Open To Truth

Many discussions about the existence of God get unnecessarily derailed by definitional differences.  What matters most is understanding where the person you are talking is coming from, what kind of mental states are they having, and proceeding from there. In this episode, Clint and Tony try to clear some confusion surrounding the terms "atheist" and "agnostic", offer some reasons why someone might be an atheist, and then discuss the rationality of these views as well as theism.  Join the Conversation and Stay Curious!

In this episode, Clint and Tony react to the happenings at the U.S. Capitol and the early responses to it.  This was recorded less than 48 hours (Friday morning) after the events on Wednesday, and as such many more details are and will be coming out that would influence our discussion.  Our goal here is to approach the conversation with the intellectual virtues and give our raw, uncut processing of what our nation is facing. We discuss the differences between protests, riots, and terrorism, the role of the President, the limits to free speech, the extent of similarities to the summer race riots, the implications for social media and public perception, the possibility for unity, and more.  We hope that you Join the Conversation and Stay Curious.

How could an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good God allow COVID-19 to sweep over our world?  Is the fact that there is a widespread suffering and evil in the world a threat to rationally believing that God exists?  These are important questions.  In this conversation, Clint and Tony offer a possible response on behalf of theists.  We talk about whether God has enough power and knowledge to address such evils in the way we'd want, the problem of horrendous and gratuitous evil, the role of free will, the possibility of redemptive suffering, and the amount of evidence human beings have to make an accurate judgment on these topics.  Join the conversation!

So much of our personality, behaviors, appearance, and every day well-being is influenced by our genetic makeup.  If we knew that a certain collection of genes made one's life worse, should we pursue and act on technology that would allow us to alter them? There are a number of difficult moral questions surrounding the topic of genetic engineering.  We discuss the extent to which our features are heritable, arguments for which features should or should not be altered, the implications of removing or altering certain traits, the importance of having these conversations ahead of the technology, and more.  Stay curious and join the conversation!

We use probability language all the time.  But what do we really mean by it? And further, are our intuitions giving us the right answers when we try to calculate chance, luck, and likelihood? In this episode, Dr. Nevin Climenhaga, an expert in philosophy of probability and reasoning, helps Clint and Tony navigate these tricky words - and even stumps us in a few of his brain teasers!  Thinking well about probability can help us become better reasoners, lovers of truth, and even assist us in discerning evidence for God's existence.  Join the Conversation!

What would happen to our theology if we took seriously the idea that Jesus is the perfect revelation of what God is like? Pastor Brian Zahnd joins us to discuss the implications of this across a number of different topics including war, violence, biblical interpretation, atonement theory, and hell.  We linger on some themes from his most recent book, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God.  This book was enormously impactful for Clint and Tony - to the point of us minting the term "Zahndian" to refer to collection of ideas laid out in the book!  You can find that book and other fantastic works by Brian at https://brianzahnd.com/books/.  They are definitely worth your time. Join the Conversation!

Our society is facing many deep moral questions.  But, how should we think about morality or ethics in the first place? What "ethical software" are you bringing to the table when you make moral decisions? In this episode, we offer the Mountain Road Thought Experiment as a way to test your intuitions about morality.  There is a bit of killing in the thought-experiment, but no real persons were harmed in the making of this episode!

Have you ever wondered what an afterlife would actually be like? Who's there, what would you do all day, and how long does it last?  The recent sitcom hit The Good Place explores each of these questions and more in winsome, hilarious, and surprisingly deep ways.  Clint and Tony use the The Good Place as an anchor for a conversation about the afterlife and review the show.  

What a treat! Brad and Paul have co-authored a book called The Pastor: A Crisis, which is a raw, authentic examination of the question, "Is anyone irredeemable?".  The answer as you read on, is "No!" Even the worst, the abject worst, are redeemable through the "fire" of God's wrath-love.  It's a rollercoaster book and a rollercoaster discussion.  Let us know if you resonating with anything in this conversation or the book.   Join the Conversation. There's so many good resources.  Here's the links to The Pastor and other items we mention: The Pastor: A Crisis - Audiobook - https://www.amazon.com/The-Pastor-A-Crisis/dp/B08GKVZX13   The Pastor: A Crisis - Signed hardcopy - www.premierecollectibles.com/pastor   The Meeting Place: Facilitating Encounters - Brad Jersak -  https://amg.c6a.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/the-meeting-place2.pdf

You wrote in - we responded! We want this platform to be a place where no stone is unturned, and we can ask all of our tough questions.  We'd love to do this more often or even make it a regular segment of the show, so please write in to opentotruthpodcast@gmail.com. Join the Conversation and Stay Curious!

Have you thought about how amazing it is that we can communicate with each other? The development of language in human beings still mystifies experts in many ways.  In this episode, Clint and Tony explore a functional view of language and the implications this has for conventions such as swearing, coarse language, and whether people ever really know what you mean.  Join the Conversation!

How did you arrive at who to vote for - or whether to vote at all? What method did you use to decide which candidates to select? In this episode, we explore a helpful thought-experiment designed to get clear on what is going on in our mind when we go about deciding who to vote for.  We discuss the various arenas by which you might assess a candidate such as moral character, personal values, best policies, presidential demeanor, leadership, party affiliation, and a few others.  Join the Conversation.

There are so many political signs around town.  Have you ever put one up? If not, have you wondered about why exactly people are doing that?  In this episode, Clint and Tony dissect the activity of political signage and whether they really "work."  Should you put one up and what should it say? Join the Conversation!

Do you ever get the sense Washington isn't working right? Why is it so hard to get anything good done - how can there really be so much disagreement?   Former Congressman Jim Renacci of Ohio's 16th District shares his experience as a businessman and politician in Washington, where he learned first-hand about betrayal and disloyalty on both sides of the aisle. We discuss how a lack of bipartisanship, respect for Regular Order, and growing party leadership power has led to an ineffective federal government system. We talk about possible solutions to these problems such as congressional term limits, a focus on state governance, a return to regular order, and campaign finance reform.   Jim discusses all of this in more depth in his book The GOP's Lost Decade. Get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/GOPs-Lost-Decade-Inside-Washington/dp/1732185514/ref   Jim is also the Chairman of Ohio's Future Foundation. Find out what they are doing to improve Ohio here: https://www.ohiosfuturefoundation.org/   Thanks

People want to know whether God exists.  Don't You? One way we've tried to is by searching for evidence in the natural world and plumbing the depths of human reason - this is the project of natural theology.  Can we find out whether God exists without God revealing that information to us in some way? We discuss the revolutionary idea that God may not be interested in having people come to know that God exists in the above fashion.  Such a project misses the salient aspects of a robust, volitional, and moral transformation journey that God would be interested in if God exists.

Have you ever found it difficult to just be still? Silent? Enjoy the present moment? So have we. In this episode, we discuss the importance of finding happiness or contentment in the present moment.  We dissect a number of pieces from pop culture and philosophy that help us understand the danger of neglecting the practice of presence.     Join the conversation!

Puns aside, have you wondered about how to read the Bible and formulate theology in light of archaeological evidence? How do these two disciplines relate? In this episode, Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott explains what exactly archaeologists do, why it's valuable, and how it relates to biblical studies.  We think you'll learn a ton from this one! To learn more about the course Dr. Shafer-Elliott is hosting, visit https://peteenns.com/course/everyday/.  A great resource for all of your archaeology FAQs is The Five-Minute Archaeologist.  Get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Minute-Archaeologist-Southern-Levant/dp/1781792429  

There are so many stories floating around about UFO and extraterrestrial sightings. But, do any of them stand up to scrutiny? We discuss the Fermi Paradox, which states that even if there is non-human intelligent life out there, it is incredibly unlikely that we would ever encounter them. And yet, the vastness of the cosmos suggests that aliens are probably real! Join the conversation.

We take risks all day every day. But, what bigger risks are you taking? What do you stand to gain from those risks? We use the acclaimed documentary, Free Solo, featuring rock climber Alex Honnold as a launching point. Alex free soloed El Capitan - no ropes, no nets, just him and the rock face. How do we think about such risk-taking? And on the flip-side, what are the consequences of being risk-averse? Let us know what you think in the comments! Join the Conversation.

Have you ever felt like someone tried to tell you the truth in love, but emphasized the truth part rather than the love part? Jared Byas, co-host of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People and author of Love Matters More, shares how we can learn to love like Jesus instead of just fighting to be right.  We discuss the importance of truth, how it relates to loving well, the intellectual virtues, and personal anecdotes of victory and failure in this area. You can learn more about Jared's new book at lovemattersmorebook.com and discover ways to support Jared's work at patreon.com/thebiblefornormalpeople.