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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?

Revisiting another classic show from 2021, and asking has the ‘sea of faith’ ebbed for good, and what might replace it—new atheism, ‘woke’ moralism, or a rediscovery of Christianity’s story? Douglas Murray and N.T. Wright discuss identity, myth and meaning in a post-Christian West. Murray, an “uncomfortable agnostic,” values the Christian inheritance yet laments a church that echoes the culture rather than proclaiming forgiveness and hope. Wright argues that the Christian narrative—based in history and centred on Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection—uniquely grounds human dignity, justice and reconciliation, offering more than social activism or abstract ethics. Together they probe truth, myth, miracles, the pandemic’s disorientation, and whether we can still find a story to live by. Thoughtful and generous, this classic exchange invites believers and sceptics alike to reconsider the well from which our civilisation drinks.

Consider subscribing to our podacst with N.T. Wright here For NT Wright

For Douglas Murray: 
https://douglasmurray.net/

👉 Support thought-provoking conversations and help keep the show going at www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate💡
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Classic: Do We Still Need Christianity? Douglas Murray vs N. T. Wright

Can a Christian ever support war? In this episode, host Dr. John Nelson brings together pastor and peace advocate Brian Zahnd (A Farewell to Mars) and theologian Andrew Hronich (Once Loved, Always Loved) for a challenging and profound conversation about pacifism, just war theory, and Christian discipleship in a world at war.
From the Sermon on the Mount to the streets of Gaza, this debate probes the ethics of violence, the witness of the early church, and whether Christian love can ever include lethal force. Thought-provoking, compassionate, and deeply rooted in biblical and historical theology.
Subscribe, rate, and share.

👉 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
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Pacifism vs Just War: Should Christians Ever Fight? Brian Zahnd & Andrew Hronich

In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, Kathy Keller speaks with Luke Martin about life, faith, and the theological vision she shared with her late husband, Tim Keller. Kathy revisits her teenage correspondence with C.S. Lewis, the formative influences that shaped Tim’s preaching, and why “contextualisation” has been so widely misunderstood. She introduces Tim’s new posthumous book, What Is Wrong with the World?, drawn from long-forgotten sermon manuscripts exploring the many disguises of sin.

Kathy reflects movingly on grief, idolatry, the hope of the gospel, and why, as she puts it, “you were built to run on God.” She also explains why the idea of sin has become “the last taboo” in today’s culture — and why rediscovering it is essential for understanding ourselves and our world.
A thoughtful and heartfelt conversation with the person who knew Tim Keller best.

'What is Wrong with the World?' book: https://amzn.to/4ozf3Qi

👉 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:
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Kathy Keller on Tim Keller, Sin and the World’s Deepest Problem

Can we really know whether God exists... or is belief just a product of evolution and psychology?
In this powerful Unbelievable? debate filmed at a UK school, Andy Kind hosts philosopher and atheist Dr Stephen Law and Christian biologist Sam McKee for a fascinating and heartfelt conversation about belief, meaning, and the human search for truth.
From the problem of evil and the evolution of belief to personal experience and purpose, this episode moves from science to soul — asking whether faith is a delusion or our deepest intuition.

👉 Subscribe for more thought-provoking debates on faith, reason, and culture: https://www.unbelievable.show

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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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Happiness, humanity, ethics, evolution... what really is the meaning of life? Sam McKee vs Stephen Law hosted by Andy Kind

In this classic Unbelievable? from The Big Conversation, Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom (Future of Humanity Institute; Superintelligence) and MIT pioneer Rosalind Picard (Affective Computing) discuss God, AI and the future of humanity—could technology be the key to immortality? They weigh near-term benefits and risks, from alignment and governance to the temptation of power. Do machines feel or become conscious? Are we moral to potential digital minds? Bostrom explores his simulation argument, cryonics and transhuman futures; Picard shares breakthroughs in emotion-sensing tech that aid epilepsy, autism and depression, plus her journey from sceptic to Christian. Together they debate digital “heaven”, uploading, human dignity, and why humility—intellectual and moral—must guide our path into the machine age. Hopeful and provocative insights.

👉 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:
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Classic: Nick Bostrom & Rosalind Picard: God, AI, Consciousness & the Future of Humanity

What is really real? In this wide-ranging conversation, Dr Zachary Ardern (evolutionary biologist, Wellcome Sanger Institute), Dr Alex Carter (philosopher, University of Cambridge), and Dr Sam McKee (science historian, Manchester Metropolitan University) sit down to revisit one of the oldest debates in human thought — the relationship between science, religion, and ultimate reality. 

This one will get you thinking and may even surprise you in their discussion about meaning, knowledge, and the limits of what science can tell us. 

👉 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

Beyond Naturalism: What’s Real? Dr. Alex Carter vs Dr. Zachary Ardern - Hosted by Sam McKee

In our inaugural episode of Premier Unbelievable: The Interview, host Luke Martin sits down with modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty—the duo, alongside Stuart Townend, behind the global hymn “In Christ Alone.”

From Belfast roots to life in Nashville, Luke explores their craft, calling, and why congregational singing forms the grammar of belief. The Gettys reflect on the partnership of poetry and melody, the tension between emotionalism and depth in worship, and the growing hunger among Gen Z for meaning, beauty and a faith that shapes real life. They also share details of their new hymnal project and preview their Christmas concerts in Glasgow, London and Belfast.

Whether you’re a pastor, musician, worship leader or thoughtful listener, this conversation offers practical insight and rich encouragement for shaping beautiful, theologically robust worship in the local church. 
Get Home For Christmas tickets here: https://tix.to/vRm4Ug 

Getty Sing! Hymnal: https://amzn.to/4omSm1A 

Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction
 01:25 – Who are Keith & Kristyn Getty?
 05:10 – Why Congregational Singing Matters
 09:20 – Writing Hymns: Poetry, Melody & Partnership
 14:45 – Worship: Emotion vs Depth
 19:30 – Gen Z’s Search for Meaning & Beauty
 24:55 – The New Getty Hymnal Project
 30:10 – A Global Movement of Hymn Singing
 35:40 – Advice for Church Musicians & Worship Leaders
 42:00 – Christmas Tour Preview (Glasgow / London / Belfast)
 47:25 – Closing Thoughts

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Keith & Kristyn Getty: Music, Faith & the Story Behind the Hymns

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💡
🎧 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: 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

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

👉 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
• Support us: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/geolink/donate

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

Many have suggested that Christian belief in the divinity and worship of Jesus as God was a late development, and that Jesus' early followers did not regard him as being equal with God. So was Jesus merely regarded as an ‘elevated’ being? Was high Christology at odds with the Jewish monotheism of the first century?

New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham argues against these views. His book ‘Jesus and the God of Israel’ claims that the worship of Jesus as God was both very Jewish and very early. Agnostic scholar James Crossley contests Richard's claims.

Originally broadcast 10th October 2009.

For Richard Bauckham visit http://www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/people/rbauckham.html 

For James Crossley see http://shef.ac.uk/bibs/staff/jgc.html 

If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 29 Aug 2009 - Richard Bauckham on the Gospels - pt 1: Richard Bauckham and James Crossley https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-yec6j-f8a603?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share 

Unbelievable? 24 Jan 2009 - How did Christianity begin?" Pt 2 - James Crossley & Michael Bird https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hbk78-f5a058?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share

USA listeners check out our new USA website for exclusive resources and to support us: http://www.unbelievable.show

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the free Unbelievable? e-book ‘In Conversation With…’ https://www.premier.org.uk/Unbelievablenewsletter 

Support the show: https://resources.premier.org.uk/supportunbelievable 

For more faith debates visit http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/UnbelievableJB 

Twitter https://twitter.com/unbelievablejb 

Insta https://www.instagram.com/justin.brierley

Classic Replay: The divinity of Jesus with Christian Richard Bauckham and sceptic James Crossley

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