In our society, fatherhood is under attack. The crisis of masculinity leads many fathers to abdicate their responsibility for their children, and for those around them. Men are regularly condemned for aspiring to the virtues that once inspired good men to be good fathers. What do we lose when fatherhood is reviled? What is the impact of feminism on how fatherhood is seen today? How can churches encourage and teach fathers to model good fatherhood well?

RESOURCES:

Warren Farrell, "The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It"

Nancy Pearcey, "The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes"

Doug Wilson, "Father Hunger: Why God Calls Men to Love and Lead Their Families"

**** Pod of the Gaps is a listener supported podcast! If you enjoy the show, please help cover our costs — neither Andy nor Aaron is paid to do the show, it's a labour of love. Your support helps cover our hosting costs, books, and the occasional coffee! If you enjoy our mix of wit and wisdom, please help us keep the show going and support us for a small amount at https://www.patreon.com/wkop ****

Some Christians (including some prominent leaders!) have begun to desscribe the Biblical depiction of God the Father as "problematic". Whilst there are many who find the idea of God's fatherhood difficult to accept due to their own negative experiences of human fatherhood, what do we risk by projecting those negative experiences onto Scripture?

Is it now inescapably difficult to accept God's fatherhood because of its connection to "patriarchy"? Can God be seen just as much as our mother as our father? Would it matter if we dispensed with God's male pronoun and began describing Him as a "She" or an "It"? What is the wider impact of all of these questions upon how we interpret the authority of Scripture in the life of the Church today?

Join Andy Bannister and Aaron Edwards as they dive into this issue with their usual mix of wit and wisdom, the Bible and banter.

** The cover image for this episode is the oil painting "The Return of the Prodigal" by Rembrandt **

A shift seems to have begun to occur in recent years regarding religion. As many public intellectuals have seen the philosophical and moral foundations of western society crumbling away, a new yearning has begun to arise for a greater, more transcendent story to make sense of life. This trend is increasingly leading people to reconsider Christianity.

On this special episode of Pod of the Gaps, we interview well known Christian broadcaster and author, Justin Brierley, about his new book, "The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God". Justin has been discussing these topics on his show with atheists, agnostics, and Christians for almost two decades. Over the years he has interviewed high profile guests including Richard Dawkins, Douglas Murray, Louise Perry, Tom Holland, and Jordan Peterson, each of whom contribute fascinating perspectives on religion, and on the surprising appeal of Christianity in our time.

Find out all about Justin's new book, including how to pre-order it, at: https://justinbrierley.com/the-surprising-rebirth-of-belief-in-god/

**** Pod of the Gaps depends wholly on the support of its listeners to pay the costs of the podcast! If you enjoy our mix of wit and wisdom, please help us keep the show going and support us for a small amount at https://www.patreon.com/wkop ****

Amidst a flurry of new developments within the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) many are wondering about the future effects of this kind of technology upon our societies. There are ongoing concerns about negative effects upon people's jobs as well as deeper issues around human identity itself, and even our survival. Whilst there are many efficiency benefits to AI programmes such as ChatGPT, are we sufficiently aware of the disadvantages? What do we lose, for example, when we allow machine learning to do our writing, speaking, and thinking for us? Whilst tech companies continue spending billions on AI development, are they receiving enough theological or ethical pushback in the process? Can we trust the secular values which often lie behind these brave new worlds being "created" before us? Have we so elevated the life of the mind and the life of the spirit that we've lost sight of the importance of our embodiment as humans? How might the Church speak into the inevitable shortcomings of AI to overcome the deepest challenges we face as human beings? All this and more on our latest episode!

SOURCES

- Sherry Turkle: https://www.sherryturkle.com

- Nick Bostrom, "Superintelligence" (2014)

- https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/

- Paul Kingsnorth, Alexandria: A Novel (Graywolf Press, 2020)

- David Noble, "The Religion of Technology: The Divinity of Man and the Spirit of Invention" (Penguin, 1997)

- C. S. Lewis, "The Great Divorce" (1946)

- https://a16z.com/2023/06/06/ai-will-save-the-world/

- https://slaynews.com/news/wef-ai-rewrite-bible-create-religions-actually-correct/

At a time of significant socio-political unrest across the western world, many Christians today are asking the question about the extent to which Christians should or shouldn't be involved or invested in political issues.

A recent (and somewhat controversial) political conference on small-c "conservativism" in the UK has sparked fresh debates about the role Christianity has in helping to address the key political challenges facing western civilisation.

But what is the Church's actual role in this supposed to look like? Isn't it dangerous when churches wade too far into politics? Where can it go wrong? Equally, given that the public square is never "neutral", what happens if Christians stay out of politics altogether? What about the likes of William Wilberforce and others, whose faith informed their politics and radically transformed society? How can we allow the Gospel to speak into complex political issues without losing our way in the process?

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For Andy's new book, mentioned at the start of the episode, see: http://solas-cpc.org/httaj

As the Church in the West faces some of the most fundamental ideological assaults on its beliefs in centuries, Christian colleges and institutions have become increasingly impotent to challenge them. Whilst universities have been on a progressive slide for decades, recently even evangelical "Bible" colleges have begun to distance themselves from Biblical perspectives on many key issues.

What's gone wrong? How did we get here? Has the need for validation, accreditation, and academic reputation hindered the kind of theological and missional the Church needs in the years ahead? Are there alternative ways of thinking about theological education that might offer something better for the future?

How should Christians defend their faith when their beliefs are under attack? What counts as an "appropriate" or "inappropriate" way for Christians to engage in discussions or debates? Too often Western Christians have decided that being "winsome" is the only correct posture, as if there were an authorised code of conduct for all. Many prominent and famous apologists in recent years have emphasised the need for a softer, less direct, story-based approach to public engagement at the expense of the contending for the faith with clear conviction.

But have we reached a time in which Christians need to become more confrontational? Are there some groups, such as Muslims, for whom confrontation and conviction might actually be more "winsome"? Is our motivation to be "gentle" really just a desire to please people and be liked? How can we recover a more holistically Biblical stance to the way we talk, engage, discuss, and defend the Christian faith today?

RESOURCES:

- 'Dawah Clowns Interrupting Conversation, The Siraj Circus Comes To Bob' (2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Eodk1A7x14

- Rod Dreher, Live Not By Lies (2020)

- https://www.bethinking.org/author/jay-smith/page/all

- https://www.solas-cpc.org/category/video/shortanswers/

What is "revival"? This term has been making the headlines in recent times, sparking fresh interest in what it does (or does not) mean, and why it may (or may not) matter. After the remarkable events at Asbury University in the US, many flocked from around the world to get a taste of what was happening, whilst many more wondered what the wider implications of such events might be. At a time in which many historic western denominations are capitulating on holiness issues left, right, and centre, arguably it's not a bad time for a manifest experience of God's holiness.

But it's also true that "revival" can be easily misunderstood or misused. How do we interpret such events wisely? What can we learn from previous revivals and those who've sought to understand them? Is there a danger that we overcomplicate or over-categorise extraordinary moves of God? And how can we delight in what God is doing in places around the world whilst praying for similar moves of the Spirit wherever we happen to be?

RESOURCES:

- Jonathan Edwards, "On Revival" (Banner of Truth, 1965)

- Stuart Piggin, "Firestorm of the Lord: The History and Prospects for Revival in the Church and the World" (Paternoster, 2000)

- Ben Pugh, "Bold Faith: A Closer Look at the Five Key Ideas of Charismatic Christianity" (Wipf & Stock, 2017)

- https://www.cliffcollege.ac.uk/courses/pathway/leadership-mission-ministry-lmm

The wonders of modern technology mean many men now spend most of their working lives sat at desks or screens, exerting very little physical energy. We now pay money to do the kind of labour for which our forebears were themselves paid. What are the hidden costs of this today? Have we become less active, less fulfilled, and less purposeful in the world as a result?

The "Muscular Christianity" movement in the 19th century saw these problems well in advance. At a time where Christianity, for many men, was becoming overly intellectual and impractical, the Muscular Christians exhorted men to rediscover the positive use of their bodies as a spiritual and theological imperative. Although this led some towards a more "social gospel", the movement grasped key aspects of the Christian faith which have again been neglected today, such as the cultivation of character through brotherhood and sport, the significance of distinctly male and female bodies, and the need for virtuous men who can use their strength to protect (rather than abuse) those weaker than men. What might a revival of a more "muscular" Christianity look like in our own time?

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RESOURCES:

- https://twitter.com/MrT — for our cover image this episode

- Greg Morse, 'The Search for Manly Men of God: A History of Muscular Christianity' (2022) https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-search-for-manly-men-of-god

- Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857)

- W. M. Eager, Making Men: The History of Boys' Clubs and Related Movements in Great Britain (1953)

- Norman Vance, The Sinews of the Spirit: The Ideal of Christian Manliness in Victorian Literature and Religious Thought (1985)

- Anthony Esolen, No Apologies: Why Civilisation Depends Upon the Strength of Men (2022)

Immigration has been a political hot potato for at least half a century. As is often the case, the loudest and most extreme voices at either end tend to shape the perception of the key issues in the debate. This leaves a vast majority of people in the middle who don't quite know what to think, nor who to believe on either side of them. It has become a difficult issue to even talk about publically unless you agree with whatever the popular media Zeitgeist view happens to be.

How can Christians think and speak about immigration both wisely and lovingly? Are we too easily swayed by voices who say that being loving means accepting everyone regardless of the greater societal consequences? Are there ways of welcoming our neighbours from other cultures without enabling greater unforeseen problems for our society and theirs longer term? Andy and Aaron delve into the mire of yet another controversial issue to see if they can bring some clarity to the fog.

Enjoying Pod of the Gaps? Please keep sharing the podcast with friends or leave us a review at wherever you get your podcasts from. You can also help us keep going and growing by supporting us at www.patreon.com/wkop. Even a gift of £1 a month is a tremendous help!