Life & Faith

By Centre for Public ChristianitySociety & Culture Religion & Spirituality

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Typical duration
38 min
per episode

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Life & Faith episodes

March 30, 2015 Gay and celibate
Dr Wesley Hill is Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry in Pennsylvania. He is a committed Christian who is also gay and celibate, and has written about his experiences in his book Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality. He talks to Simon Smart about why he’s convinced that homosexual practice is not an option for Christians; how the Bible views marriage, singleness, and community; and how the figure of Jesus is compelling enough to inspire a very counter-cultural life of celibacy.
15 min
March 30, 2015 Restorative Justice
As flawed people in a flawed world, we face breakdowns in relationship all the time. What happens when we are wronged by someone else - or when we’ve wronged them? What are the possibilities for justice - or forgiveness - or even restoration? Dr Geoff Broughton talks to Simon Smart and Natasha Moore about his work on the streets and in inner-city churches, his new book Restorative Christ: Jesus, Justice, and Discipleship, and why he thinks faith and justice are deeply connected.
15 min
March 13, 2015 Life and Faith: Domestic violence and the Church
For International Women’s Day in 2013, Justine Toh interviewed Captain Melanie-Anne Holland, who manages a Salvation Army women’s refuge, and Dr Lynne M. Baker, author of the book Counselling Christian Women on How to Deal with Domestic Violence, about the effects of domestic abuse and the relevance of this issue to faith communities in particular. Two years on, the interview is if anything even more relevant: domestic violence affects up to 1 in 6 Australian women, and - with Rosie Batty being made Australian of the Year, and recent stories about domestic abuse in Christian marriages in particular - there is a growing momentum behind efforts to tackle this issue head-on.
15 min
March 13, 2015 Life and Faith: Urban Village
We all struggle with the conflict between our desire for autonomy on the one hand, and our desire to be part of a community on the other. Social commentator Hugh Mackay’s latest book, The Art of Belonging: It’s not where you live, it’s how you live, weighs up the question "Who am I?" against the even bigger question, "Who are we?" He talks to Simon Smart about the drought of belonging in contemporary Australia, the appeal of “village” living, and how real community can be cultivated in the places we actually live in.
15 min
February 19, 2015 Life and Faith: Speaking Freely
Citizenfour, Rosewater, and The Interview are three very different movies - but they all make a strong case for the importance of free speech. Simon Smart and Natasha Moore discuss the threats to people’s right to speak freely that these films warn against, and what Christian faith has to contribute to debates about whether and when to limit freedom of speech.
15 min
December 17, 2014 Life and Faith: At the Movies: Summer 2014
From sci-fi thrillers to the final instalment of The Hobbit, it promises to be a rich summer of movie-going. Natasha Moore and Simon Smart discuss a few of the films on offer: the new Bible epic Exodus, directed by Ridley Scott; Russell Crowe’s WWI saga The Water Diviner; and the star-studded space odyssey Interstellar.
16 min
December 03, 2014 Life and Faith: A Doubter's Guide to the Bible Part III
The Bible continues to be the world's bestselling book - but it isn’t the easiest book to just dive into. John Dickson’s forthcoming book A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible: Inside History’s Bestseller for Believers and Skeptics wants to make it easier for everyone - whether Christians or curious doubters - to find their way around the Bible. Part III considers the New Testament, from the Christmas story to the book of Revelation’s account of where everything is headed, and how it relates to the overarching story of the Bible.
16 min
November 19, 2014 Life and Faith: A Doubter's Guide to the Bible Part II
The Bible continues to be the world's bestselling book - but it isn’t the easiest book to just dive into. John Dickson’s forthcoming book A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible: Inside History’s Bestseller for Believers and Skeptics wants to make it easier for everyone - whether Christians or curious doubters - to find their way around the Bible. Part II takes us on a whirlwind tour of the whole of the Old Testament - Abraham’s promises, Moses’ laws, Joshua’s wars - and offers a few key concepts for understanding it as a unified story.
16 min
November 13, 2014 Life and Faith: A Doubter's Guide to the Bible Part I
The Bible continues to be the world's bestselling book - but it isn’t the easiest book to just dive into. John Dickson’s forthcoming book A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible: Inside History’s Bestseller for Believers and Skeptics wants to make it easier for everyone - whether Christians or curious doubters - to find their way around the Bible. Part I tackles the Bible's controversial opening chapters - creation, the “fall”, and how they explain the world in which we find ourselves.
16 min
November 05, 2014 Life and Faith: Family Matters
There is an abundance of evidence that children do best in stable families with two biological parents, and that the casualisation of families is one of the leading factors entrenching disadvantage for kids. Bettina Arndt has been a sex therapist, author, and clinical psychologist, and after decades of talking to the Australian public about sex has become an advocate for that most old-fashioned of institutions: marriage. Talking about the importance of marriage in ensuring good outcomes for children across our society, however, has proven very unpopular. Life and Faith asks Bettina about the evidence, and why people don’t want to hear it.
16 min