Life & Faith

We often hear the term 'The Christian Vote' talked about at election time but is there such a thing? John Dickson, Simon Smart and Justine Toh discuss Christianity and politics, the issues that affect how believers vote and the principles that should drive the way Christians vote.

Byron Smith joins Justine Toh and Simon Smart on Life and Faith to discuss climate change, sustainable living, how his Christian faith led him to become increasingly concerned with these issues and the consequences our treatment of the environment.

Simon Smart talks to Justine Toh about the new book he co-authored, For God's Sake: An Atheist, a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew debate religion. He explains why he got involved in writing the book  and what he hopes it achieves.

Roy Williams' new book In God They Trust? examines the spiritual life of each of our Prime Ministers from Edmund Barton to Julia Gillard. He explores the ways in which - for good and ill - their beliefs (or agnosticism) shaped the history and development of the nation. He joined Simon Smart on Life and Faith to discuss his book and the interplay of religion and politics in Australia.

David Wilikinson works in the Theology and Religion department at Durham University. His background is research in theoretical astrophysics, where his PhD was in the study of star formation, the chemical evolution of galaxies and terrestrial mass extinctions such as the event which wiped out the dinosaurs. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and has published a wide range of papers on these subjects. His latest book is called Science, Religion and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. He also has a PhD in theology and on Life and Faith he discusses the place of faith in a scientific, technological age.

Justine Toh and Simon Smart discuss Only God Forgives, Winner of the Sydney Film Festival Official Competition, and the chilling documentary The Act of Killing - focusing on the way the two films navigate questions of justice, mercy, and forgiveness.

Justine Toh speaks to Mick Martin about the way that names connect with identity. They discuss the process of choosing a name and how we want them to express the uniqueness of a person.

Life and Faith tackles the controversial topic of Hell. Simon Smart and Justine Toh speak to Kevin Miller, director of the documentary Hellbound, and John Dickson, Ancient Historian and CPX Director.

Life and Faith tackles the controversial topic of Hell. Simon Smart and Justine Toh speak to Kevin Miller, director of the documentary Hellbound, and John Dickson, Ancient Historian and CPX Director.

In this Life and Faith we talk about the craft involved in producing musical instruments and how such an activity might reveal something of humanity’s creative calling in the world—all to the beautiful playing of violinist Rebecca Irwin.