Undeceptions with John Dickson

Proselytise: to convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.Why are Christians such god-botherers? Is it possible to share your belief system with someone who doesn’t accept without being a jerk?Many people today would have you believe that there is no context in which proselytising could be considered a good thing. This episode is supported by Zondervan's MasterLecture Series. LINKSFind out more about our guest, Dr Sam Chan And check out his latest book, How to talk about Jesus (without being THAT guy) And here's a rather extensive review of Sam’s book here.Sam's book Evangelism in a Skeptical World: How to Make the Unbelievable News About Jesus More Believable won Christianity Today's Book of the Year in evangelism and apologetics. PS -- How to Talk about Jesus (without being THAT guy) is the popular-level version of the more textbook-style Evangelism in a Skeptical World.​​​​​​​Sam quoted Mark Sayers, co-host of the podcast This Cultural Moment.Want to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

Transhumanism is the transformation of the human condition through sophisticated technologies that modify our physiology and intellect. This episode, we continue our conversation about Artificial Intelligence with Professor John Lennox, and Dr.s Vicky Lorrimar and Grenville Kent.This episode is brought to you by series sponsor Zondervan Academic, publishers of How to talk about Jesus without being THAT guy by Sam Chan.LINKS Meet Professor John LennoxGet Professor Lennox’s book 2084: Artificial intelligence and the future of humanitySay hi to episode guests Dr Grenville Kent and Dr Vicky LorrimarWatch this primer on ‘Transhumanism’ from BBC Ideas.Read The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil (Lennox called him one of the most insightful people on this topic last episode)Watch this Ted Talk on how close we are to be able to ‘upload our minds’This is the article on The Washington Post in which Elon Musk talks about AI as summoning the demon (as mentioned by Lennox)Here’s a useful explainer on Utilitarianism from University of TexasRead this profile on Peter Singer from 1999 in The Guardian: The most dangerous man in the worldDig deeper into Peter Singer’s utilitarianism views, critiqued by John Lennox here.More on Naturalism.Read CS Lewis’ essay ‘On living in an atomic age’ in his book of essays ‘Present Concerns’Learn more about quantum mechanics in 60 seconds on BBC with Brian CoxRead 'The strange link between the human mind and quantum physics', BBCMovie and Television referenced in this episode: The Bourne IdentityAltered CarbonGattacaWestworldWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today

"I'm all for technology being used in a good sense. I often say to people, AI is like a knife, a very sharp knife. You can use it to operate with, or you can use it to kill people." -- Professor John Lennox Artificial Intelligence is the buzz phrase of the 21st century. For some, it’s a welcome step into a future that promises all manner of good. For others, AI is damaging at best and, at worst, a step towards our own destruction.This episode, with the help of the great John Lennox, we ask the question: is Artificial Intelligence an under-estimated threat… or the saviour we’ve been waiting for?This episode is brought to you by series sponsor Zondervan Academic, publishers of Telling a better story: how to talk about God in a skeptical age by Josh Chatraw.LINKS Meet Professor John LennoxGet Professor Lennox’s book 2084: Artificial intelligence and the future of humanityRead more about how China is using surveillance technology to keep tabs on its citizens in this article from The Atlantic: 'The Panopticon Is Already Here'Check out George Orwell’s masterpiece 1984 Learn more about the Singularity with this article from Futurism: 'Singularity: Explain it to me like I’m 5 years old' Why Elon Musk fears artificial intelligence, Vox Lennox called Google’s Chief Futurist, Ray Kurzweil, “one of the great gurus in this field”. Read more about him here.Find out more about Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens and Homo Deus Watch the Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, talk about the potential dangers of science and technology over the next 50 yearsRead more about science fiction author Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and why they’re a little out of dateSay hi to episode guests Dr Grenville Kent and Dr Vicky LorrimarRead a recent ABC opinion piece by Dr Lorrimar, What hope? Dreams of immortality in the time of a pandemicMore on Beowulf, the longest epic poem in Old English.Here's some ancient ‘technology’ to find out more on (as mentioned in this episode's Five Minute Jesus)Trojan HorseThe Roman battering ramStuff designed by Roman architect and engineer VitruviusRead the whole story of the Tower of Babel from the Book of GenesisMore on deus ex machina (not the Australian motorcycles)Read the Asilomar Ethical PrinciplesWatch Rosalind Picard’s TedTalk about the smartwatch she has developed that can detect seizures. Then, watch her story of how she became a ChristianAll the movies referenced in this episode: 2001: A Space OdysseyStar Wars ... all of them.Terminator (the original!)Bladerunner (1982)Interstellar Wall-EHerAvengers: Age of UltronWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

How did the New Testament actually come together? Some have argued that is a “chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents” that has been revised and ‘improved’ over centuries.Others have argued it is a deeply political document, created to quell rebellions and placate a growing and agitated movement. Millions of people put their trust in the New Testament. It’s time to get to the bottom of how it was created. This episode of Undeceptions is brought to you by Zondervan Academic, publishers of 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity by John Lennox. LINKSProducer Kaley is actually the one who likes Survivor. She thinks you should watch it, too. Richard Dawkin’s quote about the Bible being a cobbled-together anthology was from The God Delusion. If you really have to, you can read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown or watch the movie. But then listen to this 5-part series with John Dickson on Hope 103.2FM (Sydney Christian radio station), Why the Da Vinci Code is a very novel history​​​​​​​Find out more about our guest Dr Chris Forbes, who has actually just retired from Macquarie University. Find out more about Dr Michael Bird from Ridley College.And check out Michael's latest book The New Testament in It's World (with N.T. Wright) Watch John Dickson talk about the conversion of Constantine the Great from this clip from the Centre For Public Christianity’s documentary For the Love of GodLearn more about Justin Martyr, the first Christian apologist. What’s with the ending in the gospel of Mark? Check out this article from The Gospel Coalition, written by Elijah Hixson from Tyndale House in Cambridge: Was Mark 16:9-20 originally part of Mark’s Gospel?Get to know Irenaeus, bishop of LyonMore on the Muratorian CanonHere is John’s beloved copy of The Apostolic FathersRead the New York Times report on the discovery of the Gospel of Judas, from 2006 Read more about the Gospel of Judas in this article by John Dickson in 2008 from The Centre for Public Christianity For more on the Gnostic Gospels, get your hands on The Christ Files, a documentary with John Dickson. Here’s a preview.You can have a look for yourself at the beautiful Codex Sinaiticus at this link. You can scroll through the pages online -- so go check out the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas at the back! Get to know Eusebius of Caesarea And read his Ecclesiastical History too.Want to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

For years, people have argued that our minds’ natural default position is non-belief. Left to ourselves, we would never grow up thinking about God.Religion is, therefore, an imposition on the susceptible minds of children. Some have suggested that teaching kids about God comes close to a form of brain washing.Our guest for this episode, Justin Barrett, says that is actually getting harder to argue.Research from the last 20 years indicates that thoughts about God aren’t by-products of American or Western culture. It’s not indoctrination. These thoughts are natural.Believing that someone - not something - governs the world comes as easily to kids as curiosity, imagination and play. Special thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsor, publishers of How NOT to read the Bible, by Dan Kimball.LINKSFind out more about our guest Professor Justin L Barrett.Get Professor Barrett’s book, Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious BeliefMore on Ludwig Feuerbach and his ideas on religion as “wish fulfillment’Watch more of comedy trio Just These Please here.Read more about Sigmund Freud’s views on religion in this New York Times Magazine piece called 'Defender of the Faith'.Professor Barrett is a big fan of Deborah Keleman’s work from Boston University. Find out more about Keleman, here.And read this article from New Scientist about one of Keleman’s studies from 2009, 'Humans may be primed to believe in creation'.And this article from American Pscyhological Association titled ‘A Reason to Believe’Keleman’s findings about children in China who endorse teleological explanations of natural phenomena can be found in the May 2017 Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.What in the world does ‘teleological’ mean? It’s an explanation by reference to some purpose, end, goal or function. So, a teleological explanation is an account of a given thing’s purpose. Check out this explanation on Britannica.Keleman, with other researchers, has only completed studies on whether non-religious adults have a tacit tendency to view nature as purposefully created by some being. They conducted research in Finland (a notoriously secular country) and the US and compared results. Read the report here.How the Borks Became: An Adventure in Evolution by Jonathan EmmettHis Dark Materials by Philip PullmanThe Atlantic interviewed Philip Pullman about His Dark Materials, which has recently been made into an HBO series:“Storytelling, for Pullman, is a way into our world—not out of it. He loves folktales and fairy tales for their clarity and everydayness; he loves William Blake; he loves what we might call the Luciferian or deity-defying side of John Milton. He even, in a cranky and rather beautiful way, loves Jesus. But he hates the bloody Church.“You’ll pick this up quite quickly when you watch the first episode of HBO’s new dramatization of His Dark Materials. A body called the Magisterium holds a centuries-long dominion over the earthly realm. It spews doctrine; it crushes heresy; it circumscribes knowledge and inhibits discussion. Its priests are everywhere, like secret police. It’s also stealing children.”Here's a different take on His Dark Materials, from Christianity Today: "The church without a Savior is an empty shell, a vacuum that inevitably seeks power. And in His Dark Materials, the absence of Jesus is strikingly conspicuous even though he is never named. Pullman told Williams in 2004 that Jesus does not exist in the realm of his Magisterium, an acknowledgement that his church offers no redemption and is only an organization of human power. And in a world where the church controls the government, it is hardly a fantasy that the human authorities use religious manipulation to cement their control."The New Testament has a fair amount to say about structuring the church so that it supports the goal of pointing its people to Christ and it describes a church body with dispersed power. Without Christ at the head, the church is a slave to sin instead of proclaiming its purpose: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1)."John Dickson was on ABC’s Q&A program in 2013. Watch it here.Justin Barrett has written a research paper on Why Santa Claus is not a God. Check it out here.Read A.C Grayling’s attack on Professor Justin Barrett in The Guardian here (from 2008)And then read Professor Barrett’s response.Watch the Centre For Public Christianity’s interview with Olivera PetrovichWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

In Episode 28 (Creation's Music) we spoke with Jeremy Begbie and Kirsty Beilharz about how music can point us to God. But what if it's music we just don't like? What about music that's genuinely bad. Or dissonant. What is the purpose of that type of music? Can music that's really hard to listen to still point us to the divine? Special thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsor, publishers of How to Talk about Jesus (without being that guy) by Sam Chan.LINKS: Find out more about our guest Professor Dr Jeremy Begbie here.Find out more about our guest Professor Dr Kirsty Beilharz here.Seek out Jeremy Begbie's book Theology, Music and Time. Get your hands on Kirsty Beilharz's book Music Remembers Me: Connection and Wellbeing in Dementia.Listen to 20th century composer Arnold Schoenberg's works on Spotify. Jeremy Begbie talks about Schoenberg and his creation of new methods of musical composition involving atonality. Kirsty talks about 20th century composer Olivier Messiaen. This is a great article about his 'Turangalîla-Symphonie', from NPR: Finding God, Love And The Meaning Of Life In Messiaen's 'Turangalîla-Symphonie'Listen to more of Olivier Messiaen on Spotify, too.And another insightful article, this time from The Guardian on Messiaen's 'Quartet for the End of Time', which he composed while in a Nazi concentration camp. Check out this live recording of Handel's Messiah from early this year, by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, performed at the Sydney Opera House.And here's some more history about Handel's Messiah from the Smithsonian Magazine.Read more about Luther and Calvin's approach to music.Jeremy Begbie says Oscar Peterson can move him to tears. Let it move you. Listen on Spotify, here. Also, Brahms (here).Kirsty Beilharz went through the Life of Jesus course as she wrestled with Christianity. Check out that course, here. (Pssst... it's a John Dickson course!) Want to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

What is music and what is it about music that stirs the human soul?Is it just a series of sound waves producing neurological responses … or could music be - as so many ancients believed - a signal from God?Join us for this episode as we take a look at the enduring love affair between music and the human heart. Special thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsor, publishers of Evangelical Theology by Michael F Bird.LINKS: Find out more about our guest Professor Dr Jeremy Begbie here.Find out more about our guest Professor Dr Kirsty Beilharz here.Check out this interview Professor Begbie did with Christianity Today in 2018, about Christian artists and their need for a firm grounding in Scripture.Read more about the conundrum of consciousness here.Seek out Jeremy Begbie's book Theology, Music and Time. Want to start listening to St Matthew Passion but don't know where to start? Check out this helpful guide from NPR (America's National Public Radio). Get your hands on Kirsty Beilharz's book Music Remembers Me: Connection and Wellbeing in Dementia. Kirsty spoke to Eternity News in 2016 about dementia care and music. Read the article here.Do Mark Hadley a favour and read The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.Centre For Public Christianity fellow Barney Zwartz wrote this piece for the Sydney Morning Herald, titled 'The power of music is a path to God'. Read the story of AN Wilson's conversion back to Christianity in The New Statesman, where he says "The existence of langauge is one of the many phenomena - of which love and music are the two strongest - which suggest that human beings are very much more than collections of meat. They convince me that we are spiritual beings, and that the religion of the incarnation, asserting that God made humanity in His image, and continually restores humanity in His image, is simply true." From this episode's 5 Minute Jesus, read the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Want to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

Whether you’re a believer or doubter in Christianity, this episode is really more about whether you’re a ‘believer’ or ‘doubter’ in climate change … and the things that often lie behind such beliefs (hint: faith is just one factor!) But, if you listen to Katharine, climate change shouldn’t be about belief anymore. It’s real. It’s happening. The question now is, what can we do about it? Special thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsor, publishers of How To Fight Racism by Jemar Tisby.LINKSMeet Katharine Hayhoe over on her website. Watch Katharine’s 2018 TedTalk (along with the 3.6 million other people!) Check out Rolling Stone magazine’s conversation with KatharineAnd also ... the New York Times profile of KatharineRead the press release from the United Nations, announcing it has named Katharine Hayhoe a UN Champion of the EarthHere's the Pew Research from 2015 that found only a third of white evangelical protestants believed climate change was the result of human activity. Read more on AOC’s talk with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates where she said millennials were frustrated with inaction on climate change and said “the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change, and your biggest issue is how we are going to pay for it?” Ever watched The Newsroom? You totally should. Here’s a link to the series. Read the New York Times 2013 report when the world passed 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.Then, read this report from the 360 Environment 360 Magazine which explains in an easily understandable why such a carbon threshold matters. Here’s the link to the full Sky News interview with environmentalist Michael Shellenberger, that we excerpted in this episode. More on the Gospers Mountain fire in New South WalesWhile you're at it, here's more data from Australia’s 2019/20 bushfire seasonMore on California’s devastating wildfire season in 2020. This report from October 25 suggests this week is expected to have the most perilous fire weather event for the season. Then read this Washington Post interactive report on what is fueling the West Coast’s infernos. Get Lynn White’s 1967 article in the Science Journal: The Historical Roots of Our Ecological CrisisRead James Bhagwan’s opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald from 2019, titled A climate plea to Scott Morrison from a churchman of the Pacific’s sinking nations “I want to remind Scott Morrison that for the people of Tuvalu – and Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands, and all the other Pacific Island Nations – nothing worries us more than climate change,” he writes.Read more about the island of Kiribati in the Pacific, and the immediate threat of rising sea levels. Check out Skeptical Science website run by John CookWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

In the first episode of our third season, we're taking a close look at the New Testament - the second part of the Bible. Many scholars have pointed out historical inaccuracies in the gospels, or inconsistencies between the gospels that would surely call into question their reliability as sources for the historical Jesus. Some have suggested that the gospels weren't actually written by who we think they were written by. Or claim that many of the letters written by Paul that appear in the Bible weren't penned by Paul at all. Professor Craig Blomberg has spent a lifetime digging around these 'Bible mistakes'. And he's not convinced that they are, in fact, mistakes. LINKSFor more on Professor Craig Blomberg, check out his website.And while you're clicking, have a look at Undeceptions.com for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the world.Special thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsor, publishers of the Collected Essays of N.T. Wright.Read more about the famous 'Wicked Bible' in this Washington Post article.Grab Craig Blomberg's latest book, The Historical Reliability of the New Testament, here.Other scholars who have written about the Book of John: Martin Hengel and Richard Bauckham.Episode 7 of Undeceptions, called Gospel Truth with Peter Williams is a good sister-podcast for this one. Check it out.Read Saint Saul: A Skeleton Key to the Historical Jesus by Donald Harman Akenson (mentioned in this episode's 5 Minute Jesus)Want to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

We're back with a new season of Undeceptions. Join us as we chase down facts and explore the best arguments, to explode some of the myths about history, science, psychology, and the good life … and how it all relates to the Christian faith. This season, we're talking climate change, public health, why belief in God is natural, how music points to the divine, mistakes in the Bible, and … the end of the world.

John Dickson takes a deep dive into the murky world of church finances to discover the pagan ruler responsible for granting Christian congregations their special financial privileges.When the most powerful man in the world becomes a believer, things are definitely going to change.But what did this ruler actually have in mind when he gifted churches and clergy their tax free status? Press play to find out.

Dr. Laurel Moffatt makes a return to Undeceptions with a single aimed at making us consider the level of our indifference.The Black Lives Matter campaign has focussed America's attention on statues that commemorate the great military leaders and politicians of the slave-supporting Confederacy. Should these symbols be taken down and our values rebuilt? Or would that leave a greater human failure still standing?

Matt Andrews makes a guest appearance on Undeceptions, tackling the thorny topic of slavery in Australia.Have Aboriginals been enslaved at various times in Australia's history? Certainly. Was that the intention of its British leaders? Certainly not. There are two key things to undeceived of here, but you'l have to click play to find out what they are.

Eligius of Noyon was a French jewellery smith of uncommon talent who counted royal families and the highest nobility amongst his clients. As a young man, his success allowed him to dress so exorbitantly, his sense of luxury made it into the history books.However when Eligius' attention turned from kingly clients to the Kingdom of God, an incredible transformation took place. He became so concerned for the slaves around him, that his finery became the means for setting them free.In this fourth single on the hidden Christian history of slavery, John Dickson shares how Eligius impoverished himself so that others might know the grace of God.

St. Augustine was the Bishop of Hippo and the leader of the Christian church in a city that had become a hub in the ancient world's slave trade.He led his followers in an ambitious buy-back program for those captured by unscrupulous traders. But when church funds failed, these meek and mild believers didn't hold back from carrying out dangerous slave raids.Join John Dickson as he takes us through a first hand account of what early Christians risked to save less fortunate men and women.

The fourth century bishop, Gregory of Nyssa, led the charge on ending slavery centuries before modern champions like William Wilberforce and Frederick Douglass ever stepped on to the stage.His arguments regarding the value of human beings would fuel abolitionists and civil rights movements fifteen hundred years after he was dead. If only we'd listened sooner.

John Dickson delves into the history of the abolition of slavery in the 19th century and discovers its deep roots in Christian theology.His investigations reveal secular claims that Christianity was a leading cause of slavery are without foundation. In fact, the campaign for freedom arose from a distinctly Christian world view that had existed for well over a thousand years.Yet the church could clearly have done a lot more, a lot sooner.

Dr. Laurel Moffatt is a writer and researcher based in Sydney, and a special guest for our Undeceptions 'Single' this week.On a recent kayaking trip, she discovered a connection between our desperate need for 'places of safety' during this pandemic, and international statistics that show a growing desire to communicate with the Almighty. Leveraging the wisdom of Augustine, she shares how prayer can become your safest place.

A remarkable event occurred on this day at 11:30am, 25 June, 1788. The 21 year old convict, Samuel Peyton, entered into eternity courtesy of the hangman's noose. But unlike many of his convict comrades who suffered a similar fate, Peyton left behind a testament to his belief that, even in death, he was “firmly relying on the merits of a Blessed Redeemer.”Listen in for one of the most heartfelt stories of repentance Australia's colonial history has to offer, as well as a pointer to a Christian hope that still holds true today.

Rachel Gilson says she grew up knowing two things instinctively: she was romantically attracted to women and Christians were NOT ok with that. Smart, sophisticated, with a love for big ideas not small minds … Rachel Gilson sounds like she’s the poster girl for that common critique of Christianity - that it’s unhelpful and unhealthy for those with lesbian, gay, or bisexual orientations. But that is not her story.Rachel discovered that it was possible to walk a round that led between her same-sex attraction and a love of God. Her conclusions, including her life choices will surprise you. Yet Rachel’s quest to understand God and His opinion of her desires provide one of the most provocative, interesting and inspiring stories Undeceptions has had privilege to present.LINKSFor more on Rachel Gilson, check out her web site.And while you're clicking, have a look at the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorUndeceptions would like to encourage you to check out Zondervan Academic's latest publication, Collected Essays of N.T. Wright, 3: volumes: Interpreting Scripture, Interpreting Jesus, and Interpreting PaulRidley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the Life In Wartime podcast with David Robertson and Stephen McAlpine.Want to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

The end of the second season of Undeceptions is drawing night, so it's time to start unpacking all of the questions we've collected.This episode John Dickson tackles everything from is the Old Testament History to is the New Testament a re-write of Jesus' real perspective?If you enjoy listening to hosts squirm, you'll love season's two's Undeceptions Q and A.LINKSBoth atheistic evolutionists and literalistic creationists want you to read Genesis the same way, but is there a different take on the foundational book of the Bible? John asks Professor C. John Collins, Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary, in the Undeceptions episode Six Days.Undeceptions brings to life the forgotten women of the early church so we can learn just how significant the fairer sex were for the spread of the Gospel with international expert Dr. Lynn Cohick in our episode Remembering Women.Studies continue to show that most people have a fairly positive view of the founder of Christianity. But that’s a long way from accepting that there’s any history - let alone relevance - in the alleged events of Easter. John tackles the top questions in Easter Myths.While you're clicking, have a look at the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorWe encourage you to especially check out Zondervan's new book, 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity by John Lennox.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the Life In Wartime podcast with David Robertson and Stephen McAlpine.Want to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

This episode, we’ll be zooming in on the early Christian women, for whom we have good evidence, and who had a profound impact on the church and its teaching in their time.Our guide is Dr. Lynn Cohick, who's written books on the topic, including Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through the Fifth Centuries (co-authored with Amy Brown Hughes) and Women in the World of the Earliest Christians.She paints a vivid picture for us of what life in ancient Rome might have been like for the first women to hear the gospel.LINKSFor more on Dr. Lynn Cohick, check out her web site.And while you're clicking, have a look at the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the With All Due Respect podcast with Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du ToitWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

Greg Sheridan cut his teeth at the legendary news magazine, The Bulletin, before moving on to the national daily newspaper, The Australian, where he’s been the foreign editor since 1982.John catches up to talk to him about Christianity's struggles in Australia and why, of all times, he would choose to out himself as a believer.However, Greg is not so glum on the future and underlines that because the faith is beholden to no particular political party it has the ability to reinvent itself that is more inline with its roots.LINKSFor more on Greg Sheridan, check out his web page at The AustralianCheck out the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the Salt podcast with Jenny SaltWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

Ian Hutchinson is Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Among many, many other things he wrote the standard monograph on measuring plasmas, Principles of Plasma Diagnostics. That's right, he literally wrote the book on plasmas.He’s also a fellow of the American Physical Society, a fellow of the Institute of Physics, and of the American Scientific Affiliation.And… he believes in miracles - healing, resurrection, all of it. Find out why.LINKSFor more on Professor Ian Hutchinson, check out his web site.Check out his book, Can A Scientist Believe In Miracles? by Ian HutchinsonAnd while you're clicking, have a look at the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorRidley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the With All Due Respect podcast with Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du ToitWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

It’s a popular misconception. If science is your guiding light, you’re going to see the world a particular way. And if you hold to religion well, you’re going to imagine the world a particular way. At least that’s how it seems.But Alister McGrath is the Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University, and he makes a pretty convincing case that, while science and religion are fundamentally different, they remain complementary. So what does Alister do with the all the objections scientists throw at him? Play them back with a perfectly straight British bat. Tune in and tally the score for yourself!LINKSFor more on Dr. Alister McGrath, check out his web site.Check out the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the With All Due Respect podcast with Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du ToitWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin is a learned, feisty academic who's not afraid to confront the challenge that this two thousand year old faith has run its course.Claims of institutionalised homophobia, that religion is bad for us, and scare tactics surrounding the teaching of Hell - they all surface in this episode.Faced with the most challenging questions of the day, Dr. McLaughlin offers a spirited defence of Christianity that John Dickson thinks amounts to the best answer to troubling questions since Tim Keller's Reasons For God.LINKSFor more on Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin, check out her web site.Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard questions for the World's Largest Religion, by Dr. Rebecca McLaughlinCheck out the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the With All Due Respect podcast with Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du ToitWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

What do you do if you devote your entire life to one religion, then slowly realise you belong somewhere else?This episode isn’t an exploration of a forgotten piece of history, a tricky topic, or an ethical dilemma, but a story, plain and simple about a search for personal peace, which is just what our anxious world needs right now.Rahil Patel was one of the Hindu world's leading evangelists, who spent decades establishing temples all over Europe and Russia, until one day he woke up to discover that his heart belonged to someone else.LINKSRahil Patel's web siteFound By Love: A Hindu Priest Encounters Jesus Christ, by Rahil PatelCheck out the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the Salt podcast with Jenny SaltWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

It’s Easter, and billions of people pause to contemplate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Alongside them are plenty of folks who look at Christ quite differently.Studies continue to show that most people have a fairly positive view of the founder of Christianity. But that’s a long way from accepting that there’s any history - let alone relevance - in the alleged events of Easter.We had a lot of fun looking at the Christmas Story through the lens of history. We thought it would be good to do the same for Easter. Bring on all of your questions about the historical authenticity of this central Christian celebration, and listen to what happens when they collide with the evidence of history.LINKSCheck out the Undeceptions web site for all sorts of cool stuff related to undeceiving the worldSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityClick here to listen to the FULL interview with Dr. Chris Forbes, courtesy of The Centre for Public ChristianityYou can click here to sign up for the With All Due Respect podcast with Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du ToitWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

In ancient Carthage, those who faced the Cyprian Plague discovered that there were two sets of symptoms to contend with: those that afflicted the outer body, and those that afflicted the inner person.COVID-19 is having a similar effect. It is turning out to be not just a physical trial but a moral test. The pandemic is revealing the best and the worst of our characters. The former we can celebrate together. Our faults, though, are also worth our contemplation.

If you’re preparing yourself for an assault on conservative Christian doctrine regarding women in church leadership, or different approaches to women teaching … you’re going to be disappointed.This is an episode about a more fundamental ‘deception’ the western world seems to hold: that Christianity places no value on the contribution of women, or offers them any pride of place.However, Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing is the Joint Director of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and the counter to that claim. She is an academic, world-traveller, social media queen, and born persuader who is gaining significant influence in Britain and Europe as she advocates for the Gospel. LINKSSpecial thanks to Zondervan Academic, our show sponsorFind out more about Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing at Ravi Zacharias International MinistriesThe Oxford Centre for Christian ApologeticsA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityThe Salt podcast by Jenny SaltWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

Church leaders and impassioned Christians want to suggest that the Bible promises a special deliverance from COVID-19 for those who put their faith in the Son of God. However John Dickson resurrects the wisdom of an ancient bishop who also faced a massive plague to give us a different perspective.

Last season we brought you John Lennox, talking about the compatibility of faith and a scientific mind, and Ard Louis discussing the evidence for a rational universe … but we sidestepped one obvious debate.Creation versus evolution - 6 days versus 13.8 billion years - young earthers vs. ancient universe-ers. It’s a pretty hot argument in the minds of some believers and non-believers alike. Sometimes both sides think there’s only one way to take Genesis, and that’s at face value. This episode, though, we talk to Professor C. John Collins, Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary, who suggests there's another way that honours both the message and the intellect.LINKSFind out more about C. John 'Jack' Collins at Covenant Theological Seminary.Reading Genesis Well: Navigating History, Poetry, Science, and Truth in Genesis 1-11, by C. John CollinsHow To Follow Jesus, by Craig SpringerZondervan AcademicA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityWant to send John Dickson a question? He loves them. Just click here to provide a query for our next Q and A show!Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.

Simply taking care of yourself and those closest to you might seem enough - even the most important thing - at this time of international concern. But John Dickson picks out the story of a wealthy, ancient woman to suggest another way. Rome's Fabiola powerfully demonstrated the level of sympathy that hearts changed by Christ can hope to rise to.

In this episode we’re delving into that frightening world. According to the World Health Organization, cancer is the second leading cause of death internationally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million fatalities in 2018 - that’s 1 in 6 deaths. Cancer is an undiscriminating disease. It can appear in almost any part of the body, and any age group. Each year, 300,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed in children alone. And the costs for those who can pay for treatments and preventative measures are staggering - cancer costs the world economy 1.16 trillion US dollars a year. But cancer isn’t just a medical battleground, it’s a spiritual one as well. Through the ages, myriad human voices have cried out, “My God, why!?" How do people who reckon there is some kind of good God in the world - which surveys say is most human beings - cope with cancer in the world? Meet Ben Shaw and his wife Karen who heard those two words in the title, and the epic faith journey they travelled together.LINKSFind out more about Ben Shaw through his page at The Boathouse Church, PutneyThis episode is brought to you by Zondervan Academic and its new book The New Testament in Its World by N. T. Wright and Michael BirdA special just for Undeceptions listeners! Get free access to Zondervan Academic's Master Lectures for 14 days, and then save 25% for the next 6 months. Just type in the code UNDECEPTIONS at the check-out.Ridley College, where John lectures in Public ChristianityThe podcast Salt (conversations with Jenny Salt) is available on The Eternity Podcast Network

The return of Undeceptions for 2020, kicking off with God and cancer, a better way of reading Genesis, woman leading the charge in explaining Christianity, Easter myths exploded and proof the faith you grow up with isn't the final word on what you believe. Plus much, much more! Let the Undeceptions begin... Monday, March 16.

It's February 4, and the anniversary of Australia's first church service. But this wasn't a morality lesson from the chaplain to the prison colony. The Rev. Richard Johnson had something much more significant on his mind.

On the day we commemorate the history and character of our nation, it may be worth considering how we build healthy, respectful lamenting into our national celebrations.

This Christmas, as you rightly enjoy the good things God's given you and share them with your nearest and dearest, spare a moment to consider how your generosity might spread further afield. Links that might prove helpful:World VisionInternational Justice MissionAnglican AidOpen Doors AustraliaTear AustraliaSave The Children

Thanks for being great supporters of the first season of Undeceptions! We hope you enjoy this little gift from us, and have a happy Christmas with your loved ones and the God who made this all possible.Yours in all truth,John, Kaley, Bella and Mark

Jesus was born in a manger, right? But what does that mean exactly? And how about that inn? Or the star hovering over the stable? How does history address our most cherished images of the birth of the King of Kings? And what did The Life Of Brian get right? Join John as he undeceives us about everything that can and can't be said about the birth of Jesus. Thanks to our season sponsor – Selah – for all your travel needs, whether you’re a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.Links related to this episode:Read John's Nativity Naivete for an account of how the 'Quirinius problem' is resolved by historians, as well as many other common misconceptions about supposed historical problems in the Christmas story.For a more general summary of the historical truths of the Christmas story, there's Truth In The Story Of ChristmasFor those wanting to dig deeper into the historical evidence for Jesus' existence, John also wrote this reply to an assertion that the baby in a manger wasn't a real person for ABC Religion & Ethics.And since it's that time of year, you might also want to have a look at John's article, Halloween Vs. Christmas, discussing the historical basis for both.Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

Each week of our first season of Undeceptions, we've asked you to tell us some of the things you'd like to be 'undeceived' about. This episode John Dickson tackles the top questions sent in, covering everything from questions raised by our various guests to crackers you've come up with on your own.Press play to hear more about whether Islam actually invented science, why historians still reject the idea of a resurrection, and what the difference is between New Testament and Old Testament Miracles. Plus West Wing references and Jesus own 'top questions' to ask!Thanks to our season sponsor - Selah - for all your travel needs, whether you're a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.Links related to this episode:Curiosity aroused by others' questions? Easy links to...Episode 1 - Old Papers, with Brendan HaugEpisode 2 - Football Free, with the Greenbay PackersEpisode 6 - Rational Universe, with Ard LouisEpisode 7 - Gospel Truth, with Peter WilliamsJohn refer's to the 'post hoc ergo proctor hoc' fallacy. Did he leave you in the dust? Here's a video that explains the ideaBut if you'd prefer Jed Bartlett to explain it to you, you can find it hereAnd check out the beautiful new Undeceptions web site!Want to send John a question for our next Q and A? Here's the place to do it! Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

This episode, we've put John Dickson in the hot seat to talk about his new book: Is Jesus History. Anita Savage is our guest host, and she grills John on one of the greatest questions out there: did Jesus really exist?Thanks to our season sponsor - Selah - for all your travel needs, whether you're a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.Links related to this episode:Get John Dickson's latest book Is Jesus History? Read more about the supposed 'lost tomb of Jesus' in this CNN report. And watch James Cameron's documentary here.Read more about the 'lost gospel of Judas' from the National Geographic Society.Jeffrey Archer's fiction book, The Gospel According to JudasAfter The Da Vinci Code, John Dickson wrote several articles responding to some of the conspiracies theories that surrounded the book and the life of Jesus. Here's one of them on The Secret Gospels.Read the article from Time Magazine listing Jesus as the most influential person of all time.In Episode 7 of Undeceptions, John interviewed Peter Williams, author of Can We Trust the Gospels. You should definitely go back and listen to that episode if you enjoyed this one!Get to know our guest hostAnita Savage is a TV and radio journalist who has worked for 2UE, Sky News, Channel 9, Bloomberg Television and ABC TV and radio. In 2019, Anita joined the Hope Media team to lead the new Hope Media News Service. She joins us for this episode of Undeceptions as guest host, interviewing John Dickson.Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

When Sarah first arrived at Cambridge on a scholarship, and then later took a job at Oxford, she thought Christians were anti-intellectual.And perhaps that’s what we’ve come to expect. Smart people have no time - no headspace - for God. They know too much. They think too deeply for the ‘shallows’ of theology.This episode, we’re talking with people who’ve witnessed the opposite. Universities like Oxford and Cambridge are melting pots, where people can find their beliefs - or unbelief - turned upside down, just like Sarah.Thanks to our season sponsor - Selah - for all your travel needs, whether you're a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.Links related to this episode:Read more of Sarah's conversion to Christianity during her studies here.Check out Vaughan Robert's ministry at St Ebbe's in Oxford.Read Peter Harrison's The Fall of Man and the Foundations of ScienceFind out more about philosopher Peter SingerJohn Dickson's 5 minute Jesus in this episode is all about Christianity and the Apostles' Creed. Learn more about the creed here.Read more about CS Lewis' conversion to Christianity while at OxfordGet GK Chesterton's book The Everlasting ManMore on Oxford banning the Christian Union at Fresher's Week in 2017Get to know our guestsDr Sarah Irving-Stonebraker is senior lecturer in Modern European History at Western Sydney University. She was awarded a PhD in History from Cambridge University in 2007.Vaughan Roberts is Rector of St Ebbe's Church in Oxford. He studied law at Cambridge University and theology at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford before entering ministry. Roberts is also Director of the Proclamation Trust, an organisation that encourages and equips Bible teachers. He is a popular conference speaker and author of several books.Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

In episode 4 of Season 1 of Undeceptions, John spoke with Professor Teresa Morgan about the ethic of love at the heart of the New Testament. It sounds like ‘common sense’ to many today – it’s what any rational person would think about the good life. But it certainly wasn’t ‘rational’ in the Roman world, and it hasn’t been for most of world history. Listen to the full interview with Professor Morgan, a Fellow and tutor at Oriel College in Oxford University in this special bonus episode. You'll get more insight on how radically Christianity changed the moral values of the ancient world … and how we continue to see the results today.

Head to undeceptions.com to listen to Episode 3, 'God Science' with John Lennox.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains content that may be distressing for some listeners. The episode deals with the online sexual exploitation of children and is confronting and often disturbing. If you need to talk to someone, support is available:1800RESPECT: In Australia, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800 737 732.Lifeline: Call 13 11 14 anytime for confidential telephone crisis support.This episode of Undeceptions was a difficult one for us to make. But we believe it's an important one. It's a myth that there's no such thing as slavery in modern times. And just as Christians were at the forefront of anti-slavery work way back in the 5th century, and again in the 19th century, we’ll be speaking to today’s heroes, continuing that tradition, fighting for the absolute end of slavery in their lifetime.We've worked with International Justice Mission - the largest anti-slavery organisation in the world - to bring you the story of Cassie in the Philippines. Cassie was rescued from a neighbour who had lured her into a world of online sexual exploitation. We speak with some of those who worked to see her released from slavery, and who continue to work to rescue countless other victims both in the Philippines and other parts of south east Asia, the epicentre of this heinous crime.Thanks to our season sponsor - Selah - for all your travel needs, whether you're a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.Links related to this episode:International Justice Mission works with law enforcement, including the Australian Federal Police, to tackle the online sexual exploitation of children. Read more about the AFP's involvement in the Philippines here and the first Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre - a collective law enforcement effort to combat child exploitation.And read this article from Reuters on the new taskforce and its impact so far.Read more about Shechem House, the first IJM assessment centre for children rescued from abuse.Watch this 20-minute documentary from IJM: How one survivor of sex trafficking is sparking a global movement to end slavery in our lifetime.Read this fact sheet from IJM on child sexual exploitation in the Philippines.Get to know our guestsCaroly Houmes is Chief Executive of International Justice Mission (IJM) in Australia, and was previously executive director of IJM in the Netherlands. An experienced legal professional, Caroly as a Masters in International and European Human Rights Law.Jacob Sarkodee leads IJM's operations team and has over 10 years experience in the international aid and development sector in Australia.Glenn De Guzman is a pastor currently serving in the Philippines as IJM's Church Partnerships Manager and spends most of his time inviting church leaders and faith-based organisations to participate in the fight against online sexual exploitation of children. Glenn actively seeks ways for the Church to move the Philippine government to a more effective criminal justice system by creating public demand for accountability, mobilising prayer groups and raising volunteer support.Rev Stephen Gualberto (also known as Pastor Bong) is the senior pastor of GMA Church of the Nazarene in the Philippines. Pastor Bong led the Church of the Nazarene as they established the first IJM assessment centre for children rescued from online sexual exploitation. Shechem Children's Home opened its doors on September 8, 2018.Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

In episode 7 we ask: can we really trust the Gospels in the Bible? And how do the gospels - considered our best evidence for the existence of Jesus - stack up against the evidence for other historical figures of the day?John Dickson chats with Dr Peter Williams, the author of Can We Trust the Gospels? about how solid our sources for Jesus really are. Many would say they're not as solid as, say, sources for the Emperor Tiberius, the second Roman emperor who reigned from 14 AD to 37 AD during the time it is said that Jesus lived. But Dr Williams may just change your mind... The necklace that John wears around his neck: a coin from the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Thanks to our season sponsor - Selah - for all your travel needs, whether you're a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.Links related to this episode:Get Dr Peter Williams' book Can We Trust the Gospels? here.Check out the full Twitter thread of Peter's satirical attempt to discredit Emperor Tiberius.Watch more of the interview John conducted with Professor Richard Bauckham for The Christ Files documentary in 2008.Dig into Tacitus' Annals here. Tacitus was a Roman aristocrat and government official writing about 80 years after Tiberius. His Annals of imperial Rome are universally regarded as the best historical source for the period.Find out more about the works of Suetonius, a Roman biographer writing shortly after Tacitus.Learn more about Cassius Dio. And the "Tiberius fan boy" Velleius PaterculusWant more on Pliny the Elder? Here's some background. Watch a 2013 lecture Dr Peter Williams gave at The Veritas Forum at the University of North Carolina - Bible: Fact or Fiction?For more on undesigned coincidences, Lydia McGrew has written Hidden in plain view - Undesigned coincidences in the Gospels and Acts Catch up on our very first episode, Old Papers which helps answer the question of how we can be confident that what we read in the Bible today is what was originally written. Learn more about Erasmus, who worked on a really important copy of the Green New Testament in 1516. This article is all about 500 Years of Erasmus' New Testament, from our friends at the University of Michigan. Get to know our guestsDr Peter WilliamsDr Peter Williams is principal of Tyndale House, a Cambridge-based research institute housing one of the worlds' most advanced libraries for biblical scholarship. He is also the chair of the International Greek New Testament Project which is currently producing the world’s most comprehensive information on the manuscripts of John’s Gospel. He is also a lecturer of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge.He has spoken in churches, universities, seminaries, high schools and at conferences and seminars/workshops across the US and the world on Biblical subjects including Bible translation, apologetics, and how to understand the Scriptures.Dr Williams is the author of several books, including his most recent published at the end of 2018: Can we trust the gospels?Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

Professor Ard Louis is one of the world's leading theoretical physicists. He sat down with John Dickson to talk about why he fervently believes that we don't need to prove God exists.Ard is serious in his quest to have a coherent system that makes some sense of the world. It’s what he gets out of bed to discover every day. And he's not afraid that the more he discovers, the less he'll need God. Quite the opposite:"Science is one of the parts of the world that actually increases the likelihood of God being there," he says.Thanks to our season sponsor - Selah - for all your travel needs, whether you're a doubter or a believer. Find out more at myselah.com.au.Links related to this episode:Watch the Why Are We Here documentary that Ard Louis helped create.Check out Morgan Freeman's documentary series The Story of God. He interviews Ard Louis in the episode called 'Proof of God'.Read Simon Conway Morris' book Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe Watch the full interview from Centre For Public Christianity with Simon Conway Morris on evolution, convergence and a purposeful universe.Read more about Sir Fred Hoyle, the man who made famous the 'tornado in the junkyard' analogy.Check out this article by science historian Peter Harrison on The Reformation and the Rise of ScienceWatch Ard Louis talk more about evolution and intelligent design.Get to know our guestsArd Louis is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford where he leads an interdisciplinary research group studying problems on the border between chemistry, physics and biology. From 2002 to 2010 he was a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. He is also an associate of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.He also has a keen interest in molecular gastronomy, applying science to the art of cooking.On a lighter note, Ard says in his bio, his Erdos-Bacon number is 6. "I have an Erdos number of 4 through Jonathan Doye and I have a Bacon number of 2 through Morgan Freeman."Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

Andrew Leigh thinks Australia is disconnected, and he’s written a book about it. In Disconnected, Andrew spends a whole chapter outlining why the decline of religion is making social cohesion worse, and the benefits to society of having more religious believers. "I just had a cracking conversation with Australia’s ‘social capital’ expert Dr Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fenner and Shadow Assistant Minister for Charities. We explored the sad decline of community connectedness in Australia, the remarkable effect church attendance has on volunteering and philanthropy in this country (for secular as well as religious causes), the logic of seeing ‘advancing religion’ as a genuine charitable cause, and the importance of street parties for your neighbourhood!" -- John DicksonTo be clear, Andrew says in his book that he’s an atheist. That made John Dickson want to speak to him more.While Andrew can’t sign on to the churches’ theological views, he can see the good that religion does in society. And he’s done a bucket load of research to prove it.Links related to this episode:Listen to Andrew Leigh's podcast The Good Life. A social capital primer from social capital expert Robert Putnam.Check out the photo of Andrew and his family that John mentions in the episode.Get Andrew's book, Disconnected. Check out some of Robert Putnam's books, also mentioned in this episode: American Grace (2012); Better Together (2004)More on Andrew's updated research on Australia's social connections:With OmniPoll, I've just updated data on how many friends Australians have & how well we know our neighbours. The trend in "Disconnected" seems to be worsening. Lanai Scarr writes it up in today's press: https://t.co/hcKMJslYAd #Reconnected #SocialCapital #auspol @RobertDPutnam pic.twitter.com/aqlbJo2czs— Andrew Leigh (@ALeighMP) July 2, 2018Read the Sydney Morning Herald article that outlines more of Andrew's research: "Loneliness is a problem we can only tackle together."Organise a street party! Here's some tips from Andrew Leigh, including a template invitation. Neighbour Day -- it's a thing. Relationships Australia is encouraging people to get together with their neighbours on Neighbour Day, which they have declared as Sunday 29 March 2020. There's a bunch of resources to help you get started connecting with your neighbours, here.Why not consider giving blood. Find out how (it's really easy ... and remember the snacks!) here. Read Alain De Botton's Religion for AtheistsRead this article from Centre For Public Christianity's Natasha Moore about churches and tax exemptions (which also gives a shout out to our 'phone a friend' guest this episode, Anne Robinson).Meet Anne Robinson, who gave us a rundown on churches and tax.Curious about charities and the category of 'Advancing religion'. Head to the ACNC website to find out more.Read the parable of The Good Samaritan.Get to know our guestsAndrew Leigh is the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017) and Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018). Andrew is a keen marathon runner, and hosts a podcast titled "The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation", which is available on Apple Podcasts.Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.

The ethic of love at the heart of the New Testament sounds like ‘common sense’ to many today - it’s what any rational person would think about the good life.But it certainly wasn’t ‘rational’ in the Roman world, and it hasn’t been for most of world history.In episode four of Undeceptions, John Dickson speaks with Teresa Morgan, a professor of Graeco-Roman History at Oriel College, Oxford University about what life was like for the average person living on the outskirts of Rome at the time of Jesus. What did they believe and what shaped their ideas of the 'good life'. And how did the arrival of Jesus change everything?Links related to this episode:Check out Professor Morgan's books Roman Faith and Christian Faith: Pistis and Fides in the Early Roman Empire and Early Churches (2015) and Popular Morality in the Early Roman Empire (2007)Professor Morgan was in Australia earlier at University of New England to give the Keynote Lecture at the 2019 ASCS (Australasian Society for Classical Studies) Conference. Watch that address here.Find out more about Oriel College.Some of Aesop's Fables have been made into a series for children on the BBC. Listen here.More on Zeus, Demeter.More on Turtullian.More on Emperor Constantine.Watch John Dickson in Centre For Public Christianity's documentary For The Love of God. In episode 1, John talks about Christianity's radical ethic of non-violence and 'loving your enemies'.If it's been a while, you should definitely take a look at the New Testament of the Bible, here.Get to know our guestProfessor Teresa Morgan has been a Fellow and Tutor at Oriel College in Oxford University since 2000, having studied classics at Cambridge, Theology at Oxford, and violin and viola at the Royal Academy of Music. She teaches and writes on Greek and Roman history from the eighth century BCE to the Byzantine era. She is currently working on the evolution of Christian faith between the second and fifth centuries and its impact on the later Roman empire.Send us a questionOh boy, does John love questions. So don’t be afraid to send them in. In season one, we’ll be dedicating an episode or two for John to answer all your burning questions about Christianity. Want to know something more about a previous episode? Or perhaps you’ve got a question about faith that you’ve been struggling to find an answer for? Let us know here, or leave your question as a voicemail at 02 9870 5678.