Reasons To Believe Podcast

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Hugh Ross as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.   Why ATP? Biochemists have long wondered why ATP (adenosine triphosphate) was “selected” as the cell’s energy currency. It has several special properties that make it well-suited for its biochemical role. Recently, a research team from University College London offered an explanation. They argue that ATP assumed the role of the universal energy currency due to how easily it forms under prebiotic conditions. ATP selectively forms under plausible prebiotic conditions because of an unusual and just-right chemical reaction.   In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana and astrophysicist Hugh Ross discuss how (1) ATP’s role as the cell’s energy currency, (2) insights about its suitability for its role, and (3) the prebiotic formation all work together to demonstrate that a Creator played a role in the origin and desi

Earliest church creeds affirm the divinity of Jesus

What the Trinity is and what it isn't 

How historical confessions explained the Trinity

Ken discusses what Scripture teaches on the Holy Spirit's work

Scripture shows that the Holy Spirit is a divine person

Ken discusses what Scripture teaches on the Holy Spirit's work. 

Scripture shows that the Holy Spirit is a divine person. 

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Sy Garte as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.   LUCA’s Complexity A research team from the US and the UK discovered that LUCA (the last universal common ancestor) was perhaps more complex than contemporary bacteria and archaea. They used an approach based on physiological features instead of the gene set encoded in LUCA’s DNA.    In the abstract of their paper, the researchers write:  “Our results depict LUCA as likely to be a far more complex cell than has previously been proposed, challenging the evolutionary model of increased complexity through time in prokaryotes. Given current estimates for the emergence of LUCA we suggest that early life very rapidly evolved considerable cellular complexity.”    In this episode, Fuz and Sy explore the far-reaching scientific implications of this work, which challenges the mainstream perspective about the mode and

How to think about being a Christian and a citizen. 

Join Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.   Mars’s Core Problem A seismometer on the surface of Mars has detected sound waves revealing that Mars’s core has a low density. This feature implies that a fifth of Mars’s core is composed of sulfur, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. These light elements make up just 5% of Earth’s core. The different size, density, and structure of Mars’s core compared to Earth’s explains why Mars has lacked a magnetosphere for the past 4 billion years. This research adds yet another habitability requirement for the possible existence of advanced life: the planet’s core must be exquisitely fine-tuned.    References: First Observations of Core-Transiting Seismic Phases on Mars   Life and the Multiverse A great body of evidence points to the improbable nature of life’s existence in the universe, which many people take as evidence o

Dr. Gary Habermas discusses evidence for the shroud. 

Join Hugh Ross and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.   Lunar Catastrophes The Moon is exquisitely fine-tuned in various ways that are essential for advanced life to exist on Earth’s surface. However, astronomers have determined that the Moon will reverse its outward migration from Earth and crash into our planet about 40 billion years from now. Astronomer Bradley Hansen recently demonstrated that for the majority of planet-moon systems capable of sustaining life, the moon will collide with the planet long before conditions on that planet permit the existence of advanced life. Hansen has discovered yet another habitability requirement: a large dynamically stable moon orbiting a large rocky planet. References: Consequences of Dynamically Unstable Moons in Extrasolar Systems   Peering Deep Inside Cells Scientists continue to develop tools to investigate the detailed

Here's Ken's recommended reading list for great books. 

Join Jeff Zweerink and computer scientist Dustin Morley as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.   AI with an Off-Switch? As we contemplate what a world with true AI (general or super, rather than narrow, artificial intelligence) looks like, the question of how we interact with AI inevitably arises. Specifically, what do we do when AI pursues a path that is harmful to humanity? One scenario put forth is to install an off switch that we control, but would the AI leave the off switch enabled? One study showed that programming uncertainty into the AI about its objective may provide incentives for the AI to leave the off switch functional. However, that uncertainty diminishes the AI’s effectiveness in obtaining its purpose. We discuss some of the apologetic implications of this study.   References: The Off-Switch Game   Self-Supervised Learning Recent major breakthroughs in public-facing

Get more out of your reading by learning the four levels of reading. 

How to read actively and with worldview in mind. 

Join Jeff Zweerink and Joseph Bergeron as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.   The Man Behind the Shroud The Shroud of Turin remains one of the most hotly debated artifacts related to Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. Join us as medical specialist Joe Bergeron discusses what an analysis of the shroud’s image reveals about the man behind the shroud. The data provides abundant evidence supporting the accounts of Jesus’s crucifixion given in the Gospels.   References: The Shroud of Turin, Part 1: An Examination of the Man Additional Resources: Joseph Bergeron, Reasons to Believe

Ken addresses questions on differences between Judaism and Christianity. 

Join Hugh Ross and Thomas Bieler as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.   Cheaper Clean Energy Scientists define “clean energy” as electricity for sustaining human civilization and technology that is not derived from the burning of fossil fuels. It is clean in that no particulates or greenhouse gases are injected into the atmosphere. Remarkably, in just twelve years, solar power and battery-based power storage costs have fallen by a factor of eight times. In a few more years, clean energy production will be cheaper than burning fossil fuels to produce electricity. Therefore, economic incentives alone will be adequate to restore climate stability within the time constraints needed to avoid ecological and climatic calamities.   References: Energy Building New Renewables Is Cheaper than Burning Fossil Fuels   Can Atoms Think? What we think about atoms is intimately entwined with what