Context: The Confederation Report
Host: Steven R. Martins
Language: English
This is The Confederation Report, a weekly analysis of Canadian news and culture from a Biblical worldview.
Excerpt:This week’s Confederation Report announces the forthcoming Paideia Study Center, explains the meaning of paideia, and touches on federal election rumours.
Opening Words (00:00-00:35)
Part I: Exciting News on the Horizon (00:35–05:24)
Our much-envisioned Paideia Study Center will be a hub for advancing the Christian worldview for the reformation and renewal of the church and culture through rigorous Christian teaching, worldview formation, and mentorship.
Part II: What Does Paideia Mean? (05:24–07:35)
Have you ever wondered what the Greek word paideia means The Greek word paideia (παιδεία) refers to far more than education in the modern sense. It describes the cultivation of the whole person—the shaping of the soul, the training of the mind, and the ordering of the heart toward what is true, good, and beautiful. It was the ancient term for the moral and cultural formation that gives shape to a people’s way of life.
Part III: Another Election on the Horizon? l (07:35–10:02)
If you’ve been paying attention to the news—or perhaps just overhearing the rumor mill (not that you should ever take part in it!)—you may have heard whispers of another possible federal election. Some are even calling it a potential Christmas election.
Did You Know? (10:02–11:24)
If you’ve been keeping up with Canadian news, you’ll know that the Toronto Blue Jays lost the World Series in the final moments of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Recommended Resource (11:24–12:47)
This week’s recommended resource is Creation as an Introduction to Christian Thought by Henry Vander Goot and published by Wipf & Stock.
Closing Words (12:47)
Transcript:
It’s Week 42, and this is The Confederation Report—the flagship weekly podcast of the Cántaro Institute. My name is Steven Martins, and I’ll be your host, bringing you incisive analysis, cultural commentary, and thought-provoking interviews on the issues shaping Canadian life and beyond—all through the lens of a biblical worldview. Because Christ is Lord—over Canada, over culture, over all of life.
Part I: Exciting News on the Horizon (00:35-05:24)
A few months ago, we at the Cántaro Institute shared our vision for a place where pastors, professionals, youth, and laypeople could gather to study, learn, and grow. A place where they could read our published works as well as the many volumes in our growing library. A place where they could hear and meet visiting scholars and ministers. A place where they would learn how the gospel applies to all areas of life.
A place where we cultivate a distinctly Christian worldview, with a distinctly Christian apologetic, and a distinctly Christian philosophy. We’re Kuyperian, Van Tilian, Dooyeweerdian—yes, even Runnerites (a term we coined for students of the late Christian philosopher H. Evan Runner). We believe that Christ is King over every area of life.
Yes, I’m talking about our much-envisioned Paideia Study Center. This Center will be a hub for advancing the Christian worldview for the reformation and renewal of the church and culture through rigorous Christian teaching, worldview formation, and mentorship.
Situated in the heart of the Niagara region, the envisioned Paideia Study Center will serve as the headquarters of the Cántaro Institute—a hub for faithful Christian teaching, training, and publishing. Benefiting from proximity to major institutions such as Redeemer University, the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary, Brock University, Niagara College, and the new University of Niagara Falls, the Center would be ideally located to engage students, pastors, and Christian leaders. The region’s beauty and accessibility make it an ideal setting for hosting events, conferences, and intensive study programs, firmly establishing the Paideia Study Center as a center of intellectual and spiritual formation rooted in Scriptural truth.
Why am I sharing all of this again? Because it’s related to the exciting news we have just on the horizon. It’s actually the main reason behind why we’ve been delayed in releasing The Confederation Report and other publications. Everything has calmed down a bit, that’s how I found time for this podcast episode, but there’s still a great deal of crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s to do before we get to that December date.
Lord willing, we will have some big news to share—and it’s more than just the Paideia Study Center. Imagine, in addition to our study center, a rotating museum exhibit, a ministry space for children from at-risk neighborhoods, a conference center and a place for churches to gather for Saturday or Sunday picnics. The possibilities are endless. The potential is limitless. But we need everything to go right in a certain way—and very few things to go wrong. We’re getting there, and once December rolls around (just prior to the New Year), you won’t believe what we have to share. It will mark a new chapter for the Cántaro Institute.
So what can I say for now? That the first phase of realizing the Paideia Study Center appears to be complete. This means that we have secured the necessary funds for the acquisition and renovation of a facility that accords with the Institute’s mission and operational requirements. This envisioned facility will serve as the permanent headquarters of the Cántaro Institute, encompassing administrative offices, a specialized library, and adaptable spaces for instruction and meetings. It will be optimally designed to sustain the Institute’s core endeavors in teaching, mentoring, publishing, and equipping Christians for faithful cultural engagement in the years ahead—while also providing sufficient capacity to accommodate the Institute’s extensive book inventory and retail operations.
What, then, is Phase 2? The second phase in realizing the Paideia Study Center’s vision entails the renovation, construction, furnishing, and final refinement of the facility. In view of the considerable scope of work required and the transition from our current premises to this new location, the anticipated public inauguration of the Paideia Study Center is projected for the fourth quarter of 2026, at the earliest.
I’ve given enough of a picture for you to guess what that announcement will be come December, I have given so much away—but as I mentioned, there are still some things to be done, some t’s to be crossed, some i’s to be dotted. Please pray, and prayerfully consider donating to the Cántaro Institute. What’s on the horizon, Lord willing, will be a great undertaking—but one that will greatly serve the Kingdom of God. We could use your help. Consider becoming a donor today.
Part II: What Does Paideia Mean (05:24-07:35)
Have you ever wondered what the Greek word paideia means? Why, after all, are we calling our study center the “Paideia Study Center”? And why is one of our publishing imprints named Paideia Press? Does it simply have to do with education? Let me explain.
The Greek word paideia (παιδεία) refers to far more than education in the modern sense. It describes the cultivation of the whole person—the shaping of the soul, the training of the mind, and the ordering of the heart toward what is true, good, and beautiful. It was the ancient term for the moral and cultural formation that gives shape to a people’s way of life.
In Scripture, paideia appears in passages such as Ephesians 6:4, where fathers are commanded to raise their children “in the paideia of the Lord.” The word is often translated as “instruction,” “discipline,” or “training,” but each of these only captures a fragment of its depth. Paideia encompasses the entire process by which a worldview is transmitted and a culture is formed. It directs not only what we think, but what we love and how we live.
Every society has a paideia—a guiding pattern of thought, affection, and action that defines what it means to be human within that culture. It influences everything from our art and politics to our family life and worship. In that sense, paideia is the soul of civilization. When the Christian faith shapes this formative process, we speak of a Christian Paideia—a way of seeing and living that recognizes Christ as Lord over all of life.
True education, then, is not merely the transfer of knowledge but the formation of virtue. It aims to cultivate rightly ordered loves—teaching students to delight in what is good, to think clearly about what is true, and to act justly in light of God’s Word. This is why the recovery of a Christian paideia is vital for the renewal of both church and culture: for as our loves are trained, so too are our lives and the world we build.
Part III: Another Election on the Horizon? (07:35-10:02)
If you’ve been paying attention to the news—or perhaps just overhearing the rumor mill (not that you should ever take part in it!)—you may have heard whispers of another possible federal election. Some are even calling it a potential Christmas election.
As a registered charity, we at the Cántaro Institute remain strictly nonpartisan. That means we are not permitted to affiliate with, endorse, or oppose any political party—at least not if we wish to keep our charitable status. But being nonpartisan doesn’t mean we must be silent. We are still free to reflect, to analyze, and to comment on what’s unfolding before our eyes through the lens of a biblical worldview.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Liberal darling who led his party to a minority government in the last election, has not seen much success in his negotiations with President Donald Trump and the United States. Tariffs remain in place, inflation continues to climb, and no major nation-building projects have yet taken root—nothing substantial, at any rate. Canadians are growing restless, and it seems the honeymoon period is coming to an end.
What might trigger an election? The upcoming federal budget. Originally scheduled for the spring, it was pushed back to November 4, 2025. The challenge is that the deficit has ballooned, and it keeps growing. All opposition parties have signaled disapproval of what’s expected. Should Parliament reject the budget, a vote of non-confidence would inevitably send the country back to the polls.
Could history repeat itself? Polls suggest a close race between the Liberals and Conservatives, while the rising influence of the NDP and Bloc Québécois could tip the balance in unpredictable ways. It’s too close to call, but one thing is certain—Canada is deeply divided. Yet, this division also provides an opportunity for Canadians to voice their convictions once more.
Our prayer, however, is not merely for political change, but for moral and spiritual renewal. Let us hope we witness an end to the wokeism that has eroded so much of our national life, and a reawakening of biblical, Christian values across the land. For that to happen, believers must break free from the notion that faith is a private affair. We must re-engage culture with bold conviction, living out the truth that Christ is Lord over every area of life—politics included.
Did You Know? (10:02-11:24)
If you’ve been keeping up with Canadian news, you’ll know that the Toronto Blue Jays lost the World Series in the final moments of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the first time the Jays had made it to the World Series since their golden era in the early 1990s, when they captured back-to-back championships—first defeating the Atlanta Braves in 1992, and then the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993.
Those years marked a pinnacle in Canadian sports history. The Blue Jays were more than just a baseball team; they were a unifying symbol for a nation not often at the center of the baseball world. Their 1993 victory is especially memorable for the way it ended: a walk-off, three-run home run by Joe Carter in Game 6, sealing a 4–3 victory and back-to-back World Series titles.
As Carter rounded the bases, radio announcer Tom Cheek’s jubilant call—“Touch ’em all, Joe, you’ll never hit a bigger home run in your life!”—echoed across Canada. That moment was immortalized in Canadian sports lore, capturing the pure joy of a country celebrating one of its greatest athletic triumphs. Now, decades later, with the Blue Jays once again on baseball’s biggest stage, memories of that legendary home run were stirring anew in the hearts of fans from coast to coast. It’s too bad they had to lose in the fashion of a typical Toronto sports team.
Recommended Resource (11:24-12:47)
This week’s recommended resource is Creation as an Introduction to Christian Thought by Henry Vander Goot and published by Wipf & Stock. In this insightful volume, Vander Goot offers a refreshing and deeply Reformed exploration of the Christian worldview. Drawing upon the classic framework of creation, fall, and restoration, Vander Goot guides readers to see all of life through the lens of Scripture—what he calls learning to “see with biblical spectacles.”
Rather than relying on what modern culture dispenses as “alternative perspectives” or human-centered philosophies, Vander Goot urges believers to recover a distinctly Christian way of understanding reality. He shows that genuine wisdom begins not in autonomous reasoning but in the fear of the Lord, and that all disciplines of study—philosophy, science, history, and art—must be interpreted in light of God’s creational order and redemptive purpose.
This book is more than an introduction; it is a call to renew the Christian mind. Vander Goot’s clear and accessible prose makes it ideal for students, educators, and anyone seeking to ground their thinking in the biblical vision of a world created good, fallen through sin, and restored through Christ. As Vander Goot demonstrates, such renewal is best nurtured through Christian education, where faith and learning are once again united under the lordship of Christ.
Closing Words (12:47)
Thanks for listening to The Confederation Report, this podcast is brought to you by the Cántaro Institute. Visit our website at cantaroinstitute.org for more information. For books to read on worldview, philosophy, and theology, visit our store at cantaroinstitute.store
We’ll meet again next week.