Episodes
Given the huge interest in our recent Big Conversation debate between Bart Ehrman and Justin Bass, on the evidence for the Resurrection, we're revisiting a pivotal debate from 2009: Bart Ehrman's first appearance on Unbelievable?, debating Peter J Williams on whether we can trust the gospel accounts and, specifically, how New Testament scripture has been transmitted. This episode catapulted Unbelievable? into the podcast charts and introduced the show to a whole new audience, as well as...
Published 06/09/23
Join us on Unbelievable presented by Ruth Jackson as we delve into the extraordinary life and work of the late Dr. Timothy J. Keller, a humble yet ambitious church leader who shaped faith in the modern world. Tim Keller's impact extends far beyond his time, as he fearlessly explored the intricate relationship between faith and culture. With City to City, and other nonprofit organisations he spearheaded, and as the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan alongside his wife...
Published 06/02/23
Get ready for a riveting episode of Unbelievable? part of our ongoing series Rights of Life and Death. Today in The Abortion Debate: Life, Equality, and Choice, we're diving headfirst into the contentious and thought-provoking topic of abortion. What does it means to stay that life begins? What would it take for the fetus or the child to have a right to life, and for this to outweigh the mother’s right to choice? How do we determine moral value? It's a debate that strikes at the very core...
Published 05/26/23
Christian philosopher William Lane Craig and atheist physicist Lawrence Krauss met in Australia for 3 public dialogues on the existence of God in 2013.
They joined Justin Brierley to reflect on the value of the events and the way it was carried out. We hear highlights of their discussion on whether God commanded genocide in the Old Testament and if there is good evidence for the resurrection of Christ.
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Published 05/23/23
Should anyone be eligible for medical assistance in dying?
"Choosing Death: Assisted Dying, Assisted Suicide, Murder – Who Decides?"
Should the power to decide be granted to everyone when it comes to medical assistance in dying? A recent Canadian survey sheds light on the attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted dying, revealing startling statistics. Poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and disability – these factors, according to the Canadian survey, justify access to...
Published 05/19/23
From the archives. A DVD documentary series The God Question explored whether advances in science were undermining or supporting belief in God. Christian thinker Prof John Lennox and atheist physicist Lawrence Krauss debated some of the issues raised by the video series..
Alongside audio clips from the film they discussed the Big Bang, purpose, fine-tuning and the possibility of a universe "from nothing".
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Published 05/16/23
In 2019, Justin Brierley swapped his moderator’s chair for being a debater in a live show recorded in front of a student audience at Oxford University. He engaged atheist Stephen Woodford who runs the YouTube channel Rationality Rules on the question ‘Is it rational to be a Christian?’
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Published 05/12/23
From the archives. J Warner Wallace is a homicide detective specialising in cold case murder investigations. In his book Cold Case Christianity he shows how the same tools of investigating evidence can show that the Gospels are trustworthy accounts. Jim tells how the evidence moved him from atheism to Christianity and debates with 2 sceptical callers on differing timelines in the Gospels and corroboration.
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Published 05/09/23
This week on Unbelievable’s Coronation special Roger Bolton asks how important is the established Church of England to the fabric of life in the United Kingdom and beyond? Does King Charles as Supreme Governor of the Church of England have divine purpose? Academic and author Dr. Jonathan Chaplin of Wesley House, Cambridge suggests we should ditch the religious aspects of the Coronation to better reflect multicultural Britain. Catherine Pepinster author and broadcaster argues the sacral...
Published 05/05/23
From the archives: The SETI programme has been listening to the universe for signs of intelligent life for over 50 years. In his book 'Science, Religion and the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence' astrophysicist Revd Prof David Wilkinson assesses the evidence for the existence of alien life and what the impact of discovering it would be on Christianity.
Mark Kidger, an astronomer for the European Space Agency, also joined the conversation as an agnostic on God, but as a believer in...
Published 05/02/23
The Big Conversation - Episode 2 | Season 5
Is post-Christendom a brave new world or a culture in collapse? Can ancient wisdom still offer answers to the modern problems of life?
Rod Dreher is Senior Editor of The American Conservative and author of bestselling books including 'The Benedict Option' and 'Live Not By Lies'. Louise Perry is a journalist and campaigner against sexual violence. Her book ‘The Case Against The Sexual Revolution’ explains why today’s liberal hook...
Published 04/28/23
In this debate from the Reasonable Faith UK tour in 2011, William Lane Craig visited the Cambridge Union. The motion under debate is "This house believes that God is not a delusion". The other debaters are Peter S Williams, Arif Ahmed & Andrew Copson.
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Published 04/25/23
This week we play Justin Brierley's personal favourite episode: the discussion he hosted live in California, between Christian apologist John Lennox and US talk show host Dave Rubin, from 2019. Part of The Big Conversation, they discussed the question of where the next generation is turning to in the search for meaning and identity. Is God finally dead, as Nietzsche once declared? Or is there space for a renaissance of religious belief in the modern world?
And lookout for new...
Published 04/21/23
In light of the recent Church of England debates on gay marriage this archive show from 2013 titled "A Different Kind of Coming Out" saw Justin meet three evangelical church leaders who talked about their struggle with same-sex attraction and why they decided to choose celibacy, or being 'post-gay'. It was followed by a studio discussion between Anglican blogger Peter Ould and Savi Hensman of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement in light of the programme.
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Published 04/18/23
The Unbelievable? show has been broadcasting for over 17 years. Justin Brierley and Ruth Jackson take a retrospective tour through highlights from the show from day one to some of the most significant debates that have been hosted, before being joined by Dr. Vince Vitale for a special announcement by Justin.
Links to the full shows featured in this episode, if you'd like to explore more:
• Bart Ehrman vs Peter J Williams (2009):...
Published 04/14/23
From 2013: The second of two debates in which Young Earth Creationist Andy McIntosh debated palaeontologist Robert Asher.
Andy responded to a number of questions left hanging over from the previous show. Both are Christians and give their differing views on how the Genesis stories of Adam and Eve and death and suffering can (or cannot) be reconciled with evolutionary theory.
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Published 04/11/23
The Big Conversation - Episode 1 | Season 5
The rise of Christianity has shaped the modern world, but are its historical origins best explained in purely naturalistic terms, or the explanation the first followers gave – that Jesus had risen from the dead?
New Testament historian Bart Ehrman doesn’t believe in the miraculous claims of the New Testament, including the resurrection of Jesus. New Testament scholar Justin Bass argues in his book ‘The Bedrock of Christianity’...
Published 04/07/23
First broadcast in 2013: The Young Earth Creation movement claim that the Bible and science show that the world is only a little over 6000 years old. Andy Macintosh is Professor of Thermodynamics and Combustion Theory at the University of Leeds. He is a leading British Young Earth Creationist. He debated with Robert Asher, a paleontologist at the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge, and the author of “Evolution and belief: Confessions of a religious paleontologist”.
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Published 04/04/23
Renowned Christian thinker William Lane Craig answers listener questions on a live edition of the show. He responds to questions on philosophy, Adam & Eve, suffering, the worst argument for God and more. Plus we hear from Jeremiah J Johnston on the 7 best reasons to believe in the resurrection.
For the Equip course from Reasonable Faith https://knowwhyyoubelieve.org/
Support Premier Unbelievable? and receive your free, exclusive ebook of William Lane Craig vs Roger...
Published 03/31/23
First broadcast in 2013: Greg Koukl is the host of the apologetics radio show Stand To Reason which aims to equip believers with good reasons for their faith and to answer the objections of sceptics.
Greg talked to three atheists on this show. Stuart questioned whether Christian doctrines of sin and atonement make sense. Bill asked whether the argument from morality makes sense. Derek pointed out that Christians seem to hear contradictory things from God.
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Published 03/28/23
Show listener Grace Hill grew up in church but has always had lots of skeptical questions, especially around whether Christianity is too exclusive when it comes to honest seekers in other faiths. She recently found a church home where she could ask her questions - The Story Church in Houston, TX founded by Pastor Eric Huffman, host of the Maybe God podcast.
Grace and Eric talk about making space for skeptics and the question of Christianity's exclusive claims.
For Grace...
Published 03/24/23
In a podcast special Justin is joined by Ugandan pastor Richmond Wandera to talk about the joys and challenges of ministry in Africa. They discuss theology, syncretism, witchcraft, secularism, prayer and revival in East Africa. The life of Richmond and his whole family was transformed because of Compassion International's child sponsor programme. You can make a difference too
To sponsor a child through Compassion International & Unbelievable?
USA: text JUSTIN to 83393
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Published 03/21/23
Secular scientist and academic John Hands has been described as a 'polymath'. His 2016 book Cosmosapiens received wide praise for its analysis of human evolution since the beginning of the universe. His new book 'The Future of Humankind' looks ahead to what lies in store for homosapiens.
He discusses the issues with Christian thinker Perry Marshall, author of Evolution 2.0, as they discuss whether the dangers posed by AI, climate change or conflict are likely to lead to extinction,...
Published 03/17/23
CS Lewis said "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."
Peter Kreeft is a philosophy professor and well known Christian thinker and writer. He defends the "argument from desire". Does our experience of transcendent longing indicate that there is a God to satisfy it?
Atheist philosopher Richard Norman says that the argument amounts to wish-fulfillment.
They both sat down to discuss this...
Published 03/14/23