision? Christian Reconstruction may be more relevant than ever.

Since R. J. Rushdoony founded the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965, the times have changed, but that has not altered the mission and message of Christian Reconstruction. In fact, the need for it is greater than ever.

Modern culture is unraveling—law divorced from morality, education detached from truth, and entertainment replacing virtue with vice. As society embraces death and decadence, Christians are called to resist the collapse by rebuilding from the ground up: strong families, faithful churches, and education rooted in God’s Word and moral accountability.

What is the true meaning of the church, its leadership, and the function of the ecclesia in the world? Join us as we discuss the big picture of the Kingdom of God and how the church, as the people of God, fulfill God’s great mission.

The Word of God has much to say about land and property and their connection to liberty. The Bible has so much to say about land that Rushdoony included an entire section about the theology of the land in his two-volume Systematic Theology.

Psychology is the domain of theology because God’s Word speaks directly to man’s condition as a sinner in rebellion to God’s will. In this sense, man is revolting against the maturity God calls him to, and that rebellion is the root of his psychological dilemma.

Contemporary views of eschatology have little to do with Christian ethics and responsibilities, but Biblical eschatology focuses on “end points” in history that deal with the end of what opposes God and is followed by the restoration of godly order.