Life & Faith

On any given Sunday in America, you may find more people in football stadiums than in churches. --- "If you had a kid right now, you would put them on the waiting list to be able to purchase season tickets for the Green Bay Packers by the time they were 49 years old." It has been said that football in America is more than a game – it’s a religion. For example, in the city of Green Bay, which has a population of just over 105,000 people, their 80,000-seat stadium is always at full capacity for home games. "There are more people in stadiums on Sunday than in churches," says Troy Murphy who serves as a chaplain to the Green Bay Packers. In this episode, Troy discusses just how big football is in America, the challenges that players face, and his role in the team – which stretches far beyond running chapel services and Bible studies. --- SUBSCRIBE to Life & Faith on Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/cpxpodcast

An exploration of the discomfort, disagreements and disasters of Christmases past and present. --- "When you’ve spent three months researching and preparing the perfect Christmas lunch, something on trend with rustic table ornaments made from old jars, salad with kale, some socially responsible bonbons, and perfectly placed jugs filled with Christmas cheer … and Aunty Vera arrives with her three-day old potato salad that gives everyone the squirts and plonks it with pride in the middle of the table. And you want to punch her in the face." This is just one way Christmas get-togethers can go awry, according to Bec Oates. But there are lots of reasons people might not find the Christmas season so merry and bright. In fact, the first Christmas was a particularly brutal for the holy family. Unlike the picturesque nativity scenes in shopping malls and on Christmas cards, the biblical account of Jesus’ birth and early years is one of discomfort, poverty, and even genocide. In this episode, we take a closer look at t

The story of Arthur Stace and the message of hope he wrote on the footpaths of Sydney. --- "As a child, I played in the streets a lot and I did see him quite occasionally, walking around in a steady way, always dressed in a navy blue suit, always very neat, but I have no memory of seeing his face smiling," Joan Riley recalls. "So I try not to be sad about that. But he did certainly make an impression on many people." Every day for more than 30 years, between the 1930s and 1960s, Arthur Stace would walk the streets of Sydney for hours, and write the word 'Eternity' on the city’s footpaths. Many, like Joan Riley, had no idea who was writing it, or why it was written, because Arthur Stace’s identity was a secret for almost 20 years. "He was very humble and very shy, and he just felt this was his mission for God, and he didn’t feel that he needed to share it with anyone," says Elizabeth Meyers, co-author with Roy Williams of Mr Eternity: The Story of Arthur Stace. Her father was one of Arthur Stace’s closest frie

Scott Stephens, editor of ABC’s Religion & Ethics website, has his own fascinating backstory. --- “You want to be able to stand before God with as clear a conscience and as pure a soul as one can.” As editor of the ABC’s Religion & Ethics website, Scott Stephens spends his days trawling through the best of contemporary theological and ethical thinking. But the story of his life proves just as intriguing as the material he daily immerses himself in. In this episode of Life & Faith, Scott talks about being the son of a staunchly Republican father and a peacenik mother who instilled in him a love of art and literature, and an upbringing that set Scott on his current course in life. It’s a fascinating tale told in two parts, and you can listen to the second part of this conversation here: www.bit.ly/2Ba0RGc --- ABC’s Religion & Ethics website: www.abc.net.au/religion/ Subscribe to Life & Faith: www.publicchristianity.org/podcast  --- This episode was first broadcast on 1 October 2015.

One man’s commitment to free vulnerable people from oppression and restore their dignity. --- They asked us to bring education with a different worldview - one that tells them that we’re all created equal, and we’re all created in the image of God - and bring worth to the child.” The Dignity Freedom Network, as their name suggests, is an organisation in India that works with local communities to free vulnerable people - known as dalits - from all kinds of oppression, and restore their dignity. This includes providing shelter, education, and vocational training for women and children. It all started when key dalit leaders approached Dr Joseph D’Souza, a bishop in India, in the late 1990s, during major caste upheaval in Northern India. They told him they would “find their freedom one way or another” and asked if “the church would be interested in solidarity in their struggle for human dignity and freedom”. Joseph D’Souza said, “yes”. Though these dalit leaders weren’t themselves Christian, and even though the c

Film and TV critic Alissa Wilkinson on the end of the world - as pop culture imagines it. --- "Dystopia is like the more woke version of utopia. It’s where we’re working out our biggest anxieties as a culture. For instance, does the human race deserve to continue? Or would it be better if we just went away?" Alissa Wilkinson fell into film and television criticism after completing a degree in computer science – which she says actually helps her analyse culture well. "I think my job is to watch a movie as well as I can, and then be able to look at my reaction to it as a good watcher and articulate why that reaction happened, and then also to make space for the reader to have their own experience with the work of art," Alissa says. "Sometimes [my job is] to just say 'this is bad' or 'this is a masterpiece', but if I don’t add the 'why?' then I’m not doing my job at all as a critic." She’s particularly fascinated by 'end of the world' narratives and is the co-author of How to Survive the Apocalypse: Zombies, Cyl

The world’s best-selling book has its own museum - of biblical proportions - in Washington. --- "One of the items that we’re especially proud of is a slab of the Gilgamesh-Epos, among the oldest literature of humankind that is known - about 5,000 years old. It’s a story of Gilgamesh, and that includes the story of the ark and a big flood." The Bible is the best-selling book of all time: today, over 100 million copies a year are either sold or given away around the world. It’s also had an immeasurable impact on the world – for better and for worse. In 2017, the Bible is getting its own museum. The Museum of the Bible is due to open in the middle of Washington DC, just a few blocks from the US Capitol and the Smithsonian, with a collection of more than 40,000 objects. What is the museum for? What will be in it? Why is it a good idea? Who should visit it and why? In this episode of Life & Faith, Simon Smart and Natasha Moore interview two of the key players in this process: Allen Quine, Vice President of Int

A dangerous personality. The printing press. Social reform. What made the Reformation so successful? --- "His personality, the combination of being a good communicator, passionate, stubborn, belligerent, extraordinarily intelligent, all played a role. If any of those weren’t there, he probably would not have been able to succeed as well as he did." What was the X factor that gave Martin Luther an edge in changing the most powerful organisation in 16th Century Europe, which then changed the world? This was the question posed to a panel of experts at a recent forum hosted by Sydney Ideas and ABC Radio National’s The Spirit of Things, 'The X Factor in the Reformation'. In this episode of Life & Faith, we bring you highlights from this event - including the answer to the question. You’ll hear from: Mark Worthing, Lutheran professor and author of Martin Luther: A Wild Boar in the Lord’s Vineyard; Michael Jensen, a theologian and Anglican minister in Sydney; Kristina Keneally, former Premier of New South Wales

A Martin Luther impersonator, a pastor, and an artist on an event that changed the world. --- "Martin Luther’s idea of the freedom of the Christian set up a certain understanding of freedom of the people. We are individuals, we have the right for freedom, and we are equal children of God like our prince, or like the emperor - they are not better at all than we are." When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the doors of The Castle Church in Wittenberg, little did he know that it would be the beginning of an event that would change the world. His idea was simple: "That we are justified by God, only by grace, and not by our own deeds," explains Hans Kasch, Director of the Lutheran World Federation Centre in Wittenberg. "We can pray as much we want, we can be as good as we are, and we can do as much as we are able to do - but this doesn’t help us in God’s eyes. That was his discovery, and the starting point for the Reformation." From this idea came the birth of the Protestant church, the foundations of modern d

  Physicist Tom McLeish thinks of science as a way of healing our relationship with the natural world. --- "I’ve become really upset that science is something for most people so distant, something they feel they can’t enjoy, it was difficult when they were at school, they didn’t get the hang of it. I think it’s like music, art, dancing, drama or painting - it’s one of those sorts of things that everyone can enjoy to some extent." Tom McLeish is a theoretical physicist at Durham University and the author of Faith and Wisdom in Science. As a young man, he was impressed by Christianity because it offered the best explanation of this world and everything in it. "For me, Christianity has lit the world up in a helpful, consistent, and challenging way that no other worldview does," he says. "And science sits within it." In this episode, Tom talks about what he loves about science, how the history of science goes much further back than we usually think, and why a "theology of science" can be a very useful thing. ---

An alcoholic describes her long, complicated, and ongoing journey to recovery. --- "I came out of church one Sunday morning with a really bad hangover." Penny Wilkinson started drinking when she was in high school. But it wasn’t until she was well into her 30s, living in the Eastern suburbs with her husband and three kids – she was living a seemingly perfect life – that it occurred to her that her drinking might be a problem. "There’s this strange mental twist that goes on in the alcoholic mind. You can’t recall the damage at the point in time when you make the decision to take the first drink." The road to recovery has not been easy or straightforward, but Penny eventually sought and received help from family and friends, addiction specialists, her church, and Alcoholics Anonymous. Then, she started running Overcomers Outreach to help others, particularly those who had the same faith as her, along their addiction recovery journey. "Going into AA with a Christian higher power was a really hard experience. I k

  Love exceeds "tolerance" and "diversity" when it comes to living with others, says David Smith. --- "There’s a risk that this tips over into naiveté. There are bad things in the world. Cultures are not benign. There are things in all cultures that need to be resisted. But that doesn’t give me license to approach the world as if my culture is basically, in most things, right, and the other culture is mostly threat and darkness - because it’s always going to be more complicated than that." Living alongside people from cultures different to our own is a fact of life, but even after decades of officially embracing and celebrating multiculturalism, it’s not always clear how we can do this well. David Smith discusses what it means to learn from - and to love - the stranger. "Tolerance is a willingness to let someone be, whereas love is a commitment to someone else’s wellbeing – which is not the same as saying I’m willing for them to exist and I’m not going to attack them. I mean, that’s a good starting point. Tol

Peter Hughes shares his experience of mental illness, and explains why it doesn’t define him. --- "When I was a teenager, I’d go through different bouts of being in a fog, so to speak. I just thought it was part of adolescence, I thought that’s what everyone went through. It wasn’t until university that somebody said, 'hey that’s not normal and you should go and see someone.'" Peter Hughes is a minister at St Stephens Anglican Church in Sydney’s northern suburbs. He holds degrees in theology and neuropsychology - and he has a mental illness. "So I went and saw someone, to prove this person wrong, but the counselor quickly diagnosed me with a form of high frequency bipolar disorder." One in five Australians will experience mental illness every year. Internationally, the World Health Organisation reports that one in four people will be affected by mental disorders at some point in their lives. In this episode, we look beyond the statistics and explore what it’s like to live with a mental illness. "Through the y

  To be irreligious is to live as a stranger in this world, says Dutch philosopher Evert-Jan Ouweneel. --- It may feel like we’re living in an increasingly secular world, but the numbers tell a different story. According to a recent study, by the year 2050, the number of people in the world without any religious affiliation will decline as a share of the global population. At the same time, Muslims and Christians are on track to make up nearly equal shares of the world’s population – around one-third each. So, if you’re not religious or if you’re uninterested in religion, "you will be a stranger on this planet," Dutch philosopher Evert-Jan Ouweneel says. "Just for the sake of feeling at home in the world - learn about other religions." In this episode, we discuss how to learn about other religions well, ways of bridging gaps between different religious groups, and what it means to reach out beyond borders to make a positive impact in the world. --- SUBSCRIBE to Life & Faith on Apple Podcasts: www.bit.ly/c

Andy Bannister on how life’s biggest questions are not just abstract, but deeply personal. --- "I think the gospel has something to say in every area of life. Christianity is a public truth. One of the mistakes Christians make is answering yesterday’s truth. One way to address this is to do a lot more listening and a lot less talking." In the West, it’s safe to say that there are many obstacles that come between people and taking faith seriously. There’s the idea that science holds the answer to all things; that religion is the cause of all wars; that all religions are the same. "It’s far more respectful to my Muslim friends to recognise that what they believe is different, and to take the effort to understand those differences, and not to assume they’re just like me." Andy Bannister is the Director of Solas Centre for Public Christianity in the UK, and author of the book The Atheist Who Didn't Exist: Or, The Dreadful Consequences of Bad Arguments. He’s dedicated the better part of his life to encouraging peo

Bioethicist Margaret Somerville talks about rights, choices, and why she’s against euthanasia. --- Do we - or should we - have the right to choose when and how we die? "A physician intervening with the intention to kill is a radical change in the law, it’s a radical change in medicine, and it’s a radical change in the most fundamental of society’s values, namely, respect for life." Margaret Somerville is an Australian bioethicist. She’s sympathetic to those who see euthanasia as a way of easing suffering - but also strongly disagrees with them. Simon Smart talks to Professor Somerville about what’s happening with euthanasia around the world, how we make ethical choices, and what kind of society we want to leave for future generations. "You can’t judge a society by how it treats its strongest, most powerful, most privileged members. You can judge it by how it treats its weakest, most in need, most vulnerable people. People who are old and fragile and dying - they belong in the latter group. So if all we’re goi

Personal stories of terror, forgiveness, and faith from around the Middle East. --- "I have nothing against them. I really forgive them. What do I get if they were killed or anything? The only thing I would ask for them is to be enlightened. If they are enlightened, the whole world would be a much better place." These remarkable words were spoken by a woman whose son had just been killed in a terror attack in Egypt. But her response was not an unusual one. Many Christians, in the wake of attacks on their churches and their people, have chosen to forgive. Ehab from the Bible Society in Egypt says there’s a very simple reason for this - it’s what they learn to do in their churches because it’s what the Bible says. "What the Bible is teaching Christians is to love their enemies, do not take revenge, to be forgivers, to show love in everything they do … So that’s the very natural response to these events based on the very strong convictions that they have from their Christian perspective." The Middle East is the

  Religious freedom expert Brian Grim explains why religious restrictions are bad news for everybody. --- "Where faith is restricted for people, it makes them start to question: Does this society even want me? Do they value me?" Religious adherence is growing around the world - and so are restrictions on religion. Dr Brian Grim is President of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, and has lived in many places where religion is heavily restricted. He talks to Simon Smart about why religious freedom is good not only for society but also for business, and why he’s optimistic that people of different faiths can live together well. "Where you have religious freedom, and a rich pluralism of ideas, and faith is part of the natural dialogue of society - it’s not imposed and not removed - then you find better lives for everyone." --- This episode was first broadcast on 13 February 2015.

Professor Sarah Williams on the importance of language and history when it comes to gender. --- "We have lost the language for talking about any form of biological determinism. Gender has replaced the word sex, which is ironic given the fact that it was introduced to create the possibility of nuance." Questions about gender are a big part of the zeitgeist - they’re incredibly important for us at this point in history, and incredibly charged. It’s interesting to discover, then, that the word "gender" is a relatively new addition to the English language. The idea of gender, though, has a long and complicated history. Professor Sarah Williams from Regent College in Vancouver has been mapping the history of gender. In this episode, we take a deep dive into that history, and how we’ve arrived at the understandings we have today. Plus, we discover the key roles that the Bible, and Christianity, played in gender equality and women’s rights movements. "Somewhere along the line, Christianity has been written out of th

Exploring the beauty of maths, we may just find that faith and proof are not mutually exclusive. --- "An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God." - Srinivasa Ramanujan. Ramanujan was a self-taught mathematical genius from India, who moved to Cambridge University in 1914 to work with the eminent mathematician, G. H. Hardy. His story, as told in the movie The Man Who Knew Infinity, is not only one of a brilliant mind capable of remarkable work, but of an unlikely friendship between a devout Hindu, and an atheist who was a stickler for proofs. "Your theorem is wrong," Hardy tells Ramanujan in the movie, "this is why we cannot publish anymore until you finally trust me on this business of proofs." Once described as "the most romantic figure in recent mathematical history", Ramanujan’s life also speaks to the idea of finding beauty in maths - and this is what we explore in this episode of Life & Faith. You’ll hear from a leading Australian mathematician about her response to the fi