In this episode Matthew reviews a conversation that Lee Strobel had with Justin Brierley in April 2022. In that discussion Lee tried very hard to make a case for heaven, and Matthew examines the points he makes and revealing why his case is utter bunk. It literally is wishful thinking gone wild.

The original you tube video of the conversation is at link 1, it's not long, about 20 minutes. Lee's Case for heaven movie is at link 2. It's longer at almost 2 hours.

1) Original conversation between Lee and Justin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Oeh8L-87U

2) case for heaven movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbkwdT3Tq40

3) hyponatraemia

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/hyponatraemia/

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/hyponatraemia/background-information/complications/

4) Being Close to Death can Transform Your Life.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/understanding-grief/202411/can-being-close-to-death-transform-your-life?msockid=312d907b5d7169080dc782295cba68f7

5) Sharon Dirckx

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/17-february/features/interviews/interview-sharon-dirckx-christian-apologist

https://www.solas-cpc.org/book-am-i-just-my-brain-by-sharon-dirckx/

6) the Lancet

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(01)07100-8/abstract

7) Failure to Elicit Near-Death Experiences in Induced Cardiac Arrest

https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/360/2017/01/NDE47.pdf

8) the maria story

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterson/2019/07/the-shoe-on-the-ledge.html

https://www.is-there-a-god.info/blog/life/whatever-happened-to-my-tennis-shoean-nde-story/

9) Blind Vicky NDE

https://ndestories.org/vicki-noratuk/

10) Psychology today article on apparent evidence for a soul

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/biocentrism/201112/does-the-soul-exist-evidence-says-yes

11) Pam Reynolds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Reynolds_case

BBC report on the case

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osfIY4B3y1U

12) science articles

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/peace-of-mind-near-death/

https://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/near-death-experiences-science-after-all/

13) Howard storm traumatic NDE

https://thepurposeoflife-nde.com/howard-storm/

https://near-death.com/howard-storm/

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

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Episode 138 - Gavin Ortlund takes 5 minutes to Shoot Christianity in the foot.

This episode is the audio only of a video review that is available on the Still Unbelievable! YouTube channel. See show notes for a link.

the original

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QWcKjIKf0k

did the universe begin?

https://youtu.be/4Ps9-u0KfG4?si=1ew1M2-TI8rODbkq

apparent fine tuning does not mean a god did it

https://youtu.be/jJ-fj3lqJ6M?si=CRVg4At1mXpK-qd6

consciousness

https://youtu.be/MASBIB7zPo4?si=6JK-no1XeIdj1k9o

prayer does not work

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-mar-31-sci-prayer31-story.html

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

https://hollykirstensongs.com/

https://hollykirsten.bandcamp.com/

1) Anna Clark Miller - services, podcast, and book

https://www.empathyparadigm.com/martyrshewrote

https://www.empathyparadigm.com/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Religious-Trauma-Survival-Guide-Professionals/dp/B0CHL5FGBM

2) Beyond Belief: the Coercive Power of High Control Religions

https://www.questioninglds.com/lds-articles/g6m1k7bpggn42irn5oyoirpwb16wll

3) Reclamation Collective

https://www.reclamationcollective.com/

4) Anna on the Life Unwasted Podcast

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/life-unwasted/anna-Y5IWraHvF9i/

5) What's the Relationship Between Neurodiversity and Trauma?

https://welldoing.org/article/whats-the-relationship-neurodiveristy-trauma

6) Matthew on the Life Unwasted Podcast

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/life-unwasted/matthew-C4ZD9NcP_6T/

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

https://hollykirstensongs.com/

https://hollykirsten.bandcamp.com/

Episode 136 - Transhumanism - with Revd Dr Stephen Goundrey-Smith

In this episode of Still Unbelievable!, Matthew chats with an old friend about Transhumanism. Stephen and Matthew have known each other since they were in a church 18+ group more than 30 years ago.

Stephen trained as a pharmacist and then as a minister for the church if England and now combines them both in his work at Ripon College Cuddesdon. We raise several topics in this conversation, so please as always check the show notes for essential links. And if you have any thoughts Steve and Matthew are both happy to receive them, [email protected].

1) Revd Dr Stephen Goundrey-Smith - items and books

https://www.rcc.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/revd-dr-stephen-goundrey-smith

https://www.ethicsandmedicine.com/ethical-evaluation-of-new-biomedical-technologies-using-past-case-studies-in-pharmaceutical-medicine/

https://amzn.eu/d/8lW8qvM

2) Transhumanism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism

3) CRISPR

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR

4) Upload TV_series

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upload_(TV_series)

5) Humanity +

https://www.humanityplus.org/

6) Co-creation spirituality

https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/co-creation-spirituality

7) Brent Waters - Bioethicist

https://www.cbhd.org/people/brent-waters

https://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/this-mortal-flesh/289601

8) Leon Cass

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Kass

9) Michael Sandel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sandel

10) Anti-Natalism

https://www.thecollector.com/what-is-anti-natalism/

11) Lynn White - The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis

https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/historical-roots-our-ecological-crisis

12) The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

https://www.vhemt.org/

13) Alasdair MacIntyre - After Virtue

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Virtue

14) Bernard WIlliams - The Makropulos case

https://www3.nd.edu/~pweithma/Readings/Williams/Williams%20on%20Immortality.pdf

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

https://hollykirstensongs.com/

https://hollykirsten.bandcamp.com/

Episode 135 - Allan Chapman - The Victorians and the Holy Land

In this episode of Still Unbelievable! Matthew chats with Allan Chapman, who teaches history of science at Oxford University, and has written extensively on history and science, including the relationship between the two. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a founder member of the Society for the History of Astronomy. He is the author of several books, including the one we will be discussing this episode. If you have any interest in the history of Christianity, then we recommend this book as an enjoyable read. As always, see the show notes to for links to the book and topics that are referenced in the book. There are items in the links that we do not specifically cover in this conversation, so please to check them out for a taste of what the book covers.

1) The Victorians and the Holy Land: Adventurers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in the Lands of the Bible

https://amzn.eu/d/j7QAYC5

2) Ozymandias By Percy Bysshe Shelley - referenced in Chapter 2

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias

3) A description of the East, and some other countries ... / By Richard Pococke - referenced in Chapter 2

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/me6h66jf/items

4) Petra by John William Burgon - referenced in chapter 2

http://www.poetryatlas.com/poetry/poem/3771/petra.html

5) Johann Ludwig Burckhardt - explorer

(includes links to his published works)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Burckhardt

6) Lady Amytis, wife of Nebuchadnezzar

https://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/amytis-of-babylon/amytis-of-babylon-the-queens-hanging-gardens-of-babylon/

7) Remarkably preserved shrines recovered at Assyrian temple of Ninurta in Nimrud, Iraq

https://archaeologymag.com/2024/12/remarkably-preserved-shrines-recovered-in-nimrud/

8) Biblical Researches - by Edward Robinson & Eli Smith - referenced in chapter 7

https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc01smitgoog

9) Sinai & Palestine - by AP Stanley - referenced in chapter 7

https://archive.org/details/sinaipalestinei00stan/page/n9/mode/2up

10) A thousand miles up the Nile by Amelia B. Edwards - referenced in chapter 13

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70565

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

https://hollykirstensongs.com/

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Episode 134 - Apostate - Jo Lloyd Johnson

In this episode of Still Unbelievable, Matthew chats with Jo, one of the contributors of the book Apostate, Stories of Deconversion. Jo is already an author and has written her own memoir of deconstruction. Please be aware that this conversation touches on sexual violence from the opening minutes, but it is not all that is talked about, other topics are covered as well. Jo's book does talk about her experience of sexual violence and proceeds from her book go to the fantastic charity, Louder Than Silence, see the notes for links to the books and the charity.

1) Silenced in Eden - Jo's book

https://a.co/d/cap1YWt

2) Louder than Silence

https://www.louderthansilence.org/

3) Apostate Book

https://apocryphilepress.com/book/apostate-stories-of-deconversion/

4) The Inverse Cowgirl

https://msmagazine.com/2023/09/25/inverse-cowgirl-book-intersex/

https://www.waterstones.com/book/inverse-cowgirl/alicia-roth-weigel/9780063295285

5) Pidgeon Pagonis - Nobody Needs to Know: A Memoir

https://pid.ge/

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/15/1193862556/pidgeon-pagonis-reveals-a-long-held-secret-in-nobody-needs-to-know

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151908228-nobody-needs-to-know

6) Jo on the Graceful Atheist podcast

https://gracefulatheist.com/2023/05/07/joanna-johnson-silenced-in-eden/

7) RAINN

https://rainn.org/

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

https://hollykirstensongs.com/

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Episode 132 - How to Kill God the easy Way

In this episode of Still Unbelievable!, Matthew chats with Alan Bondar about his provocatively titled book, How to Kill God the Easy Way. We enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who is seeking to engage with a critical review of Christian apologetics. If you have any sympathies for Christianity and it's proponents, then this book will challenge those thoughts. If you have doubts about Christianity, then this book will help you to focus your thoughts and put words to those doubts.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we did recording it.

1) Contact Alan:

https://howtokillgod.com/

[email protected]/

2) Buy the Book - How to Kill God the Easy Way

https://a.co/d/6BC6C24

3) Other books by Alan

https://a.co/d/3vNyo3s

https://a.co/d/cppZcPQ

4) Apostate: Stories of Deconversion

https://youtu.be/_hKSjwfnfms?si=yK6mbvfHUqWJVTMn

5) Alan on Jen Fishbourne's YouTube channel

part 1: https://youtu.be/Pq3zh5Od55I?si=5JombE2Iofgsv9rI

part 2: https://youtu.be/PyYUQk9vLKU?si=73HfowMH_QZSVGMo

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

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In December 2024 Matthew asked Amy and Greg who made them experts on what makes someone a Christian. They answered.

In this episode Matthew takes their answer and explains why he's unimpressed. Especially because of the way their comments negatively affect LGBTQ+ people and those who want abortion to be a valid choice.

1) The Jan 2025 episode being responded to

https://www.str.org/w/-strask-who-made-you-the-experts-on-what-makes-someone-a-christian-

2) the Dec 2024 episode that prompted Matthew's question

https://www.str.org/w/-strask-how-can-so-many-professing-christians-support-things-that-are-anti-christian-

3) When the ‘Biblical View’ for Evangelicals Was That Life Begins at Birth

https://religiondispatches.org/when-the-biblical-view-for-evangelicals-was-that-life-begins-at-birth/

4) EP105 Answering the STR challenge

https://open.spotify.com/episode/54nXmumqLbErTTXE4PtYWD?si=glUJty8XTVadUfNvJwWW7g

5) Godwin's Law

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

6) Gay Men under the Nazi Regime

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gay-men-under-the-nazi-regime

7) Trump curtails protections around diversity, LGBTQ rights

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-sign-orders-ending-diversity-programs-proclaiming-there-are-only-two-sexes-2025-01-20/

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

https://hollykirstensongs.com/

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1) Full text of the ruling

https://supremecourt.uk/cases/judgments/uksc-2024-0042

2) legal cheek commentary

https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/04/supreme-court-rules-woman-has-biological-meaning/

3) Lauren on the T Elders podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO4_9hJCQFI

To contact us, email: [email protected]

our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901

Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:

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Mark's account is chapter 16, it is the earliest, and also the shortest.There are no angels, no soldiers, Jesus is not there. Women are the only witnesses, besides the unidentified young man.Verse 9 onwards, reads differently, it contradicts the fear and silence of the women it includes hints and pointers to events described in greater detail in the other gospels. It's almost as though it was added after those stories were written.The note says some early manuscripts do not have verses 9 to 20. What it doesn't say is that manuscripts from as late the 4th century do not include these verses, they appear in manuscripts from the 5th century. This is strong evidence this text is forged. But you won't learn this from the bible. You have to engage with scholars. Why would christians downplay the truth here?Matthew's account is in chapter 28Matthew introduces an angel to roll away the stone, and an earthquake for added drama.Matthew also adds the soldiers for drama and conspiracy. Including the suggestion that Jews circulated that the disciples stole the body. Have you tried looking for evidence that the Jews actually perpetrated this? Apologists love to reference it, but I've never actually seen evidence that the claim is true. Matthew is the only one to make this claim, he is also the only one to reference guards. This is evidence of inserted fictionalisation. Matthew's account ends with the great commission and the familiar expression of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it's almost as if this was a well known phrase and the writer of Matthew incorporated it to help create familiarity.Luke's account is chapter 24No earthquake, the stone is already rolled away. The drama about the empty tomb has two unidentified persons and a longer conversation. The women are no longer silent and afraid. The alleged appearances of Jesus are more detailed. How did Mark know the details of the conversation on the road? who is Cleopas? Why is this the only place he is mentioned? Yet another clue to added detail as the story gains momentum! Why is it Mark had access to the words of Jesus rebuking the two men, but not the words said afterwards where he explained everything in the scriptures about himself?When Jesus appears to the disciples it is he who offers to them to look at his hands and feet. Thomas is not a feature of this dialogue. Like with the road to Emmaus, Jesus opens their minds so they can understand. We have no written record of what that understanding is. There is no actual book in the bible that details what it was that Jesus had them understand. This text does not exist, and given the context, it would be a very key piece of knowledge to put into writing, more important than the details of what food Jesus ate in front of the disciples that evening. This sort of thing is evidence that the gospels are not true accounts of history, they are fictionalised accounts of events that mostly did not happen.John's account is chapter 20John inserts himself as Jesus favourite disciple. And god forbid that the women are recorded as first seeing that Jesus has risen. It has to be the men! Mary does still get to have a conversation with the angels, two of them now. Then Jesus is in the garden.The meeting where Jesus appears gains added detail, he breaths on them to impart his holy spirit. Thomas was not there, so we have the convoluted conversation to bring Jesus back to them a week later. As time progresses, and each new gospel is written, the writing becomes more dramatic and more details are included. When you read the passages consecutively like this, it becomes absolutely clear that this is what is happening. The standard apologetics excuse that this is each writer having a different focus simply does not work. These accounts are not safe to believe.