February 15, 2025 • 34 mins
In this episode of Christian Book Blurb, host Matt McChlery engages with author Martin Whitehouse to discuss his book, The Transparent Truth, which explores the concept of truth within Christianity. They delve into the nature of absolute truth, the reliability of the Bible, the significance of different translations, and how to approach reading the Bible for those new to the faith. The conversation also touches on the definition of sin and its implications for the relationship between humanity and God. Additionally, listeners get a glimpse into Martin's personal life and future writing aspirations.
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Visit Matt McChlery's website mattmcchlery.com
Martin Whitehouse's book on amazon
Takeaways
- Truth is a moral concept related to God's character.
- Absolute truth exists and is found in God.
- The Bible is a trustworthy source of information.
- Different translations of the Bible have their merits.
- Starting with the Gospels is recommended for new readers.
- Sin separates us from God and creates barriers.
- God's desire is for us to reach our full potential.
- Martin enjoys woodworking and creating faith-based signs.
- He is currently semi-retired and trains others in healthcare.
- An audiobook version of The Transparent Truth is in the works.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Christian Book Blurb 01:28 Exploring Truth in Christianity 06:46 Understanding Absolute Truth 09:13 Trusting the Bible 11:52 The Importance of Bible Translations 16:04 Starting Your Bible Journey 18:30 Defining Sin 22:47 Getting to Know Martin Whitehouse 30:23 Future Writing Aspirations
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This is Christian Book Blurb brought to you by author and songwriter Matt McChlery Get abehind the scenes glimpse into the lives of some of your favourite Christian authors.
Hear about their books and faith.
Also, why not check out my website, mattmcleary.com.
This episode is sponsored by the book The Prison Letters, a 40 day devotional for Lent.
(00:22):
Lent is coming up so get your hands on a copy from mattmcleary.com now or from wherevergood books are sold.
Also a great big thank you to FeedSpot.com who have featured Christian Book Blurb as oneof the top 25 Christian Book Review podcasts.
So thank you FeedSpot.
(00:43):
Hello and welcome to Christian Book Blurb where we like to encourage you in yourdiscipleship one book at a time as you meet some amazing Christian authors and learn about
their books, their lives and their faith.
Well, I'm your host, Matt McChlery, and thank you so much for clicking over here.
and joining me today.
I really do appreciate the pleasure of your company.
(01:04):
And before we go any further, please do comment if your platform allows that.
Comment on today's episode, like it, share it, put us in your favorites.
It would mean a great deal in helping to help this podcast reach more people with the goodnews of Jesus and the stories and books that we're talking about on the show.
(01:25):
Now on today's show, I'm going to be talking
with the author Martin Whitehouse about truth mostly because he's written a book calledThe Transparent Truth Making Sense of the Christian Faith.
So if you are a bit sort of interested in Christianity, what do Christians believe?
(01:46):
I'm not sure.
Maybe I'm just sort of checking it out.
Then this book and podcast is for you.
And even if you've been a Christian for a long time and you
you've got a few sort of niggling questions and thoughts about, you know, what about thisand what about that?
And I can't make sense of whatever it is.
Then it'll also be useful for you as well.
(02:08):
So let us welcome Martin Whitehouse to the show.
Hi, Martin.
Hello, Matt.
Thank you very much for having me on.
Really appreciate this.
It's great to have you with us.
And your book, The Transparent Truth is out and available everywhere now.
But what first got you interested in writing a book about truth and the gospel message?
(02:33):
Well, I think first off I need to say I didn't set out with the intention of writing abook I I do a lot of outreach on the streets and talking to people and and Sharing my
fight with people because obviously we want to share our fight about Jesus and help themto come to know him as our own
(02:54):
But when you're on the street and it's cold, it's windy and people want answers for thingswhen you get into discussion, you end up giving pat answers really and you can't fully
explain things.
And will they go out and find out for themselves later on?
Not sure.
So what I started to do was write little pamphlets and little sheets that I'd give topeople.
(03:14):
I'd use trucks as well.
I'd use trucks as well.
But, so that's what I did.
I used to give these leaflets out then.
over time you build up quite a raft of different things you can give out.
was wondering what to do with them and on the one occasion while I was praying the Lordsort of spoke to me and just said have a cook too and I wasn't really familiar I knew the
(03:42):
book of have a cook but wasn't really familiar with it and when I looked it up it had thatphrase in have a cook two verse two where it says write down
the message on tablets and it just really spoke to me and it just made me feel that theLord is telling me to actually put this information together into some sort of format that
(04:06):
people like a book.
So I wrote a little booklet and then as time went on the information gathered and itdeveloped until it became the book that is now The Transparent Truth.
I wanted to bring information together that
people ask questions about into one place.
But I wanted it be accurate information.
(04:27):
I wanted it to set people on the path, if you like.
It's all about bringing people to know the Lord.
And lots of people have doubts about whether the Bible is accurate.
Those are questions people often ask.
How can you rely on the Bible?
How do know Jesus is who he said he was?
And those sort of things.
And so I set out to answer those questions and then
(04:49):
As you answer some questions, you get more questions as it is, you know, and that's theway of life, isn't it really?
And then that became a book.
And I like the way that you've made it into a book.
It is a book.
It holds together as a book.
And as you read it, the chapters kind of one leads onto the next and it makes sense as youread the whole thing.
(05:11):
I mean, some, some books I've seen are just, you could tell they're just a collection ofwriting.
And know, this little section is about this and then this little section is aboutsomething completely different and something else.
And now we've got, you know, different genres all muddled in together.
And you can see it's kind of just like a mishmash of different things of here's stuff whatI wrote.
(05:34):
Whereas yours, it's not just a bunch of leaflets.
It actually holds together really well as a complete whole, as a book, which is reallygood.
I really appreciate that about it.
So being called the transparent truth, I guess an obvious question is what is truth?
(05:58):
And living in the culture and society that we do today, is there such a thing as absolutetruth?
Yeah, that's a very good question.
I would say that definitely, yes, there is such a thing as absolute truth.
I mean we all know about you know social media and You know that it's so easy for us to bemisled nowadays We never quite know what's what you know, and whether something's been
(06:27):
made up or not But you know, I think like I said in my book, you know The question reallyshould be who is truth because in the Bible truth is actually moral You know, it's a moral
thing about personality about God's personality, you know We've got empirical truth.
Have we you know, that's sort of
the facts of a case, you like, and the evidence from science that we find.
(06:51):
If someone's proved to be innocent or guilty, we can get empirical truth, things thatpeople have done wrong.
But in Scripture, it talks really about the character of a person that's consistent anddependable and reliable.
And their fundamental characteristics of God, really.
So I think, know, truth...
(07:15):
can be absolute and that absoluteness is in God.
But God calls us to be like him as well.
That's the thing to take from that really.
He says, be holy as I am holy, doesn't he, in scripture.
So God's call for us or desire for us, I suppose, is to be like God, to be like him.
(07:37):
And so that's truth, I think that's absolute truth.
It's a moral thing rather than, you
And why is it important for us to know what the truth is?
Why do we need to know if something's true or not true?
Because some people might say, well, what difference does that make to my life?
(07:57):
I'm reminded of bit scripture actually, Jesus said that if you hold to my teaching, you'llbe as my disciples, then you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free.
So I think that's why we need to know the truth.
Jesus is the truth, knowing Jesus is the truth.
(08:21):
But also, if we know the truth about something, it dispels doubt, it?
We all have little bits of doubt.
We can know the truth of Jesus, that we've had an experience of the Holy Spirit cominginto our lives, we've been born again, we've had this marvelous experience.
But there can be still those niggling things in the background.
Is the Bible really completely accurate?
(08:43):
know, how can we be sure, you know, as time goes on we do have little niggling doubts, soit's good to be able to dispel those and to have an understanding, you know, in the
background of our faith.
Your book starts off really by explaining how the Bible came to be and deals withdifferent translations and all sorts of things.
(09:06):
We'll come into translations in just a minute, but I guess my first question, which youmight encounter
quite a bit, especially when you're to people on the street, you've already hinted atthat, is can we trust the Bible?
Is it a trustworthy and accurate source of information and indeed the truth?
(09:29):
Well, I personally, more so now since I've done all this research, that it's a hundredpercent yes, we can trust the Bible.
It's important for us as Christians to know that the Bible is accurate because so muchrests on it, know, trusting whether the prophets of the Old Testament and the message of
(09:52):
Jesus in the New Testament is true.
So there's a lot riding on that.
So we need to know that it's accurate, you know, it's not like as
reading a few instructions, they to put the table together.
It's telling us how to live our lives and what's coming in the future.
Although I've covered lot of topics in the Transparent Truth, throughout constantlyproviding archaeological and historical evidence that confirm the accuracy of the
(10:21):
scriptures as you've looked through yourself.
There is a lot of evidence to back things up.
And so, know, I'm constantly doing that.
The evidence is all around us, you know, even when we go to the museums in London, youknow, there's lots and lots of archaeological evidence here that's confirmed in scripture,
you know, the artifacts I've got there.
(10:43):
So it's all there, really, you know, and I helped to bring that out in the book, you know,and the evidence is up and discovered and helped to make it real for us.
I think that's the thing.
So, yes, you know.
We can rely on Scripture and there's a wealth of evidence to show that.
(11:04):
I don't think anyone, any thinking person can really say that.
Ask the question whether Scripture or refute the validity of Scripture without looking upand looking out for the evidence themselves.
Okay.
on to translations.
(11:26):
The Bible that we have today in English, it wasn't the original language that the Biblewas written in.
It was written in Hebrew and Greek mostly, and it's been translated into English as wellas many other languages around the world by today.
And basically some translations say slightly different things to other translations.
(11:52):
Or they might be interpretations instead of a word for word translation.
It kind of tries to carry the spirit of the message rather than translating the exactopposite word for word, what it means in one language to another.
So how does that all work?
And is there like one translation that is the truth and all the others are rubbish?
(12:18):
you know, can we, can we trust and rely on
all of them or are some more accurate than others?
What's your view on all of this?
Because I know it's quite a big debate in some church circles.
It certainly is, isn't it?
Yeah, people do get hung up on it, don't they?
But I think they've all got merit personally.
(12:40):
I mean, we all have preferences, don't we, of what sort of translation we like to read andwhat's more comfortable for us to read.
But I think at the end of the day, we're all trying to communicate God's Word.
And when it comes down to scripture, we've got the basic tenets of faith, haven't we,really, as long as I hold to that.
(13:01):
Think of all the different translations, we've got things like the Word on the Street,which I'd really struggle with when I've looked at it.
And the Word on the Street is a difficult one for me to read, but I know there's people,if it hits the spot for those people that read it, and it brings them to Christ, the Holy
Spirit works wonders, you know.
And maybe at some point they'll move on to a different translation, you know, that...
perhaps you could say or argue that it's more accurate perhaps, you know, but we knowwe've gotten the message, the Good News Bible, the NIV, the New King James Version, for
(13:32):
example.
And I think there's always difficulty when you're translating from one language toanother.
But I think that's the flexibility of Scripture really, that you can do that and still getthe message of Christ the Christ, know, across to people.
And because we know it's translated work as well, we've got things like commentaries thatwe can use to go to.
(13:57):
We've got things like inter-linear Bibles which give you the original text of Hebrew andGreek alongside the English or whichever language you're speaking in, which are really
helpful for us to know and to understand the background and the original text.
And you may be aware of yourself.
(14:20):
If you can go online, there's a Bible hub you can go to, which is great online resource.
You can look up the meanings of words in the original Hebrew and Greek and read italongside and see different translations as well.
There's all sorts, there?
There's Bible hub and Bible gateway and U version and all sorts of online resources.
things that you can use.
that's right.
(14:40):
So I think the important thing is to know there is a translation.
That's the most important thing.
And that there'll always be a bit of a gap with that.
But you can, you know, if you have the desire to do so, you can find out.
And I guess for some listening to this, it might be a case of, well, I'm trying to readthe Bible, but I'm finding it really difficult.
(15:04):
It might be the case that you've got a Bible that translation you don't particularly geton with it.
It might sound like Shakespeare to you, sort of the and thou hasts and behests and allthis kind of stuff.
And you're just like, I don't know what's going on.
you can get other versions or translations that use more up to date English language thatwill, will actually make a bit more sense.
(15:30):
And you don't, as you were saying, Martin, you don't actually have to go and buy a versionto see if you actually like it or not.
You can check it out online and see, you know,
is this, do I get on with this version?
Does this, you know, do I understand what it's talking about?
And you might go, yes, or no, let me try something else.
So there are a variety of versions.
(15:51):
Speaking of people who are trying to get into Bible reading, what would your advice be ifsomeone who's just starting out and is interested in exploring the Bible
Where do you suggest they start?
I mean, I was speaking about your book sort of working, beginning to end, and it's a book,but the Bible's a bit different, isn't it?
(16:14):
It's not really one big massive book.
There's loads of books in it.
So how does that work and where might somebody start reading to explore faith?
Yeah, I know when I first became a Christian, I did try to do that actually.
I started at Genesis.
and I think I got through to something like Leviticus or something like that and thought,this is too difficult.
(16:38):
Yeah, I know, I really buzzed me.
But you know, it was too much and it didn't make sense really.
So I think probably the best place to start really is with the gospels, Matthew, Mark,Luke, John.
And they're about three quarters of the way through, aren't they?
You're in the New Testament, at the start of the New Testament.
the reason for that is because they tell the story of Jesus, of what Jesus spoke, what hetaught.
(17:03):
They communicate the gospel really, God's message, but also on top of that they refer backto the Old Testament as well, particularly Matthew.
I'd say you can start to get into the Old Testament and it starts to make some sort ofsense and then you might want to read a bit more because that's intriguing a little bit
what you read in the Old Testament.
(17:24):
And that introduces you then to really God's plan.
You start to become aware gradually of what God's plan was.
And the fact that whenever the Old Testament was written, at that stage you won't know,that he was speaking forward about things that were happening then or now for the New
(17:44):
Testament writers, or that experience then.
So you start to get a more full picture by reading maybe the Gospels and then the rest ofthe New Testament perhaps, and then getting referred back to the Old Testament initially.
I that's good place to start.
I mean, all of scripture is useful and worth reading, but I think if you're out, startingin Matthew, Mark and Luke or John is a really good place to get started rather than trying
(18:15):
to open the book at the very first page, because yeah, you do get a bit bogged down if youtry it that way.
So in one of the chapters in your book, The Transparent Truth,
you have a chapter that answers the question, what is a sin?
(18:37):
Now I've heard people who aren't Christians talking about sins, and usually they'retalking about a slimming world program that they're on, rather than a sin as in the
biblical definition of what it is, because they use the same word but it's like caloriecounting instead of instead of, you know, sinning against God.
(18:59):
So
Some people may not actually have an understanding of what sin that we're talking aboutis.
So can you explain it for us?
Yeah.
Right, what is sin?
I I suppose in the Bible, God says, be holy as I am holy, that's his desire for us.
(19:23):
He wants the best for us and wants us to reach our full potential.
But we know from scripture, from the earliest moments, humanity is sort of, I've alwayswanted more than God has offered really.
And I think that's a bit of our downfall really, despite his generosity.
And when we do that, we want to be like God almost, you could argue.
(19:47):
And that's when we miss the mark.
some of the words used in the New Testament really are, in Greek, describe.
seen as missing the mark that God has for us, you know, we tend to be inherentlyunreliable as humans and we hurt ourselves and then we hurt others and and we hurt our
(20:15):
surroundings as well, know, damage our surroundings, you know, we know all the, that'swhat all this global warming is about isn't it, what we've done to our creation as well,
know, that's around us.
Right from the very beginning in Genesis, God called all these things sin.
And that's the term, it?
The sin of not being God-like, really, I suppose.
That's what sin is.
Missing that mark.
(20:35):
And that sin is what it says, it separates us from Him, makes us less than what He wouldlike us to be.
And it creates a barrier between us and God.
That's how it describes sin in Scripture.
It's a barrier between us and God.
And for us to have that relationship with God again, we need to have that barrier removed.
(20:55):
And then that's the whole point of the gospel, isn't it?
know, of Jesus coming, you know, it's God reaching out to us, constantly reaching out forus.
You know, we've got all these books in the Bible, 66 books.
And I think from the very first book, really, from the beginning of Genesis, it's aboutGod reaching out to us, trying to get us back into a relationship with him all the way
(21:15):
down these years, you know.
So that's, I would say, sin is the thing that separates us from God, the things we dowrong or, you know, that are not.
got standard and puts a barrier there in our relationship.
And that's great.
Some other listeners might be thinking, wow, you're really giving Martin a hard timeasking him all these really sort of deep and meaningful questions.
(21:43):
And I do hope they are meaningful to those who are listening.
But the reason why I'm doing it is because
these are the kind of questions that Martin tries to answer in his book The TransparentTruth.
So if you are having these sorts of questions and really don't know who to have these kindof conversations with to ask these really some deep and searching questions to, then maybe
(22:14):
reading The Transparent Truth might actually help you to answer or get a handle on some ofthese really
difficult and tough questions of life and faith.
So thank you for writing that book, Martin.
It's really, really good.
We're going to go for a short break now and we'll be back very soon in literally about 30seconds where we'll be chatting a little bit more with the author, Martin Whitehouse,
(22:40):
about his life and his faith.
So join us after these.
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(23:49):
Hello, welcome back to The Christian Book Blurb.
We are speaking with author Martin Whitehouse all about his book The Transparent Truth andif you've been interested in the conversation we've had before this, do go and check it
out.
Now Martin, at this time of the podcast we like to get to know the author themselves alittle bit more.
We like to peel back the cover and see what the author's life is like a little bit.
(24:15):
So let's start off then.
What do you do for fun?
I like to mess around in the shed.
I like to do a woodwork, a bit of carpentry.
So that's what I do.
Well, I think carpentry is probably a bit of a tough...
I'm very much an amateur, but you know, I make signs for people and I sell them andthey're usually faith signs, know, faith messages on them and chopping boards.
(24:38):
What are you working on at the moment?
Well, actually I'm having a bit of a change.
I've actually just brought some wood to make some chopping boards out of.
Some ash and some oak and...
a bit of, what was the other bit I would have brought?
I'm small fry really, I'm only making small bits of, a walnut, that was the other one.
(25:00):
Yeah, I've got some walnuts and oak and ash to make some chopping boards out of and thebathroom bar.
Have you got a, is it a lathe, the thing that spins around?
I haven't got a lathe yet, I'd like to get a lathe.
haven't got the space for a lathe, that's trouble.
Some of our listeners might have heard you speaking on this podcast and may not be toofamiliar with British accents.
(25:29):
So could you give us a bit of an insight into your accent and sort of what parts of the UKyou come from and all that kind of thing?
Well, I'm from Birmingham, born and bred, and that's what my accent is really.
And it comes across really well on recording.
I'm sure you'll recognise that.
Yeah, I live in Pipehays and in You know, we're in the West Midlands.
(25:54):
so Birmingham.
I was once told I got a posh accent actually.
Because I, as my job, I work in hospitals, in city, some hospitals, and as a nursepractitioner.
And one of the registrars there, she's used to Headinggate, black country accent, which ismuch stronger.
(26:15):
So she thought I got a posh accent.
which is very nice actually.
And Black Country being the place in the UK where there was lots of coal mining, hence thename.
Yeah.
Yes.
Wonderful.
So I was going to ask you what other job you might do other than writing your book.
You've told us nurse practitioner.
Do want to tell us more about that?
(26:35):
That's right.
Well, I'm semi-retired now.
So I now work in Aston University and
We train people because I was an ENT, ear, nose and throat nurse practitioner.
So I help to train people now in caring for people with ear problems.
So that's my role now.
So have you got any favourite things to eat or to do, or maybe to watch on the telly?
(26:59):
Yeah, well, food.
I always like Italian and, well, yeah, Italian food is the best for me actually.
Greek food.
I'm very much a savoury person.
Yeah, that's sort of thing I love to eat.
Have you been to Italy or Greece and eaten the authentic version of the food?
Yeah, yeah.
I've to both once.
(27:23):
we've been to...
Oh, I forgot the name of the island there.
we've been to Greece.
Yeah, we've been to Greece.
And I've been to Italy as well.
So lovely places, nice and heartened.
And the food's good there.
And my wife, particularly, likes the ice cream.
Yes, yes.
The ice cream is gorgeous.
And I just find the whole sort of food culture, especially in Italy, really interestingbecause it's so different to here in the UK.
(27:48):
Even the way that the food is like served in like several different stages and they don'toften put the same things together on one plate that we would, but you get it as a
different course.
yeah, I just, it was fascinating to me anyway.
Yeah, I love the lots of little dishes you get, you you can sample lots of differentthings and yeah, that's great.
(28:09):
And anything, anything, do you watch the telly much or you were more a book reader orhow's your hobbies and things?
Yeah, watch a fair amount of TV, don't have a fair amount of TV, but we, I quite likeprograms with a bit of action in them, you know, and yeah, that's the sort of things I
(28:29):
watch really.
I don't have a
particular program.
mean comedies as well, like know ghosts and things like that you know the comedy ghostprogram you know which is really funny for example.
comedy.
I think there's an American version now as well.
There is yeah and there's supposed to be an Australian one coming out soon but I'm notsecure on those because I don't get the humor quite the same it's a different sort of
(28:50):
nationalities and a different sort of background so it doesn't quite work for me.
Yeah there's some things and things like was it Death in Paradise and things like that youknow.
They're quite good.
Yes, I quite like that one.
Do you have a favorite tea or coffee or not hot drink at all?
No, yeah, I drink odd really.
(29:11):
A couple of cups of tea first, say good morning, and then I'll go to coffee during the dayand then it's tea again on the evening strangely.
start with coffee and then sort of move on to herbal tea later.
It's interesting.
OK, and chocolate, sweets, cakes?
Not for me.
Any of that bad?
Oh, you see you're a
You're a nurse.
have to say that.
you?
No, no, no.
(29:33):
I'm a savoury person.
I do eat sweets and have a bit of cake in there, but I don't tend to buy them.
usually it's offered me, oh yeah, I'll have a slice.
But if you saw a Cornish pasty, you might be like, Oh yes, definitely.
It's hard to resist.
Thank you for sharing that about you.
(29:53):
It's always fascinating to get an insight into.
the author's lives, it's really good.
So you've written Transparent Truth, you said it kind of happened by accident because youweren't setting out to write a book, but have you been bitten by the book writing bug?
(30:14):
Are you thinking of writing something else?
Is there something else in the works?
Or you know, where are you at in terms of that?
I haven't, well people have asked me that several occasions ago have you got somethingcast and I haven't actually.
I doubt if this will be the only book I write or whether something else will come out orwhether I'll end up expanding on it.
(30:36):
That's probably most likely I guess.
So I haven't got anything in the works at the moment but you know I do read quite a bitand so who knows I mean at the moment I'm reading this great book by Todd Fink called
biblical sites and travel guide because I wanted to go to Israel and I suppose I got a fewyears back then the whole episode all the trouble started yeah so it got cancelled so I've
(31:04):
been reading ably about that and the historical tour of the Holy Land as well I've beenreading which gives you a nice background history of know of Israel and so yeah so nothing
in the pipeline to write at the moment but certainly
I'm reading a lot about Israel and trying to, you know, increase my knowledge, really.
(31:27):
fascinating.
And where can people buy your book if they want to get a copy of the Transparent Truth?
Where can they get a copy, whether online or in a bookshop?
And have you got a website or social media where people can find you all that sort ofthing?
Right.
So the Transparent Truth is available on Amazon and the
(31:50):
It's also available with Apple as well Apple books you can see this and The as a paperbackbut also as an ebook you can go in either format and The ebooks are priced at less I think
that a pound really, know or I think two pound an apple something or two dollars and youknow, less than that price at the lowest point and and in the Paperback I think
(32:18):
It's around about £8, I think it is, buy online.
yeah, so they're the platforms that they're mainly available for.
I think it's Roku and there's a few other different platforms around as well.
They're of online books, yeah, that you can get them from.
So, OK.
And as we were recording this, I noticed your equipment that you're using to chat with metoday online.
(32:43):
And you mentioned that there's the possibility of an audio book coming soon.
Is that right?
That's right, yes, I've just, I've had lots of people, know, I've given the book to,because I've given the books out as well freely, because you have to buy so many when you
publish your book.
And that's all, I find it difficult to read, you know, from a book, but I tend to listento lot of podcasts and things like that.
(33:07):
So thought, right, okay, I don't want people to miss out.
So I've endeavored to start to record the book.
I'm doing it in my own voice, which is...
It's going to be interesting, with my accent.
But yes, so I've started to record the book.
So there'll be an audio version as well, hopefully within two or three months.
(33:31):
Wonderful.
That's something to look out for as well.
Well, thank you.
Thank you so much, Martin, for chatting with us here on the Christian Book Club podcasttoday.
Thank you, Matt.
Thank you as well for listening to this episode of The Christian Book Blob.
I pray that it's blessed you, and if it's provoked questions in you, well, go and get acopy of the book.
And don't forget that this episode is just one of many.
(33:57):
We are fast approaching our 100th episode, which will be coming up soon, which I'm reallyexcited about.
And we have two episodes that come out every month on the 1st and on the 15th.
So another episode will be dropping really soon.
where you can join me again for another episode of The Book Blurb where I'll be chattingwith another Christian author all about their books, their life and their faith.
(34:20):
Thank you so much for listening and I look forward to having the pleasure of your companyagain really soon.
Thank you and goodbye.
Thanks for listening to Christian Book Blurb with your host Matt McChlery.
Do give it a like, give it a share and let your friends know all about it.
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This is Christian Book Blurb brought to you by author and songwriter Matt McChlery Get abehind the scenes glimpse into the lives of some of your favourite Christian authors.
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(00:22):
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(00:43):
Hello and welcome to Christian Book Blurb where we like to encourage you in yourdiscipleship one book at a time as you meet some amazing Christian authors and learn about
their books, their lives and their faith.
Well, I'm your host, Matt McChlery, and thank you so much for clicking over here.
and joining me today.
I really do appreciate the pleasure of your company.
(01:04):
And before we go any further, please do comment if your platform allows that.
Comment on today's episode, like it, share it, put us in your favorites.
It would mean a great deal in helping to help this podcast reach more people with the goodnews of Jesus and the stories and books that we're talking about on the show.
(01:25):
Now on today's show, I'm going to be talking
with the author Martin Whitehouse about truth mostly because he's written a book calledThe Transparent Truth Making Sense of the Christian Faith.
So if you are a bit sort of interested in Christianity, what do Christians believe?
(01:46):
I'm not sure.
Maybe I'm just sort of checking it out.
Then this book and podcast is for you.
And even if you've been a Christian for a long time and you
you've got a few sort of niggling questions and thoughts about, you know, what about thisand what about that?
And I can't make sense of whatever it is.
Then it'll also be useful for you as well.
(02:08):
So let us welcome Martin Whitehouse to the show.
Hi, Martin.
Hello, Matt.
Thank you very much for having me on.
Really appreciate this.
It's great to have you with us.
And your book, The Transparent Truth is out and available everywhere now.
But what first got you interested in writing a book about truth and the gospel message?
(02:33):
Well, I think first off I need to say I didn't set out with the intention of writing abook I I do a lot of outreach on the streets and talking to people and and Sharing my
fight with people because obviously we want to share our fight about Jesus and help themto come to know him as our own
(02:54):
But when you're on the street and it's cold, it's windy and people want answers for thingswhen you get into discussion, you end up giving pat answers really and you can't fully
explain things.
And will they go out and find out for themselves later on?
Not sure.
So what I started to do was write little pamphlets and little sheets that I'd give topeople.
(03:14):
I'd use trucks as well.
I'd use trucks as well.
But, so that's what I did.
I used to give these leaflets out then.
over time you build up quite a raft of different things you can give out.
was wondering what to do with them and on the one occasion while I was praying the Lordsort of spoke to me and just said have a cook too and I wasn't really familiar I knew the
(03:42):
book of have a cook but wasn't really familiar with it and when I looked it up it had thatphrase in have a cook two verse two where it says write down
the message on tablets and it just really spoke to me and it just made me feel that theLord is telling me to actually put this information together into some sort of format that
(04:06):
people like a book.
So I wrote a little booklet and then as time went on the information gathered and itdeveloped until it became the book that is now The Transparent Truth.
I wanted to bring information together that
people ask questions about into one place.
But I wanted it be accurate information.
(04:27):
I wanted it to set people on the path, if you like.
It's all about bringing people to know the Lord.
And lots of people have doubts about whether the Bible is accurate.
Those are questions people often ask.
How can you rely on the Bible?
How do know Jesus is who he said he was?
And those sort of things.
And so I set out to answer those questions and then
(04:49):
As you answer some questions, you get more questions as it is, you know, and that's theway of life, isn't it really?
And then that became a book.
And I like the way that you've made it into a book.
It is a book.
It holds together as a book.
And as you read it, the chapters kind of one leads onto the next and it makes sense as youread the whole thing.
(05:11):
I mean, some, some books I've seen are just, you could tell they're just a collection ofwriting.
And know, this little section is about this and then this little section is aboutsomething completely different and something else.
And now we've got, you know, different genres all muddled in together.
And you can see it's kind of just like a mishmash of different things of here's stuff whatI wrote.
(05:34):
Whereas yours, it's not just a bunch of leaflets.
It actually holds together really well as a complete whole, as a book, which is reallygood.
I really appreciate that about it.
So being called the transparent truth, I guess an obvious question is what is truth?
(05:58):
And living in the culture and society that we do today, is there such a thing as absolutetruth?
Yeah, that's a very good question.
I would say that definitely, yes, there is such a thing as absolute truth.
I mean we all know about you know social media and You know that it's so easy for us to bemisled nowadays We never quite know what's what you know, and whether something's been
(06:27):
made up or not But you know, I think like I said in my book, you know The question reallyshould be who is truth because in the Bible truth is actually moral You know, it's a moral
thing about personality about God's personality, you know We've got empirical truth.
Have we you know, that's sort of
the facts of a case, you like, and the evidence from science that we find.
(06:51):
If someone's proved to be innocent or guilty, we can get empirical truth, things thatpeople have done wrong.
But in Scripture, it talks really about the character of a person that's consistent anddependable and reliable.
And their fundamental characteristics of God, really.
So I think, know, truth...
(07:15):
can be absolute and that absoluteness is in God.
But God calls us to be like him as well.
That's the thing to take from that really.
He says, be holy as I am holy, doesn't he, in scripture.
So God's call for us or desire for us, I suppose, is to be like God, to be like him.
(07:37):
And so that's truth, I think that's absolute truth.
It's a moral thing rather than, you
And why is it important for us to know what the truth is?
Why do we need to know if something's true or not true?
Because some people might say, well, what difference does that make to my life?
(07:57):
I'm reminded of bit scripture actually, Jesus said that if you hold to my teaching, you'llbe as my disciples, then you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free.
So I think that's why we need to know the truth.
Jesus is the truth, knowing Jesus is the truth.
(08:21):
But also, if we know the truth about something, it dispels doubt, it?
We all have little bits of doubt.
We can know the truth of Jesus, that we've had an experience of the Holy Spirit cominginto our lives, we've been born again, we've had this marvelous experience.
But there can be still those niggling things in the background.
Is the Bible really completely accurate?
(08:43):
know, how can we be sure, you know, as time goes on we do have little niggling doubts, soit's good to be able to dispel those and to have an understanding, you know, in the
background of our faith.
Your book starts off really by explaining how the Bible came to be and deals withdifferent translations and all sorts of things.
(09:06):
We'll come into translations in just a minute, but I guess my first question, which youmight encounter
quite a bit, especially when you're to people on the street, you've already hinted atthat, is can we trust the Bible?
Is it a trustworthy and accurate source of information and indeed the truth?
(09:29):
Well, I personally, more so now since I've done all this research, that it's a hundredpercent yes, we can trust the Bible.
It's important for us as Christians to know that the Bible is accurate because so muchrests on it, know, trusting whether the prophets of the Old Testament and the message of
(09:52):
Jesus in the New Testament is true.
So there's a lot riding on that.
So we need to know that it's accurate, you know, it's not like as
reading a few instructions, they to put the table together.
It's telling us how to live our lives and what's coming in the future.
Although I've covered lot of topics in the Transparent Truth, throughout constantlyproviding archaeological and historical evidence that confirm the accuracy of the
(10:21):
scriptures as you've looked through yourself.
There is a lot of evidence to back things up.
And so, know, I'm constantly doing that.
The evidence is all around us, you know, even when we go to the museums in London, youknow, there's lots and lots of archaeological evidence here that's confirmed in scripture,
you know, the artifacts I've got there.
(10:43):
So it's all there, really, you know, and I helped to bring that out in the book, you know,and the evidence is up and discovered and helped to make it real for us.
I think that's the thing.
So, yes, you know.
We can rely on Scripture and there's a wealth of evidence to show that.
(11:04):
I don't think anyone, any thinking person can really say that.
Ask the question whether Scripture or refute the validity of Scripture without looking upand looking out for the evidence themselves.
Okay.
on to translations.
(11:26):
The Bible that we have today in English, it wasn't the original language that the Biblewas written in.
It was written in Hebrew and Greek mostly, and it's been translated into English as wellas many other languages around the world by today.
And basically some translations say slightly different things to other translations.
(11:52):
Or they might be interpretations instead of a word for word translation.
It kind of tries to carry the spirit of the message rather than translating the exactopposite word for word, what it means in one language to another.
So how does that all work?
And is there like one translation that is the truth and all the others are rubbish?
(12:18):
you know, can we, can we trust and rely on
all of them or are some more accurate than others?
What's your view on all of this?
Because I know it's quite a big debate in some church circles.
It certainly is, isn't it?
Yeah, people do get hung up on it, don't they?
But I think they've all got merit personally.
(12:40):
I mean, we all have preferences, don't we, of what sort of translation we like to read andwhat's more comfortable for us to read.
But I think at the end of the day, we're all trying to communicate God's Word.
And when it comes down to scripture, we've got the basic tenets of faith, haven't we,really, as long as I hold to that.
(13:01):
Think of all the different translations, we've got things like the Word on the Street,which I'd really struggle with when I've looked at it.
And the Word on the Street is a difficult one for me to read, but I know there's people,if it hits the spot for those people that read it, and it brings them to Christ, the Holy
Spirit works wonders, you know.
And maybe at some point they'll move on to a different translation, you know, that...
perhaps you could say or argue that it's more accurate perhaps, you know, but we knowwe've gotten the message, the Good News Bible, the NIV, the New King James Version, for
(13:32):
example.
And I think there's always difficulty when you're translating from one language toanother.
But I think that's the flexibility of Scripture really, that you can do that and still getthe message of Christ the Christ, know, across to people.
And because we know it's translated work as well, we've got things like commentaries thatwe can use to go to.
(13:57):
We've got things like inter-linear Bibles which give you the original text of Hebrew andGreek alongside the English or whichever language you're speaking in, which are really
helpful for us to know and to understand the background and the original text.
And you may be aware of yourself.
(14:20):
If you can go online, there's a Bible hub you can go to, which is great online resource.
You can look up the meanings of words in the original Hebrew and Greek and read italongside and see different translations as well.
There's all sorts, there?
There's Bible hub and Bible gateway and U version and all sorts of online resources.
things that you can use.
that's right.
(14:40):
So I think the important thing is to know there is a translation.
That's the most important thing.
And that there'll always be a bit of a gap with that.
But you can, you know, if you have the desire to do so, you can find out.
And I guess for some listening to this, it might be a case of, well, I'm trying to readthe Bible, but I'm finding it really difficult.
(15:04):
It might be the case that you've got a Bible that translation you don't particularly geton with it.
It might sound like Shakespeare to you, sort of the and thou hasts and behests and allthis kind of stuff.
And you're just like, I don't know what's going on.
you can get other versions or translations that use more up to date English language thatwill, will actually make a bit more sense.
(15:30):
And you don't, as you were saying, Martin, you don't actually have to go and buy a versionto see if you actually like it or not.
You can check it out online and see, you know,
is this, do I get on with this version?
Does this, you know, do I understand what it's talking about?
And you might go, yes, or no, let me try something else.
So there are a variety of versions.
(15:51):
Speaking of people who are trying to get into Bible reading, what would your advice be ifsomeone who's just starting out and is interested in exploring the Bible
Where do you suggest they start?
I mean, I was speaking about your book sort of working, beginning to end, and it's a book,but the Bible's a bit different, isn't it?
(16:14):
It's not really one big massive book.
There's loads of books in it.
So how does that work and where might somebody start reading to explore faith?
Yeah, I know when I first became a Christian, I did try to do that actually.
I started at Genesis.
and I think I got through to something like Leviticus or something like that and thought,this is too difficult.
(16:38):
Yeah, I know, I really buzzed me.
But you know, it was too much and it didn't make sense really.
So I think probably the best place to start really is with the gospels, Matthew, Mark,Luke, John.
And they're about three quarters of the way through, aren't they?
You're in the New Testament, at the start of the New Testament.
the reason for that is because they tell the story of Jesus, of what Jesus spoke, what hetaught.
(17:03):
They communicate the gospel really, God's message, but also on top of that they refer backto the Old Testament as well, particularly Matthew.
I'd say you can start to get into the Old Testament and it starts to make some sort ofsense and then you might want to read a bit more because that's intriguing a little bit
what you read in the Old Testament.
(17:24):
And that introduces you then to really God's plan.
You start to become aware gradually of what God's plan was.
And the fact that whenever the Old Testament was written, at that stage you won't know,that he was speaking forward about things that were happening then or now for the New
(17:44):
Testament writers, or that experience then.
So you start to get a more full picture by reading maybe the Gospels and then the rest ofthe New Testament perhaps, and then getting referred back to the Old Testament initially.
I that's good place to start.
I mean, all of scripture is useful and worth reading, but I think if you're out, startingin Matthew, Mark and Luke or John is a really good place to get started rather than trying
(18:15):
to open the book at the very first page, because yeah, you do get a bit bogged down if youtry it that way.
So in one of the chapters in your book, The Transparent Truth,
you have a chapter that answers the question, what is a sin?
(18:37):
Now I've heard people who aren't Christians talking about sins, and usually they'retalking about a slimming world program that they're on, rather than a sin as in the
biblical definition of what it is, because they use the same word but it's like caloriecounting instead of instead of, you know, sinning against God.
(18:59):
So
Some people may not actually have an understanding of what sin that we're talking aboutis.
So can you explain it for us?
Yeah.
Right, what is sin?
I I suppose in the Bible, God says, be holy as I am holy, that's his desire for us.
(19:23):
He wants the best for us and wants us to reach our full potential.
But we know from scripture, from the earliest moments, humanity is sort of, I've alwayswanted more than God has offered really.
And I think that's a bit of our downfall really, despite his generosity.
And when we do that, we want to be like God almost, you could argue.
(19:47):
And that's when we miss the mark.
some of the words used in the New Testament really are, in Greek, describe.
seen as missing the mark that God has for us, you know, we tend to be inherentlyunreliable as humans and we hurt ourselves and then we hurt others and and we hurt our
(20:15):
surroundings as well, know, damage our surroundings, you know, we know all the, that'swhat all this global warming is about isn't it, what we've done to our creation as well,
know, that's around us.
Right from the very beginning in Genesis, God called all these things sin.
And that's the term, it?
The sin of not being God-like, really, I suppose.
That's what sin is.
Missing that mark.
(20:35):
And that sin is what it says, it separates us from Him, makes us less than what He wouldlike us to be.
And it creates a barrier between us and God.
That's how it describes sin in Scripture.
It's a barrier between us and God.
And for us to have that relationship with God again, we need to have that barrier removed.
(20:55):
And then that's the whole point of the gospel, isn't it?
know, of Jesus coming, you know, it's God reaching out to us, constantly reaching out forus.
You know, we've got all these books in the Bible, 66 books.
And I think from the very first book, really, from the beginning of Genesis, it's aboutGod reaching out to us, trying to get us back into a relationship with him all the way
(21:15):
down these years, you know.
So that's, I would say, sin is the thing that separates us from God, the things we dowrong or, you know, that are not.
got standard and puts a barrier there in our relationship.
And that's great.
Some other listeners might be thinking, wow, you're really giving Martin a hard timeasking him all these really sort of deep and meaningful questions.
(21:43):
And I do hope they are meaningful to those who are listening.
But the reason why I'm doing it is because
these are the kind of questions that Martin tries to answer in his book The TransparentTruth.
So if you are having these sorts of questions and really don't know who to have these kindof conversations with to ask these really some deep and searching questions to, then maybe
(22:14):
reading The Transparent Truth might actually help you to answer or get a handle on some ofthese really
difficult and tough questions of life and faith.
So thank you for writing that book, Martin.
It's really, really good.
We're going to go for a short break now and we'll be back very soon in literally about 30seconds where we'll be chatting a little bit more with the author, Martin Whitehouse,
(22:40):
about his life and his faith.
So join us after these.
Hi, I'm author Matt McChlery.
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(23:08):
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(23:49):
Hello, welcome back to The Christian Book Blurb.
We are speaking with author Martin Whitehouse all about his book The Transparent Truth andif you've been interested in the conversation we've had before this, do go and check it
out.
Now Martin, at this time of the podcast we like to get to know the author themselves alittle bit more.
We like to peel back the cover and see what the author's life is like a little bit.
(24:15):
So let's start off then.
What do you do for fun?
I like to mess around in the shed.
I like to do a woodwork, a bit of carpentry.
So that's what I do.
Well, I think carpentry is probably a bit of a tough...
I'm very much an amateur, but you know, I make signs for people and I sell them andthey're usually faith signs, know, faith messages on them and chopping boards.
(24:38):
What are you working on at the moment?
Well, actually I'm having a bit of a change.
I've actually just brought some wood to make some chopping boards out of.
Some ash and some oak and...
a bit of, what was the other bit I would have brought?
I'm small fry really, I'm only making small bits of, a walnut, that was the other one.
(25:00):
Yeah, I've got some walnuts and oak and ash to make some chopping boards out of and thebathroom bar.
Have you got a, is it a lathe, the thing that spins around?
I haven't got a lathe yet, I'd like to get a lathe.
haven't got the space for a lathe, that's trouble.
Some of our listeners might have heard you speaking on this podcast and may not be toofamiliar with British accents.
(25:29):
So could you give us a bit of an insight into your accent and sort of what parts of the UKyou come from and all that kind of thing?
Well, I'm from Birmingham, born and bred, and that's what my accent is really.
And it comes across really well on recording.
I'm sure you'll recognise that.
Yeah, I live in Pipehays and in You know, we're in the West Midlands.
(25:54):
so Birmingham.
I was once told I got a posh accent actually.
Because I, as my job, I work in hospitals, in city, some hospitals, and as a nursepractitioner.
And one of the registrars there, she's used to Headinggate, black country accent, which ismuch stronger.
(26:15):
So she thought I got a posh accent.
which is very nice actually.
And Black Country being the place in the UK where there was lots of coal mining, hence thename.
Yeah.
Yes.
Wonderful.
So I was going to ask you what other job you might do other than writing your book.
You've told us nurse practitioner.
Do want to tell us more about that?
(26:35):
That's right.
Well, I'm semi-retired now.
So I now work in Aston University and
We train people because I was an ENT, ear, nose and throat nurse practitioner.
So I help to train people now in caring for people with ear problems.
So that's my role now.
So have you got any favourite things to eat or to do, or maybe to watch on the telly?
(26:59):
Yeah, well, food.
I always like Italian and, well, yeah, Italian food is the best for me actually.
Greek food.
I'm very much a savoury person.
Yeah, that's sort of thing I love to eat.
Have you been to Italy or Greece and eaten the authentic version of the food?
Yeah, yeah.
I've to both once.
(27:23):
we've been to...
Oh, I forgot the name of the island there.
we've been to Greece.
Yeah, we've been to Greece.
And I've been to Italy as well.
So lovely places, nice and heartened.
And the food's good there.
And my wife, particularly, likes the ice cream.
Yes, yes.
The ice cream is gorgeous.
And I just find the whole sort of food culture, especially in Italy, really interestingbecause it's so different to here in the UK.
(27:48):
Even the way that the food is like served in like several different stages and they don'toften put the same things together on one plate that we would, but you get it as a
different course.
yeah, I just, it was fascinating to me anyway.
Yeah, I love the lots of little dishes you get, you you can sample lots of differentthings and yeah, that's great.
(28:09):
And anything, anything, do you watch the telly much or you were more a book reader orhow's your hobbies and things?
Yeah, watch a fair amount of TV, don't have a fair amount of TV, but we, I quite likeprograms with a bit of action in them, you know, and yeah, that's the sort of things I
(28:29):
watch really.
I don't have a
particular program.
mean comedies as well, like know ghosts and things like that you know the comedy ghostprogram you know which is really funny for example.
comedy.
I think there's an American version now as well.
There is yeah and there's supposed to be an Australian one coming out soon but I'm notsecure on those because I don't get the humor quite the same it's a different sort of
(28:50):
nationalities and a different sort of background so it doesn't quite work for me.
Yeah there's some things and things like was it Death in Paradise and things like that youknow.
They're quite good.
Yes, I quite like that one.
Do you have a favorite tea or coffee or not hot drink at all?
No, yeah, I drink odd really.
(29:11):
A couple of cups of tea first, say good morning, and then I'll go to coffee during the dayand then it's tea again on the evening strangely.
start with coffee and then sort of move on to herbal tea later.
It's interesting.
OK, and chocolate, sweets, cakes?
Not for me.
Any of that bad?
Oh, you see you're a
You're a nurse.
have to say that.
you?
No, no, no.
(29:33):
I'm a savoury person.
I do eat sweets and have a bit of cake in there, but I don't tend to buy them.
usually it's offered me, oh yeah, I'll have a slice.
But if you saw a Cornish pasty, you might be like, Oh yes, definitely.
It's hard to resist.
Thank you for sharing that about you.
(29:53):
It's always fascinating to get an insight into.
the author's lives, it's really good.
So you've written Transparent Truth, you said it kind of happened by accident because youweren't setting out to write a book, but have you been bitten by the book writing bug?
(30:14):
Are you thinking of writing something else?
Is there something else in the works?
Or you know, where are you at in terms of that?
I haven't, well people have asked me that several occasions ago have you got somethingcast and I haven't actually.
I doubt if this will be the only book I write or whether something else will come out orwhether I'll end up expanding on it.
(30:36):
That's probably most likely I guess.
So I haven't got anything in the works at the moment but you know I do read quite a bitand so who knows I mean at the moment I'm reading this great book by Todd Fink called
biblical sites and travel guide because I wanted to go to Israel and I suppose I got a fewyears back then the whole episode all the trouble started yeah so it got cancelled so I've
(31:04):
been reading ably about that and the historical tour of the Holy Land as well I've beenreading which gives you a nice background history of know of Israel and so yeah so nothing
in the pipeline to write at the moment but certainly
I'm reading a lot about Israel and trying to, you know, increase my knowledge, really.
(31:27):
fascinating.
And where can people buy your book if they want to get a copy of the Transparent Truth?
Where can they get a copy, whether online or in a bookshop?
And have you got a website or social media where people can find you all that sort ofthing?
Right.
So the Transparent Truth is available on Amazon and the
(31:50):
It's also available with Apple as well Apple books you can see this and The as a paperbackbut also as an ebook you can go in either format and The ebooks are priced at less I think
that a pound really, know or I think two pound an apple something or two dollars and youknow, less than that price at the lowest point and and in the Paperback I think
(32:18):
It's around about £8, I think it is, buy online.
yeah, so they're the platforms that they're mainly available for.
I think it's Roku and there's a few other different platforms around as well.
They're of online books, yeah, that you can get them from.
So, OK.
And as we were recording this, I noticed your equipment that you're using to chat with metoday online.
(32:43):
And you mentioned that there's the possibility of an audio book coming soon.
Is that right?
That's right, yes, I've just, I've had lots of people, know, I've given the book to,because I've given the books out as well freely, because you have to buy so many when you
publish your book.
And that's all, I find it difficult to read, you know, from a book, but I tend to listento lot of podcasts and things like that.
(33:07):
So thought, right, okay, I don't want people to miss out.
So I've endeavored to start to record the book.
I'm doing it in my own voice, which is...
It's going to be interesting, with my accent.
But yes, so I've started to record the book.
So there'll be an audio version as well, hopefully within two or three months.
(33:31):
Wonderful.
That's something to look out for as well.
Well, thank you.
Thank you so much, Martin, for chatting with us here on the Christian Book Club podcasttoday.
Thank you, Matt.
Thank you as well for listening to this episode of The Christian Book Blob.
I pray that it's blessed you, and if it's provoked questions in you, well, go and get acopy of the book.
And don't forget that this episode is just one of many.
(33:57):
We are fast approaching our 100th episode, which will be coming up soon, which I'm reallyexcited about.
And we have two episodes that come out every month on the 1st and on the 15th.
So another episode will be dropping really soon.
where you can join me again for another episode of The Book Blurb where I'll be chattingwith another Christian author all about their books, their life and their faith.
(34:20):
Thank you so much for listening and I look forward to having the pleasure of your companyagain really soon.
Thank you and goodbye.
Thanks for listening to Christian Book Blurb with your host Matt McChlery.
Do give it a like, give it a share and let your friends know all about it.
We do hope to see you again soon on another Christian Book Blurb.
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