The Reluctant Theologian Podcast

If you were listening to the last episode, you heard my conversation with Aku Visala on the imago dei, cognitive science, and free will. In today’s episode, we pick up the conversation on free will. We ask if free will is compatible with divine determinism, and consider some different debates in theology between Martin Luther and Erasmus. We also look at some of the evidence from cognitive science...

Christian theology says that humans are made in the image of God. But what does that mean? Does it mean that we are rational beings with free will? And what is free will anyway? In today’s episode, I sit down with Aku Visala to chat about human nature and free will. Aku tells us about different understandings of the image of God and human freedom. He also tells us what recent proposals in cognitiv...

We live in a world with multiple religions, competing theological systems, and various models of God. With all of this confusion and variety of opinions, how do we know that we are referring to the same being when we use the word “God”? In today’s episode, I sit down with Hugh Burling to talk about a recent paper of his in Faith and Philosophy on the theory of reference as it relates to topics wit...

In the last episode, I sat down with Olli-Pekka Vainio to discuss various challenges to theology on the basis of philosophy of language. In this episode, Olli and I chat about issues surrounding our talk about God in terms of analogy, univocity, and equivocation. Does all of our talk about God need to be analogy? Would it be a problem if we spoke about God univocally? Olli and I also ask if all th...

There is an interesting interaction between philosophy of language and theology. There are all sorts of difficulties surrounding the very idea of religious language. Some philosophers have objected to the idea of speaking about God. Perhaps it is impossible to engage in any talk about God at all. If that’s right, then theology is doomed from the start. In today’s episode, I sit down with Olli-Pekk...

In today’s episode, I sit down with TJ Mawson to discuss a listener question on God and morality. We consider different issues related to moral philosophy, the divine nature, and providence. In what sense is God responsible for the moral landscape? What does it mean to say that God is perfectly good? And can an all-powerful God sin? After discussing these issues, we ask if God is obligated to prov...

As science and technology are advancing, we are entering into uncharted waters with what we can do with DNA. From biohacking, to beer tasting, ancestry, and criminal cases, the possibilities are wide open. Some of the possibilities seem like merely science fiction, while others raise legal and ethical concerns. In today’s episode, I sit down with Dr Ross Cordiner to discuss what is science fiction...

Some of you listening might be artists. Perhaps you paint or take pictures. Maybe you are a filmmaker or musician. Whatever you are, you make important contributions to our society. Your art helps create a sense of place in your community. It can even cultivate a sense of place within the church. In today’s episode, I sit down with my friend Dr Jennifer Allen Craft to discuss her new book Placemak...

Today we decided to explore philosophical content in an alternative way through video games. Video games are a major part of our culture. I’ve even been told by several people that they listen to this show while they are playing video games. So in today’s episode, I sit down with Michał Trajdos to discuss various aspects of video games. We discuss the impact that video games have on culture, and w...

In today's episode, I sit down with Mike Hranica from The Devil Wears Prada. We talk about heavy metal, French existentialism, and free will. We also talk about the new album The Act, what it is like to stop being straight edge, and so much more.  Credits: Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh's Institute for Advanced Studies in...

In the last episode, Andrei Buckarreff and I discussed the metaphysics of pantheism and panentheism. We chatted about how to distinguish these models of God from classical theism and open theism. In today’s episode, Andrei and I will consider arguments for and against pantheism. Andrei offers two arguments in favour of pantheism. One from omnipresence, and another from omniscience. I then ask Andr...

As we are continuing our series on models of God, we have arrived at two models called pantheism and panentheism. Pantheism is said to be an ancient model of God that is found in different religions across the world. In today’s episode, I sit down with Andrei Buckareff to discuss the metaphysics of pantheism and panentheism. We chat about how to distinguish these models of God from classical theis...

In today’s episode, I’m continuing my series on rival models of God. Dr. Ema Sani and I chat about two models of God called neoclassical theism and open theism. We discuss the difficulties in defining neoclassical theism, and then turn to topics such as the incompatibility of timelessness with divine passibility. Afterwards, we discuss various objections to models of divine foreknowledge and provi...

On today’s episode, I sit down with David Anzalone to chat about divine impassibility and divine passibility. One version of divine passibility is called omnisubjectivity, which says that God has perfect empathy with all of his creatures. David explains how different models of hell cause problems for omnisubjectivity. Credits: Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a research fellow...

In the last episode, Dr. Tasia Scrutton and I discussed arguments for and against divine impassibility. Then we started to consider the doctrine of divine passibility. In today’s episode, we pick up the conversation by considering objections to divine passibility related to omnipotence and perfect rationality. Then we chat a bit about Tasia’s new book, “Christianity and Depression.” We ask if the...

Have you ever thought about God’s emotional life? What is an emotion, and what kind of emotions does God have? In this two part episode, I sit down with Tasia Scrutton to discuss the debate over divine impassibility and divine passibility. We discuss the philosophy of emotions, and the role that emotions play in debates over the divine nature. In part 2, we continue the conversation about this deb...

What can we actually say about God? Can I make positive claims about God, such as God is perfectly loving? Or can I only describe God in terms of what God is not like, such as God is not weak, or God is not ignorant? In today’s episode, I sit down with Simon Hewitt to discuss something called apophaticism, or negative theology. We chat about the apophatic approach to speaking of God, and some of t...

In the last episode, Thomas Williams and I discussed a model of God called classical theism In today’s episode, Thomas and I consider several objections to classical theism. Can an impassible God love us? Can a timeless and immutable God create and sustain the universe without undergoing any change or succession? Is the doctrine of divine simplicity coherent? These are some of the objections we co...

In contemporary theology, there are multiple models of God to consider. One could be a classical theist, an open theist, maybe even a panentheist. In today’s episode, I sit down with Thomas Williams to discuss classical theism. We chat about great thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas, and Scotus. Then we explore divine attributes like omniscience, timelessness, immutability, simplicity, and impassibil...

There are many different kinds of robots out there. There are the hard robots that vacuum your floor, and the soft robots Big Hero 6. Did you know that there are also underwater robots that look like squids? In today’s episode, I sit down with Francesco Giorgio-Serchi. We chat about robots, pig brain transplants, and the possibility of achieving immortality through robots. We even ask if immortali...

In case you are wondering, you are a conscious being. Have you ever asked what exactly is consciousness? And which particular things in the universe are conscious? Perhaps you think only souls can be conscious. Or maybe you think that material objects can be conscious. Whatever view you take, you need to ask where does consciousness comes from. In today’s episode, I sit down with Ben Page to discu...

From driverless car, to robots helping surgeons in hospitals, we are increasingly accepting the role of machines and artificial intelligence in controlling our lives and taking decisions for us. But should I be really worry about my Alexa device taking over the world? In today’s episode, I sit down with Vaishak Belle. We discuss the nature of artificial intelligence, and an array of ethical questi...

Many people believe that there is a close connection between consciousness and the brain. Yet the human brain is still somewhat of a mystery to us. For example, we still know very little about the early stages of human brain development. Recently, scientists have started growing these little things called brain organoids to help them understand how human brains grow and develop. In today’s episode...

We have received so many interesting messages from listeners. The questions range over a host of topics, and we hope to address as many of them as we can. In today's episode, Ema Sani and I open up some mail, and respond to questions about the show, the nature of God, and the nature of time. We consider questions about the absolute theory of time, some confusions about the A-theory and B-theory of...

In today’s episode, I sit down with Steven Nemes to discuss something called the modal collapse argument against divine simplicity. The modal collapse argument has been defended by myself and many other philosophers over the years. It is an argument that some people love, and that other people love to hate. In today’s episode, I ask Steven to explain how he understands the argument, and why it is...