Unbelievable?

"The Atheist's Bible" (Duckworth & Co) has been a bestseller in the USA. It brings together a mass of quotes from atheists, agnostics and more. Its compiler Joan Konner speaks to Justin Brierley about why she put it together and her own thoughts on atheism. She interacts with Christian apologist Peter Williams whose own book "The Sceptic's Guide to Atheism" (Paternoster) has just been published. Joan and Peter debate whether atheism has some fundamental faith assumptions of its own, as Peter argues that atheistic naturalism is a self-defeating notion. Joan argues that Christianity is arrogant in its exclusive claims. For Joan Konner see: http://joanwkonner.com/ For Peter Williams see: http://www.arn.org/authors/williams.html Check out the "Unbelievable?" web page to listen to more programmes and get the podcast www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable For more Christian/atheist interactions check out - 25 Aug 2007 "Deluded by Dawkins?"; 3 Nov 2007 "The New Atheism"; 26 Jan 2008 "Do we need God to be good?" To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

Justin is joined for the seond time by New Testament scholars Michael F Bird And James G Crossley.  Their book "How Did Christianity begin? A believer and non-believer examine the evidence" gives rival accounts of the cause of Christianity and its beliefs.  This week they debate whether Paul believed Jesus was God and whether we can trust the Gospel portrayals of him. Order the book at www.premier.org.uk/shopping For Bird see http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/ For Crossley see http://earliestchristianhistory.blogspot.com/ To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

On this week's show (17 Jan 09) two New Testament scholars go head to head. Michael Bird is a believer, James Crossley is not. They have different conclusions about how the Christian faith began and have written a dialogue in their new book "How Did Christianity Begin - a believer and non-Believer examine the evidence". In today's programme they debate whether Jesus himself beliived he was God, as revealed in the Gospels. They go onto discuss whether the bodily resurrection of Jesus is a plausible explanation for the birth of the early church. "How did Christianity begin? A believer and non-believer examine the Evidence" is published by SPCK" Order it online at www.premier.org.uk/shopping To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

On the surface Christadelphians look very similar to Christians - they read the same Bible, go to church, believe Jesus died for our sins and rose again. So what's the difference between a Christian and a Christadelphian? Justin finds out from Christadelphian Andrew Bramhill and Baptist pastor Ken Brownell. Find out why Christadelphians don't believe in the Trinity or Jesus as the Son of God in the same way that Christians do, and why they believe that baptism is a necessary part of being saved. Interested in discussion between Christians and those of other sects? Check out 8 Sep 2007 - Mormonism & Christianity; 9 Feb 2008 - Bahai faith & Christianity. To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

Bart Ehrman lost his faith altogether when he confronted the problem of how a loving, powerful God can allow suffering.  In his new book "God's Problem" he states that the Bible contains different and unconvincing explanations to the issue. Richard Swinburne is a reknowned Christian philosopher.  He answers Bart's objections with arguments from his own book "Providence and the Problem of Evil". To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

Bart Ehrman is the US author of the bestselling book "Misquoting Jesus" (In the UK "Whose word is it?").  He calls into question the authority of the New Testament as scribal changes over time have changed the documents.  So can we trust the scripture? Bible scholar Peter Williams believes in the reliability of the New Testament and that Bart's prognosis is far too pessimistic. To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

Canon Michael Sayward believes that the Virgin Conception is an attested historical fact, and an essential doctrine for Christian belief. Unitarian minister Sarah Tinker believes it to be a "beautiful myth" that should not be taken literally. They debate and we hear listener phone calls, response to the last few weeks of programming as well as tackling the "Jesus is a plagiarism of Pagan Gods" argument. Get involved in the discussion at: www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable/forum/topics/virgin-birth-fact-or-fiction For more defense of the Christmas story see the show of 22 Dec 07 To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

A treat for the end of the year as Justin plays some exclusive content accumulated in the past year.  NT Wright is among contributors to a feature answering common ojections to the resurrection of Jesus; New York Pastor Tim Keller on his book "The Reason for God"; and David Robertson author of "The Dawkins Letters".  Happy new year! To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

Stand up comedian Robin Ince is hosting "A rational celebration of Christmas".  Ricky Gervais and Richard Dawkins are among many other atheists on the bill.  Comedy writer and Christian James Cary discusses with Robin whether Christianity and belief in God is irrational.. and there's plenty of jokes along the way..  To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.

Denis Alexander is the author of "Creation or Evolution - do we have to choose?" - his answer is "no".  Denis believes Darwin's theory is perfectly compatible with belief in the creator God of the Bible.  Stephen Lloyd of Biblical Creation Ministries disagrees - he says that the Gospel itself depends on the Adam and Eve story being literally true. Buy "Creation or Evolution- do we have to choose?" at www.premier.org.uk/shopping For Theistic Evolution visit www.cis.org.uk For Creationism visit www.biblicalcreationministries.org.uk If you enjoyed this programme you can find similar topics in our archive - 30 Aug 08; 21 Jun 08; 16 Feb 08; 13 Oct 08 To hear more discussions between Christians and non-Christians go to www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable. Join the discussion on the Premier Community www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable.