GodPod

Why did God create the world? And why has God allowed Satan to exist? Jon March, a curate at HTB, joins Mike and Jane to debate the origin of the world and of evil… and to discuss the important question of whether or not it’s legitimate to pray for your football team to win.

Is God fair? Why does he seem to choose some people and not others? And if we can ‘just forgive’ each other, why can’t God just forgive us, without Jesus having had to die for our sins? Graham, Mike and Jane discuss the doctrines of election and atonement, and also talk about the Name of God.

Mark Stibbe, New Testament theologian and vicar of St Andrew’s, Chorleywood, joins the regular team to discuss Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code.

What was the nature of Jesus’ resurrection, and how does it relate to our own hope for life after death? In fact, is such hope just for our own lives or for the whole of creation? Graham, Mike, and Jane discuss the bodily resurrection of Jesus and its affirmation of the goodness of physical matter, drawing out its implications for the way we live our lives now as well as our hope for the future. They also address the question of whether there is a hierarchy in heaven. Do some people get better mansions than others?

Our three theologians grapple with the doctrine of the Trinity and its relation to the cross. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus cries out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). What does this cry of dereliction tell us about the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Can God suffer? Can he change? Is God’s action sometimes ‘hidden’, as Pascal suggested? Graham, Mike, and Jane go on to consider the relationship between prayer and time and the nature of human participation in the work of God. Can we pray for things that have already happened? Can we pray for our loved ones who have died?

Dr Ashley Null joins Graham, Mike and Jane to discuss the life and theology of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury under the Tudor monarchs at the time of the English Reformation.

The questions are rolling in, and Mike and Graham are joined by Jane Williams for the first time. What does it mean to be baptised, and what is the relationship between the sacrament of baptism and our salvation? What do we think about the practices of infant and adult baptism? And, on a different note… how do dinosaurs fit into the Christian account of creation?

Where does evil come from? And what happens when we die? Graham Tomlin and Mike Lloyd dive straight in with two of life’s biggest questions on this, the first GodPod.