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

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?

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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

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

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

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!

Christmas comes but once a year, but over the years we each tend to build up a collection of favourite and not-so-favourite parts of it. In this special festive episode, Aaron and Andy each reveal their best and worst from the ghosts of Christmas past, from six categories including everything from movies to traditions to carols to evangelism, and more!

They also talk through once again why Christmas truly matters, and why and how evangelicals really should make the most of this unique time of year to be joyful, generous, and bold in proclaiming Christ and living out the message of Christmas in our lives, trappings and all.

** 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 **

** THINGS WE MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE **

"Have You Ever Wondered?" >> https://www.solas-cpc.org/hyew-book/

The resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, made headline news across the UK and the wider world. This itself points to the ongoing public significance of the CofE and the knock-on effects for the wider church.

Why did Welby choose to resign after pressure of public disrepute from external liberal media and government, rather than after the pressure from faithful Christians over his handling of LGBT+ issues or his support for other-religious festivals? What does this tell us about the priorities not only of his own leadership, but of the institution more broadly?

How did Welby's evangelical convictions erode during his time in office? Was the authority of Scripture subtly replaced by a vague sense of "theological reflection"? What lessons can be learned for leaders and institutions going forward regarding "reputation"?

Andy and Aaron cover all this and more in the latest episode of Pod of the Gaps.

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RESOURCES:

- Welby Resignation statement https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/news-and-statements/statement-archbishop-canterbury-0

- Lambeth Statement on LLF https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/news-and-statements/lambeth-palace-statement-living-love-and-faith

- 'Simpering Onto the Sexular Carpet with the Archbishop of Canterbury', Stephen McAlpine, https://stephenmcalpine.com/simpering-onto-the-sexular-carpet-with-the-archbishop-of-canterbury/

- 'How church attendance crumbled under Justin Welby' https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/12/church-attendance-falls-justin-welby-archbishop-canterbury/

- 'Diwali, the Gospel, and AoC Welby' https://virtueonline.org/diwali-gospel-and-archbishop-justin-welby

Euthanasia (or "good death") often returns to the front line of political, ethical, and religious debate, most recently with the "Assisted Dying" bill brought before the British parliament. The language used to describe euthanasia (as with abortion) is often very reasonable-sounding and compassionate. But does it conceal? How does such language subtly change our response to what is really going on

What is the danger of instituting laws which change the way we view the value of human life within society? How should Christians respond to the complexities of this topic sensitively and wisely? Join Aaron and Andy once more as they dive into another vitally important topic for our times.

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SOME OF THE RESOURCES WE MENTIONED ...

Douglas Murray, 'The West’s uncivilised euthanasia policy', The Spectator, https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-wests-uncivilised-euthanasia-policy/

Kevil Yuill, 'The inhumanity of ‘assisted dying', Spiked, https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/04/03/the-inhumanity-of-assisted-dying/

Christian Medical Fellowship: https://bit.ly/3A3by0J

John Patrick: https://johnpatrick.ca

Why do many historic church institutions often end up undermining the very reason they are meant to exist? There have been many movements and institutions in the history of the Church. Some last longer than others. But over time, they always become more complex, more unwieldy, more difficult to “manage”. Why do the inheritors of incredible legacies of vibrant Christian faith often act so differently from those who left the legacy itself? What is behind the desire of a leader or group to protect an institution’s traditions, processes, and reputation at the expense of their Biblical and missional principles?

What makes Christian institutions especially prone to “ossification”? How can churches and movements ensure they don’t allow their pre-existing expectations and challenges to deceive them in how they discern the shape of their future without cutting themselves off from their past?

Join Andy and Aaron as they discuss all this and more on the latest episode of Pod of the Gaps.

RESOURCES MENTIONED ...

V. Raymond Edman, 'They Found the Secret' (Zondervan, 1984)

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Despite the obvious anti-Christian trajectory of Western society, a growing number of influencers are beginning to see the moral and cultural benefits of Christianity. It could even be said that Christianity is becoming "cool" again!

But is there a danger that people misunderstand Christianity by merely seeing its general moral value? Are such people merely becoming inoculated to true Christianity, ignoring the parts they don't like? How did Christian nations like Britain come about? What might it take to bring them about again? How can churches respond well to this strange cultural moment?

Join Aaron and Andy for another long-awaited episode of Pod of the Gaps!

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

- Justin Brierley, "The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God"

- Kisin, Konstantin, "An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West"

- "The Unravelling of the West, with Melanie Phillips", The Brendan O'Neill Show, https://bit.ly/3TELcZa

- "In Defence of Christian Britain". https://thatgoodfight.substack.com/p/in-defence-of-christian-britain

- "Christian Britain has always been imaginary". https://theconversation.com/christian-britain-has-always-been-imaginary-its-time-to-teach-children-that-28696

- "Christian preacher assaulted by Islamic mob chanting ‘Allahu Akbar...". https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/christian-preacher-assaulted-by-islamic-mob-chanting-allahu-akbar-wins-10000-pay-out-after-false-arrest-at-speakers-corner/