Doubts Aloud Podcast

Doubts Aloud Podcast

The Doubts Aloud Podcast! Join us as we allow doubts to be voiced regarding faith, religion and worldviews. Two of us have been Christians and none of us believe, so our current conclusion is that the doubts regarding Christianity are justified, but we are keen to question ourselves and hear Christian arguments and hear from Christian guests. Our background means that our conversation with Christianity will tend to dominate over other faiths. We are Frances Janusz, Andrew Whyte and Ed Atkinson. We value the use of reason and evidence to assess matters of faith and worldview. (Should we doubt those assumptions?). We will consider philosophy, theology, Biblical Studies, human experience from the thinking layman’s viewpoint. We greatly value respect for those we disagree with and engaging in discussion. Meet us all in person at the monthly Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group in central London https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London Andrew Whyte one of the hosts of Doubts Aloud has his own "Christian Diversity" YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIyesuRCrlRFYCYs_XMDKhd_MAyeF8esH For those not familiar with the Christian Premier Radio Unbelievable Show that we praise, it is podcast as “Unbelievable?” and on the web: https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Andrew’s appearances on Unbelievable were 31/10/2009 on the Return of Jesus, 26/04/2014 with Greg Boyd on Doubt and 10/07/2015 with Nabeel Qureshi on Christian Diversity. Doubts Aloud Links: Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/247243319147813 Meet us all in person at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see: https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

  1. 4d ago

    Episode 100 - Celebrating our 100th Episode with John Nelson

    Show Notes We started with Episode 1 in Feb 2018, today we celebrate our 100th Episode with friend John Nelson, who is now the main host at Unbelievable?.  We discussed John’s PhD thesis book on what Jesus looked like, his work at Unbelievable?, his tour with Alex O’Connor and his blog “Behind the Gospels”.   We then dove into a specific issue on the background to the gospels – the transmission of the traditions about Jesus’s teaching and actions from his ministry up to the gospel documents. And NEWS – Ed’s discussion on evolution with John & Denis Alexander which we raked over in episode 98 has been released by Unbelievable?. See links. Links: Unbelievable? Show with Ed on evolution:   “Can a Loving God Use Evolution?” Denis Alexander vs Ed Atkinson hosted by John Nelson, 4 June 2026   John’s book: “Jesus' Physical Appearance: Biography, Christology, Philosophy” https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jesus-Physical-Appearance-Christology-Philosophy/dp/0567723208   John’s “Behind the Gospels” blog:  https://www.behindthegospels.com/ The book: “Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins” by Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper”: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Big-Bang-Cosmic-Origins-ebook/dp/B0DKBHH3YN?ref_=ast_author_mpb More recent Unbelievable? Shows: Richmond Wandera – “My Father was murdered… a sponsor saved my life” Richmond Wandera Interviewed by John Nelson, 18 March 2026 “What would it take for Alex O’Connor to believe Jesus rose from the dead?” Trent Horn v Alex O’Connor, 30 April 2026 Hiddenness: “Why Doesn’t God Show Himself?” Dan Paterson vs Joe Schmid hosted by John Nelson, 12 February 2026.   Uncommon Ground podcast, Episode 7, hosted by Justin Brierley: “Stephen Meyer & Phil Halper: The Big Bang and Fine Tuning. Does the science of the Universe point to God?”   Bart D. Ehrman’s latest book: “Love Thy Stranger: How Jesus Transformed Our Moral Conscience” April 2026 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Thy-Stranger-Transformed-Conscience-ebook/dp/B0FKMJZJ1V/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title   Doubts Aloud Links: Please keep giving feedback and ask questions using:  doubtsaloud@gmail.com

    1h 30m
  2. 12/23/2025

    Episode 95 - Virgin Births in Ancient Culture

    Text for DA Podcast Ep 95   Title Suggestions Virgin Births in Ancient Culture Virgin Births in Greek and Hebrew Culture   Show Notes We look for origins of the Virgin Birth doctrine in Christianity.  Principally we search the Greek and Hebrew cultures that are the context behind the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke’s gospels. What we don’t conclude is that the origin of the Virgin Birth was that mistake in the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, which created for the first time “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son…”. But we do wonder if the first version of Luke even had the Virgin Birth. Links: Greco Roman Literature and the New Testament : Selected Forms and Genres. Jan. 1988 by David E Aune (Editor) From John Nelson’s Behind the Gospels, Aug 08, 2024 “How to Write an Infancy Narrative: A Seven-Step Guide to Ancient Birth Stories” https://www.behindthegospels.com/p/how-to-write-an-infancy-narrative?utm_source=publication-search And https://www.behindthegospels.com/p/is-matthews-story-of-the-virgin-birth   The early creed which seems to deny the Virgin Birth doctrine: Romans 1:3–4   Mark Goodacre thinks Mary conceiving out of wedlock might be an origin. NT Pod 64 https://podacre.blogspot.com/2012/12/nt-pod-64-is-virgin-birth-based-on.html   The Bart Ehrman Blog - Why Was Jesus Born of a Virgin in Matthew and Luke? https://ehrmanblog.org/why-was-jesus-born-of-a-virgin-in-matthew-and-luke/     Doubts Aloud Links: Please give feedback and ask questions using:  doubtsaloud@gmail.com

    1h 30m
  3. 11/26/2025

    Episode 94 - Atheist Prayer Part 2 - with Prof Tim Mawson

    Show Notes In episode 92 we explained the idea of Atheist Prayer and introduced a philosophy paper on it by Oxford prof Tim Mawson. This episode Tim is our guest.  We discuss the “Atheist Prayer Experiment”, which Tim’s paper inspired, and his contribution the Unbelievable? Shows on the Experiment.  The link to Divine Hiddenness is a strong theme. Appendium notes regarding the views of Richard Swinburne. "Swinburne does think that atheists who pray for a revelation because they intend to send their results into a radio show, even those who at the stage they actually do the praying are doing it sincerely (in the sense we're using that term - that is wanting to find out the truth for truth's sake and being willing to shape their lives accordingly thereafter) are less likely to get answers from God than are those who were merely sincere in this sense, i.e. those who are praying for a revelation without, as he called it today, 'mixed' motivations. But that's not because God doesn't like the idea of the news of their experiences spreading via the radio and thus reducing the general level of hiddenness that He has good reason to maintain; so Richard's is not, as I erroneously speculated it was, an instance of the footnote-13-type reasoning which someone might have for maintaining this. It's rather - Richard says - because God has more reason to answer prayers asking for revelation from people with just the motivation to seek the truth, et cetera. rather than those with mixed motives; it depends on the 'mix ratio' as it were. So, ideal then (for some purposes) would be atheists who pray this sort of thing sincerely (in the sense we mean), and only later - as an afterthought - report it onwards. Those he'd be more likely to answer than the ones Justin and I had on our 'experiment', who only started praying with the intention of passing it onwards, even if they later (or even simultaneously) developed the sincere motivation; either way, they will have had mixed motives."  Links: The paper “Praying to stop being an atheist” by Prof Tim Mawson: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k_TWLsLji4te169FZicpg_2vI9vsB330/view?usp=sharing Tim’s email: tjmawson@rocketmail.com   Unbelievable? Shows on the Experiment: Classic Replay: Atheist prayer experiment results show – part 1. 29-9-2022 Classic Replay: Atheist prayer experiment results show – part 2. 4-10-2022 (Seach ‘Mawson’ in your Unbelievable? Feed)   Ryan Bell tried a "Year Without God" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_J._Bell     Doubts Aloud Links: Please give feedback and ask questions using:  doubtsaloud@gmail.com

    1h 21m
4.9
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

The Doubts Aloud Podcast! Join us as we allow doubts to be voiced regarding faith, religion and worldviews. Two of us have been Christians and none of us believe, so our current conclusion is that the doubts regarding Christianity are justified, but we are keen to question ourselves and hear Christian arguments and hear from Christian guests. Our background means that our conversation with Christianity will tend to dominate over other faiths. We are Frances Janusz, Andrew Whyte and Ed Atkinson. We value the use of reason and evidence to assess matters of faith and worldview. (Should we doubt those assumptions?). We will consider philosophy, theology, Biblical Studies, human experience from the thinking layman’s viewpoint. We greatly value respect for those we disagree with and engaging in discussion. Meet us all in person at the monthly Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group in central London https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London Andrew Whyte one of the hosts of Doubts Aloud has his own "Christian Diversity" YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIyesuRCrlRFYCYs_XMDKhd_MAyeF8esH For those not familiar with the Christian Premier Radio Unbelievable Show that we praise, it is podcast as “Unbelievable?” and on the web: https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable Andrew’s appearances on Unbelievable were 31/10/2009 on the Return of Jesus, 26/04/2014 with Greg Boyd on Doubt and 10/07/2015 with Nabeel Qureshi on Christian Diversity. Doubts Aloud Links: Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/247243319147813 Meet us all in person at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see: https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

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