Thinking Christianly
with J.P. Moreland and Stan W. Wallace
52 episodes
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monthly cadence
English language
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with J.P. Moreland and Stan W. Wallace
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What does it really mean to say that we “know” something? In this episode, we begin a series on epistemology, the study of knowledge and reasonable belief. In this podcast we discuss: What is knowledge (including knowledge about God)? Can we have it? If so, how? Can we be sure? What kinds of knowledge exist and how do we access them? What is the difference between certainty and defeasibility? Must we have certainty to have knowledge? What is the role of skepticism and how should Christians respond? Resources mentioned during our conversation: Roderick Chisholm, The Foundations of Knowing J.P.
In our first-ever question-and-response episode, Stan and JP engage with listener questions about postmodernism, panpsychism, and enchantment. In this podcast we discuss: How can adopting a broader, more holistic sacramental theology help us to understand the nature of reality? What is panpsychism, and why does the “Combination Problem” make it implausible? How is it incompatible with the Christian worldview? Can we understand our world as “enchanted” without slipping into panpsychism? Are we culturally post-Postmodern? Why is this moment in the history of ideas such a crucial one for Christia
In this episode, we discuss more ways the realism/nominalism debate is having a dramatic impact on all we think and do as we wrap up our series on this important topic. In these episodes, we discuss: Our culture’s confusion over what art is due to implicit nominalism How nominalism undercuts our knowledge of chemistry, biology, and ethics Ways in which nominalistic thinking seeps into our language and reinforces our confusion Nominalism as the seedbed for critical theory and other destructive cultural ideas The necessity of realism to understand our growth in Christ How nominalism cuts the hea
In this and the next podcast, we turn our conversation to points of application, discussing some of the ways the Realism/Nominalism debate is having a dramatic impact on all we think and do. In these episodes we discuss: If beauty is really in the eye of the beholder Can there be justice for all if we are nominalists How these ideas shape the work of physicians and therapists The nominalistic assumption underlying Critical Theory Why people say “That’s true for you but not for me.” How we got to the point of believing there are more than two genders Nominalism and abortion, infanticide, and eu
In this episode, we drill down further into how the Realist/Nominalist debate shapes our understanding of God with special guest and expert, Dr. Paul Gould. In this podcast, we discuss: What is “Divine Conceptualism” and how does it relate to Moderate Realism? What are some of the intellectual resources we gain when we hold Platonist ideas about abstract objects and traditional theist understandings about God’s nature? How does distinguishing the two types of creation help us understand God’s creative activity? Where do distinctions about Platonic and Aristotelian thought help us sort through
In this episode, we continue exploring realism and nominalism by taking a deeper look into Nominalist beliefs. In this podcast, we discuss: What does a person mean when they say they are a nominalist? How is nominalism a contributing factor to current cultural beliefs? What are the major distinctions within nominalism? How do moderate and extreme nominalists understand properties? What are the challenges inherent in these ideas? Why would a person be inclined to hold nominalist views? How do we engage in this discussion with fellow Christians? Resources mentioned during our conversation: Stan
In this episode, we continue exploring the differences between Realism and Nominalism by discussing good reasons to hold a Realist perspective. In this podcast, we discuss: What good reasons do we have to believe in abstract objects that we cannot see? How is it that we are intuitively aware of things we cannot see? Why do we naturally group things together? Is this “seeing” the universal they all share? What are relations? Are they real? Can we see them? What were some of the ideas that early modern empiricists got right? What kinds of theological problems do we bump into when we reject reali
#45 – What Makes Things What They Are? The Realist/Nominalist Debate In this episode, we kick off a series discussing the most fundamental issue underlying all other questions: what makes things what they are? How does a proper understanding help us live well and flourish in our world? In this podcast, we discuss: Defining the two options: realism (universals exist) and nominalism (universals don’t exist) What is God’s relationship to universals? Is this a threat to His uniqueness? How does thinking well about this issue help us grow in the knowledge and love of God? Resources mentioned during
In this episode, we continue our series by discussing the final chapter of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this podcast, we discuss: How does understanding what people are help us in proclaiming the Good News? How can we avoid the two extremes of only caring for the body or only caring for the soul in missional contexts? What does it mean to have confidence or trust in a belief? How does faith relate to certainty? How does a commitment to holistic dualism help us avoid dehumanizing others? How can holistic dualism help
In this episode, we continue our series by discussing Chapter 9 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this episode, we discuss: What problems arise when we reduce spiritual formation to just the physical What problems arise when we reduce spiritual formation to just the immaterial How we should understand the unity of the body and soul as it relates to spiritual formation What it looks like to take a both/and approach to spiritual formation in our lives How this topic has impacted our churches How Dallas Willard’s model of
In this episode, we continue our series by engaging Chapters 7 and 8 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this episode, we discuss: What is the difference between valuing science and scientism?Was Dallas Willard a neurotheologian?Does neurotheology help people grow in Christlikeness?For the sake of simplicity, why not just understand persons as material beings?How can the body and soul interact if they are such different types of things?Wait, does this mean animals also have souls? Is that Biblical? Resources mentioned du
In this episode we continue our series discussing Stan’s recent book Have We Lost Our Minds?, exploring the book’s themes with neuroscientist and apologist Sharon Dirckx, Ph.D.In this episode, we discuss: In what ways do we talk about the brain doing what persons do?How did Sharon’s experience in brain imaging research help her conclude that we are more than just our brains?What is the role of honest and open dialogue in finding truth in this and all other important areas?How does acknowledging the first-person perspective as a way of knowing change the conversation about mind-brain relations?
In this episode, we continue our series by engaging Chapter 6 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this episode, we discuss: What is the nature of the relationship between the body and soul? Do ears hear? How can we understand the way souls and bodies interact? What are the key differences between the various kinds of dualism? What is traducianism, and how is it different from creationism? What are some of the implications of holistic dualism in how we understand health? How should we understand the context of the convers
In this episode, we continue our series by engaging Chapter 5 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. We discuss: What is an “individuated human nature,” and why is each of these words important? Natures have capacities; the ability to manifest a capacity is a faculty. What kinds of faculties do humans have? What makes human consciousness unique? How can asking “What is it like?” questions help engage people in conversation about the soul? How do our human faculties interact? How do studies on near-death (or after-death!) exper
In this episode, we continue our series by engaging Chapter 4 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. We discuss: Why neurotheologians are mistaken about our true nature. Why it isn’t possible to reduce mental properties to physical events. How we should understand our unity through time. How the modal argument helps us understand identity. Why non-reductive physicalism or “emergence” is of no help to the physicalist position. What a “brute fact” is. What did Dallas Willard meant when he talked about the nature of the body. Tho
J.P. rejoins the podcast! In this episode, he shares good news about his health and reflects on why he was eager to write the Foreword to Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. We discuss: J.P.’s health journey over the last few months How Christians have contributed to the secularization of culture The importance of the conversation about what it means to be human Why the arguments in Stan’s book have personal meaning for J.P. The importance of responsible scholarship, especially as Christians The crucial difference between acknowledging a “soul
In this episode, we continue our series by engaging Chapter 3 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds? Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this episode, we discuss: What do neurotheologians get wrong about identity? How can understanding identity help us understand neural events and mental events? What properties belong to the mind that do not belong to the brain? What are the key differences between reductive and non-reductive physicalism? Does the physicalist anthropology make a difference in how we view human persons? Resources and Citations: Find out more ab
In this episode, we continue our series by engaging Chapter 2 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this episode, we discuss: What are the key passages related to the topic of Biblical anthropology? What is the difference between an ontological unity and a functional unity of body and soul? What witness does church history give to this topic? Where did “neurotheology” go wrong in explaining the nature of the human person? What is our soul doing when it is no longer united with the body? Resources and Citations: John W. Coo
In this episode, we continue our series by engaging Chapter 1 of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this episode, we discuss: Why is it critical that Christians acknowledge well-done science? What are some implications of the assertion that the brain is fundamentally what we are? The difference between Dallas Willard’s “VIM” model and Jim Wilder’s version. Tips for listeners who want to be more aware of places where they have absorbed Physicalist assumptions. What can we know about what we are? Where does that information
In this episode, we kick off a new series by engaging the introduction of Stan’s new book, Have We Lost Our Minds?: Neuroscience, Neurotheology, the Soul, and Human Flourishing. In this episode, we discuss: Why did Stan write this book? What is “neurotheology”? Is it helpful for Christians? How can we think well about the central question, “What are we?” What motivated the departure from traditional Christian beliefs about the soul? What experiences and relationships shaped Stan’s perspective on this topic? How can listeners get involved in this conversation? Resources and Citations: Find out
J.P, Stan, and Jordan discuss how to have better conversations. They discuss how three informal fallacies (the Red Herring Fallacy, the Genetic Fallacy, and the Ad Hominem Fallacy) can shut down healthy dialogue and how to develop habits that help us avoid using them. In this episode, we discuss: What is an informal logical fallacy? What does the Red Herring Fallacy sound like in a conversation? Practical ways to get a conversation back on track What is the Genetic Fallacy? How can we avoid using it? How do we evaluate ideas fairly, even if we don’t like the person? What is the Ad Hominem Fall
Stan, JP, and Jordan delved deeper into the concepts of libertarian free will, compatibilism, and determinism, extending their discussion beyond theological topics to many other important issues. In this episode, we discuss:Implications of our understanding of freedom related to law and politicsThe difference between freedom and determinism in the social sciencesUnderstanding counseling in light of our free willHow understanding the nature of free will helps us grow in ChristFree will as a reason to believe we have a soulThe theme of hope and redemption in Scripture, and why this should inform
In a gracious spirit J.P., Stan, and Jordan discuss the points of agreement and disagreement between the Calvinist and Arminian views of salvation (summarized in Calvinist theology by the acronym TULIP). This good-faith conversation will help listeners consider the implications of these beliefs, especially as they relate to our understanding of God’s nature, our nature, and the gospel message.* In this podcast, we discuss: The TULIP acronym: where did it come from and what it does it mean? Total Depravity: what is the difference between the extensive and intensive effects of depravity? Uncondi
This is our first episode in a series about Free Will, Compatibilism, and Determinism. Stan, JP, and Jordan start by clearing up some of the major confusions that plague this conversation. They share how to have this discussion with clarity and keep the focus on the claims and avoid confusion. They also spot some ideas about Free Will, Compatibilism, and Determinism “in the wild.” In this podcast, we discuss:What does it mean to be “free”?What are the major ideological camps in this conversation?Does the Compatibilist view of antinomy solve this logical problem?What are the most important dist
J.P., Stan, and Jordan discuss engaging the Christmas story as thinking Christians and ways to live in light of the hope that the Incarnation brings. In this podcast we discuss: How does the humility of God bring wonder and awe to this season? What does the quiet nature of Christ’s coming reveal about God’s character? In what ways can we attempt to reclaim the season from consumer culture? How should Christians handle “Happy Holidays” vs. “Merry Christmas” conversations? What is a “redemptive analogy” and how can looking for them help bridge cultural and relational divides? What are the practi
