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Imagine What happens when belief in God is removed — and what takes its place?
In this second part of our series on atheism, the Curious team invite us to meet some of the thinkers who profoundly shaped modern unbelief: Feuerbach, Marx, Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud and Russell. Their challenges to Christianity went far beyond simply saying, “God does not exist.” Was God a projection of human longing? Was religion a tool of oppression? Could evolution remove the need for a Creator? And when Nietzsche announced that “God is dead”, was he celebrating the disappearance of Christianity — or warning the West about what might happen when the foundations beneath morality, meaning and purpose were removed?

The episode then turns its attention to the extraordinary rise — and subsequent fragmentation — of the New Atheism of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett. Why did their books capture the imagination of so many people after 9/11, and why did a movement united by opposition to religion later find itself divided over morality, identity and what atheism actually stood for? Along the way the team ask an even more basic question: what does it actually mean to be an atheist?
From strong atheism and agnostic atheism to apatheism, misotheism and John Gray’s “seven types”, this episode asks whether atheism is simply the absence of belief — or whether every account of reality ultimately has to answer the deeper questions of meaning, morality, dignity, purpose and hope.

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles, for and against, that compliment this episode….

https://sharedveracity.net/2021/12/11/how-believers-become-unbelievers-a-review-of-alec-ryries-emotional-history-of-doubt/

https://learn.ligonier.org/podcasts/5-minutes-in-church-history-with-stephen-nichols/history-of-atheism


What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

John Gray—
Seven Types of Atheism

Alec Ryri—
Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt

Alister McGrath—
The Twilight of Atheism

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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Atheism can look like the obvious alternative to belief in God, but its story is far more complex than simply “science replaced religion.” In this episode, the Curious team trace the development of unbelief from the ancient world through the Enlightenment and into the modern West, asking why atheism remained a minority position for so long — and what changed. From Diagoras, Democritus and Epicurus to Hume, Voltaire and the intellectual revolutions that followed, we explore the different ideas that slowly reshaped the way Western culture thought about God, reason, morality and human freedom.

Along the way, the team challenge the idea that atheism is one single worldview. Marx, Nietzsche, Russell and Dawkins do not all mean the same thing when they reject God, and even the word atheism has had a fascinating history — Christians themselves were once accused by the Romans of being “atheists” because they rejected the pagan gods. So how did a marginal philosophical position become one of the dominant stories of modern Western culture? And what assumptions does atheism itself bring to the table? This week’s Theology for the Curious is an invitation to look beyond slogans and understand the deeper history behind one of the most influential intellectual movements of our age.

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles, for and against, that compliment this episode….

https://sharedveracity.net/2021/12/11/how-believers-become-unbelievers-a-review-of-alec-ryries-emotional-history-of-doubt/

https://learn.ligonier.org/podcasts/5-minutes-in-church-history-with-stephen-nichols/history-of-atheism


What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

John Gray—
Seven Types of Atheism

Alec Ryri—
Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt

Alister McGrath—
The Twilight of Atheism

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

Support us on Instagram @theologyforthecurious
Find us on TikTok: @theologyforthecurious

Click here to text us your thoughts and questions!

For seven months, theologians gathered through a bitter Dutch winter to answer questions that had already spilled far beyond the walls of the church. A professor was dead. His followers were fighting for their theological inheritance. A powerful statesman awaited his fate. And delegates had travelled from across Europe to a small Dutch city to decide what Christians could — and could not — say about grace, freedom, election and the saving purposes of God.

Four centuries later, the arguments have survived almost everything else about the controversy. Why does one person believe while another does not? Does God choose us because we believe, or do we believe because God has chosen us? Did Christ die in precisely the same sense for everyone? Can saving grace finally be resisted — and can somebody genuinely united to Christ ultimately walk away? Behind the familiar labels Calvinism and Arminianism lies a much more complicated and human story. This week the Curious team continue their exploration of the impact and reach of the teaching of Jacob Arminius as they enter the Synod of Dort and discover how five disputed articles helped shape a theological conversation that Christians are still having today.

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles that compliment this episode….

https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/confessions/canons-dort

https://www.crcna.org/news-and-events/news/digging-history-synod-dort

https://seedbed.com/a-primer-on-prevenient-grace/

What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

W. Robert Godfrey—
Saving The Reformation: The Pastoral Theology of the Canons of Dort

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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It began with questions in a university lecture room. Before long, ministers were being driven from churches, congregations were splitting, pamphlets were flooding the streets and armed troops were facing one another across Dutch cities. Somewhere along the way, a dispute about predestination had become a struggle over who governed the church, who governed the nation — and perhaps even who governed history itself.

At the centre of the storm was a theologian who had once been expected to defend the very doctrine he would later question. Jacob Arminius died before the controversy bearing his name reached its extraordinary climax, but his ideas survived him — carried forward by friends, politicians and theologians until the Dutch Republic stood perilously close to fracture. How did an argument about grace and election lead to soldiers in Utrecht, political prisoners in The Hague and theologians from across Europe gathering at Dordrecht? This week the Curious team begin the first of two parts on the history of Jacob Arminius and his ideas. The road to the Synod of Dort is considerably more dramatic than the five points it eventually produced.

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles that compliment this episode….

https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/arminius-and-remonstrants

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/defender-of-gods-justice


What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

Keith D Stanglin and Thomas H McCall—
Jacob Arminius: Theologian Of Grace

Roger E Olson—
Arminian Theology – Myths and Realities

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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Imagine that before the first moment of creation, every road history might take lay open before God. Every decision you could make. Every decision you would make if your circumstances were different. Every conversation that never happened, every opportunity never presented, every alternative history never lived. Now imagine that God knew them all — and chose to create this particular world. Suddenly the familiar questions about providence and human freedom become considerably more intriguing.

But hidden inside that proposal is a question that is surprisingly difficult to escape. If God knows what a genuinely free person would choose before that person even exists, what makes that knowledge true? Somewhere between God’s sovereignty and our freedom lies one of Christian theology’s most ingenious attempts to hold the two together — and perhaps one of its greatest philosophical puzzles. It’s called Molinism, and once you understand the problem it is trying to solve, you may find yourself looking at providence rather differently. Join the curious Team this week as they take a nose dive into the key players and ideas behind Molinism

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles that compliment this episode….

https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/molinism-101

https://academic.oup.com/mind/article/131/522/459/6382285

What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

James R White—
The Potters Freedom

William Lane Craig—
The Only Wise God

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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We trust God with tomorrow. We pray about decisions we haven’t yet made, circumstances we cannot control and dangers we cannot see. We take comfort from the belief that however uncertain the road ahead may appear to us, it is not uncertain to Him. But what if we have misunderstood that? What if some of tomorrow remains genuinely undecided — not simply from our perspective, but from God’s?

It is an idea motivated by some deeply human questions about love, freedom, suffering and prayer. Yet follow it far enough and it begins to touch almost everything we believe about God. Can He be surprised? Can He discover something He did not previously know? Can He change His plans? And if the future contains possibilities rather than certainties, what does that mean for prophecy, providence and the promises on which Christians have staked their lives? In this episode, the curious team are joined by theologian Professor Bruce Ware to explore one of the most fascinating — and controversial debates about the nature of God: Open Theism.

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles, for and against, that compliment this episode….

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/openness-theology-divine-omniscience/

https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/open-theism/v-1


What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

Bruce A. Ware—
God’s Lesser Glory: The Diminished God of Open Theism

Gregory A. Boyd —
God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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Click here to text us your thoughts and questions!

Who did Christ actually die for? Was the cross intended to make salvation possible for everyone, or did it actually secure salvation for a particular people? Few theological questions have generated more thoughtful debate within the Reformed tradition than this one. Standing between classic Calvinism and Arminianism is a little-known but highly influential position called Amyraldism—an attempt to uphold both the universal offer of the gospel and God’s sovereign election without surrendering either.

In this episode, the Curious team travel to seventeenth-century France and the Academy of Saumur to meet Moïse Amyraut, the theologian whose ideas would challenge the Reformed world for generations. We explore the doctrine of hypothetical universalism, why it appealed to so many, how it differs from both classic Calvinism and Arminianism, and why theologians such as Herman Bavinck and John Owen believed it ultimately weakened the certainty of Christ’s saving work. Whether you’ve never heard of Amyraldism or have wrestled with the doctrine of the atonement for years, this conversation will help you understand one of the most significant and enduring debates in Reformed theology.

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles that compliment this episode….

https://www.modernreformation.org/resources/articles/amyraldianism

https://wm.wts.edu/listen/the-church-in-the-modern-age-amyraldism---11-of-37


What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

John Owen—
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ

Anthony A. Hoekema—
Saved by Grace

Edited by David & Jonathon Gibson—
From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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Click here to text us your thoughts and questions!

What if one of the most influential worldviews shaping modern Christianity isn’t atheism—but a subtle belief that God exists while remaining safely at a distance? A God who created the universe with breathtaking precision, yet never interrupts it. A God who inspires morality but never performs miracles, answers prayer, or steps into history. It sounds reasonable. It feels sophisticated. In many ways, it has become the default assumption of modern Western culture. But is it biblical?

In this episode, the Curious team explore the fascinating rise of Deism—the “Watchmaker God” of the Enlightenment—and ask why its influence continues to echo through our churches today. From Isaac Newton and Voltaire to Thomas Jefferson’s remarkable “Jefferson Bible,” we uncover how reason gradually displaced revelation and how a God of design became separated from a God of relationship. Most importantly, we contrast the distant architect of Deism with the living God of Scripture: the God who speaks, sustains, intervenes, became flesh in Jesus Christ, and continues to work in His creation today. If you’ve ever wondered whether Christianity is merely about believing in a Creator—or about knowing a present, active and redeeming God—this conversation is for you.

Further Reading
Here’s a bit of homework for you….we’ve included a few articles that compliment this episode….

https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/field-guide-on-false-teaching-deism

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/cults-and-other-religions/what-is-deism-what-are-deism-beliefs.html


What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve browsed related to this episode…enjoy!

Jen Wilkin—
None Like Him: 10 Ways God Is Different from Us (and Why That’s a Good Thing)

John Piper—
The Providence of God

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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