Eric Metaxas Calls Charlie Kirk a Martyr and Compares Him to Revolutionary Hero Joseph Warren

[00:01] Hey there folks. Good morning.

[00:04] What happened yesterday makes it even

[00:06] challenging to say good morning, which

[00:08] you know um my uh my dear friend,

[00:14] my brother in Christ, Charlie Kirk, was

[00:16] murdered yesterday. You knew that. Um

[00:21] I had already pre-recorded a program for

[00:23] today and tomorrow. I wasn't planning to

[00:26] even do radio today. uh we um we rarely

[00:33] change our plans, but what happened

[00:35] yesterday.

[00:37] There's so uh uh much to say. Um I want

[00:41] to say upfront, first of all, I'm not

[00:43] going to try to say everything today. Uh

[00:46] on Monday and Tuesday,

[00:49] after I've had some more time to think

[00:51] about this, uh we'll have a number of

[00:53] guests. Uh we'll do more justice to

[00:59] to what happened. Uh, we'll try on

[01:02] Monday and on Tuesday. Um, I've been

[01:05] working on an essay about this that I'm

[01:08] going to send out to my email list

[01:11] today. Uh, ericmataxis.com.

[01:14] Uh, if you if you're signed up for my

[01:16] newsletter, you'll get my thoughts. Um,

[01:19] but for now, let me just say a couple of

[01:24] things. Uh,

[01:26] I um

[01:28] I loved Charlie

[01:31] and I think I would embarrass him

[01:34] when I would say to him, "I love you,

[01:37] Charlie." You know, uh when when uh

[01:41] young men are kind of funny that way. Uh

[01:44] but I'm a Christian and I uh I h I'm not

[01:48] uh and I'm older, so I'm not embarrassed

[01:50] about telling people I love them. Um

[01:53] especially when I do uh and oftentimes

[01:56] Charlie would give a speech or

[01:58] something, I'd be next on the docket or

[02:00] whatever it was and he's coming off. I'd

[02:01] be like, "I love you, Charlie." Uh

[02:05] because he was um we we all know this.

[02:09] He was an outrageously special

[02:11] outrageously special gifted human being.

[02:14] I I I can say bluntly

[02:18] other than Donald Trump,

[02:20] I cannot think of anyone

[02:24] with more outrageous raw talent from

[02:29] God. Let's be clear, it's from God. God

[02:33] invented and created Donald Trump. God

[02:36] created invented and created Charlie

[02:38] Kirk. Um,

[02:41] and I was in awe of Charlie's talent.

[02:44] And probably he was too because, you

[02:46] know, you don't you you you don't know,

[02:50] you know, if you're 12 feet tall, like

[02:52] you can't take credit for your height,

[02:53] but it's a little it's a little wild to

[02:56] realize. Uh, Charlie was 12 feet tall.

[02:58] He was he he had a gift that was just an

[03:01] outrageous gift from God. But what you

[03:04] can do is you can use it for yourself or

[03:07] for God's purposes. He used it for God's

[03:09] purposes. That I know. Uh I also said

[03:12] yesterday uh on X

[03:14] that um it's not too soon to say Charlie

[03:17] was a murderer. He was murdered for his

[03:20] faith in Jesus Christ at the heart of

[03:22] everything he did. This is no

[03:23] exaggeration. I mean there there are

[03:25] lots of conservatives out there who I

[03:28] would say, "Oh yeah, he's a Christian."

[03:30] But it wasn't the motivating force for

[03:34] them. For Charlie, it was that was it

[03:36] was at the heart of everything he

[03:38] believed. It was at the heart of his

[03:41] worldview. His worldview didn't come out

[03:42] of, you know, Edmund Burke and William

[03:44] F. Buckley. Uh it it came from the

[03:47] Bible. Uh filtered through Edmund Burke

[03:49] and William F. Buckley and a number of

[03:51] other heroes, Rush Limbbo, of course,

[03:54] but uh his faith was at the heart of

[03:58] everything for him. And I know that

[03:59] because I knew Charlie personally, uh

[04:01] prayed with Charlie. Um I it wasn't his

[04:05] faith wasn't an afterthought or it

[04:07] wasn't an add-on. It was at the heart of

[04:09] everything. So his murder yesterday was

[04:12] um

[04:14] I it he's he's a martyr. He's a martyr.

[04:17] Um some of you know uh I'm writing a

[04:21] book on the American Revolution.

[04:23] Um, in the early days of the American

[04:26] Revolution, one of the great heroes, not

[04:30] so much remembered today, but one of the

[04:33] truly great heroes was Joseph Warren,

[04:36] Dr. Joseph Warren. He was the animating

[04:40] force of the whole cause before the

[04:43] revolution.

[04:44] Uh, and

[04:48] he was killed at the Battle of Bunker

[04:49] Hill. So just at the very beginning of

[04:52] the beginning he was killed. Everyone

[04:55] felt that loss the way we today feel the

[04:58] loss of Charlie. Uh everyone assumed

[05:03] that this was the leader of the cause.

[05:05] Joseph Warren was the leader of the

[05:07] cause. He would have been uh

[05:09] commander-in-chief of the army uh

[05:11] instead of George Washington would have

[05:13] been the first president before George I

[05:15] mean Joseph Warren but God who is

[05:17] sovereign allowed Joseph Warren to leave

[05:21] this world at the battle of Bunker Hill

[05:25] just as God who is sovereign

[05:28] allowed Charlie

[05:30] to leave this world now rather than 30

[05:35] or 60 years from now which is would have

[05:38] been more acceptable to us. Um so

[05:42] there's a lot here but uh we got to say

[05:47] that Charlie was a martyr is a martyr.

[05:50] Uh the most important thing in his life

[05:52] was his faith in Jesus.

[05:54] Um

[05:56] and God is sovereign and the God who is

[05:59] sovereign this is hard for us to process

[06:01] but I need to say this. God who is

[06:04] sovereign,

[06:06] who

[06:08] pointedly

[06:10] saved Donald Trump's life from what

[06:13] ought to have been his murder,

[06:16] did not save Charlie's life yesterday.

[06:21] That is very hard for us to process that

[06:24] God could have and he didn't. God allows

[06:27] evil. Um, we praise God in all

[06:31] circumstances. At least if you know God

[06:34] the way Charlie did, and I do, you do.

[06:37] You praise God in all, even when it

[06:38] barely makes sense. It makes no natural

[06:40] sense, but you praise God.

[06:43] One thing I want to say is that Charlie

[06:44] fulfilled his assignment. Um, our mutual

[06:48] friend Jack Hibbs said yesterday in a

[06:49] post, uh, the words for Charlie are,

[06:53] "Well done, good and faithful servant.

[06:58] He fulfilled his assignment and what he

[07:01] did in his short 31 years, my goodness,

[07:05] I is so monumental. It is so monumental

[07:10] that

[07:12] endless things are going to follow from

[07:14] it. It's not like he's done like what he

[07:16] did. He has raised up an army of people

[07:19] who love truth. Okay? And when I say an

[07:22] army, not not an not an army to be

[07:24] violent the way the secular left stoops

[07:26] to violence and murder. No, to be the

[07:29] enemies of violence,

[07:32] to go to war with violence through

[07:34] nonviolent means through love and truth

[07:38] and words and prayer.

[07:41] That's the God that Charlie knew and

[07:44] worshiped and gave his life for,

[07:49] lived his life for, and gave his life

[07:51] for. That's that's the God we worship.

[07:54] So yes, we are in a spiritual war, but

[07:58] it's a spiritual war. And anybody stupid

[08:03] enough not to get that, to resort to

[08:05] violence, is playing into the hands of

[08:08] the enemy of God.

[08:10] playing into the hands of the enemies of

[08:13] truth.

[08:15] We are called to love radically, to pray

[08:18] for our enemies, to know there but for

[08:20] the grace of God go I. And so the left

[08:24] has stooped

[08:26] uh to embrace what filth and power and

[08:30] violence. They have become that. They

[08:32] were not always that in this country.

[08:35] They have become that. And I hope that

[08:37] the death

[08:39] of my friend will wake some of them up

[08:41] to see what they have become. Um it is

[08:44] it is um

[08:48] this is a tough moment. Uh I've just got

[08:51] a few other things to share,

[08:54] but um

[08:58] I um I'm mostly speechless. Most of what

[09:02] I have to say, I'll say uh in my in my

[09:08] newsletter today, icaxis.com. I'll put

[09:11] it on X. Um

[09:15] it's this is very this is hard to

[09:16] process, but we praise we praise Jesus

[09:19] in the midst of all this darkness. We

[09:21] praise God. Okay, I'll be right back.

[09:25] Hey there, folks. Welcome back. Um it's

[09:28] September 11th

[09:30] and uh normally on September 11th I

[09:33] would talk about September 11th.

[09:35] Uh and in fact in the next segment we

[09:38] will play

[09:40] uh what I recorded yesterday about

[09:42] September 11th, my memories of September

[09:44] 11th. But it's kind of funny because

[09:45] September 11th

[09:48] was one of those days in your life that

[09:50] you'll never never never never forget.

[09:52] Just like I will never never never

[09:53] forget ever. uh September 10th, 2025,

[09:59] yesterday. Um I was um so when we come

[10:04] back, we'll I just to be clear uh in the

[10:08] next part of this hour, I'm going to

[10:11] play uh we'll play

[10:14] what I recorded yesterday, my memories

[10:16] of September 11th,

[10:18] uh 25 years ago almost. Um, and then

[10:22] after that we're going to play. Um,

[10:26] I had a conversation with my friend Desh

[10:27] Duza about the film he has coming out.

[10:30] Sometimes I actually think it's good for

[10:31] us to get our minds off of The Thing.

[10:34] Uh, and and The Thing, you know, The

[10:36] Murder of My Friend Charlie. We can

[10:39] obsess on this and and it it's kind of

[10:41] mentally healthy, emotionally healthy,

[10:44] uh, to talk about something else. So um

[10:46] so in the next segment uh I'll play what

[10:48] I recorded yesterday about 9/11, my

[10:51] memories of 9/11. Uh then after that I

[10:53] have a part of my conversation with my

[10:55] friend Desh Duza about his new film um

[10:59] which is based on the book written by

[11:01] our friend um Jonathan Khan. So that's

[11:06] this hour. in hour two. I had a great

[11:09] conversation yesterday with my friend

[11:10] Larry Taton and I want to play that in

[11:13] hour two. Tomorrow, um I will play a

[11:19] very important conversation I had with

[11:21] Mel K. Some of you know her. She's

[11:23] amazing. Uh we recorded that yesterday

[11:28] um for tomorrow.

[11:30] Um, and on Monday and Tuesday,

[11:34] after we've had some time to reflect,

[11:36] I'm gonna go all in on talking about my

[11:39] friend Charlie, my friend Charlie Kirk.

[11:41] You know, uh, I met Charlie when he was

[11:43] 24.

[11:45] And I was astonished,

[11:48] as anybody with a brain would have to

[11:50] be, at his talent, a an awe inspiring

[11:56] kind of talent. And you realize, wow,

[11:58] what is God going to do with this? And

[12:00] there was no doubt in my mind as I got

[12:02] to know him better over the years

[12:04] because I saw him everywhere and we had

[12:06] all kinds of encounters here and there

[12:09] and conversations mostly jokey, joking,

[12:12] joking, joking, joking, uh, teasing, um,

[12:18] which is the joy of those kinds of

[12:20] friendships. I have the same kind of

[12:21] friendship with Dennis Prager. Just you

[12:23] have to work to stop joking. But um but

[12:27] I I was kind of there was no doubt as I

[12:31] observed Charlie over the years that

[12:34] there's no doubt and this is a crazy

[12:36] thing to say but it's a fact. There's no

[12:37] doubt that he will be president.

[12:41] You know unless he's murdered. There's

[12:43] no doubt and not just president but a

[12:45] great president. I mean he had a level

[12:47] of talent that was truly astonishing. I

[12:51] don't say this lightly. Uh I I the only

[12:55] person I could compare him to is

[12:57] President Trump. Just a level of gifting

[12:58] that you're just you're in awe of of the

[13:02] ability this innate ability uh that that

[13:06] is so extraordinary. Um I a few moments

[13:10] ago I compared Charlie to Joseph Warren,

[13:12] Dr. Joseph Warren, who was just one of

[13:14] the heroes of the revolution and who was

[13:18] cut down very early in life. he was in

[13:21] his 30s and he would have gone on to be,

[13:24] you know, a George Washington figure.

[13:26] There's no doubt about it. And how God

[13:28] and his sovereignty allows these things.

[13:30] And I I've often said, I said it in my

[13:32] book, Religionless Christianity. I think

[13:34] it's the first line of my my my most

[13:36] recent book, Religionless Christianity,

[13:38] that we are in a spiritual war.

[13:41] But I believe it's the Lord's will that

[13:43] we win this war. This spiritual war.

[13:47] This is not a war with guns, folks.

[13:50] And I'll say it again. Anybody stupid

[13:52] enough to try to retaliate, you you are

[13:55] in bed with the devil, if you are that

[13:59] foolish that that you would that you

[14:01] would not understand, uh that this is a

[14:04] spiritual war. Um

[14:07] but when you're in a spiritual war, uh

[14:11] and it is a war, it's a cultural war,

[14:13] it's a political war. Um,

[14:17] even if you know you're going to win,

[14:20] which we will. I believe that's God's

[14:22] will, that we take our country back,

[14:25] that we restore common sense, uh, all of

[14:28] that. Even if you know in the end you

[14:31] win,

[14:33] in a war there are casualties.

[14:36] And

[14:38] Charlie Kirk's death, he's he's a

[14:40] casualty in the war. If if you would

[14:42] have said to George Washington in 1776,

[14:45] "Listen, we're going to win."

[14:49] Well, that's great. That's what makes

[14:52] you keep going and keep fighting. But

[14:56] there will be casualties and there were

[14:59] many, many, many, many casualties in the

[15:02] revolution.

[15:03] Um, so

[15:06] one of the things we have to remind

[15:07] ourselves of is what uh Charlie knew

[15:14] and I know but we have to remind

[15:16] ourselves is that this world is not all

[15:19] there is. Um there is another world

[15:24] and our ultimate fidelity

[15:28] is

[15:30] to God.

[15:32] uh we we we want to live out those

[15:34] values um in this world and uh it's

[15:40] import it's important that we remember

[15:41] that we keep our eyes focused on that. I

[15:43] was saying before that

[15:46] Jack Hibbs, who I was just at an event

[15:48] in California with Jack and Charlie a

[15:51] few weeks ago, uh at TPUSA

[15:54] faith event. Um

[15:57] and Jack just said that, you know,

[16:00] Charlie

[16:01] uh he fought the good fight and he could

[16:05] hear the words of his heavenly father,

[16:07] "Well done, thou good and faithful

[16:09] servant." That's what we should all long

[16:10] to do. And that's really

[16:13] what God's will is for us is to let

[16:17] something like this horrible murder

[16:20] motivate us to live more boldly for God.

[16:24] Uh and to stop pretending that, oh, it's

[16:27] not so bad and everything's f No, we're

[16:29] we're in a war with evil, folks. But

[16:32] when you're in a war with evil, this

[16:34] something like this reminds you you're

[16:35] in a war with evil. And it reminds you

[16:37] you have to live more radically for

[16:40] God's purposes. And and number one

[16:43] um me it means loving your enemies by

[16:47] praying for your enemies and by doing

[16:49] what Charlie did. I mean he lived this

[16:51] out. He would go on campuses as he did

[16:53] yesterday when he was murdered and he

[16:55] would in a civil way

[16:59] talk respectfully to people who

[17:01] sometimes hated his guts. talk

[17:02] respectfully to them, not respond in

[17:05] hate. Incredible

[17:08] uh to my mind that that he had the

[17:11] ability to do that, the self-discipline

[17:13] to smile and not to respond in kind. Um

[17:19] so,

[17:21] well,

[17:23] all right. So, when we come back, I I

[17:25] got my u just yesterday I had some

[17:27] reflections on 911. This will all seem

[17:30] dated now.

[17:32] Uh, I'll talk to Desh Duza about the

[17:35] film coming up in hour two. I talked to

[17:37] my friend Larry Taton. But for now, let

[17:39] me just say yesterday, you know,

[17:43] it's incredible. Um, I I recorded the

[17:45] show, drove Connecticut, went to the

[17:47] gym. When I got to the gym, I got a a

[17:51] text, Charlie's been shot in the neck.

[17:54] Put out a video to for people to pray. I

[17:56] did that right away.

[17:59] Not long after that, a a friend who is

[18:02] close to

[18:05] Charlie's family um texted me that

[18:11] they they were pretty sure he did not

[18:13] survive. And that that you know, you

[18:16] just reel I I I just reeled. I said that

[18:19] cannot be that's not it's too horrible

[18:22] too horrible to imagine. Too horrible.

[18:26] Um and so I kept praying. I prayed with

[18:29] Suzanne

[18:31] while I was at the gym. Um,

[18:36] and then I got another

[18:38] text from a friend who is also close to

[18:42] the situation and who said he didn't

[18:44] make it. He's with Jesus. And so I sat

[18:47] on the weight bench

[18:50] and I put my head in my hands, covered

[18:52] my eyes, and just cried.

[18:56] That's a normal reaction, folks. That's

[18:58] a normal reaction.

[19:01] Um,

[19:02] I'm going to have a lot to say about

[19:04] this

[19:06] on Monday and Tuesday. We'll reflect on

[19:08] this. We'll know more what's going on.

[19:10] But I just think that the most important

[19:12] thing now is

[19:16] to motivate everybody. If your life was

[19:19] ever touched

[19:21] by Charlie Kirk

[19:24] to dedicate your life number one to

[19:27] Jesus of Nazareth number one before

[19:31] anything before anything the most

[19:35] important thing

[19:37] give your life to Jesus. Open your

[19:40] heart. Say a prayer. God, if you are

[19:43] real, come into my heart miraculously.

[19:46] Show me who you are. Show me yourself.

[19:49] Lead me and guide me. Uh that I can live

[19:52] my life the way you want me to live it

[19:54] so that when I go into your presence, uh

[19:56] people will say that person didn't waste

[19:59] his life one tiny bit. That's what I

[20:02] think we need to do. I'll just I'll

[20:04] leave it there. We've got plenty more

[20:05] coming up on Monday and Tuesday, but I

[20:07] just wanted to say this for now. So,

[20:09] we'll just we'll go back to our regular

[20:11] programming and uh God bless