Daniel Boyarin is a professor of Talmudic Culture at U.C. Berkeley who argues that many Jews before the time of Jesus were expecting a divine-human Messiah who would suffer on behalf of his people. These ideas are not only found throughout the Hebrew Bible, but we also discover them in a variety ...

On this episode of The Humble Skeptic podcast, Shane talks with Mike Brown, one of the authors of Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored, about common errors to avoid when reading and interpreting Scripture. They also discuss a variety of interpretive tools that will make your study of the Bible...

What is a good definition of “culture,” and why is it so effective at conforming us to believe certain things, and to behave in certain ways? How do we protect ourselves and the next generation from the negative influences of our increasingly secular culture? On this episode, Shane Rosenthal disc...

In his 1923 classic, Christianity & Liberalism, J. Gresham Machen argued that the liberal churches of his day had abandoned everything distinctive about Christianity in favor of a non-redemptive religion that was rooted in moralism and personal experience. According to Michael J. Kruger, contempo...

Fifty years ago, Os Guinness released his book, The Dust of Death, which offered a piercing analysis of the sixties counterculture movement with its revolutionary ideas about human nature and sexual liberation. In his preface to a new edition of this work, Guinness argues that during this tumultu...

As discussed on recent episodes, when it comes to religion and worldview preferences, most people tend to follow their own internal feelings, intuitions, and experiences. But what are the larger social implications of this increasing emphasis on the subjective? According to Carl Trueman, in today...

On this edition of The Humble Skeptic podcast, we’ll contrast popular beliefs about ghosts and the afterlife with the views presented in the Old and New Testaments. Joining Shane to discuss this important topic is Dr. Michael McClymond, who is the professor of Modern Theology at St. Louis Univers...

T. David Gordon served as a professor of Media Ecology at Grove City College for several decades, and as laptops, smartphones, and social media arrived on the scene in successive waves, he and his colleagues began to notice a change in students’ ability to pay attention and to process the various...

How can we know whether religious experiences are authentic, or just a trick of the brain? And if they really are supernatural, how we be sure that they emanate from the God of the Bible, as opposed to the Koran? Too often we allow our experiences to confirm that which we already believe. On this...

Mormons know their religion is true because they experience a “burning in the bosom.” Pentecostal Christians believe they have proof of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit because they speak in tongues. So how are we to know which religious experiences are truly authentic? Is experience a proper wa...

Have you ever noticed that conversations about religion and politics tend to produce more heat than light? Because most of us are aware of this, we tend to avoid conversations relating to our deepest convictions. So how can we discuss our beliefs with others in a way that ends up producing more l...

Have you ever been puzzled by things you read in the Bible? For example, why does the book of Exodus spend so much time walking through all the meticulous details related to the Tabernacle? On this episode, Shane Rosenthal talks with J. Daniel Hays about the Bible’s grand narrative, which helps u...

What were some of the notable features of the earliest Christian sermons? What sort of things did they have in common, and how do they compare with the messages we’re likely to hear in Christian circles today? Shane Rosenthal discusses these questions and more with Dr. Dennis Johnson, author of T...

Is the book of Acts a collection of stories and legends about the lives of the apostles, or is it a trustworthy and reliable history of the earliest days of the church? Is there any external evidence that helps to corroborate its claims? Shane Rosenthal discusses these questions and more with Dr....

In 1Pet. 3:15, Peter famously says, “Always be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies in you.” In many ways, this has become the standard prooftext for the apologetic enterprise, but have we really understood all that this verse has to teach us? Shane discusses this question and many othe...

On this episode of The Humble Skeptic, Shane talks with Dr. Adam Duker about his interest in the study of comparative religion, as well as some of his unique experiences teaching this subject at The American University in Cairo. In particular, he relates a story that he was directly involved with...

On this program Shane talks with Fikret Bocek who currently serves as the pastor of a Christian church in Izmir, Turkey. Fikret was raised as a Sunni Muslim, and during this episode he tells the story of the time in which he began to question his faith. In this process he began to explore both th...

On this episode, Shane talks with Sarabeth Kapusta about her experience growing up in a cult that in her words “masqueraded as a Baptist church.” Sarabeth is the host of Reconstructing Your Faith, which is a podcast designed to help those who’ve been affected by various forms of spiritual abuse.

If faith is blind, what makes one belief better or worse than any another? And if it's just a leap in the dark, why should anyone feel obligated to believe anything at all? Shane Rosenthal explores many questions of this kind as he talks with authors and scholars from all over the world in order ...

Many people today claim that faith is the absence of evidence, but is this really the case? Shane Rosenthal investigates the true nature of faith and interacts with a variety of different perspectives.

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Most of the people Shane recently polled at a number of Christian gatherings seemed to think that faith is a blind leap. But is this idea really taught in the Bible? On this episode we’ll examine the texts that some people use in support of blind faith in order to understand why this belief is so...

According to many Christians today, faith isn’t based on external facts or evidence, but is actually thought of as an internal subjective feeling, intuition or experience. But is this idea biblical? Does the Bible teach that faith is related to our feelings? Where do other religions traditions st...

Shane Rosenthal was raised in a Jewish home but became an atheist at a very early age. Some years later, however, he ended up losing faith in atheism and converted to Christianity. On this podcast he talks with people from a wide variety of worldviews and perspectives in order explore the beliefs...

What do you believe about God and the afterlife? How certain are you that your beliefs are true, particularly when compared with all the other faith and worldview options out there in the marketplace of ideas? Can we have certainty about our deepest convictions? On this edition of The Humble Skep...