Stand to Reason Weekly Podcast

Clearing up Confusion about Humility

Greg reflects on what humility is and isn’t, giving practical advice for living in humility, then he answers questions about praying in tongues and reconciling 2 Corinthians 5:17 with membership in Alcoholics Anonymous.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Clearing up confusion about humility (00:00)
2. What’s your view on praying in tongues? (35:00)
3. How can I reconcile 2 Corinthians 5:17 and membership in Alcoholics Anonymous? (44:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• #STRask podcast with Greg and Amy (archives here)

Related Links:

• Use Your Knowledge to Serve Others, Not Judge Them by Amy Hall
• Humility Is Needed to See Jesus by Amy Hall
• How People Change by Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp
• Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen (with footnotes and updated language by editors Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor)

If God Told You to Kill Someone, Would You Do It?

Greg responds to the question “If God told you to kill someone, would you do it?” then he answers questions about ultimate meaning in an atheistic universe, why we need to repent if Jesus already paid for our sins, and whether the Bible has been changed too much to be trusted.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: If God told you to kill someone, would you do it? (00:00)
2. Can there be ultimate meaning in an atheistic universe? (19:00)
3. If Jesus paid for the sins of the elect on the cross, why do we need to repent and believe to be forgiven now? (34:00)
4. How do I respond to someone who says the Bible has been changed too much to be trusted? (44:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Trinity Explains This – Red Pen Logic video

Related Links:

• “Misquoting” Jesus? Answering Bart Ehrman by Greg Koukl

The State of Free Speech on University Campuses

Greg talks to Corey Miller, president of Ratio Christi, about free speech on university campuses, then he answers questions about eternal punishment for limited sin and whether something existed before the Big Bang.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Corey Miller, president of Ratio Christi, on the state of free speech on university campuses (00:00)
2. How do we make sense of the idea that a human lifetime of sin justifies eternal separation from God? (30:00)
3. How do we know nothing existed before the Big Bang? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Corey Miller, president of Ratio Christi
• Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher
• STR U courses (training.str.org)
• Hell Interrupted Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Why Is It Rational to Believe in the Soul?

Greg gives reasons why it’s rational to believe in the soul, explaining the difference between something being rational and rationalism, then he takes calls about how evil entered the world, intersex conditions proving we can choose our gender, answering “Where was God?” and more.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Why is it rational to believe in the soul? (00:00)
2. How can humans be the cause of evil in the world if their evil act is the result of being tempted by an already-evil being? (16:00)
3. Does the existence of intersex people prove sex is just a state of mind and one can choose to be male or female? (25:00)
4. How can I answer the question “Where was God?” when asked by a foster youth who was sexually abused? (41:00)
5. Are there any topics other than inerrancy that you wouldn’t discuss directly with an atheist? (51:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Soul: How We Know It’s Real and Why It Matters by J.P. Moreland
• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Greg Koukl

Related Links:

• Intersex People Don’t Prove There Are More Than Two Sexes by Amy Hall
• Don’t Assume We Should Change the Body to Match the Mind by Amy Hall
• When (and Why) Feminism Is Anti-Feminine by Amy Hall
• Christians, You Will Suffer by Amy Hall

Questions about Faith and Science

Tim joins Greg to talk about a variety of questions regarding faith and science (their compatibility, how they inform each other, miracles, etc.).

 

Topics:

1. Discussion with Tim Barnett: Questions about faith and science (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Red Pen Logic YouTube channel
• RPL video on fetuses being like tapeworms
• Subscribe to Stand to Reason’s monthly training material
• Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland

Related Links:

• Jesus Built Western Civilization by Amy Hall (quoting Tom Holland)
• We Take Christianity’s Influence on the World for Granted by Amy Hall (includes video of Tom Holland interview)

Five Things to Look for in a Christian College

Greg talks about five things to look for in a Christian college, then he answers questions about universalism, a “too high” view of Scripture, whether Jews and Christians worship the same God, your culpability if a friend uses something you made in pagan ceremonies, and when a fetus becomes a human being.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Five things to look for in a Christian college (00:00)
2. Is it better to not exist ever or to exist and be condemned? (17:00)
3. Is it possible to have too high a view of Scripture, where the human element is not considered at all? (28:00)
4. Do Christians and Jews worship the same God? (33:00)
5. Am I culpable if a friend of mine is using an axe I made for him in pagan ceremonies? (43:00)
6. At what point is a fetus a human being and not just a clump of cells? (47:00)
7. Is it a problem that the church our church is renting space from rejects biblical truth? (53:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher
• Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? by Alan Shlemon
• The Bible Doesn’t Say What He Thinks It Says – Red Pen Logic video about the beginning of human life

Related Links:

• Abortion Advocates Fail Biology Again by Tim Barnett (includes quotes from embryology textbook about the beginning of human life)
• The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture by Scott Klusendorf

What Are High School Students Thinking?

Greg talks to Rich Bordner, an English and philosophy teacher, about what he’s seeing in his interactions with his high school students—their worldview, their view of truth and morality, etc.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Greg talks to Rich Bordner, an English and philosophy teacher, about the worldview of his public high school students. (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher
• The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman
• The Daniel Collaborative
• Why Our Children Don’t Think There Are Moral Facts by Justin McBrayer
• Does God Exist? William Lane Craig vs. Christopher Hitchens Debate
• The Social Dilemma documentary

Questions about the Rapture, Bible Discrepancies, and Vishnu

Greg continues a call from the last episode about the rapture, then he answers questions about discrepancies in the Bible, the flood, and responding to the claim that Vishnu and Jesus are the same person.

 

Topics:

1. Continued from the previous episode: What do you think about the pre-trib rapture, and what should I do if I differ with my church and family on this topic? (00:00)
2. Follow-up questions on discrepancies in the Bible and interpreting the account of the flood. (31:00)
3. How should I respond to the claim that Vishnu and Jesus are the same person? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• STR U courses (training.str.org)
• Red Pen Logic YouTube channel
• The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of the Second Advent and the Rapture by George Eldon Ladd
• The Church and the Tribulation: A Biblical Examination of Posttribulationism by Robert Gundry

Related Links:

• The Rap on the Rapture by Greg Koukl

A Close Look at Acts 15

Greg reflects on what we learn from the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 about law vs. grace, baptism, and decision making, then he answers questions about interacting with a family member who’s a steamroller and the rapture.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: A close look at Acts 15 (00:00)
2. How should I interact with a family member who’s a steamroller? (32:00)
3. What do you think about the pre-trib rapture, and what should I do if I differ with my church and family on this topic? (48:00)

Related Links:

• The Rap on the Rapture by Greg Koukl
• One Tough Customer by Greg Koukl (on dealing with steamrollers)

Reading through the Bible Isn’t a Goal, It’s a Lifestyle

Greg talks about making Bible-reading part of your life habits, then he takes calls about biblical inerrancy, brain chemistry vs. one’s soul, praying to Mary, using transgender names and pronouns, and COVID-19.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Reading through the Bible isn’t a goal, it’s a lifestyle. (00:00)
2. Do anti-science passages in the Bible prove it’s not inerrant? (06:00)
3. How can I tell the difference between the results of brain chemistry and my soul? (21:00)
4. Is praying to Mary and the saints acceptable because it’s the same as asking people to pray for you? (30:00)
5. Should I use a new transgender name and pronouns for my brother-in-law if my husband wants me to? (39:00)
6. Is fear of COVID-19 a spiritual issue? (50:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Finding Quiet: My Story of Overcoming Anxiety and the Practices that Brought Peace by J.P. Moreland
• Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier  (Note: Greg confused Abigail Shrier with Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man.)