Tackling life's biggest questions.
Is there a God? What is
the nature of reality? How, then, should we live? Can we
know the truth to these questions? If so, what is it?
These are some of the questions we address on The Don Johnson Radio
Show.
We examine these topics
in the context of current affairs and we talk
respectfully with members of all
worldviews in an effort to get people to think deeply
about what they believe and why.
Listed at right are the full archives of the Don Johnson Radio
Show.
Radio
Show Podcast:
(Here for
iTunes)
See
Christianity vs. Other
Worldviews for a
page devoted to our debates with leaders of other
religions.
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ARCHIVES
October 3,
2008
(MP3)
Debate with
Dr. Robert Price, Part 3
In this episode Paul Arnends
interviews Don and gets his response to
last weeks discussion with Dr. Price.
September
26, 2008
(MP3)
Debate with
Dr. Robert Price, Part 2
In this episode Paul Arnends
interviews Dr. Price and gets his
response to Don's argument in Part 1 of
the debate.
September
26, 2008
(MP3)
How the
West is Embracing Fascism. Does the Bible
Say You Should Be True to Yourself? Can the
Bible Be Reconciled with Evolution?
September
19, 2008
(MP3)
Debate with Dr. Robert Price, Part 1
This is part 1 of a debate in
which Paul will alternate
between interviewing Don and
Dr. Robert Price on the
subject of the historicity of
the resurrection.
Dr. Price is
Professor of
Theology and Scriptural Studies
at
Johnnie Colemon Theological
Seminary, the founder and
editor of
The Journal of Higher
Criticism, and a Fellow
of the
Jesus Seminar. He holds a
PhD in Systematic Theology from
Gordon Conwell Theological
Seminary and another PhD in New
Testament from Drew University.
He is the author of many books
including
Jesus Is Dead.
September
11, 2008
(MP3)
Pluralism
the Religion, More on the Prophecy of Jesus'
Return, and Other Listener Email
-
Eboo Patell wants us to join the
religion of pluralism.
- Don and Brandon continue to interact
with a listener about the New Testament
writers and the return of Christ.
- More listener emails.
August 15,
2008
(MP3)
The
Trustworthiness of NT Authors, The
Difficulty of Paranormal Research, and the
Arrogance of the "Many Ways to Heaven" Crowd
- Don and Brandon answer answer some
listener questions, including:
- "If the New Testament writers
were wrong about when Jesus was
going to return, why should we trust
them about anything else?"
- "Shouldn't Christians be leading
the charge to investigate paranormal
activity? They seem to be leaving
that realm to pagans."
- According to a
recent study, 70% of religious
believers think there is more than one
path to eternal life. While at least one
expert thinks this position is a sign of
humility, Don and Brandon argue that it
is actually incredibly arrogant. This
discussion veers into the political
realm and includes references to an
article by
Pat Buchanan.
August 8,
2008
(MP3)
Listener
Emails on the Relationship Between
Experience, Evidence and Faith
- Don and Brandon answer listener
email and live chat room questions.
June 5, 2008
(MP3)
Irrational Mormons
and Neural Buddhists
- Don and Brandon respond to a Mormon listener
who argues that is is wrong to demand
rationality and reasonableness from religion.
- Sharon Stone
blamed the Chinese earthquakes on karma. Why
are people
so upset?
-
David Brooks thinks the evidence being
discovered by neurobiology doesn't bode well for
Christianity.
May 21, 2008
(MP3)
Why Does the God of
the Old Testament Kill Kids? and More
May 16, 2008
(MP3)
Atheism and Child
Murder, Christianity without Christ and More
- Don and Brandon respond to a listener email
asking about people who are not interested in
reason and evidence when choosing a worldview as
well as those who honestly think the reason and
evidence point elsewhere than Christianity.
- A discussion of the
recent debate between Dinesh D'Souza and
Peter Singer.
-
Christianity without Christ?
May 8, 2008
(MP3)
Apatheism,
Pandering Pastors, Pluralism Sunday, and Atheists
Who Raise Christian Kids
May 1, 2008
(MP3)
Trusting in Money
but Not Ben Stein
- A
new study suggests that conservative
Protestants have less wealth than most people.
But are they really less secure?
- Within our current cultural framework, what
exactly is the case
against polygamy?
-
Some Darwinists don't like Ben Stein's
Expelled because he links the ideology to
Hitler. But if Darwinism is true, isn't it
linked to everything?
-
Richard Dawkins admits that he thinks
tribalism, not religion, is the cause of evil.
And the cause of tribalism? Evolution. We try to
figure it out.
- Oprah Winfrey has "opened
her mind" to irrationality.
April 24, 2008
(MP3)
Converting to Islam
Because it Feels Good and More
- A U.K. Christian
converted to Islam, but doesn't seem to have
any good reasons for having done so.
- According to
Professor Daniel Dennett, religion is the
greatest threat to rationality and science. Don
argues that he is actually, and rightly,
concerned about fideism, not religion.
- It is fine for environmentalists to use
scripture to support there position, but as
Patrick McIlerhan notes, they might want to
avoid making it up or taking it out of context
when they do.
- Senators Clinton and Obama
admit they don't know when life begins.
Shouldn't that make them anti-abortion?
April 17, 2008
(MP3)
Islamic Arguments
against Christianity, Leaving Scientology and
Abortion for Art's Sake
- A discussion of some topics that were raised
in last week's interview with Stephen Gibson.
- Don and Brandon answer some Muslim arguments
against Christianity that were sent in by a
listener.
- A T.V. star is
mad at Scientology for not delivering on its
promises.
- This week's Jonathan Swift award goes to
Aliza Shvarts, who allegedly had abortions
in order to produce an art project.
April 10, 2008
(MP3)
Interview with
Stephen Gibson
- Our guest is Stephen Gibson, founder of
Truth Driven Thinking and author of
A Secret of the Universe. Mr. Gibson
rejected his Christianity due to higher biblical
criticism, but has he found a worldview that is
better supported by evidence? Don and Brandon
try to find out.
April 3, 2008
(MP3)
Atheist Sunday School and Crazy Bishops
- Don responds to a listener email questioning
last weeks winner of the Jonathan Swift award.
- The
Episcopal Bishop of Washington claims the if
Islam is false, so is Christianity and Judaism.
Don disagrees.
-
Atheist Sunday School?
- Is working for the conversion of Muslims
the same as the crusades?
- A listener suggests that since cultural
relativism is a fact, perhaps moral relativism
is too.
March 27, 2008
(MP3)
The God Particle
and More
March 20, 2008
(MP3)
The Easter Bunny,
Jeremiah Wright, Margaret Sanger and More
- The disturbing trend among preachers to
consult their DVD collection for sermon ideas
before going to the Bible.
- Hot-cross buns and reincarnation milk:
taking a look at
Danny Katz's critique of religion.
- Does one have to believe the resurrection
actually happened to get something out of
Easter? Don, Brandon and Greg discuss a
Daily Telegraph article that claims Easter
goes beyond religion.
- The Jeremiah Wright story has brought
Black liberation theology into the news. The
group talk about where it fits within the three
main historical views of the kingdom of God.
- As exposed by
The
Advocate, Planned Parenthood is doing a
great job of fulfilling their founder's racist,
eugenic vision.
- Don, Greg and Brandon get into a brief
debate about pacifism.
March 13, 2008
(MP3)
Religion and
Ignorance, Virtue and Freedom
March 6, 2008
(MP3)
How Not to Read the
Bible
After discussing the proposition that Moses was
often
high on drugs, Don and Brandon offer several
examples of what not to do with biblical writings.
February 28, 2008
(MP3)
Are Americans
Really Losing their Religion? Or Just Becoming Less
Rational About It?
February 21, 2008
(MP3)
On Deepak Chopra's
New Book, Sex Education, and Outlawing Piglet, Among
Other Things
January 24, 2008
(MP3)
Fred Phelps, Will Smith,
the New Math, and a Jonathan Swift Award Winner
November 21, 2007
(MP3)
Is Beauty Really in the Eye
of the Beholder? and More
- Don talks with a caller about whether an
materialistic, atheistic worldview supports morality and
whether some art is objectively better than others.
- He also discusses some topics with chat room
listeners, including the morality of birth control and
capital punishment.
November 15, 2007
(MP3)
Pascal's Wager, Maniacal
Monkeys and other Listener Questions
- Don answers listener questions about:
- Pascal's wager.
- Whether a woman's decision is the deciding moral
factor in abortion.
- Why, if God is supposed to dwell within them, so
many Christians seem to have ordinary inner lives.
- What can we learn about religion from the
roving bands of monkeys causing havoc in India?
November 1, 2007
(MP3)
Supernaturalism, Grilled
Cheese, Beer and Yoga
October 25, 2007
(MP3)
Are we Training our Kids to
be Irrational? and Listener Questions
- What not to do if your child becomes a Christian.
- Don answers questions from the listener chat room,
touching on a wide range of topics, including Harry
Potter and politics.
October 18,
2007
(MP3)
The Theology of Ann Coulter
and the Dalai Lama, Among Other Things
Topics include:
- Ann Coulter's
desire
to see Jews convert to Christianity.
- The relationship between Judaism and Christianity.
- The
Dalai Lama's comments about all religions having the
same moral teaching.
- Tomer's email about sex education and morality
without God.
October 11, 2007
(MP3)
The Theology of
George Bush, Barack Obama, and Whoopi Goldberg,
Among Other Things
Topics include:
- A short review of last week's show with
Sigfried, comparing the different approaches to
epistemology.
-
George W. Bush's assertion that Christians
and Muslims worship the same god.
- Don answers some questions from caller
Daniel. They discuss, among other things, what
is required for life to have meaning and
Barack Obama's desire to build the kingdom
of God through politics.
- Whoopi Goldberg's
call for everyone to revere women who have
had abortions.
October 4, 2007
(MP3)
Debate with Sigfried the
Naturalist
- Caller Sigfried defends his naturalistic worldview
against Don's claims that it cannot account for
rationality or morality. Later in the conversation, Don
makes a case for the historicity of the resurrection of
Christ and answers some of Sigfried's questions about
the Bible.
September 20,
2007
(MP3)
Proper Discrimination,
Conception Day, Madonna, Sarah Silverman and More
Topics include:
September 13, 2007
(MP3)
Faith, Evidence, Rewards
and Ala
- Don discusses some misconceptions about he Christian
definition of faith and talks with a couple of callers,
including Ala, who is convinced that two people can
believe contradictory propositions about the nature of
reality and both be right. If you just want to hear the
discussion with Ala, click
here.
August 14, 2007
(MP3)
On Global Warmism, Among
Other Things
- A reader of the Cincinnati Inquirer
is astonished that the pope is Catholic.
- Who is to blame for America's religious illiteracy.
Stephen Prothero thinks it is the church.
- Universities are enacting
anti-proselytizing laws that prohibit tearing down
another person's belief. Is this rational and should we
really care so much about not offending anyone?
- Is Global Warmism the world's newest religion? The
Live Earth event and
Al Gore's writings suggest that it might be.
August 9, 2007
(MP3)
The Religion Reporter Who
Lost His Faith and More
Don and Brandon talk about:
July 18, 2007
(MP3)
On "Helpful" Sins, Hell and
God's Purpose for Your Life
Listener Tomer didn't like the
way we responded to his email on the air a few shows back,
so we got him on the line to talk about it. The conversation
touched on a wide range of topics, including:
- There are certain sins that seem to be very
beneficial. Shouldn't we practice those in order to
achieve a greater good?
- If our good works outweigh our bad, shouldn't that
be enough to get into Heaven?
- Why does God seem like such a harsh taskmaster? He
gives us desires and then punishes us for trying to
fulfill them? And is it really a relationship if he
holds hell over our heads as punishment if we don't
submit to his rules?
July 17, 2007
(MP3)
Examining the Worldview of
The Secret:
An Interview with Kathleen
Graham
Don and Brandon interview personal success coach Kathleen
Graham, founder and president of
Success In U. Kathleen
teaches people how to appropriate the teachings of
The Secret using
techniques explained in her written guide,
The Law of
Attraction Toolkit.
Kathleen graciously explains her beliefs and candidly
answers some questions from Don and Brandon regarding some
of the more troubling worldview teachings of The Secret,
such as:
- Victims of genocide are guilty, at some level, of
bringing it upon themselves.
- There is no objective right and wrong in the
universe, so Hitler cannot be morally condemned. We can
only point out that the Allies knew how to harness the
power of The Secret better than he did.
They also discuss the compatibly of the teachings of
The Secret with those of Jesus (Don and Brandon see them
as antithetical, Kathleen doesn't) and talk about about
whether or not the worldview of The Secret is
self-refuting and incoherent. It turns out to be a very
interesting conversation.
July 5, 2007
(MP3)
So What if He is God? Why
Should I Obey Him?
Don and Brandon answer some
listener questions regarding obeying God.
- They talk with John about whether or not we obey God
because it is in our best interest or just because God
is God.
- They discuss Tomer's email about the fact that,
practically speaking, "sinning" sometimes seems the most
helpful thing to do.
June 29, 2007
(MP3)
Questioning the Atheism of
The Infidel Guy
- A discussion with
Reginald Vaughn Finley,
Sr, otherwise known as
"The Infidel Guy."
Mr. Finley is a graduate of
the Atlanta Broadcast Institute and the founder of
freethoughtmedia.com ,
atheistforums.com,
faithandfreethought.com
and many
other websites. He is also co-founder of
The Atheist
Network, another site dedicated to fostering the
community of atheists.
We ask Reggie usual questions: "What do you believe
about reality and why? Is there any good reason to be an
naturalistic atheist? Does that worldview best account
for the data?" He has some interesting answers.
June 22, 2007
(MP3)
The Priest and Paris Hilton
Don and Brandon offer their
take on the Paris Hilton story, including:
- Why is it that
Paris thinks that a trip to jail has been good for
her? What was wrong with her life before?
- Paris took three books with her: The Bible, The
Secret and a book by Ekhart Tolle. How should she
approach her spiritual journey? Hopefully she will not
follow the example of
the Episcopal priest who now claims to be a Muslim
as well as a Christian.
August 14, 2006
(MP3)
May 11, 2006
(MP3)
On The Da Vinci
Code, Da Vinci's Art and Santa Claus Religion, Among
Other Things
Don and Brandon discourse on a variety of
subjects, including:
- According to
reports, many people are actually believing
The Da Vinci Code. Do we have to debunk the
existence of Darth Vader next?
-
Unbelieving parents are sending their kids to
church to find moral guidance and solace,
even though they don't think any of it is true.
- Do Muslims and Christians and Jews worship
the same God?
-
Strange theology in USA Today.
- Some listeners have decided that since there
is no God, there is no such thing as objective
morality. We examine their arguments.
April 17, 2006
(MP3)
Why Did God Create People He Knew Would
End Up in Hell? and More Answers to Tough Questions
We address some more topics requested by listeners,
including:
- Is God beyond good and evil? That is to say, is God
good because He does good things, or is something good
simply because He says it is?
- Why would God create someone he knows will end up in
Hell? Wouldn't it have been better for those people
never to be born at all?
- If God loved me, He would provide me with more
evidence.
April 7, 2006
(MP3)
On Jesus the Ice Walker and Parakeets
That Lay Golden Eggs
- Don and Brandon discuss the
research released this week that suggests Jesus may
have walked on ice instead of water.
- Responses to listener email include:
- a discussion of parakeets that lay golden eggs
- a refutation of the notion that an absolute
standard for right and wrong can exist without God.
March 23, 2006
(MP3)
Debate
with Scientologist David Barrington
March 16, 2006
(MP3)
Responses to Listener Email
Don and Brandon address listener emails
from around the world. Topics include:
- Is God an egomaniac? Why does the Christian God
require worship?
- How could a loving God only save a portion of
humanity?
- Why doesn't God give us more evidence for His
existence?
- Does talking about hell make Don and Brandon racist,
intolerant hatemongers?
- How is the fact that the original followers of Jesus
were martyred for their beliefs an evidence for the
truthfulness of Christianity?
March 9, 2006
(MP3)
Is There
Any Good Reason to Be a Mormon?: A Discussion with LDS
Scholar Alma Allred
- I write
often on my blog about how I think Mormonism is a
religion that offers no good reasons to support its
truth claims. Most recently
I noted an example of this: recent DNA findings that
suggested some historical inaccuracies in the Book of
Mormon have been deemed largely irrelevant within Mormon
Church circles. Alma Allred
commented on that post, disagreeing with my
assessment. I contacted him and he agreed to chat with
me about this topic on my radio show.
Mr. Allred is a university administrator at the
University of Utah and an LDS Historian. He teaches LDS
Church History at the LDS Institute of Religion located
near the University of Utah. He is a published author
and has provided book reviews for the Mormon History
Association and the Foundation for Ancient Research and
Mormon Studies. Most recently, he was one of the
essayists in a book published by the University of
Illinois Press, "Black and Mormon" edited by Newell
Bringhurst and Darron Smith. (2004)
September 24, 2005
(MP3)
Supernaturalism and the
Occult in Pop Culture
- We analyze pop culture's current fascination
with the supernatural and the occult.
September 3, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
The Problem of Pain: Why Does God Allow
Suffering?
- In the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, we
discuss how a supposedly all powerful and good God could
allow such suffering.
- Also, we talk about the the
new guidelines issued by the Air Force regarding
public prayer.
August 27, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
Does Jesus Want You To Be Rich?
- According to
Newsweek and
other
sources, the trend in American spirituality is
towards love of money and ecstatic experiences. We
analyze this development.
August 20, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
Debate with Muslim Apologist Nadir
Ahmed
August 13, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
Faith vs. Science? A Discussion with
Skeptic Dave Thomas
August 6, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
Are Religious People Morons?
-
The prevailing take on such current
events as the Intelligent Design Movement, Muslim
terrorism and stem-cell research is that the battle is
between faith and reason. On one side you supposedly
have intelligent rational folks and on the other you
have unthinking boobs. I examine this alleged dichotomy.
-
This weeks Jonathan Swift Award goes to
Dick Durbin, who explains why he decided to stop being
pro-life.
July 30, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
The Rise of Religious
Totalitarianism in the West
-
Stories from England, Australia and
Canada show how governments are primed to take over
control and banish free exercise of religion.
-
Our Jonathan Swift Award goes to Michael
Read, who argues that he caused his mother to be made fun
of, so would have been better off dead.
July 23, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
"At Least the Terrorists Have
Meaning in their Lives" and More
-
We analyze Tim
Lott's assertion that the suicide bombers are to be
admired in some ways because they have something that the
West simply can't offer: meaning in life.
-
This weeks Jonathan Swift Award for
Ridiculous Pro-Abortion argument goes to David
Barash, who writes that since we can't pinpoint the
moment of "ensoulment", abortion is OK.
-
Michael McGough attempted
to explain proper Biblical interpretation methods in
the LA Times this week and we explain what a poor attempt
it was.
July 16, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
The Legacy and Future of Crusade
Evangelism
July 2 and 9, 2005
On these dates we broadcast "The
Best of The Don Johnson Show", including debates and
discussion previously heard on May 21, April 30 and February
26.
June 25, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
The Suppression of Religious Free Speech
and Rise of Propaganda in the West, The Killing of Babies to
get a "Baby-Smooth" Face and Some Advice for Tom
Cruise on How to Evangelize on Behalf of Scientology
June 18, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
On Fatherhood, Celebrity
Worship and Preventing Holocausts through the Mass Killing of
Children
-
These
statistics show just how important fathers really are.
We discuss how this supports a Christian worldview.
-
We tackle the argument that the Christian
view of a loving father God is just a wish-fulfillment
fantasy made up by humans who don't have one.
-
We hand out this week's "Jonathan
Swift Award for Most Ridiculous Abortion Rights
Argument" to Henry
Morgentaler, who claimed that abortions reduce violent
crime. We then offer a "modest proposal" of our
own to make an even safer society.
-
We discuss the cult of celebrity and
evaluate why our culture worships people like Michael
Jackson and Tom Cruise.
June 11, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
The Myth of "Religion Free"
Education
June 4, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
The Idiocy of Judgment Free Spirituality
and More
May 28, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
On Tom Cruise, T.D. Jakes and Wiccans,
Among Other Things
May 21, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
A Debate with a Zen-Master
Comments
May 14, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
Do All Roads Lead to Heaven?
Comments
May 7, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
Can You be Good or Have
Meaning in Life Without God?
Comments
April 30, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
Why You Shouldn't Respect the
Spiritual Values of People Whose Spiritual Values are False
(Comments)
April 23, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
Relativism and the Search for Truth in
Religion
Comments
April 16, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
The Religious Right's Quest to Reclaim
America
Comments
April 9, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
The Sorry State of American
Christianity
-
One of the major stories
surrounding the Pope's death was the fact that a large
percentage of American Catholics don't follow the churches
teachings. This trend isn't confined to Catholics, as a
large percentage of Protestants don't live out the
dictates of their faith either. We evaluate this trend and
suggest reasons for it.
Comments
April 2, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
The Pope and George Felos
-
On the day the Pope died, we discuss how
his theologically conservative worldview formed the basis
for two major areas of his legacy - his hatred of
communism and fascism, and his battle against the
"culture of death" - and how that worldview
compares with that of the man who was at media center
stage earlier in the week, Michael Schiavo's lawyer George
Felos.
Comments
March 26, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
What Motivates Cultural Warriors
Comments
March 19, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
A Debate with a National Atheist Leader
Comments
March 12, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
-
What does it mean that suicide,
infanticide and other forms of killing are becoming
trendy?
-
The real issue with religious extremism.
Comments
March 5, 2005
(Real
Audio) (MP3)
Comments
February 26, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
Is the current increased interest in
spirituality a good thing? Is it a an "awakening" in the
traditional sense?
Comments
February 19, 2005
(Real Audio) (MP3)
Comments
February 12, 2005
(Real Audio)
(MP3)
-
Is homosexuality a civil rights issue?
Is it a sin?
-
Do all religions lead to God? Are
Christians intolerant and arrogant for thinking they
have the one way, the one truth?
-
What abortion advocates really think.
Comments
February 5, 2005
(Real
Audio)
(MP3)
Does the Republican party have
the corner on God? Can a good Christian vote Democrat?
Comments
January 29, 2005
(Real
Audio)
(MP3)
Addressing objections
to Christianity, including
-
Christians are hypocrites
-
The Bible doesn't offer good moral
teaching
-
Jesus said He was coming back soon and
didn't
-
The Bible is not historically accurate
Comments
January 22, 2005
(Real
Audio)
(MP3)
-
The anniversary of Roe vs. Wade
-
The Presidential inauguration
-
Why Americans aren't truly happy
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