4:25 Jesus Saves Forever Ron - Will a good being cause unnecessary suffering? Does God cause unnecessary suffering? Caller has a tough time answering questions
31:45 NatureVsAI - The universe doesn’t exist
33:10 Enema Enjoyer - Are natural disasters necessary? Will there be earthquakes when Jesus returns? Caller doesn’t believe in all of the Bible
53:23 (Enema Enjoyer) - Do we have free will; Does God mess with our free will? What happened with Pharaoh?
1:31:37 Leo - Caller is now a Christian; We need evil because it will help us eventually; The Bible is contradictory and we don’t need it; Unnecessary suffering is good
2:03:22 Xavier - It was indeed good for God to have babies unalived; Caller refuses to answer what they would do if commanded by God to unalive a baby
2:27:35 (Xavier) - Could people successfully follow the Mosaic Law? How long should we follow the Law? Was slavery good? Was the test of the bloody sheet a fair test (Deuteronomy 22)? Caller loses
3:12:50 Tiger [Friendly] - Caller expresses thanks to Justin for helping them deconstruct
3:16:45 40days_all - God is all good; What is evil? Caller can’t keep track of the conversation so gets dropped
3:36:02 Jodash Pillay - Are natural disasters necessary for free will to exist? Caller claims that we can cure cancer and prevent volcanoes
3:57:40 (Jodash Pillay) - Caller says it was good for the Israelites to unalive babies in 1 Samuel 15; Is it good to punish people 400 years after the offense? Is it okay to eat your own children? Pro-baby paste; Caller loses connection
4:35:12 Chris - Was it just for 70K Israelites to be unalived because David took a census (2 Samuel 24)? Response: you can’t understand God’s mind; Should David have been punished? A little bit of Sov Cit arguments leak in
4:57:00 (Chris) - Do we have free will if God knows our future (Romans 9)? Is slavery always bad? Get a little BHI arguments
Why would anyone burn a bull, dung and all, for a god? Dan McClellan traces animal sacrifice back to the way ancient West Asians cared for their dead, from a stele whose owner left instructions for his own meals to Jacob Milgrom's theory that sacrificial blood was a ritual detergent for the temple rather than the sinner.
Then the Dans follow that logic out to the land itself in Leviticus 18 and 20, and to the early Christians who reframed Jesus' execution as a sacrifice.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:48 Thicker Than Water
1:13 Why sacrifice at all?
2:17 Feeding gods and the dead
4:24 The Katumuwa stele
6:44 What ritual is really for
7:13 The food never disappears
10:36 What sacrifice accomplished
11:07 "Only Jesus' blood"?
13:08 Blood as ritual detergent
13:36 Reading Leviticus 4
15:17 Milgrom's temple theory
17:32 The land vomits you out
19:22 Personal impurity
22:42 How rituals pile up
24:41 Exile and the Holiness Code
25:26 Jesus as sacrifice
28:19 Recap and the prophets
29:09 Outro
When Pope Leo XIV called the death penalty "inadmissible," critics fired back that he'd clearly never read the Bible, a book that prescribes death for everything from kidnapping to gathering sticks on the Sabbath.
But the Pope's argument is the same made-in-God's-image reasoning from Genesis 1:27 that abolitionists used against the Bible's slavery texts, and Jesus himself seems to land on both sides in the Gospel of Matthew. So does the Bible support the death penalty? It says the Pope is wrong, and it says he's right.
Chapters:
0:00 Welcome in
1:35 The Pope's death penalty post
2:26 Hasan and Christa Pike
3:57 The Bible's capital crimes
5:59 "You've never read the Bible"
6:48 Image of God vs. slavery
9:04 Pope Leo's AI encyclical
11:09 A pastor's double standard
12:16 Feelings first, reasons later
15:48 Did Jesus accept execution?
16:21 Cast the first stone
17:07 An eye for an eye
19:06 Just interpersonal ethics?
21:33 Matthew 15's death clause
22:45 One gospel, two answers
24:24 Genesis 9:6 cuts both ways
26:43 The forgotten blood rule
27:57 The Bible says both
28:36 Wrap-up and thanks
Maya Wiley, a prominent civil rights attorney and activist, recieves our Champion of Human Rights Award.
In her acceptance speech, Wiley reflects on the enduring influence of white ethno-Christian nationalism in the United States, highlighting its historical roots in racial segregation, genocide, and slavery.
She discusses how this ideology has resurfaced, manifesting in alarming ways, including recruitment and participation of extremists in the military post-January 6th.
Wiley emphasizes the importance of unity and coalition-building among diverse groups to combat this resurgence and protect civil liberties, including the freedom of religion and non-religion.
If you have a compelling argument for God, we want to hear it!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00:01 - Greetings & introduction
0:05:52 - Don Julio - Claims God is real because white people exist and apparently white people are perfect.
0:07:31 - Random thoughts - Accuses the hosts of being dishonest with themselves and having made up their minds about disbelief in God. Claims God is necessary to make truth statements
0:31:27 - Bingo and superchats
0:50:13 - Regen - Kid calls. Kid gets booted
0:50:36 - Samuel 164 - Rude caller that pivots from topic to topic while alluding to the founding of America and British settlers in america and Gaza conflict to Biblical prophecies. Gets schooled on how conversation works
1:03:31 - Gwaltz - Accuses Jon of being an incarnation of satan that preys on Christians on his livestream. Claims everyone will kneel before jesus
1:24:51 - Rejoice talks - Uses fine tuning argument in different ways to claim there is a God
1:51:46 - Bingo & Superchats
1:56:41 - Lamont - Uses the emergence of irreducible complexity in life as an argument for God.
2:19:22 - Superchats and Bingo
2:21:49 - Apostle.K.G - Claims Atheism lacks necessary models to explain existence. Talks about modal symmetry, prioris and hard determinism problems.
2:36:29 - Superchats
2:39:02 - Footballfactory SCO - Scottish caller that asks jon why he does these debates and the motivation behind his campaign against religion. Uses watchmaker argument and the irreducible complexity of the human eye to debate for theism. Dr digg joins to educate about evolution
3:14:11 - Superchats
3:16:38 - God is real - Says God is not a science project and claims God has revealed himself to him in a non physical way. Quotes the bible for defence.
3:44:36 - Superchats
3:48:11 - Conor - Heavily uses biblical myths & supernatural claims and prophecies as evidence for God. Jon explains how science explains the evolution of the natural world, whereas the biblical prophecies & myths are anachronistic and fails to explain the natural world.
4:15:38 - Superchats
4:17:37 - Bible real or fIctional - Tries to argue for accuracy of biblical prophecies and accuses jon of not reading them in context
4:29:32 - V_V - Claims human ancestors cannot map reality but modern humans abruptly can. Argues that this abrupt transition in epistemic capability is because of God. Tries to find gaps in evolution to fill God. Keeps asking 'teleological why/intention' to natural processes. Dr.Digg comes in to educate and point out the ignorance in seeking intention behind evolution. Questions dr.digg's authority.
4:57:21 - Bingo & Superchats
5:18:56 - AM PRO306 - Troll that crashes in with 'Ima beat yo ass' to Jon
5:25:16 - Superchats
5:35:16 - AAR - Claims Unfulfilled, endless desires are evidence for God . Uses C.s lewis' argument from desire. Claims Emotion and heart are required to reach God and not logic.
6:16:28 - Superchats & bingo
6:25:06 - Carbismark - Uses Personal experience/evidence of god. Criticises a rational approach to proving God. Claims God has not revealed himself to Jon. Gets killswitch'd thrice.
6:53:33 - Superchats
7:04:26 - Kim - accidental call
7:06:20 - Youtube opposition comments & superchats
7:27:11 - ChrisR - friendly caller that's asked to call back on friday.
7:31:51 - Midwest - cant connect
7:33:46 - Brandon - Arbitrary morals. Genetically engineering empathy. God cares for wellbeing
8:07:11 - Superchats
8:20:37 - SZP - Claims God is morally good and asks if Jon and Sean need proof for God's existence and God's goodness. Discusses the ontology of evidence vs proof.
8:42:52 - Superchats & conclusion
9:04:01 - Housekeeping, Bingo winners and rate a caller results.
Randi Weingarten, a prominent labor leader and educator, shares insights from her book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers, focusing on the critical role of public education and the separation of church and state in preserving democracy.
Weingarten discusses the threats to public education from authoritarian figures and billionaires aiming to consolidate power.
She highlights how educators promote pluralism and critical thinking, countering authoritarian tactics of fear, division, and isolation. Weingarten also critiques voucher programs, arguing they divert funds from public schools, benefit affluent families, and fail to improve educational outcomes.
"In the beginning was the Word," but what if the Word wasn't Jesus?
New Testament scholar Dustin Smith (Spartanburg Methodist College, host of the Biblical Unitarian Podcast) joins us to unpack his book Wisdom Christology in the Gospel of John, showing how John's prologue takes what Jewish tradition said about personified Wisdom (present at creation, tabernacling among humans, offering bread, wine, and life) and applies it to Jesus.
Along the way: why "monotheism" once meant the doctrine of the Unitarians, why the women in John understand Jesus better than the Twelve, and why John's Jesus may be more human than you were taught.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:38 Meet Dustin Smith
1:38 Monotheism once meant Unitarianism
2:59 What is Unitarianism?
4:06 Wisdom Christology in John
5:39 Christology 101
7:00 Lady Wisdom in Proverbs
8:37 Proverbs 31 embodies Wisdom
10:05 Wisdom made flesh in Judaism
12:14 Word, Wisdom, and Spirit
13:46 Wisdom in John's prologue
19:02 Did John read Philo?
20:36 Why "Word," not "Wisdom"?
21:49 Not a conscious Logos
23:06 The Word at the baptism
26:32 Did Jesus pre-exist?
33:34 Wisdom, Torah, and John 10
35:31 John's misunderstanding motif
37:47 "You are gods"
39:02 Why is Wisdom a woman?
44:24 Women as ideal disciples
47:32 The Samaritan woman
49:21 John vs. the Synoptics
51:09 John's very human Jesus
53:44 Can disciples share divinity?
57:20 Why this matters today
1:00:52 Wrap-up and new website
9:53 Isaiah Thomas - Marci joins; Caller believes in God because the world seems fine-tuned; Caller leaves abruptly
26:39 Vintage [Deconstructing] - What parts of the Bible could people use to back up the idea that Jesus is Satan?
51:05 Brian [Friendly] - How can caller debate against the anti-blood transfusion belief of Jehovah’s Witnesses?
1:02:25 Islamically Correct - Quantanaut joins; Caller wants to run the argument from contingency; Does the universe have a beginning?
1:37:05 (Islamically Correct) - M’s joins; Where does a man’s special fluid come from? What is wrong with Aisha being married as a child?
2:03:08 Leaf - Caller is a member of the Druze; Call doesn’t really go anywhere so gets dropped
2:09:08 Ben Randall - Will the new Jerusalem be a physical place (Ezekiel); Will we have to follow the Mosaic Law forever? Was Jesus a false prophet?
2:40:58 Chief - Lucy the hominid is fake; Where did life come from?
2:55:25 Davidestrada8634 - Can you believe scientific studies if you yourself weren’t there? Was Jesus from the physical seed of David? Has anyone seen God? Should males get the tip snipped?
3:42:55 Freegame - This call turns into Justin vs ChatGPT because caller doesn’t bring any of their own defenses to the call and can’t cite sources with specificity; If a religion says something false about history, does that make the religion itself false? Does Exodus 9:6 contain a contradiction (the ten plagues)? Caller doesn’t speak Hebrew but gets into a Biblical Hebrew grammar fight and misquotes the BDB
4:23:50 (Freegame) - Can we trust Biblical scholars? Does Matthew 1:11 have a contradiction (Josiah vs Jeconiah)? Is Michael Coogan, editor of The New Oxford Annotated Bible, a Christian?
4:49:20 (Freegame) - What does the Catholic Church say about Biblical contradictions? When was Jesus born (reign of Herod vs census ordered by Quirinius)?
5:28:17 (Freegame) - Catholic Church and contradictions continued; Caller wants to physically fight Justin and call turns to meta
5:47:10 (Freegame) - What evil stuff has the Catholic Church done or endorsed? Circling back to Quirinius
6:25:08 Make the case AKA SaucyNugs - Philodragon and Cyber join; Does the universe exist? Could Justin ever not exist? What necessarily exists? Caller keeps trying to twist words throughout the call
7:24:10 Bob [Agnostic] - A discussion of agnosticism and beliefs
The Daily Mail says the resting place of Noah's ark is "100% confirmed" on a hillside in Turkey, which is very exciting unless you look at any of the evidence.
On this "Artifacts and Fiction," the Dans dig into the new radar scans and core drilling at the Durupınar formation, and the awkward fact that a geophysicist who badly wanted it to be the ark already drilled this site in 1988 and hit bedrock.
Plus: why Genesis never actually says "Mount Ararat," why the formation is far too wide to be the boat the Bible describes, and what the peer-reviewed geology has said since 1996.
Chapters:
0:00 A Flood of Misinformation
1:36 The Noah's Ark Scans Videos
2:24 Ron Wyatt's Boat-Shaped Formation
4:35 Radar Scans and Right Angles
6:29 How Core Drilling Works
7:24 The "100% Confirmed" Headline
8:28 The Donate Link
9:52 They Drilled Here in 1988
12:08 How the Hype Plays Out
13:45 Why People Want It True
14:51 The Mountains of Ararat
18:27 A Boat on a Mountaintop?
20:05 Cubits and the Ark's Width
25:37 Can Wood Last That Long?
28:00 Radar, Drills, and Limestone
30:42 Even a Boat Proves Little
33:37 The 1996 Peer-Reviewed Verdict
35:36 Thanks for watching! Interview:
First, the textual evidence: the Greek word parthenos and its relationship to the Hebrew alma; plus Mary's line in Luke 1:34, which together explain why the tradition reads her as a virgin.
For Dan, the bigger question is why the claim matters theologically. He traces how it underscores the miraculous nature of Jesus' birth, how it ties female virginity to purity, and how the doctrine expanded into the perpetual virginity of Mary (before, during, and after the birth). That expansion goes back to at least the second century, was affirmed at the Second Council of Constantinople, and was held by reformers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Wesley, despite New Testament references to Jesus' siblings.
The episode argues that the doctrine's staying power, even against that counter-evidence, shows how much is riding on it. It becomes a flashpoint for critics because it encapsulates the tradition's ties to purity culture, patriarchal assumptions, and the devaluation of embodiment and sexuality.
Listeners are invited to send more questions and topic ideas for the series.
What happens to people who have never heard the gospel?
It's one of the most common questions people raise in church, and one of the most uncomfortable: how can God be just if he condemns people who never had the chance to respond to the message that could save them?
In this episode of It's in the Code, part of the series Questions I Wasn't Supposed to Ask in Church, Dan Miller walks through three broad Christian answers that stretch back nearly to the beginning of the tradition.
Exclusivism, the historically dominant view from Augustine and the Protestant Reformers, holds that salvation comes only through explicitly accepting the gospel.
Inclusivism, associated with Justin Martyr and more common among Catholics, holds that people can receive Christ's saving work through responding in faith to general revelation.
And a third category, miraculous revelation, includes the "harrowing of hell" (Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison), as well as the idea, associated with Thomas Aquinas, that God provides a way for sincere seekers to encounter the gospel.
Along the way, Dan explores why this question has troubled believers for centuries, how the answer often depends on the kind of church you grew up in, and how it differs from the separate question of what happens to Jews who lived before Jesus.
He also invites listeners to keep sending in the questions they weren't supposed to ask in church.
Everybody knows the word "Messiah," but what did it mean before it meant Jesus?
In this "What's That?" segment, we follow the anointed one from oil poured on the heads of Israelite kings and priests, to the Persian emperor Cyrus (whom the Greek text of Isaiah has God calling "my Christ"), to the apocalyptic deliverer of Daniel and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Then comes the big pivot: how a messiah expected to restore Israel's political independence became, after the crucifixion, a spiritual savior from sin and death.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:45 What Is a Messiah?
1:24 Christ Is Not a Last Name
3:13 What Anointing Meant
4:34 Anointed Ones, Not "The Messiah"
5:02 Cyrus, God's Anointed
7:07 David's Line and the Exile
9:56 The Eschatological Turn
11:48 Two Messiahs at Qumran
13:13 Jesus and the Big Pivot
15:38 Was Isaiah 53 Messianic?
16:16 Why the Pivot Worked
17:37 Reinventing the Messiah
19:10 The Great Delay
19:36 How Bleak Did It Get?
20:24 Origins of Eternal Torment
22:34 Wrap-Up
In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Pete Hegseth's State of the Force speech, which they argue recasts the U.S. military as a Christian crusader army defined by narrow standards of body, gender, and faith. They examine his flattened story of Western civilization, his "appeal to heaven" and "armor of God" language, and the plan to remove bureaucratic oversight from the Office of Religious Affairs.
Next, they turn to Senator Eric Schmitt's failed attempt to trap Jack Smith at a congressional hearing, and to Smith's statement that Trump committed serious crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, which got lost in the noise.
They then look at new data projecting that roughly 100,000 U.S. churches will close or be repurposed over the next decade, and what that means for claims of a religious resurgence and for Christian nationalism. Reasons for hope include a civic story of shared investment from Zohran Mamdani and the DOJ's 26th loss in its effort to obtain state voter rolls. Interview:
You know it makes sense!
Gods are silly.
Come and discuss!
TIMESTAMPS
0:00:01 - intro and housekeeping
0:04:06 - Aaron Brereton - Claims biblical prophecies are true, Explains his personal, distorted understanding of time, space, matter (his trinity) & o light, etc. Implies fine tuning argument.
0:19:31 - Bingo & super chats
0:22:31 - B - Claims Morality comes from God. Justifies atrocious acts in the bible as morally good and accuses jon of being a psychopath.
0:45:10 - Bingo
0:48:02 - TxPostgrad - Baseball coach that condemns abortion and talks about IQ tests
1:03:17 - Superchats
1:05:33 - David - Claims there might be evidence for God and flat earth analogy. Caller has dilemma about going back to theism.
1:14:48 - Superchats
1:15:39 - Ernest Edwards - Talks gibberish and imaginary things that makes the hosts & audience think he was under some influence.
1:18:28 - Superchats, Sean's deconstruction story
1:23:39 - Michael - Pro-religious and "allegedly atheist🫤" that argues for a utilitarian defence of the new testament amd claims communist atrocities were due to lack of christianity.
1:34:28 - Bingo & superchats
1:42:38 - Karl with a C - Claims people are defined by their actions. Proceeds to imply based off that proposition that belief is a choice
1:57:33 - Bingo
1:58:13 - Devilawesomeme - Brings in the psychology experiment out of context. Talks about fabricated memories/ confabulations as psychologists call it, out of context. Tries to argue for the accuracy of the bible & gap fill God into uncertainties around abiogenesis & big bang.
2:22:04 - Superchats
2:23:43 - Clifford - Claims christianity is the highest form of intelligence. Accuses jon of lacking the maturity and intelligence to understand the bible. Does performative laughing as Jon presents the false prophecies in the bible.
2:52:14 - Bingo & superchats
2:54:13 - Guard dog - Asks if the world is ready for secularism. Talks over the hosts and tries to argue that God exists despite there not being evidence because of utility in religion.
3:02:08 - Superchats
3:03:53 - Gerardine Farah - South african or maybe Scottish caller (the accemt sounds confusing) with sore throat claims to use science to prove God exists. Tries to use cosmological arguments (conflates big bang and carbon dating) and reads passages out of the bible, saying that it is the science that proves God. Accuses jon and Sean for not giving her a chance to speak.
3:14:54 - Gadman - Claims he died as a 6 year old from an injury and that Jesus sent him back. Sweet and innocent caller that Jon politely ended the call with.
3:20:38 - Superchats
3:23:10 - Top_Z - Discussion around choice in beliefs. Ella comes in and educates everyone on human DNA, common genetic areas with apes and also medusa viruses. Overall cordial caller
3:43:09 - Superchats
3:44:38 - DBN Khosta - Claims that mental health problems being healed by exorcism is evidence for God. Tries to argue there is no morality without God.
3:51:23 - Superchats
3:53:43 - The Guided servant - Claims a man from the 6th century knew about universal expansion and modern science. Bails out when asked to answer the ethical validity in pedophilia & scientific inaccuracies in the Quran.
3:59:30 - Midwest - friendly caller that leaves to call on the friday show
4:00:53 - Anthony - Claims Love is from God and uses cosmological argument. Gets into DNA, abiogenesis after which Scientificsnitch comes in to explain the nuances and depth of molecular biology, microbiology and evolution.
4:26:53 - Hodge - Comes in with the traditional God did it, watchmaker/designer argument. Gishgallops, gets kilswitch'd and leaves after insulting Jon with the N word.
4:36:13 - Samuel hate video
4:41:58 - Superchats
5:02:05 - Member questions
5:09:29 Bingo & Superchats
5:15:43 - Champ of champs - calls in to get clarification. Agrees and leaves
5:19:00 - Superchats
5:20:28 - Matic - Phil bro that was banned before for talking condescendingly. Does the same and gets kicked again.
5:24:13 - POTS - Claims asking for evidence is not relevant to proving God and that not all decisions are rational. Gets kilswitchd after repeated circular arguments
5:37:53 - DMC - Tries to argue around moral relativism but ends up talking over the hosts and complains about the meta of the conversation. Gets killswitchd which jon vetoes
5:51:58 - Superchats
5:58:19 - Broncoboo -Equates Gambling dilemma and other ethical dilemma to dilemma between beliefand non belief.
6:03:23 - Superchats
6:11:23 - Information on innercircle
6:15:03 - Superchats
6:16:18 - Bingo winner (le me😁), caller ratings and conclusion.
28:12 Lucas - If we are in a simulation, would God be the one in control of the simulation?
29:45 Leo - The Holy Spirit is quantifiable, it helps our brains to fend off bad stuff, and caller has written a paper about it
40:58 Nathaniel Ward - Mezzo joins; Caller claims there is power in the name of Jesus and calls both hosts serpents; Call devolves to Justin and Mezzo clowning on caller; Evolution vs creation
1:16:30 (Nathaniel Ward) - When was Jesus born? Caller runs
1:35:00 Crystal joins to remind everyone that today is the last day to bid on a signed Bible
1:38:45 Larry Speghetti - Caller claims to be Jewish but gets antisemitic real quick; Is it good when God has women graped (2 Samuel 12)? Caller claims that anything God says to do is good; Is God just?
2:14:15 Craigp45 - Did the universe have a beginning? Is an infinite past possible? A-theory and B-theory of time and what time is; What exists necessarily?
2:47:20 (Craigp45) - Was Jesus a false prophet? What will happen in the new Jerusalem? Will there be ongoing physical sacrifices (Ezekiel 44)? Caller doesn’t really settle on any explanation
3:08:22 (Craigp45) Is Ezekiel 46 a metaphor or will it happen? Did Jesus fulfill any prophecies? Why did Jesus come to Earth?
3:42:55 Benson - What does Matthew 24 say will happen when Jesus returns? Caller has connection issues
4:02:50 Steve - DNA is information so it has a mind behind it; M’s talks DNA and the evolution of genes
4:39:35 (Steve) - How about deistic evolution? How old is the Earth and how do thermodynamics/dark energy play into it? Can God act outside of time? What does “theory” mean in science?
5:13:25 LastIchEffort - Believes in a creator but not a god
5:15:00 WillHeFindFaith - Caller yaps and goes off of personal experience a lot; Caller claims the Old Testament God is wicked but Jesus is different; Why does the quote in Matthew 27:9 not appear in Jeremiah? Answer: a lot of stuff in the Bible has changed over time
5:39:10 (WillHeFindFaith) - Did God tell David to do a census and was it against God’s laws (2 Samuel 24)? Did Jesus tell us to follow the Law of Moses?
5:56:45 (WillHeFindFaith) - Is Jesus in the Old Testament? Was Jesus the snake in the Garden of Eden? Is Revelation true?
All believers seem to have their own ideas about which parts are metaphorical and which are to be taken literally. Of course, the book itself has nothing to say on the matter.
