Episodes
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
Doubt, Deconstruction, and an Apologetic of Kindness, with Keith Plummer
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
Welcome to the Very Kind Episode of The Apologetics Podcast!
Of course, almost every episode of this podcast is kind of kind, mostly because Garrick is just that kind of person. But this episode is the kind of episode that’s particularly kind, because we’re joined by Dr. Keith Plummer, who is widely renowned for his special kind of kindness.
Even the battle between your intrepid cohosts in Indiana, Jones, and the Raiders of Church History turns out to be cuddly and kind. Timothy puts a Pomeranian puppy named “Belferlein” into battle against Garrick's weapon of choice, which is a belt that once belonged to Mary the mother of Jesus. In the end, the belt is turned into a leash, and the dynamic duo decides to stop fighting and cuddle the puppy instead. That’s when Dr. Keith Plummer shows up, and things get even kinder.
Dr. Plummer is one of the contributors to a very kind recent book entitled Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church (The Gospel Coalition, 2021). In this episode, he is kind enough to talk to us about social media, deconversion, doubt, and the Doobie Brothers—a band whose 1976 hit “What a Fool Believes” includes the line “You don't know my kind.” All in all, this episode of The Apologetics Podcast is a one-of-a-kind experience in which even Timothy is kind, which is kind of rare. Also, “Bëlfërlëïn” would be the perfect name for a German industrial metal band, as long as they're a very kind band that likes dogs.
ABOUT GUEST AND HOSTS
Keith Plummer, Ph.D., is the Professor of Theology and Dean of the School of Divinity at Cairn University in Pennsylvania. He has a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he also earned his M.Div. in Apologetics. Follow Dr. Plummer at @XianMind.
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.
LINKS TO CLICK
Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church (The Gospel Coalition, 2021)
The Digital Public Square: Christian Ethics in a Technological Society (B&H Academic, 2023)
25 Basic Bible Studies: Including Two Contents, Two Realities (Francis Schaeffer)
Patreon Support
theapologeticspodcast.com
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
The books of the Bible were selected in the year 325 at the Council of Nicaea, right?
That's what a lot of Christians seem to think.
But is this story true?
If it isn't true, how did the tale of a council that created the canon begin in the first place?
Those are the questions that your intrepid cohosts Garrick Bailey and Timothy Paul Jones explore in this episode.
As with almost every explanation that Garrick and Timothy give, the answer turns out to be far weirder than you ever imagined. It involves a prayer, a table, and books that fall miraculously onto the floor. Also, it entails Timothy speaking these words to Garrick, which also could have appeared in a fortune cookie if Garrick and Timothy were writing the fortunes in the cookies: "The canon of Scripture and the Council of Nicaea are like Elvis Presley and 'American Pie,' dude."
The only way to comprehend Timothy's cryptic proclamation is to listen to this podcast episode in its entirety.
Also in this episode, the dynamic duo throws the bones of Edward the Confessor into battle against a creature that you probably thought existed only in Dumbledore's office, even though it's described in an early Christian sermon. Without revealing the outcome, let's just say that Edward the Confessor stays dead and that early Christians believed in some zoological phenomena that you probably don't.
Also, why hasn't anyone ever named their band "Phöënïx"?
ABOUT HOSTS
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.
LINKS TO CLICK
How We Got the Bible (book by Timothy Paul Jones)
Patreon Support
theapologeticspodcast.com
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
It's the end of apologetics!
Well, at least that's what a recent book by Myron Bradley Penner claims, which is big if true.
If apologetics has reached its end, after all, your intrepid cohosts will soon need to bid adieu, since there's no need for an apologetics podcast if the extinction of apologetics is imminent.
But, alas, seconds before Timothy turns to Garrick with mist in his eyes and whispers, "The Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things," the eagles arrive and sweep the dynamic duo away to a shire of hope in ancient Athens.
As it turns out, the title of Myron Bradley Penner's book is somewhat exaggerated, and there is a future for apologetics after all. Timothy is convinced that this future is actually found in the past—in the church fathers of the second century, to be exact. To prove this point, Garrick Bailey and Timothy Paul Jones appeal to a paper that Timothy presented at the most recent gathering of the Evangelical Theological Society. If you've never heard of ETS, don't despair; it's basically Comic-Con, except it's for theologians and biblical scholars instead of comic-book cosplayers, which results in a lot less Spandex than you see at Comic-Con—and that’s a good thing because, even though “Thëölögïäns ïn Spändëx” would be a great name for a band, it’s not something you would want to see in real life.
In the end, in an act of heroism of a sort that hasn't been seen since Avengers: Endgame was in the theaters, Garrick and Timothy bravely prevent the end of apologetics. They do this by showing how the life of the church provides a defense of the faith. Also, Live Aid would never have happened in 1985 if it hadn't been for the rise of Christianity nearly two thousand years earlier.
This round of Indiana, Jones, and the Raiders of Church History pits a clipeus of Constantine against the sudarium of Veronica. As you might imagine from all the times in your life when your clipeus has gone to war against your sudarium, the results are rather messy. Before it’s all over, Veronica's sudarium—also known as a veil utilized to wipe sweat—is defeated by the appearance of a boss. Sadly, this boss not The Boss, also known as Bruce Springsteen. It's the iron knob embedded in a clipeus—also known as a circular shield—and it's this boss that brings about the decisive defeat of Veronica's veil, also known as Garrick loses this round.
ABOUT HOSTS
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.
LINKS TO CLICK
The End of Apologetics (book by Myron Penner)
Telling a Better Story (book by Josh Chatraw)
Apologetics at the Cross (book by Josh Chatraw)
The Apology (book by Aristides)
Patreon Support
theapologeticspodcast.com
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Some topics are too amazing to fit into a single episode.
Metallica is one of them.
In this second part of this dive into the music of Metallica, Garrick and Timothy look at the theology behind the 1991 song "The God That Failed." Along the way, your intrepid cohosts include an audio clip from the most shocking video in which Metallica's lead vocalist James Hetfield has ever appeared. Believe it or not, it all begins with a Nobel Prize-winning scientific research project that involved cardboard butterflies. (Also, "Cärdböärd Bütterflÿ" would be an amazing name for a psychedelic jam band.)
The dynamic duo ends the episode with a powerful look at how the gospel answers the dilemmas of shame and unforgiveness that emerge as such dominant themes in Metallica's later albums.
ABOUT HOSTS
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.
LINKS TO CLICK
The God That Failed (song by Metallica)
The Unforgiven I, II, and III (songs by Metallica)
Patreon Support
theapologeticspodcast.com
The Apologetics Newsletter
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Finally, after three years of this podcast, the time has come to talk about something that we’ve rarely talked about before. It’s time to talk about …
… Metallica.
The first part of this two-part series focuses on how being raised as a Christian Scientist impacted lead vocalist James Hetfield’s life and Metallica’s lyrics. This provides the dynamic duo with an opportunity to discuss the history and theology of Mary Baker Eddy and the Church of Christ, Scientist. If you’re interested in doing apologetics with Christian Scientists, this episode provides you with everything you need to get started. Along the way, Timothy is deeply embarrassed as Garrick reveals not only his toes but also his deep affection for Mariah Carey and his deep-seated fear of Oingo Boingo super-fans.
The first installment of “Behind the Covers” puts Metallica’s cover of a tune originally performed by The Kinks into battle against Van Halen’s version of the same song. In the end, your intrepid cohosts can’t agree on a winner. What they do agree about is that The Kinks are underrated and that Van Halen and Metallica are two of the greatest bands ever. Also, "Bëhïnd thë Cövërs" would be the perfect name for a cover band that decorates the stage with quilts and duvets.
ABOUT HOSTS
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.
LINKS TO CLICK
The God That Failed (song by Metallica)
Patreon Support
theapologeticspodcast.com
The Apologetics Newsletter
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Welcome to The Weird Episode of The Apologetics Podcast! “Wait a minute!” some of you are already saying. “Isn’t every episode of The Apologetics Podcast weird? I mean, just this season, they’ve already featured a phoenix, a magical veil, a holy prepuce, and Timothy.”
If that was your first thought when you heard that this episode had been christened as "The Weird Episode," you are not wrong, dear listener.
And yet, this episode is going to be even weirder.
A lot weirder.
“Wait a minute!” a few of you are now saying. “Is that even possible?”
The shocking answer is, “Yes.”
The weirdness begins with the episode that Timothy and Garrick refer to as “Indiana, Jones, and the Raiders of Church History.” This week, Timothy brings one of the weirdest items ever to make an appearance on The Apologetics Podcast: Antonello, a pet trout from the fifteenth century who was raised from the dead after being fried by the friars. But then Garrick shows up and stabs Antonello with the Lance of Destiny. In the end, the dynamic duo concludes that Antonello is no match for the Lance of Destiny, though perhaps Antonello might survive longer against the Lance of Destiny's Child, which is a spear that sings "Survivor" before stabbing you.
And, by the way, “Lance of Destiny” and “Pet Trout” would both make great names for bands.
After that, it’s on to the magical unicorns! Yes, that’s right: unicorns. As it turns out, unicorns show up rather frequently in the King James Version of the Bible. Eight times, to be exact (Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Job 39:9-10; Psalms 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isaiah 34:7), which is exactly eight times more than red pandas are mentioned in the Bible, which is a real editorial oversight in the Word of God, if you ask Timothy or Garrick.
In any case, this is the point at which Dan Kimball from Vintage Faith Church joins your intrepid cohosts to discuss unicorns, anti-shrimp laws, and other weirdities from the Bible that could only be discussed on a weird episode. But neither a magical unicorn nor a pet trout turns out to be the weirdest animal-related aspect of this weird episode. That’s because Dan also wants to discuss the legality of donkeys in bathtubs. Along the way, Dan talks about his most recent book How (Not) to Read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy-Sounding Parts of Scripture.
ABOUT THE GUEST AND HOSTS
Dan Kimball, Ph.D., is the author of several books on leadership, church, and culture. He was one of the founders of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California where he still serves on staff. He is also a faculty member at Western Seminary and leads the ReGeneration Project, which exists to equip and encourage new generations to think theologically and participate in the mission of the church. Check out Dr. Kimball's website, dankimball.com, for more information.
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.
LINKS TO CLICK
How (Not) to Read the Bible (book by Dan Kimball)
Why Should I Trust the Bible? (book by Timothy Paul Jones)
Patreon Support
theapologeticspodcast.com
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Lots of dead bodies show up in this episode.
Be prepared to cover your eyes while listening, unless you’re driving or operating heavy machinery while listening. If that’s the case, you should probably keep your eyes open.The episode begins with the corpses of three executed anarchists in iron cages. After that, a pile of plagued cadavers are catapulted over city walls. Then, we talk to a cold-case homicide detective.Here’s the topic that your intrepid cohosts tackle with world-renowned cold-case homicide detective J. Warner Wallace: What if all the Bibles in the world suddenly went missing at the same time?We’re not just talking about that one time when you left your favorite copy of the Holy Scriptures on top of the car. What we’re considering is what we could know about God if every single copy of the Bible went fluttering away, never to be seen again. If that happened, surely all of our knowledge about Jesus would be gone as well, right?Not so fast, says J. Warner WallaceAccording to Detective Wallace, the impact of Jesus on the world has been so great that, even without any Bibles, we could still reconstruct enough truth to know Jesus and to follow him. And that’s what he discusses with Timothy Paul Jones on this episode—but that’s not all that they talk about. Every episode of The Apologetics Podcast is contractually required to include some serious rock and roll, and this episode is no exception! Timothy is thrilled beyond words as Detective Wallace reaffirms his love for the guitar wizardry of Neal Schon of Journey and geeks out on some of his favorite guitars.And what happens in the moment of madness known as “Indiana, Jones, and the Raiders of Church History”? Well, this is where a lot of the dead bodies show up. This time around, Garrick and Timothy descend into the depths of the macabre as they pit iron cages against the bubonic plague with devastating results. Also, “Bübönïc” would be an amazing name for a heavy metal band. Before it’s over, Timothy hurls a plagued corpse at Garrick, and Garrick is forced to reveal the never-before-considered-and-probably-totally-wrong hidden meaning behind the Soundgarden song “Rusty Cage,” which turns out to have something to do with the execution of Anabaptist anarchists in Muenster. And, by “Muenster,” we mean the city, not the cheese.
ABOUT YOUR GUEST AND HOSTS
J. Warner Wallace is a cold-case homicide detective, popular national speaker, and best-selling author. He continues to consult on cold-case investigations while serving as a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He is also an adjunct professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology (Biola University) and Southern Evangelical Seminary, and is a faculty member at Summit Ministries. You can find out more about J. Warner Wallace at https://coldcasechristianity.com/.
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison. Follow Garrick at @GarrickBailey.
LINKS TO CLICK
Patreon Support
Person of Interest (book by J. Warner Wallace)
Surprised by Joy (book by C. S. Lewis)
theapologeticspodcast.com
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).
Monday Feb 14, 2022
Who Really Wrote the Gospels? with Timothy Paul Jones and Garrick Bailey
Monday Feb 14, 2022
Monday Feb 14, 2022
At the end of Season 2, the title of this podcast changed from “Three Chords and the Truth: The Apologetics Podcast” to “The Apologetics Podcast.”
Now, the podcast is back and better than ever for a thrilling third season!
For those of you who asked for more apologetics, Garrick Bailey and Timothy Paul Jones have worked all winter to expand their previously-microscopic attention spans so that they would be able to provide you with a full hour of apologetics. This week, they’re focusing all of their attention—which now fills one whole teaspoon, thanks to their hard work!—on historical evidences for the authorship of the New Testament Gospels.
But what about those of you who only listened to Three Chords and the Truth for the rock’n’roll? Have we neglected you and left you despondent with this download, daubing your tears with the t-shirt that you got at the Van Halen concert in 1986?
Never fear! Your intrepid cohosts would never forget you. We are still all about rock'n'roll!
In this episode, while discussing the authorship of the Gospels, Timothy makes the greatest connection between rock’n’roll and ancient history since that one time when Bill and Ted met Socrates in Athens. This momentous event takes place when Timothy reveals how Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album and Metallica’s eponymous fifth album show it’s highly improbable that anyone could have fabricated the authorship of the New Testament Gospels.
In this season, "Indiana, Jones, and the Raiders of Church History" has taken over the slice of insanity previously occupied by Toybox Hero. In the first installment of this new segment, Garrick sends a holy prepuce into battle against his cohost, while Timothy takes a more defensive strategy and brings a soft pile of manure to protect himself against death by defenestration. If you don’t know what “prepuce” or “defenestration” means, you may or may not want to listen to this episode, because sometimes ignorance really is bliss and this may be one of those times. Either way, this segment takes less than a minute to careen completely out of control and almost out of PG territory, and also “Dëäth by Dëfënësträtïön” would be an amazing name for a band.
ABOUT THE HOSTS
Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D., is C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He teaches in the areas of family ministry and applied apologetics. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Why Should I Trust the Bible?, The God Who Goes Before You, Perspectives on Family Ministry, and Christian History Made Easy. Follow Dr. Jones at @DrTimothyPJones.
Garrick Bailey is a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, studying Herman Bavinck and Roman Catholicism under the supervision of Gregg Allison.
LINKS TO CLICK
Patreon Support
Led Zeppelin IV (album by Led Zeppelin)
Metallica (album by Metallica)
theapologeticspodcast.com
Urban Ministry Podcast
CLOSING CREDITS
Music for the podcast has been licensed through Artlist.io and performed by Cunningham Manor. Brief excerpts of music played in each program are included solely for the purposes of comment and critique as allowed under the fair-use provision of U.S. copyright law. “The fair use of a copyrighted work … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, … scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (U.S. Code § 107, Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use).