Matters of Life and Death

Abuse has been exposed in every corner of the church in recent times, but the evangelical tradition has been particularly badly hit with a litany of respected leaders revealed to have been prolific abusers. One of the worst was John Smyth, but the official Church of England investigation into him including a fascinating appendix from Elly Hanson, a psychologist who specialises in abuse. Elly unpicked not just the psychology of why Smyth sadistically beat dozens of young men in his garden shed, but also the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the evangelical sub-culture which he exploited: hierarchies, loyalties, patriarchy, alongside assumptions about the nature of sin and repentance. In this episode she joins us to talk through her conclusions, and discuss whether evangelicalism can be purged of its risky communal practices and made safer, without losing its fundamental theological convictions.

You can read Elly’s appendix here, starting on p67: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/john-smyth-review-all-appendices.pdf

Tim’s analysis of the whole Makin report into John Smyth and its implications for the church: https://tswyatt.substack.com/p/sparing-the-rod


• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to [email protected]
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Our four-part series on the deeper narrative of the Bible comes to an end with New Creation. Just as with the beginning of the story, this final chapter is often overlooked in many churches and the Christian narrative is compressed simply to fall and redemption. But losing sight of our future hope and where the story ends is hugely detrimental to our ability to think through ethical issues well. So what do we believe about resurrection, ascension, heaven, the second coming and new creation, and how should that shape our thinking as Christians?

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to [email protected]
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Our series on the theological foundations of Christian ethics and the grand narrative of the Bible has reached the third chapter – redemption. How is the story of what Christ accomplished on the cross a uniquely Christian approach to the problem of evil, and what light does it shed on our approach to everything from artificial intelligence to reproductive medicine? In this episode we discuss the mysteries of the cosmic universal story of redemption – with a lamb slain from the foundation of the world alongside a real historical man dying in a real place and time once and for all. And we try to think through why this redemption story seems to be retold time and time again across our secular culture, from Marvel superhero films to Harry Potter, and why it remains so compelling and yet also strangely impossibly optimistic.

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to [email protected]
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Creation. Fall. Redemption. New Creation. This is the grand narrative of scripture and the theological foundation we use to try to probe into the ethical challenges thrown up by advances in science and technology. We looked at creation, and now we’ve come to the Fall. What is the uniquely Christian approach to the nature of evil in our world, and how does it stand in sharp contrast to our secular society’s presumptions? Are people really fundamentally just good or all bad, and what are the shortcomings of that reductionist approach? And how does the Christian story about evil lead us to be both more pessimistic and more optimistic than the world is about humanity?

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to [email protected]
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Over the Christmas break, we’re going to be returning to a series we did on Matters of Life and Death a few years ago, exploring the theological underpinnings of much of what we discuss on the podcast. Many Christians, going back to church fathers, have understood the grand narrative of scripture through a four-part journey: from Creation, to Fall, to Redemption, to New Creation. This week we are beginning with creation. Why is it that some traditions in the church have developed such hostility and suspicion of everything beyond the church walls? Is it Biblical or godly to hold such fear for what he has made? How can we rediscover the character of God – his truthfulness, goodness and beauty – in his creation? And how can believers faithfully celebrate what he has made?

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to [email protected]
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com