Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith & Culture
Episodes
578 episodes
Transformed: A Detransitioner Speaks Out (With Kyla Gillespie)
Why would a professional Canadian hockey player, who grew up as a Christian, transition from female to male, and then detransition back? How did God’s word transform her life and what did she learn through the process of gender confusion, reass...
Cultural Update: Supreme Court Religious Liberty Case; The Ethics of Consensual Non-Monogamy; Virtuous AI Chatbots; Policy Shifts on Psychedelics
Supreme Court Case on Religious Liberty: Sean and Scott discuss a new case involving Catholic preschools in Colorado that were denied public ...
Suffering Used for Our Good? (with Clay Jones)
How does God use our suffering for our good? What does it mean for us honor God in our suffering? And how does our eternal hope give us comfort in the midst of suffering? We’ll address these questions and more with our guest and former colleagu...
Cultural Update: Rise of Religiosity in Men; Trump's Messianic Imagery; The Ethics of Sports Gambling; Awareness in Vegetative Patients
Rise of Religiosity Among Young Men: A recent Gallup survey shows a significant 14% increase in men under 30 who say religion is "very i...
The Body God Gives (With Robert S. Smith)
What is a biblical response to transgender theory? What is the relationship between sex and gender? How can Christians best navigate our cultural moment with biblical conviction and compassion? In our discussion, Dr. Smith argues that God's des...
Cultural Update: Fertility Rates Drop in the US; Canada's "Online Harms" Bill; Finland Pushes Back on Gender Affirming Care; The Ethics of Parents Using Their Kids for Clicks
Declining U.S. Fertility Rates: Scott and Sean discuss how the U.S. fertility rate has hit a historic low. They explore how economic pressures and a secular...
The New Pornocracy and Why It Matters
In terms of influence and economic power, the porn industry is one of the largest and most influential industries in the world. A new book has been released which offers a secular critique of the "pornocracy," which means that it is no longer j...
Cultural Update: The Pope Speaks on War; Supreme Court Rules on Conversion Therapy; Christian Crypto Culture
The Pope’s Call for Peace: Scott and Erik analyze Pope Francis’s Palm Sunday homily, where he argued that Jesus cannot be us...
The Jewish Roots of American Liberty (with Stuart Halpern)
What is the contribution of Judaism and the Hebrew Bible to Western concept of liberty? How did the Hebrew Bible influence Western concepts of law in particular? And how did the experience of Israel and the main characters in Israel’s history i...
Weekly Cultural Update: Paper Drugs in Prisons; Public Muslim Prayer; The Catholic Church and Social Justice; Meta and Youtube Lawsuit
The New Frontier of the Drug War: Hosts Sean McDowell and Scott Ray discuss a terrifying "quantum leap" in the drug trade where synthetic, lab-made drugs are being
Reading Scripture as a Gift and not a Burden (with Uche Anizor)
What are the different gifts we get from being immersed in God’s Word? How do we develop a hunger for Scripture? And why do we so often see reading Scripture as a burden rather than a blessing. We’ll tackle these questions and more with our gue...
Cultural Update: Is Iran War Ethical?; Rigging March Madness; Sexual Recession
This week, Scott and Sean discuss: Just War, Modern Targets: Sean and Scott weigh whether Israel’s targeted killings of Iranian leaders can fit within just war reasoning while warning against pulling Old Testament examples ou...
Living in the Shadow of Grief (with Dave Keehn)
Is it possible to find hope and healing in the shadow of grief? How can we move forward after the loss of a loved one, such as a child, and both trust God and appropriately grieve? In today’s episode, Sean talks with Talbot professor Dr. Dave K...
Cultural Update: American Support for Israel; Researchers Uncover Evil AI; Wealth of Nations; Talarico's New Style
American Support for Israel: Support for Israel among younger evangelicals has dropped significantly, moving ...
Hell in the Bible: Eternal Torment or Annihilation? (with Paul Copan and Chris Date)
Is hell eternal conscious punishment or does the Bible teach that the wicked will ultimately be destroyed? This is one of the most debated theological questions among Christians today. Today, we have two leading scholars to explore the biblical...
Cultural Update: Talarico's Progressive Christianity; Epstein Files and Moral Unity; Supreme Court Backs Parental Rights
Supreme Court Backs Parental Rights: The Supreme Court issued a 6-3 emergency injunction blocking California's policy that req...
The Virtues of Capitalism, Part 2 of 2
Should Christians support capitalism? How effective has capitalism been in elevating people out of poverty? In this episode, which is the second part of a two-part series, Sean and Scott lay out the positive case for capitalism (aka, market eco...
Cultural Update: AI Date Cafe; Skincare for Toddlers; Questions on Youth Gender Treatment: Iranian Doctors and Nurses on Massacre
AI Date Cafe: A New York City cafe is offering "tables for one" designed for people to ...
Why Christians Should Not Be Leftists, Part 1 of 2
What is Leftism and can it be consistently wed with a Christian worldview? And is Leftism gaining ground in the culture and church? In this episode, Sean and Scott explore these questions and more in their review of the book
Cultural Update: The Monetization of Loneliness; Hospital Ends Youth Gender Treatment; Alarming U.K. Abortion Data
The Monetization of Loneliness: A new study shows that Americans spend more on OnlyFans than on ChatGPT and The New York Time...
Finding Freedom in Jesus (with JP Foster)
What does it mean to experience genuine freedom today? And how can a study of God’s attributes bring that freedom? In this episode, we talk with pastor JP Foster about his new book (co-written with Talbot professor Matt Williams):
Cultural Update: Social Network for Bots; AI Revolution in Jobs; Science of Happiness
This week: AI Bots' Social Network: Moltbook platform allows AI agents to interact with each other while humans can only ...
Suffering and our Spiritual Lives (with Craig Keener)
Does God cause our suffering? How is it a privilege to suffer for Christ? And what happens to a person’s faith when experiencing suffering, and how can we have joy in adversity? We’ll answer these questions and more with our guest Dr. Craig Kee...
Cultural Update: $2 Million Gender Medicine Verdict; AI Boyfriends; Politics at the Grammys
This week, Scott and Erik Thoennes discuss: $2 Million Gender Medicine Verdict: A New York jury awarded $2 million to a detransitioner who underwent...
A Psychologist Watches "The Chosen" (with Liz Hall)
How would a psychologist view the TV series, The Chosen? What does the portrayal of the characters, namely Jesus, say about how we connect with God? We’ll talk about these questions and more with our guest, Rosemead colleague and psychologist, ...