"Anyone who holds to a traditional view of sexuality and marriage could come into conflict with the Equality Act should it pass. In light of this, how should Christians evaluate and respond to the Equality Act?" Neal Hardin joins the show to help us see why Christians are not on the wrong side of history.

Neal Hardin is a writer and editor at Advocates for Truth and NealHardin.com. He holds a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Utah and an MA in Theology from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University.

What Christians On BOTH SIDES Need To Know About the Equality Act (Neal Hardin)

Being able to recognize good vs bad bias will help you know the truth and confidently engage in fruitful conversations.

Christians Need To Avoid This Bias

In today's polarized world, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How do we cultivate better understanding and compassion for those we disagree with?

A Better Way to Handle Polarizing Topics (with Dr. Tim Muehlhoff)

I recently had a conversation on the age of the Earth where referenced Joshua 10 in one of my points. A viewer named In His Image created a video responding to some of my points, and I wanted to take some time to address what he said.

Undersanding the Word Day in Genesis 1: My Response to a Critique of My Position

Are Islam and Christianity essentially the same? Aren't they both part of the Abrahamic faiths? This conversation will help you approach the question "Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?"

Dr. Andy Bannister is the Director of Solas, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology and an Adjunct Faculty member at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He is a Christian academic and public speaker with a PhD in Islamic Studies. He frequently speaks and teaches throughout the UK, Europe, Canada, and the USA. He is the author of several books, including "An Oral-Formulaic Study of the Qur'an," "Heroes: Five leaders from whose lives we can learn," and "the Atheist Who Didn't Exist: the dreadful consequences of bad arguments." He has also contributed to the multi-author volume "Healthy Faith and the Coronavirus Crisis: Thriving in the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Profound Differences Between Christianity & Islam (Dr. Andy Bannister)

A supporter sent me the following message: "These missionaries come to my door the other day from World Mission Society Church of God, and they were talking about God the mother... Do you know anything about this group? Specifically, anything that might be helpful in a conversation with them, especially where their theology might differ from the Truth?" 

Pastor Mike Winger joins the show to help respond to this and other questions. What should we think about the long ending of Mark? We'll talk about that too!

"Mother God" Cult? Chat With Mike Winger On Cults, The Bible, And More!

Critical thinking not only helps you be more persuasive by thinking and speaking clearly, but it also keeps you from falling prey to bad ideas. Today's show will teach you to form persuasive deductive and inductive arguments and learn to spot different logical fallacies.

Logical Fallacies And Arguments - An Introduction To Logic

If the universe is fit for life, and biochemical systems are fit for their role in life, is it possible that everything is "fit for a purpose"?

Biochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana is VP of Research and Apologetics at Reasons to Believe, an organization dedicated to communicating the powerful scientific support for Christianity. His books include "Origins of life," "Who Was Adam?," "Creating Life in the Lab," "Humans 2.0," "Thinking about Evolution," and "Fit for a Purpose."

A Better Explanation for Complex Biochemical Systems (Dr. Fazale Rana)

Randal Rauser recently wrote the book "Progressive Christians Love Jesus Too." I invited him on the show today to discuss how progressives and evangelicals view Jesus and Christianity differently. Is progressive Christianity another gospel or another religion? This friendly conversation will help you think well about those questions.

Randal Rauser is a systematic and analytic theologian of evangelical persuasion. He received his PhD at King's College, London. He is Professor of Historical Theology at Taylor Seminary where he has taught since 2003. He is the author of several books including "Is the Atheist my Neighbour?" (Wipf and Stock, 2015), "What on Earth do We Know About Heaven?" (Baker, 2013), the bestseller "Finding God in the Shack" (Biblica, 2009), "Theology in Search of Foundations" (Oxford, 2009) and "The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails" (InterVarsity, 2012).

Progressive vs Evangelical Views of Jesus & Christianity (Dr. Randal Rauser)

Live your truth. Follow your heart. You only have one life to live. God just wants you to be happy. Love is love. These cultural statements flood our news feeds and sound so positive, but are they true? In order to Think Well we must discern the messages we see and compare them to biblical truth.

Alisa Childers joins me to discuss her new book, "Live Your Truth and Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed." This show will help you evaluate popular lies by looking at what Scripture has to say.

The Best Lies Sound The Most Beautiful (Alisa Childers)

Are we living in the last days? Is the conflict in Israel connected to what is predicted in the book of Revelation? What does the Bible say about the end of the world? While the church has shared common points of agreement "Mere Eschatology," we have also differed in many areas. This has led to different ways of interpreting the Bible's apocalyptic literature (preterist, historicist, idealist, futurist), different views on the relationship between Israel and the Church, if and when the rapture will happen, and understanding the nature of the millennium (historic premillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism). 

Rather than be overwhelmed by these views, the goal of this show is to ground you in "Mere Eschatology," help you see the pros and cons of each view, but most importantly to help you see the apologetic and practical significance of studying eschatology. It's a topic that many shy away from, including myself, but I think we are missing out when we do. This show will explain why.

Kenneth Samples is a senior research scholar at Reasons to Believe and an adjunct instructor of apologetics at Biola University. Samples is the author of many books, including "Classic Christian Thinkers," "Without a Doubt," and "God Among Sages." The book that we are discussing today is titled "Christian End Game: Careful Thinking about the End Times."

Explaining Different Christian Views of End Times (Kenneth Samples)

We cannot send people out to engage the culture and have evangelistic conversations without equipping them to handle objections that will inevitably come. Greg Koukl's newest book, Street Smarts, is a follow-up to his best-selling Tactics and will help you use questions to answer Christianity's toughest challenges. This is a practical and proven guide to help you better engage in productive conversations with those who challenge your Christian convictions.

Greg Koukl is the founder and president of Stand to Reason. He holds MA degrees with honors in both apologetics and philosophy. He has spoken on more than 80 university campuses and has hosted his own call-in radio talk show for more than 33 years defending "Christianity worth thinking about." Greg serves as adjunct professor of Christian apologetics at Biola University and is the author of the award-winning The Story of Reality and the bestselling Tactics.

Using Questions When Facing Objections To Christianity (Greg Koukl Street Smarts)

My year 1 doctoral research project was on applying a theology of the body to transgenderism. We are able to respond better to cultural issues when we understand each issue in light of God's story of creation, fall, and redemption. How did God design and create our bodies? How has the fall affected our view of our bodies? What is God's plan to restore our bodies? The answers to these three questions will give Christians a more compassionate, true, and biblically faithful response to transgenderism.

My Doctoral Research on a Theology of the Body and Transgenderism

Students frequently tell me that they believe in science, not Christianity. Have scientific facts replaced supernatural myths? Has science shown that miracles are impossible? Dr. Richard Howe joins the show to explain why science has not refuted miracles or the supernatural.

Dr. Howe is Provost, Professor of Philosophy and Apologetics, and Norman L. Geisler Chair of Christian Apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary. He is a writer as well as a public speaker and debater in churches, conferences, and university campuses on issues concerning Christian apologetics and philosophy. Both his master's thesis and doctoral dissertation focused on the issue of the existence of God.

Must A Scientifically Minded Person Reject Miracles? (Dr. Richard Howe)

What do you do when LDS missionaries knock on your door? Do you ignore the knock as if you're not home or confidently engage with biblical truth? Today's conversation includes insider knowledge, personal stories, cultural insights, evangelistic wisdom, and best practices from former LDS missionaries themselves, to help Christians share their faith wisely and effectively with Latter-day Saints.

Ross Anderson was born in Utah and was raised LDS. After leaving Mormonism as a young adult, he pursued a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry. Anderson has served as a church planter and pastor in Utah for four decades and is currently a teaching pastor at Alpine Church. He is the executive director of Utah Advance Ministries and the founder of the Faith after Mormonism project and the Culture-Wise podcast. Ross has authored various books, including Understanding the Book of Mormon, Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor, and Jesus without Joseph - a study guide for former Mormons. Ross is an avid cyclist and reader. He and his wife, Sally, are parents to five adult children.

Sharing the Gospel with LDS Culture (Dr. Ross Anderson)

We long for relationships, pursue goodness, desire truth, are startled by beauty, and want to be free. The things that you most want, your deepest desires, will affect how you pursue the best life. It is only within the Christian story that we can understand these desires. Join me and Dr. Ganssle as we show how our desires point back to God and should cause you to want Christianity to be true.

Dr. Greg Ganssle is professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He is the author of several books, including "A Reasonable God: Engaging the New Face of Atheism" and "Thinking About God," and he is the editor of "God and Time." He joined the show before to discuss whether atheism or theism had a better explanation of morality.

You Should Want Christianity To Be True (Dr. Greg Ganssle)

"Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi gives simple responses to 20 common arguments for the existence of God. This series will cover all 20 arguments, one chapter at a time. We begin with chapter 1, "Science can't explain the complexity and order of life; God must have designed it to be this way." What is Armin's response to the design argument? Do his objections stand up to cross-examination? Join me and find out. An open Q&A will follow my discussion of the chapter.

Design Requires A Designer (Atheist Book Response, Part 1)

How convincing are the common arguments for Christianity? Do they hit as hard as apologists think they do? What can Christians do better? The Faithiest Atheist joins the show to discuss why different arguments for Christianity are not as convincing as we often think.

Atheist Shares Insights On Arguments For Christianity (The Faithiest Atheist)

Atheist Armin Navabi writes that to claim that the Bible is evidence for God is the fallacy of begging the question and is no different than saying, 'This is true because I believe it." He goes on to say, "Just because something is written in a book does not mean that it's true." Is this what Christians are doing when they claim that God's existence is proven by Scripture? Can the Bible be used in our case for God's existence?

Join the show as we discuss chapter 2 of "Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi. In this book, Armin gives simple responses to 20 common arguments for the existence of God. This series will cover all 20 arguments, one chapter at a time. Do his objections stand up to cross-examination? Join me and find out. An open Q&A will follow my discussion of chapter 2.

Why Christians Can Use The Bible As Evidence For God

Atheist Armin Navabi writes that "a person surviving a disease believed to be terminal only shows that the disease may not be fully understood or that the prognosis was not accurate." Using miracles as evidence for God would be an argument from ignorance. Because, "no matter how unlikely an event is, it doesn't mean that a supernatural explanation would be more likely." to claim that the Bible is evidence for God is the fallacy of begging the question and is no different than saying, 'This is true because I believe it." He goes on to say, "Just because something is written in a book does not mean that it's true." Is this what Christians are doing when they claim that God's existence is proven by Scripture? Can the Bible be used in our case for God's existence?

Let's take a deeper look at chapter 3 of "Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi and see how we can better understand his points and respond to his arguments. I hope to show you how Christians can use miracles as evidence for God. An open Q&A will follow my discussion of the chapter.

Are Miracles Only Cheap Magic Tricks? (Atheist Book Response, Part 3)

Atheist Armin Navabi writes that "moral standards, as we understand them, are social constructs. They are tied intimately to cultural circumstances and can change over time." Christians claim that morality comes from God. Which is true?

Let's take a deeper look at chapter 4 of "Why There Is No God" by Armin Navabi and see how Christians and atheists approach the topic of morality.

Can Atheists Be Good People? (Atheist Book Response, Part 4)

The majority of people around the world believe in some sort of god. Can this be used to show that God exists? Does the fact that religious beliefs are so widespread prove that something about religion is true? Atheist Armin Navabi addresses these questions in chapter 4 of his book, "Why There Is No God." Let's take a deep look and see if the spread of religion means that God exists.

Your Beliefs Do Not Change Reality (Atheist Book Response, Part 5)

How should Christians think about cultural issues, and how can we have better conversations with those who think differently? The goal of today's show is to give you different perspectives on cultural issues while modeling a healthy disagreement. Come join the conversation and bring your questions!

Tim Whitaker is the creator and facilitator at The New Evangelicals. Growing up, Tim always felt at home in evangelical spaces – until years later, when his studying and questions caused him to no longer be welcomed at in his church community. Brokenhearted, but undeterred, Tim continued to pursue a deeper understanding of faith, history, theology and the evangelical church. The more he uncovers, the more he realizes the importance of advocating for the marginalized in the church, exploring the full depth and breadth of Christian faith traditions, and holding toxic churches and leaders accountable.

Faith and Culture with A Deconstructed Christian (Tim Whitaker of the New Evangelicals)

Can answered prayers be used as evidence for God's existence, or is prayer nothing more than an illusion or placebo effect? Does it help or does it have harmful effects? We continue our series with chapter 6 from Armin Navabi's book, "Why There Is No God." 

Content:
0:00 Intro
2:25 What have we covered before?
3:50 The big objection against prayer
5:50 Can prayer be used as evidence for God's existence?
9:38 What do scientific experiments show us about the effectiveness of prayer?
22:15 Why is it problematic to study prayer scientifically?
28:35 Do Christians suffer from confirmation bias?
31:20 Looking for scientific evidence presents a narrow view of knowledge
33:30 Is prayer self-contradictory?
34:45 Does God care about the small problems in your life?
42:04 Why doesn't God always answer prayer?
49:10 When prayer can be used as evidence for God
52:15 Are there harmful effects of prayer?

Answered Prayer As Evidence For God (Atheist Book Response, Part 6)

Does your personal relationship with God count as evidence of His existence, or is there a natural explanation for what Christians experience? Do Christians only see what they want to believe and therefore support the beliefs they already hold? Atheist Armin Navabi addresses the argument "I feel a personal relationship with God, so I know that he is real" in chapter 7 of his book, "Why There Is No God." Today's show will consider his objections as we look at how our relationship with God can be evidence of his existence. Send in your questions for the Q&A at the end and enjoy the discussion!

God Exists Because I Experience Him (Atheist Book Response, Part 7)

How do we make sense of Christianity? Why are there so many scandals in the church? Why is it filled with hypocrisy? Why do Christians struggle with mental illness instead of displaying the fruit of the Spirit? How can I believe in God or miracles today? Come join the conversation as we try to make sense of some of the most challenging questions related to Christianity.

Content Discussed:
0:00 Introduction
1:35 Why are so many struggling to make sense of Christianity?
5:02 Is deconversion more of a problem or is there hope with what you see?
9:15 How did your story influence this book?
13:05 What would you say to someone whose Bible reading is the cause of their doubt?
18:15 Are apologists setting up an unrealistic expectation with evidence?
22:33 Evidence and Experience are both necessary
24:00 Why are there so many scandals in the church?
26:41 What can we say to those who have been hurt by those in spiritual authority?
31:15 How do you make sense of the Holy Spirit changing hearts yet not seeing the change in Christians?
37:29 How do you speak to hypocrisy in the church?
41:14 Is there reliable evidence for God's existence?
47:18 How can Jesus be the only way to heaven when so many people haven't heard?
53:47 How can we believe in miracles today?
57:11 How would you encourage those who are struggling to make sense of Christianity?

Making Sense of Scandals, Hypocrisy, and Doubt in the Church (Dr. Bobby Conway)

Tim Stratton from Free Thinking Ministries joined me for a second week to discuss the Calvinist vs Arminian debate. However, Tim presented the often forgotten third option, Molinism.

Mere Molinism in the Calvinist vs Arminian Debate with Tim Stratton

"How do we apply the essence of the gospel to a gay loved one? In what ways can we better walk with truth and grace alongside a fellow Christian with same-sex attractions? Holy Sexuality and the Gospel offers theological and practical insights that lead us to find our identity in Christ, not our sexuality. Whether you want to share Christ with a loved one who identifies as gay or you are wrestling with questions of identity yourself, this book [and conversation] will help you better understand sexuality in light of God's grand story and realize that holy sexuality is actually good news for all."

A Christian Response To Homosexuality with Dr. Christopher Yuan

Climate change is often viewed as a heated political topic. However, some may be surprised to learn that scientists have been talking about the topic for well over a century! This discussion with Dr. Hugh Ross will not only look at Earth's current climate but also at the planet's captivating climate history. He will explain why it is that we have extreme climate stability and how that is evidence for a designer.

A Christian Scientist Explains Climate Change (with Dr. Hugh Ross)

"Jesus died on the cross for my sins." This is a common phrase among Christians, but what does it mean? Why did he have to die? Couldn't he simply forgive us? In this conversation with Dr. William Lane Craig, we will be going over the basics of Jesus's death on the cross, responding to objections, and showing why it is so important for Christians.

Atonement Is Central to Christianity - What It Means and Why It Matters (Dr. William Lane Craig)

Training Christians to THINK WELL by curating conversations with Christian thinkers and giving a framework for engaging the culture with a biblical worldview.

Ryan Pauly has been working with students for over a decade as a high school teacher, missionary, and apologist. He is the Founder and President of Think Well, an organization focused on training Christians to engage the culture with a biblical worldview, and the Director of Immersive Experiences at MAVEN. Ryan holds a B.A. in theology and youth leadership from Vanguard University, an M.A. in Christian apologetics from Biola University, and is pursuing a doctorate in cultural engagement from Talbot School of Theology. Ryan lives in Southern California with his wife and two sons. He enjoys watching hockey, roasting coffee, and playing with his boys.

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