Resources by Michael Horton

Episode 1594 Aired October 24, 2021

At the heart of the division between Protestants and Catholics is the disagreement over the doctrine of justification. According to Catholic theology, justification is believed to be a lifelong process in which the sinner becomes intrinsically righteous, to the extent that he or she cooperates with grace. On the other side, Protestants assert that this ends up confusing justification with sanctification. Whereas sanctification is a process, justification is a once-for-all declaration of right standing with God that is ultimately rooted in Christ’s perfect righteousness. On this program the hosts walk through all the issues involved in this historic debate (originally aired 08-21-16).

Episode 1590 Aired September 26, 2021

From its inception, “the new world” has always been a place of religious experimentation. It was seen as a place where people would be liberated from pre-existing traditions and church structures. And so it’s not surprising that the search for the sacred in this country has often seen radical departures from traditional Christian beliefs and practices. So how do contemporary views of spirituality differ from classical Christian views about God, redemption, and spiritual renewal? On this edition of White Horse Inn, Michael Horton contrasts “American spirituality” with the historic Christian gospel (originally aired 08-15-10).

Episode 1578 Aired July 4, 2021

Many people today think of religion as a metaphorical stairway that leads to heaven. Basically, it’s an upward path that all of us are meant to ascend by our own good works. In Genesis 28, however, Jacob encounters a great stairway between heaven and earth, but he’s not invited to climb it. Instead, God graciously descends the stairway and makes one-sided promises to Jacob, who is fast asleep at the bottom. What’s the point of this chapter and how does it foreshadow the work of Jesus Christ? On this episode Shane Rosenthal discusses this fascinating scene with White Horse Inn founder Michael Horton as we continue our series on The Gospel in Genesis.

Episode 1561 Aired March 7, 2021

“Christless Christianity” continues to be a problem in many churches around the world. Too often, though, even in places where Jesus’ name is frequently mentioned, he’s presented as a divine therapist or motivational speaker who encourages us to “be all we can be.” In other cases, he’s a kind of political organizer who calls us to various degrees of social activism. What seems to be missing, however, is the singular focus of the Apostle Paul who wrote to the Corinthians saying, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (originally aired 01-13-08).

Episode 1560 Aired February 28, 2021

Though evangelicals and liberals are often at each other’s throats in the culture wars, this division is best understood as a kind of “sibling rivalry.” Whereas liberals tend to focus on creating “our best world now,” evangelicals talk about having “your best life now.” But either way, the focus is on what we are doing […]

Episode 1559 Aired February 21, 2021

According to a recent Pew study, less than 30% of evangelicals were able to identify Protestantism as the faith which embraces the doctrine of “justification by faith alone.” On this program the hosts will attempt to demonstrate that most contemporary Protestants, whether liberal or conservative, actually have more in common with radical Anabaptist beliefs than […]

Episode 1555 Aired January 24, 2021

What is a covenant? Is there a difference between the Abrahamic covenant and the Sinai covenant, or are they basically the same? What is the relationship between the old and new covenants? On this program the hosts reveal how the study of ancient near-eastern treaties helps us to better understand all the different covenants we […]

Episode 1550 Aired December 20, 2020

Christmas is the time we celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Word who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). But as it turns out, this same Word, who was with God and was God (Jn 1:1-2), actually made a number of appearances throughout Israel’s history. On this episode the hosts will take […]

Episode 1549 Aired December 13, 2020

Was Jesus merely a nice Jewish teacher who over time began to be worshiped as a kind of god by later generations, or was he thought of as a divine from the earliest days of Christianity? What can we learn about this by examining the earliest documents of the Christian faith? On this program the […]

Episode 1548 Aired December 6, 2020

Why did Jesus refer to himself as the Son of Man? Did he ever specifically make the claim that he was God? Why did the world need “God in human flesh” to rescue us in the first place, and was this idea of a divine descent ever mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament? The hosts […]

Episode 1547 Aired November 29, 2020

When objective truth is no longer valued, subjective experience fills the void, and we end up being guided by internal feelings and emotions. The result of this is that even what Scripture refers to as sinful passions and desires (Rom. 7:5) are no longer seen as things to be resisted, but in many cases have […]

Episode 1534 Aired August 30, 2020

When sharing the faith with others, should we primarily talk about Jesus, or our own religious experience? In other words, should we focus on the gospel of Christ as we find it unpacked in the New Testament with all its related facts and doctrines, or should we focus on our personal testimonies, explaining to others […]