The Humble Skeptic

Did the story of Jesus evolve over time? Did he even exist in the first place? On this episode, Shane explores the beliefs of the world’s first Christians through an in-depth investigation of the earliest Christian creed cited by Paul in 1st Corinthians 15.SHOW NOTES• Click here to download a PDF document containing the Dead Sea Scroll material referenced during this episode. If you would like to order a modern English translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we recommend this edition. • Click here to listen to Episode 15, Faith Founded on Facts.• 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 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 special bonus edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane Rosenthal plays some Beethoven and reads selections from the Introduction to Christian Evidences by Richard Whately.SHOW NOTES • Program update: OFFICIAL episodes are released most Tuesdays — BONUS episodes, occasional Fridays.• 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.• Click here to read Shane’s article, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?”• 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.To Listen to Part 2 of Evidence & Faith, click below: Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this episode, Shane Rosenthal continues his conversation with Dr. Mike Farley of Covenant Seminary in St. Louis about the relationship between faith and proof. What does the Bible itself say about this issue, and how was faith promoted during the first few centuries of the Christian Church? That’s the focus of this edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast.SHOW NOTES• To order a copy of Eusebius’ book, The Proof of The Gospel, click here. Also, if you would like to read an article related to the topic of this episode, check out Shane’s article, “Why Should We Believe The Bible?” • To download a free PDF document containing select quotations from Justin Martyr, Eusebius, and Augustine mentioned during this episode, click here.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

What is the relationship between faith and proof? Shane Rosenthal discusses this question with Dr. Mike Farley of Covenant Theological Seminary. How did the Israelites come to believe that Moses really spoke with God, and how did his writings become so authoritative among the ancient Hebrews? Was it just a leap of faith? That’s the focus of this edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast.SHOW NOTES• If you would like to read further on this topic, start with Shane’s article “Why Should We Believe the Bible?” For a more in-depth treatment, we recommend Proof of the Gospel by Eusebius of Caesarea.• Reference was made on this episode to an interview Shane conducted with Daniel Boyarin, author of The Jewish Gospels. You can listen to that conversation here. 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

What do you believe about God and the afterlife? How certain are you that your beliefs are true, particularly when compared with all the other faith and worldview options that happen to be out there? Can we have certainty about our deepest convictions? On this edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane Rosenthal discusses these questions and more with Dr. Dennis Johnson, author of Journeys with Jesus, and Let’s Study Acts.SHOW NOTESFor a gift of any amount, we’ll send you a 20 page downloadable copy of What is Faith? by Shane Rosenthal. There are currently two ways to give: 1) Make a gift directly to The Humble Skeptic by clicking here — these gifts are not currently tax deductible, but this option will become available soon! 2) Upgrade to a paid subscription through Substack using the green button below.Subscribe nowThe Humble Skeptic podcast in association with the Memphis Apologetics Group will be hosting a conference titled Questions of Faith on Feb. 24-26, 2023. This conference will be held at the Richland Association Reformed Presbyterian Church in Rosemark, TN, which is 25 minutes north of Memphis. Click here for more information (though the conference is free, registration is required).The lengthy quote from Princeton New Testament scholar, J. Gresham Machen was adapted from a series of lectures he delivered to the Bible League of Great Britain in 1932. This material was later published under the title, The Importance of Christian Scholarship which you can find here. These lectures were later reprinted and included in The Selected Shorter Writings of J. Gresham Machen as well as What is Christianity?Dennis Johnson has written two books related to the book of Acts: The Message of Acts in the History of Redemption, and Let’s Study Acts. Also, his book Journeys with Jesus is a very helpful introduction to reading the entire Bible in a Christ-centered way.If you’re a fan of this podcast and you still haven’t rated the show or written a review, please consider doing so today via the Apple podcast app (the more positive reviews we get, the more exposure we get — and the next few weeks are crucial). Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

On this special Christmas edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane takes a break from his current series on “Questions of Faith” and plays a Christmas sermon he recently preached on Micah chapter 5.SHOW NOTESFor Further ReadingFinding Christ in All of Scripture, Shane Rosenthal (PDF)Why Should We Believe The Bible?, Shane Rosenthal (article)A New Way of Reading Scripture, Shane Rosenthal (article)The Jewish Gospels, Daniel Boyarin (book)Is Jesus in the Old Testament?, Ian Duguid (booklet)Four Principles for Reading the Old Testament, Ian Duguid (article)Journeys with Jesus, Dennis Johnson (book)Proof of the Gospel, Eusebius of Caesarea (book)The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, Rydelnik & Blum (book)Echoes of Exodus, Roberts & Wilson (book)The Angel of the Lord, Foreman & Van Dorn (book)Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament, Nancy Guthrie (book series)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

In his book, Religion on Trial, Craig Parton says that “Religions are worldviews. They claim to address the primary questions of our existence—where we came from, where we are going, and why we are going where we are going.” In that sense he says, “Everyone is religious, because everyone has a worldview, even if that worldview is that we came from a totally purposeless beginning and are returning to dust.” But, how can we determine whether a given worldview happens to be true? That’s the focus of this special bonus episode of The Humble Skeptic podcast.SHOW NOTESFor a gift of any size (using the tip jar above), we’ll send you a copy of What is Faith? by Shane Rosenthal.To listen to a White Horse Inn conversation featuring Shane Rosenthal, Craig Parton and others on the eyewitness testimony found in the Fourth Gospel, click here.To order a copy of Religion on Trial by Craig Parton, click here.To order a copy of The Testimony of The Evangelists by Simon Greenleaf, click here.To read an online edition of A Brief Outline of The Evidences of The Christian Religion by Archibald Alexander, click here. Get full access to The Humble Skeptic at www.humbleskeptic.com/subscribe

According to many Christians today, faith isn’t based on external facts or evidence, but instead is thought of as an internal subjective feeling, intuition, or experience. But is this idea biblical? Does the Bible ever say that faith is related to our feelings? Where do other religious traditions stand on this issue? Shane Rosenthal investigates these questions and talks with Craig Parton, author of Religion on Trial.SHOW NOTESRecommended ReadingIs Faith a Feeling?, Shane Rosenthal (article)Why Should We Believe the Bible?, Shane Rosenthal (article)What is Faith?, Shane Rosenthal (20 page PDF resource)Religion on Trial, Craig Parton (book)Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah et al (book)God in the Whirlwind, David Wells (book)1984, George Orwell (book)Recommended EpisodesFaith & Experience, Part 1Faith & Experience, Part 2Faith & CertaintyFaith & ProofWe 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

When Shane Rosenthal recently polled close to a hundred Christians at a variety of different events, the overwhelming majority described faith as a “blind leap.” But is this idea taught anywhere in Scripture? On this episode of The Humble Skeptic, Shane examines the arguments and passages that some people use in support of the idea that faith is blind. SHOW NOTESRecommended ReadingDoes Hebrews 11:1 Teach Blind Faith?, Shane RosenthalWhat is Faith?, Shane RosenthalWhy Should We Believe the Bible?, Shane RosenthalThe Mormonization of American Christianity, Shane RosenthalBe a Berean!, Shane RosenthalThe Virtue of Doubt, Shane RosenthalRecommended EpisodesGreg Koukl on Blind FaithDealing with DoubtFaith Founded on FactsFaith & ProofProof of the GospelWe 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

New atheists such as Richard Dawkins and others frequently claim that “faith is belief in the absence of evidence,” but is this really the case? On this episode of The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane Rosenthal takes a deep dive into the true definition of faith and interacts with a variety of perspectives.SHOW NOTES• Shane Rosenthal has written a 20-page downloadable PDF document titled, What is Faith? (which you can access here). This e-booklet walks through the issues discussed on this program (complete with supporting documentation).• The audio clip featuring Greg Koukl was taken from a lecture titled “Truth Is Not Ice Cream, Faith Is Not Wishing” which you can order here. Greg has also written an article titled Faith Is Not Wishing, which you can find here.• Below is the Google Ngram chart referenced during this episode. This tool charts the occurrence of words or phrases in all the scanned books that Google has in its database. The graph below illustrates the fact that the phrases “blind faith” and “leap of faith,” came to prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries. 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