The God or Not Podcast godornot

Jamie challenged Scott to pray and read the bible every day for 30 days. In this episode, they talk about the experience and Scott shares what, if anything, he has learned about what it is like to live at least somewhat as a believer.
Then the dialectic duo revisits the Argument from Morality, sharing new perspectives they have gained as a result of bashing heads for so long on this subject.
As further study Scott recommends "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul" by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett, and Jamie recommends "The Holy Bible" by God ... or not?
Contact us with comments and questions: email@GodOrNotPodcast.com

How do your biases affect what kinds of arguments and evidence you will accept? Is it just based on the quality (or lack thereof) of the arguments, or is it possible to blind yourself to reason? Jamie tries again to make the case that Scott is just not giving his arguments a fair shake.
In "Spin the Wheel", Jamie talks about his take on the separation of church and state, and Scott talks about that old chestnut, Pascal's Wager.
As further study Jamie recommends "Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical" by Timothy Keller, and Scott recommends "The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies - How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths" by Michael Shermer.
Contact us with comments and questions: email@GodOrNotPodcast.com

Jamie claims that it's not that he is failing to make his case for God, it's that Scott is unfairly rejecting reasonable evidence! What do you think, is this a legitimate gripe or a convenient deflection? In this episode, Scott & Jamie explore epistemology, and its application to their arguments.
In "Oh the Humanity", Scott talks about the difference between "prescriptive" and "descriptive", and how the distinction exposes a flaw in an argument from professional Christian apologist William Lane Craig.
As further study Jamie recommends "Religious Epistemology" by Tyler McNabb, and Scott recommends "Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind" by Robert Kurzban.
Contact us with comments and questions: email@GodOrNotPodcast.com

Scott goes on the offense and begins making his case that Jamie's foundational arguments, his "4 legs of the stool", do not support the conclusions they claim to. In part 1 of 2, Scott tries to "sweep the legs" of the Cosmological Argument and the Argument from Morality arguments Jamie presented. How do you think he did?
In "Spin the Wheel", Scott and Jamie surprise each other with burning questions on "Circular Reasoning" and "People that Don't Know Jesus".
As further study Jamie recommends "Reasonable Faith" by William Lane Craig, and Scott recommends "A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing" by Lawrence Krauss.
Contact us with comments and questions: email@GodOrNotPodcast.com

Are we free to act as we want to act? If so, how does that work in a mechanistic universe? Scott and Jamie have a very interesting discussion on the various definitions for free will, along with the compatibilist position, namely that a deterministic universe and free will are completely compatible.
In "Spin the Wheel", Scott and Jamie surprise each other with burning questions on "The Overlap of Religion and Politics" and "Methodological vs Philosophical Naturalism".
As further study, Scott recommends the book "Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting" by Daniel Dennett, and Jamie recommends "Philosophy of the Mind" by Edward Feser.
Contact us with comments and questions: email@GodOrNotPodcast.com

Don’t let the title mislead you. While it’s true that Scott did go to church, it’s also true that Scott is still an atheist. Scott was invited by Common Ground United Methodist Church (https://www.commongroundumc.org/) to speak to their congregation during a Sunday morning sermon series on the intersection of science and faith. Scott has always had a love for science and it was because of this, his extensive knowledge on the subject, and his ability to be fair, that he was asked to speak about the beginning of the universe. Jamie and Scott review his talk, the pastors talk immediately after, and discuss some of the questions that were presented to him by the congregants during the question and answer portion of the service.
In "Let's Go to the Instant Replay", Jamie talks about a surprise re-think he has had on a very contentious subject.
As further study Jamie recommends "From God To Us: How We Got Our Bible" by Norman Geisler, and Scott recommends "Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible" by Jerry Coyne.
Contact us with comments and questions: email@GodOrNotPodcast.com
Here are the slides Scott used in his talk.