Dr. Tom Tarrants is President Emeritus of the C.S. Lewis Institute and author of Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love: How a Violent Klansman Became a Champion of Racial Reconciliation. In this episode, Tom and I discuss the accusation that the American Protestant church promotes bigotry and racism, particularly white supremacy. In Part 1 of our discussion, Tom shares his gripping testimony of growing up in the Deep South amidst anti-communist and racist ideologies and coming to know God through his readings of classical philosophy and the Gospels in a maximum security prison. We discuss the difference between nominal and true faith, whether America is a Christian nation, the sinful perversion of the Bible to justify racism, and more.

Sharon Dirckx, PhD., trained neuroscientist, prolific speaker, and author of award-winning books on the problem of evil and human consciousness, helps us to tackle the problem of natural evil. There are evils in our world which can't be directly attributed to human moral error: natural disasters, parasites, and disease attack seemingly indiscriminately, causing rampant death and destruction of innocent people. How can the Judeo-Christian God be simultaneously good, loving, and all-powerful and yet allow disaster and disease to occur on his watch? Did God create these evils, does he passively permit them, or is he powerless to stop them?

Many Christian leaders across different sects hold varied interpretations of key Biblical practices, leading to notable differences in theology and practice. Do differences in Biblical interpretation betray a pluralism within Christianity or an insufficiency of Scripture as God's method of communication? Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer joins us to discuss historical and modern differences in Biblical reading cultures, what it means to read the Bible "literally," and how to discern Biblical genre. Dr. Vanhoozer puts forth the practice of "mere Christian hermeneutics"-- essential principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians.