Apologetics.com Radio Show

In this episode Staff Apologist Sam Welbaum and the panel discuss the role that emotions play in the Christian life. Panel: Joe Slunaker, Matt Newmeyer, Justin Davis and Derek Brover

This is an Apologetics.com Radio Show episode from two years ago addressing books like: "Heaven is for Real", "90 Minutes in Heaven", and "23 Minutes in Hell". In light of the "Heaven is for Real" movie release, it seems fitting to re-release it.

What does the Bible say about homosexuality? This question is getting a ton of airtime in this day and age and as such demands an informed answer. In this show we deal with every biblical occurrence of the concept of homosexuality. Looking pan biblically, our ADC panel (Joe Slunaker, Sam Welbaum, Miles Hansen, and John Carter) exegetes the biblical texts, discusses the implications and draws conclusions based on the evidence.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ has always been categorically the central tenet of the Church. It is mentioned in the Apostle’s Creed and is considered the “crowning proof” of the Christian faith, yet it is one of the most disputed and violently attacked beliefs. Of all the other religions in the past or today, Christianity is the best one to begin investigating with, because it places its whole foundation on the one miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To prove that it did not happen will be to prove that Christianity if false (1 Corinthians 15:14). How is it that an event that happened about 2000 years ago had the capacity to dramatically dissect the course of human history from B.C. (Before Christ) to A.D. (the Latin Anno Domini- the year of our Lord) and since then has successfully transformed millions of lives? Those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ and claim to his resurrection, point out that the body of evidence is so great that, if one wishes to rationalize away the events surrounding Christ and His resurrection, must deal with certain imponderables. This emphasis is made in the presence of theories that make attempt to show the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a fraud or nothing but a myth concocted many years later. The entire Christian faith hinges on this question: Did Jesus, after suffering an agonizing and humiliating execution, in fact rise from the dead? In this Radio show staff apologist Jacob Daniel is joined by Joe Slunakar, Dace Starkweather and Brenton Gragg, to discuss the validity of the claim about Jesus’ resurrection and provide a defense for it.

Staff Apologist Sam Welbaum interviews Dr. Kevin VanHoozer about his talk at the Embodied Reason Conference, Sapiential Apologetics, postmodern thought and hermeneutics.

Understanding an organization as vast and complicated as World Vision can be incredibly difficult. It's the biggest in the world and covers the earth with 50,000 employees working in 100 countries serving over 4 million children in under the world's worst conditions. Unfortunately it's easy for international development to become "politicized". Where money, religion and politics meet there's vast room for people to confuse ministry with social activism, social justice with the good news and changing the world with changing to be worldly. Here we have a special conversation about the recent decision by the WVUS board to begin hiring gay christians, the decision by the broader organization to reverse the decision, the inner form of the organization that makes this kind of thing possible and the prognosis for the future of World Vision and Christian international development in general in the light of a new public understanding of the internal struggles of the world's largest charitable organization.

Christians and non-Christians ask the same existential questions. We ask about our purpose, meaning, and value in the universe and in our lives. Many, from either perspective, have realized that the deeper we dig for these very personal answers, the more we test our worldview. Which worldview supplies the best answers? Which worldview satisfies intellectually and emotionally? If the non-Christian can provide an alternative understanding of human existence (Atheistic Existentialism) that is rational, agreeable, and compelling, perhaps Christians have finally met a challenge worth addressing. It seems that Atheistic Existentialism does provide such an intriguing alternative for the non-Christian to adopt. It attempts to speak to all of life's existential questions while enabling a framework for recognizing the meaning-creating ability of humans. One can appreciate the strength and attractiveness of the view as it provides a resilient response to the absurd meaninglessness of human existence often discovered by many non-Christians. Join Jeremy, Sam, Jacob, and Harry as we delve deep into the meaning in meaninglessness. We examine this worldview through the history of philosophy to understand if it can really match the caliber of answers Christianity provides to the human condition. We then encounter the problems that Atheistic Existentialism faces and in the end determine it to be an inadequate worldview

NT Wright has said, "Romans 8 stands out as one of Paul’s greatest, fullest, and most mature summaries of the gospel." This chapter of the Bible assures us that, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," as well as being the location of the 'Golden Chain of Redemption.' Also, Romans 8 contains what may be one of the most popular verses in all of the New Testament, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." In Romans 8 we are told, "If God is for us, who is against us?" and we are told that in all our trials, "we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Following upon this, and as a continuation of argument upon argument that Paul is making, framing the Gospel in context, we encounter Romans 9, the locus of dispute and difficulty as few other passages in the New Testament. In Romans 9 we are told that God loved Jacob and hated Esau from before they were born or did anything good or bad. We're taught that attaining God's mercy doesn't depend upon the one willing or the one running, but on the mercy of God. We're told that God has mercy on whom he desires and hardens whom he desires, and if we say our not receiving mercy is not our fault, we are told, "Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?" Surely in Romans 9 we encounter "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense!" Lindsay Brooks, Kurt Jaros, and Sam Welbaum take in hand to explore the way Christians are currently engaging these two seemingly juxtaposed chapters. Calvinism, Arminianism, individual election, corporate election, New Perspectivism will all get some exposition.

In this episode, the panel reviews the new Son of God movie by Roma Downey. Sam Welbaum, along with Justin Davis, Joe Slunaker, Derek Brover and Kurt Blake consider the pros and cons of the movie and use it as a launching pad to discuss issues related to movies about the life of Jesus in general.

Ever hear people say that religious language is meaningless? Or that "God exists" is meaningless noise? In this show we investigate the philosophy that undergirds this charge: Logical Positivism, Verificationism, and Falsificationism. Logical Positivism denies the legitimacy of philosophical problems (such as metaphysics) and claims that empirical science provides the only meaningful knowledge. The goal of the Logical Positivist movement in philosophy was to clarify language to show that propositions that aren't empirically verifiable or falsifiable are meaningless. Thus, the Verification Principle and the Falsification principle were developed as a way to detect meaning in language. Accordingly, all of traditional philosophy (metaphysics, etc.) and all religious propositions are meaningless utterances which out to be discarded. Atheist researcher James Thrower notes "Religious (as well as ethical and aesthetic) propositions were, it was claimed, unable to meet this requirement (verifiability/falsifiability) and were therefore dismissed as nonsensical." During the time of Logical Positivism movement, assessments like these were being said of its impact: Professor J.J.C. Smart of Adelaide University: "The main danger to theism comes from the people who want to say that 'God exists' and 'God does not exist' are equally absurd. The concept of God they would say is a nonsensical one." In this show, we define this view, examine where it comes from, understand the implications of this view, show the criticisms of this view, and determine whether this view stand up to scrutiny. We will interact with thoughts from atheists such as David Hume, Antony Flew, and A.J. Ayer. Join Jeremy, Jacob, Sam, Joe, and Juan as we see why Logical Positivism was short lived and is now completely dead in academic philosophy. Our hope is that those who embrace a worldview, that includes Verificationism and the Falsification Principle, would recognize the major problems with these principles (namely that they are self-refuting and meaningless) and reject them completely.