Brian McLaren - Spirituality at the End of the World (N350)

Aug 11, 2025

Brian McLaren, an influential author and public theologian, discusses his new novel, 'The Last Voyage.' He explores the spirituality at the brink of societal collapse and questions whether faith can endure without institutions. The conversation delves into surrender as wisdom, the fragility of the future, and how spiritual practices can shift to survival strategies. McLaren's insights on morality and the role of literature in navigating crises resonate deeply, offering a thoughtful perspective on hope amid despair and the environmental turmoil we face.

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INSIGHT

Fiction Focuses The Reader's Questions

Brian McLaren says fiction narrows focus to the characters' pressing questions.
That creates a more immediate emotional experience than nonfiction's broad answering of imagined readers.

INSIGHT

Control As A Masculine Trap

Brian McLaren frames Colfax as a caricature of controlling, left-brain masculinity.
That mindset fuels arrogance, fear-driven competition, and emotional exhaustion in the story.

INSIGHT

Relational Strength Over Lone Competence

Brian McLaren describes Eve as emotionally rooted in relational dependence, not isolated competence.
Her reliance on others becomes the moral and communal center of the crew.

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In this episode, Tim chats with author and activist Brian McLaren about his new novel The Last Voyage, a provocative and emotionally rich exploration of what might happen when the powerful elite try to escape a dying Earth and build a new civilisation elsewhere.

Drawing on decades of theological reflection and his recent work on collapse and ecological crisis, Brian reflects on what spirituality might look like at the end of the world. Can faith survive without institutions or certainty? What happens when spiritual practices are reduced to survival strategies? Is surrender a form of wisdom, or just disguised defeat? And what does it mean to live meaningfully when the future is fragile and unknown?

After the interview, Nomad hosts Tim and Nick reflect on how Brian’s novel resonates with their own faith journeys—particularly their experiences of institutional loss, their relationship to hope in a time of climate breakdown, and the challenge of staying spiritually open when despair feels like the path of least resistance.

Interview starts at 15m 34s

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