In this episode, hosts Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Michael Jones of the Inspiring Philosophy YouTube channel. They discuss the problem of divine hiddenness - the idea that if God existed, he would make his existence clearly evident to everyone, yet there are many non-resistant nonbelievers who earnestly seek God but do not find convincing evidence of his existence. This is seen as evidence against God's existence. Michael provides an overview of the divine hiddenness argument, explaining key concepts like "non-resistant nonbelievers." He argues that the idea of truly non-resistant nonbelievers is questionable, since human psychology tends to defend our beliefs. Michael also discusses assumptions made about God's nature in the argument, and that God's goal may not be to convince everyone of basic theism but to create "cognitively robust theism" - loving God for the right reasons. They also touch on related issues like the difference between divine hiddenness and the problem of evil. Michael gives advice for those struggling with doubts from divine hiddenness - to focus on studying the evidence for Jesus' resurrection, living out the gospel message of selflessness, and recognizing our own sin and need for a savior. He recommends resources for further study like books by https://a315.co/40DSK0S and Tim Stratton. Further resources… Inspiring Philosophy YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@InspiringPhilosophy Inspiring Philosophy Website: https://www.inspiringphilosophy.org Why does God Hide? - https://a315.co/47u2htn Michael Jones vs. Tyler Vela: “Why Does God Hide?” - https://a315.co/3Qxuadj ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Tyson James, the global director of Reasonable Faith Chapters. This episode of the Apologetics 315 podcast featured an interview with Tyson James, the global director of https://www.reasonablefaith.org/chapters. Tyson shared about his journey to Christianity and how studying apologetics strengthened his faith. He explained that Reasonable Faith chapters are small groups at churches focused on studying Christianity and answering objections, with the goal of fulfilling Reasonable Faith's mission at the local level. Tyson outlined the simple process for starting a Reasonable Faith chapter, noting that directors have flexibility in how they structure meetings. He offered encouragement for those nervous about leading a chapter without formal apologetics training. Tyson shared stories of God working through the chapters, including outreach to a previously unreached tribe in Nepal. He noted that Reasonable Faith has nearly 250 chapters in 39 countries, aiming for 1000 total. Tyson directed listeners to https://www.reasonablefaith.org/chapters to learn more about getting involved. Further resources… https://ReasonableFaith.org/chapters Tyson James on X: @nosyt43 Sound Faith Consulting, and Tyson’s Bio: https://soundfaithconsulting.com/about ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode of the Apologetics 315 podcast, hosts Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview renowned apologist Greg Koukl. Koukl is the founder of Stand to Reason, an organization that equips Christians to defend their faith and engage in meaningful conversations. The discussion centers around using questions to have better conversations about Christianity, drawing from Koukl's books Tactics and his latest work Street Smarts. Koukl explains how questions can guide conversations in a more constructive direction and help "put a stone in someone's shoe" to get them thinking about faith topics. Koukl outlines his "gardener approach" to evangelism, focusing more on asking thoughtful questions to plant seeds rather than trying to lead someone to a moment of conversion. He demonstrates this questioning approach through a roleplay conversation about the problem of divine hiddenness. Koukl responds to the objection by asking clarifying questions, correcting underlying assumptions, and presenting evidence for God's existence. This models how to have a relaxed yet thoughtful dialogue. Koukl emphasizes that the key is to gather information through questions, avoid preaching, and lead the person to put pieces on the table themselves. The goal is to get people thinking carefully about their beliefs and objections. Koukl's Tactics provide tools to engage skeptics without being confrontational. Further resources… • Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges - https://a315.co/StreetSmarts • The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between - https://a315.co/3FpqFAl • Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air - https://a315.co/3M4AMyr • Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions - https://a315.co/46YCclW • Street Smarts Study Guide: Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges - https://a315.co/3tMmETZ ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview https://www.jstevemiller.info on the topic of deathbed experiences and near death experiences. 0:24 - Intro to Steve Miller and his books 4:50 - Welcome to Steve Miller 5:00 - How did he get into this area of research? 7:42 - What’s the difference between deathbed experiences and near-death experiences? 12:40 - Examples of these experiences 16:16 - The cumulative effect of many similar experiences 17:27 - What are the lines of evidence that are good when looking at these experiences? 22:20 - “Naturalism of the gaps” objections to NDEs 25:19 - The common experience of terminal lucidity 40:36 - What are deathbed experiences? 48:11 - Could these experiences be demonic in nature? 54:43 - Experiences contrary to theological expectations? 1:01:18 - The practical benefits of NDE and DBE research 1:07:18 - Suggested books for further study… Further resources… J Steve Miller online: https://www.jstevemiller.info Steve’s books: Deathbed Experiences as Evidence for the Afterlife - https://a315.co/3Fr5Xjx Near-Death Experiences as Evidence for the Existence of God and Heaven: A Brief Introduction in Plain Language - https://a315.co/3FsJVgt Is Christianity Compatible With Deathbed and Near-Death Experiences? : The Surprising Presence of Jesus, Scarcity of Anti-Christian Elements, And Compatibility with Historic Christian Teachings - https://a315.co/3FqsXiM Faith That's Not Blind: A Brief Introduction to Contemporary Arguments For the Existence of God - https://a315.co/3QuFUyx Why Brilliant People Believe Nonsense: A Practical Text For Critical and Creative Thinking - https://a315.co/3FqhQqf ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross speak with Professor Nancy Pearcey about her book The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes - https://a315.co/468rzNF 0:24 - Intro banter on hobbit food 2:15 - Intro to Nancy Pearcey and her book The Toxic War Against Masculinity 6:16 - Welcome to Nancy 6:46 - Nancy’s background and why she wrote the book 9:14 - Francis Schaeffer’s influence on Nancy Pearcey 15:41 - Why a toxic war against masculinity? 18:35 - The statistics among Christians and non-Christians 22:18 - The difference between nominal Christian men and committed Christian men 25:36 - What’s changed to bring about a resistance against masculinity? 30:07 - Why men are looked down on these days 33:00 - Two competing scripts for masculinity 37:03 - How secularism has changed the approach towards men 40:14 - How has the church responded? 47:50 - Abuse and how the church can respond Further resources… Nancy Pearcey online: https://www.nancypearcey.com Nancy Pearcey's latest book is https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-War-Masculinity-Christianity-Reconciles/dp/0801075734 Her earlier books include https://www.amazon.com/Love-Thy-Body-Answering-Questions/dp/0801075726, https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Science-Christian-Natural-Philosophy/dp/0891077669 https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Leonardo-Secular-Assault-Meaning/dp/1433669277 https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Truth-Principles-Secularism-Substitutes/dp/0781413087 https://www.amazon.com/How-Now-Shall-We-Live/dp/084235588X https://www.amazon.com/Total-Truth-Study-Guide-Christianity/dp/1433502208 Her books have been translated into 19 languages. She is professor and scholar in residence at Houston Christian University. A former agnostic, Pearcey has spoken at universities such as Princeton, Stanford, USC, and Dartmouth. She has been quoted in *he New Yorker and Newsweek, highlighted as one of the five top women apologists by Christianity Today, and hailed in The Economist as "America's pre-eminent evangelical Protestant female intellectual." ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross speak with Justin Brierley (https://www.justinbrierley.com) about his book The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again - https://a315.co/3PBmXZ7 0:24 - Brian and Chad discuss the book 5:27 - Intro to Justin, welcome back! 7:15 - How did the new atheism actually help Christianity? 9:12 - The change in the cultural landscape 13:30 - Atheists who are now no longer fighting Christianity 17:30 - Why the structure of the book? 24:56 - How has social media changed? 27:58 - Reasons why the Bible is being taken seriously by academics 33:21 - Arguments & evidence vs. experience 37:10 - The left and the right brain and spiritual experiences 39:34 - The meaning crisis that is left when you remove Christianity 42:30 - How can the church respond to the cultural climate? 47:21 - Further resources… Justin’s new podcasts: Re-Enchanting - https://a315.co/3thIFKj MaybeGod Podcast - https://a315.co/3LGOh7f Check out this previous episode with Justin Brierley here: https://a315.co/3tlXXxt ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview https://ratiochristi.org/people/corey-miller/ and https://www.faithaftermormonism.org, two former Mormons, on their book https://a315.co/3PYWohY- https://a315.co/3PYWohY Check out the website https://www.mormonmissionarymessage.com for more! About our guests: https://a315.co/45c79Su 0:24 - Intro to the book and our guests 2:47 - Welcome to Corey and Ross 4:23 - How did the book come together? 7:20 - What was it like growing up in the Mormon culture? 11:18 - What led Corey and Ross to start doubting Mormonism? 17:40 - What does doubting Mormonism usually lead to? 22:45 - What are the primary authorities for Mormons? 26:10 - Questioning the testimony of Mormons 31:40 - What sows doubt into Mormons’ experiences? 37:45 - The life of a Mormon missionary 40:30 - What do you say to the Mormon at your door? 45:00 - What to avoid saying? 48:25 - The usefulness of the book and where to find more resources Check out the website https://www.mormonmissionarymessage.com for more! Corey Miller & Ratio Christi: https://ratiochristi.org/people/corey-miller/ Ross Anderson: https://www.faithaftermormonism.org ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Christian Philosopher Peter S. Williams about his book https://a315.co/48ugxUc. Find his resources at https://www.peterswilliams.com 0:24 - Intro to our guest 2:15 - About the book An Informed Cosmos 9:25 - Getting clarity on what intelligent design is 14:10 - Is I.D. science? And defining “science” 19:39 - Truth as the most important approach 21:56 - Imposing worldviews on the data? 25:01 - Is evolution the means by which God created? 29:21 - What role does a Darwinian process play? 35:00 - How did Peter go from being a theistic evolutionist to an ID proponent? 40:45 - What tipped the balance for Peter? 46:52 - What role does information play in design detection? 53:21 - Can we recognize non-intelligent design? 54:57 - Theistic interpretations? 56:22 - Paley’s “watchmaker” shows that we can detect design? 1:00:13 - Prevailing errors when thinking about design 1:05:00 - Is intelligent design “creationism”? 1:06:25 - How has intelligent design changed Peter’s thinking? 1:13:30 - Peter’s music - https://www.peterswilliams.com/composing Check out a past episode with Peter S. Williams: 006 - Outgrowing God? with Peter S. Williams - https://a315.co/4615IYj Books by Peter S. Williams: An Informed Cosmos: Essays on Intelligent Design Theory - https://a315.co/48ugxUc A Universe From Someone: Essays on Natural Theology - https://a315.co/46GLUtl Apologetics in 3D: Essays on Apologetics and Spirituality - https://a315.co/3PtMqUu Outgrowing God? A Beginner’s Guide to Richard Dawkins and the God Debate - https://a315.co/3Pww9xP Getting at Jesus: A Comprehensive Critique of Neo-Atheist Nonsense About the Jesus of History - https://a315.co/46pUFri A Faithful Guide to Philosophy: A Christian Introduction to the Love of Wisdom - https://a315.co/3Ptm0C3 C.S. Lewis vs the New Atheists - https://a315.co/48ugxUc ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Lydia McGrew about her book https://a315.co/3Pb2oUj. 0:24 - Intro to Lydia McGrew 1:51 - Welcome Lydia, and intro to the book 3:43 - How does a philosopher approach the Gospels? 6:39 - Is an “outside perspective” welcomed? 9:28 - Old and new approaches to the Gospels 12:03 - Current approach of scholars to the New Testament 15:44 - How have Christians historically defended the Gospels? 16:50 - Why a cumulative case approach? 19:55 - Inference to the best explanation of multiple hypotheses 23:25 - Best explanation of hard little unnecessary details 26:23 - The reportage model and the burden of proof 31:14 - Unnecessary details, a sign of fiction? 37:25 - What are unexplained allusions? 42:34 - The aspects of Jesus’ life that point to its reality 46:45 - “I love Jesus’ style…” 49:48 - Pointing people to the book and resources… Further Resources: • Lydia McGrew website: https://www.lydiamcgrew.com • Lydia McGrew’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/LydiaMcGrewChannel • Podcast version of Youtube content: https://anchor.fm/lydiamcgrew Books: Testimonies to the Truth: Why You Can Trust the Gospels https://a315.co/3Pb2oUj The Eye of the Beholder: The Gospel of John as Historical Reportage https://a315.co/3E8Fuac The Mirror or the Mask: Liberating the Gospels from Literary Devices https://a315.co/3XzVKI8 Hidden In Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts https://a315.co/411fsj2 PREVIOUS EPISODES WITH LYDIA MCGREW: 106 - The Reliability of John with Lydia McGrew - https://a315.co/45JAxA9 084 - Maximal Data Case for the Resurrection with Lydia McGrew - https://a315.co/3qC6lbu ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com

In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross interview Christian philosophy Paul K. Moser. They discuss the themes in Moser’s book The Severity of God: Religion and Philosophy Reconceived - https://a315.co/3sOD6mx 0:24 - Intro to Paul Moser 3:33 - Welcome to Paul Moser 4:00 - What do you mean by “God’s severity”? 9:06 - We’ve lost the message of suffering and hardship 11:25 - The moral perfection of God and his intentions 18:20 - Why is this theme lacking? 22:42 - The experience of Gethsemane and submission 29:09 - Skeptical expectations and “not my will” 33:09 - Meeting God on his terms 34:00 - Reorienting our Christian epistemology with a willing heart 41:24 - The challenge of the obstinate will (turning to Christ) 45:30 - The flux and despair of life, pushing us to God 49:45 - Changing our approach to philosophy 55:30 - The God who vindicates Himself Further Resources: Paul Moser’s website: http://pmoser.sites.luc.edu/ Paul Moser’s faculty page at Loyola - https://a315.co/44McpvG Paul Moser’s books on Amazon - https://a315.co/PaulMoserBooks ================================ We appreciate your feedback. If you’re on TWITTER, you can follow Chad @TBapologetics. You can follow Brian @TheBrianAuten And of course, you can follow @Apologetics315 If you have a question or comment for the podcast, record it and send it our way using www.speakpipe.com/Apologetics315 or you can email us at podcast@apologetics315.com