Unbelievable?

Presented by Esther Higham, Muyiwa Olarewaju

Every Saturday from 6.30pm - 7pm

Is Open Theism a heresy? James White vs John Sanders

20 May 2016
01:22:51

John E Sanders is one among a number of evangelical theologians such as Greg Boyd who have embraced Open Theism – the view that God does not necessarily have foreknowledge of all future events and that the future is open. Many evangelicals believe Op...

Why Can’t Mike Believe? David Robertson & Mike Rand

13 May 2016
01:23:11

Mike Rand is an agnostic who has been listening to Unbelievable? for several years. He is attracted to aspects of the Christian faith but has certain intellectual objections which he hasn’t found satisfactory answers to yet. He engages with David Rob...

Is human life intrinsically valuable? Peter Singer, Richard Weikart & Susan Blackmore

7 May 2016
01:22:48

Richard Weikart, professor of history at California State University, joins Justin to talk about his new book 'The Death of Humanity'. He says the loss of belief in the value of human life is leading to disastrous consequences for society. Peter Sing...

A Tale of Two Megachurches – When Justin met Joel Osteen & Rob Bell

29 Apr 2016
45:22

In this podcast-only edition of the programme, Justin Brierley delves into the archives to air a radio documentary which was first broadcast in 2009. He and his family went on a US road trip to visit two megachurches and meet their pastors. Lakewood...

Have atheists got the wrong God? Rupert Shortt vs Jeremy Rodell

22 Apr 2016
01:22:09

In his new book ‘Go Is No Thing’ Rupert Shortt argues that many ‘new atheists’ have a faulty view of God that doesn’t take seriously the philosophical arguments that thinkers like Thomas Aquinas gave many centuries ago for the existence of God. Ruper...

Ehrman vs Bauckham Part 2: Can we trust eyewitness testimony?

15 Apr 2016
01:22:49

Justin hosts the second part of a debate between noted Bible scholars Bart Ehrman and Richard Bauckham. Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that eyewitness testimony is very fallible and that the stories about Jesus...

Are the Gospels based on eyewitness testimony? Bart Ehrman vs Richard Bauckham

8 Apr 2016
01:20:39

Bart Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that the stories about Jesus would have changed and evolved before they were written down as the Gospels. Richard Bauckham, author of "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", d...

Did Jesus' followers believe he was God? Yusuf Ismail vs Jonathan McLatchie

1 Apr 2016
01:20:45

In Islam, Jesus is regarded as a prophet. Muslims commonly claim that the Christian belief in Christ as co-equal with God is a corruption of Jesus' message and that his first followers did not regard him as the Son of God. Christian apologist Jonatha...

A Jewish sceptic investigates the resurrection: Michael Alter vs Jonathan McLatchie

24 Mar 2016
01:22:07

Michael Alter is a Jew who spent a decade researching the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus after being challenged to investigate it. The result is his book ‘The Resurrection: A critical enquiry’. He was not eventually persuaded by the evidence...

Is the fine-tuning of the Universe evidence for God? Robin Collins vs Peter Millican

18 Mar 2016
01:20:23

Science has revealed that the fundamental constants and forces of the cosmos appear to be exquisitely fine-tuned to allow a universe in which life can develop. Is God the best explanation of the incredibly improbable odds of the universe we live in...

Should Christians save sex for marriage? Dianna E Anderson & Sarah Long

11 Mar 2016
01:20:13

Most evangelical churches teach young people that sex should be saved for marriage. But Dianna E Anderson's book 'Damaged Goods' claims that the purity culture of the American church she grew up in can be damaging for young people and that sexual rel...

Does the problem of evil presuppose God? Josh Parikh vs Cory Markum

4 Mar 2016
01:21:21

The problem of evil and suffering is a key objection to the existence of a loving God. But what if the very existence of moral ‘evil’ requires a God? Oxford undergraduate Josh Parikh is a young Christian apologist who won Tyndale Fellowship’s 2015 I...

Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God? Joseph Cumming & Nabeel Qureshi

26 Feb 2016
01:20:44

A Wheaton college professor was recently threatened with dismissal after claiming that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Justin is joined by two Christian guests to debate the question, Joseph Cumming a scholar of Islamic and Christian tho...

Was Christopher Hitchens right about religion? Peter Hitchens, Ed Turner & Peter Harris (plus Unbelievable? 2016 announced)

19 Feb 2016
01:20:57

Until his death from cancer over four years ago, Christopher Hitchens was one of the preeminent figures of new atheism: a prolific writer who was eloquent, witty and in great demand for his speaking and debating. Justin is joined by Christopher's bro...

From Christian to Jewish to atheist – Luke Griffiss-Williams & Richard Harvey

12 Feb 2016
01:20:20

Luke Griffiss-Williams has an interesting faith journey. Having been an evangelical Christian, doubts about the deity of Jesus led him to convert to Judaism. But further doubts about the historicity of the Old Testament led him to become an atheist....