Doubts Aloud Podcast

Show Notes
Is faith “complete trust or confidence or something or someone” or “belief without evidence” which implies “pretending to know things that you don’t know”?  That was the Unbelievable debate over a decade ago which has stayed in Ed’s mind ever since. He has long thought it over, wondering whether the truth is more nuanced than those extremes.  He did a Bible study on it, which will be Part 2, but here in Part 1 we discuss that Unbelievable debate, the idea of ‘blind faith’, Kierkegaard’s ‘leap of faith’ and how we find the concept used in Christian preaching.
 
Links:
The Unbelievable? Show
Search for Peter Boghossian vs Tim McGrew 24 May 2014
 
Kierkegaard and faith, here’s a good intro video  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgwzVN1Rnpg

 
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Show Notes
The inconsistencies between the two NT narratives of Judas Iscariott’s death has long been a ‘poster child’ of bible contradictions.  We are prompted to cover it by an excellent video recently released by CJ Cornthwaite who suggests the actual reasons for the differences between the narratives.  We discuss CJ’s work and try to complement it by digging deeper into: the sport of harmonisation, the third account of the death given by Papias, the OT allusions and a surprising feature of the bible translations.  
Links:
The video recently released by CJ Cornthwaite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy6GctdghpQ
 
The article by Rendel Harris on the failure of harmonization:
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/477430
 
A link for the Papias text:
https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/tag/judas/
 
The legend of Ahiquar and the death of Nadan:

https://sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe264.htm 

Audrey Conrad on the OT allusions, bible refs: Ps. 41:9, John 13:18 & 2Samuel 17:23
in "The Fate of Judas" (Toronto Journal of Theology [7] 1992)
 
How to look at the Acts version of the death in all English translations:

https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Acts%201%3A18

(search in the page for ‘hang’)
 
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Show Notes

Andrew has noticed that debates within Christianity on the Trinity have become much more prominent recently.  We go back even to the Old Testament and cover the 1stC AD, Church Fathers, Council of Nicaea, the Reformation, and more recent debates following the story.  We marvel at how differences in interpretation have been so divisive, for example how Arian and his views which nearly became Orthodoxy were later so roundly condemned.    

Links:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/trinity/

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Show Notes
We welcome Jon Cohen who leads us on his journey in life which has more recently led him to engage with Christians of all kinds on his successful YouTube live-stream show “Unconvinced”. Unlike many of us, he has no history as a Christian and so has a true outsider’s view of the faith.  A key step in his thinking has been exploring the implications of our beliefs not being our choices. It’s written up in his forthcoming book – see link in show notes.
 
Links:

Don’t miss Jon’s book. Pre-order “Unconvinced: How Belief Is Not a Choice and Why That Changes Everything” here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unconvinced-Belief-Choice-Changes-Everything/dp/149309632X/

And the YouTube show
https://www.youtube.com/@JonCohenOfficial

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Show Notes

We started with Episode 1 in Feb 2018, today we celebrate our 100th Episode with friend John Nelson, who is now the main host at Unbelievable?.  We discussed John’s PhD thesis book on what Jesus looked like, his work at Unbelievable?, his tour with Alex O’Connor and his blog “Behind the Gospels”.  

We then dove into a specific issue on the background to the gospels – the transmission of the traditions about Jesus’s teaching and actions from his ministry up to the gospel documents.
And NEWS – Ed’s discussion on evolution with John & Denis Alexander which we raked over in episode 98 has been released by Unbelievable?. See links.

Links:
Unbelievable? Show with Ed on evolution:  

“Can a Loving God Use Evolution?” Denis Alexander vs Ed Atkinson hosted by John Nelson, 4 June 2026
 
John’s book: “Jesus' Physical Appearance: Biography, Christology, Philosophy”
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jesus-Physical-Appearance-Christology-Philosophy/dp/0567723208
 
John’s “Behind the Gospels” blog: 
https://www.behindthegospels.com/

The book: “Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins” by Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper”:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Big-Bang-Cosmic-Origins-ebook/dp/B0DKBHH3YN?ref_=ast_author_mpb

More recent Unbelievable?

Shows:

Richmond Wandera – “My Father was murdered… a sponsor saved my life” Richmond Wandera Interviewed by John Nelson, 18 March 2026

“What would it take for Alex O’Connor to believe Jesus rose from the dead?” Trent Horn v Alex O’Connor, 30 April 2026

Hiddenness: “Why Doesn’t God Show Himself?” Dan Paterson vs Joe Schmid hosted by John Nelson, 12 February 2026.
 
Uncommon Ground podcast, Episode 7, hosted by Justin Brierley: “Stephen Meyer & Phil Halper: The Big Bang and Fine Tuning. Does the science of the Universe point to God?”
 
Bart D. Ehrman’s latest book: “Love Thy Stranger: How Jesus Transformed Our Moral Conscience” April 2026

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Thy-Stranger-Transformed-Conscience-ebook/dp/B0FKMJZJ1V/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title
 
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Show Notes

We start by dipping into the book with 50 arguments for God and a chapter “Jesus as God” which says that if we ditch 4th & 5thC debates and modern categories of Trinity, we see Jesus expressing his divinity in his own way.  It explains Jesus’ caged language on this as Jesus needing to avoid being stoned for blasphemy.

We look at some of the key passages in the gospels, in particular looking for differences between the author’s view and Jesus’ proclamations regarding whether he was God.  This leads on to the Liar Lunatic Lord argument made famous by CS Lewis, and the sceptics’ 4th option “Legend”.  

We look at the “Liar” option. And we offer you: Misquoted, Misunderstood, Mythologised and Mistaken. 
   
Links:

Books: 
“Evidence for God: 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy and Science” by Mike Licona and William Dembski. 

CS Lewis - “Mere Christianity”

Bart Ehrman - “How Jesus Became God”

Richard Carrier’s blog:
https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/20130

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Show Notes
Ed has recently recorded an Unbelievable? Show with Dr Denis Alexander who is an evangelical Christian, a biologist and author of books like “Creation or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose?”.  Denis fully embraces evolution.  While these ideas are fresh, we took the time to think through how a deep thinking Christian reconciles evolution and faith as it informs theology on suffering, God’s intervention in the world, salvation, the soul and Adam & Eve.    

Links:
Denis uses John Stott’s idea that Adam was “Homo Divinus”. Here is a fairly short Stott quote:
 https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thepangeablog/200
9/01/13/quote-to-ponder-john-stott-on-creation-and-evolution/

Creation Or Evolution: Do We Have to Choose?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creation-Evolution-Do-Have-Choose/dp/1854247468

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The evangelical case for conditional Immortality 

Recommended books.

Edward Fudge   -  The Fire That Consumes
Henry Constable  -   The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment
Edward White -  Life in Christ 
John Stott -  Essentials 
Rethinking Hell - Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism

Episode 96 - The Kirk Cameron Controversy and the Case for Conditional Immortality

Kirks original video that sparked the controversy 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RflbA8Vt_Y

Kirk Camerons subsequent round table disscusion of the issue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds3UbUsIaQs

Text for DA Podcast Ep 95
 
Title Suggestions
Virgin Births in Ancient Culture
Virgin Births in Greek and Hebrew Culture
 
Show Notes
We look for origins of the Virgin Birth doctrine in Christianity.  Principally we search the Greek and Hebrew cultures that are the context behind the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke’s gospels. What we don’t conclude is that the origin of the Virgin Birth was that mistake in the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, which created for the first time “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son…”. But we do wonder if the first version of Luke even had the Virgin Birth.
Links:
Greco Roman Literature and the New Testament : Selected Forms and Genres. Jan. 1988 by David E Aune (Editor)
From John Nelson’s Behind the Gospels, Aug 08, 2024 “How to Write an Infancy Narrative: A Seven-Step Guide to Ancient Birth Stories”
https://www.behindthegospels.com/p/how-to-write-an-infancy-narrative?utm_source=publication-search

And

https://www.behindthegospels.com/p/is-matthews-story-of-the-virgin-birth
 
The early creed which seems to deny the Virgin Birth doctrine: Romans 1:3–4
 
Mark Goodacre thinks Mary conceiving out of wedlock might be an origin. NT Pod 64
https://podacre.blogspot.com/2012/12/nt-pod-64-is-virgin-birth-based-on.html
 
The Bart Ehrman Blog - Why Was Jesus Born of a Virgin in Matthew and Luke?
https://ehrmanblog.org/why-was-jesus-born-of-a-virgin-in-matthew-and-luke/
 
 
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