Unbelievable?

"The Easter Challenge" is regularly issued by atheists and sceptics.  Can Christians provide a coherent account the events of the resurrection of Jesus that harmonises the apparent differences between the four Gospel accounts? Jay Smith is a Bible scholar and evangelist who says that it can be done.  He debates with agnostic sceptic Stephen Pilcher on the details of the Gospel accounts.  How many women went to the tomb? Were there angels present? Who did Jesus appear to? For the challenge as issued by Dan Barker see: http://www.ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=stone For Andy Bannister's harmonisation see http://www.answering-islam.org/Andy/Resurrection/harmony.html For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 16th April 2011 - Biblical evidence for the Resurrection Bart Ehrman & Mike Licona Unbelievable? 10 Jun 2007 - The resurrection Dead or Alive: the Truth of the Resurrection Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

Lord Richard Harries is a life peer in the British House of Lords and the former Bishop of Oxford.  His book "The Re-enchantment of Morality" has been shortlisted for this year's Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing. He argues that Christianity and the example of Jesus "re-enchants" morality with a foundation, purpose and distinctiveness. Lord Dick Taverne is a Liberal Democrat Peer in the House of Lords and an atheist.  He contends that religion can be a help but also danger to a moral society. They debate whether the West's focus on wealth needs a Christian moral solutuion, and also debate the rights and wrongs of euthanasia. To Pre-Order "Unbelievable? The Conference" DVD http://www.premier.org.uk/dvd For "The Re-Enchantment of Morality" http://www.spckpublishing.co.uk/shop/re-enchantment-of-morality-the/ For Lord Richard Harries http://www.gresham.ac.uk/professors-and-speakers/the-rt-revd-lord-harries For Lord Dick Taverne http://www.libdems.org.uk/people_detail.aspx?name=Lord_Taverne&pPK=c40f5bff-94ec-4852-ac4d-229a9fa67e22 For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 25 Apr 2009 Euthanasia - Should it be legalised? Lord Dick Taverne & Dan Boucher Unbelievable? 27 Feb 2010 - Faith in Britain - Andrew Copson of the BHA vs David Robertson "Stop worrying and enjoy your life" - are we better off without God in Britain? Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

In 1995 the Church of England allowed the ordination of Women priests.  But the question of whether the Bible forbids female authority in the church remains. Christina Rees serves on the Archbishop's Council and the General Synod.  She advocates for women in ministry and female Bishops.  John Richardson of the conservative Evangelical grouping Reform within the CofE disagrees with female ordination. They debate Passages in the New Testament that appear to forbid women speaking in Church, the role of husbands and wives and the practical realities of men and women being church leaders.  For Women and the Church http://womenandthechurch.org/ For Christina Rees' book "Apostolic Women, Apostolic Authority" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apostolic-women-apostolic-authority-transfiguring/dp/1848250401 For John Richardson http://www.ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/ For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 29 May 2010 - Homosexuality and the Bible This first show addresses the main scriptural passages that relate to homosexuality. Unbelievable? 13 Feb 2010 - Two views on Divorce and Remarriage - David Instone-Brewer & Andrew Corn "What did Jesus really say about Divorce and remarriage?" - David Instone-Brewer debates Andrew Cornes Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

Former Methodist minister turned atheist Leslie Scrace stopped reading the Bible after he lost his faith.  20 years later he read it again and wrote a book-by-book account of how he views it as an atheist called "An Unbelievers Guide to the Bible".   Leslie criticises parts of the Old Testament that he sees as primitive and immoral while praising other parts of scripture that illustrate humanist values.   Chris Sinkinson is a church pastor and teaches Old Testament and Apologetics at Moorlands Bible College.  He responds saying that the Bible can't be dissected in the way Leslie attempts and that taking God out of the morality of the Bible robs it of its meaning.   They discuss books such as Job, Joshua, Song of Solomon and the Gospels.  Chris also challenges Leslie on whether his humanist morality has any objective foundation.   PLUS: pre-order "Unbelievable?: The Conference DVD" http://www.premier.org.uk/dvd   For Leslie Scrace's book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbelievers-Guide-Bible-Including-Apocrypha/dp/1852001461   For Chris Sinkinson http://www.moorlands.ac.uk/home/about-us/staff-profiles.php    For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 19 Feb 2011 - Are there many paths to God? Chris Sinkinson & John Hick Unbelievable? 9 April 2011 - "Is God a Moral Monster?" Paul Copan vs Norman Bacrac Unbelievable? 8 May 2010 - "The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ" Philip Pullman, Anthony McRoy & Martin Saunders Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

Brian McLaren is an author, theologian and church leader. He is at the forefront of the "emerging church" and his books such as "A new Kind of Christian" and "A Generous Orthodoxy" have been influential in the moevement's theology Some describe the emerging church as "post-evangelical" and "post-modern" as it seeks to re-read scripture without the cultural baggage that it believes Western Christendom has often imposed. James White of Alpha and Omega ministries in Arizona sees the theology of the "emerging church" as a departure from orthodoxy, and an attempt to reshape the Gospel and God to fit modern sensibilities. They discuss post-modernity, Rob Bell's theology, interacting with other faiths, the atonement, sin and the cross. For Brian McLaren see http://www.brianmclaren.net/ For his latest book "Naked Spirituality" http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Spirituality-Life-Simple-Words/dp/0061854018 To watch the Rob Bell debate on Heaven, Hell & Universalsim http://www.premier.tv/lovewins/ For more theological debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 22 mar 2008 - Easter & the Atonement - does it make sense? Unbelievable? 15 Nov 2008 - Does the Trinity lead to polytheism? James White of Alpha & Omega ministries debates Abdullah Al Andalusi Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

With the death of Osama Bin Laden we ask "Did Bin Laden represent the true face of Islam"   Radical Islamist Anjem Choudary who has frequently praised Bin Laden and Al Queada for their acts of terror, joins the discussion.  He says Osama was a true Muslim doing the work of Allah.   Muhammad Al Hussaini is a Muslim scholar for the organisation Scriptural Reasoning.  He deplores acts of terror and says Bin Laden transgressed multiple commands of Islam.   Christian evangelist to Muslims Jay Smith believes that while Muhammad's moderate position is more humane, the postion of Choudary is more reflective of the actual commands and nature of Islam.   They debate whether Islam allows violent Jihad, whether Islam can offer a "complete" solution and the nature of war-like texts in both the Koran and the Bible.     For Anjem Choudary http://www.anjemchoudary.com/   For Jay Smith http://www.theopedia.com/Jay_Smith   For Muhammad Al Hussaini http://www.scripturalreasoning.org.uk/index1.html   For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 18 Dec 2010 - Islam & Dhimmitude Unbelievable? 15 Aug 2009 - Scriptural reasoning Imam Muhammad Al-Hussaini, Rabbi Mark Solomon and Christian Dr David Jackson discuss holy scriptures Unbelievable? 7 Jul 2007 - Does the Koran justify terrorism? Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

"Love Wins" by US megachurch pastor Rob Bell has ignited a theological debate about the nature of Hell, the nature of God and whether all people will utimately be saved.  Bell joins Justin Brierley to discuss the book and respond to some of the key criticisms that have been levelled at it.  UK Church blogger Adrian Warnock disagrees with many of Bell's conclusions and believes he is swimming outside the stream of evangelical orthodoxy.  We also hear from listeners who have been tweeting and emailing their questions. A Video version of the debate will be available at the Unbelievable website soon http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable For Rob Bell see http://www.robbell.com/ For Adrian Warnock see http://adrianwarnock.com/ For more theological debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 19 Feb 2011 - Are there many paths to God? - John Hick vs. Chris Sinckinson Unbelievable? 17 Oct 2009 - The Evangelical Universalist - will everyone be saved? Robin Parry & Laurence M Blanchard Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

Richard Dawkins describes the Old Testament God as "a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser" (among other things).  Paul Copan is a Christian apologist and has written a book aiming to show why God's actions in the Old Testament are not immoral when taken in context. Norman Bacrac is an atheist humanist and part ot the South place Ethical Society.  He believes that Old Testament morality was barbaric and we don't need a God to tell us how to behave.  He holds that God's morality is called into question if we take the Old Testament literally. So how do we interpret passages where the Israelites were commanded to wipe out whole towns including women and children? For Paul Copan and his book "Is God a Moral Monster?" see http://www.paulcopan.com/ For the Ethical Society see http://www.ethicalsoc.org.uk/ For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 16 Oct 2010 - The Moral argument for God Philosophers Arif Ahmed and Glenn People debate Unbelievable? 19 June 2010 - Does the Bible condone slavery? Bob Price & David Instone-Brewer. Unbelievable? 13 Sep 2008 Christianity on Trial - Part 2 Can we really look to the Bible and Jesus for morality? Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

Bart Ehrman is well known as a US New Testament Scholar who lost his Christian faith and now questions many core precepts of Christianity, including the Resurrection of Jesus.  When Mike Licona had doubts he devoted himself to investigating the evidence and became convinced that Jesus resurrection is the only rational explanation for the facts. They debate key historical facts about the resurrection - are the letters of Paul that report the resurrection and the Gospel accounts trustworthy or theologised and changed with time?  What about apparent contradictions between the Gospels? Does the consensus of scholars count as evidence, or is there a Christian bias?  Can a miracle count as an explanation for historical data? For Mike Licona  http://www.risenjesus.com/ For Bart Ehrman http://www.bartdehrman.com/ For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 3 Jan 2009 - Bart Ehrman & Peter Williams - "Misquoting Jesus: Do we have the original writings of the New Testament?" Unbelievable? 7th August 2010 - Adrian Warnock in discussion with Jonathan Clatworthy. Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter

Mark Vernon trained to be an Anglican priest before losing his faith to become an atheist. But he became disenchanted with that position too. Now he champions agnosticism. He says agnosticism is more than "sitting on the fence" and is a rich place of searching after the big questions. Church Pastor David Robertson debates with Mark on whether God is ultimately unknowable. David claims that Jesus has made God knowable and that a journey of searching only makes sense in order to arrive at knowing. For Mark's book "How to be an Agnostic" see http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Be-Agnostic-Mark-Vernon/dp/0230293212/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_6 For Mark Vernon's blog http://www.markvernon.com For David Robertson http://www.solas-cpc.org/ For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 5 Dec 2009 - Are we better off free from religion? Atheist Dan Barker vs. Christian Charles Foster. Unbelievable? 28 Mar 2009 - "Challenging Atheist myths" - Part 2 - Adrian Hayter & David Robertson on Godless Morality and the Immoral Bible. Join the discussion at the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable and via Facebook and Twitter