Open to Truth

Are you struggling to reconcile your faith with modern scientific findings? In this episode , we explore ways to navigate the intersection of faith and science. Philosophy professor, Joe Vukov, explains the main models used to understand the relationship: the conflict model, independence model, and dialogue model. Spoiler alert - the last one is ideal! Whether you are a person of faith or a skeptic, this episode has something for you. Tune in to discover how to approach this complex and often divisive topic with open-mindedness and respect.

How can we create space for people to still have vibrant fellowship with one another despite severe differences of belief? Is it possible to genuinely cheer on someone who leads, believes, and teaches ideas that are different from yours?  Are there views that just create too large a chasm where fellowship must be broken?  Are there limits to showing theological hospitality? Stay Curious!

Should big tech be able to use the data you freely give it for whatever legal purposes that they see fit?  Do we have privacy rights when it comes to our data and to what extent? What ought the legal and moral boundaries be for data collection and usage?  We explore this topic through conversation and see if we can come to a better understanding of the issue and our part to play as consumers of big tech's products. Stay Curious!

The cultural conversation has shifted yet again to abortion, in light of happenings in the Supreme Court regarding the landmark case of Roe v. Wade.  In this episode, we attempt to get to the heart of the matter as we see it, which is whether the entity within the womb has certain rights.  That is, if such entities are persons that have various rights including a right to life, this limits the range of morally permissible options for how to treat it.    Stay Curious!

We're a number of weeks out from the shocking slap that occurred on the stage of the Oscars.  Far from focusing on the celebrity drama of it all, the incident raises a number of important legal, ethical, and cultural questions.  Is there any kind of speech worth of a physical, violent reaction? How much does the setting matter? What if someone other than Will Smith had done this - how much should that matter for our legal and ethical decisions? Is there a limit to comedy and what is the role of comedy in a good society?  Enjoy the conversation and stay curious!

How do churches actually get started? Should the people that help lead them get paid? What is the purpose of church? Why gather together in this way? We discuss these questions and more in this week's episode. Stay Curious!

When you read anything, part of what you're doing is trying to find the meaning. "What does this mean?" There's a number of theories about how to do this well and we focus on interpreting the Bible as our example. We discuss a three-layer approach to meaning and unpack some common issues related to Biblical interpretation, particularly the New Testament's use of the Old Testament and the idea of sensus plenior or "fuller meaning." Stay Curious!

If you are a regular listener, you know that both Clint and Tony work in a local church.  A consistent question is "what does it mean to be a pastor" and we discuss the various hats pastors are asked to wear.  What is the primary job of a pastor? How does one know if they are cut out for such a role?  How is pastoring different from being a counselor, therapist, friend, spiritual director, etc...? We discuss all this and more in this week's episode. Stay Curious! You can support us by leaving a review or subscribing to our weekly blog at opentotruth.com/subscribe.

Have you ever felt like a conversation you were having about an important topic went really poorly? Like you were talking past each other and each party only cared about demonstrating the correctness of their side rather than trying to understand? We have too - particularly online (I'm looking at you, YouTube comment section!).  We need to resurrect the art of the conversation.  A genuine, helpful conversation about things that matter most that are geared at discovering the truth.  In this episode, we outline what proper conversations of this sort should feel like and how we can become more skilled at having them. Stay Curious!

Most of us have been moved by a powerful story of forgiveness. What's going on there? Why do we find it moving? What's happening when we apologize, ask for forgiveness, and grant forgiveness when we've been wronged? We discuss the "mechanics" of forgiveness - how it really works and whether we can ever just muster up the required attitude for forgiveness or if it just happens to us. Stay Curious! You can support us by letting us know you are listening! Subscribe to our free newsletter/blog at opentotruth.substack.com.

Talk of the metaverse is lighting up the internet. The possibilities and applications are seemingly endless - for good and for ill. Is technology truly morally neutral? Is it really good for human beings to participate in the metaverse, particularly in virtual and artificial reality? There are a number of moral quandaries about how to safely, securely, and wisely unleash the metaverse on the world. Join the conversation and as always, stay curious! Subscribe to our free newsletter at opentotruth.substack.com.

Few portions of Scripture are as intimidating, confusing, and bizarre as the book of Revelation.  The normal cues for discovering the context that would help guide the search of understanding are themselves subject to some philosophical assumptions at the outset.  In this conversation, we make clear what some of those assumptions are and try to map out a working hermeneutic for reading the book well. Stay Curious!

Most of us claim to know some things - not only ordinary things, but perhaps even some grand things concerning meaning, God, and ethics.  Yet, the view known as "skepticism" threatens to undermine such knowledge claims.   In this episode, we have a candid conversation about what knowledge is and what exactly the threat of skepticism is.  This one will require a bit more attention, but if you hang with it, we think it will be helpful to you in sorting out what you think about knowledge. Stay Curious!

The doctrine of the Trinity - the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct persons in one being, the Godhead - is a central affirmation about God in the broadly Christian church.  It also is unparalleled in its mystery and evasion of easy understanding. We take a look at some reasons to believe God is triune in nature, and the trustworthiness and reliability of Jesus as a reporter of theological truths. Stay Curious!

In part 2 of this conversation on the book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, we discuss some of the flagship practices needed to live out the Way of Jesus.  We discuss silence, solitude, slowing, sabbath, and simplicity.  Enjoy and stay curious!

Dallas Willard once said that "Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." We discuss the main ideas from John Mark Comer's book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, which outlines the nature of the problem of hurry/speed in our culture, and how the way of Jesus addresses this problem head on. Stay Curious! You can support us by joining our weekly email list: opentotruth.com/subscribe.

Can God be hurt or wounded? Can God experience setbacks? How influence-able is God? Stay Curious!

Few would argue that it is unethical to defend one's life and well-being from clear and present danger.  But, it is not so easy to articulate why exactly we share this intuition.  What is the moral underpinning for self-defense? Should we appeal to rights, and if so, can our attackers lose some of their rights, such as the right to life, by their misdeeds? Or do we justify self-defense on other grounds.  We use the recent Kyle Rittenhouse trial as a launch point for the discussion. Stay Curious!

How does God go about saving humanity? How does this relate to God's sovereignty and the human condition?  We discuss the longstanding discussion between those of so-called Calvinist and Arminian persuasion.  We examine in detail the TULIP acronym, which is popularly and helpfully used to articulate the Calvinist position and we offer our thoughts on each point.  At the end of the day, those of us who are theists want to know... What is God like? Stay Curious!

Tony and I revisit the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency conversation eight months after our initial exposure to rigorous thought regarding it.  We discuss the history and the WHY behind bitcoin, inflation vs. deflation, energy conservation, loss prevention, theft, assets as stores of value, and more. Stay Curious! Andrew Bailey and Bradley Rettler on Bitcoin  - OTT #38

What is the meaning of life? What's the meaning in life? Are those separate questions? In any case, we explore various potential sources of meaning and what to make of them.  We discuss whether meaning if objective or subjective, to what extent we can give our own lives meaning, the implications of the existence of God on meaning, and what exactly we mean by "meaning"! Stay Curious!

One of the trickier problems in theology is sorting out how God can know the future and how human beings can have free will.  If God can't be wrong about his beliefs, and some of his beliefs are about my future decisions, then don't I have to make certain decisions (lest God be wrong - which is purportedly impossible!). We discuss the problem at length and examine an interesting, yet controversial way to relieve this tension: Open Theism. Stay Curious!

Why do people decide to get married? In particular, what is the rationale behind monogamous marriages and why would that be a choiceworthy arrangement for people to aspire to rather than an alternative?  There's much more to be said on this topic than what we get into, but here's a start! Stay Curious!

You wrote in - we responded! We discuss your questions about whether it makes sense to pray for Satan, whether conceiving is unethical due to the impossibility of acquiring consent, if the government has monopoly on education and is abusing it, and religious experience regarding prayer and trinity. Stay Curious!

In part 2 of this conversation, we discuss some of the major misconceptions about the theory of evolution and one of the bigger concerns for people of faith  - what to make of the origins of human beings. Stay Curious!

Why do we have the various lifeforms on this planet that we do? What is the biological history leading up to this moment?  And for those who are people of faith, what are the implications theologically, if any, for the various answers to those questions? In this episode, Dr. Janet Kellogg Ray, author of Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark?, discusses some of the main pieces of evidence for evolutionary theory and addresses the prominent arguments offered in opposition.   We get into many subtopics such as the whether there is conflict between science and religion, what motivates anti-evolutionary ideas, the fossil record, flood geology, and human evolution.  Stay tuned for next week's part 2 and as always.... Stay Curious!

Animals are killed for the purpose of being eaten by humans. This fact has come under ethical scrutiny much more in recent years, mostly due to the exposure to the public of HOW we get our meat. Most of it is from factory farming. We discuss some of the horrors of this process, how this impacts the ethics of consumption of animal products and a way forward for those wishing to live a more ethical life. Stay Curious!

Debates on the Freedom of Speech have raged over the last decade.  With the advent of social media, a greater voice has been given to everyone - and there's no doubt that some speech will be hateful or have negative consequences.  The question we are all asking is how much speech should be allowed - when are we justified in limiting someone's liberty to freely speak?   Stay Curious!

It has long been a part of Western theology that the divine is morally good - morally perfect even.  But how should we think about this perfection; what does it mean? Does God have to do the right thing - does God have moral obligations? What does the right thing mean when we are talking about God - isn't God in some way the source of morality?  What sorts of things are "moral principles" anyway? They seem pretty weird.  We discuss all of this and more in this week's episode. Stay Curious!

Though not in the national spotlight currently, the topic of organ donation continues to touch the lives of many people.  Those in need of organs and their loved ones can be surprised at the intricacies of getting more organs and who is prioritized to receive them.  It involves consent laws, whether to allow people to buy and sell organs, and how we allocate the organs once we get them.   Stay Curious!

We are self-interested - at least a little bit.  The question posed in this episode is whether we always act out of self-interest, and further if acting toward self-interest should be a foundational moral obligation.  Such views are known as Egoism and we explore both.  Does it spell doom for ordinary morality? Are there good arguments for and against it? Stay Curious!

Going through a faith deconstruction process can be quite distressing.  Family, friends, and trusted pillars of your communities may have polarizing reactions. There is a psychological toll from the upheaval of deeply held beliefs.  And, the spiritual impact can bring peace one day and turmoil the next, regardless of the baggage you bring to the table.   You are not alone.  You aren't bad for being in the thick of it.   Join the conversation as Clint and Tony share about the emotional, psychological, and spiritual texture of their deconstruction experiences. Stay Curious!

Freedom of the Will - it's one of the oldest philosophical topics.  People have wondered about it for ages and for good reason - whether we have it changes quite a bit about other aspects of our worldview.  We discuss some metaphors to help us understand the topic better and some key arguments for and against it. Stay Curious!

There are some who argue that engaging in procreation is morally wrong.  This view is often called anti-natalism.  The reasons for holding the view vary, but, of course, there are many who find the idea absurd.  At the very least, the ethics involved highlight some important flashpoints surrounding the ethics of procreation and how we view the value of a human life.  Clint is among the most guilty if the view turns out to be correct!  What do you think - should we have kids? Stay Curious!

As long as there has been religious thinking and behavior, there has been religious art.  Some pieces of religious art are among humanity's most celebrated and renowned works.  It is also not uncommon for religious art to make its way into a religious community's life of worship - in other words, iconography.  There are those who worry that such iconography amounts to idolatry.  In this episode, we discuss the ideas of art, icons, and idols to see if we can arrive at some reasonable conclusions concerning how to think and act toward various versions of religious art. Stay Curious!

Information is incredibly important.  It serves a crucial role in our process of reasoning and decision-making.  Unfortunately, knowing that your source of information is reliable is difficult.  Who do you trust? How do you know that the information those you trust are using was properly sourced?  This problem has many levels and is playing itself out in real time.  In this conversation, we discuss our own process of deciphering what information to trust and how this impacts what we think about the biggest topics of our day. Stay Curious!

Few ideas have received more attention in recent memory than justice.  It is a foundational ethical notion that deserves a fair hearing.  We discuss how this concept relates to other prominent ideas such as fairness, equality, equity, rights, and more.  We try to locate justice in ethics broadly considered and what role it should play in our ethical theorizing and decision-making. Stay Curious!

Few ideas have received more attention in recent memory than justice.  It is a foundational ethical notion that deserves a fair hearing.  We discuss how this concept relates to other prominent ideas such as fairness, equality, equity, rights, and more.  We try to locate justice in ethics broadly considered and what role it should play in our ethical theorizing and decision-making. Stay Curious!

We all want to be good parents, but it is a difficult job. No one gives you a manual when you take that baby home from the hospital that teaches how to raise virtuous, thriving people. In this episode, we discuss general parenting wisdom and strategy, and then try to determine ways that our goals can be thwarted - and try to mitigate them! Is there some content that our kids ought never be exposed to under our watch? How do you go about correcting behavior? What are some of the most common parenting challenges? Stay Curious!

To what degree do we have control over what we believe? Of course, we are influenced by our experience and circumstance, but do you have "ultimate" control whereby you can decide whether to believe something? In this episode, we explore the ethics of belief, the role we have in belief formation, and how a certain view on the matter might lend itself to more easily practicing the intellectual virtues. Stay Curious!

What are we saying when we say something is "beautiful"? We are all interested in having beauty be part of our lives, which has led many to wonder whether some things are objectively more beautiful than other things. We discuss this in the context of various creative arts and the power beauty has in our lives. Stay Curious!

Neuralink, Synthetic Biology, and Advanced Audio/Visual AI.  Each come with amazing benefits to society, and yet there is reason to be concerned about their widespread adoption.  Sadly, our ethical considerations often lag behind the arrival of new tech, so let this episode be one step in the direction of preparing our hearts and minds for surprising technologies that are right around the corner. Stay Curious!

The Hero's Journey has been regarded as THE story, the monomyth, the archetype of archetypes, the grand narrative, in which all narratives find their home. At the most basic level, it is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth or starting from the known, venturing out into the unknown, and returning to the known again.  We take the 30,000 ft. view of the Hero's Journey, try to understand in the context of prominent films and literature, and apply it to our everyday lives.   Stay Curious!

Thanks for writing in to the show! We love interacting with our audience.  We discuss the desirability of heaven, value or disvalue of natural theology, and how to think about the relationship between inerrancy and historicity. Stay Curious!

Did Jesus have to die on the cross and what did he accomplish in doing so? Various atonement theories attempt to answer this such as Penal Substitution, Christus Victor, Moral Exemplar, Ransom Theory, and Announcement Theory among others. We discuss each one briefly and assess the merits of each. Stay Curious!

We all have a unique perspective. Our life experience influences how we think and the wisdom we can bring to a conversation, even a theological one. Yet, we can still wonder about the projects known by their reference to identity such as black theology, queer theology, feminist theology, and disability theology among others. How should we think about these labels and what do they really mean? To what extent do these projects carry specific political commitments to the table in their theologizing and hermeneutics? Stay Curious!

Political division and polarization in America have reached a fever pitch. Civic discourse has become a landscape nearly devoid of the intellectual virtues.  And in the midst of this, we still make our decisions in a largely democratic fashion where hardly anyone actually is informed on any important topics.  Could these negative phenomena be the result of a more systemic problem in how we govern ourselves - that is, is democracy itself to blame? Our guest Dr. Jason Brennan, professor at Georgetown University, explores alternatives to democracy that may in fact produce more of the good results we actually care about.  We discuss the traditional reasons democracy has been praised and supported, and examine ways it falls short, and notable alternatives to it.  We closely look at epistocracy, or rule by the knowers, that perhaps the most informed among us should have the greatest say in policy. For a more detailed treatment, check out Jason's book Against Democracy anywhere books are sold. Stay Curious!

Have you ever had a new experience or idea that has led you to have even more questions about something in the Bible? Or wondered about what the Bible even is? Or what to do with it? We sure have and our guest Dr. Pete Enns has too! Pete has been a spiritual luminary for us as we have navigated our shifting ideas regarding faith, theology, and the Bible.  We talk all about the impact and consequences of exploring new ideas regarding the Bible, how to raise your kids and lead others in the midst of deconstruction, the messiness of the Bible, and what we are supposed to be doing with it.   Pete's latest book How the Bible Actually Works is a fantastic, accessible piece for thinking about the challenges and joys of biblical interpretation.  Make sure to get your copy today! Stay Curious!

Some streams of modern biblical scholarship have pointed out the mythological nature of certain biblical texts and have attempted to "demythologize" them - to sift out the supernatural, wild bits in order to find the moral, theological principles embedded in the stories.  Is this the right interpretative method? Maybe at times.  We'll talk about a few of these.  But maybe not at others.  That is, something significant may be lost when we do this.  We'll talk about a few of these too - including the resurrection of Jesus. Stay Curious!

Sharing one's faith has always been a central "right-practice" in the Christian faith.  Following Jesus well means sharing him with others in some way. But, how best to do it? What are the various forms of sharing that manifest throughout the church? We share stories of our own evangelistic efforts and how we consider the endeavor in light of the deconstruction journey. Stay Curious!

If it hasn't happened already, it is likely you will have a season of doubt in your spiritual walk.  Doubt regarding even the key claims of your faith.  New evidence, perspectives, and experiences can lead to really tough questions concerning your worldview.   Some have described what happens next as deconstruction.  The "house" we build of our worldview needs to be rearranged in some ways to accommodate new inputs.  We talk about important moments in our personal lives of facing tough questions, how to handle doubt, and try to give language through metaphor to the experience of rearranging, of deconstruction, and of reconstruction. Stay Curious!