PODCAST · society
Real Atheology
by Justin Schieber, Ben Watkins, Ben Bavar, Ryan Downie
Real Atheology is a conversational podcast focusing on contemporary philosophy of religion from an atheist perspective which features discussions, interviews, and debates for philosophy of religion nerds of all metaphysical stripes.
Episodes
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RA056: Marilyn McCord Adams and the Defeat of Evil
Before her death in 2017, Marilyn McCord Adams had a long and impressive career as a philosopher and theologian. While she had many interests both philosophical and theological, the problem of evil loomed ever-present in her thinking. I intend this video as an introduction to her views on the...
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RA055: Pete Mandik on Materialism, Quine, and Religious Mysticism
In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with Professor Pete Mandik to discuss several different ways of conceiving of materialism along with strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Professor Mandik also gives a summary of a view inspire by Quine he calls “Type-Q Materialism.” Additionally, Ben...
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RA054: Why Evidence Isn't Everything | Intrinsic Probability
The intrinsic probability of a theory is the probability that a theory has purely in virtue of its intrinsic features. In this video, I give a brief overview of Paul Draper's theory of intrinsic probability according to which the intrinsic probability of a theory depends only on its modesty and...
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RA053: A Dialogue on Theodicy with Kyle Alander (Christian Idealism)
This episode is part interview and part dialogue between Justin Schieber and Christian YouTuber Kyle Alander about Kyle's preferred approach to the problem of evil. Alander adopts a defeat-based approach along the lines of Marilyn McCord Adams, Trent Dougherty, and John Schneider. In this almost...
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RA052: Objective Idealism and Presuppositionalist Apologetics
In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down to discuss the Van Tillian tradition of presuppositional apologetics often found online along with objective idealism— an epistemological view often associated with Post-Kantians like Hegel, Fichte, and Schelling. Two claims of Van Til are challenged using…
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RA051: Hume the Atheist? A Humean Case against Theism with Paul Russell
In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with Professor Paul Russell to discuss David Hume, philosophy of religion, and Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. Professor Russell is a leading Hume scholar and author of “The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise” which argues irreligion is central to…
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RA050: THIS is Why God Hides? (Part 8 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
The Hiddenness Series returns. Richard Swinburne's responsibility argument aims to show it's good for God to stay hidden. That way we can investigate God's existence together. Assisting others in this endeavor, says Swinburne, is a very good deed—one we should be thankful to have the opportunity…
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RA049: The End of Divine Hiddenness? (Part 7 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
This video is a response to a recent video by Christopher Cloos at Christian Philosophy Academy. Chris' Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja9dldyWQwE&t=1445s In his video, Cloos presents an objection to Schellenberg's divine hiddenness argument from a recent essay by Daniel Howard-Snyder…
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RA048: A Conversation on Divine Hiddenness with Gavin Ortlund (Part 6 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
In this video, Justin Schieber joins Dr. Gavin Ortlund for a friendly conversation on Schellenberg's argument from Divine Hiddenness.
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RA047: Gavin Ortlund is Wrong about Divine Hiddenness (Part 5 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
A few weeks ago, Gavin Ortlund of Truth Unites released a video exploring the argument from divine hiddenness and giving several objections to it. While I appreciated Gavin's wrestling with the argument, I did not think his objections are successful. This video seeks to respond to those…
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RA046: The Case for Nonresistant Nonbelief (Part 4 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
Welcome back to the Hiddenness Series. In the last episode, we looked at Schellenberg's concept of a nonresistant nonbeliever which plays a central role in his argument from Divine Hiddenness. To refresh, somebody is a nonresistant nonbeliever if they (1) fail to believe that God exists and (2)...
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RA045: What is a Nonresistant Nonbeliever, Really? (Part 3 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
According to Schellenberg’s argument from Divine Hiddenness, a nonresistant nonbeliever is, simply put, somebody who fails to believe in God in such a way that the failure is not itself the result of resistant self-deception. A key premise of the divine hiddenness argument just is the claim that...
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RA044: The Argument from Divine Hiddenness (Part 2 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
In this episode Justin Schieber continues the hiddenness series by presenting J.L. Schellenberg’s Argument from divine hiddenness. Since the 1993 publication of his Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason Schellenberg’s argument has received widespread attention and still generates deep engagement.…
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RA043: The Varieties of Hidden Experience (Part 1 of the Divine Hiddenness Series)
Broadly speaking, Arguments from Hiddenness are philosophical arguments with atheistic conclusions arising from the fact that either the felt presence of, the nature of, or the very existence of God is somewhat less clear than we might expect if God existed. As with the problem of evil, there is…
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RA042: Kenny Pearce on Arguments and How to Have Them Productively
This is our second discussion with philosopher doctor Kenny Pearce. In this episode we pick up the conversation by discussing Pearce's thoughts on the practice of apologetics in contrast to philosophy. This led to a consideration of what arguments for or against God may need to be retired or...
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RA041: Joe Campbell on Hume's Refutation of the Cosmological Argument
In this episode Ben Watkins continues his series on Hume with a look at section IX of Hume's Dialogue's Concerning Natural Religion. Section IX finds Hume's Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes presenting and subjecting to analysis a cosmological argument for the existence of God. Ben and Dr. Joe Campbell...
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RA040: Jeffrey Jay Lowder on Philosophy of Religion
In this episode, Justin Schieber sits down with Jeffrey Jay Lowder for a wide-ranging interview. Fans of the show will no doubt be familiar with Jeff's work. From founding Infidels.org and the Secular Outpost to his contributions to The Empty Tomb and his several public debates, Jeff has earned…
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RA039: Matthew Adelstein on Utilitarianism and Theism
In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with Matthew Adelstein to discuss utilitarianism and theism. Utilitarianism, in its classical forms, claims that what we morally ought to do is act in ways that would maximize happiness and minimize suffering. This simple moral calculus is open to several...
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RA038: Debate: Schieber and Hernandez on the Existence of God.
This debate was between Christian apologist Eric Hernandez and atheist podcaster Justin Schieber. The event was organized by Capturing Christianity and held on May 6, 2023 at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston, TX. Visit capturingchristianity.com for this and similar events.
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RA037: Bill Vanderburgh on Misinterpretations of Hume’s Of Miracles
As a follow up to the last episode which gave a general overview of Hume's famous essay, Ben Watkins interviews philosopher Dr. Bill Vanderburgh on his 2019 book David Hume on Miracles, Evidence, and Probability. The conversation explores some of the reasons the text is often misinterpreted. The...
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RA036: Ben Watkins on Hume Against the Believability of Miracles
In this episode, Real Atheology co-host Ben Watkins takes us on a tour through parts one and two of Hume's controversial essay 'Of Miracles'. Ben begins by providing context that serves to undercut some popular but ultimately uncharitable readings of Hume's central thesis. With the infamous...
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RA035: Andrew Pavelich on the Moral Problem with the Free Will Defense
Perhaps the most common response to the problem of evil is an appeal to the goodness of free will. Free will, it is argued, is so good that it justifies God's policy of non-intervention in cases where evil is the result of the free actions of moral agents. in his 2019 article published in The...
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RA034: Kenny Pearce on Protestantism, Catholicism, and Apologetics
In the second part of Ryan's interview with Dr. Kenny Pearce, they discuss some of the issues surrounding the debate between Protestantism and Catholicism. In the second half the discussion turns to the issue of apologetics and whether there exists a clean distinction between it and philosophy of...
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RA033: Kenny Pearce on Fruitful Dialogue and the History of Philosophy
In this first part of Ryan Downie’s interview with Dr. Kenny Pearce, strategies for productive dialogue with those who hold opposing views are discussed. The conversation then turns to discussing the value of historical approaches to philosophy. Finally, they discuss Leibniz contributions to...
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RA032: Dustin Crummett on Harmony and Hiddenness
In this, the second half of Justin's interview with Dr. Dustin Crummett, they discuss an early paper of his in which he expands on an objection to the argument from divine hiddenness. The objection, known as the responsibility objection, claims that one reason God might have to keep belief from...
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RA031: Dustin Crummett on Suffering, Spiders, and Simulations
In this episode, Justin Schieber interviews philosopher Dr. Dustin Crummett (dustincrummett.com, https://www.youtube.com/@dustin.crummett, @Dustin_Crummett). Dr. Crummett received his PhD from the University of Notre Dame in 2018, and specializes in social and political philosophy, ethics, and...
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RA030: Michael Hemmingsen on Soul-Making and Social Progress
In this episode, returning host Justin Schieber interviews Dr. Michael Hemmingsen on his 2020 paper titled Soul-Making and Social Progress which was published in the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. John Hick's Soul-Making theodicy, according to which suffering exists to provide...
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RA029: Leibnizian Cosmological Arguments with Josh Rasmussen
We sit down with leading analytic philosopher of religion Prof. Josh Rasmussen to discuss Leibnizian cosmological arguments. We also bring on a special guest, Logos, to facilitate a dialogue with Prof. Rasmussen as we all journey together to explore the very cutting edge of this important debate....
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RA028: Ben Watkins vs Trent Horn Debate Review
In this episode, we critically review our co-host Ben Watkins's debate against Trent Horn of Catholic Answers at Capturing Christianity's conference CCv1. We are joined by esteemed guests Felipe Leon and Joe Schmid. This wide-ranging discussion covers such topics as intrinsic value, classical...
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RA027, Pt. 2: Dr. C.M. Lorkowski on Atheism and Philosophy
This episode ran a bit long, so we're splitting it into two parts. Here we interview Dr. C.M. Lorkowski on his new book Atheism Considered: A Survey of the Rational Rejection of Religious Belief (2020). This book is a systematic presentation of challenges to the existence of a higher power.…
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RA027, Pt. 1: Dr. C.M. Lorkowski on Atheism and Philosophy
This episode ran a bit long, so we're splitting it into two parts. Here we interview Dr. C.M. Lorkowski on his new book Atheism Considered: A Survey of the Rational Rejection of Religious Belief (2020). This book is a systematic presentation of challenges to the existence of a higher power.…
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RA026: Aron Lucas on the Fine Tuning Argument
For this episode, we interview Aron Lucas about his objection to the Fine Tuning argument in his paper "Naturalism, Fine-Tuning, and Flies" that is published at https://infidels.org/library/modern/aron_lucas/flies.html
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RA025: Dr. Felipe Leon on Mitigated Modal Skepticism
For this episode, we interview philosopher Dr. Felipe Leon on the topic of Mitigated Modal Skepticism, the view that our modal knowledge is limited to the mundane. It seeks to the ground our modal knowledge in empirical sources, such as observation and observation-sensitive theory. This would…
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RA024: Interview with Islamic Apologist Zach Christ
In this episode, the Bens get a fresh perspective from Zach Christ, a Muslim from America who now lives in Turkey. During the interview, Zach and the Bens compare and contrast the beliefs and philosophical defenses of Islam and Christianity, delving into the concepts of God, miracles, and the...
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RA023: The Argument from Motion
We're back with a new episode! This time we tackle the Argument from Motion as presented in Ed Feser's book "Five Proofs of the Existence of God".
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RA022: Jason Thibodeau on the Euthyphro Dilemma
In this episode the Real Atheologians interview Jason Thibodeau about the famous Euthyphro Dilemma and how to respond to apologists who try to split the dilemma. Jason is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Cypress College.
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RA020: Alex Malpass on the Kalam
This is a follow-up episode on the Kalam Cosmological Argument where we interview philosopher Alex Malpass about his upcoming paper, co-authored with Wes Morriston, on the Kalam. Among other things, we discuss potential vs. actual/completed infinities, beginningless pasts, endless futures, and...
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RA021: Interview with Graham Oppy
In this episode the Real Atheologians interview philosopher Dr. Graham Oppy. We discuss the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism, defining naturalism, the Modal Ontological Argument, and a number of issues in contemporary philosophy of religion.
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RA019: The Kalam Cosmological Argument
This is a new beginning for Real Atheology as Ben Watkins welcomes Ben Bavar and John Lopilato as new co-hosts to the cast. Justin Schieber has taken a break from philosophy of religion in general to focus on college. We’ve decided to start things off with a Big Bang by tackling the Kalam...
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RA018: Scott Davison on Petitionary Prayer
Today I interview Dr. Scott Davison. Dr. Davison is professor of philosophy at Morehead State University where he specializes in Metaphysics, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion. Dr. Davison and I connected back in May of last year at a conference here in Grand rapids - a science and religion...
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RA017: Erik Wielenberg on Debating Morality
In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with philosopher Dr. Erik Wielenberg in Raleigh, NC immediately after his debate with philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig at NC state University. The debate, held on February 23rd, 2018, was on the question of what better explains objective moral values and...
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RA016: What is Skeptical Theism?
Skeptical Theism is a philosophical position about our ability to make meaningful inferences about what God, if such a being exists, is likely to create or allow. In this episode, Ben and Justin discuss one particular version of Skeptical Theism and the implications it has on arguments from evil...
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RA015: Debating the Problem of Evil With Justin Schieber and Cameron Bertuzzi
Rather than a live debate, what you are about to hear is an audio performance of an already written debate that’s been going on behind the scenes for the last month or so in the form of a series of essays written in reply to each other. The debate was on the problem of evil and it was between...
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RA014: Paul Moser on Religious Epistemology and God's Elusiveness
In this episode Ben Watkins interviews philosopher Dr. Paul Moser. Dr. Moser is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Professor Moser has published over 80 articles and authored many books including The Elusive God and The Evidence for God; Religious Knowledge Reexamined.…
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RA013: Quentin Smith on Natural Evils and Immaterial Minds
A few weeks back I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview Dr. Quentin Smith. We sat down not far from the Western Michigan University Campus where he was professor of philosophy from 1993 until he retired in 2015. Dr. Smith received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Antioch...
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RA012: Felipe Leon on Ex Nihilo Creation
For this episode, we interview Dr. Felipe Leon on the metaphysical possibility of creation ex nihilo - or creation ‘out of nothing’. This is an indispensable metaphysical doctrine to classical theists. Dr. Felipe Leon is professor of philosophy at El Camino College in Torrance, CA. He received…
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RA011: Counter Apologist on God and Ethics
For this episode, Ben Watkins and Justin Schieber interview Counter Apologist on the moral argument. The moral argument is an argument about moral ontology and includes a premise which states, if God exists, objective moral values and duties do not exist. We discuss various strategies for...
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RA010: Ozymandias Ramses II on Atheism and Lacktheism
Youtuber Ozymandias Ramses joins Justin Schieber and Ben Watkins to discuss competing contemporary definitions of atheism. Agnosticism and the burden of proof or justification are also discussed.
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RA009: Wes Morriston on Moral Freedom and The Moral Argument
For this episode of Real Atheology, Justin Schieber and Ben Watkins interview philosopher Wes Morriston. Dr. Morriston earned his PhD in philosophy from Northwestern University in 1972 and was a professor of philosophy at University of Colorado, Boulder from 1972-2014 when he retired as Emeritus...
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RA008: Evan Fales on the Problem of Evil
In this episode, Justin Schieber sits down with philosopher Evan Fales to talk about some of his work on the problem of evil as well as how he became interested in issues in philosophy of religion. Dr. Fales is professor emeritus at University of Iowa. Professor Fales' research interests include...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Real Atheology is a conversational podcast focusing on contemporary philosophy of religion from an atheist perspective which features discussions, interviews, and debates for philosophy of religion nerds of all metaphysical stripes.
HOSTED BY
Justin Schieber, Ben Watkins, Ben Bavar, Ryan Downie
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Real Atheology have?
Real Atheology currently has 57 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Real Atheology about?
Real Atheology is a conversational podcast focusing on contemporary philosophy of religion from an atheist perspective which features discussions, interviews, and debates for philosophy of religion nerds of all metaphysical stripes.
How often does Real Atheology release new episodes?
Real Atheology has 57 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Real Atheology on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Real Atheology?
Real Atheology is created and hosted by Justin Schieber, Ben Watkins, Ben Bavar, Ryan Downie.
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