Questions about the legitimacy of the principle of double effect when it comes to abortion and saving the mother’s life, whether laws should protect the unborn baby at the expense of the mother’s life, laws for non-viable pregnancies, and changing pro-choice areas vs. leaving. Is it just a cop-out to cite the principle of double effect when the unborn baby dies as a result of saving the mother’s life? What should lawmakers do when it comes to situations where the mother has to choose between her...
Oct 24, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Question about what biblical principles should guide how we vote. What biblical principles should guide how we vote?
Oct 21, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether we should only study the truth in the Bible and not learn about other beliefs, whether the apologetics approach is contrary to the warning in 2 John 10, and the biggest change STR has seen in the types of questions asked over the years. If people who are trained to identify fake currency only study the real currency, should we therefore only study the Bible and not learn about other beliefs? Isn’t the apologetics approach contrary to 2 John 10, which tells us not to let a...
Oct 17, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about when a human receives a soul and how to respond to someone who rejects science, reason, philosophy, and objective morality in her effort to defend abortion, saying that pro-lifers just want to control women. When does a human receive a soul? In the zygote stage, the cells haven’t differentiated yet, and some become the placenta, but the placenta doesn’t have a soul, so why would the zygote? Should I give up trying to persuade someone who rejects science, reason, philosophy, and o...
Oct 14, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to respond to someone who says that maybe God intended for her daughter to transition from a girl to a boy and how kids in a small youth group with a child who identifies as non-binary can navigate that situation with respect and allegiance to the Word of God. How do I respond to my sister who says that God doesn’t make mistakes and maybe he chose for her daughter to be trans as a challenge for her to overcome (i.e., he intended for her daughter to transition from a girl to a...
Oct 10, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how we know if the good things we experience are the result of God’s actions, whether something can be considered a miracle if it can be explained scientifically, and how to respond to atheists who are mocking a Christian’s prayers for rain. Believers credit God for the good things that happen to them, but good things happen to non-believers also, so how do we know if the good things we experience are the direct result of God’s actions or would have just happened anyway without h...
Oct 07, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how one would argue that a particular truth is self-evident, the biblical justification for the claim of our Founding Fathers that God gave us the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the right to liberty vs. submitting to governing authorities. How would one argue that a particular truth is self-evident? What is the biblical justification for the claim of our Founding Fathers that God gave us the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and what are the limit...
Oct 03, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether the Bible explicitly forbids premarital sex and whether Song of Songs 2:4–6 promotes premarital sex. How should I respond to someone who says the Bible never explicitly forbids premarital sex? Does Song of Songs 2:4–6 promote premarital sex?
Sep 30, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether Christians can simply say that God’s moral requirements are a show of loyalty to him rather than argue they’re the best way to live, whether references to unforgivable sins contradict the idea that all our sins are forgiven, and praying for Satan. Christians often try to make the case that Christian morality is the best way to live, but at some point could we simply say God’s requirements are a show of loyalty to him irrespective of any possible impact on society? How doe...
Sep 26, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to help a friend move away from his belief that objective facts about religious issues, unlike scientific facts, are “just someone’s belief” and how to respond to an atheist who keeps dismissing every argument and demanding “verified” evidence. How can I help a friend who thinks objective facts about religious issues are, unlike scientific facts, “just someone’s belief” move away from the fact-value split? How should I respond to an atheist who keeps demanding “verified” evid...
Sep 23, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about what to tell a child who feels guilty for not wanting to read the Bible because he finds it boring and confusing, what Bible was printed before King James published his version, and whether or not the original versions are available in English. What do I tell a child who feels guilty for not wanting to read the Bible because he finds it boring and confusing? Was King James greedy and power-hungry, and did he have a version of the Bible written to support the royal kingdom? What w...
Sep 19, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about what we would say in a high school graduation speech if given the opportunity, how to talk to talk about eternity with a six-year-old who is disturbed by the thought of Heaven never ending, and where Jesus is now if he has a body. If you had the opportunity to give the high school graduation speech, what would you say? How should I talk to my six-year-old about eternity when she struggles with the thought of it never ending and says she wishes she would have never been born so sh...
Sep 16, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether churches ought to be taxed if holy people are so interested in politics and how to respond to the claim that conservative Christians changed their minds about slavery and segregation and will eventually also change their minds about LGBTQ+ rights. They ought to tax churches. If holy people are so interested in politics, government, and public policy, let them pay the price of admission like everyone else. Conservative Christians were once for slavery and segregation and a...
Sep 12, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about why anyone should think the evidence for the resurrection is strong if Saul and the majority of first-century Jews found it insufficient, why Jesus came to to the Jews rather than another nationality, and how other nationalities came about through Noah. Why should educated non-Christians today trust apologists’ claims that the evidence for the resurrection is strong if Saul and the overwhelming majority of first-century Jews found it insufficient? Why did Jesus come specifically ...
Sep 09, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about where the essence God is composed of came from, whether God has the same choices other beings have and could choose not to exist, and how to convince a non-believer God matters if he’s undetectable and a non-interventionist. If things have to have a beginning, and God is something and not nothing, then where did the essence he is composed of come from? Can something create itself? Does God have the same choices other beings have, and could he could choose not to be, like other be...
Sep 05, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about it being better to do good for goodness’ sake rather than to earn approval and avoid punishment and a good initial approach to take with someone who rejects God based on his “violent” and “oppressive” character in the Old Testament. I want my children to do good for goodness’ sake. Doing it to earn my approval and avoid my punishment is the absolute worst outcome I can imagine, as is requiring them to relentlessly thank me for helping them find it—and I’m just a human! What's a g...
Sep 02, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how access to God through Jesus in the New Covenant differs from access in the Old Covenant, whether the salvation of Gentiles is just a means to the end of making Israel jealous, and the idea that theology is only personal and contextual, not objective. How is access to God through Jesus in the New Covenant different from the access Jews had to God in the Old Covenant? Is the salvation of Gentiles just a means to the end of making Israel jealous (see Romans 11:11–16)? How is thi...
Aug 29, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Question about how to respond to a meme that says, “Your religion does not prohibit me from anything. It prohibits you. Learn the difference.” How should I respond to a meme that says, “Your religion does not prohibit me from anything. It prohibits you. Learn the difference”?
Aug 26, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about why evangelism is emphasized above other commands in the Bible, what to do when speaking the truth in love hurts someone’s feelings, and how to best love and share the gospel with a friend who rejects it because of bad experiences with Christians. Why is it hammered into us that Christians need to go out and evangelize when the Great Commission is mentioned only four times in the Bible and other commands spoken of throughout the Bible (love, servitude, humility, etc.) seem to get...
Aug 22, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether it’s circular reasoning to say the Bible is true because God says it’s true, how we can know when sarcasm or some other relevant tone is being used in the Bible, and whether tithing results in God’s faithful provision and financial blessings. Is it circular reasoning to say the Bible is true because God says it’s true (in the Bible)? How can we accurately read stories like 2 Chronicles 18:12–16, where it seems as if Micaiah was using sarcasm? How do we know when there is ...
Aug 19, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to respond to someone who rejects God because he didn’t save her from her childhood trauma when she prayed for help and whether it’s wrong to respond to the psalm that says, “What can man do to me,” by thinking, “They can do a lot!” Can you help me respond to someone who rejects God because he didn’t save her from her childhood trauma when she prayed for help? Is it a sin that when I read the psalm that says, “What can man do to me,” my response is to think, “They can do a lo...
Aug 15, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Question about whether or not we would kill a baby if God commanded us to do it. If God commanded you to kill a baby, would you do it—yes or no?
Aug 12, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about Christians making use of the concept of meditation, advice for discussions with panentheists, and how to not be discouraged when pastors don’t use apologetics when it would be the perfect time to do so. How might Christians appropriately make use of the concept of meditation, or should this sort of thing be avoided? Do you have any tips or questions for discussions with New Age spiritualists—in particular, panentheists? How can we not become discouraged when pastors or teachers d...
Aug 08, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether it’s okay to pray for the destruction and downfall of our enemies, how to reconcile the idea that God doesn’t tempt people with the fact that he led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted, and why believers need to ask forgiveness for their sins. We use psalms in worship and model our prayers after them, but is it okay to pray for the destruction and downfall of our enemies like we see in the imprecatory psalms? How do we reconcile the idea that God doesn’t tempt people ...
Aug 05, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether you can be acting on godly wisdom if your choice is giving you deep pain, how a combat vet who has difficulty going to church due to PTSD can find peace with who he is, and whether a Christian can be a public defender and represent criminals. Can I be acting on godly wisdom if my choice is giving me deep pain? I am a combat vet with PTSD who has difficulty connecting with people and doesn’t do well in crowds, which makes it difficult to go to church and have friends and f...
Aug 01, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether humanity’s justice is better than God’s, what to say to a Muslim who asks why God’s justice requires him to punish sin instead of just forgiving without punishment, and why so much blood, torture, and slaughter for Jesus. God is not just. Humanity’s justice attempts to fit a punishment to the crime and aims for rehabilitation and restoration to the community rather than eternal damnation. What would you say to a Muslim who asks why God’s justice requires him to punish sin...
Jul 29, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about why God didn’t start humanity over right away by destroying Adam and Eve instead of waiting for the flood, whether another fall will be possible in the new creation (and what that means for our free will), and why God didn’t make us “fall-proof” from the beginning. Why didn’t God start humanity over right away by destroying Adam and Eve if he knew he was going to have to destroy an evil generation with the flood later on? In the new heavens and earth, will another fall of humanit...
Jul 25, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about what the Bible means by “boasting in our weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:7–10), what it means to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” (1 Pet. 3:13–15), and whether giving our lives to Christ means we can’t have other interests besides God. What does the Bible mean by “boasting in our weaknesses,” and what does this look like in our lives? In 1 Peter 3:15, what does it mean to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts”? We’re to give our lives to Christ, but how much living do we get to ...
Jul 22, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how God could kill all the firstborn babies in the tenth plague, how to respond to someone who says God committed genocide when he destroyed the earth during the flood, and whether God still creates calamity today as it says in Isaiah 45:7. How could God kill all the firstborn babies in the tenth plague? How should I respond to someone who says God committed genocide when he destroyed the earth during the flood? Does God still create calamity today as it says in Isaiah 45:7?...
Jul 18, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether the Bible says that someday everyone in the world will worship God, the purpose of worshiping God, and whether it might be the case that God has created another universe where that creation also gives him glory. Does it say anywhere in the Bible that someday everyone (all the world) will worship God? [Note: after recording this episode, we also came across Psalm 66:3–4, which says that “all the earth will worship” God, but also that his enemies will give him “feigned obed...
Jul 15, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
