Jesus was once a teenage boy, right? Was he a rascal? Who did he hang out with? Was he considered the ancient equivalent of a jock, a cool kid, a nerd, or something else?And how on earth did he get through the normal teenage years of angst and still be … the perfect incarnation of God?There’s a bit of speculation about teenage Jesus. And we promise to cover all the evidence for it in this episode.LINKS This episode is brought to you by Zondervan's new Bible commentary on the Gospel of MarkMore about 10 Things I Hate About You, which you heard at the beginning of this episode.Check out the Infancy of Thomas, an apocryphal document that purports to narrate episodes from Jesus’ youth from the age of five up until his twelfth year.Get to know our guest, Dr Chris Forbes.Listen to Canon Fodder, from Season 3 of Undeceptions, which also features Dr Forbes. It's all about how the Bible was put together and why which books were chosen as scripture and some books weren't. Here's that TedTalk on raising rebels. Good luck to listeners attempting to do so! The Lost Years of Jesus documentary.The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ by Nicolas Notovitch (Yeah, we're not suggesting your rush out and get this one!) Here's a travel diary to follow if you want to try to "walk in the steps of Jesus" in Nepal, even if he didn't actually go there! Articles like these just keep popping up. Check out this talk that John Dickson gave on the difference between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Buddhism or Hinduism. Here's the one passage in the gospels that talks about Jesus as a teen... Luke 2:42-51.More on David Flusser, the great Jewish Professor of History and Religion from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

For every voice decrying the evils of pornography, there’s another that says it’s healthy, part of our freedom of expression, “sex positive”! So, which is it? LINKSThis epidoe of Undeceptions is brought to you by Zondervan’s new commentary on the book of Exodus by Christopher Wright.Meet our guest, Melinda Tankard Reist, and find out more about the Collective Shout Movement that she founded.Meet our other guests, Professor William Struthers and Simon CamilleriRead more on the protest of the 70,000 Korean women who held banners shouting 'My life is not your porn' in 2018 after a spike in the number of spycams found in female bathrooms. Read the New York Times explosive investigative report 'The Children of Pornhub', published in December 2020.In response to the NYT report, Mastercard and Visa withdrew their cooperation with Pornhub later that month. Read Melinda Tankard Reist's book, Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Porn IndustryHere's the research John Dickson lists off in this episode on pornography: A study by the Australian Research Centre in Sex Health and Society said it found that pornography enabled sexual confidence and positive community formation, especially for LGBTIQ+ people.A 2007 study published in the American Journal of Medicine found that the sex lives of 18 million men over age 20 were negatively affected due to excessive porn viewing.A recent study by the Kinsey Institute showed that people who use technology for sexting or webcamming gained a sense of emotional connection as well as sexual gratification from this contact.In a study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, researchers discovered a significant association between reported pornography hours per week and gray matter volume in the human brain, and a drop in reactivity to sexual cues.A study published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour looking at Norwegian use of pornography found that couples who use pornography together tended to enjoy a more permissive erotic climate. But where only one person in the couple did, men who used porn were likely to experience problems with arousal, and women who used porn were likely to have increased negative self perception. In February 2021 in Australia, a former Sydney schoolgirl launched a petition calling for ‘sexual consent education’ to be taught much earlier in schools.In this opinion piece, a high school teacher argues that 'Hardcore porn is to blame for disturbing teenage sex culture'This 'TraffickingHub' online petition to shutdown Pornhub has over 2 million signatures.Here's a [safe] link with more information on Pornhub's traffic numbers.Sexual health research stresses the ‘bonding hormones’ released with sexual encounters. Check out this with Australian sex researcher, Dr Patricia Weerakoon on this subject. C. S. Lewis, the great Oxford literary don and public advocate of Christianity, once defended the biblical approach to sex against the call in his day (the 1940s) for more sexual ‘freedom’. His insights are as relevant today as then:I know some muddleheaded Christians have talked as if Christianity thought that sex, or the body, or pleasure, were bad in themselves. But they were wrong. Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body—which believes that matter is good, that God himself once took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us even in heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty and our energy. Christianity has glorified marriage more than any other religion: and nearly all the greatest love poetry in the world has been produced by Christians. If anyone says that sex, in itself, is bad, Christianity contradicts him at once … There is nothing to be ashamed of in enjoying your food: there would be everything to be ashamed of if half the world made food the main interest of their lives and spent their time looking at pictures of food and dribbling and smacking their lips. I do not say that you and I are individually responsible for the present situation. Our ancestors have handed over to us organisms which are warped in this respect: and we grow up surrounded by propaganda in favour of unchastity. There are people who want to keep our sex instinct inflamed in order to make money out of us. Because, of course, a man with an obsession is a man who has very little sales-resistance. God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. HarperCollins, 1997, 81-82)

This is the second part of our two-part series on the Crusades. For Part One, click here.A brutal slaughter at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem marked the end of the first crusade. The Crusaders had recaptured Jerusalem and the Holy Lands. They had regained control and care of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, probably medieval Christianity’s most sacred site, built over what was believed to be Jesus’ empty tomb. Their job was done and most of the crusaders packed up and went home, bolstered in their belief that God had been with them and seized their victory. Job done! So, why the need for a 2nd Crusade? Or a 3rd, 4th or 5th for that matter? LINKS This episode is brought to you by Zondervan's new book Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History by John Dickson. There's plenty more on the Crusades that we couldn't fit into this episode.Meet our distinguished guest, Professor Christopher Tyerman and check out his magnum opus, God's War: A New History of the Crusades. Here's more on that terrible movie, King Richard and His Crusaders from 1954. The 50 Worst Films of All Time, according to Wikipedia.Learn more about Saladin, the most famous of Muslim warriors.Meet Francis of Assisi, one of the most charismatic and influential clerics of the Middle Ages.Here's some more on Rabbi Hillel, who John quotes from in this episode's Five Minute Jesus.John quotes extensively from David Flusser's book The Sage of Galilee: Rediscovering Jesus' Genius, also in this episode's Five Minute Jesus.Watch President George W Bush's full remarks from 16 September 2001, where he said of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: "This is a new kind of  -- a new kind of evil.  And we understand.  And the American people are beginning to understand. This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while." Here's the Wall Street Journal article, 'Crusade reference reinforces fears this war on terrorism is against Muslims'Read up on the Ottoman Empire here.The Crusader City - Caesarea - and its archaelogical ruins make for an interesting travel destination, according to The Washington Post. Just one example of the Crusades misinterpreted history: 'The New Zealand massacre and the weaponisation of history'from Al Jazeera.

This is the first of a two part episode on The Crusades. Over nine hundred years after the launch of the first Crusade, world leaders are still invoking their memory to explain ongoing conflict. But how plausible is that?Chances are, whether you're a Christian or a skeptic, what you think you know about the Crusades is wrong. Or so says our guest for this episode.What were the Crusades? How did they start? What did they achieve? Why did they stop? And does their shadow really fall over modern tensions between the West and Muslim lands?LINKSGet John Dickson's new book Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History, published by our sponsor Zondervan. It's got a heap more on the Crusades than we could fit into this episode.Meet our distinguished guest, Professor Christopher Tyerman. Check out Tyerman's magnum opus, God's War: A New History of the Crusades. He has a written a bunch more, too. Watch the full news segment from France 24 about the Charlie Hebdo caricatures that enraged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Listen to this fascinating episode of The New York Times podcast The Daily, all about the killing of French teacher Samuel Paty and the raging debate in France over the relationship between government and religion - primarily the idea of Laïcité - the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Listen to the Undeceptions Single all about 'The Troubles' of Northern Ireland. Here are the Old Testament references where God commands violence:In 1 Samuel, when God commands Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites. Read this article from The Gospel Coalition writer and blogger Steve McAlpine, Indefensible? Saul and the Amalekite GenocideIn the book of Joshua, God ordains a holy war against the Canaanites.And then check out this article 'But, what about Canaan?' quoting John Dickson giving an explanation about what in the world is God doing in the Book of Joshua with the Canaanites.You might also like to check out this explanation, Why did God demand the invasion of Canaan in the Book of Joshua? by The Bible Project.Check out Saint Augustine's City of God for more on his broad principles of just war. Read Pope Urban II's full speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095, where he officially called for the First Crusade.Here's more on Ridley Scott's 2005 film, Kingdom of Heaven. 

LINKSGet to know our guest Professor Robert WilkenThis episode is sponsored by Zondervan's new book, The Problem of Jesus by Mark ClarkRead Robert Wilken's latest book Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious FreedomMore on the Edict of Milan, in which Constantine declared: “Freedom and full liberty has been granted in accordance with the peace of our times to exercise free choice in worshipping as each one has seen fit. This has been done by us so that nothing may seem to be taken away from anyone’s honour or from any religion whatsoever.”More on Roger WilliamsFind out more about Thomas Jefferson and religious freedom.Our 'Phone a Friend' guest this episode was Tim Wilson, an Australian Liberal MP and former Human Rights Commissioner. Watch a talk Tim gave on religious freedom to the Centre For Independent Studies here.

Guilt is a big topic - there is so much to say. Like the feeling of guilt itself, it is layered. We deal with guilt on an individual level and on a societal one. “Guilt is a religious problem which interests theologians, a social problem which interests sociologists and a psychological problem which interests psychologists,” wrote psychotherapist and theologian, Paul Tournier, in his book Guilt and Grace. People sometimes speak of  ‘religious guilt’ or ‘Catholic guilt’ and it’s almost always used negatively. The assumption is that if you are religious, you are dealing with much more guilt than the regular person, and certainly more than is healthy!But maybe guilt is actually good? And maybe religion - Christianity in particular - is the maestro of listening to, directing, and silencing the guilt we experience in our lives. LINKSAbout that record... the first was already dead: angler -- read more about Clive White's trout confession.This episode is brought to you by Zondervan's new book Bullies and Saints: An honest look at the good and evil of Christian history by John Dickson. Meet our guest, Dr Rob Waller. Meet our guest, Professor Wilfred McClayHere's Rob's book, The Guilt Book Here's Bill's essay from The Hedgehog Review, The Strange Persistence of Guilt (behind a paywall, sorry!)The scene from Daredevil on Netflix was from Season 2, Episode 4. Though, we're not really saying you should watch it. This one's specifically for John, actually: More on 30 Rock, the American satirical comedy created by Tina Fey. (PS. It won 16 Emmy awards and is regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all time).Here's the atheist bus campaign that Bill talks about.You can learn more about Neitzsche's theory on the genealogy of guilt here.Here's Sigmund Freud's Civilisation and its Discontents, where he declared guilt to be “the most important problem in the development of civilization.” He said “the price we pay for our advance in civilization is a loss of happiness through the heightening of the sense of guilt.”Here we are again, with a link for the Netflix series The Good Place. (So great that we keep quoting it. Dear John, you should definitely keep watching. Love Kaley and Mark) There's a lot of views about whether or not to destroy Confederate statues. Here's a few interesting reads from different perspectives:A Solution to the Confederate-Monument Problem: Destroying the statues won’t erase the past. Why not let them deteriorate in a public space instead? from The AtlanticWe need to move, not destroy, Confederate monuments from The New York TimesNearly 100 Confederate monuments removed in 2020, says report. Over 700 remain. from NPR (America's National Public Radio) The battle over Confederate statues, explained: Confederate statues have always been about white supremacy. That’s why they’re coming down, by VoxAnd, here's Undeceptions own Laurel Moffatt giving her thoughts during an Undeceptions single last year. Read the research by sociologists Bradley and Manning on victimhood: The Rise of Victimhood Culture, in which they write:"A culture of victimhood is one characterized by concern with status and sensitivity to slight combined with a heavy reliance on third parties. People are intolerant of insults, even if unintentional, and react by bringing them to the attention of authorities or to the public at large. People increasingly demand help from others, and advertise their oppression as evidence that they deserve respect and assistance. This only increases the incentive to publicize grievances, and it means aggrieved parties are especially likely to highlight their identity as victims, emphasizing their own suffering and innocence."It's Jiminy Cricket!  Read more on Professor Tyler Vander Weele's research on whether forgiveness is a public health issue. 

Perhaps you’ve heard it before - religion is bad for your mental health. It triggers feelings of guilt, self-loathing and bigotry. But, actually, there are many ways in which the opposite is true. Karen Pang's story is testament to that, which you'll hear in this episode.There’s also a growing body of research - authoritative, real-life, peer-reviewed research - that reports a significant benefit to wellbeing if you are religious. That’s right. You are more healthy if you are religious.Do you need help? If you're in Australia, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. In the UK? Call The Samaritans on 116 123.If you're in the US, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255LINKSThis episode is brought to you by Zondervan Academic's book, Three Views on Chrisitanity and Science with contributions from Alister McGrath, Bruce L Gordon and Michael Ruse. Meet our guest, Karen Pang Meet our guest, Professor Tyler VanderWeeleMeet out guest, Lyn WorsleyListen to the full interview with Buff and John Dickson on ABC's The Spirit of Things Watch the full Playschool series on feelings, How do you feel today?Read the full data on the risk of suicide for people with bipolar, from SANE AustraliaRead the biblical accounts of the deaths of Saul and Judas.Read St Augustine's City of GodCheck out Tyler VanderWeele's research on deaths of despair and religious service attendance. Full paper here.Tyler's research on mental and physical health and the effects of religious service attendance (also check out his full list of research papers in his profile above!) Watch Tyler VanderWeele consider whether the results of his research that concluded religious service attendance had a significant positive impact on mental health might be reverse causation.Get the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Health See for yourself the strong evidence of an association between attending religious services and happiness and life satisfaction.Need help to pray? Try the Book of Common Prayer, which Buff Dickson talks about praying through when she just couldn't find the words on her own. Here's an example, the prayer for Sunday 2 May 2021:Almighty God,who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christhave overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:grant that, as by your grace going before usyou put into our minds good desires,so by your continual helpwe may bring them to good effect;through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.Amen.

It is the day after ANZAC Day, that occasion when Australians and New Zealanders commemorate those who died in the defence of our country. At a time like this, it is worth considering the inscription bourne by many military tombstones across the world - 'Unknown Soldier - Known Unto God'.This is not just a way of saying, "We don't know who he is; I guess God does." It has a profound meaning about the peculiar way in which God knows His creatures.

Critics of Christianity have often pointed to The Troubles in Northern Ireland as proof that, "Religion ruins everything."But how accurate is the statement? How accurate is it to even label The Troubles a religious conflict?John Dickson shares a chapter of his upcoming book, Bullies And Saints, on how the Troubles got started and how Christianity helped to bring them to an end.Click here to order a copy of John Dickson's Bullies and Saints.

Gordon Menzies advised the federal government on the deregulation of the Australian dollar, underlining his credentials when it came to liberalism.However, his new book titled 'Western Fundamentalism' suggests a more conservative way of seeing the world.He tells John Dickson, though, that a Christian is capable of rejecting definitions of both left and right to forge a distinctly different path.