Dr. James Spencer sits down with Beth Felker Jones (Professor of Theology, Northern Seminary) to talk about her new IVP book Why I Am Protestant. Beth lays out how Protestant distinctives—especially Scripture as the norming norm—fit within a broader, lowercase-c catholic Christian unity rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They dig into the ecumenical creeds, the messiness of the church, recovering historic practices (like corporate confession), how to live with rival interpretations without losing charity, Augustine’s influence on grace and the church, and practical ways congregations can re-center on the Word. Beth’s closing charge: don’t be embarrassed by evangelism—claim the work of making disciples.

Go deeper: The Reformation

Thinking Christian is hosted by Dr. James Spencer, president of the D. L. Moody Center and author of Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press). Each conversation reads the Bible as the final authority for life and faith, questioning the assumptions of our culture, even our Christian culture, so that we don't settle for a narrower vision than God's word offers.

Unsettling convention. Cultivating conviction.
Episodes, articles, and questions: thinkingchristian.org
About James Spencer: thinkingchristian.org/james
The Thinking Christian Framework: thinkingchristian.org/framework
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Read more from Beth Felker Jones at: https://bethfelkerjones.substack.com/

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