The Humble Skeptic

On this episode of The Humble Skeptic, Shane talks with Dr. Adam Duker about his interest in the study of comparative religion, as well as some of his unique experiences teaching this subject at The American University in Cairo. In particular, he relates a story that he was directly involved with a few years ago which became international news.SHOW NOTES• To read news articles related to the international incident involving Dr. Duker, use the following links: Fire, ARA, RNS, Fox News, Alex Morey, and Julia Duin. Also, Dr. Duker is currently looking for an attorney to assist with his case, so if you or someone you know might be able to help, send an email to infoAThumbleskepticDOTcom. • Relevant episodes: “Questioning Your Faith”, “Religion on Trial”, “Dealing with Doubt”, “Greg Koukl on Blind Faith”, “Is Faith Irrational?” and “Is Faith Blind?”• Relevant articles by Shane Rosenthal: “Recovering the Art of Persuasion”, “What is Faith?”, “How to Detect Deception”, “On Faith & Doubt”, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?”We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this program, Shane talks with Fikret Bocek who currently serves as the pastor of a Christian church in Izmir, Turkey. Fikret was raised as a Sunni Muslim, and during this episode he tells the story of the time in which he began to question his faith. In this process, he began to explore both the Koran and the Bible, and ultimately this led to his conversion to Christianity.SHOW NOTES• For more information about Fikret Bocek, click here. For information about Global Church Ministries, which he referenced at the end of this episode, click here.• To listen to Shane’s interview with Sarabeth Kapusta referenced at the beginning of this episode, click here. You can also read her new essay, “Reconstructing My Faith.”• Related episodes: “Religion on Trial”, “Dealing with Doubt”, “Greg Koukl on Blind Faith”, “Is Faith Irrational?”, “Is Faith Blind?”, and “Is Faith a Feeling?”• Related articles by Shane Rosenthal: “What is Faith?”, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?”, “How to Detect Deception”, “On Faith & Doubt” and “On Faith & History.” We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this episode, Shane talks with Sarabeth Kapusta about her experience growing up in a cult that in her words “masqueraded as a Baptist church.” Sarabeth is the host of Reconstructing Your Faith, which is a podcast designed to help those who’ve been affected by various forms of spiritual abuse. SHOW NOTES• For more information about Sarabeth Kapusta’s podcast, click here. To listen to the two episodes of Reconstructing Your Faith featuring Shane Rosenthal, use these links: Part 1, and Part 2. When Sarabeth’s autobiographical essay becomes available, it will be linked here.• Related episodes: “Dealing with Doubt”, “Greg Koukl on Blind Faith”, “Is Faith Irrational?”, “Is Faith Blind?”, “Is Faith a Feeling?”• Related articles by Shane Rosenthal: “I believe—help my unbelief”, “Is Faith a Feeling?”, “On Faith & Doubt”, “What is Faith?”, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?”, “How to Detect Deception” and “On Faith & History.”We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

Is it okay to question your faith or to express doubts about your religious convictions? On this episode, Shane explores a fascinating scene from Luke 7 in which John the Baptist questions whether Jesus is the promised Messiah. Shane discusses the implications of this passage with Greg Koukl and Alisa Childers, and he also hears from Sarabeth Kapusta of the Reconstructing Your Faith podcast who shares her experience of being raised in a cult where questions were off-limits and doubt was a sin.SHOW NOTES• If you’d like to explore this topic further, be sure to check out Shane’s two-part article “On Faith & Doubt” referred to in this episode and Greg Koukl’s excellent article: “Faith is Not Wishing” Other related articles include: “The Virtue of Doubt”, “What is Faith?”, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?”, “How to Detect Deception”, and “On Faith & History.” Also, check out Sarabeth Kapusta’s article, “Reconstructing My Faith.”• For more information about the guests who appear on this episode, use the following links: Greg Koukl (Stand to Reason), Alisa Childers (alisachilders.com — Shane appears on episode #190), Sarabeth Kapusta (Reconstructing Your Faith — Shane appears on episode #19).We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this episode of The Humble Skeptic, Shane talks with Greg Koukl about the way faith is misunderstood in our day. In fact, he argues that the English word “faith” has evolved to such an extent that Christians should probably stop using it altogether. Greg is the founder and president of Stand to Reason and the author of The Story of Reality, Tactics, and Faith is Not Wishing.SHOW NOTES• Related Humble Skeptic episodes: “Is Faith Irrational?”, “Is Faith Blind?”, “Is Faith a Feeling?”. To listen to an interview Shane recorded with Greg about his book Tactics, click here. To listen to an interview related to the problem of evil, click here.• Resources by Greg Koukl: Faith Is Not Wishing, Tactics, The Story of Reality, and “Truth Is Not Ice Cream, Faith Is Not Wishing” (Audio Lecture).• Recommended articles by Shane Rosenthal, “What is Faith?”, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?”, “On Faith & History”, “How to Detect Deception”, and “Authenticating The Fourth Gospel.” • To order a copy of The Proof of The Gospel by Eusebius of Caesarea, click here. To download a free PDF document containing quotes from Eusebius, Justin Martyr and Augustine related to this episode, click here.We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this bonus edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane reads lessons 9 & 10 of Richard Whately’s Introduction to Christian Evidences.SHOW NOTES • Click here to access an online version of Richard Whately’s Introduction to Christian Evidences. If you would like to obtain a paperback reprint, click here.• Recommended articles by Shane Rosenthal, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?,” “How to Detect Deception,” “Authenticating The Fourth Gospel,” and “On Faith & History.” • To watch a video lecture by Peter J. Williams on “New Evidence the Gospels Were Based on Eyewitness Accounts,” click here.• For more info about The Humble Skeptic vision and how you can help, click here.We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a YEAR-END gift! Another way to help is by upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

Most translations of the New Testament refer to Golgotha as “The Place of the Skull.” But is this correct? On this episode of The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane Rosenthal talks with Egyptologist David Rohl about a variety of historical and textual clues that help us to better understand, not only the precise location of Golgotha, but also it’s meaning and significance.SHOW NOTES• Recommended articles by Shane Rosenthal, “Where Was Jesus Crucified?,” “How to Detect Deception,” “Authenticating The Fourth Gospel,” “Why Should We Believe The Bible?,” “On Faith & History,” and “Did Palm Trees Grow in Jerusalem?”• Recommended books by David Rohl, Exodus: Myth or History, and Legendary Kings: The Real Bible Unearthed (which is currently only available in Kindle format).• To listen to Shane’s previous interviews with David Rohl, use the following links: “Questioning Conventional Wisdom Part 1” and “Part 2”, “Exodus, Myth or History?”, and “The Search for the Historical Joseph.”• To find out more about the Joanna ossuary or the chiastic structure of Luke 24:1-12, check out some of the slides from Shane’s lecture: “Who is Joanna?” To read a journal article about the ossuary, click here. For further reading see: Gospel Women, by Richard Bauckham, and Who Are Joanna & Theophilus, by Richard Anderson. • To read the Journal of the American Medical Association article, “On The Physical Death of Jesus Christ” click here.We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this episode, Shane continues weaving together various interviews he’s recorded on topics related to the reasons Christians can have confidence in the portrait of Jesus presented in the New Testament Gospels. During this podcast, you’ll hear from Peter J. Williams, Richard Bauckham, John Dickson, D.A. Carson, Craig Blomberg, Lydia McGrew, and Daniel Wallace. SHOW NOTESRelated AudioFor Part 1 of this discussion, click here. For the complete interview with Richard Bauckham, click here, and here. For the complete interview with Daniel Wallace and other resources related to an early date for John’s Gospel, click here.Related BooksCan We Trust The Gospels? Peter J. WilliamsJesus & The Eyewitnesses, Richard BauckhamJesus: A Very Short Introduction, Richard BauckhamTestimony of The Beloved Disciple, Richard BauckhamIs Jesus History? John DicksonA Doubter’s Guide To Jesus, John DicksonThe Gospel According to John, D.A. CarsonIntroduction to the New Testament, D.A. CarsonCan We Still Believe The Bible? Craig BlombergThe Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Craig BlombergRevisiting the Corruption of the New Testament, Daniel WallaceRedating the New Testament, John A.T. RobinsonRelated ArticlesThe Gospels as Authentic Testimony, Richard BauckhamThe Gospel of John: An Introduction, Daniel WallaceYou Can Trust the Four Gospels, Craig BlombergThe Authenticity & Genuineness of the Fourth Gospel, J.B. LightfootAuthenticating The Fourth Gospel, Shane RosenthalWater Into Wine? Shane RosenthalWhy Should We Believe The Bible? Shane RosenthalOutside The Gospels, What Can We Know About Jesus? Shane RosenthalHow to Detect Deception, Shane RosenthalCan We Trust Luke’s History of the Early Jesus Movement? Shane RosenthalSimon of Cyrene: An Intriguing Archaeological Discovery, Shane RosenthalUndesigned Coincidences, Lydia McGrew & Shane RosenthalOther Related ResourcesNew Evidence for the Gospels, Peter J. Williams (video)Are the Gospels Reliable? Peter J. Williams & Bart Ehrman (video)Authenticating The Book of Acts, Humble Skeptic #24 with Lydia McGrewAn Interview with D.A. Carson, Shane Rosenthal, WHI #1456The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel, Craig Blomberg, WHI #1462Has the Bible Been Miscopied or Mistranslated? Daniel Wallace, WHI #1377We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or by upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this episode, Shane weaves together several interviews he’s recorded over the years on topics related to the Christian view of “faith,” how it’s grounded in the facts of the real world, and why we can be confident that it’s true. So during this podcast, you’ll hear from scholars such as John Lennox, Peter J. Williams, Richard Bauckham, John Dickson, and D.A. Carson.SHOW NOTESRelated AudioFor Part 2 of this discussion, click here. For the complete interview with Richard Bauckham, click here, and here. For the complete interview with John Lennox, click here, and here.Recommended BooksCan We Trust The Gospels? Peter J. WilliamsThe Surprising Genius of Jesus, Peter J. WilliamsJesus & The Eyewitnesses, Richard BauckhamJesus: A Very Short Introduction, Richard BauckhamTestimony of The Beloved Disciple, Richard BauckhamIs Jesus History? John DicksonA Doubter’s Guide To Jesus, John DicksonCan Science Explain Everything? John LennoxGunning for God, John LennoxThe Gospel According to John, D.A. CarsonIntroduction to the New Testament, D.A. CarsonRecommended ArticlesThe Gospels as Authentic Testimony, Richard BauckhamYou Can Trust the Four Gospels, Craig BlombergThe Authenticity & Genuineness of the Fourth Gospel, J.B. LightfootIs Luke a Trustworthy Historian? Sir William RamsayOutside the Gospels, What Can We Know About Jesus? Shane Rosenthal?Can We Trust Luke’s History of the Early Jesus’ Movement? Shane RosenthalAuthenticating The Fourth Gospel, Shane RosenthalWhy Should We Believe The Bible? Shane RosenthalHow to Detect Deception, Shane RosenthalOn Faith & History, Shane RosenthalOther Related ResourcesAgainst the Tide, John Lennox (documentary)Has Science Buried God? John Lennox (video)By Design, John Lennox, Michael Behe & Stephen Meyer (video)New Evidence for the Gospels, Peter J. Williams (video)Evidence for the Resurrection, Peter J. Williams (video)Are the Gospels Reliable?, Peter J. Williams & Bart Ehrman (video)Authenticating The Book of Acts, Lydia McGrew (podcast)We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this episode, we’ll pick up where we left off last week with Egyptologist, David Rohl. During this part of the conversation, Shane talks with Dr. Rohl about various archaeological discoveries which he argues are connected to the lives Saul and David. Later in the program, the discussion shifts to the recent discovery of the Mt Ebal curse tablet, as well as to questions related to the history and chronology of events recorded in the New Testament.Click here to listen to Part 1SHOW NOTES• To order an English edition of The Amarna Letters, click here.• To watch a series of videos featuring Scott Stripling’s discussion of the recently discovered Mt. Ebal curse tablet, use the following links: 1) The Altar, 2) Curses & Covenants, 3) The Name of God, 4) Translating, 5) Biblical Archaeology, 6) The Future• To order a copy of David Rohl’s book, Legendary Kings (currently only available in Kindle format) click here; for Exodus: Myth or History, click here.• To order a series of lectures by David Rohl on video, click here. To order The Patterns of Evidence: Exodus documentary featuring Dr. Rohl, click here.• Shane interviewed David Rohl on two other occasions, and you can find those interviews here.• Click here to read Shane’s article “Where Was Jesus Crucified,” and here to listen to Shane’s discussion of this topic with David Rohl on Episode 17.• Reference was made on this program to the work of John A.T. Robinson who famously argued for a pre-70 date for all the NT documents in his book, Redating the New Testament. Shane also discussed Robinson’s work in his conversation with Daniel Wallace on episode 51: Is John’s Gospel Late & Unreliable?, and interacts with his views (along with many others) in the following post: John 5:2 “There is in Jerusalem”We Need Your Help!Consider supporting The Humble Skeptic podcast by making a one-time gift or by upgrading to a paid subscription via Substack ($5.95 per month, $59 per year). Use the button below for more information about giving options. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe