Another Life with Joy Marie Clarkson

Hannah Nation tells the story of Wang Yi and the Chinese house church movement. How has the ramp-up in persecution of the church in China affected pastors and congregations? Hannah, who is editing the ongoing prison writings of the house church pastor Wang Yi, tells the story of these churches.She focuses in particular on the story of Pastor Wang. A classical liberal human rights lawyer, he converted as an adult in 2005 and eventually became the pastor of one of the largest and most public of China’s illegal protestant churches. Arrested in 2018, he is now serving a nine-year prison sentence.She discusses his intellectual influences, from Luther and Calvin to Kuyper and Van Til, and traces the development of his thought, from an earlier rights-based approach to his current understanding of the church’s role as free by definition, whether or not it has civil freedoms.She also discusses the impact of the Covid lockdowns on the house churches, their scrupulous following of lockdown regulations combined with their absolute refusal to stop meeting for any non-Covid related reason.Finally, she, Susannah and Peter discuss the lessons that such persecution has to offer the Western church.

James Mumford asks why even God seems to fall silent when depression takes hold.

A philosopher examines the theological implications of mental illness and its treatment.James Mumford tells his own story of the philosophical inadequacy of much contemporary therapy, and asks: What if some of the philosophical presuppositions of materialist therapy actually end up making depression worse? Could it be that depression can be exacerbated by bad philosophy? And if so, how can we bring moral realism into our therapies in order to address the problem where it lies?Peter, Susannah, and James then discuss recent findings about the effect of politics on mental illness. Recent studies have showed that young liberals have much worse mental health, in general, than young conservatives. They consider Jonathan Haidt’s proposed explanation of this phenomenon: that certain approaches to progressive politics encourage people to adopt disempowering and destructive habits of mind.Finally, they consider the way that a holistic understanding of a person, as body, soul or mind, and spirit, can offer hints towards a better approach to therapy.

Brewer Eberly shows how doctors may receive valuable insights from their most difficult patients.

Benjamin Crosby discusses the failure of mainline churches to speak clearly on Canada's euthanasia regime. The Canadian government, several years ago, legalized euthanasia, and Canada now is home to the most permissive euthanasia regime in the world. Ben, an Episcopalian priest in Canada, discusses the failure of the Church to talk about this honestly, and instead its capitulation to the idea that suicide is a generally acceptable way to end one’s life.They discuss the prayers that some Canadian churches have written to be said in advance of a death by euthanasia, and talk about the more fundamental failure to see pastoral care as legitimately shepherding and directive, but merely as supportive of whatever choice a person makes.Finally, they read aloud some of the reader responses to Ben’s piece, and Ben responds.

Julian Waldner, a young Hutterite, considers the legacy of his Anabaptist forebears.

Jason Landsel, author of a new graphic novel, Jason Landsel, author of a new graphic novel, talks about the Radical Reformation and its legacy. Peter and Susannah give a brief but lively summary of the story of the life of Felix Manz, one of the original Radical Reformers who was a founder of what would become the Anabaptist movement.His story, bound together with the story of Ulrich Zwingli, the Magisterial Reformer of Zurich, raises questions about the role of state authority in the life of the church, freedom of conscience, and the nature of conversion, which are still passionately debated today.Peter and Susannah speak with Jason about the political-theological issues involved, the role of humanism and the return to sources in the Reformation, and the personal story too: Manz had been Zwingli’s protégé, almost his surrogate son, before he sentenced him to death.They discuss also the historical background to the debates over baptism and tithes and church membership and independence which fueled the drama of Felix’s life, which involved a number of jailbreaks as well as intellectual ferment. The Ottoman armies were advancing, and Catholic Europe and the other Reformed areas were watching as this debate over the future of the Reformation played out in Zurich.

Benjamin Crosby asks where the voice of the church is in Canada’s MAID and euthanasia experiment.

A philosopher reflects on human uniqueness. Peter and Susannah speak with L. M. Sacasas, the philosopher behind The Convivial Society newsletter, about artificial intelligence, consciousness, and what it means to be human.What are the new ChatGPT large language models? Is this AI? What’s the relationship between the philosophical questions regarding AI and other philosophical questions about whether human consciousness requires the immateriality of the intellect?What are the dangers of AI? Leaving aside the question of physical danger to humans, what will the increasing ubiquity of AIs do to human civilization and self-conception?Finally, what’s the relationship between AIs and the human tendency towards idolatry?

Eleanor Parker reflects on the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Dream of the Rood.