Christ the Center

Camden Bucey speaks with economist Shawn Ritenour about what makes an account of economics distinctly Christian. They discuss economic law as part of God’s created order and the biblical principles shaping stewardship, private property, labor, capital, exchange, and care for those in need. Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas provides the occasion for a searching conversation about the universal destination of goods, Big Tech, data, subsidiarity, sphere sovereignty, GDP, and human dignity. The conversation presses beneath policy to theology. Neither markets nor governments escape the effects of sin, and material prosperity must never be confused with sanctification. Christians seek just and prudent arrangements in this age while recognizing that scarcity, exploitation, and disordered desire will not finally be overcome by human construction. The church’s hope rests in the crucified and risen Christ and the consummation of his kingdom. Topics Discussed Economic law, creation, and Christian stewardship Private property, labor, capital, exchange, and human dignity Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas and Catholic social teaching GDP, inequality, and the common good Data, privacy, Big Tech, and non-rivalrous goods Subsidiarity and Kuyperian sphere sovereignty Universal basic income and the economic disruption of AI Sin, scarcity, eschatology, and Christian hope Shawn Ritenour is Professor of Economics at Grove City College and a Senior Fellow of the Mises Institute. He is the author of Foundations of Economics: A Christian View. Participants: Camden Bucey, Shawn Ritenour

Camden Bucey speaks with Derek C. Schuurman, professor and chair of computer science at Calvin University, about Christian wisdom in the age of artificial intelligence. Drawing upon his book Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology, Schuurman explains why technology is never neutral: people shape their tools, and those tools in turn reshape habits, institutions, and communities. The conversation sets contemporary AI within the biblical story of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. Bucey and Schuurman contrast Christian hope with technicism—the belief that technology can solve humanity’s deepest problems and build a technological heaven on earth. They also discuss human nature, transhumanism, responsible design, Christian higher education, autonomous weapons, and the need to keep human moral judgment and accountability in the loop. Christians need neither withdraw from technology nor place their hope in it. They are called to serve as faithful, wise architects whose work seeks the good of their neighbors while awaiting the new Jerusalem that comes from God. Resources Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology by Derek C. Schuurman A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers by Ethan J. Brue, Derek C. Schuurman, and Steven H. VanderLeest Wisdom in the Age of AI Conference, Calvin University, October 8–10, 2026 Magnifica Humanitas Participants: Camden Bucey, Derek C. Schuurman

In this episode, we introduce Camden Bucey’s new book, Defending Our Hope: An Introduction to Christian Apologetics, and trace its development from an adult Sunday school class at Hope Presbyterian Church to a twelve-lesson Reformed Academy course and now a durable hardcover volume. Camden and Ryan Noha explain why the book is intended as an accessible on-ramp to a distinctly Reformed approach—one grounded in the doctrines of God, revelation, and humanity rather than an imagined realm of neutral reasoning. The conversation returns again and again to the living hope of 1 Peter 1:3 and the call of 1 Peter 3:15. Christian apologetics is not chiefly about winning arguments or mastering a script; it is about bearing faithful witness to Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose for our salvation. Because the power belongs to God and works through his Word, ordinary believers can speak the truth in love with gentleness, respect, and genuine confidence. Resources Buy the book in the Reformed Forum store Free Reformed Academy course: Defending Our Hope Participants: Camden Bucey, Ryan Noha