Matters of Life and Death

We’ve discussed in previous episodes the looming ‘demographic timebomb’ – a growing mass of elderly and increasingly chronically ill people in many developed nations, expected to place huge strain on public resources. The policy debates around this issue often emphasise the importance of not ‘being a burden’ on others, with some even suggesting there could be a ‘duty to die’ by assisted suicide for those who become old and infirm. Why does our contemporary culture have such a horror of the idea of becoming dependent on our families or the state? And what does the Christian story have to say about the value of dependence versus autonomy, especially as we near the final seasons of our lives? Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Resuming our conversation with Rhys Laverty from the Davenant Institute, we look at John’s contribution to the Protestant Social Teaching book – a chapter exploring post-Reformation tradition around death and dying. What might medieval and early modern approaches to the end of life be able to teach us modern Christians about how to die well? How was the hospice movement inspired by this, and how has it lost its way amid debates over assisted suicide? And what can the Protestant Church do if it wishes to renew its interest and investment in ethics and social teaching? Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com  

Over 150 years the Catholic Church has built up a body of ethical doctrine commonly known as Catholic Social Teaching, which applies Catholic theology to wider social concerns, covering everything from labour relations to contraception. In this episode we are joined by Rhys Laverty from the Davenant Institute to discuss their new book Protestant Social Teaching, an attempt to scour the history of Protestant thought and establish a reformed version of CST. Why have evangelicals been so behind the curve when it comes to thoughtfully applying church and Biblical tradition to the social concerns of the day? Is there merit in perusing the writings of long dead believers when thinking about 21st century ethics? And how would any kind of Protestant Social Teaching differ or agree with its Catholic counterpart? Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Building on last week’s discussion of AI chatbots, we consider the theology and sociology of why interacting with other human beings is so central to our personhood. But would it matter if we did enter into a counselling or caring relationship with a robot or AI software, if we felt it helped our loneliness or anxiety? How can we be raising young people, who cannot remember a world before smart speakers and digital assistants, to engage well and honestly with the AI all around them? And might there be a role for regulation to hem in the ambitions of the overmighty tech giants in this space? You can read John’s briefing paper on AI and simulated relationships here - https://johnwyatt.com/2020/01/10/article-artificial-intelligence-and-simulated-relationships/ Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Earlier this year, a Google engineer went public with his concerns an artificial intelligence chatbot program he had been testing had become sentient. Although his fears were dismissed by Google’s bosses, parts of his conversations with the software reveal the chatbot can speak in shockingly coherent and nuanced language, and even claims itself to have become conscious. How do these kind of programs work and why have they taken such a huge leap forward in recent years? Do we as Christians have anything to fear about the rise of computers which can talk back to us as convincingly as people? And why is speech in particular such a powerful part of our own sense of personhood and who God is? The Washington Post article on Blake Lemoine is here - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/11/google-ai-lamda-blake-lemoine/ Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Twenty-four years ago, John published the book which gave this podcast its name: Matters of Life and Death. His first foray into Christian writing and teaching on ethics, it’s now available as an audiobook for the first time which we’re using as an excuse to do a short retrospective. How does the book stand up to scrutiny today? Would John change anything about it if he was writing it from scratch? Why has it been influential, even beyond the UK’s shores? And what has the experience told John about the miracle of the written word and its power to engage and shape minds across time and space? Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Explore the ethical dilemmas facing Christians in light of modern embryological advancements. Delve into the complexities of personhood and ensoulment from a biblical perspective. Discuss the impact of moral relativism on community values and public ethics. Critique the elitist nature of decision-making in reproductive technologies. Examine the future of embryo research and the challenges it presents. Address the moral implications of biotechnology, notably in relation to vaccines linked to controversial cell lines.

There has been a flood of highly significant if poorly reported developments in embryo research in recent years, all of which raise new and confusing questions for Christians and non-Christians alike. Is it acceptable to use stem cells to create embryo-like structures to research on? Should we ban all efforts to perfect gene editing, even if that stops us effectively eradicating some horrible conditions? And would it be wise to extend the current rules on embryo research to let scientists go further in the lab, as many would like? Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Our second episode on the evolution debate considers three more bones of contention: where do different species come from? Are we all commonly descended from a single source, or does God intervene? Then we consider homo sapiens, and whether science supports the Genesis account of humankind having an original Adam and Eve couple. Lastly we look at the Fall, and question if this can be seen as a real event in space and time, or instead has evolutionary biology proven death, predation and suffering were baked into creation long before human beings chose to sin. Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

In this special one-off episode, Tim speaks with Mark Greene from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity about Queen Elizabeth II, her faith and decades of service. We consider her own particularly Biblical vision for how constitutional monarchy should work in post-war and post-Imperial Britain, and we explore how her deeply-held Christian faith shaped a lifetime of service. How did this mostly silent figurehead become the most admired public Christian in Britain and quietly expound the gospel year after year in an increasingly secular country? You can find out more about Mark’s book, The Servant Queen and the King She Serves, here – https://licc.org.uk/ourresources/the-queens-faith/ Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173 If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com