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PODCAST

The Blue Collar Scholar

This podcast will cover the topics covered by the history lectures, sermons, and Bible/theology studies of Will Reitz.

history christianity

All Episodes

01:52:27

WWII, episode 10: D-Day

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/04/14

June 6th, 1944, is probably the most important, pivotal day of the 20th Century. On that day, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the forces of Free France & Free Poland (among other nationalities fighting to overthrow their fascist oppressors) banded together to do the impossible: to penetrate Fortress Europe and expel the Nazi menace from the continent of Europe. Operations in North Africa and Sicily (see the North Africa episode) and the invasion of Italy (examined in

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01:46:56

Comparing World Religions, episode 10: Islam

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/04/11

Having discussed the history of Islam in the previous episode, the Comparing World Religions lecture series now turns to an analysis of the religion of Islam itself. The second largest world religion, and one of the most influential religions in human history, Islam is often misunderstood by the average American who does not understand what the religion teaches. The only interactions that many non-Muslims have with Islam is the news. Islam is an incredibly diverse religion, with distinct

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00:42:43

Sermon - The Upside Down Kingdom, part 3: Your Day in...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/04/06

This sermon series ends with a short story that I wrote years ago. I have picked carefully when to use this story in a sermon. I want to use this tool at the most opportune time in whatever ministry I've served, but I have shared it with every ministry I've been a part of the last 20 years. Since this is the 3rd time I've shared this story on this podcast feed, it will likely be the last time. But I stand by this short story as a powerful, effective way to share the Gospel. Note: These sermons are

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01:37:02

WWII, episode 9: North Africa

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/04/05

Italy & France had colonies in North Africa when World War II started in Europe, and so the war crossed the Mediterranean Sea, drawing in first the British -- coming to protect their investment in the Suez Canal -- and then later the Germans, who came to bolster their Italian allies. And, once Japan brought the US into WWII after the bombing of Pearl Harbor (with Hitler inexplicably declaring war, dragging the US into the European war), the United States found itself using the crucible of the North

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01:59:53

Comparing World Religions, Episode 9: Islamic History

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/04/02

Islam is the second biggest religion on Earth, and by many accounts, the fastest growing religion. It has a long and rich history. Every major Empire in Asia, Europe, and Africa has had to interact with the religion of Islam and powerful Islamic states for almost a millennium and a half. In this episode, I try hard to provide a fair, unbiased analysis of the history of Islam, from the career of the Prophet Muhammed to the Hamas attack on Israel a few years ago.

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00:32:50

Sermon - The Upside Down Kingdom, part 2: Wealth

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/28

Christians are tempted to reinterpret every teaching Jesus gives us about wealth, because His insight into wealth is so counterintuitive. Building off last week's teaching about the Upside-Down Kingdom of God, today we will take a look at Jesus' teachings about wealth and dare to take them seriously.

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01:33:20

WWII - Spring Break Special Episode: Japanese History

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/16

This week is Spring Break in Southeast Kansas, so our classes are taking a break. Instead of the regularly scheduled World War II lecture, I decided to dust off (and re-edit) an old lecture from April 4, 2023. When I taught this class previously, it was called "The World Wars" and I devoted the last quarter of the class to the Pacific Theatre in WWII. To kick off this section of the class, I went far back into Japanese (and a bit of Chinese) history to provide more background than I chose to do this

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01:42:25

Comparing World Religions, episode 8: Religions That...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/15

This one will be controversial. I have concluded that several religions are not part of Christianity because they have changed or abandoned major theological components of Christianity: the Trinity, the Incarnation, the nature of reality, the existence of God, etc. I acknowledge that many of these groups claim to be denominations of orthodox Christianity, and I don't deny their right to define their own religious expression. But if the world "Christian" has any meaning, I cannot make the claim that

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00:24:25

Sermon - The Upside Down Kingdom, part 1: How To Get...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/14

Jesus calls us to an unbelievably counter-intuitive calling: the lead by serving. As He washed His disciple's feet and willingly died as a sacrifice for sin, we too should use whatever leadership we get in this life to love and to serve other people, even if it means that we lose out on this or that advantage or payday.

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01:34:22

WWII, episode 8 - Midway & Guadalcanal: 1942 in the...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/12

This episode returns to the Pacific Theatre of World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese conquest of the Philippines. In the 1st six months of the war, Japan racked up an impressive list of victories. Then at the Battle of the Coral Sea, Japan failed to take Port Moresby, and for the first time, they suffered a strategic defeat. However, since the Allies lost more ships in that battle, Japan could sell the battle to its citizenry as a victory. But about a half a year after

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01:39:34

Comparing World Religions, Episode 7: Christianity...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/08

This episode wraps up the Christianity subsection of the course on Comparing World Religions. From here on out, the course will cover religions that are separate from Christianity. (Note: Some of these religions do come out of the Christian tradition, and some of them consider themselves a version of Christianity.) Before we broaden the scope of the class, I thought that it was a good idea to lay out my biases as the professor. For there are 2 ways to be unbiased: (1) You can have "no dog in the

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00:25:14

Sermon: Of More Noble Character (Acts 17:10-12)

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/08

Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, tells us that the Jews from the town of Berea were "of more noble character" than the Jews from the town of Thessalonica, because when they heard the Gospel, they listened intently, then they went home, searched to Scriptures, and investigated to see if the things Paul was teaching them was true. And from that excellent Bible study, the church in Berea was born. This sermon seeks to use the example of Acts 17:10-12 to inspire the church to be of more noble

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02:07:18

WWII, episode 7: The Holocaust

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/05

The Holocaust is a tragedy on an unimaginable scale. It was the result of unrestrained racism amongst those with absolute power. This episode focuses on the history of antisemitism, the rise of the Nazis as an explicitly antisemitic regime, and the unspeakable evil that they wrought. This was a packed lecture, and a rushed lecture. I did not even have time to talk about Oskar Schindler. During the editing process, I was ashamed that I did not even mention once that the Holocaust also targeted the

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01:59:37

Comparing World Religions, episode 6: Protestant...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/03/01

Since the professor and every member of the Comparing World Religions class in Christian, our sub-section over Christianity is several lectures long. Furthermore, since (I believe) we all come from Protestant traditions, I have set aside 2 full lectures to talk about Protestantism. In the previous episode, we took a historical deep dive into the Protestant Reformation. This episode is a broad survey of the most common denominations. By "most common," I am referring to the kinds of churches we see

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00:22:03

Sermon: God Does Not Change

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/02/28

One of the most important attributes of God is that He does not change. For if God can change, then He was either imperfect and has changed into perfection, or else He was perfect, and no longer is. Furthermore, if God can change, then we cannot trust His promises. And if an All Powerful Deity could change, even a little bit, then given enough time, His perfection would change so much that He would become an All Mighty Tyrant. But we can trust in God that He does not change (James 1:17). This

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01:51:29

WWII, episode 6 - 1941: Operation Barbarossa & Pearl...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/02/26

1941 was the year when the final major chess pieces were put on the World War II chessboard. Neither the United States of America nor the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were full participants in the Second World War when 1941 began, even though the war was in its second year in Europe and its fifth year (or so) in East Asia. But the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany changed all that. First, Nazi Germany violated its own non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and began the Summer of 1941 with

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01:51:51

Comparing World Religions, episode 5: The Protestant...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/02/23

This episode goes into both reform and separatist movements in the Church going back long before Martin Luther. And, of course, we discuss the life and times of Luther, Zwingli, And Calvin. This episode briefly touches on Protestant theological developments, the disastrous Muenster Rebellion, and the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

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00:25:08

Sermon: The Lost Art of Giving & Receiving Correction

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/02/22

There is a word that pops up in Scripture from time to time: "rebuke." It is not a word that is part of the average American's vocabulary. A better term might be "correction." A fool hates being corrected and would prefer to go on believing that he is right, even when he is not. But a wise man accepts correction, not because it is pleasant (for neither giving nor receiving correction is pleasant), but because it is much preferable to be in the Truth than to continue in error.

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01:47:23

WWII, episode 5: The Battle of Britain

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/02/21

Following the miraculous British evacuation from Dunkirk, the UK stood alone as the sole major, unconquered nation standing in the way of Adolf Hitler. The United States, officially neutral, tried to help out, using a cash-&-carry policy to supply the Brits, then a destroyers-for-bases plan designed to arm the British Navy while remaining neutral, then finally stretching the definition of "neutral" to its breaking point with the Lend-Lease policy. Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe

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01:50:08

Comparing World Religions, episode 4: The Roman...

The Blue Collar Scholar ·

2026/02/17

I am no expert on the Roman Catholic Church, and I know even less about the Eastern Orthodox Church. (Note: This will be true for many of the world religions we cover this semester.) So consider this episode a history buff's (and a Protestant's) honest attempt to better understand these branches of Christianity with incredibly ancient roots.

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276 results

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