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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’.
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Is Christianity an offshoot of an ancient fertility cult? Why do the Gospels only talk about Jesus' genealogy in connection to Joseph? Is there a place for Christian patriotism? John answers all these and more in our Season XIII Q&A! (00:00) - - Intro (04:16) - - Missionaries (12:02) - - Anglicanism (16:06) - - Resurrection science (25:42) - - Inte…
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The Acts of the Apostles is the epic sequel to Luke's Gospel. It follows the dramatic events immediately after the resurrection of Jesus, and follows how the first Christians - led by perhaps the most unlikely person - took the news of the Messiah to the edges of the Roman Empire - and beyond. (00:10) - - A Biblical sequel (04:50) - - The genre of …
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If we’re talking only about liquids you drink—because the water in the Bible is washed in, crossed over, and even walked on once—wine is no.1. Wine appears more than 200 times in the Bible. And almost all of them are positive references—not critiques. Christianity has a long, rich history with wine. But oftentimes, we’ve made it much more complicat…
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There's just something about the Virgin Mary. She stirs up big feelings - she has for millennia. Some have perhaps given her more prominence than she would feel comfortable with. Others have hacked down her statues in reforming zeal. Others never think about her, except when they come across a nativity scene in a shopping mall (and even that’s beco…
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In the 3rd century, in the Ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, a group of Christians composed a song of praise set to the pagan music of the time. Now, 1800 years later, John Dickson is working with two of the world's best songwriters to bring this lost song - this First Hymn - back to life. Along the way, they make some incredible discoveries ab…
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The great project of the Enlightenment was to bring reason to the forefront. No more would humans be held back by superstitions: the power of the mind was all that was needed for advancement. Three centuries on though, and some people are beginning to think the pendulum has swung too far. Celebrated journalist and public intellectual Stan Grant joi…
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A new movie has been released this week about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was killed by the Nazis for his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler. Bonhoeffer's fame has ballooned into a kind of mythology that has seen people of all stripes "claim" him as their own. But our guest for this episode says that if we only think of him as a “h…
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Sam Allberry was involved in environmental activism when he became a Christian - a development that his activist friends saw as bad news. After all, why would a follower of a religion that looks forward to the coming of a new Earth be concerned with the state of the current world? For Sam though, becoming a Christian led him to a very different con…
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The Old Testament is sacred not just to the Christian but also to the Jewish religion. Its 39 books cover thousands of years with an array of literary genres including poetry, history, creation myth, apocalyptic, and song. It can be confusing and overwhelming - but luckily, John happens to work in the same building as a leading expert on it all who…
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The 21st century has seen—and will continue to see—the rise of Christianity in the ‘Global South’, with surging conversion numbers in Asia and Africa. That’s according to Gina Zurlo, a leading authority on Christian demographics, and our guest on episode 75, ‘Global Christianity’. According to Gina, while the Western world is grappling with secular…
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We interviewed Tom Holland, historian and co-host of the extraordinarily popular podcast The Rest is History, back in 2021 for episode 45, Christian Revolution. At the time Tom wouldn’t have called himself a Christian (and we won't speak for him now), but he was adamant that not only is Christianity good, but our very sense of what good is comes fr…
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Artists have used their tools not just to capture beauty and transcendence, but also the essence of what it means to be human. In this episode, we learn from history's greatest artists about loss, hope, the ugly, and the sublime. What lessons can we take from these broken artists? What might their observations about the world tell us about God? (04…
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Is there a "right" way to read The Bible? Millennia of Ink has been split trying to answer that question. Surely if The Bible is God's word it should be easier to understand, right? Well, some experts think there is a right way to read scripture. What we need is a key to unlock The Bible for us. (00:48) - - The Rossetta Stone (05:02) - - Reading th…
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Famed Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once (well, several times actually) claimed Christianity was irreconcilable with the science of the Universe. But there's plenty of scholars who beg to differ. Recorded live in Brisbane at the State Library of Queensland. (01:08) - Show begins (05:42) - Introducing Peter Harrison (08:41) - Did we used to hav…
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Is history under threat? Increasingly, the modern, individualistic global West is coming to see history as a discipline that's irrelevant, harmful, and divisive. Some are worried that we're becoming increasingly disconnected from a broader story. Can the past help us navigate our modern world? Or is it better if we let it fade into a "dark age"? (0…
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Trust is everywhere. It underpins our institutions, our health, and our relationships. However, experts are worried that the world is facing a trust crisis. If so much of our lives depend on it, what could happen if trust starts to break? In this episode, we spend some time talking about institutional church abuse. Check the time codes below if it …
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True Crime is one of the most popular genres of film, podcasting, literature, and TV worldwide. We are obsessed with tales of the morbid, dark, and most importantly, true. As one cold-case detective believes, we can't get enough true crime because of what it teaches us about our human nature. But that same detective found that these lessons on huma…
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Half a billion people alive today speak English as their first language. But how you speak English depends on where you live, where you come from, and how it was taught to you. It's truly a universal language. So - what's its history? If this is the language that has done the most to spread Christianity (as some claim), how have its quirks influenc…
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There's a reason our guests have mentioned Augustine more than any other theologian or philosopher. St Augustine of Hippo was an intellectual giant whose shadow still hangs over Christianity and the Western philosophical tradition. But not everyone loves him. To some, he's a misogynistic pessimist whose work we're better off without. So - what's th…
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Evangelicalism has always been a politically loaded word - but especially since the turn of the century. This is especially true of American evangelicalism. But if we strip away all the nationalistic and political weight, what is evangelicalism? What makes the American strain of evangelicalism particularly unique? How does it compare to other types…
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If Christianity is one big conspiracy, we wouldn't find so many mistakes and inconsistencies in the Gospels! Surely if the faith was one big lie, the Gospels would have some uniformity to them, united to deceive readers. Well, that's one side of the argument. Others might point to the Gospel contradictions as proof the entire thing is made up. So, …
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From the mid-1990s to the 2010s, 'New Atheism' dominated the intellectual space. A virulent, attacking form of godless evangelism, it saw people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens top best-seller lists, and draw huge crowds to their lectures. Justin Brierley was in the middle of it all as New Atheism rose - and then collapsed. In its wak…
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Theology: It's a dry term that conjures images of old academics writing dusty books that will never be read. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. The study of theology is the study of who we are as humans, and how we can make sense of both God and the complexities of the world. So, who are the theologians we should all know about?…
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Science is a relatively new term. Chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy - all have only existed as defined, singular fields for the last century and a half. Before that was the mysterious world of natural philosophy - an ancient tradition that saw the natural world as one, combined entity. Our guest, Professor Alister McGrath, argues that this old…
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The Apostle Paul writes that Christians must battle against "powers and principalities". But what are they? What does the Bible say about political power? Special thanks to our season sponsor Zondervan Academic. Get discounts on MasterLectures video courses and exclusive samples of their books at zondervanacademic.com/undeceptions Check out more of…
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There are sophisticated, academic arguments for the resurrection of Jesus. It’s not just a matter of accepting on the basis of faith. The modern industry of Christian apologetics doesn't get us much closer to the historical reality of Jesus' resurrection - but there are solid, investigative ways of examining this seemingly miraculous event.…
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The story of Christianity is full of wonderful highs and terrible lows. It's truly an epic - and it takes an epic round-the-world adventure to tell its story properly. Thankfully, we have a man who's done just that. This is the story of Christianity, from the crucifixion to the modern day, told through 12 key objects.…
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Angels are everywhere in history. From winged guardians in Sumerian mythology to the messengers of the Gods in Ancient Greece, to new-age guardian angels, humanity has always been fascinated by these celestial beings. But what does the Bible say about them? Our guest on this episode is Graham A. Cole. He was dean emeritus and professor of biblical …
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J.R.R. Tolkien needs no introduction. The Oxford Philology Professor who would go on to create the world of Middle Earth is rightly hailed as one of the greatest writers of all time. In this episode, we unpack the inspiration behind his work, meet the people who helped him along the way, and examine the faith that drove him to create the world of T…
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The Middle Ages saw an explosion of literature, art, and thought around the personhood of Jesus. What can we learn from these centuries-old understandings of the central figure of the Bible? This season of Undeceptions is sponsored by Zondervan Academic. Get discounts on MasterLectures video courses and exclusive samples of their books at zondervan…
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The Puritans: Everything wrong with a Christian society, or much misunderstood forefathers of innovation and social justice? This season of Undeceptions is sponsored by Zondervan Academic. Get discounts on MasterLectures video courses and exclusive samples of their books at zondervanacademic.com/undeceptions Visit undeceptions.com for more content,…
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"I love Jesus but I hate the God of the Old Testament. He's just so violent." You might have heard this line before or thought it yourself. In this episode, we're tackling this issue head-on. We're taking a deep dive into the violence of the Bible - especially the Old Testament - and asking how is it that this God of judgement and war can be one an…
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Is the Bible bad news for women? Is Jesus misogynistic? Or - as some claim - were the teachings of Jesus in fact the basis of a revolutionary change in the way women were seen and treated across the ancient world, as Christianity spread? Live from the Sydney leg of the Undeceptions conference comes this special episode, with John Dickson, Rebecca M…
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