The Eric Metaxas Show - Gerson Moreno-Riaño: Rethinking Higher Education

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

Cornerstone University President Gerson Moreno-Riaño shares his bold vision for restoring higher education, confronting the crisis of decay at secular universities, and charting a path forward for a new generation of leaders.

Welcome to the Eric Mattaxas show. Do you like your gravy thick and rich and loaded with creamy mushrooms? If no one was looking, would you chug the whole gravy boat? Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug. Stay tuned. Here comes Mr. Chugg-a-lug-lug himself, Eric Mat, Texas. Welcome to Hour 2. I continue speaking with our friend John Smirak.

John, we were just talking about Israel. and George Stephanopoulos's sister, I believe, I haven't confirmed this. And I'm not joking. It's confirmed. It is confirmed that it's actually his sister. Okay. So he has a sister who's an Orthodox nun in Gaza. Of course, there are Greek Orthodox nunneries and monasteries in the Middle East.

Obviously, I know that they're Greek Orthodox priests in Bethlehem. So she was on his program, and she was giving the other point of view, I guess, this idea that Israel does not treat Christians well. But I guess my larger question is, Tucker seems to be banging that drum. It's the only drum he's banging. He doesn't speak in favor of Israel. He's had all kinds of people on his program. It seems to me to criticize Israel. He's also not taught, more important to me, I don't see him bringing on people talking about the abuse of Christians in the Muslim world, which is infinitely worse.

Hundreds of Nigerian Christians slaughtered by Muslims just the last few weeks. The persecution of Christians in Pakistan, the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Azerbaijan. I wish that Tucker would be even-handed. If he's really worried about the mistreatment of Christians, The Muslim world could keep them busy every single show. So we do, as Western Christians, need to be concerned about Christians everywhere. And one thing that was deplorable was the Iraq War. So most American Christians supported the Iraq War, even though they were warned, it would lead to the persecution of Christians.

And indeed, it led to three quarters of the Christians in Iraq being ethnically cleansed. Syria, the government of Syria, the neocons were pushing for the overthrow of the government of Syria by rebels alive with Al-Qaeda. John McCain said, oh, they're moderate rebels. Now they're in charge, and they're killing Christians, they're killing ethnic minorities. They're behaving exactly the way Tulsi Gabbard and I warned that they would. Christians need to be looking out for their fellow Christians all around the world. We should support Israel because it is a logical ally and its cause is just. But our first concern should be for American foreign policy interests and the protection of local Christians and protection of our allies like Israel.

We need to balance all these concerns. And the Israeli government should know that American Christians are concerned. We are concerned about the fate of Palestinian Christians. They need to factor that into their decisions. Yeah. We aren't pushing hard enough. I think far too many Americans don't think of Christians in these other places. And, well, they're not really Christians, you know.

They're Orthodox. They're in this story. They're weird kind of heretics. And they pray to statues and they have icons. They're not like me in my beautiful megachurch with air conditioning and a drum kit and big martial amplifiers. Okay. Now, John, we just have, you know, five minutes. the other day, I mean, I've really been so disgusted with Candace Owens.

I don't know why. Like, she's just, the other day, for example, she goes on this thing about how the Star of David, if you really drill down into the secret gnostic knowledge, you'll discover that it's not, it's an occult symbol. Okay. So she seems to feel the need to say that the, the, the, the, the, the, the, The Star of David is an occult symbol, which of course implies dark stuff, that there's something dark, spiritually dark about the Jews. That's the implication.

That's the clear implication when you say it's an occult symbol. Look into it. It's an occult symbol to say, okay. So you're implying that there's something creepy and dark and satanic about the Jews. That's the implication. So to me, it's at least in bad taste, at least in very, very. very, very bad taste. But you, the other day, were telling me about the reality of whether it's an occultic symbol. Okay. So the Satanists take symbols from Jewish and Christian tradition

and they invert them. They twist them. Do you see Satanists use the inverted pentagram? Okay. That's a symbol. If you take the star of David and you draw inside it, you would get a pentagram. Satanus turn it on its head to represent evil. Okay. But the pentagram, the upright pentagram, is a symbol from Christian history. If you go to the stained glass windows of every cathedral in Europe, they have the upright pentagram. It's like seeing, it's like seeing that Satanus use the inverted cross, the cross turned upside down, right? They do that in order to deny Christianity. They turn the cross upside down. If you were to see that and say, oh, look, see? Now when you look

at the Christian cross, you say, see, these Christians are using symbols, just like the Satanus. The point is, symbols have meaning, the Satanus invert them and pervert them, and then goofy ignoramuses like Kansas O and say, oh, look symbols, see symbols, that's a cult.

So I guess the cross is a cult, because when you flip it upside down, the Satanus can use it. But this is just gutter, filth, conspiracy ethnic hatred that she is channeling. I think there is deep-seeded anti-Semitism in many sectors of the black community and has a long history behind it.

It's funny you say that. I know that that's true of the black community. I know that it's true. I said this yesterday in the program of the Greek community. There are many Greeks that uniquely hate the Jews. And then you being a Catholic, you know that there are. are Catholic fringe groups, Mel Gibson's father, it seems to me, was very invested in one of them. And I suspect that Candace Owens is hanging out with people who are hanging out with

Mel Gibson's father's group. I don't know the name of the group. When groups of people have to coexist for 2,000 years, grudges can pile up. And there can be fault on both sides. There can be long, deep-seated grudges. As Christians, we need to renounce these grudges. We need to renounce these quarrels. We need to forgive. We need to try to put forth the love of Jesus Christ and draw people towards him and towards his cross, not nurse, petty grudges from hundreds of years ago that we can look up in European folklore. And I think all of this is the devil's attempt to keep people away from Jesus by making Christians obnoxious and making them hateful and thereby driving people away from the gospel. And so we need to play, we want no part of that

kind of the devil's plan to alienate people from the gospel. I just, we just have another minute or so, but wasn't Mel Gibson's father involved in a Catholic group that was particularly anti-Semitic? Yeah, yeah, he was. And it's unfortunate, you know, my mind. mother wouldn't get out of the car in Chinatown because of Pearl Harbor because she made no distinction. He said, I don't trust those people. They all look the same to me. I have nightmares about them. They eat cats. Well, I don't want to be judged by that. I want to be able to go into a Chinese restaurant and order chicken, meow, no more, and not be judged by my mother's biases. And so I'm not going to judge Mill Gibson based on his father. Oh, no, I'm not judging Mel Gibson. I'm not even judging

his father. I'm just looking for clarity because sometimes, listen, people say crazy things, but it seems to me that there are, that there are places among hardcore Catholics where you see this. And I know that Mel Gibson's father was guilty of that in Mel Gibson's drunk and ran 15 years ago. There are now hardcore Protestant groups running around promoting anti-Semitic things. It is a temptation from the devil and we can't fall into screw tapes clutches. And we can't fall into screw tapes, clutches and we have to be vigilant. We have to be vigilant that we practice the virtue of forgiveness which Jesus preached from the cross. Father forgive them. They know not what they do. It's not easy.

It's not easy, but it is commanded by Jesus and it's not extra credit Christianity, ladies and gentlemen. So, man, there's so much more I want to talk with you about John. I know we're both out of time. Very grateful for you, my friend. Folks, stick around in a moment, I'm going to be speaking to someone whose name is Gerson, Moreno Riano. He is the president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm a big fan, and you'll find out why in a moment, we'll be right back. A major retail chain just canceled a massive order, leaving My Pillo with an overstock of the classic My Pillows, and this is your gain, because for a limited time, my pillow is offering their entire classic collection at true wholesale prices. Get a standard My Pillar

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Don't wait. Head to MyPillow.com today or call 800-978 3057. Now. Don't forget to use promo code Eric to grab your standard My Pillow for only 1798 only while supplies last. Hey there, folks. Welcome back as promised. My guest now is the president of Cornerstone University, a fantastic university, Christian University. in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gerson, Moreno, Riano. Welcome to the program. Greetings, Eric, it's great to see you again.

Thank you. Well, Gerson, we should say it again because maybe people didn't hear it. The last time you were on the program about a month ago, I now have a formal relationship with Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan,

which tells people I guess what I think of Cornerstone University if I would have a formal relationship with the university. Well, it tells people what we think of you, Eric. We think so highly of you, you know, the work that you are doing, your prophetic voice and your boldness and courage for Christ in the Christian worldview. So we're so grateful to have as a distinguished presidential fellow at Cornerstone and having you in the fall in the spring come and speak to our students in chapel and teach and meet with others. And it's a great. opportunity to join hands and do great kingdom work for God's glory.

Well, you're so gracious in saying that. But, I mean, it is an interesting time, interesting times in which we live. Because there's only a handful of Christian colleges who would want a relationship with Eric Mataxis or would invite me to their campus. Most of them, like Wheaton at the top of the list, would not want me to come to their campus, much less have an affiliation with them, which tells you something I think about Wheaton and about a lot of these schools that we once held up as bastions of the faith, bulwarks of the faith, defenders of the faith, champions of the faith. And they have really gone wobbly and opened the door to

wokeism, and it's rampant. And I say this often. But it's one of the reasons when I visited Cornerstone a little bit over a year ago, I guess, I was so impressed. I thought, wow, how wonderful to know that you guys exist. So I'm excited to be a distinguished presidential fellow. Thanks for inviting me to do that. And I think I will be visiting the campus for two days in October. I think I don't remember the days in October, but I know I'll be with you guys in October. I'm already looking forward to it. The reason we have you on is to talk about college, higher education as somebody that I trust on the issue. So there are many people who'd like to talk about it, but I trust you on the issue since I've gotten to know you. So where should we start?

I think maybe did you want to talk about the spiritual life of Christians on college campuses? I should say, by the way, before we get into that, I remember when I, I, I was at Yale. I sort of was a Christian at the time. And there was, I think, an intervarsity group on the campus, and there was a campus crusade group on the campus. And this is in the 80s. But I got to say, it was kind of lame. The overwhelming sense on the campus is, we don't do that here.

It was a very, very secular environment. And I know that most colleges are like that or have gotten that way, very politically liberal, very secular. What is your sense of what's going on in colleges across the country? Yeah, Eric, it's an incredible, like one hand, I think you have students today with probably a greater desire for truth in universities. to address the spiritual life and their spiritual needs. I just give you an example in 2003, UCLA that I studied called the spiritual life of college students. And here are the question students back in 2003 were asking, now this is a study from a

sector of university, right? Here are the questions. What's the meaning of college? What am I going to do with my life? How will I know I am going the right way? What kind of person do I want to be? How am I going to leave my mark when I finally pass away? These are profound questions from undergraduate students back in, you know, 20 years plus ago

that were being asked. And the latest data out there for 2025, it has not changed. I think students now are more spiritually awake looking for answers, willing to have conversations, willing to explore. And the challenge now is that for universities and Christian universities, they're more secular now than they have ever been. So in a book just published this year by James Frazier called Religion in the American University, I highly recommend this book.

He says this. He begins by saying, without a doubt, most colleges and universities in the United States, with the exception of a few institutions appear to be much more secular than they were 100 or 200 years ago when matters of religious faith were central to all aspects of the students. experience. So on the one hand, we have students clamoring, seeking answers, and universities is much more secular and refusing to give those answers and to guide students and educate them well. So we have a significant crisis, I think, in higher education, Christian or non. And we have a great, I call it a historic opportunity. You know, you look at data in Generation Z, the Zoomers, as they're

called. They want to talk about God. They're looking for meaning. They're willing to explore lots of different answers, and yet they're doing among themselves with their peers. Universities are not doing that for them. University, as you just mentioned, are stuck on DEI and woke and other things that miss this amazing opportunity to shepherd the souls of our students. And I think that's why a place like Cornerstone University is so important. But, you know, or other places like Cornerstone. We have to be stay true and central to Christ and the Christian worldview and the beautiful,

the true and the good, and not waver from that. and educate students toward those things. And I think if we do that well, we'll maximize this opportunity we have. And if we don't, it would be a tremendous disaster and shame. Part of what's interesting to me, part of the movement away from God has to do, I mean, let's face it, with Christians making accommodation for non-Christian ideas. In other words, the issue of sex outside of men, marriage, the issue of sexuality, the issue of, you know, what is trans, what they've kind of

opened the door. And it's always in the name of evangelism. It's always in the name, I mean, in my book, Letter to the American Church, I have a chapter called the idol of evangelism. And that's kind of the way in that they said, well, we're so interested in evangelism, we don't want to be divisive on this issue or that issue. But if you don't teach clearly a biblical view of sexuality, of marriage, of the human person, you open the door to all of this crazy stuff, which of course leads to DEI, which leads, and you're giving Christian students this false idea that that stuff doesn't matter or we don't need to talk about that. And I mean, it's fascinating in a way because it's the process of secularization entering the church.

rather than the church saying that this is true and we want to teach this and we want to teach us at the university level, they're kind of saying like, well, we don't want to go there. We're just going to do evangelism. That's how I see it. No, look, I think you're right. I think, you know, John West wrote this book, Discovery Institute book, on Stockholm Syndrome, Christianity. And what happens with Christianity and the church accommodate the cultural held hostage by and you give into it? We're having John West speak to our faculty and staff here.

week for a faculty, staff retreat on how do we avoid Stockholm syndrome Christianity, especially to Christian University? You can't accommodate these things. And I think it's been the challenge. And I don't think it's just a lack of courage. And I think you're right, the idol of that idol of evangelization, it oftentimes opens the door to a comedy in the culture. I also think there's this virtue now, which I've said before, it's not a virtue, the virtue

of doubt and skepticism and cynicism that's crept into the church, that to a full, to a what is true and good and beautiful is to be arrogant and to be proud and somehow this false view of humility, right? That real humility, real meekness means you don't affirm certainty, you don't affirm truth, beauty, and goodness because who are you to declare? Who are you to say there's such a thing and to say that you get it? That's arrogant. That's false. That's not a, that is a false teaching. There's not a biblical teaching throughout the pages of the New Testament. Christ and the apostles affirm what is true in beautiful and good and ask us to do the same. And of course, we do it as spirit of humility.

We're not the source of those things. It's God and Jesus and the Word and the Spirit and Revelation, but we're called to be ambassadors of those things, right, to carry those out and communicate and share and say and speak and teach those things. But somehow it's this false notion that I just don't want to offend you. No, it's just that's arrogant to do that. And I think that's a very false, corrupt teaching that's crept into the church not for years and years and years. I remember when Brian McLeary wrote that book, a new kind of Christian way back in the 90s.

And I remember that when that book hit Christian universes, it cost an uproar, and many began to follow it. That a new kind of Christian was a postmodern Christian, a humble Christian, open to various truths and paths and not willing to affirm anything because to do so was arrogant, fundamentalist, It's most my day. It's foolish. It's mind-blowing. It's mind-blowing stuff. We'll be right back, folks. And if you want to know why I love Cornerstone University, just the fact they're having John West on campus, that tells you everything. We'll be right back.

Welcome back. My guest is Gerson-Moriano Rianio, who is the president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which has just honored me by making me a distinguished presidential fellow of the university. Gerson, we were just talking about, well, we're talking about a lot of stuff, but you mentioned that at Cornerstone, you're having John West to Cornerstone

to speak about his new book. We've had him on the program to speak about that book, Stockholm Syndrome, Christianity. And I want to mention, in case anybody does know what that, a lot of times there's younger people that they're not going to get the term. They're not going to understand what that means. Stockholm Syndrome, ladies,

and gentlemen, without getting into it, it really means like there was, I can't remember when this happened. This must have been in the 70s. Some people were kidnapped in Stockholm. And the people who were kidnapped over time began to take on the views of the people who kidnapped them. In other was, they began to feel like, you know what, these people have a point. They're angry and upset and have to do mean stuff like kidnap people because they've got a legitimate grievance. So Stockholm syndrome is when the people, you know, who are being treated in this way, flip and actually take on the views of their oppressors. The same thing happened to Patty Hurst earlier in the 1970s.

She's kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. And before you know it, she's taken on the views of the Symbionese Liberation Army. And so what John West brilliantly says in his book, Stockholm Syndrome Christianity, which we've been talking about, is that many in the American church have began to take on the views of the culture. They've begun to take on the views of the world. It's kind of like, you know, if the Israelites in Egypt begin taking on the views of the Egyptian, begin worshipping the gods of the Egyptians. The actual Lord of hosts says, no, no, no, no.

You're supposed to be separate. You're supposed to bring your faith to them. Don't let their faith or their lack of faith affect you. And that's been going on in the evangelical world. And we've really seen so much of it that I've been shocked that, you know, publishers like Zondervan, they publish this like, woke Bible not so long ago. You know, people that I thought, man, you know, these are good guys.

We had Biola hired Ed Stetzer to head up their fuller school, or is the Talbot school. Sorry, I don't even remember. But the point is that you really see this a lot in higher education, that they've opened the doors to these quote-unquote alternative views, but they're destroying the truth they're supposed to stand for. Yeah, it's so destructive. I mean, having John West, we have an annual fall faculty, staff, retreat. We set aside two entire days to pray, to worship, and then to really do deep intellectual

work in our community with our faculty and staff and preparation for the school year. And when John West and I talked about this, I invited him a couple months back, and I said, you know, that would be a fantastic conversation. To what degree has Christian higher education, you know, accommodate these things and what do we need to do to ensure we stay faithful and true and be aware of those things because it's very insidious. It really, really is. In the academy for the last five, six decades, you know, the critical theory has been one of the most terrifying cancers, quite frankly, that stepped into the academy and everyone has bought into it. I mean, they're very,

very rarely do you find people who have not. This notion that there is no truth, no good, no beauty. It's all power. It's all someone. that power, some don't, and those who have the power make up the rules. And in essence, you find it everywhere. It's so destructive and insidious. And you've created generations of cynics and skeptics through our university system. That has to change and must change. And especially at a Christian university, there is no place for that. Not that we can't be appropriate skeptics and critics of things and engage critical thinking and reasoning, but the goal of that is to discern truth from error, right? Falsehood and fiction and what's true and beautiful and good, and to educate

students in that pursuit and acquisition of what is true. But that critical theory has destroyed the academy. It's no longer that. And thus, I think it was in Iowa just this past week. I think the legislature passed a bill. I think it's in the state of Iowa or Idaho that bans indoctrination in universities. I saw this bill in the last two weeks. It was passed through a lot of debate, but the argument in essence from the state legislature was public universities cannot indoctrinate students. If you're going to teach a controversial subject, teach you from every viewpoint possible to provide students in education, not an indoctrination. I think it's the first bill of its kind in America, but it tells you where we are as a country with higher education, Eric. Well, it's exciting to me that, you know, when somebody's spending taxpayer money, the taxpayers have a right to say.

say we don't want our money spent that way. That's not what we're paying for. And so you need people in politics with courage, which often does not exist. But people who have courage and say, listen, you want this money, you want federal funding, you want state funding. Well, then you have to play by these rules. And if you don't want to play with these rules, that's fine. No money. So that's, that is very, very encouraging. And I've been really amazed. We were going to go to a break in a minute here, but I've been amazed that President Trump has had the tremendous guts to go after a lot of these federally funded, you know, Harvard and other schools that are getting tons of federal money, which they shouldn't be getting a penny, and saying like, oh, you want

federal money? Well, then guess what? You're going to have to change on this, this, this, this, no more DEI. We're not going to, we're not going to fund you. If you want the money, you're going to have to change. We'll be right back, folks. Let's see her from the Texas show. Stick around. Welcome back. My guest is Gerson Moreno Riano, Riano, who is the president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gerson, let's talk about the skyrocketing costs of higher education. I have to say that a lot of people, when they talk to me now about college, I tell them, you know, unless you're going to go to a place like Cornerstone, or there's a handful of schools, handful that I would recommend,

I don't know that I would go to college. I really see them basically as indoctrination centers. They will fill impressionable young minds with, you know, you mentioned critical theory. Critical theory is satanic. Critical theory is fundamentally atheistic. It is cultural Marxism. It is diabolical. You got to cut to the chase and tell people. It's not just some interesting stuff. It is utterly diabolical. It's pernicious. It leads to cynicism. And it destroys your ability to think, oh, yes, there is a truth. There's good and evil. So sometimes I kind of, you know, wonder, I'm amazed that people pay all this money to go to colleges. And they're getting,

in most colleges, they're getting indoctrinated with very harmful ideas. Yeah, it's so destructive. And the work pernicious is so apt. It's not education, indoctrination. You're paying. I mean, some schools are over $100,000 per year. That's unconscionable. It will cost you half a million to get a degree from those institutions. Vanderbill was the first one. So, and, But I think the American people are smart enough to know there's a problem here. What's the value for that? We're not sure there is significant value. I mean, 70 percent, I think, of Americans left or right are saying that higher ed is in the wrong direction. We need to change it. And so I do think that, as you mentioned before break, what President Trump has done is to call the question. And number one, say, you're indoctrinating. You're doing all these things that are wrong when we want to pull your funding. But I think perhaps more can be done. I think the Idaho, Idaho, Idaho. or Iowa legislature in some ways is setting a precedent by holding institutions accountable to real education that brings real value, not indoctrination. And I wonder if more can be done in that sense across the space.

I think years ago I were a piece on the revival of American higher education, how we should hold institutions accountable to their mission. If you look at the missions of most universities, Eric, they all speak about the public good, right? High level beautiful language. They're here to advance the public good. Well, how do you do that? You don't do it through indoctrination. You don't do it through anti-Semitism. You don't do it through focusing on certain skin color and disregarding the other. You don't focus on all those kinds of critical theory. She's so destructive. You advance what's beautiful, what's true and it's good. And frankly, most individuals are common sense enough to understand what that is. I'll give an example. Just several weeks ago, my wife and I were vacationing a little town up north and it's good. Michigan and we walk into the town center and it's a sign that says use these resources wisely okay for the public to read use these resources wisely and I looked at my wife and I said that's presupposes that people understand wisely what does that mean in my sense is that most people know what that is there's common sense understanding of you treat things well with respect and

with care it's amazing how universities have created their own jargon their own own nomenclature to obfuscate what is good. It's not that hard. And so I think more can be down to whole institutions and there are crediting agencies accountable to advance these things and to hold institutions accountable to do that. In terms of the value piece, I will tell you, two years ago, we did, we asked our team here, Carstone, let's do a significant tuition reset and we reset tuition by 22%. So we're the most affordable Christian, private, great world-class quality institution in the state of Michigan, at 22% tuition reset, because we knew that we've got to bring real value but be great stewards for families. And then this year, we launched something, and I'll tell you

the feedback we'll receive, we launched a program where you can receive your undergraduate degree for less than $24,000 for the entire degree. What? Excuse me. I think that you must have misspoken. Seriously? Like, how is that possible? You got to explain that one. Well, we create a program called SOAR, S-O-A-R, and if you go to our website, you'll see it there. And what we did is working with faculty and staff and great technology, we put an entire degree on a mobile app. So that on a mobile app, you can download the app and go through it with our faculty and staff and receive your entire education for that price tag for $24,000. or less. And we launched this two months ago with great fanfare here in Grand Rapids. I went to Chicago and met with Pastor Cory Brooks. You may know Corey, the rooftop pastor, and brought sword to him. And he came to our campus last week and signed the Golden Eagle partnership. And he said to me,

you know, Dr. Marino, you've just removed two of the huge obstacles for the black community, the price tag and the accessibility. And we want our people to have this in Southside Chicago, because it brings them education, world-class Christian higher education to them at a prize that just, it's incredible. So we really have taken significant steps to use our resources, faculty, our staff, our technology to build something online

and on-campus that is tremendously affordable with the goal of reaching every household in America with it, Eric. Well, I think just the idea, you know, when you mentioned John West, the idea that you're bringing folks like that, I mean, most of these evangelical colleges would not invite John West or Eric Metaxus. They really, they betray their theological and political liberalism, that they are somehow, you know, they're made uncomfortable by the truth or by. And I just find it so interesting because that,

that to me, we're living in such divided times, that tells you everything. You know, who will you invite to your campus? Who are you open to having? And again, we know that higher education has gone just dramatically liberal. It's been that way for a long time, but it's gotten worse and worse and worse and worse. And I always thought the Christian schools will stand against it. And many of them have not, which is very upsetting, frankly. We've just got 30 seconds left, Gerson. Any final thoughts? Well, Eric, we've talked a lot about what I call traditional undergraduate students. What I've seen through the SOAR program is adult students, 35 and over, they're just as hungry for price in the Christian worldview as the undergrads.

And there are about 100, over 100 million of these students out there, adults without degrees. So we have an incredible opportunity as at Christian University to reach the masses with a beautiful message of Jesus in a world-class education. It has value for them in the market. And that's an opportunity that, as I say, in campus 24-7, 365, let's do it. Grison, thank you. I look forward to seeing you on the campus of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids soon. Thanks again. Eric, thank you. See you soon. Thank you. Hey there, folks. This is that time of the week where we do an Ask Metaxus segment. It's a weekly recurring segment to submit questions for Ask Metaxus, please email info at Eric Metaxus, info at Eric

Metaxus, or you can simply reply to one of my newsletters, which you should be getting twice a week. Okay, so here are the questions. Question number one. Eric, what books about Greek history would you recommend, please? I think I've been asked this question before, and I have the same answer now as I had then. I'm embarrassed to say that I am so myself ignorant of Greek history that I can't think of a book to recommend. If anybody listening would like to recommend a book or two, email us at info at ericmetaxis.com because I'd probably like to read that book myself. Speaking of Greek history, second question. Eric, I came upon an article about about St. Paul's shipwreck not happening in Malta, but on another Greek island.

Okay, I think whoever sent this question and came upon the article that I posted, it's at Eric Mataxis.com. I translated an article, which was written, I think, in 1987 on the subject, and I met the author. So the person asking this question says, can we ever really know whether Paul was shipwrecked on Malta or on another Greek island? What I know is that the Malta is not an Italian island, but it was under Roman rule at the time. The snakes on modern-day Malta are not poisonous. That's correct. That's why I'm pretty sure Paul was not shipwrecked on the island today called Malta,

even though everybody in Malta claims that he was. I'm almost certain that he was not. And if you want to read it, read the article. It's go to Eric Metaxus.com. Under my writings, you'll find it there. but it's pretty clear that he was not shipwrecked on Malta, even though a lot of Bibles say Malta, the Greek word is Maliti, and they kind of think,

oh, there must be Malta, so they put in Malta. Okay, so I'm still reading this question. It says that the person writing questions says, I'm pretty sure the author of the article was never unlucky enough to be on Malta in one of its winter storms. It is fine weather, but the Saraco wind loves Malta, and I've lived through a February Saraco storm where you'll think

all the windows in the house are going to be blown away and where temperatures at night dipped even to 7 degrees Celsius. I'm not sure how that follows. But anyway, I do not think Paul was shipwrecked on Malta. I think if you had to guess,

you'd say, no way. But it's hard to say. But I think he was shipwrecked on the Greek island of Keppelonia, which happens to be the island where my father grew up, where my family are from. and that's how I kind of learned about this. So we'll leave it there.

Final question. We thought we'd end with a light one. Eric, what's your reaction to anti-Israel, anti-Semitism among conservatives and Christians? I'm upset mostly by people who demonize people who disagree with them. In other words, I have been very public. I stand with Israel. I'm in favor of President Trump standing with President Netanyahu to defend Israel. And I could go on and on about that. But I also think it is okay for somebody like Tucker Carlson to ask questions. And I think that that's where I find myself right now. Like you have to be able to say, I stand with Israel, but I don't agree with all the policies.

of Benjamin Netanyahu's government. You know, there's a lot of stuff that goes on in any government that you have to be able to say, I don't like that. And it doesn't mean you're unpatriotic or you're anti-Semitic. You have to be able to do that. But there are people who are so hidebound on this that if you don't agree with them 100%,

on either side, by the way, they will attack you. And I find that to be the biggest problem because I think we really do have to be able to say, I stand with Israel, but we have to be able to say that without being called anti-Semites. On the other hand, there is real anti-Semitism, and we're out of time, but I condemn that with everything in me.