Stand to Reason Weekly Podcast

Greg chats with Alan Shlemon about transgenderism and intersex conditions, then they talk about why the popular idea that Jesus’ identity was embellished over time and evolved in the Gospels is incorrect.

 

Topics:

1. Greg talks to Alan Shlemon about transgenderism and intersex conditions. (00:00)
2. Alan Shlemon explains why the popular idea that the Gospel writers embellished Jesus’ identity over time is incorrect. (42:00)

 

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Be One of the 100 – Become a strategic partner
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 12–13 in Atlanta, GA; October 17–18 in Seattle, WA; November 7–8 in Minneapolis, MN; February 20–21, 2026 in Dallas, TX; March 13–14, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA; April 24–25, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA
• Red Pen Logic – YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook
• STR Outposts
• What Is a Man? What Is a Woman? by Alan Shlemon
• Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier
• What Is a Woman? – Documentary
• Did the Disciples Embellish Jesus’ Identity over Time? by Alan Shlemon

 

Related Links:

• The Date of John’s Gospel, Revisited by Shane Rosenthal

Greg answers questions from callers on the transcendental argument, the scapegoat theory of the atonement that’s popular in progressive circles, and an objection an atheist would make to Greg’s “blind beach-writer” argument for intelligent design.

 

Topics:

1. What’s your opinion on the transcendental argument? (03:00)
2. What response can I give to the scapegoat theory of the atonement that’s popular in progressive circles, which is against penal substitution and is more political in how it frames the implications of the atonement? (30:00)
3. What objection would an atheist make to the comparison between Dawkins’s blind watchmaker and Koukl’s blind beach-writer, and how would you respond? (47:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Be One of the 100 – Become a strategic partner
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 12–13 in Atlanta, GA; October 17–18 in Seattle, WA; November 7–8 in Minneapolis, MN; February 20–21, 2026 in Dallas, TX; March 13–14, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA; April 24–25, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA
• Why the Blood? by Greg Koukl

Related Links:

• Philosophical Naturalism Limits Science by Amy Hall
• But What If God Did Do It? by Amy Hall

Greg responds to objections to his view on hearing the voice of God, then he talks to a caller about Columbo #3 questions he can use in conversations with a family member about whether or not it’s wrong to be angry at politicians.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Objections to Greg’s view on hearing the voice of God (00:00)
2. Can you help me with Columbo #3 questions to use in conversations with a family member about whether or not it’s wrong to be angry at politicians? (49:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Be One of the 100 – Become a strategic partner
• When God Speaks by Greg Koukl
• Does God Whisper? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 by Greg Koukl
• Upcoming events with Stand to Reason speakers
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 12–13 in Atlanta, GA; October 17–18 in Seattle, WA; November 7–8 in Minneapolis, MN; February 20–21, 2026 in Dallas, TX; March 13–14, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA; April 24–25, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA

Related Links:

• How Should We Handle Outrage? by Amy Hall

Greg answers questions from callers about what makes being gay or lesbian harmful, whether apologists are unwilling to give straight answers to certain questions for tactical reasons, and miracles Greg has witnessed.

 

Topics:

1. What makes being gay or lesbian harmful? (04:00)
2. Is there a tactical reason why so many apologists seem unwilling to give straight answers to certain questions? (15:00)
3. What are some of the coolest miracles you’ve witnessed? (35:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Be One of the 100 – Become a strategic partner
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 12–13 in Atlanta, GA; October 17–18 in Seattle, WA; November 7–8 in Minneapolis, MN; February 20–21, 2026 in Dallas, TX; March 13–14, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA; April 24–25, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA
• #STRask podcast with Greg and Amy
• Iron Curtain Diary by Greg Koukl
• The Screwtape Letters – Read by John Cleese (a few chapters are missing from the playlist)

Tim Barnett joins Greg to talk about the need to learn how to be good thinkers, the danger of ending up in an echo chamber, how AI and social media are making us dumber, and more.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: How AI and social media are making us dumber. (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Be One of the 100 – Become a strategic partner
• Red Pen Logic – YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook
• The Deconstruction of Christianity: What It Is, Why It’s Destructive, and How to Respond by Tim Barnett and Alisa Childers
• Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task – Study
• Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher

Related Links:

• Sometimes AI Just Makes Stuff Up by Amy Hall

Greg answers questions about whether it’s normal for a believer to struggle with doubt, resolving alleged contradictions in the Gospels, why Greg thinks Paul isn’t the author of Hebrews, people’s old ages in Genesis, and reasons to think all sentient beings have a soul.

 

Topics:

1. Is it normal for a believer to struggle with doubt? (01:00)
2. How do you resolve the alleged contradictions in the Gospels about how many Marys and angels were at the tomb? (11:00)
3. What are your reasons for thinking Paul didn’t write Hebrews? (31:00)
4. It’s a logical fallacy to say God created time without time already existing. (36:00)
5. Should we take the ages of people in Genesis symbolically or literally? (39:00)
6. What is the biblical evidence for the idea that all sentient beings have a soul? (45:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Thomas Factor: Using Your Doubts to Draw Closer to God by Gary Habermas (also available for free online)
• Greg Koukl and Michael Shermer at the End of the Decade of the New Atheists – Transcript
• Easter Enigma: Are the Resurrection Accounts in Conflict? by John Wenham
• God’s Unbreakable Word by Jon Noyes and Greg Koukl
• STR U Online Training
• The Soul: How We Know It’s Real and Why It Matters by J.P. Moreland

Related Links:

• God, Time, & Eternity by William Lane Craig

Greg answers questions about whether demons still have a chance to be saved, whether evolution can give us a belief in morality, how to define Christian suffering, and whether justification is a one-time thing or it happens in stages.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Do demons still have a chance to be saved? (00:00)
2. Can evolution give us a belief in a morality? (18:00)
3. How should we define Christian suffering? (35:00)
4. Is justification a one-time thing, or does it happen in stages? (47:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• STR U Online Training
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 12–13 in Atlanta, GA; October 17–18 in Seattle, WA; November 7–8 in Minneapolis, MN; February 20–21, 2026 in Dallas, TX; March 13–14, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA; April 24–25, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA
• Mind & Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False by Thomas Nagel

Greg answers questions on whether God fulfilled his promise to Abraham, Jesus’ knowledge of germs, whether the story of Job debunks the “T” in “TULIP,” and whether we could say the universe has always existed since there was never a “time” when it did not exist.

 

Topics:

1. How can we say God fulfilled his promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:18 since Israel has never had that whole area of land? (02:00)
2. Why didn’t the all-knowing, all-powerful Jesus know about germs? (24:00)
3. Does the story of Job debunk the “T” in “TULIP” since God said Job was righteous? (36:00)
4. Could we say the universe has always existed since there was never a “time” when it did not exist? How can we not conclude the universe is as old as God is if he was atemporal before the creation of the universe and time began when the universe was created?(48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Submit a question on the Open Mic Line

Greg explains why we don’t need to learn to hear the voice of God, then he talks to callers about how to deal with going against the majority of scientists, the best argument for God, a loving God allowing suffering, profanity, and preparing children to encounter transgenderism.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: God doesn’t try. (00:00)
2. Do you have any advice for how to deal with going against the majority opinion of scientists when it comes to evolution? (11:00)
3. Why do you think the moral argument is the best argument for God’s existence? (25:00)
4. How can I help a non-Christian answer his question about why God would allow anyone to suffer if he’s perfectly loving? (29:00)
5. What defines profanity, and is it sin or a Christian liberty issue? (43:00)
6. Should we keep our young children away from a nephew who is dressing as a girl? (51:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• When God Speaks by Greg Koukl
• Metamorphosis: The Beauty and Design of Butterflies DVD by Illustra Media
• Hell Interrupted Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Related Links:

• Why Intelligent Design Isn’t a God-of-the-Gaps Argument by Tim Barnett
• How to Test for Intelligent Design by Amy Hall
• Is Intelligent Design Pseudoscience? by Greg Koukl
• If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil by Randy Alcorn
• What You Need to Know about Evil and Suffering by Amy Hall
• We’re Not Good at Estimating Our Goodness by Amy Hall
• Why Agree to Use Preferred Names but Not Preferred Pronouns? by Amy Hall

Greg talks about being thankful for John MacArthur’s legacy, then he answers questions about the difference between covenant theology and dispensationalism and how to interpret NDEs where people claim to have met Jesus.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Thankful for John MacArthur’s Legacy (00:00)
2. What’s the difference between covenant theology and dispensationalism? (25:00)
3. How should we interpret NDEs where people claim to have met Jesus? (46:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 12–13 in Atlanta, GA; October 17–18 in Seattle, WA; November 7–8 in Minneapolis, MN; February 20–21, 2026 in Dallas, TX; March 13–14, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA; April 24–25, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA
• Upcoming events with Stand to Reason speakers
• Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
• Christian Theology by Millard Erickson
• Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality by Gary Habermas and J.P. Moreland