Brad Littlejohn

Fellow

Brad Littlejohn, Ph.D., is a Fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping public leaders understand the intellectual and historical foundations of our current breakdown of public trust, social cohesion, and sound governance. His research investigates shifting understandings of the nature of freedom and authority, and how a more full-orbed conception of freedom, rooted in the Christian tradition, can inform policy that respects both the dignity of the individual and the urgency of the common good. He also serves as President of the Davenant Institute.

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Brad Littlejohn, Ph.D., is a Fellow in EPPC’s Evangelicals in Civic Life Program, where his work focuses on helping public leaders understand the intellectual and historical foundations of our current breakdown of public trust, social cohesion, and sound governance. His research investigates shifting understandings of the nature of freedom and authority, and how a more full-orbed conception of freedom, rooted in the Christian tradition, can inform policy that respects both the dignity of the individual and the urgency of the common good. He also serves as President of the Davenant Institute.

A scholar and writer in the fields of Christian ethics, historical theology, and conservative political thought, he earned his PhD in Theological Ethics at the University of Edinburgh in 2014, where he studied the relationship of freedom and authority in the English Reformation. He is the author of The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty and The Two Kingdoms: A Guide for the Perplexed, among other books, as well as numerous peer-reviewed and popular-level articles and book chapters on topics ranging from freedom of conscience to the nature of property rights to the moral architecture of digital technology.

In 2013 he founded the Davenant Institute, an organization dedicated to retrieving and renewing the Protestant theological and ethical tradition, and frequently writes, speaks, and teaches for their publications, conferences, and courses. He has also taught at Moody Bible Institute and Patrick Henry College, and served as Headmaster of Loudoun Classical School.

Most recently, he worked as a Senior Fellow of the Edmund Burke Foundation as lead author on multi-year project entitled “Foundations of Liberty: Rediscovering the Anglo-American Conservative Tradition.” His essays arising out of this research have appeared in journals such as National Affairs, American Affairs, The American Conservative, First Things, and Modern Age.

He is also a weekly Opinion Contributor at WORLD Magazine, and publishes regularly on questions of Christian ethics and political theology for outlets such as The Gospel Coalition, American Reformer, Desiring God, and Mere Orthodoxy.

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We Peasants of the Metaverse

Brad Littlejohn

We cannot make sense of economic forms in the current century simply by applying the rules of the last.

Articles

American Compass / June 13, 2022

A Culture of Coddling

Brad Littlejohn

All levels of authority have imbibed the idea that their responsibility is above all to shelter those under their care from any danger or risk.

Articles

WORLD Opinions / June 9, 2022

The Union of Religion and Justice

Brad Littlejohn

Or, why Protestants can’t be libertarians

Articles

American Reformer / May 31, 2022

An American Christian on Memorial Day

Brad Littlejohn

Thank God for the land of our birth and the courage of those willing to die for it

Articles

WORLD Opinions / May 31, 2022

Will the Prodigal Son Return?

Brad Littlejohn

A revival of the nation will require a rediscovered willingness to honor and serve God—as individuals, as families, and as nations.

Articles

Law and Liberty / May 31, 2022

Recovering the Philosophy of Conservatism

Brad Littlejohn

Yoram Hazony calls for a society built upon family, church, and nation

Articles

WORLD Opinions / May 19, 2022

Promises Must Be Kept

Brad Littlejohn

What Henry Cabot Lodge can teach us about our failure in Ukraine.

Articles

The American Conservative / May 16, 2022

Ohio’s Senate Primary and the Future of the GOP

Brad Littlejohn

Which variety of “Trumpism” will gain the most influence?

Articles

WORLD Opinons / May 12, 2022

Pain at the Pump—But No Easy Answers

Brad Littlejohn

Honoring the needs of your neighbor in the marketplace

Articles

WORLD Opinions / May 10, 2022

The French Election Could Signal Trouble for European Liberal Democracy

Brad Littlejohn

What is currently labeled “far-right” and “extreme” might become mainstream.

Articles

WORLD Opinions / April 28, 2022

America’s Christian Founding?

Brad Littlejohn

A new book argues that much of the public Christianity we have lost in America could be revived without dramatically re-writing our constitutional order.

Articles

American Reformer / April 26, 2022

All Hail King Elon of Twitter?

Brad Littlejohn

The pros and cons of a monarchy versus a republic form of corporate governance

Articles

WORLD Opinions / April 26, 2022