Episode list

How can you know whether God really exists, if you do not know what God really is? Diverse religions have diverse views.

Everyone knows that the universe is huge, but no one could have imagined how staggeringly immense the universe, or multiple universes, may actually be. It stops your breath.

How can the mindless microscopic particles that compose our brains "experience" the setting sun, the Mozart Requiem, and romantic love?

Everything in the universe has a beginning, but how can the universe as a whole have a start date? Does a universal commencement make sense? What would it possibly mean?

As far as we know, brains are the most highly organized matter in the universe. How they make their magic is just astonishing.

You've heard the raucous noise about God; now listen to the cogent arguments, con and pro. Not that determining the existence of God is up for vote; when searching for Truth, majority opinion counts for nothing.

How can so many numbers of nature, the constants and relationships of physics, be so spot-on perfect for humans to exist? Beware: there is more than one answer lurking here.

Is the "Real You" a special substance that is both nonphysical and immortal? Most people think "Certainly". Most scientists think "Certainly Not". What some theologians think may trouble you.

The world certainly appears to be designed. Are appearances deceiving? Discover new twists to this old argument.

Perhaps our entire universe is like a gigantic computer game, the creation of super-smart hackers existing somewhere else? Before you smirk and laugh, watch and think.

Some claim that their scientific study of extrasensory perception, or parapsychology, overturns the worldview of science. Should we take these startling pronouncements seriously?

Does everything need a cause? Everything in the universe surely does. But what about the universe as a whole? And what about God - assuming God exists - does God need a cause?

Science can deal with God in at least three ways: Showing how God is not necessary; showing how God is likely; not relating to God at all. Only one way can be correct.

Do we survive bodily death? Can our personal awareness transcend physical decay? There are no bigger questions and there are no shortages of answers. Some claim to have evidence.

Humans have a sense of right and wrong. Does this mean that morality is absolute? And if absolute, would God be needed to make it so? Even theologians are perplexed by God & Morality; some even admit it.

More than one universe? A ridiculous question no more. How could multiple universes be generated, and can we ever find evidence, one way or another? Talk about expanding your horizons: you can't imagine what's in store.

What is it about the brain that enables some scientists to claim they can explain mind? And what is it about scientific explanations that some philosophers reject?

How is it possible that mushy masses of brain cells, passing chemicals and shooting sparks, literally are mental sensations and subjective feelings? They seem so radically different.

Some scientists take time travel seriously. Should you? What does time travel reveal about the nature of space and time and the laws of physics under extreme conditions?

God and Time are two huge mysteries; relating them probes the nature of God, and perhaps even the existence of a Creator. If God is in Time and experiences its passage, then how could God have created Time? Also Leibniz's famous question: "Why didn't God create the world sooner?"

Theologians have no tougher task than explaining evil, its enormity even more than its existence. Give the clergy their due: they've devised clever, even profound, rationale. But at the end of the long day, do these explanations, or rationalizations, really work?

They warp space and time, squeeze matter to a vanishing point, and trap light so that it cannot escape. How can black holes perform such stupendous tricks, and what can we learn from them?

If it seems obvious that you are perfectly free to choose and decide, then it seems perfectly clear that you underestimate the problem (and have never questioned a philosopher). Free will is a huge problem.

Turn the tables on whether God exists. Atheists take their best shots at disproving God; theists deflect the arguments, defending God. Atheists come harder still; theists fight back. We keep the arguments tough-minded and the thinking critical.

If God exists, and if God ordains history and generates miracles, how does He do it? Fiddle with each and every atom? Command all of them? What possibly could be God's technique?

Consider humanity's astounding progress in science during the past three hundred years. Now take a deep breath and project forward, oh say, three billion years.