Worldview Legacy | The Think Institute

Receive a brief, weekly email with tools and tips to help you define, share and defend your faith. Sign up to the Think Update ! Have you ever sat down next to someone in an airplane and wanted to share your faith with him, but you had no idea where to begin? Or have you ever seen a street preacher shouting about hell and judgment to passers-by and asked yourself, “Is that really what God wants us...

When you think of God's wrath, what comes to your mind? Thunderbolts and lightning? Earthquakes and hellfire?  There is an aspect of God's wrath that Christians often get wrong, and this makes it harder to explain the concept to our non-Christian friends. It's a problem we have to rectify, because when we're talking about the Gospel and salvation, God's wrath is what we're being saved from .&...

When you think of education, what images come to mind? You may think of rows of beige-and-chrome desks, all arranged facing the front of a classroom, the walls of which are decorated with maps, inspirational quotes, and the ABCs. At the front of the classroom stands a teacher (probably a woman, if we’re picturing an elementary classroom), and she is leading her pupils in some lesson. Now, what is...

Have you ever thought about Hell? I remember staying awake in bed when I was seven years old, thinking to myself how awful it was that people were, at that very moment, suffering in Hell, and there would be no escape for them. If you're like me, you have wrestled with the idea of hell and even questioned whether or not its fair for God to send people there.  This is certainly not a new questi...

Part 2 of Christian Universalism. For the full show notes, go to thethink.institute.

Is the Universe a Simulation? Have you ever wondered if the world around you was actually an illusion? It might seem silly to even entertain the idea, but believe it or not this is a very hot topic in some philosophical (and pop-philosophical) circles right now. Everyone from Elon Musk, to Joe Rogan, to Neil deGrasse Tyson have publicly wondered aloud about whether we are living in some kind of co...

Have you ever been concerned that science seems to conflict with Christian faith? Science is often talked about as though it is an alternative to religion. That is, a popular conception is that science has replaced Christianity as the best explanation for why the world is the way it is. Is that really true? Whether you're fascinated by science like me (Joel), or not, you probably know that the wor...

Joel and Parker answer the question: how should Christians think about Jordan Peterson?

God is the infinite, personal, Triune Lord, who is higher than everything yet present everywhere, and who has exercises authority and control over all things. There is much we could say about the biblical view of God. However, whatever we say about him, we must do so in a way that both agrees with what the Bible says, and is understandable (which means avoiding unnecessary theological jargon). Kno...

When Is It Right to Get Offended? As we strive to be more like Jesus, we find ourselves confronted with the question, when should Christians get offended? We can clearly see in the New Testament that some things did offend Jesus. In fact, some things that got him the most upset seem to be things that would be commonplace to us--nothing worth getting mad about. Other times, we see him resist reacti...

Feeling Weary? Have you ever felt weary? So weary that you felt it in your soul? When was that? Maybe it was after busy season at work, or after wrapping up a major ministry project in ministry caring for a loved one. What does God say about being weary? The Bible has a lot to say about the weary soul. Also, I have I have discussed a biblical perspective on weariness in episodes, If God is Good, W...

Manliness is an incredibly hot topic right now. There is a whole online ecosystem known as the Manosphere, filled with guys ranging from so-called pickup artists all the way to those who run Christian ministries aimed at helping men pursue biblical manliness (our own friend Jarrett Samuels at the Pursuit of Manliness is doing great work in this are). The Art of Manliness is a massively-impactful w...

My son has been in the hospital for over six months now. My wife posts updates on our Facebook page, "Pray for Superhero Lukas,", but I have not written much about him (outside of social media). However, as Lukas has been hospitalized, I have been doing a lot of thinking about God’s sovereignty, and I want to share my thoughts. Specifically, I want to talk about how I think the Lord is using my so...

Over the last decade or so, there's been a resurgence of robust theology in many local churches, and all kinds of exciting, Gospel-centered movements have sprung up.  However, in the last year and a half, there has been a disturbing trend of many of those same churches turning away from making the Gospel their top priority and turning instead toward cultural and social activism. Churches chas...

Is there an overarching plan for your life, the universe and everything? And if there is, just whose plan is it anyway? It has been popular in recent years to personify "the Universe," as though the matter-and energy, space-time reality we inhabit is somehow personal and even governs our lives in some way. In this episode I discuss that trend and how the personification and even deification of "th...

When did Christianity really begin? The church began at Pentecost in or around the year 33 A. D....right? It was then that God sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples of Jesus. Yet the church's roots go back much further; it is also the continuation of the special relationship with God that believers enjoyed for thousands of years before Christ.  Those B. C. believers put their hope in the same...

The SONS OF THUNDER (Joel and Parker) are back, and there are many things the brothers can't agree on.  For starters, which one of them is the host, and which one is the "co-guest"?  Second, should these Sons of Thunder episodes fall under the auspices of the Think Podcast, or is this its own separate thing?  And the third thing they can't agree on is what should be the catchphrase...

*****Enjoy this BONUS EPISODE***** We are changing up the regular routine of weekly podcasts in order to post this bonus episode offering (what we hope will be) a really useful resource. ***** The other day I received a comment on one of my posts from a friend of mine who identifies as an atheist. He was offended by my post (it was about how science is not accounted for by atheism), and his commen...

Science & Religion: BFFs or best frenemies? This is a topic that I've been getting very much into lately, and that is the intersection of science and biblical faith. We talked about how the biblical worldview provides the foundation for scientific inquiry by way of a three-fold basis: the cosmos which was given in order to be studied, the human mind which was given in order to study it, and Go...

Taylor Swift's new single, "You Need to Calm Down," calls out social conservatives and (especially in the video) Christians for opposing the freedom and dignity of her friends.  We look for the presuppositions being brought to the table and what kind of worldview best supports the values she promotes in her song, then we commend the biblical worldview and the Gospel.  The hope with this...

We're back after a week off. In order to defend the Christian message, you have to know what that message is. In tonight's episode Joel gives an introduction to the biblical worldview. It's part one in an extended series on what Christians believe. We hope it makes you think. For the Think Institute's worldview and apologetics training resources, go to https://thethink.institute/print-resources ....

It's the premier of the SONS OF THUNDER, a podcast-within-a-podcast that has been years in the making. In this "unnecessarily inflammatory" (and much longer than usual) episode, Joel and Parker Settecase lay down the groundwork for talking about apologetics--the defense of the truth of the Christian faith. They get into how to get apologetics wrong and how to do it right--in a way that stays true...

How can you prepare your children to have the kind of faith today that will answer tomorrow's challenges? We look at three keys: Principles, Practice and Prayer.  A shorter episode tonight, but packed with a lot of really practical recommendations. A sampling of them: Catakids (Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SW1SQ9F  The Rizers (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/user/therizers Dan...

Did you know nearly one out of every 3.5 people on earth is a Muslim? Christians have been commissioned to disciple the nations, yet historically we have sent precious few resources to bring the Gospel to this incredibly massive portion of the human population.  In episode 10, Joel Settecase and N. G. (name withheld to avoid it coming up in search results) pull up a couple of chairs to discuss the...

Does Christian hypocrisy mean that Christianity is false? Some initial comments related to recent pro-life legislation and a now infamous tweet about Christian hypocrisy that unleashed a massive conversation last week. Then I do an internal critique from the biblical perspective of the idea that hypocrisy discredits the messenger or voids the message, and then analyze whether the unbelieving world...