The Elizabeth Whitworth Podcast: Recent Episodes
Elizabeth Whitworth
If God is real, He must be the most important and relevant reality in existence. Thus, the truth about God is worth pursuing.
“These all have obtained a good report through faith, but they did not receive the promise. For God provided something better for us so that, with us, they would be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39-40)
What’s “the promise,” and what does it mean to “be made perfect”? I recently engaged in a Facebook discussion with a stranger that started out contentious and ended up being a pleasant and productive experience. Here’s what I learned about the passage and the power of classical tolerance.
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Christmas isn’t family time, and it’s not just for Christians. Discover how you can banish the holiday blues and find real joy this season.
“Our Lord Has Come” • Lyrics and music by Elizabeth Whitworth ©
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If Jesus had been a less-than-perfect liar or a lunatic, his brother James would have known that, and he probably would have nipped that cult right in the bud. Instead, he used his last breath to pray for those who were killing him for his now-unshakable faith in his brother.
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The post From Skeptic to Martyr: How Jesus’ Brother James Changed His Mind appeared first on Elizabeth Whitworth.
A hospital social worker says a woman named Maria saw a shoe on the ledge of the hospital when she was flatlining. I examine the story.
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AmazonAPPLESPOTIFYBible references in this episode:
- 2 Kings 2:11
- Revelation 1
- Genesis 2:7
- 1 Corinthians 15
- Lamentations 2:14
- Matthew 24:24
The post The Shoe on the Ledge: Examining Maria’s NDE appeared first on Elizabeth Whitworth.
There was a time when there was only good. Then evil entered the picture. But evil is a companion of good for a limited time only. One of these days, if we choose to trust God, our knowledge of evil will be only a memory.
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AmazonAPPLESPOTIFYBible references in this episode:
- Genesis 1:4
- Genesis 2:9
- Genesis 2:15-17
- Isaiah 14:12-14
- John 3:16
- Romans 6:23
- Revelation 2:11
- Ezekiel 28:18
- Malachi 4:1-3
- 2 Peter 2:6
- Revelation 20:9,15
The post Good and Evil: Temporary Travel Companions appeared first on Elizabeth Whitworth.
Many doctrines of the mainstream church come, not from the Bible, but from pagan philosophy or non-biblical, non-apostolic tradition. Do you know which ones? This episode isn’t really about the specific doctrine of purgatory. It’s more about ideas and where they come from. It’s about our reasons for believing. The doctrine of purgatory is just one example.
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Perhaps like me, you’ve struggled with forgiving people who wronged you. I had a breakthrough when I started thinking about the way Jesus told people who wronged Him that He forgave them. It dawned on me that He never did.
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Is faith the opposite of rationality? It depends on whose faith we’re talking about. Faith, by definition, is belief without proof, but it does not have to be — nor should it be — belief without evidence.
If you’d like to establish beliefs that are less likely to be shaken and more likely to be true, I invite you to get a copy of my book Building Evidence-based Beliefs. This is based on a workshop, with exercises you can do individually or with a group.
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I discuss the stories in the film After Death and NDEs in general, addressing these questions:
- What are we actually talking about? NDEs or ADEs?
- What does the Bible say about the state of being dead?
- Are after-death experiences in the Bible?
- Are literal NDEs possible?
- What’s the source of literal NDEs?
- What are your paradigms?
- Is the Bible sufficient?
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David Bentley Hart says that eternal conscious torment is morally unjustifiable. William Lane Craig says that eternal conscious torment is morally justifiable. I say that eternal conscious torment isn't even a thing. I share some of the evidence for that, which includes what I understand the Bible to teach about the soul, the spirit, death, and hell. (Spoiler alert: I do believe in hell, but it might not be what you think.)
By the way, I'm a big fan of Dr. Craig and invite you to follow his work at reasonablefaith.org. You can follow me at elizabethwhitworth.com.
Do pets go to heaven? If so, when? How can we know? I briefly (as usual) present the evidence and reveal what the Bible actually says about death, resurrection, heaven, and hell (as I often do).
If God is real, He must be the most important and relevant reality in existence. Thus, the truth about God is worth pursuing.
Why do I use the word "if"? What do I mean by "God"? Why is the truth about God so important?
It is important that we know where our ideas come from. In Christian theology, there are two basic schools of thought about the soul and what happens when we die: what Plato taught and what the Bible teaches. I compare the two ideas, discuss how the Bible differentiates the soul and the spirit, and explain why it matters that we understand the truth about this.
In this episode I talk about how I was able to make daily Bible reading a habit after years of struggling with consistency, how I study the Bible, and tips that can help you read and study the Bible for yourself in a more consistent and fulfilling way. Here are the apps and sites I reference:
bible.com
dailyaudiobible.com
biblegateway.com
blueletterbible.org
I never talk about heaven and hell as a dichotomy for eternal destiny. I don't do it because the Bible doesn't present this dichotomy. It presents a dichotomy that is much more clear and coherent.
Evidence and proof are not the same thing. Faith is belief without proof, but it never should be belief without evidence.
A Christian, an athiest, and an agnostic walk into a cafe. This is not a joke, mostly because there's no punchline. It's a true story. The three of us sat around a table and agreed on this maxim: If God is real, He must be the most important and relevant reality in the universe; thus, the truth about God is worth pursuing.