This week, Pastor Nic is joined by Than Christopoulos from the YouTube channel Exploring Reality. They discuss the historical reliability of the New Testament resurrection narratives and broader issues of faith, doubt, and biblical interpretation. The discussion focuses particularly on how to understand apparent discrepancies between the Gospel accounts while maintaining their historical reliability. Than, who was formerly an atheist before becoming a Christian apologist, explains his approach to harmonizing these accounts by understanding ancient literary conventions, Greek grammar, and the cultural context of the texts. The conversation expands to address deeper issues about how academic scholarship sometimes unfairly approaches biblical texts with different standards than other historical documents, and how personal biases and social pressures can influence both belief and disbelief. They also explore how to help Christians who struggle with doubts about biblical reliability, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and community in working through these questions. The discussion concludes with a philosophical exploration of suffering, free will, and God's purposes in allowing human development rather than creating fully formed beings, presenting a view of Christianity that embraces both intellectual rigor and meaningful engagement with life's difficulties.

Exploring Reality YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ExploringReality

Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church.

Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast

Music: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong (https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)