All Podcast articles
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ShowsEarthquakes and cancer: Why is God’s good world so full of suffering? with Sharon Dirckx
Christians normally explain away human-caused suffering by pointing to God giving us free will, and our sinful natures using that to harm ourselves and each other. But what about all the things entirely out of our control which cause so much sadness, from natural disasters to genetic diseases?
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ShowsThe Divine Debate: Is Morality Rooted in God? Atheist Stephen Law vs Matthew Su hosted by Ruth Jackson
Is faith necessary for a moral life? Is belief in God essential for a meaningful moral framework, or can secular philosophy provide all the answers? This week on Unbelievable?, host Ruth Jackson welcomes two dynamic thinkers to explore the profound debate of God’s role in our moral universe.
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Shows#233 Free Will and the Problem of Evil (Classic)
Tackling one of the biggest questions of all time, the problem of evil and suffering, in today’s episode an atheist listener asks a question about free will and the problem of evil. Will it be possible for there to be another ‘fall’ in the new creation? And the hosts of the Libertarian Christian Podcast have some questions for Tom about living as Christians in today’s world.
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ShowsVaccine conspiracies, mistrust and catastrophism: How the church lost its way, with Dr Francis Collins
Francis Collins is one of the leading scientists of his generation, a world-renowned geneticist who led the international project to map the human genome. In this episode we talk through his experiences in public office as a Christian scientist and discuss how the US evangelical church became so polarised, divided and sceptical of good science, even when presented by faithful believers like him.
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ShowsThe CS Lewis Podcast #183 Dan Barker and Carolyn Weber: Is CS Lewis still relevant?
On November 22nd 1963, Clive Staples Lewis – Jack to his friends – died in Oxford, England. However, 61 years after his death, is CS Lewis still relevant? We hear from former pastor-turned atheist, Dan Barker, who suggests that many of Lewis’ arguments are fundamentally flawed. Literature professor, Dr Carolyn Weber, highlights where she disagrees with Dan and shares some of her story about coming to faith at Oxford University, in part through CS Lewis.
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ShowsVariations in Scripture: do they matter? 🧐 New Testament Scholars Mike Licona and Darrell L. Bock explain
New Testament scholars Mike Licona and Darrell L. Bock dive into the Bible’s rich complexities, covering divine inspiration, authorship, and textual variations 📖✨. They discuss how understanding the Bible as both divinely inspired and humanly transmitted influences its authority and interpretation. Topics include the formation of the Old and New Testaments, challenges in translation 🌍, and the development of core doctrines like the Trinity ✝️. Gain insights into how cultural context shapes interpretation and how differing Gospel accounts add perspective without undermining Scripture’s message.
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Shows#232 Making sense of Adam, Eve and the Genesis creation story (Classic)
Tom Wright joins Justin to answer listener questions on how to interpret the early chapters of Genesis, what he believes about the nature of Adam and Eve, whether suffering and death existed before the fall and much more… First broadcast in 2019.
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ShowsDNA, parenthood and selecting for IQ: The surprising return of eugenics
Can someone else own your DNA, and what are the risks if genomes are passed around the economy as any other product? Next, a US start-up has apparently used UK volunteers’ genomic data to pursue its plans to offer couples the chance to screen their embryos for intelligence, beauty, and maybe more, all for a chunky sum of course.
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ShowsThe CS Lewis Podcast #182 Sarah Hawkyard: CS Lewis changed everything
Ruth Jackson spoke to singer-songwriter Sarah Hawkyard who describes Mere Christianity as a “game changer”, which “hooked” her onto Christianity. Lewis played an integral role in Sarah coming to faith, challenging, inspiring and providing her with profound knowledge.
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ShowsShould Christians vote for Trump?
In a nation divided and with a pivotal election on the horizon, how should Christians engage with politics? 🤔 How much should our faith influence our public life? What’s truly at stake when we step into the political arena?
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Shows#231 Mental health: Am I failing God by taking medication? (Classic)
Does taking anti-depressant medication mean I’m failing to trust God? I was told to read the Bible to cure my eating disorder - how do we educate the church? How do I reconcile the Biblical command ‘do not be anxious’ with chronic anxiety? Tom answers listener questions about mental health.
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ShowsNear death experiences
Once dismissed as quackery or New Age woo, near death experiences are seeing something of a modern revival. A slew of serious scientists and doctors have begun studying the phenomenon, even constructing clinical trials to try and see what, if anything, goes on when someone is on the brink of death but is resuscitated successfully. And there is now an entire Christian industry of books and films about believers who claim to have ‘gone to heaven and come back’ after nearly dying.
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ShowsThe CS Lewis Podcast #181 Curtis White: What did TS Eliot and Lewis think of each other?
Dr Curtis White’s PhD focuses on the relationship, work and theology of CS Lewis and TS Eliot. Here, he highlights some of his thoughts on this topic as well as sharing how Lewis was integral to his own faith journey. White also talks about the upcoming CS Lewis Symposium in Belfast, which John Brown University is providing financial support for.
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ShowsThe Great Morality Debate: Secularism vs. Christianity with Dr Michael Shermer and Rev. Glen Scrivener
This week on Premier Unbelievable?, we tackle one of the most fundamental questions in philosophy:
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Shows#230 I can’t shake my sinful addiction (Classic)
Tom answers personal question from listeners about how to develop spiritual disciplines, escaping the cycle of besetting sin, and how to respond to homeless people with substance addiction and mental health problems.
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ShowsPrenatal screening: Is all knowledge a good thing?
Pregnant women today are offered a battery of tests and screening for their unborn child, looking for an ever-increasing range of conditions and risks. But is the onward march of technology in this sphere always an unmitigated good thing? With abortion for a disability legal in the UK up to term, women are being given terrible choices previous generations never faced: give birth to a child who probably has a life-limiting or even fatal condition, or end the pregnancy early.
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ShowsThe CS Lewis Podcast #180 David Clare: Ecstatic experience
How did Lewis approach ecstatic experiences, particularly in light of his Ulster Protestant background? Dr David Clare of Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick continues his talk given at the C.S. Lewis Group at Ulster’s spring mini symposium. He also answers questions from the live audience. The event was entitled ‘C.S. Lewis and the Land of His Birth: Re-rooting Lewis in Ulster & the Island of Ireland’. The title of Dr Clare’s talk was ‘“Lit Up Inside”: C.S. Lewis’s Joy & Ulster Protestant Ecstasy’.
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ShowsCan Tarot & Astrology Open you to EVIL Forces? 🔮👻 Ex-Psychic Jenn Nizza and Horror Filmmaker Toby Watts debate Halloween, demons and horror
In this Halloween special, we examine the intersection of the occult, Halloween, and Christian perspectives on spiritual matters. Is Halloween merely harmless fun, or does it carry deeper, more sinister implications? Can activities like tarot readings and astrology open the door to evil forces? What does Christianity teach about demons—and is it possible for Christians to be possessed?
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Shows#229 Making sense of Old Testament violence (Classic)
Tom responds to listener Qs on Andy Stanley ‘unhitching’ Christianity from the Old Testament, the historicity of the Exodus, and the way that Greg Boyd interprets violent portraits of God in ‘The Crucifixion Of The Warrior God’.
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ShowsSame-sex attraction and friendship in church, with Ed Shaw
This week we speak with church pastor and author Ed Shaw about John’s book on friendship, and in particular how it intersects with those who are same-sex attracted like him.
