Podcasts · Religion & Spirituality

Undeceptions with John Dickson

Undeceptions Ltd

268 episodes

Every week on Undeceptions we’ll explore some aspect of life, faith, history, culture, or ethics that is either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten. With the help of people who know what they’re talking about, we’ll be trying to ‘undeceive ourselves’ and let the truth ‘out’.

Episodes page 2 of 6

  1. 149. Our Hymn

    · 1 h 03 min · S14 E2

    When John Dickson convinced top Christian songwriters Ben Fielding and Chris Tomlin to have a go at transforming an 1800-year-old hymn into a tune for our times, they felt the weight of responsibility. This is part…

  2. 148. The Anthropologists

    · 1 h 11 min · S14 E1

    Welcome to season XIV of Undeceptions! Anthropology has a reputation for being the most “godless” of all the sciences. The so-called Father of Anthropology, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, abandoned his faith as an…

  3. REWIND: Jesus Philosopher

    · 31 min · Bonus

    The cliche: ‘faith’ is the antithesis of knowledge, of wisdom and therefore “Christian philosophy” is an oxymoron, right? For this Undeceptions rewind, we speak to two Christian philosophers who explain why that’s not…

  4. REWIND: Danger - Proselytising

    · 19 min · Bonus

    Why are Christians such god-botherers? Is it possible to share your belief system with someone who doesn’t accept it without being a jerk? In this Undeceptions rewind, we revisit a conversation about why Christians are…

  5. Introducing Small Wonders season 4

    · 17 min · Bonus

    Words can change lives – whether on paper, on screen, or spoken down a phone line. A library has an abundance of words – and an abundance of opportunities to change a life. After a long break, Laurel Moffatt returns…

  6. 147. On Hell

    · 1 h 38 min · S13 E9

    Hell is one of the most difficult parts of Christian belief - but of all the characters in the Bible, no one comes close to using the word "Hell" as much as Jesus does. So, what did he mean, how is it plausible, and…

  7. REWIND: Kingdom Come

    · 23 min · Bonus

    As we gear up for a special episode on the difficult topic of Hell, we first bring you this Undeceptions Rewind looking at what the Bible says about Heaven. This rewind is from episode 64 'Kingdom Come'

  8. 146. Question Answer XIII

    · 59 min · S13 E8

    Is Christianity an offshoot of an ancient fertility cult? Why do the Gospels only talk about Jesus' genealogy in connection to Joseph? Is there a place for Christian patriotism? John answers all these and more in our…

  9. 145. Second Act

    · 1 h 19 min · S13 E7

    The Acts of the Apostles is the epic sequel to Luke's Gospel. It follows the dramatic events immediately after the resurrection of Jesus, and follows how the first Christians - led by perhaps the most unlikely person…

  10. 144. Into Wine

    · 1 h 07 min · S13 E6

    If we’re talking only about liquids you drink—because the water in the Bible is washed in, crossed over, and even walked on once—wine is no.1. Wine appears more than 200 times in the Bible. And almost all of them are…

  11. 143. Virgin Mary

    · 1 h 15 min · S13 E5

    There's just something about the Virgin Mary. She stirs up big feelings - she has for millennia. Some have perhaps given her more prominence than she would feel comfortable with. Others have hacked down her statues…

  12. 142. First Hymn

    · 1 h 03 min · S13 E4

    In the 3rd century, in the Ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, a group of Christians composed a song of praise set to the pagan music of the time. Now, 1800 years later, John Dickson is working with two of the…

  13. 141. Bible Genres

    · 59 min · S13 E3

    With 66 different books composed across literally thousands of years, it's fair to say the Bible is a complex read. But it doesn't have to be. The key to understanding the Bible is understanding the different literary…

  14. 140. Disenchanted Age

    · 1 h 10 min · S13 E2

    The great project of the Enlightenment was to bring reason to the forefront. No more would humans be held back by superstitions: the power of the mind was all that was needed for advancement. Three centuries on…

  15. 139. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    · 1 h 15 min · S13 E1

    A new movie has been released this week about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was killed by the Nazis for his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler. Bonhoeffer's fame has ballooned into a kind of mythology…

  16. SINGLE: Environmental Jesus

    · 11 min · S13 E1 · Bonus

    Sam Allberry was involved in environmental activism when he became a Christian - a development that his activist friends saw as bad news. After all, why would a follower of a religion that looks forward to the coming…

  17. SINGLE: 39 Books

    · 29 min · Bonus

    The Old Testament is sacred not just to the Christian but also to the Jewish religion. Its 39 books cover thousands of years with an array of literary genres including poetry, history, creation myth, apocalyptic, and…

  18. REWIND: Global Christianity

    · 12 min · Bonus

    The 21st century has seen—and will continue to see—the rise of Christianity in the ‘Global South’, with surging conversion numbers in Asia and Africa. That’s according to Gina Zurlo, a leading authority on Christian…

  19. REWIND: Christian Revolution

    · 26 min · Bonus

    We interviewed Tom Holland, historian and co-host of the extraordinarily popular podcast The Rest is History, back in 2021 for episode 45, Christian Revolution. At the time Tom wouldn’t have called himself a Christian…

  20. 138. Van Gogh

    · 58 min · S12 E9

    Artists have used their tools not just to capture beauty and transcendence, but also the essence of what it means to be human. In this episode, we learn from history's greatest artists about loss, hope, the ugly, and…

  21. 137. Bible Unlocked

    · 1 h 02 min · S12 E8

    Is there a "right" way to read The Bible? Millennia of Ink has been split trying to answer that question. Surely if The Bible is God's word it should be easier to understand, right? Well, some experts think there is…

  22. 136. Question Answer XII

    · 57 min · S12 E7

    Why did God make the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Can Christians smoke weed? Why does God allow natural disasters to happen? John Dickson tackles your questions in one of our best Q&A episodes yet!

  23. 135. Intelligible Universe

    · 1 h 09 min · S12 E6

    Famed Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once (well, several times actually) claimed Christianity was irreconcilable with the science of the Universe. But there's plenty of scholars who beg to differ. Recorded live…

  24. 134. History Wars

    · 1 h 10 min · S12 E5

    Is history under threat? Increasingly, the modern, individualistic global West is coming to see history as a discipline that's irrelevant, harmful, and divisive. Some are worried that we're becoming increasingly…

  25. 133. Why Trust?

    · 1 h 04 min · S12 E4

    Trust is everywhere. It underpins our institutions, our health, and our relationships. However, experts are worried that the world is facing a trust crisis. If so much of our lives depend on it, what could happen if…

  26. 132. True Crime

    · 41 min · S12 E3

    True Crime is one of the most popular genres of film, podcasting, literature, and TV worldwide. We are obsessed with tales of the morbid, dark, and most importantly, true. As one cold-case detective believes, we…

  27. 131. English Language

    · 59 min · S12 E2

    Half a billion people alive today speak English as their first language. But how you speak English depends on where you live, where you come from, and how it was taught to you. It's truly a universal language. So -…

  28. 130. On Augustine

    · 1 h 12 min · S12 E1

    There's a reason our guests have mentioned Augustine more than any other theologian or philosopher. St Augustine of Hippo was an intellectual giant whose shadow still hangs over Christianity and the Western…

  29. SINGLE: On Persuasion

    · 9:19 · Bonus

    Reasoning can take us to almost any conclusion we want. We ask "Can I believe?" if we want to believe, or "Must I believe?" if we don't. We can persuade ourselves easily. Only through humility do we stand a chance of…

  30. SINGLE: Jazz Church

    · 27 min · Bonus

    Jazz is a genre of music steeped in tradition, culture, and most importantly, improvisation. According to some, the church can learn a few lessons from this wonderful art form.

  31. 129. American Evangelical

    · 1 h 20 min · S11 E9

    Evangelicalism has always been a politically loaded word - but especially since the turn of the century. This is especially true of American evangelicalism. But if we strip away all the nationalistic and political…

  32. 128. Question Answer XI

    · 1 h 12 min · S11 E8

    John faces down some of our most diverse - and controversial - questions yet. What's the deal with circumcision? Why does John hate the term apologetics so much? Is Director Mark sick of John picking on him all the time?

  33. 127. Gospel Contradictions

    · 1 h 07 min · S11 E7

    If Christianity is one big conspiracy, we wouldn't find so many mistakes and inconsistencies in the Gospels! Surely if the faith was one big lie, the Gospels would have some uniformity to them, united to deceive…

  34. 126. Jesus' Biography

    · 1 h 13 min · S11 E6

    You can make a pretty good case that the Gospels are the four most influential - and controversial - books of all time. But who were the authors? How do we know who wrote them? And why was it that these four books were…

  35. SINGLE: Bondi Junction

    · 20 min · Bonus

    In this special Undeceptions Single, Stan Grant shares his reflections on God and suffering in the wake of the Bondi Junction attacks that occurred on April 13 in Sydney, Australia.

  36. 125. Christianity's Comeback

    · 1 h 12 min · S11 E5

    From the mid-1990s to the 2010s, 'New Atheism' dominated the intellectual space. A virulent, attacking form of godless evangelism, it saw people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens top best-seller lists, and…

  37. 124. The Theologians

    · 1 h 21 min · S11 E4

    Theology: It's a dry term that conjures images of old academics writing dusty books that will never be read. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. The study of theology is the study of who we are as…

  38. 123. True Science

    · 1 h 09 min · S11 E3

    Science is a relatively new term. Chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy - all have only existed as defined, singular fields for the last century and a half. Before that was the mysterious world of natural philosophy -…

  39. 122. Political Jesus

    · 1 h 17 min · S11 E2

    The Apostle Paul writes that Christians must battle against "powers and principalities". But what are they? What does the Bible say about political power? Special thanks to our season sponsor Zondervan Academic. Get…

  40. 121. The Resurrection

    · 1 h 20 min · S11 E1

    There are sophisticated, academic arguments for the resurrection of Jesus. It’s not just a matter of accepting on the basis of faith. The modern industry of Christian apologetics doesn't get us much closer to the…

  41. SINGLE: Holy Virginity

    · 30 min · Bonus

    The pursuit of celibacy is seen as strange, taboo, and repressive in modern society. But that's what David Bennett, a gay man, decided, after becoming a Christian during a night out in Sydney's gay quarter. Since…

  42. SINGLE: Cancel Culture

    · 22 min · Bonus

    At the heart of cancel culture is a desire to combat injustice, and expose flaws within society. This is a good thing ... but as recent history has shown, there is a lack of forgiveness at the heart of the movement.…

  43. 120. French Atheism

    · 1 h 13 min · S10 E15

    For the final episode of season X, we're taking a deep dive into the global centre of Atheism - France. How did this once-Christian nation become such a lightning rod for the belief that there is no God? And how are…

  44. 119. Question Answer X

    · 1 h 03 min · S10 E14

    Aliens, more Old Testament violence, and ... The Devil. Our tenth question-and-answer episode was one of the toughest yet for John. Make sure you head to our website to ask a question yourself if you want to pick…

  45. 118. 12 Objects

    · 1 h 00 min · S10 E13

    The story of Christianity is full of wonderful highs and terrible lows. It's truly an epic - and it takes an epic round-the-world adventure to tell its story properly. Thankfully, we have a man who's done just that.…

  46. 117. Jewish Jesus

    · 1 h 37 min · S10 E12

    Christianity wasn't always its own religion - the first Christians were, in fact, Jewish ... because Jesus was Jewish! How do we then understand the Jewishness of Jesus? How was his movement different to other Jewish…

  47. 116. Holy Angels

    · 52 min · S10 E11

    Angels are everywhere in history. From winged guardians in Sumerian mythology to the messengers of the Gods in Ancient Greece, to new-age guardian angels, humanity has always been fascinated by these celestial beings.…

  48. 115. On Tolkien

    · 1 h 18 min · S10 E10

    J.R.R. Tolkien needs no introduction. The Oxford Philology Professor who would go on to create the world of Middle Earth is rightly hailed as one of the greatest writers of all time. In this episode, we unpack the…

  49. 114. Medieval Jesus

    · 49 min · S10 E9

    The Middle Ages saw an explosion of literature, art, and thought around the personhood of Jesus. What can we learn from these centuries-old understandings of the central figure of the Bible? This season of…

  50. 113. The Puritans

    · 1 h 03 min · S10 E8

    The Puritans: Everything wrong with a Christian society, or much misunderstood forefathers of innovation and social justice? This season of Undeceptions is sponsored by Zondervan Academic. Get discounts on…

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