Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Julie Ferrell to discuss motherhood.Questions Covered in This Episode: How did you reflect on motherhood before you were a mom? What would you say to the people who think motherhood is a burden? What would you say to the people who think motherhood is a woman's highest calling? What does it mean that the act of mothering can look different but our calling as moms is the same? What are your thoughts on choosing where your kids go to school? What difference does it ...
May 14, 2024•53 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Rachel Gilson to have a conversation about whether the Bible affirms same-sex relationships.Questions Covered in This Episode: Can you share your story? What is the most common question about what the Bible says about relationships? What would you say to someone who asks how a loving God could be against relationships like this? How does our church community offer love to those in our congregation who are lonely due to singleness? How do you love your friend witho...
May 07, 2024•41 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Sam Allberry to discuss what it means to have union with Christ.Questions Covered in This Episode: What does it mean that Christians are united with Christ? How does union with Christ bring Christians together? How does the Bible describe Christian friendship? What does union with Christ mean for our desire to sin? What prompted you to write this book? Guest Bio: Sam Allberry is a pastor, apologist, and speaker. He is the author of a number of books, including Is ...
Apr 30, 2024•30 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Kenza Haddock to share her story of how Jesus changed her life.Questions Covered in This Episode: Tell us about your life story. Was your identity tied to being a Muslim? What changed when you moved to the US? What does “the end times” mean for a Muslim? What does it mean for a Christian? How did you know it was Jesus in your dream? What was it that led you to believe in Jesus? What is Romans 10:9? Why did you have to move away from your family? What would your ad...
Apr 23, 2024•28 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Tom Rudelius to discuss Tom’s story, the probability of the multiverse, belief in God, and where hope can be found in suffering.Questions Covered in This Episode: How did you become a Christian? How did you originally tie science and academics with your faith once you became a Christian? What areas and topics are you currently researching? Why is it called string theory? Is the idea of the Big Bang incompatible with belief in God? Help us understand where we are t...
Apr 16, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Matthew Martens to discuss if Christianity can help reform the criminal justice system. Questions Covered in This Episode: What is the quick summary of what you are proposing in this book? What does Christianity have to do with the criminal justice system? Why does Christianity have a proposal for reforming the criminal justice system in America? The number of people has increased substantially, what is the reason for that? When you think about where we are today ...
Apr 09, 2024•32 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Vermon Pierre to have a conversation about how God's love for His church deepens our love for each otherQuestions Covered in This Episode: What does your day-to-day life look like as a pastor? How did you become a Christian? What draws you to Christian community? What ethnic background was the church you grew up in? What was your experience with your faith at Princeton? What do you think about the local church theologically? What does that look like practically? C...
Apr 02, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Ian Hutchinson to discuss the relationship between science and the Christian faith.Questions Covered in This Episode: What is your scientific research on? When did you become a Christian? Is there a contradiction between the Christian faith and science? How would help someone who thinks miracles are not plausible? What is the strongest piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus? What would you say to someone who doesn’t think there is a need to choose to beli...
Mar 26, 2024•30 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Irwyn Ince to have a conversation about CrossFit, Jesus, and where his hope is found. Questions Covered in This Episode: How did you get into CrossFit? Tell us about the community aspect of Crossfit. How did you become a Christian? How did becoming a Christian change your way of thinking? How does the history of race in America impact the way we view church today? What would you say to someone who knows something is missing from their life but thinks that CrossFit...
Mar 19, 2024•47 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Vaneetha Risner to discuss her life story and what God has taught her through suffering. Questions Covered in This Episode: Can you share a little of your life and how you became a Christian? What happened once you became a Christian? Has suffering helped you set your eyes on the future hope we have as Christians? Guest Bio:Vaneetha Rendall Risner is the author of several books including but not limited to; Desperate For Hope , Walking Through Fire , and The Scars...
Mar 12, 2024•32 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Gray Sutanto to have a conversation about why God doesn’t save everyone.Questions Covered in This Episode: Can you give us a 60 second overview of your life? When you were 12, what made you turn to atheism? When you were 17 what made you turn to Jesus? Why doesn't God save everyone? Are human beings fundamentally good? What is concupiscence? Were we created with concupiscence? Or is this a feature of our curroption from the fall? How is it fair that God chooses on...
Mar 05, 2024•40 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Elizabeth Woodson to discuss how following Jesus is better than you could possibly imagine.Questions Covered in This Episode: How would you explain what the gospel is for those who don’t know? What inspired you to write “Embrace your Life,” what is it about? What story is the bible telling us? How does our story either fit or not fit into the Story of the Bible? What would you say to someone who says it feels childish to put their hope in Jesus? Guest Bio:Elizabet...
Feb 27, 2024•25 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by James Eglinton to have a conversation about the arguments for and against euthanasia, how Christians should think about it, and where our hope can be found.Questions Covered in This Episode: What is euthanasia? What is this conversation about? How does it connect to The Great British Bake Off? Why might people be in favor of euthanasia? What is your wife's perspective as someone who is involved in geriatric care as a medical professional? How should Christians thi...
Feb 20, 2024•45 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Justin Brierley have a conversation about if people are still asking if God is dead and why.Questions Covered in This Episode: Are people still asking if God is dead? What is driving that? Where do people tend to get stuck when they try to answer this question? How does the Christian heritage of our culture show the truth? Why is it so weird, that the God we believe in came to to earth to die? In your conversations with people, are they specific about who God is o...
Feb 13, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by John Dickson to discuss if history discredits Christianity.Questions Covered in This Episode: Why are the core Christians's beliefs not surprising to a first century Jewish rabbi, known as Jesus? When were the Gospels written and how can we be sure? What about the claim that Jesus is God in the flesh, where is the evidence of that? Can you give us background on Constantine? What happened during the Crusades? Guest Bio:John Dickson started out as a professional sin...
Feb 06, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Gavin Ortlund to answer the question; why doesn't God make Himself more obvious?Questions Covered in This Episode: Why doesn't God make Himself more obvious? What is divine transcendence? How does the incarnation affect this conversation? How is Jesus the image of the invisible God? Why would God use sinful humans to reveal Himself to others instead of something more obvious? What does the Bible say about sin and why is it so offensive? What about the people who h...
Jan 30, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Hey there! Get ready for an exciting season where we're going to talk about some big questions that people have about Christianity. Every Tuesday, we'll dive into topics like why God isn't more visible, what Christianity says about love and relationships, and how science and faith can fit together. We'll discuss if things like resurrection and euthanasia make sense in Christianity, and we'll even talk about whether the Bible has anything to say about tough issues like slavery. So tune in each we...
Jan 23, 2024•1 min
Rebecca McLaughlin walks through the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and why it is significant for us today.Resources Mentioned: Luke 1-2, Matthew 1, 28 Sponsors:To learn more about our sponsors please visit our website . Follow Us: Instagram | Twitter Our Sister Shows: Knowing Faith | The Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting Place | Tiny Theologians Confronting Christianity is a podcast of Training the Church . For ad-free episodes and more content check out our Patreon...
Dec 24, 2023•7 min
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by her friend, Justine, who recently got baptized to answer some questions submitted by listeners!Questions Covered in This Episode: Do you have any advice for a first-time mom trying to keep up and stay connected to the church during the first six weeks? Any thoughts on how to practically lead a discipleship group for new moms? How should we understand passages like 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 or 1 Timothy 2:11-12 that say women should learn in silence? Why is the church...
Dec 19, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Susan Lim to discuss her new book, “Light of the World.”Questions Covered in This Episode: Where did the Bible, specifically the New Testament, come from and how is it reliable today? What is an Apostle? What was the process for deciding what was included or not included in the Bible? How do the gospels show Jesus as the only hero? What about the Old Testament? What language was the Bible written in? How do we know that when we pick up a Bible today, we have authe...
Dec 12, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Glen Scrivener to have a conversation about the gospel of Jesus.Questions Covered in This Episode: Can you tell us about your new book? Can you articulate the gospel in 30 seconds? What is the overall story of the Bible and how does it connect to us today? How is it right for one man to pay for the sins of other people? How is it not proof of the injustice of God? Why was such a drastic sacrifice God’s plan? What did the cross mean in the first century? How does t...
Dec 05, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Andrew Wilson to have a conversation about his book “Remaking the World.” Questions Covered in This Episode: Can you tell us what your new book is actually about? How might the line, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” otherwise be known? What would you say to someone who understands this originates from Christianity but believes it has evolved past that? What would you say to someone who thinks Christianity is taking a step b...
Nov 28, 2023•40 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Hannah Anderson to have a conversation about the book of Ecclesiastes. Questions Covered in This Episode: What is the context of the book of Ecclesiastes? In the first verse, the word “preacher” is a complex word in Hebrew, can you help us understand that? What can we gather from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8? What would you say to the person whose life feels kind of meaningless? How does the book of Ecclesiastes show us how to demonstrate the full range of human feelings an...
Nov 21, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Molly Worthen to discuss how Jesus can transform the life of an academic.Questions Covered in This Episode: What is your story of how you became a Christian? What were the main barriers from keeping you from becoming a Christian? Can you share about your conversation with J. D. Greear? What pieces of evidence were you surprised by when you researched if Jesus was raised from the dead? What about the eye witness accounts of the gospels and their accuracy? What woul...
Nov 14, 2023•43 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Jen Wilkin to have a conversation about the ten commandments and why they are important to us today.Questions Covered in This Episode: What did you want to be when you grow up? What is an image bearer? Where do the ten commandments fit into the story of the Bible? Tell us about the first command and why it is at the top of the list. How do the ten plagues connect to the ten commandments? Why would we read and show interest in the ten commandments? What is the purp...
Nov 07, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Peter Williams to have a conversation about the trustworthiness of the gospels.Questions Covered in This Episode: How far off from Jesus's death and resurrection were the Gospels written? How can people remember the things Jesus said with such great detail decades after Jesus's resurrection? Why are there differences between the gospels in Jesus’s teachings? Why do the gospels have a different ordering of events? Why do we hear about Bartimaeus in one gospel and h...
Oct 31, 2023•29 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Keith Plummer to discuss how we can model the love of Jesus to others online and how to engage in embodied community.Questions Covered in This Episode: Can you share your story of how you became a Christian? Where would you trace this transformation to? How has the online experience changed how students are thinking? How do Christians relate with others online? What does it look like to have embodied community in your life? How would you recommend someone to devel...
Oct 24, 2023•36 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Andrew Hile to discuss why the book of Leviticus is important and what we can learn from reading and studying it.Questions Covered in This Episode: Where does Leviticus fit into the first five books of the Bible? When you see the stories in Exodus are you supposed to see them stacking onto the stories in Genesis? What purpose is Leviticus fulfilling for us? How do the categories “clean and unclean” operate in Leviticus? What was the sacrificial system about in its...
Oct 17, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Mary Willson Hannah to discuss the book of Deuteronomy.Questions Covered in This Episode: What do we miss if we give up reading the Old Testament before we get to Deuteronomy? What is Deuteronomy about? How do make sense of a passage like Deuteronomy 2:31-36 in light of the command that Jesus gives to love our enemies? Can you help us understand Deuteronomy 22:28-29 in the right context? Do we see a change in God’s character between the Old and New Testament? How ...
Oct 10, 2023•44 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Rebecca McLaughlin is joined by Christy Thornton to answer questions about the Trinity.Questions Covered in This Episode: Has God always been Triune? Do other aspects of God’s identity change between the Old and New Testament? Is “let us make man in our image” written in plurality? If God was triune from the beginning why didn’t He make that clear from the beginning? Why is the Trinity not more clearly articulated in the New Testament? How do we know there are just three parts to God? How can al...
Oct 03, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 5
