The Reluctant Theologian Podcast

In today's episode, I identify a new group of people that I will call the new classical theists. They are like new atheists in that they have a lot of strong rhetoric, but very little by way of cogent arguments. First, I offer a brief discussion on models of God. Then I consider different claims from people like Edward Feser, Thomas Weinandy, Gerald Bray, and Matthew Barrett. I articulate their ar...

In today's episode, I give you a taster of my course at the University of Lucerne on God, Freedom, and Evil. I run through some different theodicies related to the best possible world, soul-building, and free will. I also consider Graham Oppy's new logical problem of evil.  Credits Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a senior fellow at the Collegium for Advanced Studies, Uni...

Craig Carter has made a lot of striking claims about non-classical models of God on social media, in magazines, and in publications. But can Carter actually back up any of his claims? I remain skeptical that he can. In today’s episode, I have Dr. Andrew Hollingsworth and Jordan Steffaniak on to talk about their new paper on Craig Carter, classical theism, and creation ex nihilo. They examine Carte...

In today's episode, I reach into the mailbag to get some listener questions. I have questions about my own model of God, Colossians 2 and Christian philosophy, anxiety about changing your beliefs, studying with me, and the war in Ukraine.  Credits Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a senior fellow at the Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki. Scientific Adv...

Last October I was on a panel discussion at the World Parliament of Religions. I presented a paper called, "Is God a Psychopath?" In today's episode, I present a longer version of that paper. I consider the classical theistic claim that God does not literally have empathy and compassion. I argued that this entails that God is a psychopath. This is a bad thing because it goes against standard accou...

In today's episode, I respond to Matt Walsh's hot take on the nature of time and the Sunshine Protection Act.  Credits Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a senior fellow at the Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki. Scientific Adviser and Show Manager: Ema Sani (PhD, University of Glasgow) is a postdoctoral fellow in biology at the University of Edinburgh....

Christianity proclaims that God is love, but opinions differ about what that means. People also disagree over what the implications of divine love are for doctrines like creation and hell. In today’s episode, I sit down with Dr Jordan Wessling to discuss his recent book, Love Divine: A Systematic Account of God’s Love for Humanity . We get into all sorts of interesting topics related to love, rati...

Does God love the Canaanites? If you have read your Bible, you might think that the answer is no. There is no way that God could love the Canaanites based on what we see in the book of Joshua. There it sounds like God is commanding genocide. Genocide does not sound very loving. Today I have Dr Randal Rauser on to discuss how we should interpret these passages with the love of Christ in mind. Credi...

Over Christmas break, my parents asked if I could preach at their church in Indiana. So what I have for you today is a sermon that I preached the day after Christmas. I ask several important questions about why God created anything at all, and what it takes to become friends with God. I also offer reflections on Ephesians 1 and John 15. Credits Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is...

I know that many of you have been patiently waiting for this episode. Some of you are incredibly hyped up to hear this one. Today I have my final episode with Dr Sam Lebens. We get into all sorts of fun stuff related to heaven and hell, the problem of evil, sin and atonement. And of then course, we get into a detailed discussion about hypertime. Credits Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St An...

What kind of world did God create? Did God create a world filled with physical objects? Or did God create an idealist world where all that exists are God and His ideas? Perhaps you and I are just ideas in the mind of God. You might even say that we are God’s imaginary friends. In today’s episode, I have Sam Lebens on to defend his version of idealism. We get into all sorts of issues related to God...

Today I have got Dr. Sam Lebens from the University of Haifa. We are chatting about his recent book, The Principles of Judaism . Sam and I discuss the motivation for writing a book on analytic Jewish theology. Then we get into the 3 principles of the Jewish faith. After that, Sam and I get into Jewish debates on the doctrine of creation out of nothing, eternal creation, and more. In future episode...

By the time this airs, I will be in Texas riding mechanical bulls, eating some brisket, and drinking whisky sours. I wanted to give you some quick updates from the open road on the future of the podcast. I have a lot of exciting stuff coming up next year, but you will only see a couple more episodes before Christmas. I need some time to see family and relax before I get back at it again. Also, I w...

In the last episode, I had Dr Erik Wielenberg on to offer some objections to William Lane Craig’s views on God, time, and the Kalam cosmological argument. In today’s episode, I have Dr Craig in the hot seat. We are chatting about his provocative view on God, time, and creation. Craig says that God is timeless sans creation, and temporal with creation. After defining some terms, we look at the diff...

Today I am joined by Dr Erik Wielenberg to discuss a recent exchange he had with William Lane Craig in the journal TheoLogica. We look at the details of God’s relationship to time and the implications for the Kalam Cosmological argument. Erik argues that Craig’s view on God and time entails two contradictions. He also argues that Craig’s view on God and time undermines the success of the Kalam Cos...

Do you know what time it is? No, it is not objection time. Instead, it is time to talk about time. The philosophy of time is a difficult topic to understand, and many confusions abound. In today’s episode, I sit down with Kristie Miller from the University of Sydney to discuss her recent introduction to the philosophy of time that she co-authored with Sam Baron. We talk about dynamic and static th...

When you have theological and philosophical discussions, do things get heated? Do you sometimes struggle to have good disagreements with people? In today’s episode, I sit down with Ryan Shields to discuss theological disagreements. We get into the good, the bad, and the ugly of theological disagreements. We share stories about times where disagreements go really badly, and what we can learn from t...

In today's episode, I catch up with Steven Nemes. We chat about him completing his PhD, and the big idea of his dissertation. We discuss the method of phenomenology, and its usefulness for theology. We consider issues like, which comes first: scripture or tradition? How should we understand the New Testament's use of the Old Testament?  Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a...

When you write in questions to the show, I notice. I pay attention. Sometimes I try to find an expert on the topic to answer the question. Other times, I try to address the question myself. Today I open up the mail bag and address three listener questions. I’ve got questions about trauma and theology. I have some hot stuff on God, time and creation out of nothing. And finally, I have some question...

In today’s episode we are returning to the new T&T Clark Handbook of Analytic Theology. I’m once again joined by Jonathan Thompson to discuss my chapter in the handbook, called Classical Theism. In today’s episode, we discuss the ever valid modal collapse argument against divine simplicity. Conversations over this argument have gotten heated online, and many confusions abound. So Jonathan and...

In today’s episode we are digging deeper into the new T&T Clark Handbook of Analytic Theology. I’m joined by Jonathan Thompson to discuss my chapter in the handbook. I wrote the chapter called “Classical Theism.” In today’s episode we offer a systematic articulation of the classical conception of God, and clarify common confusions about classical understandings of the divine attributes. We con...

Today I am joined by Dr James Arcadi and Dr JT Turner to discuss the new T&T Clark Handbook of Analytic Theology. We ask the obvious question, “What is analytic theology?” Then we consider some angry Tweets about the project analytic theology, and offer various replies. This may be the most sarcastic episode yet, but I guarantee that you will come away with a better understanding of analytic t...

Open theism is a provocative model of God that has captured the attention of various philosophers and theologians from different religious traditions. The view has garnered different criticisms, such as the recent book edited by Ben Arbour called, Philosophical Essays Against Open Theism . In today’s episode, I develop some of Ben Arbour’s objections to open theism, and I have the one and only Dal...

Today I am joined by one of my colleagues at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Dr. Christine Daigle. We are asking the question, “What is human nature?” What does it mean to be human? There are different views within philosophy such humanism and the more recent view called transhumanism. But Christine wants to push for a position called posthumanism. In today’s episode, we break down th...

A clinical psychologist, a philosopher, and a theologian walk into a room. There is no punchline there because I am not telling a joke. Instead, I am describing today’s episode. We get into all sorts of fascinating topics today. We look at clinical psychosis, and how to interpret various passages of the Bible that talk about demon possession. Then we consider how our interpretations of scripture i...