The Freethinking Podcasts

Listen closely to this one, as it's very easy to get lost while defending the second premise of the Kalam. Fortunately for you, Tim takes you through exactly what you need to know for 95% of all of your interactions using this argument.

This premise of the Kalam is a tough one for me to defend, as I am not very good with a lot of the science that is talked about in support of it. But what I love about this argument is that, we, as Christians, are arguing in the same way as the mainstream scientific community! Science is not our enemy! It is so useful in defending premises in arguments that have theological implications in their conclusions.

I know this is a long episode but be sure to listen as many times as you need in order gain a basic understanding of the argument. Even if you don't understand a lot of the science & philosophy talked about in this episode, don't be discouraged. We all had to start somewhere.

Make sure to leave a rating & review on iTunes and keep sharing the show! We really appreciate the support.

Yes, it's the Kalam cosmological argument this week! It's one of the simplest and most powerful arguments we as Christians can use. It also happens to be one of Tim's "Mount Rushmore" arguments, so it's definitely an important one to understand and have in your toolbelt.

Tim gives a fairly comprehensive defense of the first premise in this episode. He takes you through most of the objections you might hear when running this argument, so you will be well prepared to defend your faith using the Kalam.

Thank you all for listening and sharing the show. We really appreciate it, as it helps us to reach more people with sound apologetics and theology, which is very much needed in the church today. And if you aren't a Christian yet, we hope that this episode (and all the others) gave you something to think about and challenged you where you are at.

Keep rating & reviewing the show on iTunes. You have no idea the impact you can have on the mission of Freethinking Ministries simply by listening, rating & reviewing, and sharing the show.

It's the final episode on the FAAN! Don't worry, if you haven't listened to the first two episodes on the argument, we recap a bit of what we talked about. But seriously, you need to listen to those episodes (come on, they're called parts 1 & 2 for a reason!). We've reached the conclusions of the argument that have some very interesting consequences.

This argument deductively proves that humans possess libertarian free will. We truly are free to choose! Not only do most atheists reject this idea, but many Christians do as well. In fact, Tim talks about a few different instances in which he gave this argument and received pushback from Christians, not atheists!

Not only do we have libertarian free will, but we also possess a soul. This soul provides us with good reason for thinking that the biblical view of God is the correct one, as Tim demonstrates in his abductive conclusion.

It's so important that you understand the implications of the conclusions of your arguments, as what you are arguing for is actually true! These conclusions aren't just vague concepts that don't mean anything, but they actually have an impact on your life. Remember that as you share the show this week. You're giving someone else truth.

Image of God article: http://freethinkingministries.com/the-image-of-god-the-kalam-freethinking-arguments/

It's the next episode on the FAAN! I try and push back on premises 3 and 4 of the argument, of which 3 is by far the one most taken issue with. In order to defend any good argument, you need to be prepared to answer objections of all sorts. Never be surprised by the same objection twice!

As you follow along in this series on the Freethinking Argument, we always encourage you to be reading the articles Tim has written on the subject. We can't talk about everything we want to on these podcasts, but fortunately for you, there's a vast array of articles on this subject, as well as many other apologetics-related topics.

For example, in this episode we discuss an article that Tim has written called Robots & Rationality. We give some context to the objection raised, but you will understand the topic much more clearly if you go and read that article, which of course will be linked at the bottom. Our goal is to equip you to counter any objection you face, so don't be discouraged!

As always, leave a rating & review on iTunes. That will help out immensely in our mission to equip the church to engage the culture.

Robots & Rationality: http://freethinkingministries.com/robots-rationality/

Atheists love to label themselves as freethinkers, but as Tim Stratton argues, this is actually an oxymoron! In this episode, Tim and I discuss the Freethinking Argument Against Naturalism (affectionately abbreviated as FAAN). This argument was Tim's first ever argument he crafted on his own, so it was interesting to get the backstory of how he came up with it.

Tim gives an overview and defense of the entire argument, which is quite a lot to undertake in one episode, which is why this is only part 1. If you need to re-listen a few times to make sure you've got it down, we encourage you to do so!

If you're more of a visual learner, then I would like to point you to the Freethinking Ministries website in order to read some of the articles Tim has written about this argument (and boy has he written a lot). I'll link to them here in the show notes page.

Remember to leave a rating & review, as that really helps us out in reaching more people with sound apologetics and theology. Stay tuned for part 2 coming next week!

Freethinking Argument Articles:

http://freethinkingministries.com/the-freethinking-argument-in-a-nutshell/

http://freethinkingministries.com/freethinking-atheists-are-oxymorons/

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Freethinking Podcast! In this introductory episode, Tim Stratton and myself, Scott Olson, have a conversation about Freethinking Ministries, the Christian apologetics & theology ministry started by Stratton himself.

If you're listening to this podcast, you likely have taken 1 Peter 3:15, which says "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect," to heart. We hope to, as these episodes come out, underscore exactly why it is so crucial that every single Christian have a functional understanding of apologetics.

You guys are all in for a great ride. Tim is a brilliant thinker, and I get the privilege of asking him questions and acting as a guide for our conversation. I hope you take advantage of listening and continually share the show, so that we may better equip the church to engage the culture!

There are three things you can do right now if you want to help equip the church: 1) Listen every week and try to engage intellectually with your faith, even when it's difficult; 2) Leave a rating & review on iTunes, as this will entice more people to "take the plunge" and begin listening; 3) Share the show with at least 1 other person you think might need to hear it. If you do those things, you'll be an outstanding member of the Freethinking Ministries community! Let's get thinking! (Yeah that probably won't catch on)