In the Shift

Episode 26: To understand what it means to be embodied humans, we need to grapple with evolution. But this also means unpacking the apparent conflict between science and religion that often plagues certain streams of Christianity. Many people assume that the claims of science go against the claims of religion, and vice versa. But the reality is, it is only some versions of religion that have a problem with science, and only some scientists who have a problem with religion. The conflict between these two worlds is entirely unnecessary... and a religious or spiritual tradition that means anything to us simply must be open to truth and knowledge wherever it is found. This episode asks why this conflict exists, and suggests some ways of thinking about God and spirituality that can help us to move forward in this conversation.

Episode 25: This episode explores a dynamic of spirituality that does more than just overturn exclusion, but moves intentionally toward inclusion. For some of the early Christians, their experience of the divine Spirit served to break down the barriers that excluded people based on ethnicity, gender, social class and even religious identity. This appears to have taken place, not by eliminating diversity, but by the Spirit-led affirmation of multiple identities and therefore the inclusion of diverse peoples. In this context, the activity of the Spirit is not just about individual mystical experiences, but about the disruption of oppressive systems, exclusive in-out groups, and the movement of people toward justice and compassion.

Episode 24: In this episode I talk through my own personal and theological journey of change. From being surrounded by, inheriting and adopting conservative and exclusionary views toward LGBTQI people, through to a full change of mind and heart, and the embrace of an affirming theology.

Episode 23: This episode features a conversation on sexuality, faith and the journey of coming to a kinder understanding of God and self. Ben grew up in a conservative Christian home, but as a young man had to wrestle with an emerging sexuality that didn’t fit the Christian script he’d been given. This is a personal and honest discussion exploring that journey, what it meant for his spirituality, for relationships and community, and whether he could come to terms with both his sexuality and his faith; things that he’d been told didn’t belong together.

Episode 22: Many forms of Christianity (along with other religions too) hold to a belief that God can heal physical bodies in answer to prayer. In some streams, there are particularly potent versions that claim healing as a promised answer to prayers of faith and conviction. But there's a lot of dishonesty in this conversation, and the reality of people's experience seldom matches the rhetoric. So what do we do with this? Is healing a thing, or is it just wishful thinking? Is talk of God "intervening" in our lives a helpful way to conceive of God, and how does this impact on the way we think about prayer and healing? 

Episode 21: In this episode I talk with Professor of theology and ethics Dr Shane Clifton about the intersections between disability, theology and embodiment. In 2010 Shane had a serious accident that left him a quadriplegic (C5 Incomplete). Since that time his research has explored the intersection between disability studies, virtue ethics, and theology. In this conversation we talk about his accident and what that meant for his own faith, as well as how that has reshaped his academic work as a theologian. We talk about human flourishing, happiness and living a life of meaning, along with how we can see the body in positive terms.

Shane is currently Honorary Professor, at the Centre for Disability Research and Policy, the Faculty of Health Sciences, the University of Sydney. You can find out more about Shane's work by visiting www.shaneclifton.com 

Episode 20: What is a human being? Are we just flesh and blood, or is there something more going on here? What, or who, is the 'real' us? These are questions that humans have been contemplating for thousands of years. In recent times, the idea of humans as body-soul-spirit has become common in certain streams of Christianity... suggesting that the "spirit" is the most real you. But this can lead to a diminishing of the importance of one's own body and of the emotional/physical self. This episode unpacks the language of body-soul-spirit, and makes some alternative suggestions for how we might think about the human experience, the spiritual life, and human flourishing.

Episode 19: In this episode we examine the language of purity, and the way it is used within the Christian tradition. To do so, we explore the psychology of disgust, the principles of contamination, and what all of this has to do with our sense of embodiment. In particular, religious language about sex and sexuality is shaped almost entirely by a purity discourse. But there are some problems that arise when the binary language of purity is used as the primary framework for this arena of our lives. When someone comes to see themselves as "impure", this can lay the ground for feelings of self-loathing and guilt, as well as anger and rejection toward others.

This episode draws on the insights of psychologist and experimental theologian Richard Beck, who explores how the language of purity in Christianity intersects with a psychology of disgust in shaping social and religious exclusion (and how love transforms this paradigm). To read more, see his book -Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality and Mortality.

Episode 18: In the Christian tradition, the terms "holiness" and "the flesh" have often been used to set people in a battle against their own selves, a constant internal wrestle. In seeing life as this ongoing struggle, the result can be repeated feelings of failure and shame and an external projection of self that tries to cover over harsh internal judgements. But what if holiness has much more to do with love than it does with battling against oneself?

Episode 17: This is the beginning of a new series called "In the Flesh", focused on the intersection of faith and spirituality with our reality as physical and embodied human beings. We talk about some of the complicated ways that Christianity has understood the body, including pentecostal dancing in the 80s, stories of worship leaders wanting to leave their bodies so they can love God more, and the repeated prayer ministry apparently required for lustful young men in the church.

In light of this, I discuss how dualistic ways of thinking have shaped such negative views of the body, and how this can lead to a spirituality that is often about escaping or transcending our own embodiment, rather than embracing it.