Philosophy

Greg reflects on the objective nature of beauty and morality, then he answers questions about how providence and the decrees of God play out in life and how to manage a denominational split in a way that shows respect to all but still makes clear the danger of staying in the denomination.

Jon Noyes talks with people gathered around signs calling for “liberty” and “justice,” asking what those words mean and where they find their moral authority.

Greg answers questions about how to help people understand that if there is no God then there’s no moral standard, a caller’s book idea, what “Christianity” means, Catholicism, the Holy Spirit’s pronoun, and how to respond when people ask how you’re doing after a Christian loved one dies.

In a discussion with a therapist, Jon Noyes asks questions to draw out the idea that even when people say morality is subjective, they live like morality is objective because God’s law is written on every human heart.

Megan Almon traces how Western thought moved from viewing theology and morality as real and knowable to treating them as private, subjective, and unknowable.

Questions about the claim that science explains things that happen and that’s why it can’t explain the supernatural, whether there will be morality in Heaven, and reconciling the idea that we all intuitively know morality with the argument that Christianity gave our culture its morality.

Questions about whether confidence in a belief should be informed by how long the belief has been held or by how many have held it, and whether it’s irrational and illogical to believe in God and one has to go against reason to believe in him.

Greg and Amy highlight classical arguments for God’s existence and point out a faulty assumption made by those who claim religion is just a matter of belief.

Questions about the difference between believing and knowing from a biblical perspective, why it’s considered bad manners to ask for testable, repeatable evidence for the existence of gods, and why Christians don’t prove God exists by asking him to change carbon dioxide into hydrogen.

Greg concludes his series of “rapid-fire” responses to frequent challenges to Christianity: Intelligent design is just religion disguised as science, God is not a good father, evil proves God doesn’t exist, relativism doesn’t mean “anything goes,” and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Jon Noyes uses questions about democracy at a women’s rights march to guide conversations toward a deeper issue: where human rights come from.

We can appreciate the beautiful things of this world, but they don’t fully satisfy. They are merely echoes of the true, lasting kingdom that we’re longing for.

Sean McDowell contrasts two competing narratives about truth and meaning.

Greg talks to Stephen Meyer about The Story of Everything, a film based on Meyer’s book Return of the God Hypothesis, discussing the two competing stories of reality in our culture—one materialist and one theist—and scientific evidence that points to God.

When trying to make sense of how our perfectly good, wise, and powerful God can coexist with all the evil and suffering in the world, we can easily be overwhelmed by looking at all evil all at once, but that is not a fair way of looking at the issue.

Questions about whether the fact that the truth about one’s age changes over time is an argument for relativism, and how to ground virtues like courage in objective reality without relying on circular definitions.

Greg continues his “rapid-fire” responses to common objections to Christianity, addressing claims that one is a good person, the need to see a miracle to believe in God, the illusion of consciousness, the inevitability of mistakes from human biblical authors, abortion protecting unwanted children, evidence vs. faith, and more.

Greg argues for the A-theory of time, then he answers questions about whether God did something in the absence of time, how God can know what will happen in an A-theory of time, Greg’s take on church membership, and pastors using other people’s sermons.

A changed life is certainly noteworthy, but it’s not necessarily noble, so before one can know if it’s evidence of the truth of a religion, there’s a more pressing question that needs to be answered.

Greg answers questions about responding to someone in ministry who’s avoiding controversial truths with the students, suggestions for witnessing to a brother after his stroke, whether God sees salvation as a single moment in time, a possible problem with the moral argument, and the flood.