Classic Replay: Is belief in Divine punishment good or bad for us? Dominic Johnson and Peter S Williams

Unbelievable?

Premier Unbelievable?

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2023

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From 2016: Dominic Johnson’s book ‘God is Watching You: How the fear of God makes us human’ makes the claim that belief in divine punishment has arisen because of the evolutionary advantage it brings in creating cooperative, moral societies. Christian philosopher Peter S Williams interacts with Dominic on questions over whether his research explains away religious belief, and whether Christianity is a religion of punishment and rewards. For ‘God is Watching You’: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/god-is-watching-you-9780199895632?cc=gb For Peter S Williams: http://www.peterswilliams.com • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to another classic replay from the archives of Unbelievable.
0:16.3	We hope you enjoy the conversation and do let us know what you think.
0:20.1	You can email us at unbelievableatpremier.org.uk and leave comments on our Facebook page,
0:26.7	www.premierunbeliever.org or tweet us at unbelievablefe.
0:31.5	For many more resources to help both believers and skeptics to explore faith, please visit
0:36.8	our website premierunbeliever.com.
0:40.0	Registering there will unlock access to all content on the website as well as giving
0:45.1	you special access through the weekly newsletter to exclusive content such as bonus videos
0:50.6	and e-books.
0:52.0	That's premierunbeliever.com.
0:55.3	As now, here's today's unbelievable classic replay hosted by Justin Brieley from 2016.
1:03.0	We're really looking forward to what we're doing on the program today, asking is belief
1:09.2	in divine punishment good or bad for us?
1:11.8	Dominic Johnson is the author of a new book God is Watching You.
1:15.2	How the fear of God makes us human, published by Oxford University Press, while drawing
1:19.3	on his background in evolutionary biology as well as psychology and neuroscience, Dominic
1:24.2	makes the claim that religious belief in divine reward and punishment tends to arise
1:29.2	across the world at all times in all societies and it can be a very good thing for encouraging
1:34.3	morality and cooperation in societies.
1:36.8	But does that mean that belief in divine punishment is simply in our genes?
1:41.4	Is it true or simply about survival and I suppose survival of the fittest and it's Christianity
1:47.1	ultimately a religion of divine punishment and reward?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Premier Unbelievable?, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Premier Unbelievable? and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.