Unbelievable?

Richard Morgan was an atheist for many years before a sudden epiphany (via the Richard Dawkins website) brought him to Christian faith. He enjoys dialoguing online with other atheists but finds apologetics limited in how far it can persuade people. 8 years on from his conversion he takes an 'apophatic' approach to his faith and believes relationships are far more important than argument and eviden...

Justin presents some highlights from this year’s Unbelievable Conference including the opening address by evangelist J.John, and snippets from the Reaching Young People, Rules of Engagement and What If They Ask Me? Seminar streams. The show concludes with highlights from the Panel Q&A at the end of the day. Justin also reveals details about Unbelievable? Live in the USA, a dialogue event taking pl...

Holly Ordway is Professor of English and Director of the M.A. in Apologetics at Houston Baptist University. She was a happy atheist, but was converted to Christianity through apologetics and her love of literature. Vanessa James is a musician who was a committed Christian until a few years ago when she lost her faith and became an atheist. Both stories don’t quite finish there however, as you’ll h...

The argument that ‘the followers of Jesus wouldn’t have suffered and died for a lie’ is often used as evidence for the resurrection. But in recent years attacks have been mounted on whether the martyrdom accounts of the apostles are reliable. Sean McDowell, author of ‘The Fate of the Apostles’ defends the historicity of the martyrdom accounts of Paul, Peter, James and other early followers. Ken Hu...

How should Christians interpret scriptures that describe the 'wrath' of God? Did God punish Jesus on the cross? Are we punished for our sins or do we merely suffer the 'consequences' of them? These and other questions are debated as Joshua Ryan Butler author of "The Pursuing God" and progressive pastor Brian Zahnd discuss the issues. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristi...

Hear the live debate in Woking with 4 speakers putting the Christian case for and against the UK leaving the European Union. Justin Brierley chairs the debate. On the Stay team: Sir Simon Hughes & Gary Streeter MP. On the Go team: Adrian Hilton (aka Archbishop Cranmer) & Brendan Chilton. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 Read Adrian Hilton...

Christian Apologist, Greg Koukl joins Justin ahead of an apologetics event in London in July. They take calls from atheist listeners on whether prayer makes sense if God already know what we'll ask for, whether penal atonement is just, and why God remains hidden. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Greg's London event on 2 July: http://...

How should the church treat LGBT people? Preston Sprinkle & Brandan Robertson Preston Sprinkle, author of "People To Be Loved: Why homosexuality is not just an issue" joins Justin in studio. He dialogues with Brandan Robertson, a young gay evangelical who became gay affirming last year. Brandan Robertson's book "Nomad: A Spirituality for travelling light" tells his journey. As they both embark on...

Reformed apologist James White joins Justin again, this time to take calls from listeners on whether the apostles preached Jesus’ divinity, whether God is the author of evil, and whether Calvin wasn’t reformed enough. In the final part of the show Justin is joined by Larry Taunton to talk about his unlikely friendship with one of the world’s best known atheists, as detailed in his new book ‘The Fa...

John E Sanders is one among a number of evangelical theologians such as Greg Boyd who have embraced Open Theism – the view that God does not necessarily have foreknowledge of all future events and that the future is open. Many evangelicals believe Open Theism is a heresy – denying the omniscience of God and going against Biblical teaching. James White of Alpha and Omega ministries believes Open Th...

Mike Rand is an agnostic who has been listening to Unbelievable? for several years. He is attracted to aspects of the Christian faith but has certain intellectual objections which he hasn’t found satisfactory answers to yet. He engages with David Robertson of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity in a good humoured and wide ranging discussion on Mike’s questions and what it would take for Mike...

Richard Weikart, professor of history at California State University, joins Justin to talk about his new book 'The Death of Humanity'. He says the loss of belief in the value of human life is leading to disastrous consequences for society. Peter Singer is an Australian ethicist who believes we should dispense with the concept of the sanctity of human life in favour of a view of 'personhood'. Human...

In this podcast-only edition of the programme, Justin Brierley delves into the archives to air a radio documentary which was first broadcast in 2009. He and his family went on a US road trip to visit two megachurches and meet their pastors. Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is the largest church in America with over 40,000 in attendance each week. TV pastor Joel Osteen broadcasts his message of he...

In his new book ‘Go Is No Thing’ Rupert Shortt argues that many ‘new atheists’ have a faulty view of God that doesn’t take seriously the philosophical arguments that thinkers like Thomas Aquinas gave many centuries ago for the existence of God. Rupert discusses the issues with atheist Jeremy Rodell, dialogue officer for the British Humanist Association. We also hear some feedback to the most recen...

Justin hosts the second part of a debate between noted Bible scholars Bart Ehrman and Richard Bauckham. Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that eyewitness testimony is very fallible and that the stories about Jesus that were written down in the Gospels would have changed shape over time. Richard Bauckham, author of "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", defends the trustworthiness...

Bart Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that the stories about Jesus would have changed and evolved before they were written down as the Gospels. Richard Bauckham, author of "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", defends the view that the Gospels were written by those with access to eyewitness testimony of Jesus' first followers. They debate who wrote Mark, whether the the Gospels...

In Islam, Jesus is regarded as a prophet. Muslims commonly claim that the Christian belief in Christ as co-equal with God is a corruption of Jesus' message and that his first followers did not regard him as the Son of God. Christian apologist Jonathan McLatchie returns for a second week to debate Islamic evangelist Yusuf Ismail on whether early church Christology evolved over time or whether Chris...

Michael Alter is a Jew who spent a decade researching the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus after being challenged to investigate it. The result is his book ‘The Resurrection: A critical enquiry’. He was not eventually persuaded by the evidence he found. Part of his research responds to the so-called ‘minimal facts’ surrounding the story often cited by apologists. Apologist Jonathan McLatchie...

Science has revealed that the fundamental constants and forces of the cosmos appear to be exquisitely fine-tuned to allow a universe in which life can develop. Is God the best explanation of the incredibly improbable odds of the universe we live in being a life-permitting one? Robin Collins is a Christian philosopher and a leading advocate of the argument for God from cosmic design. Peter Millican...

Most evangelical churches teach young people that sex should be saved for marriage. But Dianna E Anderson's book 'Damaged Goods' claims that the purity culture of the American church she grew up in can be damaging for young people and that sexual relationships before marriage are permissible for Christians. Sarah Long is a youth advisor for the Church Of England and has been involved with the Roma...

The problem of evil and suffering is a key objection to the existence of a loving God. But what if the very existence of moral ‘evil’ requires a God? Oxford undergraduate Josh Parikh is a young Christian apologist who won Tyndale Fellowship’s 2015 IVP ‘Young Philosopher of Religion’ Prize for his essay on the problem of evil. He interacts with atheist Cory Markum as they debate the problem. Can re...

A Wheaton college professor was recently threatened with dismissal after claiming that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Justin is joined by two Christian guests to debate the question, Joseph Cumming a scholar of Islamic and Christian thought at Yale and former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi of RZIM. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" F...

Until his death from cancer over four years ago, Christopher Hitchens was one of the preeminent figures of new atheism: a prolific writer who was eloquent, witty and in great demand for his speaking and debating. Justin is joined by Christopher's brother Peter Hitchens who is a columnist for the Mail On Sunday, atheist blogger Ed Turner, and Peter Harris, a Christian apologist writing a PhD on Hit...

Luke Griffiss-Williams has an interesting faith journey. Having been an evangelical Christian, doubts about the deity of Jesus led him to convert to Judaism. But further doubts about the historicity of the Old Testament led him to become an atheist. Richard Harvey, senior researcher with Jews for Jesus responds to Luke’s story as well as telling his own of how, as a Jew, he came to believe in Jesu...

The latest survey from the UK Office of National Statistics shows that religious people are happier than atheists. Hindus came first in terms of reported happiness and Christians second. Christian researcher and author Ann Morisy discusses with atheist blogger and author Craig James why people of faith consistently report higher levels of wellbeing in surveys than atheists. What other factors may...