Unbelievable?

If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there so much evil in the world? Two Christian thinkers with different solutions to this age-old question join Justin. Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian and philosopher who advocates a ‘non-coercive and uncontrolling’ view of God’s love and sovereignty. John C Peckham is a theologian whose latest book ‘Theodicy of Love’ suggests that God’s love is part of a cosmic drama of free spiritual and human agents that make sense of why evil exists. At the end of the show Justin interviews Greg Koukl about the 10th anniversary edition of ‘Tactics: A game plan for discussing your Christian convictions’. For Thomas Jay Oord http://thomasjayoord.com/ For John C Peckham http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/authors/john-c-peckham/2815  For ‘Tactics’ by Greg Koukl https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tactics-10th-Anniversary-Greg-Koukl/dp/0310101468   For Unbelievable? the Conference 2020 https://www.unbelievable.live/  Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the free Unbelievable? e-book ‘In Conversation With…’ https://www.premier.org.uk/Unbelievablenewsletter  Support the show and receive all the videos sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/ For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes  

Portland pastor John Mark Comer joins Justin to talk about slowing down our lives in our high-tech, anxiety-prone world.  He’s joined by Rachel Holmes, a secular Buddhist and ex-Christian, as they talk about John Mark’s book ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry’ and their different approaches to spirituality and prayer. For John Mark Comer https://johnmarkcomer.com/  For Rachel Holmes (aka ‘Paddy’) on The Atheist Prayer Experiment https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Episodes/The-Atheist-Prayer-Experiment-Show-2-Unbelievable For Unbelievable? the Conference 2020 https://www.unbelievable.live/  Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the free Unbelievable? e-book ‘In Conversation With…’ https://www.premier.org.uk/Unbelievablenewsletter  Support the show and receive all the videos sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/ For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes 

Tensions between Hindus and other religious groups in India have been growing in recent years as the BJP Government and Hindu nationalists have advocated for anti-conversion laws. Dipen Rajyaguru of the Hindu Council UK, and Henry, an advocate for persecution charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide, debate the issues with Justin Brierley. For CSW: https://www.csw.org.uk/ For Hindu Council UK http://www.hinducounciluk.org/  For Unbelievable? the Conference 2020 https://www.unbelievable.live/  Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the free Unbelievable? e-book ‘In Conversation With…’ https://www.premier.org.uk/Unbelievablenewsletter   Support the show and receive all the videos sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/ For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

Can we make sense of our rational capabilities on an atheist naturalist worldview? Alex O’Connor of the Cosmic Skeptic YouTube channel debates Christian philosopher Max Baker-Hytch on the argument for God from reason, which was popularised by CS Lewis in his book Miracles. For Cosmic Skeptic: https://www.youtube.com/user/alexjoconnor  For Max Baker-Hytch https://www.wycliffe.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-max-baker-hytch  Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the free Unbelievable? e-book ‘In Conversation With…’ https://www.premier.org.uk/Unbelievablenewsletter  Support the show and receive all the videos sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/  For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Unbelievable? The Conference 2020 with NT Wright https://www.unbelievable.live Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes  

In the first part of the show Australian Bible scholar John Dickson talks to Justin about his new book ‘Is Jesus History?’ They discuss Jesus mythicism and Bart Ehrman’s views on oral tradition. In the second part of the show Lydia McGrew and Jonathan McLatchie discuss Lydia’s new book ‘The Mirror and the Mask’. It critiques trends among some evangelical scholars that Lydia believes are harming the historical credibility of the Gospels. For John Dickson https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/is-jesus-history  For Lydia McGrew http://www.lydiamcgrew.com/ Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the free Unbelievable? e-book ‘In Conversation With…’ https://www.premier.org.uk/Unbelievablenewsletter  Support the show and receive all the video sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/ For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

In the 6th and final episode of The Big Conversation series Season 2, Justin is joined by Matt Dillahunty of The Atheist Experience and Glen Scrivener of Speak Life. They discuss the atheist movement and whether secular humanism can provide a solid grounding for morality. Do studies show that religiosity benefits society? Is there an intrinsic value to humans? What did the Nazis actually do wrong? These questions and more get addressed. Watch the The Big Conversation on video and sign up to get the bonus clip of Matt and Glen discussing the Trans controversy that divided The Atheist Experience https://www.thebigconversation.show/episode-6-atheism-and-morality For Matt Dillahunty http://atheist-experience.com/ For Glen Scrivener https://speaklife.org.uk/ Support the show and receive all the videos sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/ For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

Douglas Murray, author of ‘The Madness Of Crowds: Gender, race and identity’ joins Justin and Christian blogger Esther O’Reilly. They discuss Identity Politics, the search for identity in a post-Christian society, and Murray’s own self-identification as a ‘Christian atheist’ and what it would take to bring him back to faith. For Douglas Murray https://douglasmurray.net  For Esther O’Reilly https://www.patheos.com/blogs/youngfogey/  Support the show and receive all the videos sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/  For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

In a holiday special, Justin presents the audience Q&A panel session from Unbelievable? USA at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. He is joined by Ruth Jackson, Mary Jo Sharp, AJ Roberts, Brian Brodersen, John Lennox and Bobby Conway as they take a variety of questions from the audience. In the final segment of the show, Justin sits down with Mary Jo Sharp to talk about her journey from atheism to Christian faith and her new book ‘Why I Still Believe’. Support the show and as a thank you we’ll send you all the videos sessions from Unbelievable? USA 2019 https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable/ For Mary Jo Sharp https://confidentchristianity.com/why-i-still-believe-book/ For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

In a special holiday edition of the podcast Justin is joined by three friends of the show to share their stories. He also announces the date of Unbelievable? the Conference 2020 – with NT Wright as keynote speaker. Sat 9 May. Put it in your diary! Australian listener Dean Mayes explains how the show had moved him away from atheism towards opening up the God question. Jess Lester, deputy editor of Premier Youth and Children’s Work magazine, tells her story of working in tabloid journalism and coming to Christ after rejecting God as a teenager. And Rupert Shortt, author of ‘Outgrowing Dawkins’, talks to Justin about responding to the world’s most famous atheist.     For Dean Mayes https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Unbelievable-blog/Don-t-call-me-a-Christian-yet-but-I-m-starting-to-see-a-purpose-in-the-Universe  For Premier Youth and Children’s Work magazine https://www.youthandchildrens.work/Get-a-free-copy  For ‘Outgrowing Dawkins’ by Rupert Shortt https://spckpublishing.co.uk/outgrowing-dawkins  For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes 

Prof Richard Swinburne is one of the most influential Christian philosophers in the world. In his new book ‘Are we Bodies or Souls?’ he sets out his argument for the existence of the soul. Luke Janssen has a background in science and theology. In his new book ‘Soul-Searching: The Evolution of Judeo-Christian Thinking on the Soul and the Afterlife’ he makes the case that our experience of personal identity can be explained through physical brain processes. However, he does not believe this contradicts Christianity. For Richard Swinburne’s ‘Are we Bodies or Souls?’ https://global.oup.com/academic/product/are-we-bodies-or-souls-9780198831495   For Luke Janssen’s ‘Soul-Searching’ https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Searching-Evolution-Judeo-Christian-Thinking-Afterlife/dp/1532679815   For more faith debates and extra resources visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable  Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes, Podbean, Spotify or Stitcher