Unbelievable?

Latest Episodes:

Unbelievable? 3 Oct 2009 - What picture of God does the Bible paint? Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

Andrew Wilson is an author and church leader. His book "GodStories" describes the Bible as "the gospel of God". He says the story is told in multiple ways of sins forgiven, shame removed, beauty restored, and meaning reinstated.

Atheist Norman Bacrac of the Ethical Society contends that the picture the Bible paints of God is not as beautiful as Andrew claims - for instance how can the story of The Flood tell of a loving God?

Find out about Andrew and GodStories at www.godstoriesbook.com

For Norman Bacrac and the Ethical Society visit www.ethicalsoc.org.uk

To hear more Christian/non-Christian debate visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via itunes

If you enjoyed this show you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 25 Aug 2007 - Deluded by Dawkins? Andrew Wilson debates atheist Gordon Livesey

Unbelievable? 7 Mar 2009 - The Reason for God" - Pastor Timothy Keller & Atheist Norman Bacrac

Join the debate at the Premier Community's "Unbelievable?" group

Unbelievable? 19 Sep 2009 - Would Europe be better off Atheist or Christian? Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

Christian Apologist David Robertson, Atheist blogger Ed Turner and Christian convert Richard Morgan return to debate the rights and wrongs of Christian and atheist influence in society.

For David Robertson's book "The Dawkins Letters" Click here

For David Robertson see http://www.stpeters-dundee.org.uk/

For Ed Turner see http://edthemanicstreetpreacher.wordpress.com

For Richard Morgan see http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/profile/RichardMorgan

For more Christian non-Christian debate visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 13 Jun 2009 The Moral Argument For God - Atheist Paul Orton & Christian David Robertson

Unbelievable? 4 Jul 2009 Peter Hitchens & Ibrahim Mogra debate "Is Islam or Christianity the best future for Britain?"

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Unbelievable? 26 Sep 2009 - "Creation" the movie review with interviews & debate Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

The film "Creation" is released in the UK Sep 2009. Telling the story of how Charles Darwin came to write "On the Origin of Species" 150 years ago, the film highlights the clash of evolutionary theory and Christian belief. The problem of suffering is also addressed in the death of Darwin's daughter Annie.

Justin Brierley interviews Randall Keynes, a great-great grandson of Darwin and the author of the book "Creation" that the film is based on. We also hear the discussion on evolution vs. creation that took place between invited guests (see below) at a church leaders screening of the film recently.

For the movie see http://www.creationthemovie.com/flash

For church resources see http://www.damaris.org/creationmovie

For Nicholas Beale see http://www.questionsoftruth.org/authors/

For Steve Lloyd see http://www.biblicalcreationministries.org.uk

For Charles Foster see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Selfless-Gene-Charles-Foster/dp/0340964367

Hear Christian/non-Christian discussion at www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via itunes

If you enjoyed this show you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 14 Mar 2009 Fine Tuning of the Universe - is it evidence of God? Nicholas Beale vs Julian Baggini

Unbelievable? 29 Nov 2008 Creation or Evolution - do we have to choose? Denis Alexander & Stephen Lloyd debate

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Unbelievable? 12 Sep 2009 - Richard Morgan - from Atheism to Faith Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

Richard Morgan was a confirmed atheist for much of his life and a keen poster on the richarddawkins.net website. However, after becoming disillusioned with the mentality of some atheists on the website, he subsequently experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity in 2008.

He relates the story, along with Christian apologist David Robertson who had a hand in his conversion. Ed Turner a forthright atheist blogger (aka Manicstreetpreacher) joins the discussion as they look at the world of Christian and Atheist chat forums.

Chat to this week's guests at the "Unbelievable?" Group of the "Premier Community": www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable

For Richard Morgan see: http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/profile/RichardMorgan

For David Robertson see: http://www.stpeters-dundee.org.uk/

For Ed Turner see: http://edthemanicstreetpreacher.wordpress.com

For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 21 Mar 2009 - "Challenging Atheist Myths" pt 1 Christian David Robertson & Atheist Adrian Hayter

Unbelievable? 6 Sep 2008 - Christianity on trial pt 1: Can I trust the Bible? Atheist lawyer Ed Turner vs Theologian Andy Bannister

Unbelievable? 5 Sep 2009 - Bauckham on the Gospels - Pt 2 Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

Continuing on from their discussion last week, believing and non-believing New Testament historians Richard Bauckham and James Crossley discuss whether the testimony of eyewitnesses in the Gospels is trustworthy.

Bauckham fills out his reasoning for the Gospels being credible eyewitness testimony of Jesus' life, while Crossley disputes whether testimony of the miraculous can be used as historical evidence.

For the book "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses" click here

For Richard Bauckham see http://www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/people/rbauckham.html

For James Crossley see http://shef.ac.uk/bibs/staff/jgc.html

For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 18 Oct 2008 Why Should I believe in Jesus? Ex-Christian Norman Hansen vs. Amy Orr-Ewing of the Zacharias Trust

Unbelievable? 12 Jul 2008 Masters of Apologetics Pt 1: Gary Habermas

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Unbelievable? 29 Aug 2009 - Richard Bauckham on the Gospels - pt 1 Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

"Jesus and the Eyewitnesses" has been heralded as a paradigm shift in the way the authorship of the Gospels should be seen.

Richard Bauckham is the author of the book, which won the 2009 Michael Ramsey prize. He argues that the Gospels are based on eyewitness accounts and should be regarded as fundamentally trustworthy.

New Testament historian James Crossley discusses the implications of Bauckham's work and whether the Gospel of John was written by the disciple John himself, as Bauckham claims.

They continue the debate next week...

Click here For Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

For Richard Bauckham visit http://www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/people/rbauckham.html

For James Crossley see http://shef.ac.uk/bibs/staff/jgc.html

Listen to more Christian/non-Christian debates at www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or via podcast or itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 3 Jan 2009 Bart Ehrman & Peter Williams - "Misquoting Jesus: Do we have the original writings of the New Testament?"

Unbelievable? 17 Jan 2009 A believing and a non-believing New Testament scholar debate "How did Christianity begin?" - Michael Bird & James Crossley - Pt 1

Join the debate at the Premier Community

Unbelievable? 15 Aug 2009 - Scriptural reasoning Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

Scriptural Reasoning is an organisation committed to honest interfaith dialogue that promotes "better quality disagreement". Its founder Muhammad Al-Hussaini explains how they hope to bring greater understanding of the scriptures of the three Abrahamic religions.

He is joined by Liberal Judaism Rabbi Mark Solomon and Dr David Jackson, formerly of the London School of Theology. They discuss the purpose of interfaith dialogue and engage in some on-air scriptural reasoning on the theme of "servant leadership" reading from the Koran, the Torah and the Bible.

Find out more at www.scripturalreasoning.org.uk

You can hear more interfaith discussion at www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the podcast or via Itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 4 Aug 2007 - Judaism and Christianity

Unbelievable? 4 Oct 2008 - Does Islam or Christianity oppress women? Jay Smith and Mohamed Ali

Join the discussion at the Premier Community

Unbelievable? 22 Aug 2009 - Does religion make people unhappy? Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

Many "New Atheists" have written books claiming that Christianity is bad for people.

Barry Duke is editor of "The Freethinker" - a longstanding humanist magazine and website that seeks to show why religion is bad for the world. Barry claims that most religious people are weighed down by guilt and that atheism sets people free.

Tom Price is an apologist with Damaris and the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. He says that his search for happiness was fulfilled when he found Christ as an adult.

For Tom Price see: The Damaris Trust www.damaris.org and the Oxford Centre for Christian apologetics http://www.theocca.org/

For Barry Duke see: http://freethinker.co.uk/

For more Christian/non-Christian debates visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 24 Nov 2007 "I Sold My Soul on eBay" - the friendly atheist at a church near you... Tom Price & Hemant Mehta

Unbelievable? 3 Nov 2007 - The "New Atheism" - Barry Duke and David Marshall Debate

You can also listen via podcast and Itunes

Join the discussion at the Premier Community

Unbelievable? 8 Aug 2009 - Hell - two different views debated Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

What do Christians believe about the immortality of the soul and the justification for punishment? Has hell been lost as a doctrine in the modern church?

In their second inter-Christian encounter James White and Roger and Faith Forster explain their different view of hell. James White holds to an "eternal conscious torment" view - that those in hell are punished for all eternity. Roger and Faith Forster believe in "conditional immortality" - that only those in Christ are granted eternal life and those who go to hell cease to exist.

For James White see www.aomin.org

For Roger and Faith see www.ichthus.org.uk

For more faith debates visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or via podcast or via itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may wish to listen to

Unbelievable? 15 Mar 2008 Christian Universalism - Will everyone be saved?

Unbelievable? 1 Dec 2007 - Salvation: Grace or Works? A Jew & Christian compare approaches

Get involved at the Premier Community

Unbelievable? 1 Aug 2009 - Calvinism & predestination Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

The first of two programmes focussing on inter-Christian debates over doctrine.

500 years ago the birth of John Calvin heralded the arrival of one who would have a momentous impact on the shape of world Christianity.

Calvinism is most often defined by its belief in predestination. Calvinist James White of Alpha and Omega ministries explains why he believes Calvin was right when he claimed that God's will alone controls the eternal destiny of humans. Roger and Faith Forster of the Ichthus Christian fellowship defend an Arminian view - that human freewill is part of God's grace when it comes to human salvation.

For James White see www.aomin.org

For Roger and Faith see www.ichthus.org.uk

For more Faith debates visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or via podcast or via itunes

If you enjoyed this programme you may wish to listen to

Unbelievable? 15 Nov 2008 Does the Trinity lead to polytheism? James White of Alpha & Omega ministries debates Abdullah Al Andalusi

Unbelievable? 22 Mar 2008 Easter & the Atonement - does it make sense? Roger Forster debates humanist Marilyn Mason

Join the discussion at the Premier Community