Unbelievable?

Christian Apologist, Greg Koukl joins Justin ahead of an apologetics event in London in July. They take calls from atheist listeners on whether prayer makes sense if God already know what we'll ask for, whether penal atonement is just, and why God remains hidden. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Greg's London event on 2 July: http://www.christianheritagelondon.org/events/ For the EU debate in Woking: http://www.wokingurc.org.uk/events.htm For more faith debates 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

How should the church treat LGBT people? Preston Sprinkle & Brandan Robertson Preston Sprinkle, author of "People To Be Loved: Why homosexuality is not just an issue" joins Justin in studio. He dialogues with Brandan Robertson, a young gay evangelical who became gay affirming last year. Brandan Robertson's book "Nomad: A Spirituality for travelling light" tells his journey. As they both embark on book tours in the UK, they debate their different perspectives and what the church must do to improve its treatment and dialogue around LGBT people. For Preston Sprinkle http://www.prestonsprinkle.com/ For Preston's UK dates http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theologyintheraw/2016/05/uk-speaking-tour/ For Brandan Robertson & his book tour http://www.brandanrobertson.com Info on the EU referendum debate event on Tue 14 June in Woking http://www.wokingurc.org.uk/events.htm For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 For more faith debates 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

Reformed apologist James White joins Justin again, this time to take calls from listeners on whether the apostles preached Jesus’ divinity, whether God is the author of evil, and whether Calvin wasn’t reformed enough. In the final part of the show Justin is joined by Larry Taunton to talk about his unlikely friendship with one of the world’s best known atheists, as detailed in his new book ‘The Faith of Christopher Hitchens’. For James White http://www.aomin.org/ To read the interview with Larry Taunton on Christopher Hitchens https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2016/June-2016/My-unlikely-friendship-with-the-world-s-most-notorious-atheist For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 For more faith debates 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

John E Sanders is one among a number of evangelical theologians such as Greg Boyd who have embraced Open Theism – the view that God does not necessarily have foreknowledge of all future events and that the future is open. Many evangelicals believe Open Theism is a heresy – denying the omniscience of God and going against Biblical teaching. James White of Alpha and Omega ministries believes Open Theism is a serious heresy and defends a Calvinist view of God’s sovereignty – that God has predestined all future events for his glory. They debate the issues. For John Sanders https://www.hendrix.edu/religion/religion.aspx?id=6596 For James White http://www.aomin.org/ For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 For more faith debates 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

Mike Rand is an agnostic who has been listening to Unbelievable? for several years. He is attracted to aspects of the Christian faith but has certain intellectual objections which he hasn’t found satisfactory answers to yet. He engages with David Robertson of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity in a good humoured and wide ranging discussion on Mike’s questions and what it would take for Mike to believe. For David Robertson http://www.solas-cpc.org For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 To donate to Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Extend The Hope’ appeal: http://www.premier.org.uk/donate For more faith debates 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

Richard Weikart, professor of history at California State University, joins Justin to talk about his new book 'The Death of Humanity'. He says the loss of belief in the value of human life is leading to disastrous consequences for society. Peter Singer is an Australian ethicist who believes we should dispense with the concept of the sanctity of human life in favour of a view of 'personhood'. Humans who are less capable of having preferences, such as babies, have less claim to be kept alive. They debate whether this view of humanity is dangerous and Susan Blackmore, atheist psychologist and philosopher also joins the conversation. For The Death of Humanity https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Humanity-Case-Life/dp/162157489X For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 To donate to Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Extend The Hope’ appeal: http://www.premier.org.uk/donate For more faith debates 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 this podcast-only edition of the programme, Justin Brierley delves into the archives to air a radio documentary which was first broadcast in 2009. He and his family went on a US road trip to visit two megachurches and meet their pastors. Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is the largest church in America with over 40,000 in attendance each week. TV pastor Joel Osteen broadcasts his message of health, wealth and positivity to thousands more every week. They also visited another large (but very different) church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mars Hill Bible Church, pastored at the time by Rob Bell, was seen as a thriving example of the so-called ‘emerging’ church. The programme compares and contrasts the two different churches and their leaders. Justin and his wife Lucy share their thoughts on the experience and what the UK can learn from the American example. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 To donate to Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Extend The Hope’ appeal: http://www.premier.org.uk/donate For more faith debates 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 his new book ‘Go Is No Thing’ Rupert Shortt argues that many ‘new atheists’ have a faulty view of God that doesn’t take seriously the philosophical arguments that thinkers like Thomas Aquinas gave many centuries ago for the existence of God. Rupert discusses the issues with atheist Jeremy Rodell, dialogue officer for the British Humanist Association. We also hear some feedback to the most recent Bauckham vs Ehrman shows. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For God Is No Thing: http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/god-is-no-thing/ For Jeremy Rodell: https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/trustees/ For more faith debates 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

Justin hosts the second part of a debate between noted Bible scholars Bart Ehrman and Richard Bauckham. Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that eyewitness testimony is very fallible and that the stories about Jesus that were written down in the Gospels would have changed shape over time. Richard Bauckham, author of "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", defends the trustworthiness of eyewitness testimony and addresses the question of how Jesus' sayings and stories would have been memorised and passed along. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Bart Ehrman: http://www.bartdehrman.com For Richard Bauckham: http://richardbauckham.co.uk For more faith debates 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

Bart Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that the stories about Jesus would have changed and evolved before they were written down as the Gospels. Richard Bauckham, author of "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", defends the view that the Gospels were written by those with access to eyewitness testimony of Jesus' first followers. They debate who wrote Mark, whether the the Gospels came from anonymous traditions and how they received their titles. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Bart Ehrman: http://www.bartdehrman.com For Richard Bauckham: http://richardbauckham.co.uk For more faith debates 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