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When Richard Dawkins wrote “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction.”, he was spot on. Many Jews and Christians recognize the deep problems these texts present to their views on the most basic moral questions. Unfortunately, it’s become commonplace for some christian apologists to claim they ‘wrestle’ with these difficult passages when, in reality, they are rewriting them. Recently, Justin Schieber was invited to debate God’s command to slaughter the Amalekites on the popular christian radio show, ‘Unbelievable’ against apologist John Allister.

Host: Chris Mooney We are thrilled by our guest this week, who is not only one of the world's most famous economists and economics commentators, but also a Nobel Laureate in his field: Paul Krugman. In case he needs any introduction: He is a professor of economics at Princeton and a columnist for the New York Times, as well of the author of the blog on its website entitled "The Conscience of a Liberal." The occasion for our interview is the release of his latest book, End this Depression Now, in paperback. It is just out and, besides being a very lucid explanation of our current economic pr

Russell Glasser and Don Baker. Nothing New Under the Son. Don shows how none of the supernatural claims about Jesus were novel. View the full article

Russell Glasser and Don Baker. Nothing New Under the Son. Don shows how none of the supernatural claims about Jesus were novel. View the full article

Russell Glasser and Don Baker. Nothing New Under the Son. Don shows how none of the supernatural claims about Jesus were novel. View the full article

Host: Chris Mooney Our guest this week is Sean Carroll—theoretical physicist at CalTech, and skilled science communicator. I've known Sean and his work for almost a decade, and I've invited him on to talk about his latest book: The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World. Sean Carroll is a physicist at the California Institute of Technology. His research focuses on theoretical physics and cosmology, especially the origin and constituents of the universe. He has contributed to models of interactions between dark matter, dark energy, and or

Matt Dillahunty and Martin Wagner. Viewer Calls. Matt and Martin take viewer calls. View the full article

Matt Dillahunty and Martin Wagner. Viewer Calls. Matt and Martin take viewer calls. View the full article

Matt Dillahunty and Martin Wagner. Viewer Calls. Matt and Martin take viewer calls. View the full article

Host: Chris Mooney Our guest this week is Maria Konnikova, who is the author of a simply fascinating new book about training your mind so you're as sharp as the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It's entitled Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. In addition to her new book, Konnikova writes the "Literally Psyched" column for Scientific American, and is a doctoral candidate in psychology at Columbia University. She's also written for The Atlantic, Slate, The New York Times, and other publications. Mastermind is her first book. http://pointofinquiry.libsyn.com/maria-konnikova

Russell Glasser and Jeff Dee. Viewer Calls. Russell and Jeff take callers. View the full article

Russell Glasser and Jeff Dee. Viewer Calls. Russell and Jeff take callers. View the full article

What is a thoughtful, compassionate Christian to do with all the outrageous violence and hatred in the Old Testament? Many liberal Christians will reject the notion that these texts are inspired by God but in rescuing God's character they sacrifice the divine authority of the scriptures. Fundamentalists will often bite the proverbial bullet and accept that God really did command these atrocities but how can one give any intelligible account of God's holiness if He commands such evil deeds? Are these the only options available to a believer who wishes to keep the Bible and their conscience too?