Atheists and Christians debate life’s big questions
Latest Episode
The Robot Race, Part II: How should humanity flourish in an AI world?
How does the human mind and “free will” compare to the nature of robotics, and how should we live now that the AI genie is out of the bottle?
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The Big Conversation video series from Premier Unbelievable? features world-class thinkers across the religious and non-religious communities.
Hosted by Justin Brierley, each season consists of six special shows with conversations and debate exploring science, faith, philosophy and what it means to be human. Join us, as guests such as Jordan B Peterson, Richard Dawkins, Francis Collins, Rowan Williams, Sharon Dirckx, Iain McGilchrist and Mikhaila Peterson debate the biggest questions of life.
- Are today’s generation ready to believe in God again?
- Is there a Maker behind our mind?
- Why do people convert to belief in God?
- Will technology overtake human life?
The Big Conversation is produced by Premier in partnership with John Templeton Foundation.
Episode 1 : The psychology of belief: Do we need God to make sense of life?
Jordan B Peterson and Susan Blackmore discuss
what are the psychological roots of faith beliefs? Can we make our own rules for life or are we subject to a higher level of meaning?
Episode 2 : The future of humanity: Have science, reason and humanism replaced faith?
Steven Pinker and Nick Spencer discuss are science, humanism and ongoing moral progress the result of an atheistic Enlightenment philosophy, or the product of a Judaeo-Christian worldview?
Episode 3 : The search for happiness: Can we have meaning without God?
Derren Brown and Rev Richard Coles discuss where does meaning and happiness come from in the absence of God?
Episode 4 : Science, faith and the evidence for God
John Lennox and Michael Ruse discuss has science replaced God as an explanation for life and the Universe?
Episode 5 : Mind, consciousness and freewill: Are we more than matter?
Daniel Dennett and Keith Ward discuss can a naturalistic worldview account for the nature of consciousness?
Episode 6 : Evolution, morality and being human: Do we need God to be good?
Peter Singer and Andy Bannister discuss what is the basis for the value we ascribe to human life? How should we treat animals, the unborn and the profoundly disabled?
Episode 1 | Part 1 : Religion: Useful fiction or ultimate truth?
Alister McGrath and Bret Weinstein discuss is religion an evolutionary adaptation that has helped the human species to thrive?
Episode 2 : The Universe: Where did it come from and why are we part of it?
Celebrated mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose talks to renowned Christian philosopher William Lane Craig about God and the Universe.
Episode 3 : The story of Jesus: Can we trust the historical reliability of the Gospels?
Peter J Williams & Bart Ehrman
discuss the Story of Jesus; and how his story still influences the lives of millions of people.
Episode 4 | Part 1 : Is God Dead? A conversation on faith, culture and the modern world
Justin Brierley hosts a live dialogue between two leading cultural commentators - John Lennox and Dave Rubin
Episode 4 | Part 2 : Is God Dead? A conversation on faith, culture and the modern world
Justin Brierley hosts a live dialogue between two leading cultural commentators - John Lennox and Dave Rubin
Episode 5 : Did Christianity give us our human values?
Tom Holland and AC Grayling discuss how belief in the dignity, value and equality of human beings has become a cornerstone of Western societies. But how did those values arise?
Episode 6 : Morality: Can atheism deliver a better world?
Matt Dillahunty and Glen Scrivener discuss how new Atheism and the internet have fuelled the rise of many secular, humanist and atheist organisations in the 21st Century.
Episode 1 | Part 2 : Religion: Useful fiction or ultimate truth?
Filmed in front of a live audience in London, Bret Weinstein and Alister McGrath address the relationship between religion, evolution, morality and culture.
Episode 1 : Atheism or Christianity? Which makes best sense of who we are?
For the first time, Bishop Robert Barron and Alex O’Connor (Cosmic Skeptic), two of the most respected voices in the world of YouTube atheism and Christianity, brought together.
Episode 2 : God, AI and the future of humanity: Is technology the key to immortality?
Nick Bostrom and Rosalind Picard discuss why have humans always sought immortality and could the rise of Artificial Intelligence and advanced technology enable humans to live forever?
Episode 3 : Identity, myth and miracles: Can we find a story to live by in a post-Christian world?
NT Wright and Douglas Murray discuss how secularists have welcomed the fading of the West’s Christian identity, but what is it being replaced with?
Episode 4 : The fine tuning of the Universe: Was the cosmos made for us?
Luke Barnes & Sabine Hossenfelder discuss how many physicists have pointed out the extraordinary ‘fine tuning’ of the physical laws of the universe that have allowed life to develop within the cosmos.
Episode 5 : The Origins of Life: Do we need a new theory for how life began?
The first microbial form of life arose on the earth perhaps 3.5billion years ago. But how? Paul Davies & Jeremy England discuss.
Episode 6 : Judaism and Christianity: How do we recover the Jewishness of Jesus?
Jesus was a Jew. But has modern Christianity become divorced from its Jewish roots? Giles Fraser & Amy-Jill Levine discuss.
Episode 1 : Biology, Belief, and Covid: Can Science and Faith be Reconciled?
Richard Dawkins and Francis Collins discuss their journeys towards and away from faith, Covid, genetics, evolution, the origin of the universe, evil, morality and God.
Episode 2 : Conversion, Culture and the Cross: Are we ready to believe in God again?
Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury engages with author Paul Kingsnorth on his adult conversion to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Episode 3 : Is there a Master Behind our Mind?
Dr Iain McGilchrist and Dr Sharon Dirckx discuss what does the science of brain chemistry and psychiatry tell us about the nature of our mind and our cosmos?
Episode 4 : Rationality, Religious Experience and the Case for God
Why do people convert to belief in God? Is it rational to do so? Featuring Graham Oppy and Guillaume Bignon
Episode 5 : Robots, Transhumanism and Life Beyond Earth
Lord Martin Rees & John Wyatt discuss what does the future hold for humans, and does faith have any part to play in the race to upgrade our bodies and escape our planet?
Episode 6 : Are Millennials & Gen Z ready to believe in God?
Mikhaila Peterson & Jon McCray (Whaddo You Meme?) discuss Has internet atheism run its course? Are young people ready to find meaning in religion again?
Episode 1 : Did Jesus of Nazareth rise from the dead?
The rise of Christianity has shaped the modern world, but are its historical origins best explained in purely naturalistic terms, or the explanation the first followers gave?
Episode 2 : Christianity, the Sexual Revolution and the future of the West
Is post-Christendom a brave new world or a culture in collapse? Can ancient wisdom still offer answers to the modern problems of life?
Episode 3 : Can Science and Religion Tell us What it Means to be Human?
It’s a widely held view that science and religion are in conflict, including and perhaps especially over how they approach one of life's most fundamental questions: what does it mean to be human?
Episode 4 : Do Consciousness and Near Death Experiences Point to an Afterlife?
What should we make of accounts of “near death experiences”? Do they give credible support to the possibility that there is life after death, or can they be explained away as mere physical phenomena?
Episode 5 : The Robot Race, Part I: Could AI ever replace humanity?
Are developments in Artificial Intelligence spiralling out of control, and what can we learn about ourselves - the human race - in light of AI's rapidly expanding capabilities?
Episode 6 : The Robot Race, Part II: How should humanity flourish in an AI world?
In this special two-parter, we explore "The Robot Race". Are developments in Artificial Intelligence spiralling out of control, and what can we learn about ourselves - the human race - in light of AI'