Unbelievable

Lynn Wilder was a temple-recommend holding Mormon who taught at Brigham Young University in Utah. She describes what led her to abandon the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and embrace Biblical Christianity. Michael Flournoy is a Mormon apologist. He debates issues of racism, salvation, the nature of Jesus and what Joseph Smith wrote in the Book of Mormon with Lynn.

We hear highlights from this year's Unbelievable? Conference, including the opening address by Os Guinness, Ruth Jackson on reaching young people, Craig Hazen on the resurrection, William Lane Craig & Jeff Zweerink on science and atheism, Jay Smith on Islam, Tim McGrew on the Gospels and part of the Panel Q&A.

Graham Veale is the author of "New Atheism: A Survival Guide" which looks at some of the popular objections of new atheism, including the 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' parody of God. Rory Fenton represents Secular Humanist student groups and defended the atheist society at London's South Bank University when their Flying Spaghetti Monster posters were removed. They debate the use of parody and balancing free speech and religious sensibilities.

Mark Lanier is a successful US trial lawyer. He’s also a keen theologian and apologist and has used his skills as a lawyer to make the case for Christ in ‘Christianity on Trial’. Paul Beaumont is a former Christian who lost his faith after coming under the influence of new atheists such as Richard Dawkins. His novel ‘A Brief Eternity’ is a critiques of Christinaity nad claims of heaven and hell. Mark defends Christianity and Paul acts as prosecution as they debate whether human life has value, the resurrection of Christ and why Paul lost his faith. For ‘Christianity on Trial’: http://www.ivpress.com/ontrial For the ‘A Brief Eternity’: http://paulbeaumont.org/a-brief-eternity For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://www.kaltura.com/api_v3/getFeed.php?partnerId=618072&feedId=1_jlj47tkv or Via Itunes

Elliot George is a retired science teacher whose new book “Godbuster: Exorcises all known gods” claims that science is about evidence whereas religion is about ‘belief’(and should therefore be rejected). Jonathan McLatchie is a Christian currently studying for a PhD in cell biology. He says Elliot’s book is badly flawed, and that Christian belief is evidence-based because science itself lends support to the case for God. They debate the meaning of belief, whether design is a good explanation in biology and why Jonathan chooses to believe Christianity over any other worldview. MP3 of this show here. For ‘Godbuster’ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Godbuster-Banishes-all-known-gods/dp/0992853508 For the ‘Godbuster’ Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/358789887554799/ For Jonathan McLatchie http://crossexamined.org/author/jonathan-m/ For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://www.kaltura.com/api_v3/getFeed.php?partnerId=618072&feedId=1_jlj47tkv or Via Itunes

It's100 years since the outbreak of WWI. Two of the world's leading Christian thinkers on Just War & Pacifism join Justin to discuss their different views on whether war is ever justified. Nigel Biggar is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford University and author of "In defence of war". Stanley Hauerwas is a noted US theology professor at Duke University and longtime proponent of Christian pacifism. They debate whether Christians should be committed to non-violence, the paradigm of the cross and global conflicts including WWI and the Iraq invasion. For Nigel Biggar http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Defence-War-Nigel-Biggar/dp/019967261X For Stanley Hauerwas https://divinity.duke.edu/academics/faculty/stanley-hauerwas For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://www.kaltura.com/api_v3/getFeed.php?partnerId=618072&feedId=1_jlj47tkv or Via Itunes

Bible scholar Peter Enns was fired from his position at Westminster Theological Seminary after his views on scripture were deemed to be too liberal. He has continued to question evangelical views of scripture in his book 'The Bible Tells Me So: Why defending Scripture has made us unable to read it'. David Instone-Brewer of Tyndale House, Cambridge discusses why he disagrees with some of Enns' views such as his treatment of the Canaanite passages, Old Testament differences and the Christmas narratives. MP3 of this show http://cdnbakmi.kaltura.com/p/618072/sp/61807200/serveFlavor/entryId/1_m8k7cisq/v/11/flavorId/1_b4ci25j1/name/a.mp3 For Peter Enns http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peterenns/ For David Instone-Brewer http://www.instonebrewer.com/BibleScandals/ For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://www.kaltura.com/api_v3/getFeed.php?partnerId=618072&feedId=1_jlj47tkv or Via Itunes

As Halloween approaches Justin meets Tam, a Wiccan who explains what he believes and the significance of Halloween (or Sam'hain) to the witchcraft community. Steve Hollinghurst is a Christian with a ministry to the new age and pagan community. He engages with Tam as well as explaining what Christians can learn from those involved in alternative spirituality. MP3 of this show http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/p/618072/sp/61807200/playManifest/entryId/1_nod3zt1y/flavorId/1_3cwmb37l/protocol/http/format/url/a.mp3? For Forest Church http://www.mysticchrist.co.uk/forest_church For Children of Artemis http://www.witchcraft.org For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

When Richard Dawkins tweeted 'abort it and try again' to a follower who raised a question about pregnancy and Downs Syndrome, there was a public outcry. Yet each year over 1000 pregnancies are terminated in the UK because of screening for Downs Syndrome. Ann Furedi is head of BPAS, the UK's largest independent abortion provider. She believes parents should be able to choose to abort for any reason, including disability, gender and even (hypothetically) sexual orientation. James Mumford is a fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the author of Ethics at the Beginning of Life. He wrote an article stating that Dawkin's tweet is a sign of a new eugenics towards disabled people. MP3 of this show http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/04fb74d6-ae45-4c1f-9c97-f7fed8bf4873.mp3 For James Mumford's article "Abort it and Try Again": http://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2014/November-2014/Abort-it-and-Try-Again For BPAS http://www.bpas.org/ For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

Christian Philosopher Michael Murray wrote a book in 2008 making a defence of God in the face of millennia of animal suffering. He presents his arguments to atheist Phil Harper (aka Skydivephil). They also discuss the contentious issue of whether animals experience pain differently to humans, after William Lane Craig ignited a debate on the subject after quoting Michael Murray's work in a debate. MP3 of this show http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/6821081e-913a-4789-ae1e-00b10730ad17.mp3 For Michael Murray's response on William Lane Craig's blog http://www.reasonablefaith.org/animal-pain-re-visited For Michael Murray's book Nature Red in Tooth and Claw http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0199596328> For "Skydivephil's "animal suffering" videos on YouTube http://youtu.be/mLSwRcvX72M & http://youtu.be/sKuEbbDi-tQ For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

Several high profile evangelical have converted to The Orthodox Church in recent decades. Is it just for the cool beards and robes? In this discussion we find out about the history of the Orthodox Church and some of its distinctive features. Justin is joined by Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church, evangelical theologian Elaine Storkey and Andrew Walker, a convert to Eastern Orthodox Church. MP3 of this show http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/71067e8d-411f-4194-ac60-0d6b68d60dea.mp3 For Bishop Angaelos http://www.copticcentre.com For Elaine Storkey http://www.elainestorkey.com For Deep Church Rising: Recovering Christian Orthodoxy http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0281072728 For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

Blaise Pascal was a 17th century Christian philosopher and mathematician who said that we all bet our life on the existence of God. So, you are better off believing in God because you've everything to gain if it's true and little to lose if it's not. But you've plenty to lose if you bet on God not existing and it turns out that He does. Kevin Moore is a young philosopher whose new book 'Untrumpable' revisits Pascal's classic argument in terms of 'wisdom'. He makes the case that Atheism is a foolish bet and we ought to live as if God existed. He even says his argument makes the best sense of Psalm 14 (The fool has said in his heart "there is no God"). Norman Bacrac, of the Conway Hall Ethical Society disagrees with Kevin and says that believing in God wouldn't make him change the way he lives as an atheist anyway. MP3 of this show http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/9217e6a8-528c-4877-8c7d-ca22d83ec6c3.mp3 For 'Untrumpable' by Kevin Moore http://www.untrumpable.com For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

The abortion debate reared its head again this summer after controversial tweets by Richard Dawkins made the news. Justin hosts a discussion between Mara Clarke of the Abortion Support Network and Scott Klusendorf of the Life Training Instititute. Mara believes women need to be decide whether to terminate a pregnancy, but Scott says that all depends on whether we are dealing with a human life in the womb.

Nick Spencer is the author of 'Atheists: The Origin of the Species'. He explains the origins of various strands of atheism and why the New Atheism of today is constructed on a myth of its own. Julian Baggini is an atheist philosopher and writer. He engages Spencer on whether atheism was a significant factor in Communist regimes and what the future of atheism may hold. Read Spencer's Book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atheists-Origin-Species-Nick-Spencer/dp/1472902963 For Baggini: http://www.microphilosophy.net For more faith debates visit www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable Join the conversation: Facebook and Twitter Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

Graham Ward is Oxford Regius professor of Divinity. His new book 'Unbelievable' explores the biology and psychology of belief. Atheist professor of psychology Susan Blackmore joins the discussion in the first part of the show. Is belief a purely material phenomenon of the brain? Though the 'truth' of belief remains under increasing attack, in a thoroughly secularized context, Ward argues that secularity is itself a form of believing. MP3 of this show http://media.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/ba27f310-0401-41ea-a8cb-4e5d24b2ab55.mp3 For Graham Ward's book 'Unbelievable': http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbelievable-Why-We-Believe-Dont/dp/1780767358 For more faith debates visit www.premierchristianradio.com/unbelievable Join the conversation: https://www.facebook.com/UnbelievableJB and https://twitter.com/unbelievablejb Get the MP3 podcast of Unbelievable? http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx