Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon

Alan offers eight tips to help someone who is interested in pursuing part-time or full-time apologetics ministry.

Should a Christian attend a same-sex wedding? Alan has attended a same-sex wedding in the past, but believes he made the wrong decision. In this episode, he unpacks his past reasoning, explains why he was mistaken, and offers a practical alternative.

Alan explains what would happen if someone was to go back in time to 1946 and stop the RSV Bible translation team from using the word “homosexuals.” He unpacks whether this would change the Bible’s teaching on marriage, homosexuality, and sexual ethics today.

When a person rejects God, they’re left to determine for themselves their own identity. Alan unpacks some problems with this approach.

Alan addresses whether it’s reasonable to refuse to use a transgender person’s preferred pronouns.

People who identify as LGBT routinely ask their Christian friends and family to accommodate various requests. Are you justified in declining to go along even if it might damage your relationship with them? Alan unpacks his thoughts on this thorny dilemma.

Alan attended Andy Stanley’s Unconditional Conference, an event intended to equip parents and ministry leaders how to reach out to LGBTQ youth. In this episode, Alan provides his assessment of the conference, including three major concerns.

Why has it become so hard to define a woman? Alan looks at a few definitions that are offered, explains what’s wrong with them, and then offers his own definition.

Alan addresses the objection that some people claim Christians are only kind to people so they can convert them.

Alan offers three steps to respond to the rhetorically powerful, yet flawed argument that women might get injured or killed through dangerous, back-alley abortions if abortion is made illegal.

Alan describes the inconsistency in current laws surrounding abortion and homicide and offers a simple solution.

Some Christians and many former Christians are promoting a trendy approach to doubting and questioning your faith called deconstruction. Is it the same as reforming your faith? Alan explains the one key element that distinguishes between the two.

A recent article in The Guardian displayed some misleading images of what is removed in an abortion from a 9-week pregnancy. Alan explains the problems with the article and the images.

When it comes to answering critical questions about how we humans should live, identify, and behave sexually, who should we listen to? Man or our Maker?

Alan addresses a progressive Christian who claims that Jesus wants LGBT people to “come out,” by explaining how he misuses a common literary device.

Some object to the idea that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins through his death on the cross, calling it "child sacrifice." Alan, however, offers three reasons why characterizing it that way is inappropriate.

Alan explains two reasons why abortion-choice advocates insist that pro-life arguments are religious.

Many biologists, doctors, and scientists tell us today that sex is on a spectrum or that there are more than two sexes. Alan addresses this claim by looking at the evidence from both Scripture and general principles of science.

A popular tweet claims that if someone can believe God became a man, then they can also believe that a man can become a woman. Alan unpacks this tweet, defines some key terms, and shows why the claim is misleading.

Alan responds to the claim by some gender theorists that God’s pronouns should be they/them.

Alan looks at passage of Scripture that skeptics like to use to challenge Jesus’ integrity. Then, he clarifies the meaning and application of the passage by using three key interpretive principles.

Alan responds to a tweet that suggests that transgender people are fixing God’s mistakes.

If you’ve never adopted a child, does this disqualify you from speaking out against abortion? Alan offers five reasons why this challenge is mistaken.

Do abortion-choice advocates hold a morally superior view or is their position discriminatory? Alan unpacks this question in this month’s episode.

Alan takes notice of a cultural trend to reject teleological language when describing human anatomy and shows how this explains modern thinking on sex and sexuality.