PZ's Podcast

Episode 236 – Psychosis


Listen Later

“Psychosis” is a very strong word for a cultural phenomenon. But it allows us to speak of a fissure over against reality, when groups of people see things around them in a way that is divorced from the facts.

You can apply the phenomenon of group fissure from reality, to anything you like. I can see it in the way a very specific historical reality, the Anglican Church as the English expression of legal and official Protestantism, has been so completely buried by a different “narrative” that it is as if the reality never was and never existed.

So completely, in other words, has a narrative concerning a development in church history taken over the historical facts that it has become AS IF THE REALITY NEVER WAS.

You see this sometimes in relationships. You thought somebody was totally wonderful, and sympathetically disposed towards you, and maybe even loved you. And then, in a single moment, you discovered you were wrong! Everything you thought about the person had been a misreading on your part. They actually hated you and wanted to betray you — after they got what they wanted from you.

“Je repete”: This Happens All the Time.

In this podcast, I refer to a current narrative that is powerful around us. And you have to decide yourself whether you believe that narrative or not. But then I talk about Agatha Christie, and the

up-ending denouement of her famous story “Witness for the Prosecution”. So powerful is Agatha Christie’s narrative-shattering story that it was made into an excellent movie in 1957 by Billy Wilder, starring Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, and Tyrone Power; and then got re-made by the BBC in time for last Christmas. “Witness for the Prosecution” is about a prominent divorce from reality.

And yet, there’s Palm Sunday. And yet, there’s Christ on the Donkey. And yet, there’s a narrative that explodes all ‘narratives’ — the narrative of the Incarnation. Thus the music for this cast: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. I’d put that truth before Agatha Christie’s any time. Moreover, SHE’d agree with me!.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

PZ's PodcastBy Mockingbird

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

67 ratings


More shows like PZ's Podcast

View all
Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life by Tim Keller

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

16,003 Listeners

The Russell Moore Show by Christianity Today, Russell Moore

The Russell Moore Show

1,084 Listeners

Mere Fidelity by Mere Fidelity

Mere Fidelity

336 Listeners

30 Minutes In The New Testament by 1517 Podcasts

30 Minutes In The New Testament

763 Listeners

The Mockingpulpit by Mockingbird

The Mockingpulpit

117 Listeners

Calvary ~ St. George's Sermon Podcast by The Parish of Calvary St. George's

Calvary ~ St. George's Sermon Podcast

49 Listeners

Talkingbird by Mockingbird

Talkingbird

80 Listeners

Being Human with Steve Cuss by Christianity Today

Being Human with Steve Cuss

117 Listeners

The Mockingcast by Mockingbird

The Mockingcast

397 Listeners

Same Old Song by Mockingbird

Same Old Song

206 Listeners

Christian History Almanac by 1517 Podcasts

Christian History Almanac

431 Listeners

Cathedral Church of the Advent by Cathedral Church of The Advent

Cathedral Church of the Advent

29 Listeners

Trinity Forum Conversations by The Trinity Forum

Trinity Forum Conversations

215 Listeners

The Bulletin by Christianity Today

The Bulletin

548 Listeners

The Esau McCaulley Podcast by Esau McCaulley

The Esau McCaulley Podcast

658 Listeners