The Shadow of God: An Atheist Podcast

Discusses the features which an explanation must possess to be a "good" explanation, and whether or not religious explanations - whether or not they might be said to be "true" - could ever be counted as good explanations. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction: What makes a good explanation? 5:37 Is It Fair to Judge Religious Explanations Against Scientific Ones? 13:09 Dawes' Six Features of Good Explanations 15:36 1. Testability 38:13 2. Compatibility With Background Knowledge 47:48 3. Past Explanatory Success 55:39 4. Simplicity 1:31:47 5. Ontological Economy 1:46:10 6. Informativeness 2:10:53 Conclusion

Explores the various sociological dynamics that are involved in the creation of "New Religious Movements" in the contemporary world, and what this might be able to teach us about the origins of the world's major religious traditions. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction: What Are NRMs? 3:49 What Studying NRMs can Teach us About the Origins of the World Religions 17:05 Why We Can't Trust Religious Traditions about Their Own Origins 29:25 Becker's 4 Types of Religion 33:00 Sectarian NRMs 46:43 Cultic NRMs 57:43 The Origins of Judaism 1:06:15 The Origins of Buddhism 1:22:42 The Origins of Christianity 1:30:02 The Origins of Islam 1:36:36 The Origins of the Chinese Religions 1:44:50 Why New Religions Emerge: The Erosion of Legitimacy 2:01:22 Charismatic Authority in NRMs 2:27:10 Charismatic Authority in the Origins of the World Religions 2:53:52 Why New Religions Perish or Survive: The Transfer of Authority

Explores the reign of King Josiah of Judah (640-609 BCE) and the violent policies he enacted to spur the development of monotheism. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction: The Contemporary Relevance of Josiah 6:42 The Reliability of Our Sources 12:45 Who Was King Josiah? 19:03 The "Discovery" of Sacred Scripture 27:12 The Religious "Reforms" of Josiah 39:26 The Babylonian Exile 46:46 Josiah's Post-Exilic Legacy 1:04:15 Conclusion: Monotheism and Violence

Explores the nature of divine love, and questions the extent to which God's love could be said to be of any genuine importance to human beings.

Introducing a new series of videos in which I explore a number of the putative benefits of God's existence, explaining why none of these are really of any importance to human beings. In this introduction to the series, I lay the groundwork for the conditions that must be met to say that the existence of God really "matters".

Discusses the many philosophical challenges that the fine-tuning theory faces as a justification for God's existence.

Discusses 7 general reasons why a priori arguments for the existence of God never succeed.

An exploration of the ambiguities and controversies surrounding the nature of "belief" in a religious context.

Explores the linguistic and rhetorical tools that believers use to talk about "mystical" or "religious" experiences, and what this can teach us about the nature of the experiences themselves.

An exploration of the nature of religious institutions. Here I discuss why it is that religious people participate in the various behaviours, practices, rituals and social structures that they do, and why all of these are so central to to the phenomenon of religion. 

An exploration of the nature of religious groups, religious identity and their centrality to the phenomenon of religion. 

An exploration of the nature of religious concepts. Here I discuss why religious concepts in different traditions are so similar, how they are developed, and why it matters.

Clearing up common misconceptions about what religion is and how religion functions.