Stand to Reason Weekly Podcast

Are We Living in a Simulation?

Greg answers questions from callers about the likelihood that we’re living in a simulation, using the laws of nature to argue against evolution, and recommendations for a young man starting out in apologetics.

 

Topics:

1. What do you think about the fact that, when asked about the origins of the universe, one of the smartest AI computers in the world said it’s more likely that we’re living in a simulation? (01:00)
2. How can I spread my idea of using the laws of nature to argue against evolution? (10:00)
3. What would you recommend for a young man starting out in apologetics? (32:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Bloom Where You’re Planted by Greg Koukl
• Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl

Related Links:

• For the Student Who Wants to Be a Christian Apologist by Amy Hall

Moral Insanity in California and England

Greg talks about recent examples of moral insanity in California and England, then he answers questions about whether apostasy can happen unknowingly and how Greg comes up with his Street-Smarts-style questions.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Moral insanity in California and England (00:00)
2. Can apostasy happen unknowingly? (27:00)
3. How do you come up your Street-Smarts-style questions? (47:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• California ballot measure named after Luigi Mangione would make it illegal to ‘delay, deny’ healthcare coverage: ‘Crazy’ by Isabel Keane
• Toddler is kicked out of nursery ‘for being transphobic’ - as families blast school’s ‘insanity’ by Noor Qurashi
• STR U Online Training
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• #STRask podcast with Greg and Amy
• God’s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement by Doug Geivett and Holly Pivec
• Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Greg Koukl

Why Are There So Many Different Denominations?

Greg answers questions about why there are so many different denominations, how to help someone who prayed a prayer as a child but doesn’t seem to be following Jesus, people saying, “Oh my God,” and knowledge of Jesus through existential experience.

 

Topics:

1. Why are there so many different denominations? (05:00)
2. How can I help people who are counting on a prayer they prayed as a child—but have no evidence of sanctification in their lives—understand that they have a need for Jesus? (23:00)
3. Can you explain why you don’t have a problem with people saying, “Oh my God”? (40:00)
4. My fundamental existential experience of Jesus seems undeniable. Is this a category in epistemology? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Upcoming events with Stand to Reason speakers
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• The Magic Prayer by Greg Koukl
• Why the “Sinner’s Prayer” Has Me Concerned...and a Biblical Alternative by Greg Koukl
• The Invisible Man by Greg Koukl

Related Links:

• Three Reasons Why People Interpret the Bible Differently by Amy Hall

The “Word of God” in Acts

Greg talks about the meaning of the “Word of God” in Acts, then he warns against holding grudges and answers questions about requiring repentance before forgiveness, whether Jesus will have the only scars in Heaven, and making sense of the origin of evil as a Calvinist.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: The “Word of God” in Acts (00:00)
2. Is repentance required for believers to grant forgiveness to others? (12:00)
3. Commentary: If you hold grudges, you will destroy your soul. (38:00)
4. Is Jesus the only one with scars in Heaven? (47:00)
5. How do you make sense of the origin of evil? (51:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Dogmatic Theology by William G.T. Shedd

Related Links:

• The Sin of Forgiveness? by Greg Koukl
• How Can We Condemn Evil if God Is Sovereign? by Amy Hall

Interview: Sean McDowell – New Information on the Fate of the Apostles

Greg talks to Sean McDowell about new information included in the second edition of his book, The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Sean McDowell, author of The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus (Second Edition) (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Fate of the Apostles: Examining the Martyrdom Accounts of the Closest Followers of Jesus (Second Edition) by Sean McDowell
• Sean McDowell’s website

Related Links:

• Problems for Hallucination Theories of the Resurrection by Gary Habermas

The First Rule of Prayer and Bible Reading

Greg explains that the first rule of prayer is to pray and the first rule of Bible reading is to read, then he answers questions about what it means to “pray about it,” overcoming a tendency to freeze up when asked a question, mistakenly claiming a promise, and finding fellowship.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: The first rule of prayer and Bible reading (00:00)
2. What should “pray about it” look like in practice? (22:00)
3. What can I do to overcome my tendency to freeze up when someone asks me a question? (34:00)
4. If Old Testament promises don’t apply to us, why is it that when people mistakenly claim a promise in the Bible for themselves, it seems to work for them? (38:00)
5. How can I put my identity in Christ and truly follow him if even those who are called by his name push me away while they themselves don’t seek him? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Submit a question on the Open Mic Line
• Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Greg Koukl
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH

Related Links:

• Making Sense of Unanswered Prayer by Amy Hall

Some Thoughts on Provisionism

Greg answers a question about why Provisionists tend to be so venomous towards Calvinism and gives some of his thoughts on Provisionism, then he talks to a caller about reasons why he rejects evolution.

 

Topics:

1. Why do you think Provisionists tend to be so venomous towards Calvinism? (00:00)
2. Do you reject evolution, and if so, why? (33:00)

 

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Desert Apologetics Conference – March 14–15
• Grace Defined and Defended: What a 400-Year-Old Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God by Kevin DeYoung
• Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe by Stephen Meyer
• Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique by J.P. Moreland, Stephen Meyer, Wayne Grudem, and more

 

Related Links:

• Theistic Evolution: Drifting toward Darwin by Greg Koukl
• Why Intelligent Design Is an Argument from Knowledge, Not Ignorance by Amy Hall

Interview: Jonathan Morrow – Navigating Screen Time and Social Media

Greg talks to Jonathan Morrow, creator of the Refresh Roadmap online course, about strategies to help parents navigate screen time and social media with their kids.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Jonathan Morrow, creator of the Refresh Roadmap course, on navigating screen time and social media with your kids (00:00)

 

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Jonathan Morrow’s website
• Refresh Roadmap: A Practical Guide for Parents to Navigate Screen Time and Social Media with Confidence – This link automatically includes the 20% discount.
• 20% off code for listeners at refreshcourse.net: STR
• Impact 360
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

 

Four Simple Skills to Help Your Kids Soar Above the Crowd

Greg talks about four skills to instill in your kids to increase their maturity, then he answers questions about God being in A-theory time, identifying as sinners vs. saints, responding to someone who attributes everything to “the universe,” and disagreement in the early church.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Four simple skills to help your kids soar above the crowd (00:00)
2. Why can’t we exist under an A-theory of time while God exists under a B-theory of time, and if God exists in A-theory time, don’t we have an infinite regression issue? (20:00)
3. What are your thoughts on simultaneously being sinners and saints, and which should we identify with more? (34:00)
4. How would you engage someone in conversation who keeps attributing things that happen to “the universe”? (46:00)
5. Contrary to apologetics claims of Catholics, why should we look to the early church for our doctrine and praxis when it seems like there was plenty of disagreement and heresy in the early church? (52:00)

 

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

Are Prayers Pointless If God Knows What Will Happen?

Greg answers questions about whether prayers are pointless if God knows what will happen, why we would be held responsible for Adam and Eve’s decisions, how John 3:13 could say no one has ascended into Heaven, and interactions between non-physical things and physical things.

 

Topics:

1. If God knows what will happen tomorrow, then God cannot change tomorrow, which means all prayers are null and void and cannot change anything. (00:00)
2. Why would anyone be responsible for Adam and Eve’s decisions? The idea that we’re born sick and in need of a savior is simply immoral and unjust Christian dogma meant to control your mind. (19:00)
3. How do you reconcile John 3:13 (which says that no one has ascended into Heaven) with Lazarus (whom Jesus raised from the dead) and with 2 Corinthians 5:6–9 (which says that to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord)? (36:00)
4. A Jehovah’s Witness said sin became embedded in Adam and Eve’s DNA, and I asked how something non-physical can be embedded in something physical, but then I realized that I do think our soul can interact with our body, so what is the difference between these two ideas? (46:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Submit a question on the Open Mic Line

Related Links:

• Can a Non-Physical Being Affect the Physical World? by Amy Hall