Faith at the Frontiers

Let's open the science & religion debate to include voices from beyond the White Western world! In this episode Barney interviews two Anglican bishops who are doing just that:

Do you love reading sci-fi or fantasy? Have you ever thought about its theologial potential? In this episode, Barney discusses the value of science fiction for exploring dimensions of the Christian faith, with:

It may sound like a strange idea to teach science in seminaries. But after recording this episode, it made much more sense to the hosts! Lucas Mix (ECLAS) and Katy Hinman (AAAS) help run help run ECLAS’ ‘Science for Seminaries’ programme, in which future pastors, priests, and church leaders get to learn what it’s like to engage in science and with scientists. We discuss questions like:

• Why do people turn to their religious leaders for advice on scientific questions?
• Why has there been justified suspicion of science from minority ethnic groups, and what do we do about it?
• What might Science for Seminaries look like in the future?

If you’re interested to learn more, check out:

What is really at stake in seeing faith & science as in conflict with each other? What are the origins of this conflict narrative and what were the theological motivations behind it?

This episode combines themes from two series: climate change and science/religion. Our interviewee, Tim Middleton, looks at climate change through the lens of trauma. Is the earth traumatised? What would that mean? What sort of call to action does it lead to? Join us to find a powerful new way of looking at our relationship to the planet! 

Thanks to Jamie Maule for his sound engineering skills!

Heard of robot priests? Or robot rabbis who can answer any question about Judaic law? Do these things sound great or scary to you? 

In this episode we interview Dr Beth Singler about AI, the effect of online space on religious communities, and other interactions between religion and the digital world. 

We interview Chris Bennett, who has researched the ‘evolutionary’ reasons for religious beliefs such as attributing personal agency to storms, trees, etc. What should religious people think of such arguments? How should they respond to them? What about evolutionary accounts of other mental functions, like mathematics, morality, or even the notion of causality that evolutionary explanations themselves depend on? Tune in to hear all these things discussed! 

What is ‘Christian Platonism’ and why is it the best theological position for engaging with science? 

Carmody questions whether there is any stable meaning to our definitions of science and religion. Barney & Emily offer various definitions of science and religion, and Carmody knocks them all down!

Emily Qureshi-Hurst & Barney interview Professor Alister McGrath on the whole area of science & religion. We discuss questions like:

• Why do many people think that science has disproved religion?
• Why do many religious people distrust science?
• Is science a body of knowledge, or a method of inquiry?
• Can we trust experts?

A fascinating and illuminating episode with one of its greatest practitioners who has made the field what it is today! 

Introducing a new series on science & religion, hosted by Barney and Emily Qureshi-Hurst.

Science & religion is one of the greatest frontier challenges in today's world. Are they compatible? Do they overlap? What happens when they come into conflict, as with the most famous example of evolution and Genesis 1? What does science reveal about ourselves and our world that Christianity needs to engage with? 

This series will feature interviews with Alister McGrath, Bethany Sollereder, Beth Singler, Carmody Grey, and others. 

Barney interviews Rev Ryan Cook about his experiences transporting refugees from the Ukraine border to south Germany. We discuss questions like:

• What’s it like to befriend people when you don’t speak a common language?
• What are the practical nitty-gritty difficulties of integrating refugees into a new country? What are some of the unexpected challenges?
• Why does Ryan call love a ‘painful word’?

We (Barney, Carmody, & Bethany) interview Dr Ondrej Dyck (material science PhD) on whether climate change is really happening and, if so, whether we should care. This episode goes to the heart of questions about how far we should trust science in a world saturated with political agendas and hidden motivations. And even if we agree on the facts, what ought we to do in light of them? That, we all recognise, is not a scientific question at all.

Here are links to the two documents we mention in our conversation:

How do we stop living in echo chambers that only repeat what we already agree with? How do we ensure everyone's opinion is taken seriously and represented in positions of power? This is Part 2 of the double episode with Dr Tobias Cremer of Oxford University. After some more discussion of Christianity and right-wing populism, the conversation turns to questions of what we do about populism and the elitist backlash against it. It turns out that religious institutions like churches and mosques have a unique capacity to do something here, for reasons you may not have thought of.

Thanks to Jamie Maule for audio editing!

Right-wing populism is growing in the West and its members talk a lot about recovering Christian values. But how Christian are they really, what do they mean by Christian values, and does the media tell the truth about who they are?

This is part one of a double episode with Dr Tobias Cremer of Oxford University. He surprised us all with his insights about ‘cultural evangelicalism’, the tension within the idea of ‘liberal democracy’ and what right-wing populists say when you ask them ‘What is Christianity?’

Is Western culture relativistic? Has it ever been relativistic? We were raised with the answer ‘yes’, but now Carmody, Bethany, and I are doubting this claim. The Ukraine War seems to have evoked a strong reaction from everyone that points in the direction of universal moral principles, whether one agrees with them or not. 

Barney, Carmody, and Bethany are back for an episode on the Ukraine War. We discuss questions like:

• What are Putin's real reasons for attacking Ukraine? Are they religious or political? 
• Why is the media not discussing these reasons?
• Why does Bethany know how to do Ukrainian dancing?
• Why does Barney have an icon in his house that came from Putin's confessor?

Barney, Carmody, and Bethany are back for a third episode on how we conceptualize climate change. We address questions like: 

• Why is there so much resistance to welcoming migrants?
• Why do we feel that things are getting worse all the time?
• Do we expect more comfort and security than we ought?
• Is climate change a punishment for greed and negligence?

Join us for a rollicking ride through these questions!

• Why is it so hard to believe that our daily actions cause changes to the climate?
• Why is it so hard to act in ways that are environmentally responsible?
• How much responsibility do we have as individuals to make ecological choices? 

These questions and others are discussed by Carmody, Bethany, and Barney in a follow-up to the previous episode. 

We tend to think about climate change in terms of crisis, apocalypse, and personal responsibility. But is this the best way to understand what is going on? Barney chats with Drs Carmody Grey and Bethany Sollereder about how we conceptualise the changes that are going on in our world, and how there are other surprising ways to interpret them.

Seeing refugees as a ‘global phenomenon’ is dangerous because it may cause us to lose focus on the needs of particular refugees in our locality, says Cardinal Michael Czerny, under-secretary for the Migrants & Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development at the Vatican. The first step in cultivating a welcoming attitude is to open our eyes to the vulnerable people in our midst, who many things prevent us from seeing. This leads to four verbs of action that characterize how we should respond not only to refugees but to any vulnerable people we encounter: welcome, protect, promote, and integrate. 

This is a powerful interview that gets at our heart’s attitude towards those on the margins of society. 

What does the Bible really say about loving the stranger? How can Old Testament law guide our national immigration policy? What criteria should governments use to decide who to admit into their territory? In this episode we put these questions and more to James Hoffmeier, professor of Old Testament and author of The Immigration Crisis: Immigrants, Aliens, and the Bible (2008), a popular and influential book in its time although currently out of print.

The most political episode so far. Should nations have an ‘open borders’ policy? Or do they have the right to restrict entry to whom they choose? Should the secular state be expected to enact Christian principles? In this episode, Barney puts these hard-hitting questions and others to Luke Glanville, Professor of International Relations at Australia National University. It’s a no-nonsense episode that gets straight to the heart of the controversies!

This is an unusual episode because Barney is not interviewing, but interviewed for a course on 'contemplative well-being' by Nadya Pohran. Nadya asks Barney lots of questions about the Sermon on the Mount and its relation to social action and contemplation. Only the first 30 minutes are about refugees, but the rest is there in case you find it interesting. 

• First we discuss refugees as those who "hunger and thirst for justice" (Mt 5:6) and as those who are persecuted (Mt 5:11).
• Then we move on and ask: do you have to be a Christian in order to live by Jesus' teachings? Or can anyone benefit from the Sermon on the Mount whether or not they believe in God?
• Next, we ask what it really means not to worry about our lives (Mt 6:25) in light of modern psychology and mental health.
• Finally, we talk about different interpretations of "ask, seek, knock" (Mt 7:7) in the Christian tradition.

Hope you enjoy the episode!