Ep. 101 | So Reinhold Niebuhr and John Wesley Walk into a Bar…

About this episode

The episode explores the compatibility of Wesleyan Protestantism and Christian realism through a discussion among theologians.

(…actually, Wesley was a teetotaler so not possible.) Ladies and gentlemen, the Provcrew is at war. "Can you be a Wesleyan Protestant and a Christian realist?" The battle lines are drawn. Providence editor Mark Tooley, a Methodist Christian realist, says yes; editor at large Robert Nicholson, a non-Methodist who knows about John Wesley's optimistic theology, is skeptical. To break the deadlock, they hosted Methodist theologian and Reinhold Niebuhr scholar Robin Lovin to set the record straight. Sin, grace, anthropology, eschatology, nationalism, fascism—they got to all of it. And the outcome was surprising.

People in this episode

Host: Mark Tooley

Guests: Robert Nicholson, Robin Lovin

Topics covered

• Wesleyan Protestantism
• Christian realism
• theology
• sin and grace
• nationalism
• fascism

Keywords

• Wesleyan
• Christian realism
• theology
• sin
• grace
• nationalism
• fascism

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Reinhold Niebuhr, John Wesley

More episodes of Foreign Policy ProvCast

• Ep. 110 | Should Government Promote Christianity as the Only True Religion? · June 2, 2026 · 1h 18m
• Ep. 109 | The Rise of Postliberal Protestantism · May 1, 2026 · 40 min
• Ep. 108 | How Hungary Became Postliberal Christian Paradise · April 30, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Ep. 107 | Japanese History and the US-Japan Alliance · April 30, 2026 · 47 min
• Ep. 106 | Why Christians Should Be Liberally Educated · April 30, 2026 · 35 min
• Ep. 105 | Will the Iran War Prove Prudent or a Waste of Political Capital? · April 29, 2026 · 37 min