Episode 92 - How Should Christians Engage With Other Religions?
Today’s culture celebrates tolerance of other faiths, but for Christians, engaging neighbours of different religions while opposing what they believe can be tough. How do we do this robustly, truthfully, and lovingly? Aaron and Andy dive into this complex issue, share personal stories—including Aaron’s recent visit to Iraq—and discuss how Christians can build meaningful bridges to those of other beliefs as a pathway to Christ. Much depends, of course, on why such bridges are built—and how much we expect them to carry.
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The book Aaron mentioned:
Austen Henry Layard, "Nineveh and its remains" - online at https://archive.org/details/ninevehanditsre03layagoog
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Episode 91 - Can the government tell you how to educate your children?
As the UK government continues to float the "Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill" through parliament, it could have a significant impact on the freedom of Christians to homeschool their children in future. While some aspects of the bill will seem like common sense, others raise red flags over government intrusiveness into families, signalling the thin end of the wedge towards effective state control over home education.
In this episode Andy and Aaron discuss numerous questions surrounding this. What right does the government have to speak into the education of your children? What is statism, and why is it especially dangerous in a secular climate? Why is bureaucracy a particular danger in education legislation? What strategies can Christians employ to challenge state incursions with both winsomeness and integrity?
** ENJOY POD OF THE GAPS? Why support the podcast; just a small donation helps us keep making these episodes: https://soundcloud.com/wkop-podcast **
RESOURCES:
- https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909
- https://www.homeschoolnetwork.org.uk
- Christian Home Education Support Service (CHESS) ... https://chessuk.org
- https://education.christianconcern.com/home-education/
- Anthony Forsyth, Caesar and the Church (2022). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caesar-Church-Biblical-Study-Government/dp/1934952729
- Aaron Edwards, "The Violence of Bureaucracy and the Gospel of Peace" https://brill.com/view/journals/ijpt/12/2/article-p195_4.xml
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Episode 90 - The AI Revolution: Utopia or Dystopia?
The advances in AI have skyrocketed, with more and more people beginning to make use of it in everyday life. In time, AI will have a monumental effect on society at virtually every level. As such, questions about the ethics and theology of artificial intelligence. are no longer speculative, but are right here on our doorstep.
How should Christians respond? What positives are there in AI? Where can it help relieve unnecessary burdens? Where are the increasing dangers too? As AI gets smarter, do we get dumber?
How do think theologically about AI? How does sin factor into AI? If we create AI in the image of sinful humans, are we unleashing something capable of ever greater destruction? Could AI become "self-aware" at some point? If so, how would we categorise it? Is AI capable of "good" or "bad" moral actions?
Questions truly do abound! We address many of them, and more, in this jam-packed episode of Pod of the Gaps!
**** RESOURCES MENTIONED ****
AI Tools:
* ChatGPT (from OpenAI): https://claude.ai
* Claude (from Anthropic): https://claude.ai
* Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai
* Matthew Berman, 'OpenAI's New o1 Is LYING ON PURPOSE?! (Thinking For Itself)', https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlZfndaO01c
* George M. Coghill, ‘Artificial Intelligence (and Christianity): Who? What? Where? When? Why? sand How?' Studies in Christian Ethic’. Studies in Christian Ethics 36.3 (2023) 604-619 (online at https://doi.org/10.1177/09539468231169462)
* Ethan Mollick, "Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI" (London: WH Allen, 2024)
* Alan M. Turing, ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’. Mind LIX.236 (1950) 433-460
* C. R. Wiley, 'Discerning the Spirits, Part 1: When it comes to AI, nobody's home--except you" https://crwiley.substack.com/p/discerning-the-spirits-part-1
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Episode 89 - Entrepreneurs, Pioneers, and the Church
The history of humanity is replete with examples of trailblazers able to think outside the box, disrupt existing conventions, pioneer new ways of thinking, and advance into new territory. We might think of great geniuses of the past like Thomas Edison, or perhaps the more recent technological pioneers like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. Such people have often had the ability to lead and advance with extraordinary creativity, conviction, and courage, and have achieved significant things.
Why are there now so few of these kinds of leaders in the Church? Does the pioneer's aggressive and disruptive approach to convention inevitably jar with Christian virtues like humility, love, and sacrifice? Or is it rather that we have excluded entrepreneurial courage, creativity, and confrontation from Christian values? Does our fear of the abuse of power end up stifling the necessary freedom of pioneer leadership?
Are we often in danger of overplaying Christ's servant-hearted qualities at the expense of his aggressive and confrontational decision-making? How might church leaders encourage more business entrepreneurs in the Church to succeed and advance the kingdom in a wholly Christlike manner?
** ENJOY POD OF THE GAPS? Why not make a 2025 resolution and support the podcast; just a small donation helps us keep making these episodes: https://soundcloud.com/wkop-podcast **
Resources:
- Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk (2024). https://www.waterstones.com/book/elon-musk/walter-isaacson/9781398536418
- Deborah Cadbury, Chocolate Wars (2011). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chocolate-Wars-150-Year-Rivalry-Greatest/dp/1610390512
- Aaron Edwards, "Apostolic Leadership and the Spectre of Spiritual Abuse
Suspicions of Pioneer Authority as Hindrances to Pioneer Mission" Eucharisma 1 (Spring 2024). https://eucharisma.co.uk/apostolic-leadership-and-the-spectre-of-spiritual-abuse/#32990516-3f6b-4dbe-950b-82dfd2074bfc-link
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Episode 88 - Six Challenges for the Church in 2025
Pod of the Gaps returns for another year, kicking off with our annual New Year live-reveal of Aaron and Andy's six key challenges for the Church in the year ahead (three each!) as we seek to meet this cultural moment wisely and faithfully in light of the Word of God. As always, if you care about the direction of the Church in the challenging times ahead, you'll want to listen to this one!
An occasional podcast featuring Aaron Edwards and Andy Bannister. Each episode sees the two friends take a contemporary issue in culture and explore it from a Christian perspective.
Featuring banter, philosophy, culture, theology, bad jokes, apologetics, and more — the podcast aims to help Christians think wisely about the challenges of living in the 21st century.
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Theological and Political Disclaimer
The content of this podcast does not represent the views of any institutions, colleges, networks, churches, or secret government organisations with which we are affiliated or employed."
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