Podcast Episode 18
Orthodox Presbyterian Church Founded
with Professor John Muether & host Nick Walters
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This episode of This Week in Christian History features host Nick Walters of the Center for Christian History at Mississippi College as he continues conversations with leading scholars whose work sheds light on the development of Christian traditions across time. Each episode presents an extended interview, a Deep Dive with a subject matter expert, and a pair of historical highlights drawn from the same week in the Christian past.
The Deep Dive in Episode 18 is with John Muether, a church history professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. Muether is widely known for his work on Presbyterian identity, ecclesiology, and the historical development of Reformed denominations in the United States. His scholarship and teaching make him one of the leading interpreters of Presbyterian institutional history. In this episode’s Deep Dive, he discusses themes connected to the founding of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a movement that emerged during a moment of major theological and denominational tension in American Protestantism. Listeners who want to explore Muether’s academic profile and publications can find more through Reformed Theological Seminary’s faculty resources.
The episode also features two historical highlights tied to this week in Christian history. The first highlight is June 14, 1936, marking the death of G. K. Chesterton in London. Chesterton stands among the most prolific Christian writers of the 20th century, producing one hundred books, two hundred short stories, and more than four thousand essays. Though best known for the Father Brown mystery series, Chesterton’s influence extended far beyond fiction. His reflections on faith, wonder, paradox, and the nature of truth shaped the thinking of major figures including C. S. Lewis and even Mahatma Gandhi. His famous observation, “Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance,” captures the clarity and punch of his style. The sheer output and ongoing relevance of his work ensure his place as a central voice in modern Christian thought.
The second highlight is June 12, 1775, when the Continental Congress issued a call for American colonists to fast and pray as tensions mounted in the earliest days of the Revolution. The “shot heard ‘round the world” had been fired less than two months earlier, on April 19, 1775, at Lexington and Concord. As the colonies faced uncertainty and the prospect of war, leaders urged citizens to turn to God in a moment of collective spiritual discipline. The day of fasting and prayer reflected the deeply intertwined nature of public life and religious conviction in the late 18th century and became one of the many instances in which political leaders sought divine guidance in a formative national moment.
Taken together, the Deep Dive with Professor John Muether and the historical highlights offer listeners a wide-ranging encounter with Christian history—from denominational identity in the 20th century to literary giants and early American expressions of faith. The goal of This Week in Christian History is to help listeners see how the story of Christianity has shaped the wider world and continues to influence the present day.
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