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Premier Unbelievable?

Unbelievable? offers a weekly podcast, blog, and video series hosted by Ruth Jackson and a team of thinkers and Christian apologists.

Unbelievable?

Premier Unbelievable guest-hosted by Dr. Sam McKee heads to John Colet School in Wendover, UK for a lively debate on science, religion and reality with Oxford atomic & laser physicist Prof Paul Ewart (Christian; former Faraday Institute director, ex-president of Christians in Science) and UCL biophysics & imaging expert Prof Simon Walker-Samuel (trustee, Humanists UK). Together they explore whether science and faith conflict or complement each other. From fine-tuning and emergence to AI, digital twins in cancer care, consciousness and what it means to be human, our guests test big ideas with sharp student questions. Is “God of the gaps” a fair critique? Can love and morality be reduced to atoms—or do they point beyond materialism?

Atoms, Aliens and the Meaning of Everything: Paul Ewart vs Simon Walker-Samuel hosted by Sam McKee

Today we’re dipping back into a Classic Unbelievable? / The Big Conversation episode: Bishop Robert Barron vs Alex O’Connor on the question, “Christianity or atheism — which best explains who we are?” Recorded when Alex was still a student at Oxford, this lively, good-humoured exchange set the tone for countless thoughtful dialogues to come. Since then, Alex’s Cosmic Skeptic platform has grown massively and he’s even appeared on an extremely popular Unbelievable? show with Ben Shapiro, reflecting how these conversations continue to reach new audiences. Revisit Barron’s Thomistic vision of God, Alex’s pushback on contingency and faith, and their probing discussion of suffering, meaning, and human flourishing. Whether you’re new to the show or re-listening, we hope you enjoy the show. 

👉 Support thought-provoking conversations and help keep the show going at www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate💡
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Classic: Christianity or Atheism: Which best explains who we are? Bishop Robert Barron vs Alex O’Connor

Can Christianity save democracy? Vince Vitale hosts a frank, generous exchange between social critic Os Guinness and author Jonathan Rauch about faith’s civic foundations, liberalism, and power. This is one we’ve been looking forward to! Rauch, a scientific materialist, argues that democracy needs Christianity’s deepest teachings; Guinness locates America’s virtues in the Hebrew–Christian tradition.
Don’t miss the most moving moment: around the hour mark, Guinness turns to Rauch and apologises without caveat for the ways Christians have treated gay people like him. Rauch receives it with grace, and the room changes. It’s a rare, exemplary act of repentance that models the public virtue both men commend.
Is religion necessary for public virtue? What happens when politics replaces moral conviction? And how can Christians engage civically without being captured by partisan extremes? From the founding ideals of democracy to the spiritual crises of modern secularism, this discussion asks whether Christianity’s values of conscience, humility, and truth are exactly what our societies need most.

For Jonathan Rauch
Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonrauch.bsky.social

Jonathan Rauch's Books
NEW Cross Purposes: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300273540/cross-purposes/
and here: https://amzn.to/47laSQC

For Os Guinness:
https://osguinness.com/

Os Guinness' Books:
Guinness' America Agonistes: https://amzn.to/4hmnzzj
Our Civilizational Moment: https://amzn.to/4qlqHPV

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👉 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes - absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 🎉📢

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Can Christianity Save Democracy? Os Guinness v Jonathan Rauch hosted by Vince Vitale

In this classic Unbelievable? Big Conversation, atheist broadcaster Matt Dillahunty (The Atheist Experience) and Christian evangelist Glen Scrivener (Speak Life) clash over the foundations of morality. Is secular humanism enough, or does Christianity uniquely ground human dignity? They test claims about wellbeing, the is–ought gap, intrinsic vs extrinsic religiosity, “cancel culture,” and whether society’s benefits from religion are about truth or simply community. Expect sparky exchanges on the Bible and slavery, sacrifice and the cross, disability ethics (e.g. prenatal screening), and whether objective moral values exist without God. Matt argues for taking the best ideas—sans “baggage” while Glen contends the Christian story birthed our modern concern for the weak and marginalised.

💡 Love thoughtful dialogue between believers and sceptics? Join thousands of curious minds exploring life’s biggest questions with Premier Unbelievable?
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Classic: Can Atheism Deliver a Better World? Matt Dillahunty vs Glen Scrivener

In today's Unbelievable? school debate, Zachary Ardern, a christian biologist, and Alex Carter, an atheist scientist, face off on whether scientific progress has made belief in God obsolete.
Hosted by Andy Kind, the discussion dives into the biggest questions of all:
Can science explain everything, or does it point beyond itself?Is faith irrational in the age of reason?What counts as evidence for God?Are morality and meaning possible without a creator?From the fine-tuning of the universe to the limits of human understanding, Zach and Alex debate whether God remains the best explanation, or whether naturalism is more than enough to disprove the existence of a God. What do you think? Filmed in collaboration with Aylesbury Vale Youth For Christ

Dr Zachary Ardern is an Evolutionary Biologist at a research institute in Cambridge.
Dr Alex Carter is the Academic Director for Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Continuing Education. 

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👉 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes—absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 🎉📢

• Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://www.premier.plus/unbelievable
• More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com
• For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live
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Does Science Make God Unnecessary? Alex Carter vs Zachary Ardern hosted by Andy Kind

Tom Holland and philosopher A.C. Grayling differ deliciously in this classic Big Conversation part of Premier's Unbelievable? Podcast. Where does the West’s moral compass really come from? Drawing on Holland’s bestselling Dominion and Grayling’s secular humanism, they spar over the roots of dignity, equality and rights. Was the cross a moral revolution that overturned Rome’s hierarchy reshaping attitudes to slavery, sex, and the status of victims? Or do our ethics flow chiefly from classical philosophy, the Renaissance and Enlightenment? Expect lively exchanges on Paul, Stoicism, preserving ancient texts, the abolition of slavery, and whether humanism is a “godless Protestantism”. A riveting clash of history and philosophy and what it means for faith, reason, science, law, culture and public life today and beyond.

For AC Grayling’s ‘The History of Philosophy’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Philosophy-C-Grayling/dp/0241304539 
For Tom Holland’s ‘Dominion’ https://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Christian-Revolution-Remade-World/dp/0465093507

Classic: Tom Holland vs AC Grayling: Did Christianity Shape Western Values?

A bestselling French engineer argues that modern cosmology points to a Creator — but a leading physicist says science explains it all without God. Unbelievable? podcast John Nelson hosts cosmologist Dr Niayesh Afshordi and entrepreneur-author and engineer Michel-Yves Bolloré for a lively clash on cosmic origins. Afshordi outlines ideas that our universe may have emerged from a black hole and surveys competing models of the Big Bang. Bolloré, co-author of God: The Science, The Evidence, argues that twentieth-century discoveries—from thermodynamics and entropy to expansion and fine-tuning—stack up as evidence for a Creator. They test “beginning versus eternity,” debate whether fine-tuning signals design or selection effects, and ask what constitutes prediction, falsifiability, and proof. Is the “God hypothesis” scientific, metaphysical, or both? Can science ever answer “why there is something rather than nothing”? Thoughtful, spirited, and friendly, this episode brings faith and physics into constructive dialogue. 

👉 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes - absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 🎉📢

• Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://www.premier.plus/unbelievable
• More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com
• For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live
• For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training

SOCIAL LINKS
Twitter: https://twitter.com/unbelievablefe
Facebook: / https://facebook.com/premierunbelievable
Instagram: / https://instagram.com/premierunbelievable
Tik Tok: / https://tiktok.com/@premier.unbelievable

Has Science Just Proved God? Michel-Yves Bolloré v Niayesh Asfshordi hosted by John Nelson

How did the universe come into being, and why are we part of it? Sir Roger Penrose (atheist-leaning Nobel laureate) and Christian philosopher William Lane Craig come together for this mind-stretching Big Conversation: “Did the universe begin and what is its origin and purpose in it?” Penrose outlines his three “mysteries” (physics, mind, mathematics) and his Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, while Craig argues that the beginning of the universe, the applicability of maths, morality and fine-tuning point to a divine mind. Expect respectful fireworks and first-rate clarity from two titans on this classic of Unbelievable? podcast. Since recording, Penrose received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on black holes, reinvigorating interest in his cosmic ideas. Craig has continued to draw huge audiences, publishing In Quest of the Historical Adam (2021) and debating cosmology and God worldwide.

👉 Support thought-provoking conversations and help keep the show going at www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate💡
🎧 Never miss an episode! Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast a www.premier.plus/unbelievable 🎙️
🔗 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes - absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 📢
 
Social Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/unbelievablefe
Facebook: / https://facebook.com/premierunbelievable
Instagram: / https://instagram.com/premierunbelievable
Tik Tok: / https://tiktok.com/@premier.unbelievable

Classic: Sir Roger Penrose vs William Lane Craig — Origins & Purpose of the Universe

In this special Unbelievable? debate, recorded live at Waddesdon High School, Andy Kind moderates a lively exchange between philosopher Dr Shaun Stevenson and Oxford doctoral candidate Nathan Elvidge on one of life’s biggest questions: Does God exist?
From the origins of religious belief to the grounding of morality, the two thinkers spar over whether right and wrong can be explained without God, the problem of evil, and whether concepts like “absolute morality” require a divine lawgiver. Along the way, they tackle Spinoza, slavery, free will, the Garden of Eden, and even whether “evil” itself is an illusion.
Engaging, challenging, and thought-provoking, this conversation brings philosophy into the classroom, offering students and listeners alike a window into one of humanity’s oldest debates.

👉 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes - absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 🎉📢

• Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://www.premier.plus/unbelievable
• More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com
• For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live
• For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training

SOCIAL LINKS
Twitter: https://twitter.com/unbelievablefe
Facebook: / https://facebook.com/premierunbelievable
Instagram: / https://instagram.com/premierunbelievable
Tik Tok: / https://tiktok.com/@premier.unbelievable

Does God Exist? Shaun Stevenson vs Nathan Elvidge hosted by Andy Kind

Two world-class cosmologists talk it out in a classic Unbelievable? podcast debate: What best explains the universe—God or naturalism? Christian astrophysicist Luke Barnes (Sydney Institute for Astronomy; co-author A Fortunate Universe) and atheist physicist Sean Carroll (Caltech; author The Big Picture) explore whether Big Bang cosmology hints at a beginning with purpose, or a brute fact within a naturalistic story. Expect poetic naturalism, the fine-tuning of physical constants, the role (and limits) of explanation in fundamental physics, and whether a multiverse offers a better account of a life-permitting cosmos. Is the universe’s mathematical elegance evidence for design, or simply how reality is? Would we expect a universe this vast if humans matter to God? Expect rigorous science, sharp philosophy, and respectful pushback as Barnes and Carroll test theism and naturalism against the full sweep of cosmic evidence.

For Sean Carroll: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/
For Luke Barnes: https://afortunateuniverse.wordpress.com/about-the-authors/

👉 Support thought-provoking conversations and help keep the show going at www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate💡
🎧 Never miss an episode! Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast a www.premier.plus/unbelievable 🎙️
🔗 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes - absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 📢
 
Social Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/unbelievablefe
Facebook: / https://facebook.com/premierunbelievable
Instagram: / https://instagram.com/premierunbelievable
Tik Tok: / https://tiktok.com/@premier.unbelievable

Classic: What best explains the universe - God or naturalism? Sean Carroll vs Luke Barnes

Justin Brierley moderates a thought-provoking discussion between Theo Hobson, author of 'God Created Humanism,' and Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association. The conversation examines whether humanist values of equality and human dignity are rooted in Christianity's shaping of Western culture or can develop independently from a secular perspective. What are the origins of secular humanism? And what is the sustainability of humanist values without religious foundations? This dialogue from 2017 explores the historical and philosophical underpinnings of modern humanism.

For more of Theo Hobson and his book
https://theohobson.wordpress.com/

Andrew Copson’s book is The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of 

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Classic: Can Humanism Exist Independently of Christian Influence? Theo Hobson & Andrew Copson

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