Unbelievable?

From Nov 2012. The first of two shows where Justin was joined by Tim Mawson, the Oxford philosopher whose paper "Praying to Stop Being an Atheist" inspired the Atheist Prayer Experiment. 71 atheists and agnostics signed up to the experiment, comitting to pray for God to reveal himself to them over 40 days. Did anyone end up believing in God? We revealed the results and heard from a variety of people who took part, including Andrew, Kendra, Laura, Cang & Freki as well as exploring questions that arose.  Was this really an 'experiment'? What does an atheist pray? Does it matter which god is being prayed to? Do the results have any bearing on the question of God's existence?   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Justin Brierley was joined by four guests and hundreds of attendees for a live webinar event 'Falling From Grace: Addressing power, leadership and abuse in the church'.   Panellists: Abuse survivor and advocate Rachael Denhollander; author, theologian and former RZIM vice-president Amy Orr-Ewing; Rise And Fall Of Mars Hill Podcast presenter Mike Cosper; and trauma and abuse specialist Diane Langberg. Justin Humphreys of the leading independent Christian safeguarding charity Thirtyone:eight also joins the conversation.   For the resources from Thirtyone:eight: https://thirtyoneeight.org/unbelievable Rachael Denhollander: https://rachaeldenhollander.com/ Amy Orr-Ewing: https://www.amyorr-ewing.com/ Mike Cosper: https://mikecosper.net/podcasts/rise-and-fall Diane Langberg: https://www.dianelangberg.com/   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Marcus Brigstocke is a well-known comedian on UK radio and TV. An atheist, he wrote the book "God Collar" about his problems with religion, but also why he wants to believe in God. He chatted with David Robertson, who at the time led Solas, the Centre for Public Christianity.  They talked about UK comedy's atheist leanings, Marcus' criticisms of both religion and new atheism, the problem of evil, the Old Testament and more besides.   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow

From rapturous joy to inexplicable terror, angelic encounters to near death experiences, New Testament scholar Dale Allison has researched a wide range of phenomena in his new book 'Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age'. He tells of his own experiences and explains why they are more common than many people realise, and why skeptics shouldn't dismiss them out of hand. Justin also brings listener questions from atheists and believers.   For Dale's book 'Encountering Mystery': https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/8188/encountering-mystery.aspx   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

As the world marks the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Justin Brierley presents a special edition of Unbelievable? speaking to New Testament scholar NT Wright about his memories of the queen when he preached for her as Bishop of Durham. Former chaplain to the queen Gavin Ashenden asks whether the end of her reign marks the end of Christendom in the UK, and Ruth Jackson reflects on the hope that comes with grief.   For Ruth Jackson's article: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/articles/we-mourn-the-queen-but-not-as-those-without-hope/13812.article To offer prayers and tributes: https://www.premier.org.uk/prayers-of-thanksgiving-for-the-queen/   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Some of the key differences between Catholic and Protestant doctrine were explored in a friendly dialogue in this show from the archives. Roman Catholic Peter D Williams and Protestant pastor David Robertson debated The Pope, Sola Scriptura and justification by faith.   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Katherine Mathieson, director of the Royal Institution and Nick Spencer of Theos discuss the recent report 'Science and Religion: Moving away from the shallow end', which surveyed the British public's attitudes towards science and faith. They explore questions such as: Why does the public believe there is a conflict? How has New Atheism played into the debate? Is science the only way of knowing truth?   For the Theos report: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/research/2022/04/21/science-and-religion-moving-away-from-the-shallow-end For the Royal Institution: https://www.rigb.org/   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

A controversial blog post by Jared Wilson, quoting pastor Doug Wilson on the role of men and women in sex reignited the debate between complementarians and egalitarians. Our guests on this episode from the archives were: Rachel Held Evans: popular US author, blogger and speaker who believes the New Testament supports the equality of men and women in the church and in the home (Egalitarian). Owen Strachan: theology professor at Boyce College, Kentucky who believes the Bible teaches that men and women have equal dignity but different roles in family and church (Complementarian). UK church blogger Adrian Warnock joined the conversation too as we discussed reactions to the Wilson blog post, how to interpret verses in the Bible about women "submitting" to husbands and "remaining quiet" in church, and more.   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

  Podcast version: In the 19th Century John Draper and Andrew White conjured up one of the most successful and enduring myths of the modern world - the supposed historical conflict between science and faith.   Justin explores their story with David Hutchings and James Ungureanu, authors of 'Of Popes and Unicorns: Science, Christianity and how the conflict thesis fooled the world'. They are also joined by Tim O'Neill of the 'History For Atheists' website, a non-believer who has established a reputation for critiquing his own side when they get things wrong.   At the end of the show Justin also speaks to director Christopher Shawn Shaw about the comedy movie 'Church People'.   For a 30% discount on 'Of Popes and Unicorns' use checkout code AAFLYG6: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/of-popes-and-unicorns-9780190053093? For Tim O'Neill: https://historyforatheists.com/ For the movie 'Church People': https://churchpeoplefilm.com/   • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

We continue to bring you taster episodes of our wide range of Premier Unbelievable podcasts during August. Our newest podcast 'Unapologetic' offers weekly conversations with leading Christian thinkers, apologists and evangelists. In this episode Justin meets former NFL player Derwin L Gray, who founded Transformation Church in South Carolina and is author of the new book 'How To Heal Our Racial Divide'.   Subscribe to the Unapologetic podcast: https://pod.link/1622170986 See episodes at our website: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/shows/unapologetic   • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training-and-events • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate