Unbelievable?

A re-broadcast of a compelling debate with listener input on the issue of abortion. When does human life begin?  Whose rights come first - the mother or foetus?  Is disability grounds for abortion?  Should the time limit for abortion in the UK be lowered?   This debate between Liberal Democrat Shadow Science minister Evan Harris MP and Pro-life advocate Sarah Macken is joined by listeners and emai...

The documentary film "Expelled" is presented by US Actor Ben Stein and makes the case that scientists who question Darwinian orthodoxy and support Intelligent Design are being "expelled" from academia. As the UK edition of the DVD is released we ask "Is freedom of thought at stake or is Intelligent Design out of bounds when it comes to biological science?" Stephen C Meyer is co founder of the Disc...

Matthew and Luke are the two Gospel writers that include narratives of the birth of Christ.  The traditional Nativity Story is an amalgamation of the two accounts.  Critics claim the two stories do not match up.  Barrister Charles Foster wrote "The Christmas Mystery" to show that Matthew and Luke are different, but reliable accounts of Jesus' birth.  Atheist Robert Stovold believes that the storie...

One of the world's leading Intelligent Design proponents joins Justin to explain why he believes biological life exhibits "specified complexity" that runs against Darwinian evolution. William (Bill) Dembski is an American mathematician, theologian and professor of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, TX.  He debates the issue of ID with atheist Lewis Wolpert, Emeritus Professor o...

Dan Barker was a Christian evangelist and musician for 19 years before he lost his faith.  He tells the story in his book "Godless: How an evangelical preacher became one of America's leading Atheists".  Dan is now President of the Freedom from Religion Foundation in the USA. Charles Foster is a writer, barrister and traveller.  A committed Christian he has written books defending the Christian fa...

Professor Lewis Wolpert is Emeritus Professor of Biology at University College London.  Professor Russell Cowburn is Chair of Nanotechnology at Imperial College. Wolpert is an atheist, Cowburn a Christian. Following on from a debate at Gunnersbury Baptist Church, the two scientists tackle the question "does science tell us anything about God?"  Wolpert believes it does - that belief in God is a pr...

Atheists Richard Dawkins, and AC Grayling recently squared up against Christians Richard Harries and Charles Moore for a debate on the motion "Atheism is the new fundamentalism". Justin Brierley reviews the debate with audio clips from the speakers and Q&A session, as well as interviews with those who attended, including AC Grayling and the Chair of the debate Anthony Seldon. For the full debate v...

Alister McGrath combines a background in science with a passion for theology and apologetics.  "The Dawkins Delusion" - his critique of Richard Dawkins and the New Atheism has been a bestseller. In this wide-ranging interview McGrath shares his own journey of faith and why Christianity makes best sense of the world as he sees it.  He addresses the way atheism is currently making its case, as well...

John Shelby Spong is one of the most influential liberal Christians in the world and advocates that Christianity needs to re-interpreted for the modern world leaving behind supernatural beliefs.  In his latest book "Eternal Life: a new vision" he claims that we need to transcend belief in God, heaven and hell to undesrtand what "Life in all its fullness" means. Terry Boyle, Uk Pastor of Insight fo...

Matthew Chapter 24's "Olivet Discourse" records Jesus saying that his followers will see him "coming on the clouds of the sky with great glory" and that "this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened." Two thousand years later Christians are still waiting for his return.  We explore different Christian responses to the apparent expectation of the imminent return of Jesus...

In light of Premier's Faith Without Fear campaign, this discussion between Anil Bhanot and Sunil Raheja addresses the tensions that exist when Christians seek to evangelise Hindus in India. What is acceptable?  Is the response of some Hindus justified?  Is it wrong for Christians to state that Jesus is the "only" way to God? To sign the petition for Justice for Christians in Orissa State, India go...

"The Evangelical Universalist" was published several years ago.  The author claimed to be an evangelical Christian who believes that everyone will ultimately be saved.  He published under a pen name, but recently revealed his true identity as Robin Parry, editorial director of UK Christian publisher Paternoster. While Robin's views do not represent those of Paternoster, he tells why he has persona...

Many have suggested that Christian belief in the divinity and worship of Jesus as God was a late development, and that Jesus' early followers did not regard him as being equal with God.  So was Jesus merely regarded as an "elevated" being? Was high Christology at odds with the Jewish monotheism of the first century? New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham argues against these views.  His book "Jesu...

Andrew Wilson is an author and church leader.  His book "GodStories" describes the Bible as "the gospel of God". He says the story is told in multiple ways of sins forgiven, shame removed, beauty restored, and meaning reinstated. Atheist Norman Bacrac of the Ethical Society contends that the picture the Bible paints of God is not as beautiful as Andrew claims - for instance how can the story of Th...

Ian Thorpe is an atheist and Jenni Hutchinson a Christian. They got chatting about faith after bumping into each other on the internet. They discuss whether the church is having a beneficial effect on society, Ian's concerns over "fundamentalism" and whether you need to believe in God to be good. See Ian's blog at http://machiavelli.blog.co.uk/ See Jenni's blog at http://vieira.blog.co.uk/ To hear...

The film "Creation" is released in the UK Sep 2009.  Telling the story of how Charles Darwin came to write "On the Origin of Species" 150 years ago, the film highlights the clash of evolutionary theory and Christian belief.  The problem of suffering is also addressed in the death of Darwin's daughter Annie. Justin Brierley interviews Randall Keynes, a great-great grandson of Darwin and the author...

Christian Apologist David Robertson, Atheist blogger Ed Turner and Christian convert Richard Morgan return to debate the rights and wrongs of Christian and atheist influence in society. For David Robertson's book "The Dawkins Letters" Click here For David Robertson see http://www.stpeters-dundee.org.uk/ For Ed Turner see http://edthemanicstreetpreacher.wordpress.com For Richard Morgan see http://w...

Continuing on from their discussion last week, believing and non-believing New Testament historians Richard Bauckham and James Crossley discuss whether the testimony of eyewitnesses in the Gospels is trustworthy. Bauckham fills out his reasoning for the Gospels being credible eyewitness testimony of Jesus' life, while Crossley disputes whether testimony of the miraculous can be used as historical...

Richard Morgan was a confirmed atheist for much of his life and a keen poster on the richarddawkins.net website.  However, after becoming disillusioned with the mentality of some atheists on the website, he subsequently experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity in 2008.  He relates the story, along with Christian apologist David Robertson who had a hand in his conversion.  Ed Turner a fort...

"Jesus and the Eyewitnesses" has been heralded as a paradigm shift in the way the authorship of the Gospels should be seen.  Richard Bauckham is the author of the book, which won the 2009 Michael Ramsey prize.  He argues that the Gospels are based on eyewitness accounts and should be regarded as fundamentally trustworthy. New Testament historian James Crossley discusses the implications of Bauckha...

Many "New Atheists" have written books claiming that Christianity is bad for people.   Barry Duke is editor of "The Freethinker" - a longstanding humanist magazine and website that seeks to show why religion is bad for the world.  Barry claims that most religious people are weighed down by guilt and that atheism sets people free. Tom Price is an apologist with Damaris and the Oxford Centre for Chr...

Scriptural Reasoning is an organisation committed to honest interfaith dialogue that promotes "better quality disagreement".  Its founder Muhammad Al-Hussaini explains how they hope to bring greater understanding of the scriptures of the three Abrahamic religions.  He is joined by Liberal Judaism Rabbi Mark Solomon and Dr David Jackson, formerly of the London School of Theology.  They discuss the...

What do Christians believe about the immortality of the soul and the justification for punishment?  Has hell been lost as a doctrine in the modern church? In their second inter-Christian encounter James White and Roger and Faith Forster explain their different view of hell.  James White holds to an "eternal conscious torment" view - that those in hell are punished for all eternity.  Roger and Fait...

The first of two programmes focussing on inter-Christian debates over doctrine. 500 years ago the birth of John Calvin heralded the arrival of one who would have a momentous impact on the shape of world Christianity. Calvinism is most often defined by its belief in predestination.  Calvinist James White of Alpha and Omega ministries explains why he believes Calvin was right when he claimed that Go...

You don't have to look far for claims of the miraculous. But what constitutes a "miracle" and do Christian beliefs in this area make sense? Michael Shermer is a well-known atheist in the USA and Director of the Skeptics Society. He says miraculous claims always have a natural explanation. Adrian Holloway is a London Pastor and apologist. He claims to have witnessed the miraculous and says that Mic...