Undeceptions with John Dickson

Undeceptions Ltd

4.8 (324)
CHRISTIANITY
UPDATED WEEKLY

Every week on Undeceptions we’ll explore some aspect of life, faith, history, culture, or ethics that is either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten. With the help of people who know what they’re talking about, we’ll be trying to ‘undeceive ourselves’ and let the truth ‘out’.

16M AGO

171. Without God

The cultural hangovers of Christianity are well attested. Recently, people who were once describing themselves as ‘New Atheists’ have gone as far as to call themselves ‘Cultural Christians’, due to the prevalence of Christian thought in modern ethics. But what if the great dream of the New Atheists eventually succeeded? What would a world where God was actually dead look like? FOR FULL SHOW NOTES - click here. CREDITS Undeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley. Alasdair Belling is a writer-researcher. Siobhan McGuiness is our online librarian. Lyndie Leviston remains John's wonderful assistant. Santino Dimarco is Chief Finance and Operations Consultant. Peter Kozushko is our North American representative and a point of contact for church pastors interested in engaging with our work here at Undeceptions. Editing by Richard Hamwi. Our voice actor today was Dakotah Love. Special thanks to our series sponsor Zondervan for making this Undeception possible. Undeceptions is the flagship podcast of Undeceptions.com - letting the truth out.

1h 10m
MAR 8

170. Evolution Revolution?

Since Charles Darwin’s 1859 book On the Origin of Species, evolution has been considered by many to be the final nail in the coffin of religion. Because evolution is supposedly random - or indeed, blind - the argument follows that there is no design. But recently, a quiet revolution has been raging among the top tier of evolutionary scientists. The apparent randomness of evolution has come into question, and some experts now suggest there may be patterns, agency, and even intention behind it all. FOR FULL SHOW NOTES - click here. CREDITS Undeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley. Alasdair Belling is a writer-researcher. Siobhan McGuiness is our online librarian. Lyndie Leviston remains John's wonderful assistant. Santino Dimarco is Chief Finance and Operations Consultant. Peter Kozushko is our North American representative and a point of contact for church pastors interested in engaging with our work here at Undeceptions. Editing by Richard Hamwi. Our voice actor today was Dakotah Love. Special thanks to our series sponsor Zondervan for making this Undeception possible. Undeceptions is the flagship podcast of Undeceptions.com - letting the truth out.

1h 5m
MAR 1

169. Against Coercion

A popular myth is that when the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, he forced everyone else to embrace the faith - or else face deadly consequences. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. It was under Constantine that the very modern-sounding ideas of freedom of religion and “justice for all” were first instituted. These were revolutionary ideals, and they came from a very smart, learned Christian in the Emperor's inner circle. FOR FULL SHOW NOTES - https://undeceptions.com/podcast/against-coercion/ (00:00) - - One of history's great persuaders (06:17) - - Persecution and the Crisis of the Third Century (09:52) - - Christianity and Neoplatonism (17:44) - - Lactantius: The Christian Cicero (29:42) - - Lactantius and Constantine (37:58) - - Constantine and religious tolerance (46:38) - - Arguing Christian ethics from pagan philosophy (50:13) - - Freedom of religion and Thomas Jefferson (54:56) - - Lactantius and justice (01:03:29) - - Five Minute Jesus (01:07:58) - - Lactantius' legacy CREDITS Undeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley. Alasdair Belling is a writer-researcher. Siobhan McGuiness is our online librarian. Lyndie Leviston remains John's wonderful assistant. Santino Dimarco is Chief Finance and Operations Consultant. Peter Kozushko is our North American representative and a point of contact for church pastors interested in engaging with our work here at Undeceptions. Editing by Richard Hamwi. Our voice actors today were Yannick Lawry and Dakotah Love. Special thanks to our series sponsor Zondervan for making this Undeception possible. Undeceptions is the flagship podcast of Undeceptions.com - letting the truth out.

1h 12m
FEB 22

168. Virtue / Vice

In pop culture, we often enjoy watching - or reading - vice and virtue play out, with the former often far more exciting than the latter. But what about real life? Do we still find vice “sizzling” (as one writer described it), and virtue stale? At the heart of this lies a much deeper question: What good is there in pursuing the good? FOR FULL SHOW NOTES: https://undeceptions.com/podcast/virtue-vice/ (00:08) - - Is virtue boring? (05:18) - - What is virtue? (11:14) - - What's valuable about the Middle Ages? (15:23) - - Aristotle and the virtues (18:10) - - Vice vs. Virtue (28:02) - - The root of all evil (31:58) - - The root of all good (39:16) - - Rapid Fire Round: Virtue/Vice pairs (46:13) - - Cultivating virtue (55:14) - - Why pursue Christian virtue? (58:55) - - Five Minute Jesus CREDITS Undeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley. Alasdair Belling is a writer-researcher. Siobhan McGuiness is our online librarian. Lyndie Leviston remains John's wonderful assistant. Santino Dimarco is Chief Finance and Operations Consultant. Peter Kozushko is our North American representative, a contact point for church pastors who are interested in engaging with our work here at Undeceptions. Editing by Richard Hamwi. Our voice actors today were Yannick Lawry and Dakotah Love. Special thanks to our series sponsor Zondervan for making this Undeception possible. Undeceptions is the flagship podcast of Undeceptions.com - letting the truth out

1h 6m
FEB 15

REWIND: The Reformation

The Reformation remains a pivotal moment not just for the church, but for global history. It permanently split the church, triggered wars, created new city-states, and even led, in the opinion of many experts, to the Enlightenment, Science, and the secularisation of the West. When it came to covering the topic on Undeceptions, there was so much to talk about that we needed two episodes just to scratch the surface. In this Rewind, we’re revisiting some highlights of those episodes.

23 min
FEB 8

SINGLE: Concert Hymn

On November 2, 2024, Chris Tomlin performed the world premiere of The First Hymn at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Ben Fielding joined him onstage that night to help gift this 1800-year-old song back to the world. In this special, shorter episode, you get a front row seat to a fireside chat with Chris as he introduces the new First Hymn to the world, for the first time.

19 min
12/14/2025

SINGLE: Christmas Peace

We attempt to make sense of the silly season, to explain why there really is “more to life”, and why the traditional Christmas story still holds the answers. (00:00) - - Unwanted Christmas cards (04:41) - - Diagnosing our festive illness (08:49) - - Happiness or peace? (10:35) - - Jesus the umpire (13:10) - - The Prince of Peace (18:55) - - Christmas and the Gulag Archipelago (22:56) - - Christmas is good enough without Jesus, right? (30:39) - - Jesus turns his face towards us CREDITSUndeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley. Alasdair Belling is a writer and researcher. Sophie Hawkshaw is on socials and membership. Siobhan McGuiness is our online librarian. Lyndie Leviston remains John's wonderful assistant. Santino Dimarco is Chief Finance and Operations Consultant. Editing by Richard Hamwi. Our voice actors today were the Undeceptions Team - wishing you a happy Christmas! Special thanks to our series sponsor Zondervan for making this Undeception possible. Undeceptions is the flagship podcast of Undeceptions.com - letting the truth out.

36 min
11/23/2025

167. Nicene Creed

It’s probably the most significant of all church history’s debates: Was Jesus fully human, fully divine, or a hybrid of some sort? 1700 years ago, bishops from across the Christian world gathered in the city of Nicaea to settle this once and for all. The outcome was three paragraphs which went on to represent the core of Christianity, and spell out who Jesus is - and who he isn’t. (00:00) - - Jesus: Man or something else? (08:44) - - Why did the Creed happen? (12:19) - - Constantine's influence (17:18) - - The key players at the council (29:45) - - The Arian controversy (42:02) - - The Trinity (56:49) - - Five Minute Jesus (01:01:23) - - Faith and the Creed (01:04:19) - - Why does the Creed matter? CREDITSUndeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley. Alasdair Belling is a writer and researcher. Siobhan McGuiness is our online librarian. Lyndie Leviston remains John's wonderful assistant. Santino Dimarco is Chief Finance and Operations Consultant. Editing by Richard Hamwi. Our voice actors today were Yannick Lawry and Dakotah Love. Special thanks to our series sponsor Zondervan for making this Undeception possible. Undeceptions is the flagship podcast of Undeceptions.com - letting the truth out.

1h 10m

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John Dickson

Host

4.8

out of 5

324 Ratings

Best Christian Podcast

Feb 27

G.A. Wisconsin

Podcast is very well produced. I have subscribed and unsubscribed to many Christian podcasts, as when I listened I couldn’t keep engaged for very long. This podcast is different. It’s almost always very interesting and makes me think and take action in my life. I want to get through all the past episodes.
Intellectual + Spiritual

Jan 26

Zr2000

I love how JD and the crew can make any topic interesting! I never would’ve thought I’d enjoy an episode titled “History of Chemistry” or “Jane Austen”. American politics make it seem like reason and faith can’t be reconciled, and these guys regularly show how false of a dichotomy that is. If we really believe that God created “all that is seen and unseen”, then studying his beautiful world isn’t simply a nice add-on, but a mandate and an act of worship. This podcast shows us how to be a 21st century Christian: winsomely engaging complicated issues with grace, curiosity, and most importantly, love.
Right up my spiritual and intellectual alley!

12/13/2025

J.M. Arizona Artist

I’ve been diving into John Dickson‘s podcasts and videos and I am finding them to be “right up my intellectual an spiritual alley.” Too many Christian writers start from an assumed foundation of faith…not John, he builds faith from the ground up… which is just what people like me need when we have been trying hard almost all our lives to build a home base of faith, not founded on a faith rooted in one’s earlier years (which I didn’t have). Keep on pursuing absolute truth as the foundation of what you do.
Terrific

11/03/2024

C. R. Imes

Great podcast! I’ve learned so much listening to this!

Every week on Undeceptions we’ll explore some aspect of life, faith, history, culture, or ethics that is either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten. With the help of people who know what they’re talking about, we’ll be trying to ‘undeceive ourselves’ and let the truth ‘out’.