Real Seekers: Recent Episodes
Real Seeker Ministries
I'm a person sincerely interested in seeking religious truth, for years I studied and did my best to seek out the truth about God's existence, the existence and nature of the afterlife and which religion might be true and/or endorsed by God. At the end of my searching, I came to the conclusion that Christianity is the religion that God wants me to follow and believe. I hope to help other "real seekers" in their journey to finding the same truth that I did.
I can be reached via email at realseekerministry@gmail.com
Here is my response to some more Fan Requests. The first is by one of the anonymous owners of S.A.N.I.T.Y. website and their campaign to have a Happy Praise not Pride month. The next is my response to Joe Marino's request about a video on the definition of Atheism (is it No God exists or simple lack Theism) & finally, I provide detailed reasoning about the dating of the Biblical book of Daniel (Early 6th century BC vs. Late Date 2nd century BC) in answer to the Christian Maoist.RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2023/12/14/messianic-prophecies-jesus-or-bust-an-argument-from-extraordinary-circumstances-on-reason-theologys-1p3-podcast/
I don't like having to do this, but Paul gives Christian teachers and leaders the right to make money from their efforts. After 6 years of working for Christ without asking for a single dime, based on new circumstances, I am finally humbling myself to ask for donations via PayPal and/or Patreon.That said, evangelism and apologetics comes first to me and always will, no one will miss out or be restricted from accessing Real Seekers related content- see my video to see how I've set things up to receive optional donations without limiting access for those who can't afford to donate.Link Tree = https://linktr.ee/realseekersPayPal = https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/RealSeekers
Patreon = https://www.patreon.com/RealSeekers
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/podcast-other-ministry-info/
This one is a fan request dedicated to Patrick from Brazil! Patrick asked me for help responding to a Jews for Judaism paper arguing that Daniel 9 has nothing to do with Jesus as the Messiah. I beg to differ with this Rabbi, find out why!
RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2023/12/14/messianic-prophecies-jesus-or-bust-an-argument-from-extraordinary-circumstances-on-reason-theologys-1p3-podcast/
Refuting the Maccabean Thesis video = • Daniel 9: Refuting the Maccabean Thesis
I'm joined by Bob Rucker and Hugh Farey alongside newcomer Brian Donley Worrell to discuss the Pros and Cons of the various Ordinary Naturalistic image formation theories for the Shroud which solely involve a dead body and natural processes. These theories will include; Direct Contact, Gas Diffusion (i.e., Maillard Reaction+ Skin Effects as per Ray Rogers and more recently Kelly Kearse) and the Electric Charge Separation (as per Dan Spicer and E.T. Toton) mechanisms.
Dr. Paul Copan joins us to speak on his book, "Is God a Moral Monster?".
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/06/08/is-god-a-moral-monster-w-dr-paul-copan/
I join 4S' Atheist host David Johnson and Mac the Calvinist co-host to discuss Calvinism and the Perseverance of the Saints. I join later in the show.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Another Open Mic Night on Faith Unaltered, I guest host.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Dale outlines not one, but two scholarly arguments from Biblical Prophecies in the OT; the first is based on John Bloom and Robert Newman's "Twin-City" argument based on some of the Oracles to the Nations. The second argument is Dale's own Circumstantial Argument from Messianic Prophecies for Jesus where he argues that we have a unique circumstance of "Jesus or Bust".RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2023/12/14/messianic-prophecies-jesus-or-bust-an-argument-from-extraordinary-circumstances-on-reason-theologys-1p3-podcast/
Here is Part addressing some more fundy lay Ex-Christians!RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
David Russell has been engaging with several ex-Christians who are quite arrogant and cocky in their disbelief and mockery of Jesus and God. We respond to their criticisms and expose the flaws in their thinking.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Fan favorite, Harry Stark, returns and this time he is presenting the case for Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Enlisting Josh Davidson from Cosmic Corner as the narrator, we see that many prominent Jewish Rabbis now admit Jesus is the Jewish Messiah!!!RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
As if 3+ hours of meeting Mac Attack wasn't enough, we all decided to do an After Show to continue the discussion on the Resurrection of Jesus and other issues.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
I join David Johnson and others to welcome Mak Attack, the new Christian co-host of the Skeptics and Seekers podcast.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
I was invited onto the Cosmic Corner Podcast by Josh Davidson to speak of universal languages & God.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
In this FUA Open Mic Night, I give a presentation refuting Paulogia's Resurrection theory.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Marvin Wallace joins me to review my debate with the Atheist Darren Lute on God and Science.
The S&S Atheist Darren Lute returns to debate me on what grounds the scientific method.
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
My friend (Dale) and world famous Islamic apologist Dr. Shabir Ally joins Dane, Tyler and myself to speak about the historicity of Jesus' crucifixion from an Islamic vs. Christian perspective and also to discuss the Trinity.RSM Blog (with my Slides) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/05/05/answering-islam-shows-dr-shabir-ally-on-jesus-death-divinity-solo-lecture/
Join us on the special episode of Faith Unaltered & Real Seekers as we sit down with Dr. David Bradshaw, for a second time, to do discuss the Eastern Orthodox understanding of God's relationship to time and eternity!Link Tree = https://linktr.ee/realseekersPay Pal = paypal.me/RealSeekersPatreon = patreon.com/RealSeekersRSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
I come on as a guest on Guy Powell's Backstory on the Shroud of Turin Podcast to give a presentation on two philosophical topics; i) The Philosophy of Science & Supernatural Miracles of God & also ii) the Total Irrelevance of the Shroud's Dating.*** Note: On the latter topic, I finally managed to convince Guy Powell to agree with me- see how that happened :)
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/04/13/shroud-wars-c-14-panel-great-light-studios-interview/
Join the Faith Unaltered Crew as we sit down with University of Kentucky's own Professor of Philosophy, Dr. David Bradshaw, for a exciting and controversial discussion concerning a teaching about God found only within the Eastern Orthodox Tradition of Christianity: The Essence-Energies Distinction!Dale Glover from Real Seekers joins Tyler and Dr. Bradshaw to discuss various aspects of the Essence-Energies Distinction by exploring Dr. Bradshaw's new book "Divine Energies and Divine Action: Exploring the Essence-Energies Distinction" and examining different concepts found within!Dr. David Bradshaw is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of "Aristotle, East and West: Metaphysics, and the Division of Christendom" and the editor of several works relating to Orthodoxy and philosophy, including "Philosophical Theology and the Christian Tradition: Russian and Western Perspectives" and (with Richard Swinburne) "Natural Theology in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition".RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Bob Rucker joins me on SJ Thomason's channel to discuss his own Vertically Collimated Radiation Burst (VCRB) hypothesis for explaining how the Shroud's body and bloodstain images formed on the Shroud as well as why the 1988 C-14 dating got completely false medieval dates.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/05/01/sj-thomason-shows/
Another Open Mic Night on Faith Unaltered with a variety of topics discussed by the hosts and guests.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Join the FUA crew and myself for another Open Mic Night.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Christian philosopher Dr. Clay Jones is an expert in the Problem of Evil- here is how he responds to it. RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
The Atheist Ben Watkins joins David and myself to discuss the Problem of Evil as an argument for Atheism. RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
In this episode of Faith Unaltered, Tyler (and Dale) is joined by Lucas Curcio of @methodministries Dr. Leighton Flowers of @Soteriology101 and Jordan Hatfield of @GreatLightStudios to offer the best arguments that refute the controversial systematic theology that is Calvinism. Though all four of the panel come from different corners of the Protestant and Eastern Orthodox world, one thing we have in common is that we all agree, Calvinism (nor its supposed seeds) is not what the Early, Medieval or Modern Church taught/teaches and logical outcomes of aspects of this system have proven to be quite disturbing, abhorrent and completely unbiblical. This why we seek to, once for all, Kill Calvinism.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
This is the 8th Open Mic Night on Faith Unaltered.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Phil Bair comes on to discuss some Atheist arguments addressed in his book, Machines Don't Laugh.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
I was asked to be a guest on Dane Van Eys' Three Crowns Podcast to answer a Muslim listener who raised Surah 4:157 in the Quran as proof that Jesus did not historically die on the cross as the Christian Gospels allege.I present iron-clad historical, philosophical and theological proof that such did indeed occur and only a biased individual could deny this otherwise undeniable fact of history.In fairness, I have invited my friend and Islamic scholar, Dr. Shabir Ally to represent the positive Islamic side on May 21st 2024- enjoy :)RSM Blog (with free Slides & Scholarly Sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/05/05/answering-islam-shows-dr-shabir-ally-on-jesus-death-divinity-solo-lecture/
I was a guest on SJ Thomason's channel to speak on three Shroud dating evidences; the 1988 Carbon-14 dating, the Hungarian Pray Codex and the Sudarium of Oviedo. Sprinkled throughout are some funny Hugh Farey clips- enjoy!
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/05/01/sj-thomason-shows/
Attention all members of the Shroud crowd, we need your help! Guy Powell joins me to speak on an important initiative, he is putting out a petition to get signed by all of us Shroud folks in order to demand a retraction or amendment of the 1989 Feb 16 Nature Journal article on the radiocarbon testing/dating of the Shroud which contains deliberate lies, fudged data and proven false conclusions. If possible, Guy is hoping to get as wide of a number of petition signers as possible. Petition Link:https://www.change.org/p/retract-or-amend-the-nature-magazine-s-1989-shroud-of-turin-article?utm_medium=custom_url&utm_source=share_petition&recruited_by_id=09b21800-f6a4-11ee-9bbb-55cb265faf69RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/04/13/shroud-wars-c-14-panel-great-light-studios-interview/
Dr. William Lane Craig is an expert on the subject of the philosophy of time. In this interview we probe him about the various theories of time as applied to creation and how God might relate to and know things about His temporal creation; what mode of eternality does God have?All this and more will be answered!
Philosopher Phillip Carey provides the classical response to the Problem of Evil.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
In Part 2, I finish off my talk with Kevin the Shroud Skeptic on his reasons for thinking the Shroud is a painted artwork. We discuss the Pro-Paint evidence from Walter McCrone and his issues with some anatomical inaccuracies.
Join us as we interview Evan Minton on the “Making The Maximal Data Argument For Jesus Resurrection Attractive” talk he gave recently! RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Teddi and I appeared as guests on the Great Studio's Podcast with Jordan Hatfield to discuss the evidence from the Shroud of Turin. This is the first of what promises to be an entire series on the Shroud. This is the raw unedited version with over 1 hour of bonus material that was edited out of Jordan's more polished version. There is no doubt that, while on the same Pro-Shroud team, Teddi and I have our disagreements on some things, but in the end there is a lot of helpful and in depth information in this episode that will be very edifying for Shroud fans!RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/04/13/shroud-wars-c-14-panel-great-light-studios-interview/
Harry Stark is at it again, in this short video, he enlists the vocals of Faith Unaltered's Tyler Fowler to discuss the Christian allegory present in the popular Haven video game from the early 2000's.
Psychic Barbara With returns to discuss some of her problems with traditional Christianity and the Jesus of the Gospels (for example, how can a loving God send unbelievers to Hell, what is Hell, why should Jesus die for my sins, etc.).1 Peter 3:15 says that all Christians are commanded to provide a defense of the truth of the hope that lies within them, I intend to do just that!UPDATE: Barbara cancelled at the last minute and so Tyler and I engage with some of her objections and so called "interview with Jesus".RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
A new Shroud skeptic has just agreed to enter the arena of the Shroud Wars!!! Jordan the Atheist from Reason to Doubt is currently doing a new series on the 1988 carbon-14 dating of the Shroud of Turin, he plans to finish off his solo series by April. I have brought together 3 of the top Pro-Shroud experts on the C-14 dating (Michael Kowalski, Thomas McAvoy & Joe Marino) to discuss the issues directly with Jordan.RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/04/13/shroud-wars-c-14-panel-great-light-studios-interview/
Recently I appeared on my friend, Kevin Nontradicath's YouTube channel to speak on his objections to the Shroud of Turin. This time around, I play host and have him as a guest on my show to speak about his take on Apostolic Succession and his ratings of various Roman Catholic miracle claims.
My friends Dr. Gary Habermas and Joe Marino asked me to review a recent article by a skeptic named Jeff Davis. Davis provides 14 reasons that Christians (supposedly) don't believe in Jesus' bodily Resurrection. Well, let's just say I was not impressed with the reasoning and I will provide my response.RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/03/31/the-resurrection-of-christ-debating-skeptic-dr-david-kemball-cook/
David KC joins me to discuss the evidence of the Empty Tomb. Happy Easter!
RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/03/31/the-resurrection-of-christ-debating-skeptic-dr-david-kemball-cook/
I was invited onto to former Catholic, now non-religious Agnostic, Kevin Nontradicath's channel to discuss a 14-min video he made on the Shroud about a year ago now. In this episode we go over his issues regarding the Carbon-14 dating, 11389 D'Arcis Memorandum and the Hungarian Pray Codex.RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/03/29/conversations-with-kevin-nontradicath-shroud-miracles-more/
David KC is back to go over the prior probability of Jesus' Resurrection based on the Jefferey Conditionalization Formula/Bayes and, if time, to start to get into the historical evidence for Jesus Resurrection for the Empty Tomb.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Biblical unitarian, Dr. Dale Tuggy, joins the Three Crowns Podcast with Dane Van Eyes to discuss the question of " Ss New Testament theology Trinitarian?"
Barbara With is an international peace activist, award-winning author/publisher, psychic channel, composer and performer, workshop facilitator, and inspirational speaker. She is the co-founder of Conflict REVOLUTION, a revolutionary way to resolve conflicts of the psyche based on her work channeling Albert Einstein. She lectures on her Einstein’s Unified Field Theory, Maps of Human Consciousness and the Science of Compassion.I want to evaluate what her claims are and see what a proper Christian response ought to be to such claims.
Phil Bair returns to conclude his series on water Baptism and the Lord's Supper. In this episode, we focus in on the Lord's Supper to determine if it is an essential sacrament, an symbolic ordinance/command or is it an optional remembrance.
Dr. Craig Blomberg joins us to discuss the reliability of the Gospels. Thank you to Phil Bair for connecting us with Craig.
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2020/02/11/the-gospels-acts-discussing-reliability-with-drs-michael-r-licona-lydia-mcgrew-and-craig-keener/
I guest starred on Faith Unaltered's Open Mic Night #6- enjoy the various topics of discussions from the fans.RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
In Part 2B, I summarize the substantive reasons and arguments I assessed in Parts 1 and 2A in favour of the Eastern Orthodoxy's Biblical Canon claims.
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/02/20/the-biblical-canon-protestantism-vs-eastern-orthodoxy/
In Part 2, we evaluate the Eastern Orthodox claim to have infallible extra-Biblical traditions that speak to the Canonicity of the Bible.
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/02/20/the-biblical-canon-protestantism-vs-eastern-orthodoxy/
Continuing on with my Shroud Wars Panel Review series, we discuss the pros and cons of various Shroud image-forming mechanisms involving Radiation (both natural/ordinary and supernatural/extraordinary).
RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/02/15/shroud-wars-panel-review-part-11-the-radiation-hypotheses-god-the-geometer-with-thomas-mcavoy/
Dr. Thomas McAvoy, from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Bioengineering Department, University of Maryland, joins me to discuss the relevant scientific evidence that substantiates faith in the Christian God ranging from the Big Bang to evolution and free will to miracles like the Shroud of Turin.
Tyler Fowler, one of the hosts of Faith Unaltered, is my friend and brother in Christ. Recently, he has decided to commit himself to Eastern Orthodoxy. One of the main reasons he left Protestantism and got interested in Orthodoxy was due to the issue of Biblical Canonicity.Orthodoxy makes the claim that they have infallible extra-biblical traditions that warrant their inclusion of deuterocanonical books in the inspired Bible; I assess whether such claims are really warranted or not!RSM Blog = TO BE POSTED WITH PART 2
Phil Bair joins me to discuss whether or not water baptism is a necessary condition for justification.
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Following up my conversation with skeptical apostate David Kemball-Cook on the prior probability of miracles and the Atheist David Hume's take on it by explaining the proper use of Bayes Theorem and the Jefferey Conditionalization Formula (for the Prior Probability) in particular.RSM Blog (with free sources and slides) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Dr. David Kemball-Cook returns to discuss why he lost his faith in Jesus's Resurrection. He adopts David Hume's reasoning and thinks miracles are a priori highly improbable. I help refute this notion.
Marvin Wallace and Jaime Castro join me to discuss Transgenderism and the LGBTQ+ movement from a proper Biblical understanding.
I provide a quick (less than 1 hour) video response on my take on the objections raised to the Ontological Argument during the debate's rebuttal section. I hope it is helpful for people. The follow up show on the rest of the debate with Jordan, David J. and Phil Bair will be on at 7:30 pm EST tonight.
RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/21/the-great-god-debate-tag-team-is-there-a-supreme-foundation-to-ultimate-reality-with-travis-worth-atheists-jordan-david-j/
Christian philosopher and apologist, Phil Bair, watched the Great God Debate I did with Travis Worth, David J. and Jordan form Reasons to Doubt and he wanted to do a follow up show on that debate with the two Atheists. Phil is the author of "Machines Don't Laugh: Confronting the Fallacies of Atheism . . . Again" which refutes the New Atheists and wanted to engage some of the Atheists points during the debate, David and Jordan were kind enough to oblige- so enjoy the conversation between them.
RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/21/the-great-god-debate-tag-team-is-there-a-supreme-foundation-to-ultimate-reality-with-travis-worth-atheists-jordan-david-j/
Christians Travis Worth and myself debate Atheists Jordan from Reasons to Doubt and David Johnson from Skeptics and Seekers on the Ontological Argument, Rasmussen's Contingency argument from arbitrary limits, the Hiddenness of God and the Problem of Evil.
Experts Bob Rucker and Hugh Farey join me to analyze Pesce Delfino's "Hot Bas-Relief" method as well as what I (Dale) think is the best of the "Ordinary Artistic" hypotheses, Dr. Colin Berry's "Toastograph" hypothesis; otherwise known as his “FILM-SET” Model 10 method.Shroud skeptic Dr. Colin Berry has been and remains invited to be guest on this Panel show to defend his theory- just let me know :)
RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/08/shroud-panel-review-part-10-the-scorch-toastograph-aka-film-set-model-10-hypotheses/
In this Open Mic night form Faith Unaltered, many of us get together to evaluate Presuppositionalism, including a clip of Darth Dawkins engaging with me, David Russell and David Pallmann back in the day.
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2024/01/06/real-seekers-blogs-january-2024-beyond/
Michael Lofton (not Loftus- sorry) of the Reason & Theology Podcast asked me to do a follow up show to my take on Messianic Prophecies- specifically he wanted me to refute the Maccabean thesis of Daniel 9:24-27. In this episode I refute the claim that the 70 weeks of years correlates to the the time of the Maccabees and refers to the death of the anointed Hugh Priest Onias III.RSM Blog (with free scholarly sources) = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2023/12/14/messianic-prophecies-jesus-or-bust-an-argument-from-extraordinary-circumstances-on-reason-theologys-1p3-podcast/
I guest star with Phil Bair and Jordan Hatfield on Faith Unaltered to refute Calvinism.
I was asked to guest star to discuss Christianity with the Atheist YouTuber, Jimmy Tux, on Tux TV. I provide him with a healthy dose of rationality for a change and prove Christianity is the only logical choice!P.S.- Jimmy Tux seems to be starting up a new series demonstrating his ignorance on the Shroud of Turin, in other words, he has chosen.... death.
Look out for Shroud experts to refute his nonsense when it comes out; meantime, look at his promo = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiug9nZEYZc
John Loken joins me to present his case against Galatians 3:1 for the Shroud and also in favour of his Eusebius text on the Abgar legend.
Dr. Gilbert Lavoie shares his expertise as a medical expert on the Shroud Man's anatomy and bloodstains and discusses his own theory that the Shroud Man was vertically upright and levitating at the time the body images were encoded. Lots of great info in this episode with one of the "greats" of Pro-Shroud research!
I (Dale) guest star on Luis Dizon’s “1P3” segment of the Reason and Theology Podcast to outline my own nuanced version of an argument from Messianic Prophecies whereby I argue that a unique set of circumstances arises with either the “bona fide” unfalsified claims about Jesus being a viable Messianic candidate are true or else no one is the Jewish Messiah (i.e., the “Bust” option) obtains. I argue this is a rather “extraordinary” circumstance as it is unique despite there being ample opportunity for others to equally qualify based on their own claims and/or in other religions for a similar situation to arise such as in Islam, which claims many Biblical prophecies about Muhammed; unfortunately we see that Islam fails to establish a “Muhammed or Bust” circumstance where as Jesus does so!
Join us as we discuss Dale’s presentation on the Axiology of Theism; If God exists, is that more or less valuable than Atheism?
I was invited onto the brand new Shroud skeptic YouTube channel called the "Ignotus Channel" with Oliver Pearce. We cover various issues including the 1988 C-14 Dating, the bloodstains, the Limestone Dust findings and textile studies.
Phil Bair returns to discuss with Dale Glover whether it is logically possible for God to tell a lie. Dale will be arguing the affirmative position and Phil the negative. Enjoy :)
This is another fan requested video as Harry Stark, edited my personal testimony show on Reason & Theology and improved the visuals and shortened the length as well he provided me with an edited version of Carolyn Weber's conversion testimony from the Unbelievable show and I provide my own commentary. RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/my-testimony-from-agnostic-to-christian-dale-guest-stars-on-reason-theology-podcast/
I was asked to guest star on Michael Loftus' "Reason and Theology" podcast for the 1P3 segment with Luis Dizon. I gave my own personal testimony on the intellectual arguments and evidences, as well as my methodology, for how I went from Agnostic to Bible-believing Christian.
Some in the Pro-Shroud crowd have mentioned that my previous Panel Review Summary show was too long (4.5 hours) and so I wanted to provide this summarized and condensed 30 min version of the show for people.
Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey joins me to discuss Nicholas Allen's Proto-Photo and Nathan D. Wilson's Shadow image-forming hypotheses. While, Hugh is a Shroud skeptic regarding the Shroud in general, nevertheless he takes a "Pro-Shroud" position with respect to the validity of these two Shroud skeptical mechanisms. Finally, we also briefly discuss Picknett and Prince's absurd notion that the Shroud Man's images were made by Leonardo Davinci.
In this rather long episode (due to updates and corrections in my knowledge), I go over all of the textual and archeological evidence we have for the existence of the Shroud of Turin's images from 30 A.D. to 500 A.D.I assess two Pro-Shroud hypotheses; Ian Wilson's Image of Edessa/Mandylion theory and its use of the Abgar Legend in ancient Edessa and compare that with Jack Markwardt's Image of God Incarnate theory and Jack's notion of the Shroud having been in ancient Antioch for the first 5 centuries. Finally, I also assess the Shroud skeptic's hypothesis that all texts from this period must be referring to something other than Shroud images.
Continuing on with my Shroud series on SJ Thomason's channel, I invited Bible expert, Larry Stalley, to come on and address the texts of the New Testament that he believes are cryptic references to the Shroud images. Additionally, we also address 4 skeptical Bible-based objections to the Shroud of Turin (no explicit mentions, John mentions multiple strips/cloths, Isaiah 52:14 failed Messianic prophecy and 1 Cor 11- no long hair).
Christian Egyptologist, Dr. David Falk, has chosen to weigh in on the Shroud debate and make a short 20 min video outlining his reasons for thinking the Shroud is a Byzantine painting dating sometime before the 4th Crusade in 1204 A.D. in Constantinople. Interestingly, I was part of his motivation for his doing so and so I take it as my responsibility to refute the 4-5 substantive points he makes as to why the Shroud is not historically authentic as Jesus' burial shroud.
I was a guest on Tyler Vela's podcast to discuss the Molinism via the Libertarian freewill vs. Compatibilism debate from a philosophical perspective. Enjoy!
Here is the Grand Finale on spiritual abuse- we cover lessons learned from the Jim Jones cult and also the phases of spiritual abuse.
Jaime returns to provide some more depth on spiritual abuse, this time from a strictly Biblical perspective. What does the Scripture itself say about this topic?Next time, will be the Grand Finale on spiritual abuse to close out the series on this topic!
I guest starred on Guy Powell's Podcast to go over an illustration of the application of my "MRF Approach" for assessing various Shroud image forming mechanisms.
In this episode, Dale and SJ will explore the traditional painting hypothesis, which was proposed by Walter McCrone from a scientific perspective.
Unfortunately, for the past couple months I have been wrapped up in an Investigation Committee investigating some allegations as to potential spiritual abuses by my former Pastor at my old church, Midland Park. That investigation has now concluded and I wanted to share some generalized and helpful lessons from my own experiences attending that church and what I learned from the investigation process. Atheist and former Church of Christ member David Johnson, along with David Russell, Dr. Tony Costa and Jamie Castro all join me to discuss how we tell the difference between a Bible-believing Pastor and healthy church environment vs. a cult leader in a toxic cult-like gathering masquerading as a church. The truth is not always as clear cut as one might hope and there are often gray zones involved.
My friend Jaime Castro joins me to discuss his ministry related to spiritual abuses in cult-like churches, his take on apologetics and his ministry involving Disabled theology for people and Christians with various disabilities.
Special guest Patricia Brendel has a new book out, Heart Beat of Love, where she outlines some of her own life's hardships and how she discovered God's love and what it means through these painful experiences.
Dr. Helmut Felzmann is Pro-Shroud in terms of historicity but believes in a naturalistic gas diffusion theory to explain the Shroud images. He also gives his view that Jesus swooned on the cross was revived by the Essenes and then left for India. He believes that Christianity has been taken over by Paul who differed form the Apostles on Jesus death for our sins and Resurrection from the dead. He also argues that religions need to be reformed to reflect a more universal religion of consciousness and love.* My apologies for the lack of Live show today and bad video quality (bad even by my own lax standards- we had technical difficulties and so my usual Podcasting set up didn't work). *
Open Theist David Kemball-Cook returns to discuss with me his thoughts on the evidence for Jesus' Resurrection.
Is the Shroud of Turin really the burial cloth of Jesus after his crucifixion? Dale Glover and Luis Dizon join Reason & Theology to discuss the matter with a detailed presentation!
The Shroud Wars Panel Review shows are back! We are now shifting gears to review the Shroud from a scientific perspective. In this installment I'm joined by Pro-Shroud experts Joe Marino and Mark Antonacci alongside infamous Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey to discuss the physical and chemical properties of the Shroud's body and bloodstain images and how those relate to Walter McCrone's traditional Painting image-formation hypothesis.
Everyone's favorite biologist Harry Stark is back! See his newest video on DNA and how it relates to God.
Former Hindu, now Theist Omar Fakhoury wants to discuss the Moral argument and whether it makes sense to think of morals as being objective.
When should Christians forgive those who hurt us and do us wrong? Before the offender repents and seeks reconciliation? After? Is it circumstantial? Dale Glover from @RealSeekers joins us as we explore these questions and seek to understand the Biblical model of forgiveness!
Jack Markwardt and Teddi Pappas join me to review various claims of the Shroud Skeptics from previous debates and elsewhere. Half will be related to historical issues and the other half related to the science of the Shroud.
Alright, well we got one last show in the series Calculus for Christ, this one is the grand finale where I fulfill my promise to go over my method with David J. using a practical example. David chose to evaluate the hypothesis that the God of the Bible is NOT an Omni-God given his assessment of the evidence for and against. In the end, David agrees with me that my Bayes-ish method is a valid way to determine truth even if it is not his own preferred method.
This was the 2 hour After show on S&S where things got a little more chaotic and not everything discussed was relevant to my use of Bayes Theorem, but it was interesting and enlightening nonetheless. Enjoy :)
Alrighty, gear up for your math lesson today, this is the main show of "Calculous for Christ" on the S&S podcast. Join Atheists David Johnson, Darren Lute, Bryan Portier, Andrew Knight and Theists Mak Attack and Tyler Vela (along with my good self) as I go over how to use Bayes Theorem to prove christianity.
This is just a short intro video to the 3.5 hour S&S show I did entitled "Calculus for Christ" whereby I went over how I use Bayes Theorem in determing Christianity is true and/or endorsed by God.
I introduce the main video (as well as 2 hour After show) and reveal some minor errors I made in the shows.
In this very very short 20 min summary, I go over my 11 premise argument and what the premises ential without interruption or confusing red herrings. Hope this helps clear things up for those who had confusion based on my fuller and more detailed discussion with David Johnson.
We learn a lot about Tyler's remnant beliefs about God and have an amazing discussion along the way.
Just wanted to give a quick follow up on two points I failed to raise on the debate with Jordan yesterday; i) Bayes Theorem calculations and prior probabilities and ii) Miracles Healings as Religion Authneticating Events in some contexts like Religious Contests/Power Encounters.
Round 2- I (Dale) take on Jordan, the Atheist host of Reason to Doubt on the topic of miracles. Is it possible to establish the truth of miracle claims and how would one do so? These are the questions that Jordan and I will be tackling.
Two fans of the show reached out to me and asked me to put up some reviews on the Shroud of Turin. In the first part of the video (45-50 mins or so), I refute Dan McClellan's video, "Responding to Claims about the Shroud of Turin". Then, in the last 5-6 mins or so I play Harry Stark's newest video summarizing his take on my Shroud research.
Faith Unaltered exist to engage the culture and its various worldviews, especially those within Christianity that involve issues surrounding theology and the universal body of believers at large! Also, we aim to equip the secular world with the truth and to help believers discern biblical truth, all the while reaching the masses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, promoting healthy discipleship within the cultural milieu.
At the end of the day, you choose!
Faith Unaltered exist to engage the culture and its various worldviews, especially those within Christianity that involve issues surrounding theology and the universal body of believers at large! Also, we aim to equip the secular world with the truth and to help believers discern biblical truth, all the while reaching the masses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, promoting healthy discipleship within the cultural milieu.
At the end of the day, you choose!
On this episode of Real Seekers we are joined by Tyler's friend, Nicholas Soellner, to discuss the Paranormal from a Roman Catholic perspective!
Faith Unaltered exist to engage the culture and its various worldviews, especially those within Christianity that involve issues surrounding theology and the universal body of believers at large! Also, we aim to equip the secular world with the truth and to help believers discern biblical truth, all the while reaching the masses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, promoting healthy discipleship within the cultural milieu.
At the end of the day, you choose!
Dr. Andrew Silverman joins me to speak about his book, "A Burst of Conscous Light" where we talk all things from God, Near Death Experiences and of course, the Shroud of Turin. Dr. Andrew Silverman is a medical doctor with a background in physics. He is recognized as a leading scientific expert on the Shroud of Turin. For over thirty years, he has been conducting research on the mind-matter continuum, near-death experiences, and the Shroud. He has presented his findings in peer-reviewed scientific papers and at international scientific conferences. He lives in Buckinghamshire, England.
We are back with Dr. Beau Branson to discuss a couple different aspects of the Trinity. We will begin with a presentation from Dr. Branson, outlining the different views throughout history of the Trinity including his own view, the Monarchy of the Father! We will then zero into Dr. William Lane Craig's view, Trinity Monotheism (TM), and explore the differences between the traditional view and TM.
Atheist David J. and I explore what it means to be a Real Seeker and go over some Atheist objections to the notion of one needing to seek God and His truth.
I join SJ to speak about the Shroud's medieval history as well as refute the 1389 D'Arcy Memorandum's claims to provide evidence for the Shroud's images being "cunningly painted" by a medieval artist.
On this episode of Faith Unaltered we are diving deeper into the #Orthodox perspective on the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura with our Special Guests, Orthodox Apologists Jay Dyer and Beau Branson!
Do Jay and Beau make convincing arguments for rejecting and refuting Sola Scriptura? Watch this episode and be sure to let us know in the comments below!!!
We get personal on this special episode of Faith Unaltered as we explore the seriousness as well as practicality of keeping your faith in Christ during seasons of suffering and teaching YOU exactly how to accomplish this monumental feat! The is part 2 in a possible 3 part mini-series!
Hear the testimony about our special guest, Isaiah Burridge' Wife, Megan Burridge, and how she guarded her faith during her own battle with mental illness and her husband's battle with cancer, bone marrow transplants and exactly how she kept her eyes on Christ and His plan during some of her darkest moments.
We get personal on this special episode of Faith Unaltered as we explore the seriousness as well as practicality of keeping your faith in Christ during seasons of suffering and teaching YOU exactly how to accomplish this monumental feat!
Hear the testimony about our special guest, Isaiah Burridge, and how he guarded his faith during heart and kidney transplants, battles with cancer, bone marrow transplants and exactly how he kept his eyes on Christ and His plan during some of his darkest moments.
For the second time, we bring Fr. Jonathan Ivanoff and Pr. Samuel Farag together to participate in a Faith Unaltered ORIGINAL Debate!!! This time the subject is Jesus' very own mother, Mary!!! Things are a little different in this debate however. We will begin by asking both participants questions about their own views of Mary that will be open for discussion cross exam style after after the initial answer. After this we will present texts from Orthodox hymns about Mary and have an open discussion about the meaning of those texts from each perspective! We then wrap up by answering some audience questions and asking both participants to give a closing statement.
Having finished my Panel Review shows dealing with the remaining issues related to the Shroud's history, I now present my own Summary shows giving my own updated take on the issues debated by the experts in my Panel Review shows Parts 4-7. This episode looks at the "Missing Years" from 1204-1356 A.D.
Join us on this special 2-part episode of Faith Unaltered as we discuss the Trinity from the Orthodox perspective with special guests, Fr. Patrick Ramsey and Ioannis Nusias!!!
Join us on this special episode of Faith Unaltered as we discuss the Trinity from the Orthodox perspective with special guests, Fr. Patrick Ramsey and Ioannis Nusias!!!
On this episode of Faith Unaltered we invited special guest Clinton Wilcox on to discuss the ins and outs of music in the Church! What does the style of music look like in the Early Church and how has it varied throughout the centuries? Should we use instruments to glorify God? Why do some denominations chant? What do we think of modern artists like Elevation, Lauren Daigle and Hillsong? These questions and more will be explored!
Dr. Darrell Bock joins us to discuss his take on cultural apologetics and making the case for historical Jesus Christ.
On this special episode of Faith Unaltered we dive into the dark world of drugs and addiction with special guest, Courtney Paradysz. Being an ex-addict herself, Courtney and Tyler swap stories of their past lives and how Jesus completely turned them around!!!
Dr. Kevin McQuaid is a Pathologist with 10 years of medical practice were in the the Air Force where he was Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for the Armed Forces in Europe from 1991-1993. He has had a life long interest in the Shroud of Turin which turned into intensive study beginning in 1998 in which he applied his forensic pathology expertise, and medical science knowledge, to the study of the Shroud as well as incorporating knowledge derived from forensic anthropology. Kevin says the Shroud Man is obviously anatomically authentic!
This will be the final Panel Review show on topics related to the historicity of the Shroud of Turin (after this the focus will be the scientific evidence related to the images). Join Joe Marino, Justin Robinson and everyone's beloved Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey as we discuss the Pollen and Limestone Dust studies on the Shroud as well as evaluate whether or not there are coins on the Shroud Man's eyes that date to the time of Pontius Pilate.
On this episode of FUA we invited Dan Chapa on to discuss his debate with Warren McGrew about Total Depravity!!! Is Total Depravity a Biblical concept? Warren doesn't think so, and doesn't take the Provisionist perspective on the subject!
On this episode of Faith Unaltered we interview Orthodox catechumen Mitch Murphy to understand his reasoning for leaving the Protestant tradition of Christianity to embrace Eastern Orthodoxy. With more and more people leaving Protestantism we want to get to the bottom of it and understand what people are finding wrong with traditional Protestant Christianity and what they are finding appealing about Orthodoxy and Catholicism enough to embrace them totally! Not only that, but why now? Find out these answers and more on this episode of Faith Unaltered!
This episode of Faith Unaltered explores the reasons our panel, consisting of an Orthodox Priest, Laymen, and Catechumens, chose Orthodox Christianity over Protestantism! Join us as we explore Orthodox Theology, History, and Practice on this special episode of Faith Unaltered!!!Special Guests in this episode include: Fr. Jonathan Ivanoff, Joshua Sherman, Caleb J. Mullins, Kevin Hughes, and First Timer Michael Johnson
On this episode of FUA we invited Dan Chapa on to discuss his debate with Warren McGrew about Total Depravity!!! Is Total Depravity a Biblical concept? Dan thinks so, but doesn't take the Calvinist perspective on the subject! Join us as we examine both Dan and Warren's arguments and investigate whether Dan argues successfully for the Arminian view of Total Depravity!
In this episode, we invited Gods4givenSoldier (Jason White) from TikTok to discuss the topic "Should Christians Abstain from Alcohol?" Jason will lay out his affirmative case but the Crew (given that one of our very own David Russell makes wine) have some different views!
I've been helping to evangelize both Omar Fakhoury (the former Hindu with an interest in Christianity) and David Kemball-Cook (the recent apostate from the faith) and in this episode, I bring them both together to talk about their objections to Christianity on the basis of Hell.
Join Tyler, David, Dale and our special guest Joshua Sherman as we dive into the concept of Divine Justice and seek to understand whether Retribution is the umbrella term by which Restoration falls under or if Restoration is the umbrella term by which Retribution is a last resort!
In this Panel Review Show, I'm joined by two Pro-Shroud experts, Mark Antonacci and Mark Niyr as well as the infamous Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey to discuss and debate the various historical and anatomical accuracies vs. inaccuracies of the Shroud Man. Did the Shroud of Turin cover the historical Jesus or not- we'll try to find out in this special episode!
Fellow apologist, SJ Thomason, has invited me on to her show to do a series on the evidence for the Shroud of Turin. In this first installment, I explain my Minimal Relevant Features approach and how I apply that to evaluating Nicholas Allen's "Proto-Photo" hypothesis for explaining the formation of the Shroud's images.
Travis Worth argues that a world with moral values makes more sense given Theism than non-Theism.
Join us on this special Faith Unaltered production as we take a dive into the world of Eastern Orthodoxy and Icon Veneration! Are these images to be used by the Church in worship or are the a violation of the 2nd commandment? Our special guests Fr. Jonathan Ivanoff (Eastern Orthodoxy) and Pr. Samuel Farag (Protestant) come together to discuss their perspectives and answer questions pertaining to this hotly debated topic amongst Christians!
Join the FUA Crew as we discuss the problem of evil and reasons why we believe the Sovereign God of the Bible permits evil!
Moving on with my Shroud Wars Panel Review shows, in Part 5 I bring on two biblical scholars to evaluate and debate whether 4 New Testatment texts that are purported to be veiled references to the images on the Shroud of Turin (Galatians 3:1, Matthew 12:38-42, Hebrews 9:11-12/10:19-20 & 1 John 5:5-13).
Pro-Shroud Agnostic John Loken rejoins me to address some of the remaining issues and comments made about his last show on the Shroud of Turin. Then we turn to look at his interesting notion about how the Shroud of Turin played a role in forming early christian belief in Jesus' Resurrection!
I'm joined by fan of the show, "The Vulture", to talk about his journey from Atheism to Christianity a few years ago and how his discovery of various numerical patterns in the Bible led him to faith in Jesus; we will evaluate some of these patterns.
Dr. Sy Garte joins me to speak about his journey from Atheism to Faith in Jesus and lays out how his expertise in science led him to the truth!
Philosopher and host of the Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast, Jack Symes, joins me to discuss all things philosophy ranging from issues related to the existence of God and Dualism vs. Panpsycism, the Evil-god challenge, the nature of consciousness, etc.
Happy Easter everyone! I (Dale) have decided to host the ultimate debate on Jesus' Resurrection with two great guests. Argueing the skeptic side is famous Atheist Ben Watkins and on the affirmative side is none other than Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey to represent the Pro side of things for a change (lol).Enjoy the debate :)
In this episode we invited Eastern Orthodox convert Caleb Mullins to come on and discuss the Eastern view of PSA and how Original Sin and the Trinity go hand in hand with the idea of Penal Substitutionary Atonement!
In this top-secret episode, I have a guest on to talk about how christians and atheists can engage each other in productive conversations.
Caleb Johnston and Dale Glover host a show on Deconversion with Joel Furches & Tyler Vela to examine why some people leave the faith.
In this informal episode, Tyler Fowler, David Russell, Dane Van Eys and I all share our own personal testimonies. I also share my never before seen Baptism video with famous apologist Dr. Tony Costa.
As a guest on FU to refute Tyler Vela's notion that the God of the OT is nothing more than an ANE pagan god.
A while back I was interviewed by Guy Powell on his Podcast called the "Backstory on the Shroud of Turin", and this time around, I brought him as a guest onto my show to speak about his new book called "The Only Witness: A History of the Shroud of Turin". Guy takes a rather unique and refreshing approach to sharing knowledge about the Shroud with people on a lay level.
In Part 3 of my Bible Study, I turn to evaluate the theological doctrine of the Atonement and what it means for Jesus' death on the cross to atone for our sins. Finally, I show that this happened in accordance with Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament.
Theresa Contaxis, author of The Littlest Sailboat: A Journey of the Soul. A mother of three, Contaxis studied under a nun, multiple energy workers, James Twyman, and two shamans for two years before becoming a Reverend at All Faiths Seminary International. She has studied mysticism from various spiritual leaders. I interview her on her views.
Alright, well better buckle up Christians and Atheists alike, Tara the Tiger Mom is my latest guest on the show to speak about her views on the cultural death of the christianity and the rise of the scientism cult amoung Atheists and how that has negatively impacted on modern society today. I have some agreement and disagreement with the things Tara has to say, but I find it interesting that this unbeliever readily acknolweges that society has lost something without the cultural influence of some of kind of christianity at its core!
I was invited to be on a show with several Eastern Orthodox experts to explain their views on the veneration of icons and saints; I disagree with these guys and greatly want to warn against the worship of idols; be very careful when it comes to venerating or worshipping anything or anyone other than our tri-personal God!
The newest head of the BSTS newsletter (British Society for the Turin Shroud), Michael Kowalski, joins me to discuss his latest Shroud research (including some brand new information on the 1988 carbon dating).
In this follow up show, Pro-Shroud historian Jack Markwardt returns to debate Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey on the 1389 D'Arcy Memorandum as well as the surrounding Medieval documents.
In Part 2 of my Bible Study, I wish to evaluate the evidence that Jesus died due to crucifixion and to do so, we evaluate 1 corinthians 15:3-11.
Marvin Wallace and Darren Lute have been debating about the grounding of morality and whether God is required for it or not. Marvin has challenged Darren to a debate on my show to see who is right. Marvin will make his argument that God is required to ground morality for the first 30 mins, followed by the last 30 mins of Darren proving that God is not required to ground morality.
Dr. Tom McGovern joins me as a medical expert to speak about suffering and provide his expertise as to what Jesus went through during his atoning death and Resurrection from the dead.
I was asked by David Russell to help Grill a famous Atheist YouTuber named Danny from PhilTalk. Unfortunately, after detailed research on some of his videos, Danny was a no-show and so it was the panel of christians were left to their own devices to speak about some of the issues they hoped to ask Danny about.
The Great Shroud Debate is over! Iclearly won the debate vs. Jordan lol. Anyways, I was invited onto SJ Thomason's show toreview the debate and speak about various issues related to the Shroud of Turin.
Pam Moon returns to speak to myself and Teddi Pappas on why she believes the Shroud dates back to the time of Jesus.
Let the Great Shroud Debate begin! Pro-Shroud proponent, Dale Glover of Real Seeker Ministries faces off against Shroud skeptic Jordan from Reason to Doubt. We debate the irrelevancy of the Shroud dating, the Sudarium of Oviedo and the 1988 carbon-14 dating.
We go over 5 of today's hot button topixs; i) Is abortion ethical?, ii) Is euthanasia ethical?, iii) Is capitol punishment permissable?, iv) Should Christians be concerned with environmental activism? and v) How should Christians respond to Transgender issues?
The Shroud Wars continue! Picking up in Part 4 of my Panel Review series on the Shroud of Turin, I'm joined by returning guests Mark Guscin and Hugh Farey, as well as two new expert Shroud historians, Jack Markwardt and Pam Moon. Together, we go over the various historical and Biblical texts that seem to speak about the Shroud during it's history prior to the 1350's in Lirey France; we take it all the way back to 49 A.D. in Paul's letter to the Galatians!
On Faith Unaltered, Tyler Fowler asks me and some others about the OT Canon & how the Early Church Fathers saw it.
I'm leading my church's Bible Study & Apologetics program and I'm doing a series on the evidence for Jesus' Resurrection. In our first study, we evaluate the nature of the Resurrection body; is it a physical/material human body or a "spiritual"/immaterial body? Here, we evaluate 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 to find out the answer to this all-important question.
Calvinist Colton Carlson is back again one last time to defend his views on Theological Determinism.
In the 4th and final installment of my Shroud Panel Review Summary show #1, I evaluate the evidence from Giulio Fanti's 4 physical dating tests (FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy, tensile stength and the new X-Ray dating). Then, I go over all of the dating evidence related to the Shroud as a textile.
Is the Bible alone sufficient for salvation? Is the Bible our sole inspired authority and rule of faith or does tradition play a role in how we read and interpret Scripture? These and various other issues are explored by this panel of scholars.
David Russell has a problem!!!! Some know-nothing fundi-lay Atheists at his work have been pressing him to respond to the infamous Zeitgeist movie from some 15+ years ago now. Together, David, Tyler Fowler and I "go to town" revealing the many flaws and outright lies contained in the movie.
David Russell has a problem!!!! Some know-nothing fundi-lay Atheists at his work have been pressing him to respond to the infamous Zeitgeist movie from some 15+ years ago now. Together, David, Tyler Fowler and I "go to town" revealing the many flaws and outright lies contained in the movie.
Omar Fakhoury rejoins me to have a discussion on substance dualism and the differences between christian vs. Hindu understandings of the human soul. Next, we go over Near-Death Experiences and the evidence for an after-life. Finally, we speak of God's omnipresence and relationship to the universe.
Guest starring on Faith Unaltered, we review David Johnson's biased review of Travis Worth's great presentation of the Sensus Divinitatis and we correct his multitudinous misunderstandings.
In the grand finale of my Pinecreek Doug review sheries, I finish off my reaction video assessing good ole' Dougy's after-show commentary on me and the Shroud of Turin with one of his godless minions named Justin.
Buckle up as this one is a "Teddi the Bear-approved" episode (inside joke for those who know Teddi and her Shroud work) whereby I give Doug an edifying and loving dose of his own to put him and many of the ignorant and arrogant Athiests in his audience in their place all the while educating them in the truth with substantive counters. This is a fun-spritied yet polemical approach just as Doug likes to employ himself against christians on his show; I don't mean to offend anyone, but I figure if Dougy can give it, then he can take it!
David Russell, Tyler Fowler and Dale Glover get together to review the pitiful performance of infamous Atheist YouTuber Pincreek Doug on his discussion and debate with "the man, the myth, the legend", Dale Glover of Real Seeker Ministries (Real Seekers).
I was a guest on the infamous Atheist YouTuber Pinecreek Doug and I go head to head with him as he interrogates me on why I believe in christianity based on the Argument for God from Beauty, the inner witness of the Holy Spirit and finally the Shroud of Turin.
In this episode I'm joined again by David Russell and newcomer Tyler Fowler to probe Dr. David Kemball-cook who recently lost his faith in the Bible and Jesus. Together we explore quesitons pertaining to who is saved and how as well the question of universalism in the Bible.
Nuclear Engineer Bob Rucker is typically known as a Pro-Shroud expert in terms of the evidence for the miraculous and authentic nature of the Shroud of Turin. In this special team-up episode between Real Seekers and Faith Unaltered, Bob shares his interesting view that the Earth is billions of years old and yet he thinks that Noah's Flood was a truly Global event!
In the3rd installment of my Shroud Panel Review Summary show, I evaluate the evidenxe from the Art History and Numismatic Coins Argument & then the Sudarium of Oviedo.
Continueing on, I give my assessment of the Panel shows on the Medieval documents (including the 1389 D'Arcis Memorandum & Pilgrim's Bade/Medallion) and on the Pro-Shroud Hungarian Pray Manuscript evidences.
Some fans of the show have asked me to provide some follow up on my recent Panel Review series shows Parts 1-3. In this four part series, I give my own personal update as to where I stand on the issues discussed on these Panel shows based on my own research and what the experts have said.
Colton Carlson returns to Faith Unaltered to respond to our former show with Dr. Tim Stratton addressing the errors that Calvinists and Determinists make.
I was invited to do an end of year review on the Faith Unaltered Podcast. We go over various issues and shows from 2022 and give our takes on it. Happy New Year to all!!!!
In this follow up show to my Shroud Panel Review Show (Part 3A), Pro-Shroud expert Giulio Fanti joins me for a one-on-one interview to address some of the questions, challenges and objections to his work on dating the Shroud of Turin via the statistical analysis of the numismatic gold solidus coins and his 4 physical/empirical dating tests (FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, tensile strength and the WAXS/X-Ray) demonstrating the Shroud to be of 1st century origin during the time of Jesus.
In Part 3 of my Panel Review series in the Shroud Wars, Bob Rucker and High Farey return along with a new Pro-Shroud expert, Russ Breault, as a guest to discuss the following; i) Dating evidence from 5 scientific/empirical dating methods showing the Shroud dates to the time of Jesus (i.e., Giulio Fanti's FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, tensile strength & new 2021-2022 X-Ray/WAXS dating methods + Ray Rogers' micro-chemical comparison of the Shroud to the Dead Sea Scrolls fiber damage). And, ii) Textile evidence from the cloth itself pertaining to the dating of the Shroud.
I was asked to help co-host on the Faith Unaltered Podcast to listen and probe fellow apologist, Caleb Jackson's case for God from modern day miracle healings. He presents his critieria used to provide 50 cases the he think provide strong proof for the existence of God and the truth of christianity.
Tim Stratton from Free Thinking Ministries guests stars on this show to defend Molinism and answer quesitons from his prior debate with calvinist chris Date.
Continueing on my discussion with fomrer Hindu, now General Theist Omar Fakhoury, we try to address some of the problems in Genesis that Omar sees in terms of the creation/evolution debate and the notion of a Global Flood udring the days of Noah. I'm joined by Shroud expert Bob Rucker and new comer to the show Travis Worth from Reasons to Believe, to help address these important issues.
In Part 2 of my new Panel Review series in the Shroud Wars, I'm joined by reutrning guests Bob Rucker and Hugh Farey plus Joe Marino and Sudarium expert Mark Guscin. In this episode, we focus on discussing my take on the following; i) 1389 D'Arcis Memorandum and other surrounding Medieval historical documents (covered in my Shroud Solo Show Part 7 and in my Shroud Wars Debate Round 1 shows), ii) The Art History & Numismatic coins argument (covered in my Shroud Solo show Part 2 and Shroud Wars Debate Round 2). And, iii) The Sudarium of Oveido (covered in my Shroud Solo show Part 2 and Shroud Wars Debate Round 2).
I was asked to be a guest co-host on the Faith Unaltered Podcast to interview a couple of calvinists who hold to compatibilism and Theological Determinism. We probe them for their reasons why they hold these positions. *** Note that after this show, one of the calvinists named Tyler Vela (the Freed Thinker), has announced that he is no longer a saved christian. Please pray for him to come back to faith during his time of apostasy. See Tyler's video explaining why here = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSR_9CCPXvw Also see some helpful reviews or responses to Tyler's dexonverison from believers here; i) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Ag-D8o5cY and, ii) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO-6kND_T84
I was asked to appear on the Faith Unaltered Podcast with hosts David Russell and Tyler Fowler. In this show, I present a simplified version of my argument for God from beauty and try establish that the "Theistic Dispositional Realism" hypothesis is the best explanation for 7 of the main aesthetic features of our world.
I recieved an email from a fan of the show named Omar Fakhoury and having spoken to him, I quickly realized he had a very interesting faith journey growing up as Muslim, then turning Atheist to then being a devoted Hindu for more than 10 years (studying under a guru in India) and then finally to being a general Theist with a keen interest in the truth of the claims of christianity. Omar beleives that God exists and that God did indeed raise Jesus from the dead (finding the historical evidence and scientific evidence rleated to the Shroud of Turin convincing) and so we discuss some of the differences in the evidence between Hinduism and christianity.
In this TheoGeeks episode David Russell and I are joined by Tyler Fowler to continue are series on Egalitarianism vs. Complementarianism. Part 2 deals with a general moral/ethical evaluation of these positions on women's roles before turing to look at women's role under ideal conditions (Pre-Fall) in Genesis 2 (what does being a "helper" imply?) and then we look at the Post-Fall conditions in Genesis 3:16 (what does God mean by telling Eve that the man shall rule over his wife as a result of the Fall?).
In this episode I interview John Loken from the Shroud Science Group. John takes a Pro-Shroud position (though he prefers not to use that label for himself) in that he believes the Shroud is historically authentic and wrapped the dead body of Jesus. However, as an Agnostic, he has doubts about the Resurrection of Jesus and thus, he thinks the Shroud images are not only explaianable using ordinary natural mechanisms, but further, the Shroud images were ultimately what gave rise to the apostle's belief in Jesus Resurrection in the early church!
Barrie Schwortz is Back! Again! In this episode, I'm joined by Barrie Schwortz, a world-renowned expert on the Shroud of Turin and the official STURP photographer back in 1978. In this Part 2 show, Barrie presents to us what we know for sure about the Shroud from the STURP investigaiton and more specifically, he address what we know the Shroud images are NOT in that the images were not made by an artist using a traditional painting technique, powder-rubbing/dusting technique, scorching mechanism nor is it a medeival proto-Photograph.
In refuting the Shroud skeptics with the science, I'm joined by the same 2 Pro-Shroud co-hosts form Part 1 (Daniel Lowry & Teddi Pappas) to probe Barrie further on these facts.
This the start of a new series, my Shroud Wars Panel Review Sessions series! In this series I will be bringing on various Shroud experts to discuss the pros and cons of my Shroud Solo Lecture series. In this first installment, I'm joined by Pro-Shroud expert Bob Rucker and Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey to discuss 3 major issues; i) The Irrelevancy of the Dating (Solo Show Part 1), ii) The 1988 carbon-14 dating (Solo Show Part 1) and finally, iii) The Hungarian Pray Manuscript/codex (Solo Show Part 2). I think some good progress was made on the show on both sides :)
I'm joined by the famous apologist and medical expert Joseph W. Bergeron, a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with decades of experience evaluating musculoskeletal injury, including medical legal analysis. Dr. Bergeron’s practice experience provides unique insight on Jesus’s cause of death (and refutes the swoon theory conclusively) and further provides scrutiny of the Hallucination hypotheses seeking to explain away Jesus' Resurrection appearances. Finally, he lends his medical expertise to authenticate the Shroud as having wrapped a real human corpse.
In this special episode, I'm a guest on Guy Powell's great Shroud podcast, "The Backstory on the Shroud of Turin", to discuss some of my more unique ideas related to studying the Shroud and its evidence for the truth of Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. We first get into my notion of how to identify miracles in general using intelliegent design and Bill Dembski's "Specfied complexity" criteria in my "Minimal Relevant Features" appraoch to studying the Shroud of Turin. We also discuss my rather unique and controversial notion that the dating of the Shroud as either medieval or first century is totally irrelevant to the question of whether or not the formation of the Shroud images constitutes miraculous proof (on a balance of probabilities) that Christianity is true and/or the religion that God wants us to follow to achieve our ultimate purpose in creation.
Finishing off my series on Faith & Reason and the question of what one ought to do when one thinks that the arguments both for and against the existence of God are unpersuasive; here we look at two philsophers William Clifford and William James. Clifford argues that one morally ought to suspend judgement here and thus take the agnostic position whereas James argues tha when it comes to belief/disbelief in the existence ot one is able to choose either to remain agnostic or to believe in God (Atheism is not permitted here without arguments against God's existence).
Moving on with my historical survey of philosophers from the past, I first take a look at the original ontological argument as laid out by the 11th cenutry philsopher St. Anselm. Then, I get into a series on Faith & Reason and the question of what one ought to do when one thinks that the arguments both for and against the existence of God are unpersuasive; here we look at the Atheist Michael Scriven who argues for a Presumption of Atheism and Blaise Pascal who argues one would be prudent to believe in Theism via his famous Pascal's Wager argument from expected utility.
In this episode, I finish off this series with my own personal evaluation of Hume's two-step argument against the possiblity of rationally relying on testimonial evidence for religious miracles. Looking at every single one of Hume's premises, I find them to be rife with unproven assumptions and fallacious reasoning; Hume's work on miracles should come with a little warning label saying, "Atheists and skeptics beware, relying on Hume will make you look quite foolish!"
In this episode, I go over the relevant background knowledge outlining David Hume's famous (or rather infamous) argument against testimonial evidence for miracles. Furthermore, I outline world-renowned Christian philosopher Richard Swinburne's devastating critique of Hume's argument on this front. Finally, I provide a general outline on some background knowledge about the modern philosophical feild known as the "Epistemology of Testimony". In Part 2, I will provide my own in-depth evaluation/analysis, where I refute every single premise of Hume's outdated and utterly fallacious argument- let's just say I will conclusively demonsrate that Hume's argument on miracles lives up to its reputation as an "abject failure"!
I had some guests reschedule some shows or later in the month and so I figured I would put on a bonus solo show whereby I present and evaluate 3 Classical or Historical arguments for the existence of God. Starting with Cosmological arguments, I first evaluate Thomas Aquinas' "2nd Way" argument showing that all natural things have an ultimate or uncaused effiecient cause (i.e., God) of their existence. Next, I turn to Samuel Clarke's argument that even an infinite series of dependant things requires an independant external explanation of it's existence via God. Finally, I switch gears and focus in on William Paley's famous argument from analogy for design via his "Watchmaker" analogy.
In this episode of TheoGeeks, David and I engage in the Egalitarianism (Dale) vs. Complementarianism (David R.) debate and discuss whether or not women can serve as Pastors or Elders in the church.
Continueing on with my series on trying to understand and address the objections of former Biblical Unitarian turned skeptic David Kemball-Cook, both David Russell and myself try to tackle his claim that the New Testament provides contrdictory teachings on the notion of salvific Predestination/Election vs. freewill as understood by Calvinists vs. Molinists.
Arif Khan, a friend of Barrie Schwortz, joins me to discuss his Pro-Shroud position from an Ahmadiyya Muslim perspective. We assess many of the similarities and differences in the interpretations that Arif has from traditional Pro-Shroud christians in understanding the Shroud evidence.
In this bonus Shroud show, I decided to post up some bits of previous Shroud shows that I edited out due to irrelevancy and time constraints. The first bit is a Q&A session that David Johnson asked me to do for my Shroud Solo Show Part 6 (obviously, on Real Seekers I fit the first part of Part 6 with my Part 7 show instead on RSM). Additionally, I edited out the first section of my Shroud Wars Round 1 debate with Alan the fundy lay Shroud skeptic on the credibility of STURP (note this debate happened on the 40th anniversary). I take the position that they were scientifically credible whereas Alan takes view that they were nothing but a bunch of "pseudo-scientific nutters".
Everyone's favorite biologist is back and this time he's argueing that the scientific data related to our brains and how they function shows that we have an immaterial mind/soul. I post some of the papers he refers to on my Blog. Enjoy :)
This week it's David Russell's turn to pick a topic and he wishes to do an in-depth analysis of the Beatitudes in Matt 5 and so we do so. We go over things like the setting and meaning of being "poor in spirit" vs. "rich in spirit".
This week it's David Russell's turn to pick a topic and he wishes to do an in-depth analysis of the Beatitudes in Matt 5 and so we do so. We go over things like the setting and meaning of being "poor in spirit" vs. "rich in spirit".
Last time, as a professional biologist and scientist, Harry Stark provided his case on how science helps to prove the existence of God. Atheists and skeptics were not very happy with the case he laid out. He listened to the objevtions and complaints and now Harry Stark is back to give the skeptics an education in science and how to think rationally!
In this episode, David Kemball-Cook returns to discuss mt response to his previous argument regarding the Problem of Evil. In response, I raised the Molinistic Defeater as an undercutting defeater for his argument and at that point David wondered if I might try to modify it into a rebutting defeater in the standard form whereby I take on the burden of proof to prove that my Molinistic Defeater response is in fact, true.
Barrie Schwortz is Back! In this episode, I'm joined by Barrie Schwortz, a world-renowned expert on the Shroud of Turin and the official STURP photographer back in 1978. In this Part 1 show, Barrie presents to us what we know about the Shroud from photography as my 2 Pro-Shroud co-hosts (Daniel Lowry & Teddi Pappas) probe him further afterward.
This was another fan request, this time from an entrenched Atheist named Vel from Club Schadenfreude Blogs, where she debates various issues with famous Christian apologist Ray Comfort. After the debate, I provide my own review of the debate and mention 5-6 criticisms about the debate.
Dr. Paul Seungoh Chung joins me to discuss how science relates to religious truths about the reality of God based on his book entitled, ". Everything from God's own nature to how to read and understand God's creation of the universe is discussed.
In this episode, I review the Muslim Metaphysician's take on the Trinity and why he feels it is logically incoherent. I show that this Muslim is in error on his evaluation that the "Trinity Monotheism" model of William Lane Craig doesn't make sense. Further, I attmept to conduct a historical investigation on some of the controversies surrounding the Islamic doctrine of "Tawheed" and show that many of the same "logical" problems apply to Islam as with the Trinity and yet only the Trinity is able to emerge logically intact while remaining true to their respective inspired orthodox religious authorities.
In this episode, David Russell, Tyler Fowler and I discuss some of the archeological findings that support the truth of Joshua 8:30-35 (including the remarkable curse tablet that was just recently revealed in March 2022).
This short video was done by our good friend Harry Stark. This time around he reveals his real name and expertise and argues that the latest scientific evidence from cosmology and biology point to God.
In this episode, I share my take on the Biblical notion of forgiveness in the light of God's saving grace; how and when is true forgiveness to be offered to those who sin against us? What role does grace play in relation to our forgiving our enemies? All this and more is addressed in this short episode via extroplating some lessons I've learned in this regard from my own experiences with the S&S skeptics. I hope that it is informative and helpful to all.
In this great episode I'm joined by world-renowned Sudarium of Oviedo expert César Barta who tells us about the latest research in his book on the Sudarium's history, scientific and forensic evidence proving that it is linked to the Shroud of Turin and covered the same corpse; that of our Lord and Savour Jesus Christ!
Part 1B provides an assessment of Premises 5-7 of our version of the Divine Hiddeness Argument; together these establish the "Incompatibiluty Premise" element of the argument.
Continuing on with my "Existence of God" solo series, in deference to a fan of the show, I wanted to change gears and go out of the proper order so as to tackle an Argument for Atheism (i.e., a Negative Evidence against the Existence of God). For me the Divine Hiddenness (or Hiddenness of God) Argument has always been the most inlfuential and persuasive that the Atheists have on offer (to my mind at least) and so here we go! Part 1A provides a brief overview of the Divine Hiddeness Argument, lays out our version of the argument (a 9 premise deductive argument) based on the work of J.L. Schellenberg. In this episode we focus on assessing the truth vs. falsity of the first 4 premises on what the notion of God entails (as per this argument).
I’m joined by Michele Chynoweth, a well-known best-selling author who writes modern day fiction stories to represent various Biblically faithful lessons and characters. Her latest book is “The Wise Man” based on the Bible story of Solomon.
In the final half of Part 18 of my Shroud Solo Show series, I provide an assessment of the 4-5 Electrostatic mechanisms that have been proposed to account for the formation of the Shroud's "Minimal Relevant Features". These hypotheses include; i) Kirlian Photography (an Ordinary Artistic Hypothesis), ii) The Corona Discharge hypotheses (both an "Ordinary Naturalistic" and Fanti's "Extraodinrary" versions), iii) Fanti's NEW "Divine Photography" hypothesis (an "Extraodinary" mechanism) and finally, iv) Dan Spicer & E.T. Toton's "low-energy "Electric Charge Seperation" hypothesis (an Ordinary Naturalistic mechanism).
In the first half of Part 18 of my Shroud Solo Show series, I provide an introduction to the 4-5 Electrostatic mechanisms that have been proposed to account for the formation of the Shroud's "Minimal Relevant Features". These hypotheses include; i) Kirlian Photography (an Ordinary Artistic Hypothesis), ii) The Corona Discharge hypotheses (both an "Ordinary Naturalistic" and Fanti's "Extraodinrary" versions), iii) Fanti's NEW "Divine Photography" hypothesis (an "Extraodinary" mechanism) and finally, iv) Dan Spicer & E.T. Toton's "low-energy "Electric Charge Seperation" hypothesis (an Ordinary Naturalistic mechanism).
David Kemball-Cook is back to discuss his problems with the Atonement of Jesus. We discuss the morality and Biblical warrant for this essential christian doctrine.
In this episode I finish my review of "Caleb the Atheist's" case AGAINST the Resurrection of Jesus. We finish off assessing the appearances as reported in the Gospels and their explanation before finishing off with Caleb's take on the Explanatory Power and Practical implications of belief in the Resurrection hypothesis.
In Part 2, I review "“Caleb the Atheist's” case AGAINST the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection, specifically based on the evidence from the Empty Tomb and the Appearances to the "skeptics" Paul nd James the brother of Jesus.
In this episode I review "Caleb the Atheist"'s case AGAINST the truth of Jesus' Resurrection, specifically based on various prior probability factors such as the inherent implausibility of being raised bodily from the dead, Jesus' failure to fulfill Messianic prophecy and also Jesus' failure as a good moral teacher and prophet.
In this episode, I fulfill one of my promises to a fan of the show to review some of his work. The first video is "Left Atheism" whereby he looks at 6 famous Atheists who changed their minds based on the evidence and came to beleif in God. Then, I look at his relgiious decision tree chart and finally I finish off with his video on Abortion.
This is a special episdoe for me as I present about a year and half's worth of research for my Master's Thesis/MRP on the infamous Evil-God Challenge, which challenges Theists to demosntrate why one ought to favour belief in a good God vs. an evil god.
I was asked to be a guest on the opening night of the brand new "Faith Unaltered" Podcast and radio show. After a brief interview, we go to open mic night awith Dr. Jonathan McLatchie and many others to discuss various topics like the Resurrection of Jesus and the Problem of Evil.
Enjoy :)
In this short episode, I evaluate Dr. Leoncio Garza-Valdes' idea that bacteria produce an organic coating (what he calls a "bioplastic coating") over time on ancient textiles, textiles including the Shroud itself. This is what made the Shroud's body images.
In this Shroud Wars episode, I'm joined by Dr. Giulio Fanti, Robert Siefker and Bob Rucker to discuss the evidence for and against the historical provenance of the Shroud and then we discuss some of the Pro-Shroud "extraordinary" mechanisms that may explain the Shorud images and their remarkable properties and features.
Here is Part 2 of the S&S Morality Round Table- this is the last of the S&S shows that I was a part of as a guest.
This was the grand finale of the 7-part series on Morality that S&S did (of which I was in 3 of the shows myself). In part 1 Marvin Wallace talks primarily with the skeptic Bryan whereas I take over in Part 2 and engage David J and others.
In this short episode, I assess the merits (or rather demerits) of Dr. Allan Mill's Singlet Oxygen based "Russell Effect" hypothesis (a known photographic effect) for explaining the formation of the Shroud's body images. As we shall see, it utterly fails to explain the Shroud minimal relelvant features (MRF's).
My friend and mentor Dr. Tony Costa joins me to discuss his take on the historicity of Jesus miracles in the Gospels as well as other Biblical miracles beyond the Resurrection of Christ. Can we prove historically that Jesus healed the sick, cured blindness, exorcized demons and engaged in various "nature miracles" (like walking on water, turing water into wine, etc.). What is the historical evidence that our Lord and Savour truly rose from the dead and finally, what about the evidence for other biblical miracles recorded in Scripture and beyond- all this and more in this awesome episode!
In this episode, I evaluate the next "Ordinary Naturalistic Mechanism"- the Voliringer Patterns hypothesis by Jean Volkringer in 1942 (as well as the revised version of this theory by John DeSalvo in 1982) that stipulates that volkringer patterns are responsible for the Shroud of Turin's body images.
I'm joined by Matt from Democracy of the Dead. We discuss his faith journey and reasons for believing in God and Christianity in particular. Interestingly, Matt takes a Continental philosophical approach as opposed to the more typical Analytic philosophical approach that most Christian apologists prefer (including myself). For Matt, it was Soren Kierkegaard (the father of existentialism) who said it best, "Leap of faith- yes, but only after reflection!".
TheoGeeks is back! After a short hiatus, David Russell and I have returned to continue on with the podcast. This time around we are discussing Jesus' Deity based on Biblical data, Historical developments and philsophical coherence.
Dr. David Kemball-Cook is back! The former Biblical Unitarian who lost his faith a few months back. Both David Russell and I team up to work through the Problem of Evil, which is one of the main reasons that David KC lost his faith in Jesus recently.
A Christian fan of the show, Harry Stark, messaged me with a great video that he made and asked me to post it up while providing my feedback on it.
If you have any questions, Harry's Email: shasab-9@student.ltu.se
In this show I interview Dr. Igal German to speak about his new ministry and various issues pertaining to Christian apologetics.
In this episode I go over the second non-artistic "ordinary naturalistic" mechanism known as the Gas Diffusion/Evaporation mechanism. In particular, I evaluate both Paul Vignon's "Vapograph Hypothesis" and the Ray Roger's "Maillard Reaction Hypothesis".
In Part 4B, I lay out the newest evidence from the Rabbinical tradition regarding Jesus trial in b San 43a. I find that this is successful in proving that the "Minimal Historical Jesus" existed and was tried and then crucified by the Jews in the first century A.D.- (57% Proven).
In Part 4 of my Jesus Mythicism Refuted series, I evaluate the last of our non-Christian historical sources in the form of some of the texts about Jesus in the Talmud and other early Rabbinical literature reflecting traditions originating and preserved by devout religious Jews and Rabbis.
In Part 4A I provide a survey of the literature to give people a lay of the land of these Jewish writing, their preservation and how they relate to each other and then I provide an assesstment of 5 specific texts alleging to give proof of the existence of a "Minimal Historical Jesus".
This episode was made the last week where I was the christian co-host of S&S. I already posted up my Solo show on Miracles on here, but this was the group show that I wasn't on; instead Teddi Pappas joins in to represent the christian or seeker side.
Last week, we saw the debate between two Shroud experts, Teddi Pappas on the Pro-Shroud side and Hugh Farey on the Shroud skeptic side. After the debate, the two lay skeptics (David Johnson and Darren Lute) took over and provided their review of what was said. This show is my review of their review and I refute some of their mistaken notions and false understandings on the case for the Shroud.
Teddi Pappas and myself are invited to speak on the Shroud of Turin for PORA's guest host month. Tyler Fowler and Joshua Davidson, the hosts of the Complete Sinner's Guide Podcast interview us.
This is an old Season 2 episode of S&S where David J. and I debate the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo and God's divine providence.
As promised, we finally had Dr. Igal German on the show to discuss Torah Observant christianity and it's errors.
Originally we had an interview with Dr. Igal German, but he had to delay the show until this Monday, so David R. Tyler and I gave our own take on the spot. The proper interview will be done and posted on PORA this Monday and it will also be posted up on RSM next week. Enjoy :)
RSM Blog = TO BE POSTED NEXT WEEK AFTER THE PROPER INTERVIEW WITH DR. IGAL GERMAN
In this episode I go over the 2018 Journal of Foresic Sciences paper regarding the Blood Pattern Analysis (BPA) finidings by Shroud skeptics saying that the blood flows on the Shroud of Turin are inconsistent with the bloodflow patterns expected to form via direct contact. Addtionally, I go over some quick supplemental notes from my Part 13 show proper on Direct contact mechanisms and provide helpful visual images of some of the Bloodstain features of the Shroud.
In this episode I interview my old Prof Dr. Paul Bali and fellow Ryerson professor Dr. Julien Beillard on the current covid crisis and what to make of the measures taken to combat it in the light of our fundamental rights and freedoms (esp. freedoms of religious and moral conscience).
Dr. David Kemball-Cook has been a Biblical Unitarian for years, however recently he just lost his faith in Jesus and is now a general Theist. His loss of faith is the result of 12 problems that he doesn't have answers for; David Russell and I try our best to understand and respond to some of the issues.
In this episode I assess our first "Ordinary Naturalistic" mechanism- the Direct Contact method as proposed and/or tested by various experts.
*** Note: That in terms of the "3D" images I meant to say that Direct Contact methods result in "all or nothing" (peaks and valley type) images rather than the varying gradations of body image varying density/darknesses that correlate to body to cloth distances at the time of encodation.
In this episode, David J. (Atheist) and I discuss whether sharing christian truths amounts to Hate Speech or just tough love iintended to have an edifying purpose.
In this episode, I'm joined by fellow christian David Russell and Atheist Rich Harkness (aka. Vaal) to discuss my Leibnizian cosmological argument (i.e., Argument from the contingency of the universe). We take some time to go over the reasoning behind my three premises.
I was invited to another PORA live show with multiple famous Atheist and Christian guests (including Vaal/Rich Harkness, Ben Watkins, Than & Tyler Fowler. The focus is on addressing two particular versions of the Problem of evil based on Ben Watkins' notions of animal suffering and pain" and "horrendous evils" respectively.
In this episode of TheoGeeks David R. and I go over the Sermon on the Mount and how to apply it to our lives as christians. Specifically, we focus on loving one's enemies and fogiveness as well as some of the commands that appear to be impossible to follow in real life.
In this episode, I'm joined by former Playboy Bunny turned commited Christian Robyn Dykstra. We discuss her former life and how she came to know Jesus as her Lord and Saviour and how God has used her xperiences to bring ultimate purpose and meaning to her life via her ministry.
Dr. Cheryl H. White joins Real Seekers to discuss the theological and historical significance of relics.
In this short bonus video, I go over my own methodology of using Bill Dembski's Specified Complexity to evaluate the math patterns found in the Quran and give some helpful examples to illustrate how one should go about properly evaluating them.
Dr. Shabir Ally joins me and Robert L. White to speak about the alleged miraculous numerical patterns in the Quran; one of the positive evidences for the truth of Islam.
In the frouth episode of TheoGeeks, David Russell leads the discussion on Days 2 and 3 in Genesis 1.
IN this episode I'm joined by Dr. Gary Habermas (Pro-Shroud) and Hugh Farey (Shroud Skeptic) to present their affrimative and negative cases for and against the Shroud respectively. This was an amazing discussion with great details revealed on variou aspects on the Shroud of Turin- including aspects not covered in detail in previous Shroud Wars debates. Additionally, Daniel Lowry joins as my co-host and asks both guests some really insightful questions.
Enjoy :)
I was only able to join half way through the show, but the PORA gang do an open mic night on various issues including ghosts, demons, reincarnation and more.
In this short solo show, I review TJump's two failing parodies (the "magic pinapple and the necessary square circle) for my Modal Ontological Argument and demonstrate his failure to create a succusseful parody. Additionally, I give my humorous take on some of the comments from the bad faith fundy lay skeptics in his audience.
In my second debate with TJump, we debate Yujin Nagasawa/Alvin Plantinga's version of the Modal Ontological Argument on the Proseltyze or Apostatyze Podcast.
This is an old S&S show that I wasn't on myself, but David J. interviews Pastor C. J. Morgan on various issues.
I guest starred on S&S to discuss my notion of unnatural sex creating spritiual harm as a potential explanation as to why God designed sex to be only between a man and woman in marriage. This explains why God cares to lovingly prohibit certain forms of sex.
In this S&S episode, David R., Mac Attack and I all discuss our views on Satan and his role.
In the third episode of TheoGeeks, David R. and I are joined by Travis from PORA to discuss God's special relevaiton in the Bible. We go over what it means for the Bible to be inspired and whether or not the Bible is inerrant or not. Finally, we go over a little on lower textual criticism and whether God's inspried Word has been preserved or not.
In this episode, I finish off my evaluation of the various “Ordinary Artistic” image forming mechanisms by assessing the three main types of “Heat-Based” or “Scorch” techniques proposed for reproducing the Shroud images; i) the “Hot Bas-Relief” method of Pesce Delfino (ca. 2001), ii) the “Hot Statue” method of Colin Berry (ca. 2012-2020) and, iii) the “Hot Engraved Lines/Metal Sheet” method of Ray Rogers, et al. (ca. 1982).
In the third episode of my Jesus Mythicism Refuted solo series, I evaluate 4 archeological evidences; i) the Nazareth Inscription, ii) Church of the Holy Sepulcher, iii) The Talpiot Tomb and, iv) Jesus' Childhood Home/ Church of the Nutrition. Two of these are successful in proving the existentence of the "Minimal Historical Jesus".
In the second episode of TheoGeeks, David Russell and I go over Genesis 1:1-5, starting with a discussion of the Author, Dating and Genre of Genesis 1, we then address the Parallelomania phenomenon realted to Babylonian myths and the doctrine of creation from nothing.
Resuming my Jesus Mythicism Refuted Solo show series, I pick up where I left off in Part 1. I evaluate 4 Roman Government Officials (Pliny the Younger, Emperor Trajan, Emperor Hadrian & the Acts of Pontius Pilate) and then finish off my assessment of the sexular non-Christian/pagan sources with 3 Miscellanous texts from Lucian of Samosata, Mara Bar-Serapion and finally the pagan critic of Christianity Celsus himself. My conclusions were surprising to me, as I found one gem proving the existence of the "Minimal Historical Jesus" on a balance of probabilities amoung the 7 pagan sources. Which one? Well, you have to listen and find out, but it's not the one you might be expecting!
I interview Dr. Lenny Peters. Dr. Peters is renowned in North Carolina as the founder of a revolutionary medical network, a bank for the underserved, a cutting-edge research facility, and a world-class charity foundation, as well as an accomplished, caring physician. Most would be surprised to discover his humble roots in the small village of Kerala, India, and his hard-fought journey to achieve his ambitions and gain acceptance as an immigrant of color. Dr. Lenny Peters is the author of the new book Barefoot to Benefactor: My Life Story of Faith and Courage (Post Hill Press, September 14, 2021). In this episode we discuss his engagement shairngthe Gospel with Hindus in India.
This is not an official part of my Cosmological Argument (proper) series, this is an Appendix show addressing God's mode of eternality and His relationship to time itself; it is a promise I made to Chris Date back when he was on the show last time. In this episode, I lay out and assess three arguments in favour of Divine Timelessness and three arguments in favour of Divine Temporality.
Discovering some old S&S gold from my 2018 solo series on the Shroud of Turin; in preparing for my RSM Shroud solo show revival, I discovered 2 long since forgotten about epsiodes on the Shroud that I recroded during my time as co-host on S&S back in October of 2018. I have combined Part 11 on the Kersten & Gruber Method and Part 12 on the "Boiling Hypothesis" into one brand new, never heard before RSM episode Shroud solo series Part 11B- enjoy :)
In Part 11, I continue my analysis of the various "Ordinary Artistic" image-forming mechanisms/hypotheses, specifically focusing on hypotheses based on the invovlement of sunlight as the image-encoding mechanism. There are three fundamental types of such hypotheses; i) The Medieval Proto-Photograph (Proto-Photo) models (Piknett & Prince and Nicholas Allen), ii) Nathan D. Wilson's "Shadow" model and finally, iii) Serge N. Mouraviev's Solar Reflex model.
In this last and final epsiode, I finish off my Cosmological Argument proper. In Part 5A I addressed the Taxi Cab Fallacy, Self-Causation, Infinite Regress and the Positive case on the infamous "Gap Problem". In this show, I look at the Atheists' Negative case regarding the "Gap Problem" and end off by demonstrating that "God-1" is true :)
In the first part of the final solo show on the Cosmological Argument, we establish the truth of my thrid and final premise argueing that "God-1" is the explanation of the universe's contingent existence. We finish off by refuting the last 3 of 5 skeptical objections to the truth of the Cosmological argument, the Taxi Cab Fallacy objection, the Self-Causation/Infinite Rgeress Problem and finally the infamous "Gap Problem". With the positive case established, we now have a successful and warranted argument. See Part 5B for th final half of this episode addresssing the Atheist's negative case related to the "Gap Problem".
I'm joined by Christian co-host Caleb Jackson to moderate a discussion between Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey and Medeival historian Dr. Cheryl White to discuss the evidence for and against the Shroud of Turin.
This is the season premiere episode of the 2nd season of S&S. David J gives this topic.
In this first and last review show, I go over TJump's objections to the Cosmological argument and Bayes. I'll let the rest of the original show with TJump stand.
I'm a joined by special guest Becca Ehrlich who discusses what "Christian Minimalism" is and why Christian ought to adopt that lifestyle. This was a short but sweet interview, a lot of good and interesting information in it. I was skeptical at first, but I myself see the position as being Biblically (when properly understood and defined at least).
Enjoy :)
In this episode, I was a guest on Tom Jump's YouTube show. We discussed the Cosmological Argument, Ontological Argument, Argument from Beauty and the Shroud of Turin.
This is our very first episode of the new TheoGeeks Podcast, with both myself and PORA host David Russell as the hosts. In this first episode we cover Jesus' relationship to the OT law, first we establish what Dr. Dale Allison calls the "conservative Jesus", next we establish the "progressive Jesus" and finally we put it all together to discover the true Jesus, Jesus the Messiah of the OT!
In this show, I engage with Vaal the Atheist to evaluate his views on Compatibilism vs. Libertarian Freewill based on the 5 conditions for freedom; the ability condition, control condition, rationality condition, the nature of causation condition, and the Person as Agent condition.
This episode was mostly recorded 2 years ago- in this show I provide the warrant for the 2nd Premise of my argument, namely that the Principle of Sufficient Reason as defined as every "thing" that exists has a sufficient reason/explanation of its existence, either in the necessity of its own internal nature or in an external cause.
Note, due to time constraints, I haven't done much editing on this one, so it somewhat reflects an outdated version of my argument (for e.g. I speak of my first premise as though it said the universe was "an existing thing" as opposed to a "contingent existing thing" or I say PSR applies to "things" but only mention substances rather than saying it applies to all three types of things- substances, heaps and property-things). That said, despite some little modifications I would've liked to make, by in large the arguments presented are perfectly as I would have presented them today.
In this episode, I continue to assess the warrant for the first of the three premises of our Cosmological argument. Here I finish off my case providing a third Abductive argument (i.e. inference to the best explanation) for proving that our Universe probably began to exist (as a matter of fact).
I do so by wrapping up the warrant for Aspect 2 on proving the Universe beginning to exist a finite time ago is the best explanation by comparing it to various eternal cosmological models (including, Quantum Vacuum Fluctuation, Eternal Inflationary and Quantum Gravity Models.
I went on the S&S show to debate my Argument from Beauty with the Atheist David J.- it was good cordial and substantive conversation.
Enjoy :)
This is an argument for God's existence that is often overlooked by Atheists and Christians alike, it's often said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and thus there is no objectivity to it in the same way one can argue for the objectivity of moral values and duties being grounded in God. Having taken a philosophy of Aesthetics class for my Masters program, I have decided to give the argument from aesthetic values and judgements a second look and discovered how rich the area is in providing an good apologetical argument for God.
By identifying 7 fundamental features about the nature of aesthetic values and the associated judgements we make about them, I identify and assess a total of 7 different theories in the Philosophy of Aesthetics and show why "Theistic Dispositional Realism" (i.e., Non-Natural Agentism) is best explanation relative to the other competing explanatory hypotheses- including Emotivism, Pure Natural Objectivism, 3 Evolutionary Accounts (Natural/Sexual Selection, the Biophilia Hypothesis and Social Cohesion Theory), Pure Natural Subjectivism, Atheistic Aesthetic Platonism and finally end off by comparing and contrasting Natural (or Atheistic) Dispositional Realism with the Theistic counterpart.
World renowned scholar in the philosophy of religion, Dr. Klaas Kraay joins David J., Andrew Knight and myself on RSM to discuss three topics; i) Religious Disagreement, ii) The Hiddenness of God, and iii) Is there a Best Possible World (along with how that relates to the truth or falsity of Theism). Enjoy :)
I was invited onto a PORA roundtable with several Christians to say farewell to David Pallmann as co-host and speak on the issue of apologetics in culture (including within anti-apologetic church culture).
In this episode of S&S, I am struggling with how best to interact with the various skeptics of the S&S Boards as they were very hard of heart against the truth. I've evolved since these days and better worked out what strategies are appropriate Biblically for different types of skeptics as I think Jesus' example provides Christians with great flexibility within reasonable limits in how we address individual unbelievers.
This is a bonus show based on my final Philosophy of Religion class essay on J.L. Schellenberg's argument from the "Loving Mother" analogy. This is a relatively straight-forward and simple Atheistic argument and I provide three reasons as to why I think it is based on disanalogies and is thus a false analogy.
I was asked to be a guest on an all Christian conservative show on S&S after the election. As most of the regular listeners know, I'm not a huge fan of all the politically focused shows that S&S has done lately (hence why I've waited to post this up so long after the fact), but I show up after the first 30 mins or so to discuss some of these important issues out of respect for the hosts of S&S David R. and David J. as well as to have a good time with the other Christians panelists on the show; they had some interesting things to say :)
In this short bonus episode I make some announcements as to my Podcast plans in the summer (doesn't include some of the scholars I'm planning to contact in June). Additionally, I include a discussion of my final exegetical essay for my Ancient Philosophy class based on Plato's dialogues in the Parmenides- specifically I look at what Plato might have had in mind in the Appendix to Deductions 1 and 2 based on the argument that the "temporal instant" must be in "no time at all".
This was an S&S show as part of series on the differences between Christians and Atheists on issues pertaining to killing and death. This episode was about the death penalty.
I wasn't a main guest in this show, but I had a bit part in asking David J. about the expressivist theory of punishment (around the 55 min- 1 hour mark) and then toward the end I discuss my take on a Consequentialist vs. Retributionist justification for punishment and finish off with my take on the use of the death penalty (starting around the 1 hour 25 min mark through to the end).
This is my second live show on the Proselytize or Apostatize podcast, we were doing a Q&A session with the new host Caleb Jackson and we covered various topics including Pacifism, the argument from God from Beauty, miracle healings, eschatology and the Shroud of Turin.
This is Part 1 of the Season 1 Finale episode of S&S. In this show David and I reflect on the first season of S&S and some of the lessons learned or address some of the recurrent themes during the season. On my end, I address many of the misunderstandings and false notions of the skeptics that were repeatedly brought up as arguments against me, these include; i) The Different Strokes for Different Folks Objection, ii) Peer Disagreement- Authoritative Apologetics vs. Epistemic Humility, iii) The Issue of "Head canon", iv) The Assumptive “Nothing Buttery” of Scientism/Empiricism, and v) The Argument from Ignorance Fallacy
This is the second and final part of the S&S series on the Coherence of Christian Theism, we discuss all of God's other divine attributes beyond his personhood and incorporeality.
This was to be the first episode in a series on the Coherence of Christian Theism, however the Skeptic felt ill-equipped to handle my arguments and thus we cut it short to a two-part series; in this first episode I go over God as a incorporeal personal Being and in Part 2 we cover all the rest of God's attributes at once in a much more generalized and brief nature due to the Skeptic's request and inability to adequately respond.
This is a bonus episode of a Round Table I did on all things Easter with David J. and the two skeptics from Ask an Atheist Anything; Andrew Knight and Matthew Taylor. We go over everything from the meaning of Easter to it's pagan roots and even explore a little into the Ascension of Jesus in Acts 1 and how that relates to the Resurrection.
In this old Easter episode of S&S, the Skeptic leads the conversation on what he feels is important about the evidence for and against Jesus' Resurrection.
Dr. Liz Jackson joins David J. and I to discuss various issues pertaining to religious epistemology & Pascal's Wager. Everything from peer disagreement and probability theory to the "Homer Simpson" objection to the Wager are brought up in this show.
Enjoy :)
My former philosophy of emotions professor, Dr. Michael Milona, joins me to discuss what our emotions are, how they relate to other mental states and what role emotions might play in our coming to gain moral knowledge. We end by discussing issues pertaining to emotional suffering and hope (the latter being Milona's most recent research focus).
I was invited onto the Proselytize or Apostatize show to represent the Amillennialism perspective alongside a Premillennialist and Partial Preterist Postmillennialist. This show was pretty quick as I lay out my own case about Jesus' return and his 1000 year reign.
Dr. Lydia McGrew joins me alongside co-hosts David Johnson (skeptic) and Marvin Wallace (Christian) to discuss her new book on the Gospel of John and the Maximal Facts Approach to Jesus' Resurrection.
This is the Part3 follow up show on Epistemology and religion. I am on a panel with fellow Christians David Pallman, Kevin Smith & Mac Attack).
RSM Blog = https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com/2021/02/07/religious-epistemology-panel-discussion-of-3-christians-vs-3-atheists-parts-1-2/
This was a fun show, I was invited to participate in my first Live Open Mic show on the show Proselytize or Apostatize with David Russell and David Pallman. We had a variety of Christian guests show up to discuss a wide range of topics including a visit from the infamous Presuppositionalist, Darth Dawkins himself!
*** Note I joined in around the 45 min mark.
This is Part 2- the final hour where I was invited to be on a S&S panel show on religious epistemology; I'm joined by fellow Christians David Russell and "Mac Attack" vs. the Atheists Andrew Knight, Darren Lute and David J. We cover many topics from general epistemology (what is knowledge, Foundationalism, the internalism vs. externalism debate) to Religious Epistemology issues like how do we ID miracles and the self-authenticating witness of the H.S. to the meaning of being a Real Seeker and my 11-premise argument.
I was invited to be on a S&S panel show on religious epistemology; I'm joined by fellow Christians David Russell and "Mac Attack" vs. the Atheists Andrew Knight, Darren Lute and David J. We cover many topics from general epistemology (what is knowledge, Foundationalism, the internalism vs. externalism debate) to Religious Epistemology issues like how do we ID miracles and the self-authenticating witness of the H.S. to the meaning of being a Real Seeker and my 11-premise argument.
The Atheist Matt Taylor joins David and I to discuss the Plausibility of the Miraculous or Supernatural. This one gets a little heated at times, but both Matt and I came together along with Robert L. White later on (that show is already posted up for people to see) and there we had a much better conversation.
This old S&S episode dates back to one of the very first shows we did (the 6th S&S show in 2018), this is the first show where David lays out his case against Genesis and the Fall. As regulars will be able to tell I've since come a long way in formalizing my views on some of the things mentioned here and I now disagree with a lot of what I said here, but still it is interesting to see where I was when I first converted on some of this stuff :)
Watch out "No True Scotsman Fallacy" proponents. In this episode I teach David J. that there are means by which we can hypothetically know the difference between a true follower of Christ and the many fake counterfeits who falsely appropriate the name, "Christian". David and I debate the merits for and against one's ability to do this.
Skeptics have for a long time told me that they emotionally feel that the Bible's stories about the Conquests or God commanding Abraham and others to kill people is utterly repugnant!
In this episode, I do a solo show on my my own thesis about the role emotions play in moral epistemology based on my Final Essay in my PHL of Emotions Grad seminar.
I think that Emotions function as moral heuristics in certain circumstances and this translates into moral knowledge, albeit limited moral knowledge. Emotions are designed only to speak to the issue of Moral Idealness (the equal upholding of all moral principles) not directly on the morality vs. immorality of complex moral dilemmas or situations- they are not designed to adjudicate between the morally justified exemption of a moral principle and an actual immoral violation of a moral principle.
I had to write up an Argumentive Essay for my Philosophy of Mind class, where I outline a couple views of what “Weakness of the Will” (i.e. Akrasia) entails and then develop my own Christian notion of what it is in light of the Biblical account of the Fall of Man.
Hope it’s helpful and informative for you guys :)
In this episode, I continue to assess the warrant for the first of the three premises of our Cosmological argument, this time around I start to lay out my case providing a third Abductive argument (i.e. inference to the best explanation) for proving that our Universe probably began to exist (as a matter of fact).
This show includes a detailed assessment of 2 aspects; Aspect 1 outlines 2 categories of scientific evidence related to origin of the universe- i) the thermodynamic properties of the universe in light of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and ii) the empirical and mathematical evidence associated with the expansion of the universe. Finally we start off Aspect 2 on proving the Universe beginning to exist a finite time ago is the best explanation by comparing it to various eternal cosmological models (including, the Steady State and Quasi Steady State model, the Oscillating "Big Bounce" models & the Gott-Li "closed Time-like curve" model. The remaining eternal cosmological models will be assessed in Part 3B.
I'm joined by an all Christian panel, Dr. Mike Licona, Caleb Jackson & Robert L. White, to discuss the amazing historical evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus.
This show didn't turn out how I originally planned it would! In this rather turbulent episode of RSM, I'm joined by Flat-Earther David Weiss and Global Earth proponent Teddi "the Bear" Pappas as we discuss some of the evidence for and against a flat Earth. There are some times where it gets a little heated between the two, but putting that to the side, there are some genuine substantive points and counter points presented in the show that will serve as an introduction to anyone interested in this question.
Enjoy this festive and informative all Christian Roundtable on all things Christmas- no skeptical Scrooges this time :)
This is a Roundtable with Matt, Andrew, David J. and Dale discussing issues pertaining to celebrating Christmas.
I woke up, got an email saying "click this" and I did. The next thing I know I'm engaging full speed with skeptic David Johnson and his Christian co-host David Russell on the merits of celebrating Thanksgiving and why one should give thanks to God.
Enjoy :)
This episode has Dr. Gary Habermas and David Russell, the Christian host of Proselytize or Apostatize discussing apologetics in the light of Naturalism. Topics covered include the Arguments for God, NDE's, modern miracles and double blind prayer studies, the Resurrection of Jesus and more!
Enjoy :)
In this episode, I have the pleasure of being joined by two pro-Shroud experts who happen to disagree on how to explain the 1988 C-14 tests that claimed to show the Shroud was medieval (1260-1390 A.D.). Joe Marino starts us off with the Invisible Re-Weave hypothesis (which is covered to a degree in his newest 800-page book) and Bob finishes with his Neutron Absorption Hypothesis. Note- see the YouTube video or the Blog for the the helpful slides of their presentations.
This was quite the show, I was joined by the thoughtful skeptic Travis R. to interview Dr. Bruce Greyson on his life-long research on the evidence for Near-Death Experiences. Travis and I probe Dr. Greyson on the nature of the evidence in light of his new book "After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond".
In this S&S episode, David and I debate the merits of Halloween from a Christian perspective- is it harmless fun or Satanic paganism?
In this episode I'm joined by Patricia Chadwick to discuss her book, "Little Sister: A Memoir" where she details her early life living within a Catholic cult called "The Center". We explore her life both during and after her time in the cult and also discuss some theological issues surrounding the difference between "true Christianity" vs. cults that go under the name of "Christian".
In this special episode, I'm joined by famous Jewish ID proponent, Dr. Geoffrey Simmons, to discuss anthropology from the perspective of intelligent design. We start off with an assessment of what it means to be human (what is essential to humanity), where do humans come from and finish by discussing the future of humanity (does AI and cybernetics threaten humans as God's image bearer?).
In this episode, we assess the skeptical argument from Biblical Confusion, is the Bible unjustifiably confusing? This is Part 2 in David J. the Atheist's S&S series on Why he Doesn't Care About the Bible.
This is a follow up to the S&S show we did on the issue of the "subsumability" of the Resurrection of Jesus. In this eisode we focus on another of the three criteria for establishing a proper context charged with religious significance is present (the miracle event must be; i) sufficiently attached to the religion/"Christianity proper", ii) Serve to attest the truth of the religion/"Christianity proper" & iii) not "Subsumable" to any other religion.
With the extraordinary miracle event established along with the fulfillment of the religious context criteria, we have the means to determine that Jesus' Resurrection from the dead counts as a "G-Belief Authenticating Event" for the truth of Christianity.
Assuming one could prove that a miraculous Resurrection of Jesus did in fact take place 2000+ years ago, would that necessarily imply that Christianity is true or could other religions "subsume" such miracles as proof for their truth; later religions like the Bahai faith or the Jehovah's Witnesses might want to lay claim that the Resurrection was proof of the truth of their religions not for Christianity for example. By what criteria should we judge that a given miracle counts as proof for one religion vs. others that claim the same event? This is the issue of miracle "subsumability" and in this episode I provide my unique set of criteria for deciding such matters.
In this episode, David Johnson provides his argument that the God of the Bible, if true, would be evil.
It was a couple months ago that I had the privilege of interviewing my two Conservative/Republican Christian friends, Dr. Tony Costa and Teddi Pappas, speaking about politics through the lens of Christianity. Now, Dr. Linda Seger joins me to discuss politics and Christianity from the other side other side of the political spectrum as a Democrat and Joe Biden supporter. We discuss issues ranging from indivdualism vs. collectivism, to the use of violence in politics, to homosexuality and abortion.
Enjoy :)
This show is part of a series of 5-6 shows on S&S, I was asked to debate the famous internet Atheist Vaal on the issue of Moral Ontology.
Enjoy!
Alright, well this one really was a special treat for me; I've been a fan of Dr. Instone-Brewer since 2011 when he presented at the very first Unbelievable? conference. In this episode we look at Jesus and the NT in the light of Second Temple Judaism and the Rabbinic literature. As Rabbinic and NT scholar, David is well positioned to answer my questions on this front.
Enjoy the show :)
David Smalley, though under the weather, pulls no punches in this great discussion on the essential Christian doctrine of the Penal Substitution and Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the Cross for our sins. Everything from Bible errors to the doctrine of Hell are addressed along the way.
Enjoy!
In this episode we assess what religions are and how one might explain the rise of the various religions across the world- why are humans so seemingly inherently religious. Towards the end we go back and forth on the Gospel Message in terms of Jesus Incarnation and Death for our sins.
Fellow Christian apologist Marvin Wallace reached out to ask me to post up his long-awaited debate with David J.- the Atheist host of S&S. It's been a long time coming and I can say the show doesn't disappoint!
In this episode I discuss the Skeptical argument from a Biblical error in the creation account of Genesis. In doing so I debate with an Atheist, David J. the genre of Genesis being "Mytho-History" and discuss some of the newest scientific findings about our Solar System from the 21st century space probe missions.
I (Dale) was a guest on David Smalley's Dogma Debates Podcast to discuss the important Abraham Test issue and whether it is moral to be willing to sacrifice your child if you knew that a Morally Perfect God told you to do so. After some initial small talk on some side issues, we get straight into assessing this question philosophically in the light of the 3 main sources of Moral disagreement (i) Factual differences, ii) differences on the nature of the affected Moral principle/s & iii) differences on the Moral Hierarchy).
The topic starts around the 1 hour mark.
This was not my finest hour, I was not expecting David to be as emotional as he was in this show. In this old episode of S&S, David Johnson (the Atheist) tries to lay out his case for why he thinks the Bible (or at least some of its passages) is/are "atrocious". The ambiguity of the Creation account in Genesis and the immorality of slavery being allowed and Christian exclusivity are vigorously argued by the Atheist to disprove Christianity. There were definitely some explosive or passionate moments in this one.
It is finally here! Intelligent Design (ID) experts Dr. Michael Behe and Marvin Wallace join me to correct the record about the ID vs. Evolution debate. The very latest in the scientific evidence, experiments and interpretations is discussed in order to provide the truth over and against much of the "fake news" misinformation that surrounds the scientific validity of the "ID" movement and the inference to intelligent design in biology.
In this special episode, Dr. Gary Habermas, fresh from completing the Rough draft of his 5000 page+ magnum opus on the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus, joins me to discuss the very latest research on the evidence from the early Christian Creeds that pre-date the NT writings and in some cases probably go back to the very year Christ was crucified!
This was the continuation of the Round Table we did with S&S hosts (David Johnson and myself) & 4A hosts (Andrew Knight and Matthew Taylor) where we reviewed David and Andrew's performance in their discussion with Justin Brierly and Randal Rauser on the Unbelievable podcast discussing their books.
This was the very first Round Table we ever did, S&S hosts (David Johnson and myself) & 4A hosts (Andrew Knight and Matthew Taylor) review David and Andrew's performance in their discussion with Justin Brierly and Randal Rauser on the Unbelievable podcast discussing their books.
In this special episode, I'm joined by Christian apologist Dr. Tony Costa and Christian defense attorney Teddi Pappas to discuss religion and politics. The show revolves around three main areas of focus in relation to the current political landscape increasingly dominated by cultural Marxist ideology; i) the value of the Gospel truth, ii) Christian morality, and iii) the Christian's attitude toward the government/society.
Randal Rauser debates Atheist David J. on the topic of progressive revelation in the Bible.
This is the second episode I've done with Dr. Dale Tuggy on the Trinity. Having covered the philosophical/logical coherence of Trinity Monotheism in the last episode, we now turn to look and see if Trinitarianism and the Trinity Monotheism model in particular is consistent with the biblical material in the New Testament.
In this episode, I continue to assess the warrant for the first of the three premises of our Cosmological argument, this time providing a second Philosophical Argument proving the Universe began to exist by showing that forming an actual infinite via successive addition is impossible.
In this episode, I begin my new solo series on the evidences/arguments in favour and against the existence of God. I start with the Cosmological Argument (aka. the Argument from the Contingency of the Universe) as we assess the warrant for the first of the three premises of the argument.
3 Skeptics, David, Andrew and Matt as well as listeners grill Dale the Christian on various issues.
Fellow Christian, Chris Date, joins me in this episode to discuss the merits of Calvinism and to compare/contrast the Doctrines of "Meticulous Divine Providence" & Predestination/Election within the Calvinist (Compatibilist) vs. Molinist (Libertarian Freewill) perspectives.
Part 2 finishes off our conversation on Calvinism by looking at the soteriological doctrines of Predestination and Election (i.e. is it conditional or not).
Fellow Christian, Chris Date, joins me in this episode to discuss the merits of Calvinism and to compare/contrast the Doctrines of "Meticulous Divine Providence" & Predestination/Election within the Calvinist (Compatibilist) vs. Molinist (Libertarian Freewill) perspectives.
Part 1 features our discussion on meticulous divine providence and how the 5 aspects of "freedom" (ability condition, control condition, rationality condition, nature of causation and personal agency) in relation to how a Calvinist would address the issues compared to a Molinist/Arminian.
Was Abraham justified in placing his faith in God and obeying God's command to kill Isaac? I answer yes he was and further I outline some of the relevant factors that account for moral disagreement on this issue; i) Factual differences, ii) Disagreement on the nature of the violated moral principle/s & iii) Differences on the Moral Hierarchy.
I'm joined by David Kemball Cook to discuss two main views about the end times; NT Wright's Partial Preterist View vs. Dale Allison's Dispensationalist View.
In this episode, I'm joined by fellow Christian apologist and philosopher Marvin Wallace, to discuss morality and the field of ethics. We first discuss what differentiates moral truths from non-moral ones, normative ethical theories and the significance of objective morality for Theistic belief.
I'm joined by Dr. Dale Tuggy, a Biblical Unitarian and expert on the issue of the Trinity. In this show, we focus on assessing the logical coherence of a model for making sense of the Trinity; namely the one proposed by Drs. William Lane Craig and JP Moreland, called the “Trinity Monotheism” model.
In this 4th and final S&S episode on Messianic Prophecy, I finish off my minimal case by arguing that the Jewish Messiah must come prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. We address Daniel 9 and Haggai 2 to prove that the Messiah had to come by that time to fulfill his mission in part before that time.
I moderate a discussion on the intelligent design debate in biological cases, specifically the origin of the information in DNA. The debate is between ID advocate David Pallmann from "Faith because of Reason" and Proselytize or Apostatize vs. David J. from the Skeptics and Seekers Podcast (traditional evolutionist).
With Part 3 in our series on Messianic Prophecies and my “Jesus or Bust” circumstantial argument, we will focus exclusively on perhaps the most famous Messianic prophecy of all time- the Atoning Death & Resurrection of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53.
In the second of four S&S shows on Messianic Prophecy, I further my new circumstantial argument from Jesus or Bust using prophecies related to the Messiah's mission from Jeremiah 31:31-34, Isaiah 49:6 & Zechariah 12:10.
Do the Messianic prophecies in the Jewish Old Testament prove that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and that Christianity is true? In the first of four episodes, I begin to lay out my case, not necessarily from fulfilled prophecy but from the fact that there is remarkable circumstantial situation whereby we can prove that either Jesus fulfills the OT Messianic Prophecies or else no one has/can. This unique circumstance in and of itself is enough to warrant that Jesus must be the Jewish Messiah and therefore Christianity is the one true religion of God.
In this episode, I combine both the second and third episodes of S&S where David and I take on our normal roles and then assess the best and worst arguments for and against Christianity vs. Atheism.
In the very first show of S&S, David the Skeptic and Dale the Christian show their knowledge of the other side by revealing what they think are the strongest and weakest arguments that their respective opponents have to offer.
What does it mean to have "faith" in Christianity? David the Skeptic and Dale the Christian discuss this question.
In this special episode of S&S, I'm joined by David Russell and Chris Date to discuss whether Hell is best thought of as quarantine zone of eternal conscious torment or via an annhilationist/conditional immortality view.
Alright, well after almost a year from my last Shroud Wars Debate, the time has come to once again pit a Pro-Shroud expert vs. a Shroud-skeptical expert to discuss the evidence from the Shroud of Turin. Both Mark Antonacci (Pro-Shroud) and Hugh Farey (skeptic) join me to do just that but this time around, there is a twist, my third guest Teddi Pappas, joins in to play the role of “cross-examiner” to assess both sides post their discussion of each topic.
The 3 main topics of discussion include; The dating of the Shroud, the main image features (ones most relevant to image formation) and assessing image-formation mechanisms.
Special guest Luis Dizon went from being one of the leading Protestant preachers to a member of the Catholic church. Find out what else is interesting about him.
Helen Paynter presents her scholarly research on how to make sense of Biblical violence.
This is the final solo episode that I posted about the Shroud on the old S&S website. In Parts 9 & 10 of our Shroud series, we shall be assessing the second major “Ordinary Artistic” mechanism- the Powder-Rubbing and/or Dusting technique (Assessing MRF's 5-7).
In Parts 9 & 10 of our Shroud series, we shall be assessing the second major “Ordinary Artistic” mechanism- the Powder-Rubbing and/or Dusting technique (the type of method that Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey favours). Round 1 assesses the mechanism in light of the first 4 "Minimal Relevant Features".
For about 12 years now, I have been tuning in every Saturday morning to listen to the Unbelievable? Podcast to hear a Christian and non-Christian engage on a key issue of theological, philosophical and/or scientific/historical debate. The host of that show is none other than Justin Brierly and as a fan of his, I invited Justin on to get his take on various issues that our relevant in sharing the Gospel with people in today’s modern world
Happy Easter everyone, world-renowned scholar, Resurrection expert and my own good friend and mentor Dr. Gary Habermas joins me to discuss his “Minimal Facts Approach” to studying the evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection
After having a great conversation on substance dualism with Robert L. White and Travis R., I realized that I kind of let Travis down by not giving the Meta-Problem of Consciousness my full attention during the show and thus, I took some time after the show to read up on it and present my findings and conclusions for people in this short 30 min presentation.
I’m joined by my friends Robert L. White (Christian host of the Robert L. White show) and Travis R. (Skeptical blogger from the Measure of Faith Blog site) to discuss various issues relating to the Mind/Body Problem. The topics we discuss include the following; i) Introductions as to who we are and laying out of our respective positions on the Mind/Body Problem, ii) The “Meta-Problem of Consciousness”, iii) The “Hard Problem of Consciousness”- What is the nature of mental properties & states (the Differences Argument & Knowledge Argument), iv) The “Hard Problem of Consciousness”- What is the nature of the conscious subject or substance itself (the unity of conscious field, enduring self & Modal arguments for the soul) & v) Addressing the Issue of Idealism (the 3rd Alternative to Dualism & Physicalism).
Luis Dizon, PhD student in ANE studies, joins me to share his extensive knowledge on the various evidences that Muslim apologists and believers use to prove the truth of Islam and how these evidences compare to their Christian equivalents. The pro-Islamic evidences include; i) The “Perfect” Preservation of the Quran, ii) The Argument from Inimitability (or Incomparability) of the Quran, iii) Scientific Foreknowledge Argument, iv) Argument from Prophecy, v) Historicity of Muhammed’s Miracles (vs. Jesus), vi) Ruqyah- Modern Miracle Healings & Exorcisms and finally, vii) Numerical/Mathematical Patterns.
In this episode, the Skeptic tries to argue that Heaven and/or Christian salvation (as disclosed in the Bible) is not worthy of his pursuits. I counter him by explaining that God is our Creator and Designer and would therefore knows what is best for us given our essential nature as human beings; as per classical essentialism and the Bible outlines exactly what we need. Only a defiant and willfully sinful person would deny themselves "the things God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
In Part 8, we finish our analysis of the traditional “Painting Hypothesis”, we assess all of the Pro-Paint and Contra-Paint evidences discovered scientifically during STURP in 1978.
In this episode I edited out the Audience Q&A portion of Part 6 after I explain how Criterion B. of my G-Belief Authenticating Event criteria work and then I add in the first part of my assessment of Walter McCrone's "Traditional Painting Hypothesis". It is scientifically proven that this image-forming hypothesis is false!
It is often claimed by Atheists that they simply lack belief in God and what's more they are apparently "rational" in doing so. In this episode we examine whether such people have a reasonable disbelief in God or are espousing an irrational Atheism (as per the Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism/Atheism).
I guest star on Robert Stanley's Right to Reason Podcast on the logical coherence of the Trinity & Incarnation and we get into some other off-topic issues as well.
The Atheist host of S&S, David J., is a radical hard-core Jesus Mythicist, but he wants to argue that perhaps the Mythicist movement should include more than simply those that profess disbelief in an historical Jesus figure, but instead anyone who doesn't believe in the full Jesus of Christianity.
In the first part of my study on the Shroud, we shall provide a brief introduction to what the Shroud of Turin is and address issues pertaining to the historical provenance of the Shroud. In the first place, we shall assess whether the Shroud date of origin is even relevant to the truth of Christianity and then we shall follow up with an assessment of the single scientific test that has caused most people to think the Shroud is nothing more than a “medieval hoax”, much to the consternation of pro-Shroud enthusiasts; the infamous 1988 Carbon 14 Dating test.
Continuing on in our final S&S Shroud Wars Debate series, we come to Round 4 whereby, once again, Shroud skeptic Hugh Farey will have to battle it out against a Pro-Shroud expert, this time around we are joined by Joe Marino to discuss 3 major topic areas. The topics include; i) Discussion of the dating evidence for the Shroud (includes Joe Marino’s notion of the invisible re-weave hypothesis to explain the 1988 C-14 dating & both the textile evidence and Pontius Pilate coins which are purported to put the Shroud firmly in the 1st century A.D.), ii) Discussion of the evidence showing the Shroud is or is not an artistic image from the medieval era, and iii) The anatomical, forensic and medical evidence proving (and/or disproving) that the Shroud’s image formation involved an actual human corpse.
Buckle up for another wild ride in the 4th and final installment of the Shroud Wars quadrilogy!
Well folks, its that time again! Round 2 of our Shroud Wars series. The topics include; i) Contra-Medieval Evidence #1– The Argument from Art History/Numismatic Coins via the “Odd Features” & other Points of Comparison (6thcentury A.D. or earlier), ii) Contra-Medieval Evidence #2– The 3 Physical Tests Conducted by Fanti (FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy and Tensile Strength of the Flax tests- combined c. 33 B.C +/- 250 years with a claimed 95% degree of certainty) & the Micro-Chemical Comparison Tests conducted by Ray Rogers (c. 250 B.C.-70 A.D.), iii) Contra-Medieval Evidence #3– The Argument from the Link to the Sudarium of Oviedo (6th or 5th century A.D. or earlier) and iv) Contra-Historical Jesus Case– Alan establishes that the Shroud probably did not belong to the historical Jesus and/or a Jew form the first-century A.D.
In the final part on the question of Shroud historicity in our series on the Shroud; I present some of the evidences both for the Shroud dating back to 1st century Judea and also provide interesting links with the historical Jesus himself. Furthermore, I try to fairly represent the Shroud-skeptics’ many claims that the evidence from the Shroud suggests that it can’t date to the first-century and/or have belonged to the historical Jesus (a Jewish man).
Part 2 in our Shroud study outlines the Pro-Shroud case for the historicity of the Shroud of Turin, here we provide 3 major “historical anchor evidences” which can be used to conclusively establish that the Shroud very probably dates back centuries prior to the medieval era- taking the Shroud all the way back to the 6th century A.D.
These 3 prominent “anchor evidences” include the evidence from; i) The Hungarian Pray Manuscript/Codex (1192-1195 A.D.), ii) The Art History & Numismatic (Coins) Dating Arguments (early-mid 6th century/ 540-550 A.D.), and iii) The Sudarium of Oviedo (400-570/614-711 A.D.)- the strongest evidence
In Part 5 of our Shroud study, we will finish off discussion of the final two “Minimal Relevant Features” (MRF’s) which will be used in evaluating the various image-forming mechanisms in Criterion B (upcoming Podcasts). This episode, we look at some of the various anatomical accuracies and bloodstain features present on the Shroud Man’s images, while also surveying 7 Additional “MRF’s”. In addition, we tackle various Skeptical Counter-features related to these features as well as overall Counter-facts.
This will be the first of two Podcasts discussing what I call the Shroud images’ “Minimal Relevant Features (or MRF’s for short), whereby I will discuss the first 5 such features which are relevant to the question of what mechanisms can account for how the images might have been formed.
Hypotehtically, if one could prove that the historical Jesus predicted his death and subsequent Resurrection/Vindication and further prove that Jesus was in fact risen from the dead, might one obtain double warrant from the circumstance of the prior prediction of such an amazing event? I answer "Yes" and surprisingly, my Atheist interlocutor also answers "yes" as well!
In the third installment of our Shroud Wars debate series, two Shroud experts, Bob Rucker (Pro-Shroud) and Hugh Farey (Shroud Skeptic) go head to head to battle it out on the 1988 C-14 dating and how the images may or may not have been formed artistically.
Well folks, its finally here! Round 1 of the big showdown between Dale (Pro-Shroud) and his nemesis Alan (the Shroud skeptic). The topics that will be covered in Round 1 include;
i) What is the Relevance of the Dating to Begin With? Even if the Shroud is Medieval, who cares!
ii) Pro-Medieval Evidence #1- The Memorandum of Bishop D’Arcis (1389 A.D.).
iii) Pro-Medieval Evidence #2- The Archeological Evidence from the Pilgrim’s Badges/Medallion (1349-1356 A.D.).
iv) Pro-Medieval Evidence #3- The 1988 C-14 Dating
Dr. Michael L. Brown comes on the show to discuss some Jewish objections to Jesus, issues pertaining to biblical sexuality and the Charismatic movement.
I really like Anthony Magnabosco, his approach to ding Street Epistemology whereby he respectfully probes people of various worldviews to understand why they believe what they do is a very inspirational and I think, even as an Atheist, many Christians could learn a thing or two from Anthony’s respectful yet probing approach that allows people to be challenged to think harder about their beliefs without feeling defensive.
The former Christian co-host of Hinge and Room for Doubt comes on our episode to explain his recent deconversion but explains that he still sees many of the arguments for God and Jesus to have merit. He explains that he feels "Christ-haunted" listen to an Atheist and a Christian try to engage in a hypothetical tug-of-war to persuade him off the fence one way or the other.
In this special interview, Shroud expert and scientist Kelly Kearse has reached out to me to say that he’d like to provide a unique perspective on the Shroud’s bloodstain images specifically. He has authored multiple academic papers on the Shroud’s blood images (some of which are included in the sources section below). Kelly is also a member of STERA, Inc.’s Board of Directors. What conclusions can we glean from the Shroud’s bloodstains; is it real blood? What are their features and properties? What significance do they have in terms of natural image formation mechanisms and its possible link to the historical Jesus? All this and more is answered by this honoured guest.
Barrie Schwortz is one of the foremost experts on the Shroud of Turin. And we have him for an interview. Dale and Andrew pepper him with audience questions. Barrie is gracious and informative. David even pops in for a question of his own. No matter what you think about the shroud, you will want to listen to this one. This episode was done in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the scientific STURP (Shroud of Turin Research Project) Group in 1978.
In this really long episode 2 Atheists (David & Andrew) and a Christian (Dale) debate the Logical Coherence of various Philosophical models of the Trinity and Incarnation. Round 2 focuses on the Incarnation specifically.
In this really long episode 2 Atheists (David & Andrew) and a Christian (Dale) debate the Logical Coherence of various Philosophical models of the Trinity and Incarnation. Round 1 focuses on the Trinity specifically.
David and Dale duke it out over whether the Christian doctrines of the Trinity & Incarnation are consistent with the Old Testement (aka. The Jewish Scriptures).
Dr. Sean McDowell is a famous biblical scholar and Christian Apologist. He is the son of legendary Christian apologist Josh McDowell but Sean stands out on his own as a world’s expert in the area of the historicity of the “12” Apostles of Jesus. Sean was kind enough to come on my Podcast and share some of his insights with the audience.
Enjoy 😊
In this special treat, I (Dale the Christian) and my non-Christian university professor, Paul Bali, join Andrew and Matt as guests on the Ask an Atheist Anything Podcast. We discuss issues pertaining to the freedom of expression, the relationship between science and philosophy and how religious knowledge can impart wisdom for people seeking truth. It was a great show, enjoy 🙂
In this show, we tackle the question when it is that an Atheist bears the burden of proof when dialoguing with a Christian. Specific discussion on the burden of proof revolves around my use of Bayes Theorem, prior probabilities, the shifting of the burden of proof and my beloved Molinistic Defeater- all this and more is tackled by the Atheists in this episode.
Dr. Gary Habermas was not only one of own personal mentors during the time I was dealing with my own doubts, but he has come to be a personal friend of mine. My Atheist co-host David calls Gary- "the Dean of Doubt", and I'd have to agree with that assessment as he helps various people deal with their doubts all the time and has even categorized three different types of doubts; i) Intellectual Doubts, ii) Emotional Doubts and, iii) Volitional Doubts.
Dr. Craig Keener, a highly respected New Testament scholar known for his meticulous and comprehensive research details his research on the historicity of the biblical book of Acts. His commentary on Acts, takes an in-depth look at the socio-cultural historical context and is quite simply (in my view) the most well documented and researched Acts commentary ever written. His magisterial commentary utilizes an unparalleled range of ancient sources and offers a wealth of fresh insights and he shares some of those insights with us.
Dr. Lydia McGrew provides a different approach to reading the Gospels (and the Bible as a whole) in terms of assessing their reliability. She believes that Mike Licona's "composition/literary devices" approach is based on his misreading Plutarch and that it’s therefore inaccurate to draw the conclusions he’s drawn using that source. Further, she thinks that any differences in the gospels can be reconciled through commonsense harmonization efforts.
Dr. Michael (Mike) Licona discusses his views on the Gospels and how his research on their reliability; he argues that the majority of New Testament scholars now hold that most if not all of the Gospels belong to the genre of Greco-Roman biography and by comparing the Gospels to the works of Plutarch, he discovers that this genre permitted some flexibility in the manner that historical events were narrated via the use of various “compositional devices”.
We interview Robert Stanley from the Right to Reason Podcast to discuss various issues including; i) Is the Bible true?, ii) Religion and Politics- Is a Theocracy a good thing? and, iii) The Morality of the Bible.
Miracles. What are they? How does one identify and evaluate them? Are there any actual examples of such that Christians can point to? Two Christians and an Atheist come together to have a respectful and substantive dialogue to find out if there answers to these important questions.
The human predicament is something that continues to baffle the world's best and brightest- Why am I here? What happens to me when I die? Most thoughtful people throughout history have felt existential pains of wanting our lives to "mean" something, something that is supremely valuable and worthwhile in terms of a ultimate purpose. In this discussion Marvin and David assess whether such a "meaning" exists and whether it even matters or not.
In this episode, I interview my former University professor on his area of expertise; prophecy. As a non-Christian he has an interesting take on what prophecy is and offers his open-minded view on how communications from "higher beings" like God, might be understood, identified and used by us as human beings in terms of our religious beliefs.
This is the final part of my lecture series on Substance Dualism (i.e. the existence of the soul). Here we look at 4 skeptical arguments against the existence of the soul and evaluate 4 main physicalist theories of what the conscious subject entails.
his is Part 3 of series on Substance Dualism- here we address the second issue of contention of the Mind-Body Problem- providing Positive arguments for the existence of a non-physical conscious subject.
How does one go about Identifying and Evaluating Miracles of God in general. I argue that the Specified Complexity" criteria of Intelligent Design proponent Dr. William Dembski is the key.
Plus, I give my brief take on modern Miracle Healings specifically in this regard.
This is the second part of the series on the existence of the soul & substance dualism- here we assess the nature of mental properties and states (the first issue of contention of the Mind-Body Problem).
This is the first of 4 supplemental episodes on the nature and existence of the human soul (i.e. substance dualism); this will be an general introduction to the series and provide an explanation as to what the Christian position of substance dualism is about.
Robert Stanley of the Right to Reason Podcast hosts both Dale (Christian/Jesus Historicist)and Kevin Francis (atheist/Jesus Mythicist from the Left at the Valley Podcast) to discuss the subject of Jesus Mythicism- did Jesus really exist or not? Listen and find out!
In Part 1 of this series on Jesus Mythicism (originally posted on the S&S show), I evaluate the evidence from 4-5 ancient historians; Thallus & Phlegon, Cornelius Tacitus, Suetonius and Flavius Josephus to see if they can provide positive proof that an historical Jesus probably did exist. Do any of them accomplish this aim?- Based on at least 2/5 of these ancient historians, the answer is a resounding "Yes"!
In this episode, I wish to address one of the most foundational questions of General Epistemology- what is the nature of truth itself?
In this short introductory Podcast, I outline the main mission statement of Real Seeker Ministries. Essentially, I want to help provide real seekers with answers to life's most fundamental questions regarding the existence of God, religion and our ultimate purpose in creation. After years of dedicated research, I don't claim to know all the answers with absolute certainty, I'm still a real seeker myself, but I've concluded that Christianity provides such answers along with the necessary warrant to think that those answers are in fact true. Join me as I outline why I think this is the case.