Stand to Reason Weekly Podcast

How Should Medical Professionals Interact with Transgender Patients?

Greg talks about how medical professionals should interact with transgender patients, reflects on the fact that this is the one time of year when everyone extols the virtues of Jesus in song, answers a question about a framework for deciding between theological positions, and more.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: How should medical professionals interact with transgender patients? (00:00)
2. Commentary: It’s the one time of year when everyone extols the virtues of Jesus in song. (27:00)
3. What do you do when you have to go beyond proof texts because you have verses on both sides? (33:00)
4. Commentary: Harry Reasoner’s commentary on Christmas (50:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• #STRask podcast with Greg and Amy (archives here)
• Eternity Is Now: Just Ask Scrooge and George Bailey by Andrew Klavan
• The Power of Christmas by Cal Thomas (quoting Harry Reasoner)

Two Principles of Giving

Greg talks about two principles to follow when donating to charities, then he talks to callers about how we know we won’t sin in Heaven and the minimal facts argument vs. the maximal data argument for the resurrection.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Two principles of giving (00:00)
2. If Satan sinned while he was in Heaven, how do we know we won’t also sin in Heaven? (16:00)
3. What do you think about the minimal facts vs. maximal data arguments for the resurrection? (29:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Donate to Stand to Reason
• Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture by Natasha Crain
• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Greg Koukl

Related Links:

• Natasha Crain Can Help You Be Faithfully Different by Amy Hall (review of the book)
• Where Did These Minimal Facts about the Resurrection Come From? by Amy Hall

There Is No Battle between Science and the Christian Worldview

Greg talks about how naturalistic philosophy, not scientific methodology, is opposed to Christianity, then he answers questions about shaping the worldview of children when the spouse isn’t a believer and the difference between Reformed theology and Darwinistic determinism.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: There is no battle between science and the Christian worldview. (00:00)
2. Do you have any practical and specific tips for shaping the worldview of my daughters when the burden is entirely on me since my husband is not a believer? (22:00)
3. Can you explain the difference between Reformed theology and Darwinistic determinism? (43:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Big Picture Story Bible by David R. Helm
• Natasha Crain’s books
• Natasha Crain’s website
• The Chronicles of Narnia – Focus on the Family Radio Theater (digital version here)

Christianity Has Nothing to Fear from Science

Greg talks about what science can and cannot determine when it comes to religious claims, then he talks to callers about whether there was a doctrine he couldn’t have seen in the Bible on his own and why God isn’t partly responsible for whether or not we follow him if he created our personalities.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Christianity has nothing to fear from science. (00:00)
2. Was there a doctrine that had to be explained to you because you couldn’t have seen it in the Bible on your own? (36:00)
3. If God created our personalities, why is he not partly responsible for whether or not we decide to follow him? (50:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Donate to Stand to Reason

Questions about the Old-Earth View of Creation

Greg answers questions about what evidence convinces him the earth is old that couldn’t be explained just as easily by a young-earth view, a book that explains what old-earth creationists believe, a church devoting an entire service to first responders, and more.

 

Topics:

1. What evidence convinces you the earth has to be old that couldn’t be explained just as easily by a young-earth view? (05:00)
2. Can you recommend a book that explains what old-earth creationists believe that isn’t heretical? (24:00)
3. Isn’t saying that “if you have scientific evidence that appears to contradict the Bible, then you should conclude you’ve misread the Bible” a dangerous line of thought since we have scientific evidence that men don’t rise from the dead? (34:00)
4. What do you think about my church devoting an entire service to first responders? (47:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Seven Days that Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science by John Lennox
• A Matter of Days: Resolving a Creation Controversy by Hugh Ross

Related Links:

• Have Grace for Fellow Christians on the Age of the Earth by Amy Hall
• Theistic Evolution: Drifting toward Darwin by Greg Koukl

You Can Start a Bible Education Program at Your Local Public School

Greg talks to Tara Schwartz, a field rep for LifeWise Academy, an organization that helps people start Bible education programs at their local public schools, then he answers a question about the current assault on biblical values and offers encouragement to disappointed missionaries.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Tara Schwartz of LifeWise Academy (00:00)
2. What do you think explains the assault on biblical values we’re living through, and where do you think it’s going next? (31:00)
3. Do you have any encouragement for disappointed and anxious missionaries who are having to return home for health reasons after only eight weeks? (47:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Tara Schwartz
• LifeWise Academy
• Donate to Stand to Reason

Related Links:

• Seeing the Unseen: The Nature of Spiritual Warfare by Greg Koukl

Natasha Crain on Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture

Greg talks to Natasha Crain about her book Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture (your gift for any donation to STR this month), then he answers questions about intersex people and whether or not all living beings have souls.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Natasha Crain on biblical clarity in a secular culture (00:00)
2. How should I respond to people who say they’re intersex? (31:00)
3. Do all living beings have souls, or do some living beings not need a soul in order to be alive? (49:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Natasha Crain’s website
• Natasha Crain’s books
• Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture by Natasha Crain
• Natasha’s interview on Focus on the Family
• Donate to Stand to Reason

Related Links:

• Natasha Crain Can Help You Be Faithfully Different by Amy Hall (review of the book)
• Interview: Natasha Crain – Faithfully Different – Greg’s previous interview with Natasha Crain
• Intersex People Don’t Prove There Are More Than Two Sexes by Amy Hall (quoting Alastair Roberts)
• Humans Come in Only Two Sexes by Alan Shlemon

Interview: David Limbaugh – The Resurrected Jesus

Greg talks to David Limbaugh, author of The Resurrected Jesus: The Church in the New Testament, about the unity of the Bible, how the biblical worldview resonates with our deepest intuitions, and some of the main themes in Paul’s Pastoral Epistles. 

 

Topics:

1. Interview: David Limbaugh, author of The Resurrected Jesus: The Church in the New Testament (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• David Limbaugh
• The Resurrected Jesus: The Church in the New Testament by David Limbaugh
• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important That Happens in Between by Greg Koukl

You Can’t Be Thankful without Someone to Thank

Greg explains how his Inside Out tactic relates to Thanksgiving, talks to a caller about what, if anything, to say to pastors who aren’t addressing cultural issues, reflects on a book that provides a liturgy for daily worship, and answers a question about whether we should address the devil in prayer.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: You can’t be thankful without someone to thank. (00:00)
2. What, if anything, should I say to my pastors about the fact that my church is not addressing any cultural issues? (18:00)
3. Commentary: Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship (38:00)
4. What are your thoughts on addressing the devil during prayer? (50:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Inside Out by Greg Koukl
• Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship – Compiled by Jonathan Gibson

Related Links:

• Don’t Lose Sight of the Big Picture by Amy Hall – On how pastors can address the cultural issues of the day by teaching the foundational doctrines of Christianity

Interview: Melissa Dougherty – Christians and New Age Beliefs

Greg talks to apologist Melissa Dougherty about how she fell into New Age beliefs, thinking they were Christian, her return to biblical Christianity, the importance of biblical literacy and clear thinking for all Christians, and New Age beliefs in the church.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Melissa Dougherty on Christians and New Age Beliefs (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Melissa Dougherty
• The #1 Thing That Drove Me into False Christianity
• 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
• Is Mormonism Just Another Christian Denomination? by Greg Koukl
• Forensic Faith: A Homicide Detective Makes the Case for a More Reasonable, Evidential Christian Faith by J. Warner Wallace
• Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church by Douglas Geivett and Holly Pivec
• Top Five New Age Teachings in the Church by Melissa Dougherty