Hank Unplugged: Essential Christian Conversations

Hank has long maintained that how you view your origins will ultimately determine how you live your life. Likewise, the prevailing cultural acceptance of the Darwinian paradigm has led to a culture in decline. But for those skeptical of the worldviews and arguments of scientific materialists, there is good news. The Darwinian paradigm finds itself in a desperate condition thanks in large part to the Intelligent Design movement leaders such as Dr. Stephen C. Meyer. Dr. Meyer is currently the director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, in addition to authoring the New York Times best seller Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design as well as Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, which was named a Book of the Year by The Times (of London) Literary Supplement in 2009.
Topics discussed include: why the Intelligent Design (ID) movement isn’t a “science stopper” but a science generator (6:00); the exciting state of the Intelligent Design movement today as many scientists, such as distinguished paleontologist Günter Bechly who is now a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, are growing increasingly skeptical of Darwinism (8:35); the overwhelming impact that Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and evolution have had in shaping worldviews such as scientific materialism and how new discoveries are pointing back to a theistic explanation of origins in what Meyer calls “the return of the God hypothesis” (12:10); how secular assumptions limit academic freedom in the sciences and the effect that limits on discourse has on scientists and scientific discovery (15:35); the deep prejudice of Wikipedia toward Intelligent Design with stigmatizing labels such as “pseudoscience” in reference to the ID movement (22:25); how the broad persecution of Christians in secular academics leads Christians of different denominations to unite around the essentials of the Christian faith and their common cause (24:25); Darwin’s Doubt, the Cambrian explosion, and the importance of information to life (27:45); exploring how Young Earth Creationists practice science (31:15); arguably the most exciting discovery in the history of science is that the foundation of life is digital information stored in DNA, and the implications this discovery has on the evidence for Intelligent Design (36:15); the importance of reducing intellectual insecurity in the Christian world (39:20); critiquing theistic evolution, and why Christians shouldn’t feel the need to synthesize their beliefs with a Neo-Darwinian paradigm increasingly in doubt (43:45); the cultural consequences of our worldviews (47:15); discussing the book Why People Stop Believing, and the need for an intellectual defense of the Christian faith (51:50); the racist implications of the evolutionary paradigm (54:30); the elimination of unfit genes as a form of positive eugenics growing in popularity today (56:25); Meyer offers critical responses to several quotes Hank reads from popular evolutionists (59:20); the myth of Darwin’s tree of life (1:05:05); “the waiting time problem” and the Darwinian math of population genetics (1:07:30); looking to computer programmers and coding to poke holes in the link between humans and chimps (1:10:40); why noted atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel believes that defenders of Intelligent Design, such as Stephen C. Meyer, deserve our gratitude (1:14:15); and educating the culture about advances in the Intelligent Design movement (1:18:30).

Increasingly, Western culture defines personal freedom as “whatever works.” The compilers of the Oxford English Dictionary even went so far as to name “post-truth” their word of the year in 2016. This begs the question, can truth be saved? Abdu Murray, author of Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World believes that it can and joins Hank to discuss how we can rediscover truth and change the direction of our culture. How can Christians offer truth and clarity to a world that shuns both? Listen to this edition of Hank Unplugged to find out.
Topics discussed include: Islam, eschatology, and why the gospel of peace must trump the politics of prophecy in the Middle East (2:00); Abdu Murray’s conversion to Christianity to Islam and why Christians must be equipped with answers (7:00); the emotional cost of conversion for Muslims who come to Christ (12:30); Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World (16:25); the problem with practicing apologetics in the post-truth world (18:50); “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (20:10); remembering Nabeel Qureshi and learning from his example (23:20); how Murray went from using an alias asking questions on the Bible Answer Man Broadcast to reviewing Hank’s book MUSLIM: What You Need to Know About the World’s Fasting-Growing Religion (25:30); fake news and explaining the soft and hard modes of post-truth (26:45); confusion in the church and why Christians are succumbing to a post-truth culture (32:25); The definition of apologetics and recognizing that all Christians are called to be apologists (35:40); Valuing autonomy over authority when it comes to truth and the consequences (42:45); can there be freedom without truth? (49:25); what we can learn from Christians persecuted globally? (52:00); two ways that Christians are contributing to a post-truth culture of confusion (57:00); trusting in God’s sovereignty and remembering that it is never too late in life to make a difference (1:00:40); a lesson Abdu Murray learned from asking Ravi Zacharias a question (1:04:30); a culture of confusion and the distortion of human dignity (1:07:35); the importance of attaching our identity to Christ (1:11:20); and the tyranny of tolerance today (1:18:10).

On this episode of Hank Unplugged Hank is bringing to you a legend of the Intelligent Design community, Dr. Bill Dembski. You will be hard-pressed to find a more academically accomplished individual than Dembski, as he is the author/editor of over 20 books and has a PHD in Mathematics, a PHD in Philosophy and a Masters in divinity. Dembski has faced career-threatening criticism from fundamentalists on both sides and joins Hank to discuss the dangers of fundamentalism and more.
Topics discussed include: How the dangers of fundamentalism led Dembski to change careers (3:00); The Design Inference and Intelligent Design (7:45); Fundamentalism, majoring on the minors and what many consider to be Acid Tests for orthodox Christianity (14:00) The importance of reading the Bible as it is intended to be read (25:20); Problems that arise from reading modern cosmology into Biblical text (30:00); Stakeholder interest and incentives influencing the academic community and cultural narratives (36:30); The problem of motivated blindness (42:00) The File Drawer Effect (44:00); Key institutions and universities rejecting Intelligent Design and embracing Theistic Evolution (46:25) The marketing dimension to science and culture (51:45); The difficult situation of deciding where to send our kids to school (56:55); Developing educational curriculum and technologies (1:02:00); Persecution Dembski has faced for taking stands for truth (1:05:00); The controversy surrounding vaccines and how Dembski raising a child with severe autism has shaped his perspective (1:07:40) How our Christian heritage helps us to handle suffering (1:16:40); The danger of hypocrisy in the Christian community (1:18:40) The possibility that Dembski will come out of retirement and work in the Intelligent Design community again someday (1:20:40).

This week, Hank is joined on Hank Unplugged by John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and cohost of the radio show BreakPoint. This is a truly wide-ranging conversation on the major cultural issues of today and how Christians should handle these uniquely modern issues outlined in Stonestreet’s new book A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today’s World.
Topics discussed include: Chuck Colson as a mentor to both (1:30); the false dichotomy of sacred and secular and the pandemic of churches conforming to the culture (9:00); the importance of authority in the church in accordance with Scripture and the ties to church history (17:00); the distinction between cultural waves and undercurrents outlined in Stonestreet’s book A Practical Guide to Culture (23:30); the problem of perpetual adolescence and a culture that craves staying young forever (30:00); how information has replaced knowledge in our age, the shifting importance of right from wrong to whether we’re nice or mean, and discernment as an antidote (37:00); the transactional nature some churches have taken on as opposed to being transformational (43:30); the influence of materialists like Richard Dawkins on culture and the loss of what it means to be humans made in the Imago Dei (51:30); gender fluidity in contrast to biological reality (56:30); influencing the culture rather than the culture changing us (1:01:00).

Are we living in the last days? On today’s podcast we revisit an issue of tremendous consequence—particularly in light of the ongoing conflict in the middle east. That issue revolves around the popular notion that Christians will be raptured out of this world—a rapture currently being dubbed, “The Great Disappearance.” Unfortunately, these modern eschatological interpretations are simply the result of scripture being taken out of context. These misunderstandings about the end times (eschatology) have been enthusiastically propagated by popular end-times prophecy pundits—from books and movies such as the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye, to the “Great Disappearance” being preached by Dr. David Jeremiah. In reality, the Great Disappearance, subtitled “31 ways to be rapture ready” is simply the latest twist on an increasingly popular theme within modern-day Christianity—a theme that is relatively new in the history of Christendom. A proper eschatological evaluation is not merely a matter of theoretical significance as our interpretations have a tremendous impact on geopolitical relations and reactions. Simply put, a biblical understanding of the end times is not only important—it is essential. Hank Hanegraaff is joined by expert Gary DeMar to examine whether we are living in the last days as he explains what the Bible really says about the end times and why it matters. *This is an encore presentation of Hank Unplugged with an updated introduction to provide context. The original edition was first released in September of 2020. To dive deeper see: Hank Hanegraaff, The Apocalypse Code: Find out What the Bible Really Says About the End Times and Why It Matters Today.https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-the-apocalypse-code-find-out-what-the-bible-really-says-about-the-end-times-and-why-it-matters-today-wa/

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