If you found this conversation interesting, Seen & Unseen, the creators of Re-Enchanting, offers thousands of articles exploring how the Christian faith helps us understand the modern world. Discover more here: www.seenandunseen.com.

Chine McDonald is the Director of Theos, the religion and society think tank. She is also a regular contributor to TV and radio programmes and author of ‘God Is Not a White Man: and Other Revelations’ and the brand new ‘Unmaking Mary: Shattering the Myth of Perfect Motherhood’. 

She is also our first ever returning guest on Re-Enchanting!

In this episode, Chine talks to Justin and Belle about the myths she has endeavoured to shatter around motherhood, whether or not the task of mothering can be subcontracted out to machines and how God is as much a mother as he is a father. 

For more from Chine: https://www.chinemcdonald.com/

For Theos Think Tank: https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Esther Maria Magnis is a German writer whose book ‘With or Without Me’ is a memoir of her journey with faith and the perception of reality.

With unflinching honesty Esther takes us through her childhood and adolescence as she, along with her brother and sister, deals with the grief of her father’s cancer diagnosis, her prayers, and her journey through the loss of faith, into materialism, self-deconstruction and finally the turn back to the idea of God.

Justin and Belle talk to Esther about her raw account of coming to terms with faith through the beauty of life, the ugliness of death, and even the apparent silence of God.

For Esther Maria Magnis: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Without-Conversion-Esther-Maria-Magnis/dp/163608026X

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you found this conversation interesting, Seen & Unseen, the creators of Re-Enchanting, offers thousands of articles exploring how the Christian faith helps us understand the modern world. Discover more here: www.seenandunseen.com                                                                                                          

Tyler Staton is the Lead Pastor of Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon and the head of Prayer 24/7, USA. He's also the author of three best-selling books: Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, Searching for Enough, and The Familiar Stranger.

In this episode of Re-Enchanting, Belle talks with Tyler about Christianity as a source of experiential spirituality, our lives being 'the main event' and the mystery of the Holy Spirit.  

For more from Tyler: https://www.tylerstaton.com/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr John Mark Reynolds is the president of the Constantine Schools and College in Texas and the author of numerous books including 'When Athens Met Jerusalem: an Introduction to Classical and Christian Thought'. 

He is a frequent blogger and lecturer on a wide range of topics including ancient philosophy, classical and home education, politics, faith, and virtue.

John Mark was involved in recent research that made global headlines, showing a huge upswing in the numbers of young men entering the Eastern Orthodox Church - precisely the demographic most absent in many churches.

Belle Tindall and Justin Brierley ask John Mark: What is it about this ancient church stream that has re-enchanted these young converts?

John Mark Reynolds: https://www.saintconstantinecollege.org/about/welcome-from-the-president

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Kate Flaherty is Senior Lecturer in English and Drama at the Australian National University. She researches how Shakespeare’s works play on the stage of public culture. Her insights have been published in Contemporary Theatre Review, New Theatre Quarterly, Australian Studies and Shakespeare Survey. She is also the author of the book ‘Ours as we play it: Australia Plays Shakespeare’ and of the latest volume of the ‘ Cambridge Elements’ series - 'Ellen Terry, Shakespeare and Suffrage in Australia and New Zealand'.

So today Justin and Belle are going to be speaking with Kate about how enchantment shows up in the iconic works of Shakespeare. 

Kate Flaherty: https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/kate-flaherty

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Revd Professor Andrew Davison is Regius Professor of Divinity at The University of Oxford.

Andrew has both a scientific and theological background and has frequently worked on the intersection of science and faith, as well as writing on ‘participation’ and the ’sacramental theology' of blessing in books such as ‘Participation In God’ and ‘Blessing’.

Andrew says we need to rethink separating things into the categories of ‘natural' and ‘supernatural’ - enchantment is part and parcel of the way the world is and the way we engage it.

So today Justin and Belle are going to attempt to to re-enchant… reality. 

Andrew Davison: https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/people/revd-prof-andrew-davison

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jo Swinney is director of communications for the Christian environmental conservation charity A Rocha International. 

Jo's parents Miranda and Peter Harris were the founders of A Rocha. Miranda's tragic death in 2019 was a shock to all those who knew her. Jo’s book ‘A Place At The Table: Faith, hope and hospitality’ pairs her own words with writings she discovered of her mother’s to celebrate her life and to explore how sharing food is at the heart of a shared life.

Justin and Belle hear about the events the led up to Jo writing the book and how we can re-enchant the gift of hospitality in an increasingly lonely world.

Jo Swinney: https://arocha.org/product/a-place-at-the-table-faith-hope-and-hospitality/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg is rabbi of New North London Synagogue and Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism, here in the UK. He’s also the author of numerous books, including ‘Walking with the Light: from Frankfurt to Finchley’, ‘Things My Dog has Taught Me: about being a better human’ and his latest – ‘Listening for God in Torah and Creation’

Justin and Belle speak with Jonathan about the workings of Jewish scripture, the nature of awe, wonder, and sensitivity and our reposnibility for the care of the natural world. 

For more from Rabbi Jonathan: https://jonathanwittenberg.org/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Lady Sue Black is one of the world’s leading forensic scientists. Police forces, the Foreign Office and the UN have called upon her evidence in countless high-profile investigations. She is currently President of St. John’s College, Oxford, and in 2021 entered the House of Lords as a cross-bench peer. 

She has penned numerous books, including the Saltire Prize winning ‘All That Remains: A Life in Death’ and her latest book, ‘Written in Bone: hidden stories in what we leave behind’. In 2024, Professor Lady Black was also appointed to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle – the highest honour in Scotland. 

In this episode of Re-Enchanting, Justin and Belle speak to Sue about her first time working on a dead body, the stories that our bodies tell after death, her work in the wake of the Kosovo war and the 2004 tsunami, and - ultimately - how our reluctance to look death in the eye is profoundly hurting us. 

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rupert Shortt is an author and research associate at the Von Hugel Institute, University Of Cambridge and a former Religion Editor for the Times Literary Supplement. 

His latest book ’The Eclipse of Christianity… and why it matters’ has been praised by Tom Holland as ‘ A brilliant survey of Christianity’s decline in Britain- how it happened and why it matters, by one of our most learned and stimulating apologists’. 

Belle and Justin talk with Rupert about why mainstream churches are in decline across the West and why Europe’s historic faith remains critical to the survival of humane culture.

Rupert Shortt: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/rupert-shortt/the-eclipse-of-christianity/9781399802765/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.