Stand to Reason Weekly Podcast

Is Science Incompatible with Faith in God?

Greg responds to the claim that science is incompatible with faith in God, answers a question about ideas for an apologetics topic for a school research project, then talks to a caller about why God allows evil to exist.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Is science incompatible with faith in God? (00:00)
2. Do you have any suggestions for an apologetics topic that would work for a research project at school? (26:00)
3. Why does God allow evil to exist? (39:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Greg Koukl

Is It Suspicious That Jesus Only Appeared to His Followers?

Greg responds to the idea that we shouldn’t trust the testimony about Jesus rising from the dead since the testimony came from his followers, shares a listener’s thoughts on Christians defending themselves, then answers questions about James vs. Paul and praying to the Son and Holy Spirit.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Is it suspicious that Jesus only appeared to his followers? (06:00)
2. Commentary: A response to Greg’s thoughts on Christians defending themselves (16:00)
3. How would you respond to someone who said James’s understanding of justification was different from Paul’s because his was the earliest epistle and he didn’t yet understand? (29:00)
4. Is it appropriate to pray to the other persons of the Trinity? (50:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 23–24 in Orange County, CA; October 14–15 in Seattle, WA; November 11–12 in Minneapolis, MN; February 24–25, 2023 in Dallas, TX; March 24–25, 2023 in Philadelphia, PA; April 21–22, 2023 in Augusta, GA

Related Links:

• Faith and Works: Paul vs. James by Greg Koukl

Should a Christian Take up Arms to Defend Himself against Physical Persecution?

Greg answers questions about whether it would be okay for a Christian to defend himself against physical persecution, how to determine if a child is ready to be baptized, responding to the claim that people are born gay, whether Adam and Eve would have faced more tests if they had passed the first one, and more.

 

Topics:

1. If I were a Jew living during the Holocaust, would I have been justified in getting an AK-47 to defend myself, and during the tribulation, would we lose our martyr’s crown if we were to die fighting back rather than just allowing them to kill us? (05:00)
2. What’s the best way to determine if my 12-year-old grandson is truly a Christian and should get baptized? (19:00)
3. How should I respond to the claim that people are born gay? (36:00)
4. Would Adam and Eve (and/or their children) have had other tests if they had passed the first test in the garden? (43:00)
5. How should I respond to a Catholic friend who says only Catholic priests have the ability to read the Bible? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Magic Prayer by Greg Koukl

What Greg Said to Law Students

Greg talks about the ideas he shared with some law students last week, then he answers questions about whether there will be different levels of punishment in Hell and whether the old prophet in 1 Kings 13:11–32 was always a false prophet.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: What Greg said to law students (00:00)
2. Are there different punishments in Hell, or will everybody receive the same punishment? (36:00)
3. Was the old prophet in 1 Kings 13:11–32, who led the other prophet astray, faithful at one time, or was he simply a false prophet? (49:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 23–24 in Orange County, CA; October 14–15 in Seattle, WA; November 11–12 in Minneapolis, MN; February 24–25, 2023 in Dallas, TX; March 24–25, 2023 in Philadelphia, PA; April 21–22, 2023 in Augusta, GA
• Upcoming events with Stand to Reason speakers
• The Primal Heresy by Greg Koukl
• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Greg Koukl

It’s Not Loving to Affirm a Damaging Lie

Greg answers questions about how to respond to a brother who says he’s trans, whether Paul ever got a chance to stand before Caesar, whether we can trust the Bible, and how we can say we have knowledge if we don’t have 100% certainty.

 

Topics:

1. How should I treat my brother who says he’s trans, and how should I talk to the rest of my family members about this? (04:00)
2. Did Paul ever get a chance to stand before Caesar as the angel said he would in Acts 27:23–24? (27:00)
3. There are a lot of things the Bible says that cause me to doubt, so can I trust it? (41:00)
4. If I can’t close the gap to 100% certainty, can I say I have knowledge if knowledge is justified true belief? (51:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Upcoming events with Stand to Reason speakers
• Live Not by Lies by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher
• Iron Curtain Diary by Greg Koukl

Related Links:

• True Compassion Is Determined by the Mind, Not by Feelings by Amy Hall
• Why Agree to Use Preferred Names but Not Preferred Pronouns? by Amy Hall

Do Your Work Heartily, as for the Lord

Greg talks about how we’re made to work, so we ought to “do our work heartily, as for the Lord,” then he answers questions about how to interpret John 20:23 about forgiving people’s sins and why we should think the Bible is inerrant.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Do your work heartily, as for the Lord. (08:00)
2. How should I interpret John 20:23, which says, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them”? (27:00)
3. What is the biblical support for inerrancy, and if God meant for the text to be inerrant, why would he allow so many things to trip us up in the Scriptures—ambiguous passages, apparent contradictions, unclear doctrines, etc.? (47:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 23–24 in Orange County, CA; October 14–15 in Seattle, WA; November 11–12 in Minneapolis, MN; February 24–25, 2023 in Dallas, TX; March 24–25, 2023 in Philadelphia, PA; April 21–22, 2023 in Augusta, GA
• STR Outposts

Alisa Childers Interviews Greg

In an episode from the Alisa Childers Podcast, Alisa chats with Greg about the nature of truth, the need to understand the objective nature of morality in order to understand sin and the gospel, how truth claims are viewed as power grabs, how we can keep from being overwhelmed by this chaotic, relativistic culture, and more.

 

Topics:

1. The nature of truth (00:00)
2. The need for a moral standard (10:00)
3. Why is Christian morality so out of fashion today? (16:00)
4. The gospel is only good news for people who recognize their sin, which requires objective morality. (26:00)
5. The influence of postmodernism in churches (29:00)
6. The problems we’re seeing now with relativism go all the way back to Genesis 3. (36:00)
7. Truth claims are viewed as power grabs and responded to with ad hominem attacks, not reason. (44:00)
8. How can we keep from being overwhelmed by this chaotic, relativistic culture? (49:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Alisa Childers
• Alisa’s podcast

Related Links:

• The Primal Heresy by Greg Koukl (includes many of the ideas in this interview)

Should I Talk to My Children about LGBTQ Views?

Greg answers questions about staying in a hotel that’s had paranormal activity, talking to one’s children about LGBTQ views before they encounter them, and using consciousness as indirect evidence for God’s existence.

 

Topics:

1. Is there anything to be fearful of when you’re staying in a hotel that claims to have had paranormal activity? (06:00)
2. Should I talk about LGBTQ views with my children before they hear them from the culture, and if so, how should I start the conversation? (25:00)
3. What do you think of my argument that consciousness is indirect evidence for God’s existence? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Be One of the 100
• Upcoming events with Stand to Reason speakers
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 23–24 in Orange County, CA; October 14–15 in Seattle, WA; November 11–12 in Minneapolis, MN; February 24–25, 2023 in Dallas, TX; March 24–25, 2023 in Philadelphia, PA; April 21–22, 2023 in Augusta, GA
• Critical Conversations: A Christian Parents’ Guide to Discussing Homosexuality with Teens by Tom Gilson
• Mind & Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False by Thomas Nagel

What’s the Best Approach to Take with Militant Atheists?

Greg talks to callers about the meaning of Matthew 7:21–23, how one should respond to friends who are convinced they’re receiving messages from God, the best approach to take with militant atheist friends, and what to say to someone who thinks the only way to connect with God is through psychedelic drugs.

 

Topics:

1. Am I using Matthew 7:21–23 correctly? (02:00)
2. How should I respond to friends who are convinced God is giving them messages and are very emotional about it? (20:00)
3. What’s the best approach to take with militant atheist friends who think Christianity is stupid? (39:00)
4. What approach should I take with someone who thinks the only way to connect with God is through psychedelic drugs? (52:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Record a question for Greg on the Open Mic Line
• STR Outposts
• Does God Whisper? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (online articles) by Greg Koukl
• Decision Making and the Will of God (book) by Garry Friesen
• The Ambassador’s Guide to the Voice of God by Greg Koukl
• Be One of the 100
• Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl?

Related Links:

• What’s a good biblical response to the phrase “I don’t want to put the Holy Spirit in a box”? – #STRask
• How to Respond to the Problem of Evil by Greg Koukl

Can Atheists Be Good without God?

Greg talks about how you can’t have objective good without God, then he answers questions about what it means to say we’re made in the image of God, whether the image of God can be gained or lost, and how this relates to the abortion issue.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Objective morality is good evidence for God. (00:00) 
2. What is your understanding of the image of God, can it be gained or lost, and how does this relate to the abortion issue? (29:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Be One of the 100
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 23–24 in Orange County, CA; October 14–15 in Seattle, WA; November 11–12 in Minneapolis, MN; February 24–25, 2023 in Dallas, TX; March 24–25, 2023 in Philadelphia, PA; April 21–22, 2023 in Augusta, GA

Related Links:

• Hitchens’s Challenge Solved by Amy Hall
• Human Personhood Begins at Conception by Peter Kreeft
• “A Form of Killing That We Need to Be Able to Defend” by Amy Hall
• Abortion and Slavery: The Same Old Arguments by Amy Hall
• Interview: Josh Brahm – Responding to “My Body, My Choice”
• Unstringing the Violinist by Greg Koukl
• A New Response to the Violinist Argument by Amy Hall