
Lutheran theology under pressure.
The gist
Outlaw God works through Lutheran theology with a hard focus on proclamation rather than religious self-improvement. Recent episodes linger over Psalm 51, Moses, Joseph, Luther, suffering, sacrifice, and the difference between law and gospel.
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About Outlaw God
Outlaw God is a dense Lutheran theology podcast organized around proclamation, scripture, and the Reformation’s account of law and gospel. It is not a broad survey of religious history. It is narrower and sharper than that. Recent episodes work through Psalm 51, David, Moses in the cleft of the rock, Joseph, sacrifice, suffering, repentance, divine election, and the human will. The show’s method is patient. A biblical passage is treated as a theological problem, then pressed through Luther, scholastic categories, mysticism, and the practical question of what preaching actually does. The tone can be blunt. It resists easy devotional answers, especially when suffering is turned into self-purification or repentance is reduced to identifying a bad act and trying to reverse it. That gives the show its edge. It keeps returning to the claim that sin, repentance, election, and faith are revealed through God’s word rather than mastered by human explanation. Episodes often move like lectures with interruptions and clarifications. They assume some appetite for doctrinal vocabulary. Actual sin, original sin, sacrifice, the cross, the Lord’s Supper, divine election, and the fourfold interpretation of scripture all appear as live arguments rather than museum pieces. The show also has a recurring concern for preachers: the law must be preached fully, and the gospel must not be replaced by moral therapy or a theory of personal growth. Its best fit is the listener who wants Lutheran theology in full strength. It rewards attention more than casual sampling. At times the excerpts include repeated network announcements and promotional openings, but the main substance is sustained theological argument. Outlaw God stands out because it treats Reformation theology as a present-tense fight over preaching, not as a tidy historical inheritance.
Made for: For listeners who want serious Lutheran doctrine, close biblical interpretation, and Reformation categories handled at length. It suits preachers and listeners comfortable with dense argument.
What sets it apart: Outlaw God sets itself apart by treating preaching, not speculation or self-improvement, as the decisive theological event. Its episodes turn biblical texts into sustained arguments about law, gospel, sin, repentance, suffering, and election.
In their own words
The Outlaw God podcast is about moving from theological speculation to proclamation. Featuring Dr. Steven Paulson and co-hosted by Caleb Keith.
As heard by us
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Outlaw God makes Lutheran readings of scripture concrete by connecting doctrine to preaching, repentance, suffering, and the spoken promise of the gospel.
Outlaw God turns biblical passages into sustained theological arguments, with Stephen Paulson and Caleb Keith tracing how Luther understood law, gospel, sin, repentance, suffering, and divine election.
Why you'd press play
Moses gets a rock cleft; you get a hard question about what preaching is supposed to do.
Press play if you want
- to hear Stephen Paulson and Caleb Keith question your tidy checklist of sins through Psalm 51
- to follow Joseph's story without being handed a suffering-makes-you-stronger moral
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Episodes
- 1
Problem of Death
·41m - 2
Christ in the Cleft
·53m - 3
David's Last Words
·37m - 4
Free Faith Not Free Will (HWSS 25)
·45m - 5
Divine Election through Preaching
·34m - 6
When Suffering Replaces Preaching
·49m - 7
Perfecting Pain
·33m - 8
Mysticism Through Suffering
·37m - 9
Suffering As a Means of Faith?
·35m - 10
Plainly Speaking and Preaching
·42m - 11
Moses Accuses and Kills
·41m - 12
Attack on Grace
·47m - 13
God's Presence, Favor and Glory
·39m - 14
Sublimation Message
·31m - 15
Following God's Backside
·39m - 16
The Infinite Law
·46m - 17
Ministry of Death
·49m - 18
Negative Theology
·39m - 19
Year End Announcement from 1517
·2m - 20
Written vs Spoken
·40m - 21
The Goals of Mysticism
·40m - 22
Doctrine vs. Preaching
·42m - 23
Imperatives and Indicatives (HWSS25)
·31m - 24
Special Episode: Bondage Of The Will
·1h 3m - 25
Threat and Accusation
·47m - 26
Second Use of the Gospel?
·48m - 27
Proclamation Not Speculation
·38m - 28
The Law Before Sin
·36m - 29
Silencing God's Law
·35m - 30
Mysticism's Silence of the Lamb
·39m - 31
Mysticism Through Love
·34m - 32
Mysticism and the Mind
·33m - 33
Overlooking Idiocy (Acts 17:26-34)
·33m - 34
Paul's Preaching
·45m - 35
Finding the Unknown God
·47m - 36
Method of Mysticism
·41m - 37
With and Without God's Word
·38m - 38
A Right Sacrifice
·47m - 39
Cain and Abel
·47m - 40
The Sandbox
·55m - 41
Imagine The World Before The Fall
·41m - 42
Where There Is Law There Is Free Will
·50m - 43
There Is No Sin Where There Is No Law
·44m - 44
Chaos and Silencing the Law
·42m - 45
Psychologizing the Gospel
·48m - 46
The External and Internal Distinction
·40m - 47
Out of the Cave
·45m - 48
Plato's Cave
·47m - 49
Out of The Cave
·43m - 50
Judging the Spiritual Man
·46m - 51
Ecclesiastical and Doctrinal Authority
·45m - 52
Who Is A Saint
·45m - 53
What Is the Church?
·50m - 54
What is the Remnant?
·59m - 55
What Is The Church?
·50m - 56
Luther and the Trojan Horse
·48m - 57
Did Luther Stand Alone?
·47m - 58
What Is Hiding?
·46m - 59
Christ Born Under the Law
·1h 6m - 60
The Incarnation of Christ
·52m - 61
Jonah Must Preach
·41m - 62
The Word of God in Opposition
·45m - 63
Fueling the Mission: Supporting 1517 to Proclaim the Gospel
·33m - 64
The Limits of Human Nature
·45m - 65
Ascension of the Heart
·41m - 66
Struggle in the Belly of the Whale
·48m - 67
Jonah Can't Satisfy the Law
·42m - 68
An Outlaw God For The Church
·27m - 69
Sleeping Jonah
·40m - 70
Sacrificing Jonah
·50m - 71
Worship and Idolatry
·34m - 72
Reverting to an Ancient Religion
·44m - 73
God Hurled A Great Wind
·40m - 74
Jonah Runs Away
·48m - 75
God Calls a Preacher
·29m - 76
God Calls Jonah
·34m - 77
Incomprehensible Wrath and Suffering
·46m - 78
The Last Stand
·48m - 79
God Clothed or Unclothed
·47m - 80
Distinguishing God's Word
·44m - 81
Erasmus and the Absurd
·43m - 82
The Preacher's Question
·46m - 83
Preaching Elects
·49m - 84
Preaching vs Giving Advice
·46m - 85
Starting Backwards
·51m - 86
Allegorizing Scripture
·44m - 87
Preaching Letter and Spirit
·33m - 88
The Attraction of Suffering
·48m - 89
Christ the Hated God
·43m - 90
Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ
·50m - 91
The Lord's Supper
·41m - 92
Water and the Word
·57m - 93
What is Baptism?
·57m - 94
Saying Amen to the Lord's Prayer
·49m - 95
Deliver Us From Evil
·45m - 96
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
·50m - 97
Forgive Us Our Trespasses
·45m - 98
Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
·56m - 99
Preaching vs. Tradition: Erasmus' Dilemma
This episode continues exploring God's hiding in Luther's theology, focusing on Erasmus' dilemma between preaching and tradition.
·47m - 100
Hide and Seek with God
Caleb Keith introduces a discussion on Luther's use and move past mysticism, focusing on the Heidelberg Disputation.
·38m - 101
Remembering and Repenting
Hidden gemOutlaw God's Psalm 51 conversation argues that sin is known inside a sinner, not by detached analysis.
Apr 15, 2026·36m·2 clips - 102
With and Without God's Word
Hidden gemOutlaw God turns Psalm 51 into a discussion of Luther's account of sin, repentance, and the difference between God with his Word and without it.
Apr 10, 2026·38m·2 clips - 103
Christ in the Cleft
Hidden gemOutlaw God’s “Christ in the Cleft” examines Moses in Exodus 33–34 as a key setting for distinguishing law from gospel.
Apr 2, 2026·53m·3 clips - 104
David's Last Words
A theological discussion on David's last words from Scripture, exploring themes of faith, family, and vocation within the Lutheran tradition.
Mar 25, 2026·37m - 105
Free Faith Not Free Will (HWSS 25)
A theological discussion on the Lutheran doctrine of the bondage of the will, contrasting it with free will and emphasizing God's sovereignty in salvation.
Mar 19, 2026·45m - 106
Divine Election through Preaching
Hidden gemCaleb Keith and theologian Stephen Paulson continue a series on the story of Joseph from Genesis, focusing on medieval theories of divine election and suffering.
Mar 12, 2026·34m·2 clips - 107
When Suffering Replaces Preaching
Hidden gemThis episode of the Outlaw God podcast introduces the story of Joseph in the pit as the central case study for how suffering replaced preaching as the mechanism of salvation in the medieval church.
Mar 4, 2026·49m·2 clips - 108
Perfecting Pain
Hidden gem["Stephen Paulson reads 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 as a rejection of mysticism and says the power of God is in the preached \"word of the cross.\"", "He contrasts that reading with an \"absorption theory of atonement\" and says it turns religion into self-union with God without a preacher or sacraments.", "The discussion moves through Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, the Missouri Synod split, and Paulson's critique of modern church support for suffering-as-redemption in places like Minneapolis.", "He ends by setting up Moses in the cleft of the rock and Joseph in the pit as the next texts for showing Christ in the Old Testament."]
Feb 26, 2026·33m·2 clips - 109
Mysticism Through Suffering
Stephen Paulson and Caleb Keith of the Outlaw God podcast continue their series on medieval Christian mysticism and the theology of the cross, tracing how 14th- and 15th-century Christians facing plague and mass death began interpreting their own suffering as participation in God's suffering on the cross.
Feb 19, 2026·37m·2 clips - 110
Suffering As a Means of Faith?
Feb 13, 2026·35m - 111
Plainly Speaking and Preaching
Feb 5, 2026·42m - 112
Moses Accuses and Kills
Jan 28, 2026·41m - 113
Attack on Grace
Jan 22, 2026·47m - 114
God's Presence, Favor and Glory
Jan 15, 2026·39m - 115
Sublimation Message
Jan 7, 2026·31m - 116
Following God's Backside
Jan 1, 2026·39m - 117
The Infinite Law
Dec 18, 2025·46m - 118
Ministry of Death
Dec 11, 2025·49m - 119
Negative Theology
Dec 5, 2025·39m - 120
Written vs Spoken
Stephen Paulson and Caleb Keith discuss the interpretation of the law from Moses to the New Testament, focusing on 2 Corinthians and the distinction between law and gospel.
Nov 19, 2025·40m - 121
The Goals of Mysticism
Nov 13, 2025·40m - 122
Doctrine vs. Preaching
A promotional segment for a historical fiction novel set during the Reformation, highlighting the conflicts between key figures.
Nov 6, 2025·42m - 123
Imperatives and Indicatives (HWSS25)
Oct 22, 2025·31m - 124
Special Episode: Bondage Of The Will
Oct 16, 2025·1h 3m - 125
Threat and Accusation
Oct 9, 2025·47m - 126
Second Use of the Gospel?
Oct 2, 2025·48m - 127
Proclamation Not Speculation
Sep 25, 2025·38m - 128
The Law Before Sin
Sep 17, 2025·36m - 129
Silencing God's Law
Sep 10, 2025·35m - 130
Mysticism's Silence of the Lamb
Sep 3, 2025·39m - 131
Hide and Seek with God
Caleb Keith introduces a discussion on Luther's use and move past mysticism, focusing on the Heidelberg Disputation.
Aug 27, 2025·38m - 132
Mysticism Through Love
Aug 21, 2025·34m - 133
Mysticism and the Mind
Aug 13, 2025·33m - 134
Overlooking Idiocy (Acts 17:26-34)
Jul 31, 2025·33m - 135
Paul's Preaching
Jul 23, 2025·45m - 136
Finding the Unknown God
Jul 17, 2025·47m - 137
Method of Mysticism
Jul 10, 2025·41m - 138
Problem of Death
Jul 3, 2025·41m - 139
A Right Sacrifice
Jun 27, 2025·47m - 140
Cain and Abel
Jun 19, 2025·47m - 141
The Sandbox
Jun 10, 2025·55m - 142
Imagine The World Before The Fall
May 28, 2025·41m - 143
Where There Is Law There Is Free Will
May 22, 2025·50m - 144
There Is No Sin Where There Is No Law
May 15, 2025·44m - 145
Chaos and Silencing the Law
May 6, 2025·42m - 146
Psychologizing the Gospel
Apr 30, 2025·48m - 147
The External and Internal Distinction
Apr 24, 2025·40m - 148
Out of the Cave
Apr 15, 2025·45m - 149
Plato's Cave
Apr 7, 2025·47m