Shane Rosenthal and the Humility of Healthy Skepticism
11/07/22 • 42 min
TIP JAR: https://donate.stripe.com/aEUdUE5YodhZgkUeUV
Shane Rosenthal | Featured Guest
Shane Rosenthal is the founder and host of The Humble Skeptic podcast which seeks to explore the beliefs and ideas that shape our lives. He was one of the original creators of the White Horse Inn radio broadcast, which he also hosted from 2019-2021. Shane was one of the authors of the book Defending the Faith: Essays on Apologetics and has been a frequent contributor over the years to Modern Reformation magazine. He is a graduate of Cal-State Fullerton (B.A. Humanities) and Westminster Seminary California (M.A. Historical Theology), and resides with his family in St. Louis.
Summary - Shane Rosenthal and the Humility of Healthy Skepticism
Amid all the tribalism and polarization we see today, Christians could learn something from The Humble Skeptic Podcast. Shane Rosenthal, host of the Humble Skeptic Podcast, joined me to discuss this new project, and the value of thoughtful and reflective Christians. We discuss a number of things, including the problem of the left-right paradigm that appears in politics, religion, and culture. How do we discuss tough issues especially with people who are defensive (or offensive) in their ideas.
Rosenthal highlights his pilot episode, wherein he describes the experience of digging into the truth of a story his dad told him about Billy Joel, before Joel was famous. Rosenthal's skepticism was not motivated by distrust, but by curiosity and wonderment. We discuss the twists and turns of the process of thinking through a matter, as well as the reality of coming face-to-face with our own ignorance, a key feature of the Socratic Method which I use in my courses.
Rosenthal wants people, Christians in particular, to recognize the value in becoming reflective thinkers, toward the pursuit of truth, for the love of God and neighbor. Rosenthal's gentle temperament, and childlike wonderment will inspire you to embrace the humble skeptic in you too.
Join me, Kerry Baldwin, with Shane Rosenthal, as we Dare to Think about the humility of healthy skepticism.
Main Points of Discussion
00:00 Introduction
01:28 Shane Rosenthal's background and concept for the Humble Skeptic Podcast
08:13 The fear of asking and receiving questions and what critical thinking is
15:17 Seeking to understand; digging into facts; evaluating information
25:13 Seeking to understand ... our own emotions in relation to facts, truth
32:18 What to do when you have unanswered questions and no good resources?
39:54 Concluding thoughts
Resource Links
Shane's Substack https://shanerose.substack.com/podcast
The Humble Skeptic Podcast https://thehumbleskeptic.com/
Support the Humble Skeptic Podcast https://www.givesendgo.com/humbleskeptic
TIP JAR: https://donate.stripe.com/aEUdUE5YodhZgkUeUV
Shane Rosenthal | Featured Guest
Shane Rosenthal is the founder and host of The Humble Skeptic podcast which seeks to explore the beliefs and ideas that shape our lives. He was one of the original creators of the White Horse Inn radio broadcast, which he also hosted from 2019-2021. Shane was one of the authors of the book Defending the Faith: Essays on Apologetics and has been a frequent contributor over the years to Modern Reformation magazine. He is a graduate of Cal-State Fullerton (B.A. Humanities) and Westminster Seminary California (M.A. Historical Theology), and resides with his family in St. Louis.
Summary - Shane Rosenthal and the Humility of Healthy Skepticism
Amid all the tribalism and polarization we see today, Christians could learn something from The Humble Skeptic Podcast. Shane Rosenthal, host of the Humble Skeptic Podcast, joined me to discuss this new project, and the value of thoughtful and reflective Christians. We discuss a number of things, including the problem of the left-right paradigm that appears in politics, religion, and culture. How do we discuss tough issues especially with people who are defensive (or offensive) in their ideas.
Rosenthal highlights his pilot episode, wherein he describes the experience of digging into the truth of a story his dad told him about Billy Joel, before Joel was famous. Rosenthal's skepticism was not motivated by distrust, but by curiosity and wonderment. We discuss the twists and turns of the process of thinking through a matter, as well as the reality of coming face-to-face with our own ignorance, a key feature of the Socratic Method which I use in my courses.
Rosenthal wants people, Christians in particular, to recognize the value in becoming reflective thinkers, toward the pursuit of truth, for the love of God and neighbor. Rosenthal's gentle temperament, and childlike wonderment will inspire you to embrace the humble skeptic in you too.
Join me, Kerry Baldwin, with Shane Rosenthal, as we Dare to Think about the humility of healthy skepticism.
Main Points of Discussion
00:00 Introduction
01:28 Shane Rosenthal's background and concept for the Humble Skeptic Podcast
08:13 The fear of asking and receiving questions and what critical thinking is
15:17 Seeking to understand; digging into facts; evaluating information
25:13 Seeking to understand ... our own emotions in relation to facts, truth
32:18 What to do when you have unanswered questions and no good resources?
39:54 Concluding thoughts
Resource Links
Shane's Substack https://shanerose.substack.com/podcast
The Humble Skeptic Podcast https://thehumbleskeptic.com/
Support the Humble Skeptic Podcast https://www.givesendgo.com/humbleskeptic
Previous Episode
Is the Billy Graham Rule Above Reproach?
TIP JAR: https://donate.stripe.com/aEUdUE5YodhZgkUeUV
Summary | Is the Billy Graham Rule Above Reproach?
What do I mean by this question? It’s been suggested by many holding to biblical sexual ethic that the Billy Graham Rule is a prudential “rule of thumb” intended to mitigate the temptation for sexual sin.
But is this true? As I’ve discussed and interacted with Christians over the years, I’ve found there two basic interpretations of this rule. Either it’s a blanket, hard and fast rule, or it’s a good thing to consider in particular circumstances with particular people. The former interpretation comes from Billy Graham himself, and the latter comes from an assumption made about the content of the rule. This assumption is simply wrong.
Making prudential boundaries for oneself, to be used in particular circumstances with particular people is not at issue in this episode. By it’s very definition, boundaries require an act of discernment. The Billy Graham Rule, on the other hand, requires forgoing discernment and is from motivations that demonstrate it’s a rule not above reproach, and therefore un-Christian.
Main Points of Discussion
00:00 Introduction
01:27 What is the Billy Graham Rule and a thought experiment.
06:13 What does it mean to be “above reproach?”
11:38 Why Billy Graham created his rule and its implications
15:47 What the Billy Graham Rule is not
18:55 Concluding thoughts
Resource Links
What is the Billy Graham Rule? (According to Billy Graham) https://billygraham.org/story/the-modesto-manifesto-a-declaration-of-biblical-integrity/
Billy Graham Rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham_rule
Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) Biblical Qualifications of Elders https://www.opc.org/OS/html/V3/4e.html
Next Episode
Reformed Libertarians with Gregory Baus
TIP JAR: https://donate.stripe.com/aEUdUE5YodhZgkUeUV
Summary - Reformed Libertarians with Gregory Baus
Today I’m announcing a new podcast that I’ve been working on and will be co-hosting. Many of you know that I’m a Reformed Christian who is also libertarian. But what you may not realize, is the extent to which my libertarian views are grounded in the Reformed faith. For the past years, I’ve been one of the only Reformed libertarians with a major platform.
This has created a challenge to me to provide content on seemingly disparate topics, but this takes away from my ability to focus in the topics I’m better known for and would prefer to refine my focus on. So today, I’m making an announcement about this new project with my friend and colleague, Gregory Baus. I will be co-hosting this new podcast, in addition to this podcast, Dare to Think - which will only get better. I’m excited about the opportunities.
Join me, Kerry Baldwin with Gregory Baus, as we Dare to Think about introducing libertarianism to the Reformed world.
Main Points of Discussion
00:00 Introduction
01:26 How we came to start the Reformed Libertarians Podcast; Previous episodes with Gregory Baus on culture
02:56 What's the purpose of having a Reformed perspective of libertarianism; Definition of libertarianism
04:48 Typical Objections: "Profit over people" or "Do whatever we want"; Austrian Economic Theory; "If we care about human life, society, this warrants coercing groups to get along"; Principles of justice, morality, conception of human nature, nature of society and how it operates
10:14 Didn't John Calvin believe in using the magistrate to enforce Christianity? Reformed churches came to confess disestablishmentarian
13:42 What about Christian Nationalism? Mixture of more or less precise of Christian Nationalism create confusion and rejects the best Reformed Covenant Theology
16:28 Is libertarianism is a viable idea to begin with? When is the optimal time explore the ideas of freedom and prosperity? Shouldn't we just make the best out of the system we have? Overton Window: a set of ideas which are "thinkable."
21:23 Not a political commentary podcast; Mission of Reformed Libertarians
Resource Links
Reformed Libertarians https://reformedlibertarians.com/
Christians for Liberty Network https://christiansforliberty.net/
Libertarian Christian Institute https://libertarianchristians.com/
Become a monthly member for as little as $5/mth https://mereliberty.com/membership/monthly/
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