A fun, insightful, inspiring and enlightening book discussion with Dr. Michael Ward on the robust and weighty mind and imagination of Gilbert Keith Chesterton. In this two-part episode, Michael and Dan explore the wonders, twists, and turns of Chesterton's 1908 classic mystery-spy-earthquake-symphony love story The Man Who Was Thursday, A Nightmare. Our adventure begins with a few excerpts from the novel!  Part 2 will be coming soon.

Dr. Michael Ward is a Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, and a Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University. He is the author of the award-winning Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford, 2010) and co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis (Cambridge, 2010). His website is: www.michaelward.net

A preview of our upcoming discussion with Dr. Michael Ward about G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday - A Nightmare. 

Look for this program on April 10th.  This will be the second conversation on Good Heavens with Dr. Ward.  Dr. Ward is a C.S. Lewis scholar from the University of Oxford.  He is also a professor at Houston Baptist University.  Check out his website at http://www.michaelward.net/

Many Christians often use the Big Bang as an apologetic defense for the beginning of our universe.  Is this a confirmation of what Scripture says?  That is a discussion that has been ongoing ever since the idea of the Big Bang was put forth in the early 20th century and we don't attempt to "solve" it on this episode by any means! But what we hope to accomplish in this two part series is 1) give an overview of what Scripture says about God creating the heavens and the Earth and 2) show the differences between Big Bang cosmology and the Bible as well as discuss some lesser-known difficulties with Big Bang cosmology. Dan and Wayne respect our fellow Christians who may or may not agree with our particular observations. Our discussions are not intended to be critical of astronomical science as a whole. We hope it will be food for thought for our Good Heavens! friends! Enjoy!  (Part 1 of 2)

Image:  Stephan's Quintet.  NASA, ESA and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

Exploring seems like a built-in aspect of what it means to be human. And indeed many times in Scripture we are exhorted to consider what God has made. 

But what happens when we explore nature, and more specifically, the universe, with little or no thought given to God and His glory? What purpose is it to study something that seems to have no intrinsic purpose (from a secular standpoint)? Does the BIble have anything to say about the modern scientific penchant for "missions" into "space"? 

On this episode of Good Heavens! Wayne and Dan converse about these things as well as the kinds of limitations and logistics that would be involved in actually going to another planet, particularly Mars. 

Be sure to check out a bit of bonus material from Wayne at the very end of the broadcast! 

On this episode, Dan interviews particle physicist and Christian author Dr. Michael G. Strauss about how he sees his faith and his work with the smallest stuff in the cosmos. A fascinating look into the wonders of particle physics and how Dr. Strauss believes it all points to the risen Christ. 

Welcome to new listeners following our Podcast!  Wayne and Dan will return soon to discuss the challenges of a manned mission to Mars.    

What does the Bible say about stars? What did they mean to people in both the Old and New Testaments? What exactly is a star? Just gas and plasma? On this episode, Wayne and Dan discuss some of their favorite "star" verses from the Bible and discuss how they see them all pointing to Jesus, "the bright and morning star", (Revelation 22:16), "light of the world" (John 8:12); "sun of righteousness" (Malachi 4:2); and the "star of Jacob" (Numbers 24:17). Come and see! 

On this episode of Good Heavens! a fun and insightful conversation with Dr. Luke Barnes about the history of cosmology and astronomy over the last hundred years. We discuss the remarkable and unexpected discoveries about the universe since the early 20th century from the idea of an expanding universe to the hair-raising idea that our universe actually had a beginning.  Sir Fred Hoyle believed that a scientist would risk his entire career if he pressed the idea that God had anything to do with the cosmos. So how does the history of cosmology point to God? What should we think about God in contemporary cosmology today? Come and see, on this episode of Good Heavens! 

Follow Luke on Twitter @lukebarnesastro and on his blog https://letterstonature.wordpress.com/luke/ as well as his appearances on the video series Closer to Truth https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/luke-barnes/profile 

Be sure to check out Luke's delightful and down-to-earth YouTube channel about cosmology with his colleague Geraint Lewis.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnPhuVSN3-gEeeSMyIMeDeA

You have probably had a non-Christian friend, coworker, someone in social media, or a family member ask you a difficult question or two about the Bible. Isn't it full of contradictions? How can you believe that stuff? Miracles? What about all those translations? Science has disproved the Bible, and what about all the errors and mistakes it contains? The Bible is simply unbelievable. 

Not at all. There are no new criticisms under the sun of the Word of God. It has survived the test of time and any objection to its trustworthiness, inerrancy, reliability, and inspiration have been answered. 

But the questions will continue and we must be ready to give a defense. 

In this special episode of Good Heavens, Dan chats with Bible scholar Dr. Craig Blomberg about his very accessible and helpful book Can We Still Believe the Bible? An Evangelical Engagement with Contemporary Questions. It's a great book for anyone with questions about the Bible's trustworthiness, how to properly understand its construction, how to understand the world of translations, and how to answer many of the questions non-believers ask and the objections they raise regarding the construction, compilation, and canonization of the Scriptures.  

Is the Earth a typical planet? Is our Sun just a humdrum, mediocre star? Is our solar system common in the universe? Are there other Earth-like planets out there? Is there life in the cosmos beyond life on Earth? Come and listen to a down-to-Earth conversation with astrobiologist and astronomy professor Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, co-author of The Privileged Planet and one of the contributors to The Story of the Cosmos. Dr. G breaks down just how unique our planet is in the cosmos and how it all points to the glory of God in Christ. 

Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens & NOAA.

An informal chat with Sasha Sagan, the daughter of the late Dr. Carl Sagan. Dan talks with her about her new book, her iconic father, her Jewish roots, and her quest as a new mother to find meaning, purpose, and tradition in the universe, without belief in God. This recording was done in conjunction with Watchman.org and the Atheist and Christian Book Club for the November 2019 meeting where the group discusses Dr. Sagan's book Pale Blue Dot. This conversation was more to get to hear Sasha's stories and learn about her experiences rather than to debate the existence of God. We hope you enjoy it.

To find out more about the Atheist and Christian book club, see https://atheistchristianbookclub.com/