Joel and Travis give an account of the Christian story that is non-sophistic. Or, put another way, an account of the Christian story seen through a Jesus-centered lens. This provides a solution to the view of the divine that led to the Euthyphro Dilemma, as well as to a recognition that most critiques of the biblical God arise from a sophistic interpretive framework. We are all "natural" sophists, so this episode paints a picture of how it is to look at Christianity that is no longer corrupted by our tendency to sophistry ..read more

Joel and Travis talk about how Euthyphro's sophistic view of the gods leads directly to the Euthyphro Dilemma, why the two horns of the Dilemma are a problem, and suggest that you probably have a sophistic view of God. And you should be ashamed of yourself for this, particularly if you're a Christian. We also hint toward what it might look like to view God in a non-sophistic way—if that is even possible for us silly humans ..read more

Joel and Travis continue talking about how learning how to read Plato correctly might help us read the Bible better. After all, as Plato wrote a few thousand years ago, writing is a dangerous thing, which has the tendency to make us arrogant and ignorant, and thus failing to change us in a meaningful way. But some writings, like Plato and the Bible, have a different approach. What is different about these? And how should we read them differently? For the text of Plato's Phaedrus, go here: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html ..read more

Joel and Travis talk everything from David Foster Wallace to Plato to the claim of 1 Timothy 6 that the love of money is the root of all evil in this last installment reflecting on Christian Miller's book "The Character Gap." How do Joel and Travis, both of which have notable gaps in their own character, think you should develop a virtuous character? Do they agree with Miller or do they think we have some better ideas? And could Travis use the word "more" a bit less, please ..read more

Joel and I (Travis) talk briefly about what we've been talking about. We also say a bit about how we are far less rational than we think, toss in a bit of Pascal, and make some general suggestions about apologetics, or really the way to navigate any disagreement. Also, this will be the last podcast until July 1. Have suggestions for topics? Email us at w_ndering@tacticalfaith.com. Do it, or we'll talk about Iris Murdoch novels for the next 6 months ..read more

Joel and Travis talk Christian B. Miller's book "The Character Gap." We start off in this podcast asking what Dr. Miller asks in his book: Why would anyone want to develop a good character? And from that we move to questions about whether flourishing has anything to do with our desires being fulfilled, why we might want to change our desires, and what it is that we actually desire ..read more

Joel, Travis, and outrage hang out for a half hour or so. They talk about the election, why the people on the other side of the political aisle are reprehensible and moronic....and if you're getting excited reading this, you (just like Joel and Travis) have a problem. They talk about how outrage is addictive, whether it is ever appropriate, and related issues that are sure to make you angry...or hopeful ..read more

Joel and Travis finish up the series on evaluative outlooks and apologetics by drawing a contrast between that value that gives rise to scientific perception and that value at the heart of Christianity. What are these two values? What do they cause us to see? Are they at odds with one another? And how might apologetics be influenced by a clear recognition of the role of evaluative outlooks? I'm not sure they answer all these questions, but these are good questions nonetheless ..read more

Joel and Travis talk rights - human, moral, legal, what have you. What is the source of rights? Why do we have rights? Is there a correlation between rights and duties? What do we get wrong about rights when we look at them through the lens of an agonistic society? (And what in the world is an agonistic society?!) Get mad that Joel doesn't support your side in the political war in today's podcast ..read more

Ever wonder why different people look at the same bit of evidence, and one sees it as compelling, while the other sees it as essentially nothing? Joel and Travis discuss evaluative outlooks: What are they? How do they affect the way we see evidence? How do we derive evidence from them? And how might apologetic method, and our view of Christian doctrine, shift when we recognize the values that lie beneath them ..read more