That Good Fight: A Reformation for Gentlemen

In this second talk for a recent conference, Aaron gives a brief history of how England became a Christian nation, charting the course from the early centuries during the Roman Empire, the celtic monastic and missionary origins of the Church, to the mission of Augustine of Canterbury through to the Venerable Bede and up to the time of King Alfred in the 9th century. He highlights key details from various mission efforts to reach the ancient Britons, and later, the Anglo-Saxons, with all the ups and downs along the way, including the conversion of kings, persecutions, slavery, heresy, bold evangelism, miracles, Church power, and the cultural advances that eventually led to missionaries beginning to be sent from Britain to mainland Europe in the early Middle Ages, setting in course a Christian missionary heritage that would continue many centuries later. Learning about what God did in this small island over so many centuries should give inspiration to those who wish to see a restoration of Christian England and Great Britain today. 

This is the first of two talks Aaron gave at a recent conference. In this first talk, he introduces the significance of the "Patristic" era of the first five centuries of the Church. He analyses the context of the emergence of Christendom under Constantine, and the most influential voices of that era such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Basil, Augustine, and more. He also evaluates some of the key heresies they sought to combat in the journey toward Christian orthodoxy throughout the Church, and how some of those same challenges and ideas have a tendency to re-emerge in Church and society today. 

In this special episode, Aaron interviews Christian writer and comedian, James Cary ( @jamesedwardcary ) about the challenges of being a conservative home-schooling Christian dad while being a sitcom writer for the BBC. They talk about some of James' work, including his live show, "God, the Bible, and Everything, in 60 mins," and his book, "The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer", and discuss how comedy can help open up important insights into Biblical themes. They also talk about what it means to be English, and in particular, whether there is any hope for the often-hopeless Church of England, for which James once served on the Archbishop's Council, and much more. See more on James Cary's work and upcoming shows here: https://www.jamescary.co.uk/ You can also find him on Substack, "Cary's Almanac": https://jamescary.substack.com/

in this second talk on Christian Nationalism, Aaron speaks in more detail about the legacy of Christianity in Britain, including its missionary and colonial legacy, before setting out numerous examples of Christian cultural engagement throughout history, including Augustine, Benedict, Boniface, and King Alfred, before offering some brief applications for how we can go about renewing our Christian nation at ground level. Articles on That Good Fight Substack: "The Pharisee and the Christian Nationalist" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/the-pharisee-and-the-christian-nationalist "In Defence of Christian Britain" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/in-defence-of-christian-britain "Recovering the England We Lost" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/recovering-the-england-we-lost-880

This is the first of two talks Aaron gave on Christian Nationalism at the Goshen Gathering conference earlier this summer. In part 1, Aaron unpacks the scourge of secular humanism on Western society and the cowardice of the Church in propping up secular liberal ideals rather than opposing them. He also introduces some of the Biblical foundations for Christian nations and makes particular reference to Britain's role in Christian mission, highlighting why it is especially crucial that we recover the Biblical conception of nations within our own "multicultural" age which undermines the legacy of Christendom at the behest of secularism. Related articles from That Good Fight Substack: "Who's Afraid of Christian Nationalism?" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/whos-afraid-of-christian-nationalism "What Makes a Christian Nation?" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/christian-nations-and-secular-revivals "Reawakening the Nation" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/reawakening-the-nation "Questions about Christian Nationalism" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/questions-about-christian-nationalism  "Conversation about Christian Nationalism" https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/conversations-about-christian-nationalism

The first of Aaron's three sessions at a recent conference on the renewal of the Church in Britain. In this first session, Aaron is joined by Bishop Ceirion Dewar to speak about the apostolic foundations of the Church and how the Church today might recover the political frontier of its mission in contemporary society; followed by audience Q+A.   See also:  "Politics, Pietists, and Patriots: How Modern Christians Are Duped Into Political Apathy"

How can Christians from different church traditions be united? As conservative Christians begin to connect across the wbreadth of the Church in the culture war for the reclamation of the value of Christendom in the secular West, where should the boundaries lie for such unity? If ecumenical ventures were previously the domain of liberals seeking a lowest common denominator, what would a higher-bar "based ecumenism" look like? Can evangelicals have genuine unity with some Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians, and vice-versa? Can we unite on mission, or do we preach fundamentally different gospels? In one of their most argumentative episodes yet, Aaron and Nathan launch a new conversation on the idea of "based ecumenism" and its implications, discussing fundamental issues of what it means to be Protestant, what it means to be a Church, and what it means to confess and believe that Christ is Lord.

Is Christianity inherently conservative? Why does modern theology tend towards a "progressive" trajectory? Why are Roman Catholic authors often better at articulating conservative principles for morality and culture than Protestants? Why has evangelical theology often failed to prepare the Church for the subtle invasions of secular liberalism? Why are conservative institutions often so incapable of fending off progressive revolutions in their midst? Is a "reconquista" of the institutions possible the other way around? Could the Anglican Church be saved from seemingly inevitable liberal oblivion? What would that take and what would it look like? In another wide-ranging episode, Aaron and Nathan discuss such questions in light of the unique challenges facing any prospect of revival of Church and society in Britain and the wider west today.   SUPPORT US ON PATREON: patreon.com/thatgoodfight   RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUBSTACK: "What Does It Mean To Be Reformational?: Recovering the Word of God from the Ways of Men"https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/what-does-it-mean-to-be-reformational "Wolves in the Cathedral: Why the Church of England is Dying from the Inside Out"https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/wolves-in-the-cathedral

Why have so many evangelicals been "red-pilled" over the last decade? What lies behind the failure of evangelical church engagement with culture? What is it about Northern Irish culture that helped it resist many secular liberal advances far longer than the rest of Britain? How might politically active evangelicals learn from the example of the often demonised Presbyterian pastor and Prime Minister, Ian Paisley? And why are modern evangelicals still perpetually anxious about Christian Nationalism?   In this special episode, Aaron talks to evangelical pastor and noteworthy cultural commentary YouTuber, Jamie Bambrick to discuss these important themes and more in another illuminating conversation. SUPPORT the show on Patreon: That Good Fight Podcast: A Reformation for Gentlemen | A podcast calling patriotic Christian men to rebuild Christendom | Patreon Relevant articles from That Good Fight Substack: Who's Afraid of Christian Nationalism?: The Ideological Battle Against a Christianity that Changes the World Questions About Christian Nationalism: 10 Responses to the Curious, the Confused, and the Concerned Conversations About Christian Nationalism: Some More Disagreeable Than Others Check out Jamie Bambrick's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jamie.bambrick

The launch of Restore Britain catalysed a wave of patriotic fervour across the nation. For many, this felt different to the launch of other political movements in recent decades. Why are people joining Restore who never previously cared about politics and what does this suggest about the true depth of what has gone wrong in Britain and the yearning for a deeper solution? Aaron and Nathan reflect on such questions and consider what kind of approach Christians ought to take towards the British political scene today, including how to overcome the strange modern evangelical anxiety about being "too political".   SUPPORT the show on Patreon: That Good Fight Podcast: A Reformation for Gentlemen | A podcast calling patriotic Christian men to rebuild Christendom | Patreon Relevant articles from That Good Fight Substack: Rupert Lowe and the Restoration of Britain: Is There a New Hope for Britain? Politics, Pietists, and Patriots: How Modern Christians Are Duped Into Political Apathy