The Robert L. White Show

By Robert L White

An exploration of epistemology, philosophy, warranted(?) Christian belief, and various other topics. If you like the dialogue between faith and skepticism, you found the right place.

Check out my website at www.robertlwhite.net

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Epistemology: 9 - Heuristics, or the Surprising Virtue of Fallacies

The Robert L. White ShowNov 07, 2019

00:00

29:10

Why I Am A Christian (Part 4)

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Jan 04, 202422:30

Why I Am A Christian (Part 3)

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Nov 08, 202321:43

Why I Am A Christian (Part 2)

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Nov 02, 202321:43

Why I Am A Christian (Part 1)

Let's get into it

Oct 07, 202320:55

Epistemology: 11 - Occam's Razor

Let's talk about "the simplest explanation is always best," if that's really true, and how to apply it.

Check out my website at www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Aug 04, 202317:52

In conversation with Digital Gnosis (Nathan Ormond)

Nathan is a fascinating guy. He grew up non-religious, briefly became a fundamentalist Christian (while also undergoing some personal turmoil), deconstructed and fully left that, spent a year or two severely critiquing arguments for Christianity, but as of recent he's now tentatively calling himself a Christian again but isn't sure it's *literally* true (just a good moral code/standard to live by). All the while getting deep into philosophy of religion along the way. Like I said, a pretty fascinating guy. Hope you enjoy!

YouTube link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO-fWaMEqgE

Nathan's YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/DigitalGnosis

Jul 20, 202101:22:08

Street Epistemology with Eddie (Deep Discussions)

Eddie (atheist) tries some Street Epistemology on Robert. Let's see how it goes.

Eddie is a popular YouTuber who posts his Street Epistemology discussions on his channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtftwuFFsiXLkzmpWPncd5w

Jan 06, 202101:20:46

Boundaries

What are "boundaries?" How do you define what's inside and outside your boundaries? For Christians, is it "Christ-like" to have boundaries and in what way should you hold them if so? These are the sort of things I was trying to wrap my head around when discussing this topic.

Here's the original blog post: https://www.robertlwhite.net/life/boundaries/

You can use the link further below to leave me a voice message. I'll try to respond to any questions in the next episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Oct 22, 202018:55

Live stream: Randal Rauser (Christian) and Counter Apologist (Atheist) Discuss the Resurrection

I had the pleasure of hosting an informal discussion between theologian and apologist Randal Rauser and The Counter Apologist, a prominent atheist/skeptic blogger, about the evidence for Jesus' resurrection. Near the end, I even got to take my moderator hat off for a second and have a bout with CA for twenty minutes or so.

Here is my post-discussion blog post focusing on a few points of particular interest:

https://www.robertlwhite.net/faith/randal-rauser-counter-apologist-thoughts/

You can use the link further below to leave me a voice message. I'll try to respond to any questions in the next episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Oct 09, 202001:42:48

Epistemology: Pastoral Advice

In this episode, I take a break from the main sequence of epistemology and instead give some advice to Christians who are currently deconstructing their faith.

But first, if you haven't listened to my recent miracles chat with two ex-Christians, check that out! https://pca.st/lkdbkl1h

You can use the link further below to leave me a voice message. I'll try to respond to any questions in the next episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Sep 06, 202027:39

The Nature of Consciousness (Real Seekers Podcast)

I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Real Seekers podcast (https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com) to debate the nature of consciousness with Travis (atheist) and Dale (Christian) last week. After a quick intro, I play the episode in full here. Please leave feedback via voice message (link below) or on my website. Thanks!

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy!

Mar 31, 202002:40:53

Epistemology: 10 - Knowledge Bracketing

In this episode, I describe the most important tool for breaking down and questioning any cherished belief. It's also an indispensable tool for all objective investigation. So what are you waiting for?? Listen already!

You can use the link further below to leave me a voice message. I'll try to respond to any questions in the next episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Feb 27, 202029:04

Miracles Debate on the Real Seekers Podcast

I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Real Seekers podcast (https://realseekerministries.wordpress.com) and discussing / debating miracles with Matthew (atheist) and Dale (Christian) last week. After a quick intro, I play the episode in full here. Please leave feedback via voice message (link below) or on my website. Thanks!

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy!

Feb 07, 202002:32:36

Epistemology: 9 - Heuristics, or the Surprising Virtue of Fallacies

What is a heuristic? How do they function within our epistemology? Are they irrelevant once you find a deductive argument for your position (spoiler: No!). Listen to find out!

Also, use the link further below to leave me a voice message. I'll try to respond to any questions in the next episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Nov 07, 201929:10

LIVE DEBATE! Theories of Justice: Is Retribution Necessary?

I had the distinct pleasure of debating my friend, Brandon Bartlett, about philosophical theories of justice this past Saturday night. Brandon has a degree in philosophy and was a debate champion in high school, so he was definitely up to the task.

Does a person have to be punished for justice to be served? What is forgiveness then? What exactly happened on the cross during the atoning death of Christ? These were the sorts of questions we were trying to answer during the debate.

I think we had a pretty substantial exchange and generated lots of things to think about, and it seem at least the audience present enjoyed it. Let me know your own thoughts on the place (or lack thereof) of retribution in justice and in general what you thought of the debate! I'd definitely like to do something like this again in the future.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Oct 07, 201901:52:01

Miracles: A Robert (Christian) and Ryan (Atheist) Discussion

Ready for some R&R? Robert and atheist friend Ryan discuss miracles in this episode. Before watching, I highly recommend watching at least 10 minutes of this talk (it should automatically start at the 35 minute mark), since I reference it at multiple points:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y57VUN2TO5M&feature=youtu.be&t=2077

In particular, it includes an interview with Barbara Snyder, who was instantaneously healed from advanced multiple sclerosis, as also attested by her two physicians. If you have the time, watching everything from the 35 minute mark to the 60 minute mark is very much worth it. If for nothing else, it gives great fodder for discussion on miracles.

Also, you can find the peer reviewed study showing dramatic hearing and eyesight improvements after prayer here:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9c68/aaab0d5902cef43d1fcc015eb59305f1dd1f.pdf

Finally, you can check out Ryan's YouTube channel with his music here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_4hCPGR_D8O_JJ8WpjuZgQ

You can use the link further below to leave me a voice message. I'll try to respond to any questions in the next episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Aug 06, 201901:19:00

Epistemology: 8 - Software Engineering and Black Swans

What does software engineering have to do with epistemology? Listen to find out!

Also, use the link further below to leave me a voice message. I'll try to respond to any questions in the next episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Jun 12, 201915:22

Epistemology: 7 - Applying the Black Swan to Christian Faith

Can the Christian faith survive the much more austere epistemology of The Black Swan? Listen to this episode to find out! Or at least to hear about an approach to apologetics that is much more conducive to Black Swan epistemology.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

Jun 04, 201923:34

Epistemology: 6 - The Black Swan

In this edition of Epistemology with Robert, I discuss Nassim Taleb's book The Black Swan. I also touch on WWII, The Big Short, whole milk vs skim, global warming, and pictures of fire hydrants. Don't try to make that make sense. Just listen to the episode.

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

May 19, 201920:08

Chattin' with N. T. Wright about theories of justice

I chatted with one of my favorite authors tonight, so I rode my high straight into recording a podcast about theories of justice, the Atonement, books by an ex-Evangelical pastor turned atheist, and more!

I referenced some Greg Boyd videos about the Atonement -- the links are below. They are each quite short.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAlPPz1_4Bw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtk5a66EfFc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOE3hWRWrqc

Check out my website at https://www.robertlwhite.net and please rate me in your podcast app of choice if you enjoy! Thanks!

May 09, 201923:34

Robert Interviews An Atheist: Ryan Price

In this first edition of RIAA, I have the pleasure of chatting with Ryan Price, a thoughtful skeptic I encountered through comments on my blog posts. We had a substantive, friendly discussion ranging from what we value in the other "side," free will, consciousness, and we even discussed our thoughts on the prominent Christian apologist William Lane Craig. Thanks for chatting, Ryan!