Richard Dawkins and Why Cultural Christianity Isn't Enough

Richard Dawkins and Why Cultural Christianity Isn't Enough

Richard Dawkins is arguably the world’s foremost atheist. Yet he like Sam Rubin, Douglas Murray, Tom Holland and others claims to be a cultural Christian. Why would the man who paid for bus advertisements dismissing God want to be identified with Christianity? Dawkins likes the benefits of living in a Christian society. But what Dawkins forgets is for any society to sustain the fruits of Christianity, there needs to be a strong root of true belief in Jesus. Enjoy this riveting discussion with myself, Dr. Harry Edwards and Dr. Jacob Daniel as we discuss the cultural Christian phenomenon.

The Indomitable Word of God

The Bible is undeniably unique among the books of the world. No other book has sold more copies, been at the forefront of new technologies and been the most challenged, studies, scrutinized, and debated text the world over. Yet, it stands as the preeminent revelation of God’s message to his people. In this podcast, we look at what inspiration means and see the power of God’s word to change lives as well as how it withstands all attacks.

Virtuous Leaders and Why They Matter

Virtuous Leaders and Why They Matter

Leadership. It's lauded as essential to managing a group, but what effect do leaders really have? The question of leadership has increased in relevance these days as it seems that no matter on what side of the political aisle one resides, good leaders are becoming more and more rare.

In this study of Jeremiah Chapters 34 and 35, Lenny explores the concept by looking at a stark contrast in leadership between the bad and the good. You can find opens all kinds of parallels to issues we face today and our text even helps us understand how faithful Christians can navigate today’s ignoble politics where perhaps no good leaders may be found.

Bethel Church and the New Apostolic Reformation: Christian or Cult?

Bethel Church and the New Apostolic Reformation: Christian or Cult?

Many people have been attracted to Bethel Church and the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement. However, the movement’s emphasis on modern-day apostles and prophets shows dangerous signs of being more about power and control than creating a church faithful to Jesus’s teachings. Here I engage in a roundtable discussion with Anthony Costello, Dr, Douglas Geivett, and Holly Pivec, exposing NAR as something more counterfeit than Christian.

Why the Virgin Birth Matters: The Rhyne Putman Interview

Why the Virgin Birth Matters: The Rhyne Putman Interview

Ever since the earliest days of the church, the idea that Jesus was born of a virgin became crucial to understand certain aspects of Christianity. It was included in the church creeds and has dramatic implications to how we understand who Jesus is and all he come to accomplish as savior. In this interview, Dr. Rhyne Putman joins me to explore many of the meanings and objections he covers in his new book.

Calvinism, Arminianism, and God's Middle Knowledge

Calvinism, Arminianism, and God's Middle Knowledge

Salvation. How do we understand it? Within the church there are two primary views that Christians hold: God has predestined us to be saved but we also have liberty—we may choose to either follow or deny him. On this podcast, we're going to explore something that is a third choice, something called middle knowledge or Molinism. Join us as we explore aspects of each of these positions with Dr. Kenneth Keathley.

Is God Evil in the Old Testament?

Is God Evil in the Old Testament?

Atheist Richard Dawkins famously wrote “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction” and charged him with being a genocidal ethnic cleanser. Other atheists have also specifically criticized the biblical story of the conquering of Canaan by the Israelites because God ordered them to wipe out all who live there—sometimes even including the livestock.

How should Christians understand the slaughter of the Canaanites and the orders God gave to the Israelites? There’s actually more than meets the eye here as we explore why a good God would give such a command.

Should Christians Seek to Shape Culture?

Should Christians Seek to Shape Culture?

What should be the role of the church in shaping the broader culture of our society? Today’s secular culture seems to be running further and further away from its Christian roots. But does that mean we no longer have a responsibility to it? Are Christians to withdraw from the world or do we bear a responsibility to try and move culture toward a more moral and Godly direction? For today’s podcast, I’m behind the radio mike, joining the Apologetics.com team of Dr. Harry Edwards and Dr. Jacob Daniel to discuss just what we mean by culture and identify what duties the church has in bringing culture more in line with our biblical values.

Faith and Science: Where the Conflict Really Lies

Faith and Science: Where the Conflict Really Lies

Faith and science. These two topics have been seemingly at loggerheads formany years. But don't believe everything you hear. Can people of faith embrace some of the most modern scientific discoveries of today? We're going to be exploring the ideas of faith and science and how these two disciplines are not at loggerheads, but actually work together to give us a clearer picture of the world.

Conservative Politics and the Danger of Secularism

Conservative Politics and the Danger of Secularism

What is a cultural Christian? Those who have traditionally been opposed to Christian beliefs, people Like Richard Dawkins, James Lindsay, and others are publicly siding with Evangelicals for conservative causes associated previously with church-goers. They don't believe, but identify as "cultural Christians." What are we to make of all of this? Is it a good thing or something we need to be wary of? Learn about the new rise of secular conservatism on this podcast.

Christianity vs. Christian Nationalism and the Woke Right

Christianity Vs. Christian Nationalism and the Woke Right

Today's culture has really shifted as more people are disconnected from faith. Proponents of what we may term "traditional values" are on the rise even though they don't ground such values in any transcendent ethic. Others, claiming to be Christians place their political battles on par with their religious beliefs and some have adopted the tactics that those on the left have used such as cancel culture against their opponents. How can we as Christians understand what it means to be virtuous in a society that no longer holds virtue as a value?

Why Are Churches Blessing Same Sex Couples While Denying Same Sex Marriage?

Why Are Churches Blessing Same Sex Couples While Denying Same Sex Marriage?

There’s an alarming trend beginning to emerge in churches today across Christendom. Conservative Catholic, Orthodox and even Evangelical churches have taken to offer blessings to same-sex couples while still trying to hold that same-sex unions are against the teachings of scripture. Should "pastoral care" trump the clear teaching of scripture on what we understand as an immoral lifestyle? And how do we as evangelicals elevate doctrine to its proper position while still “loving the sinner and hating the sin”? We tackle this difficult topic in this round-table discussion.

One Nation Under God: How America’s Christian Heritage Shaped Our Country

One Nation Under God: How America’s Christian Heritage Shaped Our Country

We’ve heard the phrase “American Exceptionalism.” Just what is it that makes America different? In a word, it’s Christianity. Because Christianity so changed and infused the culture, Christian ideas provided the foundation of the American experiment. Indeed, America could not have existed without it and those Christian principles are necessary to maintain the nation as the founders envisioned.

How We Became a Crotch-Driven Culture

How We Became a Crotch-Driven Culture

Pride month, transgender ideology, throuples, onlyFans, sexual self-expression, InCels, and abortion. It seems that almost all the issues that capture the attention and the headlines today center around the pelvis. How is it that the center of our culture revolves around the vulgar and the crass? How did civilization lose its way? In this podcast, Dr. Harry Edwards and I discuss why in the 20th century culture turned from elevating the human condition to a more self-centered and feelings-based drive of the individual and how that led to our sex-saturated society.

Understanding In-vitro Fertilization As A Christian

Understanding In-vitro Fertilization As A Christian

Reproduction, in vitro fertilization, and all of the questions that go along with it have been making the headlines recently. Did the Southern Baptists really oppose IVF treatments for infertile couples? How can pro-life people be against bringing more babies into the world? Just what issues are there with IVF and other reproduction-assisting procedures? Are there dangers to the parents? Listen in as Lenny explores all those questions and more.

Pope Francis vs Augustine: Are People "Fundamentally Good"?

Pope Francis vs Augustine: Are People "Fundamentally Good"?

In a recent 60 Minutes television interview, Pope Francis made the claim that people are "fundamentally good in heart." Such a statement by the head of the Roman Catholic church seems to directly contradict Catholic theology, going all the way back to Saint Augustine! Is the pope renouncing the doctrine of original sin? What about human nature and human depravity? Is the pope even Catholic? In this podcast, I'm joined by Reasons to Believe scholar Ken Samples as we contrast Catholic and Protestant theology and help unravel Francis's cryptic comments.

What's the Big Deal About The Trinity, Anyway?

What's the Big Deal About The Trinity, Anyway?

The Trinity. It forms the center of Christian doctrine, yet most Christians today either don’t understand it or ignore it as something not important. But if God wasn’t a triune being, our salvation would be impossible. How can we make the Trinity more comprehensible? In this episode I interview Dr. Fred Sanders of Biola University, an expert on the Trinity, as we explore the deep things of God.

Leveraging Culture for Christianity

Leveraging Culture for Christianity

It's no secret we're no longer living in a Christian culture when we see all of the various ways that church has been displaced in our society. How can we share our faith with people who simply aren't interested in religion anymore? By leveraging the desires and the thoughts that people do have to show them that Christianity actually is the answer that they're searching for.

What Does Athens Have to Do With Jerusalem?

What Does Athens Have to Do With Jerusalem?

That question was first famously asked by the church father Tertullian when he was contemplating the relationship between Greek philosophy and church theology. Today, many people wonder the same thing. Do we need all that egghead scholasticism or can’t we just love Jesus? Yet, for most of Christian history the pastors *were* the professors! It is only recently that some mistakenly separate belief from intellectual scholarship. Listen in to learn just how much Christian scholarship can contribute to the church and why we need both to love God with all our minds as well as our hearts.

J. Warner Wallace: The Inside Scoop on True Crime

J. Warner Wallace: The Inside Scoop on True Crime

Can a homicide detective who dealt with murderers and death really uncover important truths about how to live? In this fascinating interview, Lenny speaks with Det. J. Warner Wallace about his career as a cold-case detective and his new book The Truth in True Crime. In it, Wallace shares the fifteen most important principles to improve your life, strengthen your faith, and make you a better human being.

Learning From 35 Answered Prayers in the Bible

Learning From 35 Answered Prayers in the Bible

Throughout the Bible, we see the heroes of the faith coming in prayer to God for all kinds of issues, But have you really studied just how they prayed? In this interview with Dr. Nathan Ward, author of _Our Eyes Are On You: A Study of Biblical Prayer_, we discuss what specific things effective prayers have in common and how our understanding of God's nature and attributes should inform our petitions.

What Dangers Does AI Hold For The Future?

What Dangers Does AI Hold For The Future?

Artificial intelligence is quickly being integrated into more and more systems we use to work and create. But are there dangers to it? Past doomsday scenarios in film may not be realistic, but ther are some legitimate cautions we should heed that accompany the benefits of AI. In this episode, Lenny joins the Kirkwood Center roundtable to look at the benefits and potential pitfalls of AI, including some areas of concern that aren’t normally discussed.

Belief, Denial, and Delusion: Lessons from Jeremiah

Belief, Denial, and Delusion: Lessons from Jeremiah

People will hold their beliefs strongly. If a belief is justified, that should be the case. But what happens when we believe things that aren’t true because we simply don’t want to? We have many examples throughout history of people denying or deluding themselves into believing things about God that are simply wrong, and they even use scripture to try and prove it! In this podcast, we examine how our denial or biased understanding of God makes for dangerous, dangerous trap that can lead to significant consequences.

Losing Culture: How Relativism Makes People More Savage

Losing Culture: How Relativism Makes People More Savage

Why do we see more incivility in our society today? We read about the increase in mass shootings, student violence against speakers with whom they disagree, and an ever-growing online belligerence. And what's worse is our country and our world are being divided among ideological lines where no thought or no charity is given to the person holding a differing view. Here, our panel explores how we are losing our culture--specifically how relativism is making people more savage, causing them to lose the understanding of what civility actually means.

Fake News! How the Misinformation Police Get It Wrong

Fake News! How the Misinformation Police Get It Wrong

What counts as misinformation, disinformation or fake news? Are people so led astray by today's social media that they continually confuse facts with opinion? Lenny examines a journalarticle by political sciientists who claim to show how people get their facts and opinions wrong. However, there's a big problem... the researchers themseves don't understand knowledge. By misdefining what counts as fact, theitr paper provides an example of how the experts are committing the very error they are lecturing others about. Find out how to think a little more clearly on this Come Le Us Reason Podcast.