Unbelievable?

In this podcast-only edition of the programme, Justin Brierley delves into the archives to air a radio documentary which was first broadcast in 2009. He and his family went on a US road trip to visit two megachurches and meet their pastors. Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is the largest church in America with over 40,000 in attendance each week. TV pastor Joel Osteen broadcasts his message of health, wealth and positivity to thousands more every week. They also visited another large (but very different) church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mars Hill Bible Church, pastored at the time by Rob Bell, was seen as a thriving example of the so-called ‘emerging’ church. The programme compares and contrasts the two different churches and their leaders. Justin and his wife Lucy share their thoughts on the experience and what the UK can learn from the American example. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016 To donate to Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Extend The Hope’ appeal: http://www.premier.org.uk/donate For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

In his new book ‘Go Is No Thing’ Rupert Shortt argues that many ‘new atheists’ have a faulty view of God that doesn’t take seriously the philosophical arguments that thinkers like Thomas Aquinas gave many centuries ago for the existence of God. Rupert discusses the issues with atheist Jeremy Rodell, dialogue officer for the British Humanist Association. We also hear some feedback to the most recent Bauckham vs Ehrman shows. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For God Is No Thing: http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/god-is-no-thing/ For Jeremy Rodell: https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/trustees/ For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

Justin hosts the second part of a debate between noted Bible scholars Bart Ehrman and Richard Bauckham. Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that eyewitness testimony is very fallible and that the stories about Jesus that were written down in the Gospels would have changed shape over time. Richard Bauckham, author of "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", defends the trustworthiness of eyewitness testimony and addresses the question of how Jesus' sayings and stories would have been memorised and passed along. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Bart Ehrman: http://www.bartdehrman.com For Richard Bauckham: http://richardbauckham.co.uk For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

Bart Ehrman's new book "Jesus Before the Gospels" makes the case that the stories about Jesus would have changed and evolved before they were written down as the Gospels. Richard Bauckham, author of "Jesus and the Eyewitnesses", defends the view that the Gospels were written by those with access to eyewitness testimony of Jesus' first followers. They debate who wrote Mark, whether the the Gospels came from anonymous traditions and how they received their titles. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Bart Ehrman: http://www.bartdehrman.com For Richard Bauckham: http://richardbauckham.co.uk For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

In Islam, Jesus is regarded as a prophet. Muslims commonly claim that the Christian belief in Christ as co-equal with God is a corruption of Jesus' message and that his first followers did not regard him as the Son of God. Christian apologist Jonathan McLatchie returns for a second week to debate Islamic evangelist Yusuf Ismail on whether early church Christology evolved over time or whether Christ's deity was believed by his first followers. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Michael J Alter: https://m.facebook.com/pages/Yusuf-Ismail/476386472392334 For Jonathan McLatchie: http://www.apologetics-academy.org/ For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

Michael Alter is a Jew who spent a decade researching the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus after being challenged to investigate it. The result is his book ‘The Resurrection: A critical enquiry’. He was not eventually persuaded by the evidence he found. Part of his research responds to the so-called ‘minimal facts’ surrounding the story often cited by apologists. Apologist Jonathan McLatchie responds to Alter’s objections to the resurrection making that case that the reported experiences of the disciples, and the conversion of Paul and James the brother of Jesus, provide historical evidence for the plausibility of the Resurrection. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Michael J Alter: https://michaeljalter.wordpress.com/ For Jonathan McLatchie: http://www.apologetics-academy.org/ For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

Science has revealed that the fundamental constants and forces of the cosmos appear to be exquisitely fine-tuned to allow a universe in which life can develop. Is God the best explanation of the incredibly improbable odds of the universe we live in being a life-permitting one? Robin Collins is a Christian philosopher and a leading advocate of the argument for God from cosmic design. Peter Millican is an atheist philosopher at Oxford University. They debate the issues. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Robin Collins: http://home.messiah.edu/~rcollins/ For Peter Millican: http://www.millican.org/ For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

Most evangelical churches teach young people that sex should be saved for marriage. But Dianna E Anderson's book 'Damaged Goods' claims that the purity culture of the American church she grew up in can be damaging for young people and that sexual relationships before marriage are permissible for Christians. Sarah Long is a youth advisor for the Church Of England and has been involved with the Romance Academy, an organisation promoting a healthy view of sex to youth culture. She believes young Christians should be encouraged to save sex for marriage as the place God intended for sexual intimacy. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Dianna E Anderson: http://diannaeanderson.net/damaged-goods/ For Romance Academy: http://www.romanceacademy.org/content/about-us For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

The problem of evil and suffering is a key objection to the existence of a loving God. But what if the very existence of moral ‘evil’ requires a God? Oxford undergraduate Josh Parikh is a young Christian apologist who won Tyndale Fellowship’s 2015 IVP ‘Young Philosopher of Religion’ Prize for his essay on the problem of evil. He interacts with atheist Cory Markum as they debate the problem. Can real evil exist in a godless universe and could God have sufficient reasons to allow apparently gratuitous suffering? For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Josh Parikh’s prize winning paper on the problem of evil : http://www.tyndalephilosophy.co.uk/prize.html For Cory Markum: http://www.atheistrepublic.com/blogs/cory-markumll For Ed Turner: https://edthemanicstreetpreacher.wordpress.com For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes

A Wheaton college professor was recently threatened with dismissal after claiming that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Justin is joined by two Christian guests to debate the question, Joseph Cumming a scholar of Islamic and Christian thought at Yale and former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi of RZIM. For Unbelievable? The Conference 2016: http://www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable2016" For Joseph Cumming: http://www.josephcumming.com/ For Nabeel Qureshi: http://www.nabeelqureshi.com/ For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 Podcast of Unbelievable? Via RSS or Via Itunes