The Sean McDowell Show

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Nov 2, 2026 39 min

Middle Schoolers Ask Dr. Craig Their 20 Toughest Questions

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Oct 30, 2026 47 min

5 Ways Apologetics is Shifting (ft. Gavin Ortlund)

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Oct 27, 2026 47 min

What Happens When a Christian Apologist Sits Down with Two Scientologists?

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Oct 22, 2026 1 hr 3 min

What Scholars Found in Early Qur’an Manuscripts May Surprise You

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Oct 16, 2026 1 hr 16 min

The 9 Blind Leaps of Atheism (Thaddeus Williams)

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Oct 13, 2026 1 hr 15 min

The Case for Sola Scriptura You Probably Haven't Heard (Michael Kruger)

Show notes

Can we actually get back to what the apostles wrote? That question sits underneath every other question about the New Testament. Before you ask whether the story is true, you have to ask whether you have the story at all. Dr. Michael Kruger came to Biola to walk me through it. His own interest started in a crisis, sitting at nineteen in an intro to New Testament class at UNC Chapel Hill taught by a young Bart Ehrman.

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Oct 10, 2026 51 min

The Approach That’s Leading Muslims to Christ

Show notes

Belle Liu is 21, she stepped into full-time ministry this year, and she has two mission statements: raise a biblically literate generation, and make Muslims Christian. I first heard about her this summer then Scottie asked if I knew her. What struck both of us watching her street conversations wasn’t the arguments, it was that you can tell she actually loves the person in front of her. Her testimony is remarkable and she tells it herself here.

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Oct 10, 2026 1 hr 11 min

Prisoners Ask Me About God, Suffering, and Forgiveness

Show notes

I was recently given the opportunity to check out a Prison in Texas with the help of Prison Fellowship. We had them ask me some great questions some of which really surprised me. On Tuesday, we'll be releasing the full tour and you don't want to miss it. Be a part Prison Fellowship’s mission to encounter Jesus with those impacted by incarceration.

Donate now and transform lives: https://prisonfellowship.org/SCRestore Learn more about Prison Fellowship: http://bit.ly/2S2OyG4

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Oct 6, 2026 34 min

We Have Early New Testament Manscripts...Here's What They Reveal

Show notes

Can we actually get back to what the apostles wrote? That question sits underneath every other question about the New Testament. Before you ask whether the story is true, you have to ask whether you have the story at all. Dr. Michael Kruger came to Biola to walk me through it. His own interest started in a crisis, sitting at nineteen in an intro to New Testament class at UNC Chapel Hill taught by a young Bart Ehrman.

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Oct 6, 2026 1 hr 2 min

What the Bible REALLY Says about Animals in Heaven

Show notes

Will our pets be in heaven? Do animals have souls? Will there be hunting, fishing, and meat eating on the new earth? Might some animals talk? Randy Alcorn wrote the book that shaped how a lot of us picture the afterlife, and he says the question people ask him most isn't about streets of gold or what our resurrection bodies will be like. It's about animals. His new book is All God's Creatures: What the Bible Says About Animals, Heaven, and the New Earth, and he came down to Talbot to talk it through with me.

READ: All God’s Creatures: What the Bible Says About Animals, Heaven, and the New Earth by Randy Alcorn (https://a.co/d/0cA2sDJ2)

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0:00 Intro 1:08 Why he wrote a book about animals 2:25 What do you mean by "heaven"? 5:55 Isaiah 11 and animals at peace 7:42 Christoplatonism and a misconception of the afterlife 12:30 Does God care about animals? 16:44 Animals in the life of Jesus 18:31 The longest monologue in the Bible 23:11 Do animals have souls? 28:10 Romans 8 and a groaning creation 29:43 Restoration of all things 31:17 Will our pets be on the new earth? 37:40 Might animals talk? 41:43 Oceans and sea creatures 48:52 Why does God allow animals to suffer? 50:51 Hunting, fishing, and meat eating 54:30 What surprised him most

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Oct 6, 2026 59 min

What Frank Turek Has Learned in 3 Decades of Ministry

Show notes

In this conversation with Sean and Scottie McDowell, Frank walks through his own path to faith, including the Sunday morning in 1985 when a pastor answered his exact objection minutes after he slipped into the back of a church. He explains why he finds the evidence for God more compelling than the evidence for the resurrection, why embarrassing testimony persuades him more than manuscript counts, and how he'd answer someone who calls Christians hypocrites.

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Oct 2, 2026 1 hr 6 min

5 Ancient Manuscripts That Confirm the New Testament’s Reliability

Show notes

Dr. Dan Wallace has spent decades photographing and cataloging Greek New Testament manuscripts. After all of it, he says he has more confidence in the reliable transmission of the text than ever. We walk through five of the most important early manuscripts and what each one tells us.

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Timestamps 0:00 — How AI is changing textual criticism 1:16 — Why he got into this work 3:55 — AI, indexing, and paleographic dating 8:31 — P52: the credit-card fragment 9:32 — F.C. Baur and ninety years of German scholarship 11:04 — Why Christians popularized the codex 13:02 — How Roberts dated it 16:19 — P66 19:22 — P75 and Codex Vaticanus 22:19 — Why the earliest titles say "According to John" 23:55 — On the claim that Constantine invented the deity of Christ 27:08 — P46 and Paul's letters 29:47 — The creed in 1 Corinthians 15 31:20 — The 500 witnesses 32:33 — P45 and the Western Order 35:15 — P72 and 1 Peter 3:15 37:07 — Six more early manuscripts 38:55 — The "first-century Mark" fragment, and what he got wrong 40:34 — A syncretistic text with Matthew and Thomas 42:50 — The hardest variant for a doctrine of preservation 45:00 — His most significant discoveries 48:51 — "The hand that wrote this is rotting in the grave"

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Sep 29, 2026 52 min

Why a Devout Muslim Abandoned Islam and Risked His Life to Follow Jesus

Show notes

Danny Burmawi grew up in Jordan, where 98% of the population shares one sect of Islam and you rarely meet anyone outside it. In this conversation he explains what he thinks Westerners consistently get wrong about Islam: that it's a set of beliefs you adopt rather than an identity you're born into, which is why leaving it registers as betrayal rather than disagreement.

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0:00 — Why Islam isn't what Westerners assume 1:23 — Growing up in Jordan 2:56 — His grandmother, and the uncle who was baptized 5:16 — What the Danish cartoons changed for him 7:46 — Why Islam functions as an identity, not a choice 10:54 — A fear-based religion 16:38 — Why most Muslims are "non-Muslim Muslims" 18:26 — The rules that never end 21:06 — "Ask any Muslim where they're going after they die" 22:33 — Becoming devout at eighteen 24:10 — The night nothing had changed 26:59 — The friend who planted doubts 30:41 — The doctrine he still struggles with 35:57 — Telling his family 37:37 — Why he had to leave Jordan 40:34 — His arguments against Islam 47:14 — Responding to Muslim apologists on Jesus 50:37 — The weaponization of Christ 54:38 — How Christians should engage Muslims 58:40 — His book and his organization

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Sep 25, 2026 1 hr 4 min

Why Charity Is Our Best Apologetics Today | Kristy Graham

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Sean McDowell interviews Kristy Graham from Samaritan's Purse to explore how practical charity, disaster relief, and caring for the suffering serve as powerful apologetics for the Christian faith. From earthquake relief in Venezuela to Ebola clinics in the DRC, discover how meeting tangible physical needs opens doors for the gospel message. Learn why sacrificial love for the poor remains one of the most compelling defenses of Christianity today.

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Sep 22, 2026 38 min

The Book of Enoch Explained: Nephilim, Demons & Genesis 6

Show notes

The Book of Enoch has exploded online, and the claims run in both directions: some say it unlocks the Bible's biggest mysteries, others say it can't be trusted at all. Dr. Joel Muddamalle this time talks about First Enoch specifically. Why has it captured so much attention, what kind of literature is it, and how much interpretive weight should it carry?

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Timestamps 0:00 — Why has the Book of Enoch exploded online? 5:02 — What is First Enoch, and what kind of literature is it? 9:14 — When was it written, and by whom? 11:34 — What "pseudepigraphical" actually means 14:03 — Who was the biblical Enoch? 16:24 — How the Qumran community treated it 22:14 — A viewer challenges the method 24:48 — What Joel thinks First Enoch is actually doing 28:28 — The main readings of Genesis 6 31:07 — Why he holds the supernatural view 33:12 — Spiritual beings who eat, walk, and are seen 38:04 — What Jude and 2 Peter are doing 40:11 — The early church fathers on Enoch 42:19 — Not canonical — but not worthless 54:34 — Why quoting something isn't endorsing it 1:02:02 — Should Christians read it?

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Sep 18, 2026 1 hr 7 min

Where Demons Actually Come From, According to Heiser

Show notes

Most of what Christians picture when they hear "angel" came from medieval art and Vacation Bible School, not from the biblical text. Dr. Joel Muddamalle worked alongside Michael Heiser at Logos Bible Software and became a friend and protégé. In this conversation he walks through what Heiser argued about the unseen realm, where he thinks Heiser pushed the church in the right direction, and where he'd refine him.

READ: The Unseen Battle, by Joel Muddamalle: (https://amzn.to/4xyQnM9)

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0:00 — Intro 2:35 — Working with Michael Heiser 4:34 — The traditional picture, and where it came from 9:54 — Cherubim, seraphim, archangels, sons of God 14:06 — "Angel" as a job description 15:05 — The divine council and the hasatan 19:07 — Where Heiser was right, and where Joel would refine him 29:50 — The traditional picture of demons 31:55 — Deuteronomy 32 and the gods of the nations 39:38 — Genesis 6 and the Nephilim 45:22 — Why "unclean spirits" meant something specific 48:26 — The three rebellions 52:42 — Azazel and the scapegoat 1:00:06 — Jesus in the wilderness 1:04:51 — Where Satan fits 1:13:24 — The angel of the Lord as pre-incarnate Christ 1:16:14 — What this changes for the church

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Sep 16, 2026 1 hr 22 min

The "Lost" Gospels Are Back. What Do They Really Say About Jesus?

Show notes

Bart Ehrman posed it as a hypothetical question: What if the canon had ended up containing the Gospels of Peter, Thomas, and Mary instead of Matthew, Mark, and Luke? I put that question to Dr. Greg Lanier, who has just written a GREAT BOOK on the Apocryphal Gospels. His answer is that the scenario has no historical basis, and that if you actually had only those three, you'd have no coherent story of Jesus at all. Dr. Lanier's argument throughout is that the Apocryphal writings are downstream of the canonical Gospels, not competitors with them.

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READ: Apocryphal Gospels: Separating the Real Jesus from Fan Fiction (https://amzn.to/4qqO3nM)

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Timestamps 0:00 — Do these writings threaten the historical Jesus? 0:51 — Responding to Ehrman's what-if 3:36 — Why write a book on fake gospels? 6:42 — What "apocryphal" actually means 11:08 — Sayings, fragments, and full compositions 16:57 — Peter, Mary, Thomas, and Judas 22:28 — How much history is in them? 27:04 — Why scholars now say they're downstream 31:11 — From the Jesus Seminar to the Da Vinci Code 33:33 — The Jesus Wife fragment 41:56 — Bad apologetics on both sides 44:05 — The Infancy Gospel of Thomas 52:15 — The Protoevangelium of James 57:16 — Your nativity scene isn't in Matthew or Luke 1:00:07 — How the apocryphal gospels argue for the four 1:07:19 — What the church fathers actually said 1:12:04 — Why he does this work

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Sep 11, 2026 1 hr 18 min

Daniel 1:1-8: The Principles You Decide Before the Pressure Comes

Show notes

Here's a question worth sitting with: what are the principles you actually live by? In this message I look at Daniel. They changed where he lived, what he studied, the language he spoke, and even his name. But the text says he had resolved not to defile himself (past tense). He didn't develop those convictions under pressure. He arrived with them.

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0:00 — What principles do you actually live by? 1:15 — A lesson from my dad 3:06 — Daniel: a man of principles 6:08 — Daniel 1: the siege of Jerusalem 11:01 — Why Babylon actually won 13:42 — Chosen for the king's court 17:16 — Living somewhere unsympathetic to your beliefs 19:38 — They changed his name 21:09 — Why the food? 23:59 — What hills will you die on? 25:43 — Jana and the assignment she wouldn't do 27:20 — An athlete who walked away 29:31 — What Os Guinness told me about legacy 30:56 — Decide before the pressure comes

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Sep 8, 2026 32 min

The Lost Site of the Tabernacle...Have We Found It? | Big Update

Show notes

Scott Stripling's team put out a press release about their latest season at Shiloh. Roughly 400 news stories followed. What his team actually found is more interesting. Since 2017 they've been excavating a building whose dimensions, orientation, and dating all match what we'd expect of the tabernacle and Scott is careful to say it's a strong candidate, not a confirmed identification. He's running the largest dig team in the Middle East, largely funded by people who want the Bible confirmed. What keeps that from shaping the conclusions? His answer is worth hearing.

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