The Freethinking Podcasts

Today on the podcast we contrast two different speeches given by two different Hollywood movie stars who won two different awards. Thandie Newton won an Emmy and had some interesting comments about God that we wanted to take a look at. Chris Pratt also won an award, and we wanted to contrast the speech he gave which also referenced God, but in a much different way.

The difference between the two speeches was quite stark, and we thought it would be a good idea to highlight both of them to show the polar opposites we have in Hollywood today. Hopefully, Pratt's speech can serve as hope for Christians everywhere that are concerned about the state of Hollywood today.

Feel free to drop us a review on iTunes. We really appreciate those, as it helps us to grow the show. Peace out nerds.

There's a bit of a role reversal in this episode. Tim interviews me about my favorite argument for God's existence: the Ontological Argument. Not only is the argument extremely controversial, but it also has an incredibly rich intellectual history, so it makes for a fascinating episode.

Even if you don't find the Ontological Argument convincing (many Christians don't), I think there is value in discussing it. The concept of a maximally great being is a very fruitful theological idea that can help to resolve disputes between different theological positions.

Share the show with a friend! Invite them in on the conversations that we're having each week on the podcast, and hopefully it will give you a way to talk to them about the Gospel. That's our goal!

As we continue commenting on the Big Think video, what became apparent to us is that Mr. Aslan desperately wants the reason why Donald Trump was elected to have nothing to do with Hillary Clinton. But, as we talk about in this episode, his election was much more about how bad of a candidate Hillary Clinton was than anything to do with Trump's merits.

In fact, one could even say that Donald Trump's best quality in this recent election was his ability to not be Hillary Clinton. The idea that most evangelicals voted for him for any other reason other than to stop Hillary Clinton just does not seem to be very plausible. Tim and I say as much in the podcast.

Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Google podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts! We've got some great stuff coming out for you in the coming weeks, and we would hate for you to miss out!

We're going to be talking about a video by Big Think that tries to understand why evangelicals voted for Donald Trump for president. The man in the video, Reza Aslan, theorizes about several different reasons he believes that evangelicals acted out of character and voted for a man he did not think they would have voted for.

Both Tim and I believe this video completely misses the whole reason Donald Trump was elected. It seems to us that Mr. Aslan is reaching for some explanation that is completely unnecessary. We talk more about it in the podcast.

Hope you like this episode! Be sure to share it with a friend and join our private Facebook group at freethinkingministries.com/facebook.

John Limanto comes back to talk about the problem of divine hiddenness. Divine hiddenness refers to the idea that, if God were to exist, we might expect him to reveal himself more fully to more people. The fact that some people do not feel as though God has been revealed to them might be thought of as an issue to the theist, particularly one who believes that God is all-loving and desires all humanity to know him.

John has written about this topic and provides us with some good insights as to why this isn't really a problem for the theist. He questions many of the assumptions inherent in this objection and by the end of the episode I think it's clear this isn't a great objection to the existence of God.

Not only do we talk about the intellectual problem, but we also deal with the more pastoral question of helping someone who doesn't feel God's presence. John gives his thoughts on how to counsel someone through a situation like that. Really good stuff, particularly for those of us who have struggled with this issue.

This is a perfect episode to share with a friend who might be doubting if God is really there in their life. Reach out to them and hopefully this episode can help them in their walk.

John's article:

http://freethinkingministries.com/deconstructing-the-generic-hiddenness-argument/

John Limanto joins the podcast this week! For those of you who do not know, John Limanto is a 17-year-old guy from Indonesia who is one of the deepest thinkers in the Christian apologetics and theology circles. In this episode, we talk about what it's like to be into apologetics and theology at a young age and how that affects one's ministry.

John is a really fun and energetic guy who I highly encourage you all to check out. He's written several articles on the FTM website, so be sure to look him up. We don't talk much philosophy or theology in this episode, but he'll be back next week to blow your mind.

Thanks for listening and sharing the show. If you have not already, leave a review on iTunes! We'd greatly appreciate the support. But most importantly, keep listening!

The second part of Dr. Jacobus Erasmsus' interview is here. We finish up our discussion on the Kalam and the argument from an actual infinite. Also, Dr. Erasmsus and Tim talk about their co-authored journal articles on Calvinism and Molinism. Finally, Dr. Erasmsus finishes up with his assessment of the "current state" of South Africa (where he's from). It is really a fascinating interview that I'm glad we were able to give you guys.

Like last time, be sure to go to Dr. Erasmsus' website in order to check out his other work which can be found at http://www.jacobuserasmus.com/. Also, if you're interested in his book on the Kalam, you can find that by going to freethinkingministries.com/kalambook.

Keep listening and sharing the show. It really helps us as we have a goal of getting to 1000 listeners per episode by the end of the year! It's a tall task, but I know we can get there with your help!

Perichoresis Journal - https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/perc/perc-overview.xml

We've got Dr. Jacobus Erasmus on the show for this episode, who is likely one of the smartest people we'll have on the podcast. In this episode we talk about how he met Tim and the contributions he makes to Freethinking Ministries, including making Tim appear much smarter than he actually is. Not only that, but Dr. Erasmsus talks to us about the application of computer science to philosophy, as well as his book on the Kalam cosmological argument.

In the middle of the episode, Dr. Erasmsus gives a brief assessment of the argument from the impossibility of an actual infinite that is commonly used to support the beginning of the universe. He talks about why he prefers other arguments to this one in support of the Kalam. Very interesting stuff, so be sure to listen closely.

You can read more of Dr. Erasmsus' work at his website http://www.jacobuserasmus.com/. He has also written some articles for Freethinking Ministries, so search for those at the FTM website. Finally, if you're interested in his book on the Kalam, you can find it at freethinkingministries.com/kalambook.

Thanks for listening and sharing and be on the lookout for part 2 with Dr. Erasmus!

That's right, it's another Q&A episode about free will! What can we say, we love to talk about it! In this episode, we look at a reader question dealing with the evil that happens to devoted Christians and babies. So yeah, not a light and breezy topic at all!

This certainly is a question that is common among non-Christians. Why would God allow evil to happen to babies? Maybe they can understand so-called "regular evil," but the idea of something horrible happening to the most innocent among us is simply unthinkable (and with good reason I might add).

Fortunately, Tim has written an article pertaining to this very topic, and he also does an excellent job answering this question within the podcast. Being prepared to answer this question will help to open doors for you whenever they may appear.

As always, thanks for listening and sharing the show. Leave a 5-star rating and review on iTunes, as that helps us out immensely! Peace out nerds.

http://freethinkingministries.com/what-about-babies-who-die/

Can we still make real choices after God creates the world? One of the readers at the Freethinking Ministries website asked essentially this question, so Tim and I decided to take a stab at answering it (okay, so mainly Tim. But I edited the episode which has to count for something).

If you're wondering if we'll ever run out of things to talk about when it comes to Molinism and free will, then your answer is no! At least, not until Tim finishes his dissertation. After that, perhaps we'll move on to something different!

Thanks for listening and sharing the show. Be sure to stay involved with the show so that you can get your questions answered as we continue to produce new episodes for you guys. Peace out nerds.

http://freethinkingministries.com/molinism-saves-marriages/

http://freethinkingministries.com/a-molinistic-model-of-monergism/