Stand to Reason
Short takes on ethics, theology, and apologetics—ideal for quick doses of careful answers.
Stand to Reason’s Greg Koukl and Amy Hall answer questions on ethics, theology, apologetics, and culture from a Christian perspective. Submit your questions on Twitter using the hashtag #STRask.
Episodes
Newest items first—play in the bar or open the episode page.
Jun 25, 2026 · 23 min
Questions about what happened with Germany in World War II if the idea of intrinsic human value came from the Christian worldview, and how to explain the fact that Christians on both sides of World War II slaughtered each other while…
Jun 22, 2026 · 33 min
Question about what Christians should think about capitalism. What should a Christian think about capitalism?
Jun 18, 2026 · 22 min
Questions about the benefits of holding Greg’s view on not expecting to hear special messages from God, and how the ideas of God putting something on someone’s heart and prompting someone to pray a certain thing fit with Greg’s theology.…
Jun 15, 2026 · 21 min
Question about what Hebrews 7 means when it says Jesus became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. What does Hebrews 7 mean when it says Jesus became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek?
Jun 11, 2026 · 21 min
Questions about what Jesus meant in the passage where he says, ”It is written that you are called gods” (John 10:34–36), and why he would compare himself to those who are merely called gods. Can you give a more detailed explanation of the…
Jun 8, 2026 · 25 min
Question about where Scripture teaches unambiguously that Jesus is God. Where does Scripture teach unambiguously that Jesus is God? Jesus also said he wasn’t God when being called a blasphemer, so when you say “unambiguously,” what do you…
Jun 4, 2026 · 25 min
Questions about how the new earth ties in with the the teaching that we go to Heaven after we die, whether the Isaiah 65:17–25 passage about the new earth is metaphor, whether people in Heaven are aware of things happening on earth, and…
Jun 1, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about responding to the claim that someone who died saving the life of another shouldn’t be punished with Hell, and answering someone who says they don’t need a relationship with God and that if there’s a just God, then we…
May 28, 2026 · 28 min
Questions about how God’s divine prerogative in Romans 9 differs from the capriciousness of Allah, why we should bother with evangelism if God draws those whom he draws and no one has a choice, and the role of faith in the elect in…
May 25, 2026 · 27 min
Questions about whether or not a human clone would have a soul, when each identical twin receives a soul, whether anencephalic babies have a soul, and whether the fact that scientists can use AI to decode people’s thoughts by analyzing…
May 21, 2026 · 23 min
Questions about advice for parents whose daughter was turned away from the faith by the culture, and what to do when you’ve been a Christian for 35 years and are feeling cold to evangelism and a deeper understanding of Scripture. Do you…
May 18, 2026 · 25 min
Questions about why people are using the Old Testament laws to condemn people if we’re not under those laws, thoughts on Christians celebrating the feasts of the Law out of obedience to the Lord, and whether we should keep the feasts so…
May 14, 2026 · 27 min
Questions about how to answer someone who says, “Everyone deserves love and happiness,” in response to objections to same-sex weddings, and how to think about same-sex adoption when looking through the lens of the greater good. How would…
May 11, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about how to make a biblical case for God’s good design in creating two genders and the rightness of submitting to his design for our own bodies, and how “gender-affirming” care can be wrong if it’s not discussed in the Bible.…
May 7, 2026 · 23 min
Questions about whether the despair portrayed in Psalms and Job is descriptive, prescriptive, or something else, whether the Beatitudes are descriptive or prescriptive, how to meditate on God’s Word, and whether reading the Bible gives us…
May 4, 2026 · 28 min
Questions about the difference between believing and knowing from a biblical perspective, why it’s considered bad manners to ask for testable, repeatable evidence for the existence of gods, and why Christians don’t prove God exists by…
Apr 30, 2026 · 23 min
Questions about our best answer when an atheist asks us to prove God exists, how God can be merciful and forgiving without the existence of fallen humanity, and why, if God is complete in himself and already receives glory from the…
Apr 27, 2026 · 21 min
Questions about why the Sadducees and Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus and why God doesn’t say anything when we pray to him. Why did the Sadducees and Pharisees want to kill Jesus? Why doesn’t God say anything when we pray to him?
Apr 23, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about whether 1 Corinthians 3:15 indicates that a person can be saved but have nothing to show for it in the way they live, and whether a lack of good works after salvation means the person is not really saved. Does 1…
Apr 20, 2026 · 22 min
Question about the questions we need to answer for our youth to help keep them from walking away from the faith. What questions do we need to answer for our youth to help keep them from walking away from the faith?
Apr 16, 2026 · 22 min
Question about how to love those who hate us. How would you answer the question my former professor says is the most pressing question his students are asking right now: How do we love those who hate us?
Apr 13, 2026 · 25 min
Questions about whether biblical fasting is food specific or could include things like social media, how the “faith” listed as a gift of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:9 differs from the saving faith given to all believers, and whether…
Apr 9, 2026 · 21 min
Questions about what to say to a confused four-year-old grandson whose father is telling him there are hundreds of gods, why it’s difficult to persuade a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness, and how to engage someone who claims to be Christian…
Apr 6, 2026 · 36 min
Questions about evidence in Scripture that identifies the Holy Spirit as a person rather than the transforming power of God, whether Mark 13:33 means that the Holy Spirit doesn’t know the day of Christ’s return, and thoughts on…
Apr 2, 2026 · 23 min
Questions about whether perfect justice requires that the penalty be paid by the offender rather than someone else, and whether the references in Scripture to sharing in the sufferings of Christ are only about persecution for one’s faith…
Mar 30, 2026 · 25 min
Questions about whether to attend the wedding of someone who is into the New Thought movement and will have New Age items at the wedding location, whether one should not listen to hymns sung by Latter-day Saints, and how to respond to the…
Mar 26, 2026 · 23 min
Questions about which Bible translation to recommend to an adult who’s new to the Bible, and what resources to recommend to an unbeliever who’s interested in reading the Bible with her son. Which Bible translation would you recommend to…
Mar 23, 2026 · 22 min
Questions about how to respond to the criticism that Christianity is narrow-minded and dangerous, and what to say to someone who thinks Christianity is a cult. How would you respond to the criticism that Christianity is narrow-minded and…
Mar 19, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about whether God’s primary object is to not be found, how one can say God doesn’t make mistakes if the percentage of Christians in the world is so low, and whether the fact that not everyone will be in Heaven is proof that God…
Mar 16, 2026 · 20 min
Questions about whether the fact that the truth about one’s age changes over time is an argument for relativism, and how to ground virtues like courage in objective reality without relying on circular definitions. I’ve heard truth doesn’t…
Mar 12, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about what gives modern Christians confidence that they’ve inherited the Jews’ covenant with God if Scripture explicitly says it was with Israel and not the Gentile nations, and why the Jews were chosen. The covenant in…
Mar 9, 2026 · 30 min
Questions about why there is no effort towards a neutral interpretation of Scripture that doesn’t take denominational preferences into account, and how so many people in different denominations that believe different things can all claim…
Mar 5, 2026 · 22 min
Questions about how one person could trust another person on the topic of God, how STR obtained information about God that others haven’t obtained, and whether God only matters for the purpose of the afterlife. How could one person trust…
Mar 2, 2026 · 25 min
Questions about responding to an LGBTQ person who says he feels good about who he is, and whether—since we all have sin in our life we don’t consider to be sinful—a practicing homosexual can be born again as long as he sincerely believes…
Feb 26, 2026 · 21 min
Questions about whether or not God hears and answers the prayers of non-believers, and thoughts about a church sign that reads (as if from God), “Just love everyone. I'll sort them out later.” Does God hear non-believers’ prayers, and if…
Feb 23, 2026 · 30 min
Questions about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, advice for someone who believes in God intellectually but struggles to understand how to have a “personal relationship” with him, and resources other than Greg’s that teach the…
Feb 19, 2026 · 21 min
Questions about why it’s necessary to believe Jesus is God, whether belief in the Trinity is required for salvation, and why one has to believe in the Trinity if the words “Trinity,” “God the Son,” and “God the Holy Spirit” aren’t in the…
Feb 16, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about how we can know who is teaching the same gospel Paul taught, and whether or not Jeremiah 1:5 supports the idea that we pre-existed in a spiritual form. With so many divergent traditions, how can we know who is teaching the…
Feb 12, 2026 · 21 min
Questions about Greg placing his faith in his personal assessment of which truth claims best match reality rather than in the revelation of God in Jesus and a personal encounter with the Spirit, and how to fight thoughts that God isn’t…
Feb 9, 2026 · 22 min
Questions about the claim that if Christians really want to be open-minded, they need to read and study other religions before committing to Christianity, and with so many paths claiming to be the sole path, what is to be said about those…
Feb 5, 2026 · 22 min
Questions about whether it’s possible there’s a being that’s greater than God and that’s outside of God’s comprehension and omniscience, and how to explain to people who don’t believe in the spiritual realm or the existence of God that we…
Feb 2, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about whether we should be praying for our souls rather than for material things, why we need to pray about decisions, whether the devil can hear our prayers and tempt us with “answers,” and whether it’s okay to pray for…
Jan 29, 2026 · 20 min
Questions about why we should pray if God already knows what’s going to happen, how the effectiveness of prayer is measured, and whether or not things would have happened the way they did if no one had prayed for them. Why should we pray…
Jan 26, 2026 · 21 min
Questions about why we should think Jesus is not a created being, and what it means to say God became fully human if part of being human means not being God. Prove to me that Jesus is not a created being, that “begotten” doesn’t mean he…
Jan 22, 2026 · 29 min
Questions about good books on Christian apologetics, philosophy, and theology with more in-depth information and ideas, and resources to help an intellectually-inclined person with spiritual formation and developing the non-cerebral side…
Jan 19, 2026 · 24 min
Questions about whether there’s an issue with churches advertising on social media, whether it’s weird if we pray along with a YouTuber, and whether Christian social media influencers are going against Matthew 6:1–2 when they film…
Jan 15, 2026 · 36 min
Questions about Christians condemning LGB people just because of how they love, how God can expect someone to be celibate when others are free to marry and have happiness, and why Christians seem to hate people today. If God sent Jesus to…
Jan 12, 2026 · 23 min
Questions about how to answer the challenge that God doesn’t need a “pound of flesh” to forgive sins but can simply forgive, and whether the claim in Romans 10:13 that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved contradicts…
Jan 8, 2026 · 29 min
Questions about whether two logical people can come to conflicting conclusions on a topic without committing a fallacy, how Greg, as a public figure, deals with criticism, and whether or not criticism gets to him. Can two people come to…
Jan 5, 2026 · 26 min
Questions about how to determine which topics at work are worth commenting on, and a good way to respond when you’re in a group Bible study and hear earnest, lifelong Christians talk excitedly about books or content creators that aren’t…
Dec 29, 2025 · 27 min
Questions about whether Jesus proved he wasn’t sinless when he overturned the tables, whether Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Mark 3:22–26 was a bad argument, why Jesus was known for associating with sinners, and to what extent we…
Dec 22, 2025 · 30 min
Questions about what will happen to those who never heard of Jesus or were brought up in a different faith, whether there’s biblical warrant to think a humble, repentant attitude can save people who don’t know Jesus, and where the souls…
Dec 18, 2025 · 21 min
Questions about how one can justify calling Jesus the Messiah when he didn’t fulfill the Hebrew messianic prophecies, and whether the reason for the virgin birth was just to set Jesus apart as unique or there was a deeper meaning. How do…
Dec 15, 2025 · 24 min
Questions about whether anyone who tithes is not a Christian and is accursed since Paul says that if you obey one part of the Mosaic Law you’re obligated to obey all of it, and the claim that tithing preceded the Law and therefore remains…
Dec 11, 2025 · 24 min
Questions about whether references to demon possessions and exorcisms in the New Testament are literal, how to talk to young children about ghosts, and whether it’s arrogant to think Satan knows your name when he’s a single entity with…
Dec 8, 2025 · 28 min
Questions about why any rational person would have to use any religious book, whether apologetics would be redundant if there were actually a good, unrefuted argument, and how to get enough people interested in apologetics to start an…
Dec 4, 2025 · 23 min
Question about what tools of reasoning help us determine whether something is true or false, right or wrong, good or bad before bringing Scripture into it. How do you determine whether something is true or false, whether an action is…
Dec 1, 2025 · 25 min
Questions about whether having a recurring thought is an indication God is speaking to you, what to say to someone who says they sinned because “God told them to do something” and they didn’t do it, and whether God speaks to us through…
Nov 27, 2025 · 20 min
Questions about how to explain modesty to a nine-year-old in a way that won’t cause shame about her body, and when and how to tell a child about a previous marriage and divorce. How can I explain modesty to my nine-year-old daughter…
Nov 24, 2025 · 21 min
Questions about why we say someone was saved on a particular date if it was part of an eternal plan, the Roman Catholic view of the gospel vs. the Bible’s, and why Paul circumcised Timothy but rebuked the Galatians for saying Gentiles…
Nov 20, 2025 · 26 min
Questions about how to advocate for Christian policy without making the government interfere in every area of life, and the differences between the modern environmental movement and the Christian perspective on caring for the earth. How…
Nov 17, 2025 · 31 min
Questions about how to convince someone that evil exists, whether Charlie Kirk’s murder was part of God’s plan, whether that would mean the murderer didn’t have free will, and whether or not God is responsible for that plan. How would you…
Nov 13, 2025 · 22 min
Question about why it seems like the Bible teaches you how to be a proper slave owner rather than than saying, “Stop it. Give them freedom.” It seems like the Bible teaches you how to be a proper slave owner rather than saying, “Stop it.…
Nov 10, 2025 · 20 min
Question about providing verifiable, non-religious evidence that a supernatural Jesus existed. I am an atheist and militantly anti-god-belief. However, I do have an open mind, so could you please provide verifiable, non-religious evidence…
Nov 6, 2025 · 24 min
Questions about whether it’s a sin to feel let down by God and whether it would be easier to have a personal relationship with a rock than with a God who hasn’t spoken in over 2,000 years. Is it a sin to feel let down by God? It would be…
Nov 3, 2025 · 26 min
Questions about whether God created us so he wouldn’t be alone, what he had before us, and a comparison between the Muslim view of God and the Christian view of God. Did God create us so he wouldn’t be alone, and what did he have before…
Oct 30, 2025 · 25 min
Questions about how to start a conversation about God with non-Christian family members, how to keep from becoming emotional when discussing faith issues with family, and the best way to alert people to the fact that they’re members of a…
Oct 27, 2025 · 27 min
Questions about whether the claim in 1 Corinthians that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” is a black-and-white tool for discernment, and how to have a better relationship with Jesus when reading the Bible feels…
Oct 23, 2025 · 34 min
Questions about whether or not it’s reasonable to worry that some of our current doctrines were influenced by the fallen nature of the apostles, and how to defend sola Scriptura to Roman Catholics who argue that oral tradition carries as…
Oct 20, 2025 · 28 min
Questions about how to reconcile the image of God as a judge with his love, grace, and kindness, why our sins are considered to be sins against God, and whether the idea that our debt was paid by Christ means we escape the penalty for our…
Oct 16, 2025 · 26 min
Questions about how to respond to someone who asks, ”How does it affect you if a gay couple gets married, or a woman makes a decision about her reproductive health, or someone chooses a different faith system than yours?” How would you…
Oct 13, 2025 · 23 min
Questions about how to respond to the critique that Christians care more about ideology than people, and whether we have freedom in America because Christians are more civilized or because the Constitution doesn’t allow Christians to…
Oct 9, 2025 · 26 min
Questions about how the similarities between Krishna and Jesus could be a coincidence and whether there’s any proof to substantiate the idea that Jesus studied Buddhism during his “missing years.” How could the similarities between the…
Oct 6, 2025 · 25 min
Question about how you can improve your informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when you don’t have access to an editor. Do you have any thoughts or advice on how best to improve my informal writing (e.g., blog posts) when I don’t have access…
Oct 2, 2025 · 34 min
Question about the top three pitfalls to watch out for when you start using apologetics in conversations with others. What are the top three apologist pitfalls—i.e., if you’ve just read Tactics, you’re ready to go, and Jehovah’s Witnesses…
Sep 29, 2025 · 25 min
Questions about whether “God the Father” is a sexist term that demeans women in general and mothers in particular, how long Hell has been there, whether God created it, and how to explain the kind of anger that would lead to the creation…
Sep 25, 2025 · 24 min
Questions about whether you should believe things you can’t fully comprehend, whether it’s just an arbitrary escape hatch to say God doesn’t require a cause, and how to respond to an atheist who grounds objective morality in an objective…
