At the end of an encouraging day at Cowplain in Hampshire, Andy Bannister reported on what had happened, alongside fellow speakers Justin Brierley and Sharon Dirckx.
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PEP Talk with Anna Robbins
Everyone knows about the “culture wars” and some champion following Jesus as being “counter-cultural”. What precisely is the relationship between the Christian faith and human culture? Reflecting well on that relationship and our own place in it can lead to some great insights into how we live out and share our faith. Helping us do that on PEP Talk today is a minister and academic with experience on both sides of the Atlantic.
With Anna Robbins – PEP Talk
Our Guest
Rev Dr Anna Robbins is President of Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has served several churches as an ordained minister of the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada. Near the end of her doctoral studies in Wales (PhD 2001), she was appointed to the faculty of the London School of Theology in the UK where she served for 12 years. In London, she was theological consultant to organisations including Theos, Christians in Politics, Tearfund, and the Evangelical Alliance. She returned to Nova Scotia in 2012, where she lives with her husband and son.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
Identity and Creation
Let me introduce myself. I’m Ros, but on my birth certificate it says ‘Rosalind Sarah Clarke’. I’m 49 years old, white British, and I live in Stafford, in central England. That’s probably enough information to identify me, though there are other details I could give but prefer not to make so public!
That kind of identi#cation doesn’t tell you very much about me. It doesn’t tell you who I am as a person. So let me try again.
I’m Ros. I am the Associate Director of Church Society and Course Leader for the Priscilla Programme. At various times in my life, I’ve been a chef, a maths teacher, an administrator and in full-time Christian ministry. I design knitting and cross-stitch patterns as a sideline. I love art and making, and I am very lazy at housework.
If you were to read my full CV, you’d get a whole lot more detail about what I do and what I have done in my life. That tells you a bit about my story and the kind of things I’m good at, as well as what I enjoy. But I am more than the things I do.
Let’s try a different approach. I’m Ros, and I’m Liz and Ivor’s daughter. My grandparents were Betty and Kenneth, Nancy and Ivor. I’m Richard’s sister and Kate’s sister-in-law. I’m Cameron and Sophie’s aunt, and cousin to a lot of people. I’m Thomas and Elliot’s godmother, and I’m friends with lots of people, including Dawn (who will be delighted to get a mention in the book). I’m part of the family at Castle Church.
That’s how a lot of people in the Bible are identified: as part of a family network. We all have that network of friends, family, colleagues and church. Our relationships are a vital part of who we are and where we #t in the world. But that would be an unusual way to identify ourselves in the contemporary world, and again it feels as though it misses out quite a lot of what is important about who we are.
We are going to see what the Bible’s answer is to the question of who we are as human beings. Here’s how I might describe myself using the criteria we’ll find there.
I’m Ros. I’m made by God and made in his image. I’m female and I’m single. I’m created for useful work and to be part of a community. I’m a sinner and I am mortal: I am going to die. But I have been redeemed by Christ and given new life by his Spirit. I have been adopted into God’s family as his beloved child. I am part of the new humanity that Christ is building across every tribe and nation, every language and every ethnicity. I am confidently looking forward to resurrection life in the new creation, with God, for ever.
What does that tell you about me? Everything that is important about being human.
Questions of human identity have become pivotal in society over the past ten or fifteen years. Simple questions that were so obvious most of us never bothered to ask them are now touchstones of political correctness and self-determination: What is a woman? What is a human being? Who decides who or what I am? A feature-length documentary released in 2022 was dedicated to the first of those questions.[1] Politicians who are asked about these issues stumble to fnd answers, and
when they do, they almost always have to be retracted the next day. How has it become so hard to know who we are?
Are human beings simply a highly developed species of ape? Is a woman a person who feels like a woman, no matter what their physical body is like? Can I self-identify my gender or my race, or are those imposed on me by others? Is my body part of me, or just a sophisticated carrier bag for the ‘real’ me?
Reality seems to be rapidly spiralling away from us. It is no
surprise that the further society moves away from its Chris[1]tian heritage and in(uence, the weaker its grasp becomes on all kinds of other questions. If we have no agreed starting point for ethics, anthropology or sociology, we should expect to find ourselves confused about what is right, how to be human and how to live in community.
If we want to know what it means to be human, self-examination may seem like a good idea, but it turns out to be of limited use. First, because we can only know ourselves, not other people, by this route. If I look only at myself, I can’t tell what is unique to me because of my particular personality and circumstances, and what is common to all humanity. Is it fundamental to being human that you love hot pink and cross stitch? Probably not, but those things matter to me!
Second, simply examining ourselves is of limited use because we are all sinners. And, as we’ll see, that affects our ability to understand anything well. Sin affects our thinking as much as our emotions and desires. So our conclusions about humanity based on our own investigation are likely to be flawed.
Third, we can never be impartial observers of ourselves. We have a vested interest in who and what we are. Our observations are always going to be biased. We should expect to have huge blind spots as we examine our own character and self.
Fourth, we can’t see the whole picture. We exist in the present moment, and although we have some memory of the past, we certainly don’t know our whole lives. Even less do we know about where we have come from: our ancestors and our creation. Nor can we see where we are heading, in this life and beyond. Our experience of our own humanity is limited.
If we truly want to understand what it means to be human, we have to look beyond humanity. We need God to explain it to us. God can tell us who we were made to be and why. He can explain what is distinctive about humanity and what our purpose is in creation. God knows how our humanity has been distorted by sin and how it is being restored in Christ. God sees the whole picture. His judgement is not limited, and it is not distorted by sin.
In this article, then, we will go back to the beginning, to see what God tells us about human beings in creation. This article comes from my book goes which then goes further and traces those themes throughout the Bible, to see how Christ himself shows us most fully what it means to be human. It adds how our humanity has been spoiled by sin and the effects of living in a fallen world. Finally, we’ll think about how our humanity is being restored now in Christ, by his Spirit, and what we are looking forward to in the #nal resur[1]rection when we will be truly, fully human as God intended.
I hope you will learn more about yourself as you read this, but I hope for more than that. I hope you will learn more about all humanity, this vast and wonderfully glorious race to which we all belong and which will one day be united together in worship of the living God. I hope that you will learn to celebrate your humanness, in all its purpose and all its limitations, and to have confidence in who you are, as God made you to be.
Being human means being created
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He made the light and the dark, the night and the day. He made the sea and the land, and he filled both with every kind of plant and animal, fish and bird, insect and reptile. And then, in his glorious final flourish of creation, he made human beings. Those first human beings were made in unique ways to indicate that they stand at the head of the whole human race. There is no chicken-or-egg dilemma in the Bible’s account of humanity.
God made the very first human beings and God makes all human beings. Every single person who has ever lived, and every single person who will ever live, is made by God. The rest of us are not made in quite the same way as Adam and Eve. As the psalmist puts it, he knitted us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).
This is where we must begin in our understanding of what it means to be human: we are created beings, made by God, given value by God, given a purpose by God and utterly dependent on God.
You are made by God.
When God created the universe, he did not begin by collecting together his materials. He was not a sculptor forming a shape out of clay, or a carpenter nailing his wood together. God created the universe out of nothing. There was nothing to start with. He generated the very atoms and molecules that he shaped into planets and stars, seas and land, plants and animals.
But when God creates human beings now he does not begin with nothing. He creates us through the joining of an egg and a sperm, which usually takes place in a woman’s fallopian tube. This fertilised egg makes its way into the womb, where it multiplies cells and grows into a human body. Ultrasound scans from about nine weeks after fertilisation of that single cell already show recognisably human forms.
Human beings cannot control this process. No matter how often a couple has sex, nor how sophisticated fertility treatments become, there is no guarantee of success. There is currently no obvious scientific reason why some couples who have struggled with infertility for years suddenly conceive after they have given up hope. The reverse is also true: no contraception is 100% proof against pregnancy. We cannot say why this egg will fertilise, but not that one. We cannot say which sperm will be the one to fertilise the egg.
What we can say is that every single time a child is conceived it is because God has breathed life into that fertilised cell. It is because God is beginning his work of knitting a new person together.
We can have absolute confidence, therefore, that we are here because God made us. God planned and designed and created you. There are no accidents – happy or otherwise – in God’s fertility clinic. You may have wonderful human parents, or terrible ones. You may have always known the security of being wanted and loved by your family, or you may have never known that. But know this: God wanted you. God wanted precisely you, with your specific DNA, and your specific date and time of birth, and your particular biological parents. God knitted you together so you would be just that tall, and have just that skin tone, and hair which curls in just that way. God made you to have your unique personality and your specific talents.
Let’s look at Psalm 139 again:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
(Psalm 139:13–14)
You are made by God, and he made you wonderfully. God did not make a mistake when he made you. Praise God!
You are valued by God
Sometimes on Antiques Roadshow two different objects of the same kind will be brought in to be examined and valued. One might appear to be in better condition, but the other might have a more attractive design. The valuer will point out all kinds of details the owner has never noticed, and then finally comes the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the money moment. But the value of each object doesn’t just depend on its design or condition. Its value also depends on its maker. A landscape by John Constable will be worth many thousands of times more than a similar painting by an unknown artist. A cabinet designed by Thomas Chippendale will command a far higher price than one by Mr Anon or Mrs IKEA.
It is the same with you and me. Our value cannot be calculated simply by looking at our external appearance, our beauty or our condition. Our value comes from our Maker. You are that wonderful thing: a human being made by Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore, you are of immense, incalculable value.
This is what Psalm 8 has to say about the worth of human beings:
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honour.
(Psalm 8:5)
God himself has crowned human beings with glory and honour. I think that is one of the most extraordinary things the Bible says. God honours us. God gives us glory. Not because we have earned it, but because human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in his image. We are glorified because he is glorious. We are honoured because he is worthy of all honour.
I said at the beginning of this book that if we want to under[1]stand what it truly means to be human, we need to listen to
God rather than look inside ourselves. This is one good example of that. It is very common for people to have a low view of themselves. We all know our own flaws better than anyone else. We can see all the mistakes we’ve made, all the weaknesses we struggle with and all the challenges we’ve failed. When we measure our own worth, we compare ourselves to others. And it’s always easy to find someone more successful, more beautiful, richer, cleverer, happier. Especially if we’re on social media.
We live in a particularly judgemental culture at the moment, where everyone’s life is on public display for scrutiny and comment; where it’s normal to pick apart a person’s parenting skills or choice of hobby; where we all feel the need to put on a mask when we share our lives, in order to protect ourselves from attack. Of course, people struggle with low self-esteem in this sort of culture. Teenagers (both boys and girls) are especially vulnerable to this. Where once they could be protected from this endless judgement in the safety of home, now they are vulnerable any time they have a phone in their hand.
But here’s the thing. Your true value doesn’t depend on what the world thinks you are worth. It doesn’t matter what your salary is or your social status. It doesn’t matter if you have disabilities or chronic illness. It doesn’t matter how well your appearance matches modern standards of beauty. It doesn’t matter whether you are tall or short, fat or thin, rich or poor, clever or ordinary, successful or plodding. None of those things can add to the value you have as one of God’s precious creations. None of those things can take away from that value. He has crowned you with glory and honour. You are infinitely valuable because you are made by God. You are infinitely valuable because you are wonderfully made by God, who does not make mistakes.
That is not to say, of course, that you are morally perfect. We are all sinners and we’ll consider how that aspects our humanity in a later chapter. But even our sin does not destroy our worth as people made by God.
You have been given a purpose by God
One of the ways in which the Bible commonly talks about human beings as God’s creations is by comparing us to clay in the hands of a potter. “e clay begins in one amorphous lump and it can be shaped and formed into any number of different items by a skilled potter. “e same clay can be used to make beautiful works of art, practical plates and bowls, or even serve our most basic functional needs in the form of toilets. The clay does not get to choose what it will become. “e potter is in control.
Isaiah uses this imagery to point out that God knew what he was doing when he made us:
You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
‘You did not make me’?
Can the pot say to the potter,
‘You know nothing’?
(Isaiah 29:16)
It is intentionally ludicrous. Of course the pot can’t say that! The pot knows nothing, while the potter knows precisely what the pot is intended for. Don’t be like the foolishly arrogant pot! God did make you and God does know what he is doing. Paul cites Isaiah in Romans 9, using this same image of the potter and the clay, when he is explaining God’s election of some people to salvation and others to destruction:
But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” ’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
(Romans 9:20–1)
Pots don’t get to decide what they are for. Clay doesn’t get to tell the potter what it wants to be. “e potter, obviously, is the one in charge. The potter has the right to decide, and so does God. God gets to decide what he has made us for. In Paul’s discussion he is talking about the final purpose of human beings in eternity, but it is also true about our purpose here on earth.
In Ephesians, Paul describes us as ‘God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ (Ephesians 2:10). In Jeremiah, God tells his people through the prophet that he knows the plans he has for them (Jeremiah 29:11). Proverbs tells us that, while we may make our own plans, it is God who determines our steps (Proverbs 16:9). “e Bible is clear throughout that God is in control and God has plans for us. God has a purpose for each of us. He has prepared works for us to do – works that he has created us to do.
We are made by God for the purpose he has determined. He knows what he has planned for you to do, and he has created you with that purpose in mind. He has created you with the speci#c talents and skills, the particular networks of family and friends, the precise opportunities and challenges, for you to fulfil his purpose for your life. He has prepared works in advance for you to do, and you can be sure that he has designed and made you perfectly to be able to do them. He is, after all, the Master Potter. We can hold on to the fact that our lives are not meaningless or pointless. There is a purpose for all humanity and each of us is needed to accomplish that. God has made you, specifically you, for a purpose that matters.
You are dependent on God
Think about those pots again. How does a pot decide to come into being? It doesn’t, of course! A pot is wholly dependent on the potter for its existence. Now think about yourself. How did you decide to come into being? You didn’t, of course. Your parents may have hoped and tried, but they needed God to bring you into being. Your parents may have longed for a child, but they could not have known they wanted you specifically. Every child is a surprise to their parents, who will spend years discovering what their offspring is like. But none of us is a surprise to God. He knew precisely what he was knitting together.
We all depended on God to bring us into existence and we all continue to depend on God for our ongoing existence every single day of our lives. This is how Jesus explained it to his disciples:
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
(Matthew 6:26–7)
If God, our heavenly Father, provides the birds of the air with everything they need, how much more will he look after us, his precious children? We need not worry, Jesus says, because we can trust God. And we should not worry, because worrying is pointless. We cannot keep ourselves alive even for an hour by worrying. God is in control and we are dependent on him for our ongoing existence.
This doesn’t mean that we always need God to provide miraculously for us. God normally provides through ordinary ways for us – just as he does for the birds. That means we work to earn money for food and clothing and shelter, and we visit doctors and dentists for medical care. It means we trust in God to give us what we need in whatever ways he chooses. But even when he provides through those ordinary ways, we must remember that it is God who provides.
A good way to do this is to pray like the Puritan author of “The All-Good’, who asked:
Grant me to feel thee in fire, and food and every providence, and to see that thy many gifts and creatures are but thy hands and fingers taking hold of me.[2]
When you look around at all the good things in your life, remember that they come from God, who is taking care of you. When you depend on your central heating to keep you warm in winter, or your car to get you to work, remember that God has provided them for you. When you collect your prescription from the pharmacy, thank God, who has made that possible. When you have food on the table, give thanks to God, who sustains you every hour of every day of your life.
If we are dependent on God, that means we are not independent beings. We cannot simply rely on ourselves. We must admit that we cannot provide for all our needs. We cannot make all our own decisions. We do not know best. Acknowledging that we are created, dependent beings is humbling. We don’t like to think of ourselves as needy. We don’t always like to admit that we need support, advice or instruction. We certainly don’t like to be recipients of charity.
But we are all, whether we admit it or not, utterly dependent on God. We constantly need him for our ongoing existence. We need him to tell us what we are here for and how to live according to the manufacturer’s instructions. We can’t earn any of those things from him – it is all a free gift of his grace.
There is the paradox: as created human beings we find that we have infinitely precious value, but we also recognise that we are utterly dependent on God for everything. I don’t know which of these truths you most need to hear right now. Perhaps you are struggling with low self-esteem and need to treasure those words that remind you how precious you are because you are God’s wonderful creation. Perhaps you have a ten[1]dency to pride and self-reliance, and need to remember how everything you have comes from God and stop trusting in your own strength. Perhaps you need to learn how to hold on to both those truths.
[1] 1 Matt Walsh, ‘What Is a Woman?’, Daily Wire, 2022: <https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman> (accessed 10 February 2023).
[2] Arthur Bennett (ed.), !e Valley of Vision: A collection of prayers and devotions (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1975), p. 7.
This article comes from “HUMAN: Made and Remade In The Image of God” by Ros Clarke which is available here. This extract is reproduced here with the kind permission of IVP.
Apologetics Profile: Islam (Part One)
James Walker invited Andy Bannister to join him on the “Apologetics Profile” podcast recently to discuss Islam, from a scholarly and Christian perspective. You can listen to part one of their conversation here.
The second half of their conversation will be posted up here when it is published, and the whole thing can be heard at Apologetics Profile here.
“How To Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot” by Andy Bannister
With his trademark combination of wit and warmth, Andy Bannister brings you a no-nonsense, panic-free guide to having natural conversations with your friends and family about your faith.
If you’ve been to one of our Confident Christianity events, you most likely heard Andy give a talk under this name. Now you can read a full, expanded version of the core ideas presented there.
Want a taste? You can read the first chapter for free here or order your copy now at 10ofThose.com
How to Talk about Jesus without Looking like an Idiot explores why you don’t need to be afraid or uncomfortable, the four questions that help people open up, the five steps to respond to tough questions, and how to effortlessly bring faith into a conversation. It doesn’t need to be awkward. Everyday conversations that open the door to evangelism can be painless and natural. Let Andy help you find easy ways to talk about the true meaning of life and learn how to share the gospel with your neighbours, friends, and family.
If you’re not already a Solas supporter, sign up today and we can send you a free copy as a thank you. If you are a supporter already, we will be in touch with instructions on how you can order a copy.
Here’s what people are saying about the book
I love this book. It is simple, practical, and fun. The chapter on asking good questions is worth the price of the whole book. If you’re looking for a way to have more meaningful spiritual conversations with people, How to Talk about Jesus without Looking like an Idiot will do exactly as the title suggests.
Sean McDowell
In my experience, telling other people about Jesus is one of the greatest causes of anxiety for the average Christian. But fear not, help is at hand. Delivered with Andy’s inimitable sense of humour, this book is a brilliant guide to sharing your faith naturally and confidently. It won’t magically turn you into a super evangelist (as Andy explains, they don’t really exist in real life), but it will help you to face your fears, start conversations, and simply talk to people about Jesus . . . without looking like an idiot.
Justin Brierley
Other Ways to Order
Published in the USA by Tyndale House and the UK by IVP.We’ve listed loads of sources below — but remember you can always buy the paperback from your local Christian bookstore, who will appreciate your support and your business! Here is a helpful list of UK Christian bookstores.
USA:
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Audio Book
I’m delighted that How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot is also available as an audiobook (narrated by me!):
E-Book
You can also read How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot as an e-book:
Why Do Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Matter?
From politics to media to education to our workplaces, we can’t avoid the buzzwords of equality, diversity and inclusion. They’re values which are championed through all levels of our culture. But why, exactly, are they important? Why should we pursue something like equality in a world where it doesn’t naturally exist? For the Christian, we can affirm these values and point others to their real source in a Judeo-Christian worldview.
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Kate Forbes and the “Gotcha” Questions.
I was unsurprised but nevertheless appalled by the “Gotcha” questions fired at Kate Forbes in her SNP leadership campaign. Her views (especially on marriage) were “outed” and the consensus after the first couple of days was that anyone with those sorts of values was excluded from high office. The backlash was fierce, but there was also a “backlash against the backlash” evidenced by the 48% of SNP members’ votes she gained in the final poll. Perhaps her views were not quite so marginal in the wider population as they are in the media?
But what about the “Gotcha” questions? Should we take them at face value? On the contrary, they reveal a set of underlying assumptions that are taken for granted in the public square. Bringing those assumptions to light could actually lead to intelligent dialogue and debate instead of our public life being characterised by polarised tribes shouting their slogans at each other, but never listening.
So what are the assumptions revealed by these attempts to catch out and exclude a Christian politician?
First, “Gotcha” questions are designed to expose “unacceptable” beliefs (in contrast to good journalism designed to reveal a candidate’s competence or character). They assume that some views are incompatible with Scottish public life. This, in turn, assumes a set of views (and values) that is acceptable. There is, in other words, an approved set of orthodox beliefs that is assumed.
Going a little deeper, “Gotcha” questions tell us a lot about how our society deals with disagreement on moral issues. Is it possible to think someone’s views are wrong, but not hate them? Contemporary discourse, especially concerning “feeling safe” or “hurt”, or in the area of “hate-speech”, assumes moral disagreement must go hand-in-hand with hatred, bigotry and use of the law to disadvantage someone. But this cuts both ways; people assume that a Christian in public office will be prejudiced against anyone they disagree with morally and legislate against them. However, this could be a form of projection. Isn’t this exactly what the secular political establishment does to those with “unacceptable views”? Recent history of law-making in Scotland suggests that the impulse to use law to silence or marginalise those we morally disagree with is very much a feature of our political leaders.
The issue with all this for Christians is that such an approach to moral disagreement is exactly the opposite of what Jesus commands. Far from condemning, hating or marginalising, Christians are commanded to be merciful and kind “to the ungrateful and wicked” because that’s what God is like (Luke 6:35-36). They break Jesus’ direct command when they put themselves in God’s place as judge, condemning those who disagree with them. Of course, exercising kindness and mercy does not mean suspending moral categories, but it does mean refusing to hate or condemn.
This all raises an even deeper question about knowledge and truth. How do we as a society know what’s right and wrong, and what views are acceptable or not? Who decides? And on what authority? What body of evidence, for example, led to the conclusion that anyone holding high office in our country has to have certain approved views on gay marriage or trans issues? What criteria would we have for saying anything is wrong in the future? If, for example, it’s just a matter of taste or preference, then we know that’s easily manipulated by those who pull the propaganda levers.
Barely hidden beneath the surface of Kate Forbes’ interviewers’ questions was a set of counter beliefs about moral issues. These beliefs about the nature of human persons and what constitutes flourishing human life and community are not derived from scientific research – they are a faith position. The genius move of the secular establishment in Scotland is to conceal that this is a belief system and pass it off instead as just what any reasonable, intelligent and well-educated person believes.
This “myth of secular neutrality” then allows various gatekeepers (like journalists) to exclude those who diverge from the “consensus” on the basis of faith; faith is biased and subjective, whereas the secular position is neutral, objective – scientific, even. This is nonsense, of course, and Christians have played along with it by retreating with their faith into the private realm.
There is no neutral, objective and unbiased position. Everyone believes something and their ethical positions are based on a set of beliefs. Until the discussion can shift so that underlying beliefs are acknowledged and debated by all parties, the playing field will remain very much tilted against Christians (and those of other faiths) and they will continue to feel guilty for “imposing their faith” on others, whilst all the time allowing a different secular faith to be imposed on society at large – ironically! If all law-making is an imposition of morality, the question is whose morality and who decides, and can we discuss it?
The idea that there is no belief-system behind Nicola Sturgeon’s gender recognition reform bill, and that politics is a neutral space is a fiction. Every politician brings their faith to their politics. The only question is which faith, in what, and on whose authority. Should faith therefore be kept out of politics? No, never! In the same way that MPs and MSPs are required to declare competing interests – organisational memberships or financial interests – perhaps they should also be required to declare their sets of beliefs about human personhood, the nature of society, the conditions for human flourishing – the “good life” they are in politics to promote. Kate Forbes’ “religious” beliefs were scrutinised in the public arena this year as though they were a strange or alien thing. But those who would promote the gender recognition reform bill, or hate crime legislation that could criminalise legitimate difference of opinion, or gay marriage or anti-conversion therapy legislation are not doing so from a neutral position. They are living out their faith in public and in fairness that faith should be equally rigorously scrutinised. It’s not a choice, therefore, between faith and no faith. It’s a choice between different faiths. What might public life look like if we could just be honest about this and start having some civilised dialogue and debate?
Dr Mark Stirling is director of The Chalmers Institute
Wilberforce and Newton – Heroes of the faith
Andy Bannister joined Simon Ward on the My Faith at Work Podcast to chat about heroes of the faith. In this episode they delved into the past to think about two giants from centuries gone by, William Wilberforce and John Newton. They discuss conversion, the abolition movement, and Christians in politics – and much more. The show can be heard above, or go to the Faith at Work podcast page to hear it, along with many other interesting episodes.
PEP Talk with Callom Harkrader
How are the arts effective in sharing the gospel? What are the issues in reaching young adults for Christ? And what does it mean to be pastoral in evangelism? These are just some of the questions covered in a wide-ranging PEP Talk discussion today with Andy Bannister, Gavin Matthews and our guest Callom Harkrader from Southampton.
With Callom Hardraker – PEP Talk
Our Guest
Callom Harkrader is currently the Young Adult Pastor at Above Bar Church in Southampton, where he has been on the staff team since 2015. Originally from the USA, he has apologetics training from OCCA The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. Callom also serves on the steering group for The Mark Drama, an innovative theatre tool for learning the gospel story.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
Undercurrents: Ben Stokes and The Captain We All Need
It’s been a sporting summer to savour – an Ashes like no other.
And for all the talk of Bazball, and regardless of the result and the rain ruining what might have been, the man who encapsulates the Churchillian ‘We Will Fight ’Til We Drop’ spirit more than anyone else is Ben Stokes.
Honestly, I can’t get enough of this guy.
There’s something about him – striding out to the crease, his team in crisis, the weight of a nation being carried on his broad shoulders – and then with absolute abandon, clobbering the best of the antipodean bowlers back from whence they came, one colossal six after another – his battered body, falling apart from the strain of it all, refusing to give in.
Dodgy knee? Who cares.
Glute strain? No bother.
Back spasm? All good.
And so we find ourselves watching, with wide-eyed wonder, thinking: How is he doing this? Once more, when all hope seemed lost, dragging us out of this mire and into the light of a possible victory?
He’s the Gladiator in the ring – sensing the fever-pitched beer-fuelled excitement of the watching crowd; the army growing ever more barmy by the minute; the panic growing amongst Aussie fielders (what joy!), and then revelling in the guttural roar of 20,000 people when the winning runs are scored.
This is Ben Stokes.
I won’t tell you how many times I’ve watched his highlights reel on YouTube. He’s dragged us over the winning line so many times from seemingly impossible positions, we’ve lost count.
And so we love him.
He leads in such a way that makes us all want to follow him anywhere.
He’s our captain.
In fact, forget cricket – I want him as my life coach. I want a pep talk from him as I eat my cornflakes at the start of the day. I want him going into bat for me in that difficult meeting at work.
But alas. He can’t. I don’t even know the guy. It’s just me and another 2.7 million people on Instagram following him. And even if I did know him – the shine would soon wear off.
Because what I really need in my life isn’t a cricket warrior, who can guarantee a good result in the Ashes. Ben Stokes as the saviour of English cricket makes me realise that I need a personal warrior, who can actually deal with my biggest problems.
Because believe it or not, there is something more serious in my life – much more serious, in fact – than how the England team are going to fare when facing rockets from Cummins and Starc.
Here’s the thing – no matter which way you slice it, or whatever name you give to it, we can’t get away from the fact that we all have this problem – this propensity to royally stuff things up.
Our self-centred selves causes havoc in our relationships.
We act or speak or think in ways that cause harm.
We live in a world of pain and frustration and turmoil and hurt – so much of which seems to stem from within – and we don’t ever seem to be able to do anything about it.
And so when we pause for a moment – when we’ve turned off the TV and we allow those big realities to break in to our thinking – we find ourselves longing for a champion to fight for us; to lead us through the mess of this life and safely out of the other side.
Someone to be our Personal Stokes.
**
As a follower of Jesus, this is my reality.
I don’t know what your view of Jesus is. Perhaps we’re inclined to think of him as the baby in the crib, or the meek and mild, sandal-wearing guy you’d take to meet your nan. The Bible would say otherwise – he’s described in one place as the Lion of Judah.
And here’s how one of Jesus’ friends describes seeing him in a dream, after he had returned to heaven: [Rev 19:11-15]
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean… On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.
Stokes-like, you might even say.
And the thing is, we need a Jesus like that.
A warrior; a leader; a King.
Someone who is going to lead us through this life, fix the mess we’ve made of things, and win the day.
And that’s exactly what he did. When we were nine wickets down, with 300 more to get, he came to the crease, faced every ball, and hit the winning runs.
He dealt with our biggest problem, when all hope seemed lost.
The victory he’s won? Defeating sin & death.
Going to the cross to suffer and die, so that all who are on his team can enjoy the rock-solid certainty of being on the winning side – earning the trophy of life – forever with God in his eternal kingdom.
Ben Stokes battled, sometimes single-handedly, to try and win the Ashes.
Through Jesus’ champion innings, death itself turns to ashes.
So – cheer on Stokes and his Baz-balling men in this strange, sweet season of English cricket. But do so knowing that when they retire, or when the whole thing runs out of steam – the true champion, the death-defeating King, will still be on the throne – and one day everyone on his team will be celebrating with him for all eternity.
That’s the side to be on; that’s the Captain to follow.
My Hope Now- Andy talks to Bob Dutko
Andy was invited onto Bob Dutko’s show, “My Hope Now” to talk about sharing our faith in Christ with others in general, and his new book in particular. You can see the whole conversation above. Click here to find out more about the book and where you can get a copy.
Can Science and God Co-Exist? with Steve Osmond
Zoologist Steve Osmond speaks at Glasgow University for a lunch-time talk hosted by their Christian Union. Steve describes the limits of scientific disciplines and how God is necessary when we expand our worldview to include concepts of meaning, purpose and morality.
The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: In Conversation with Justin Brierley
With Justin Brierley’s new book, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God about to hit the bookshops, Gavin Matthews from Solas spoke to Justin about the book, and what he has set our to achieve.
GJM: Hi Justin, it’s good to speak to you! Can I begin by asking, what’s the ‘big idea’ in your new book?
Justin Brierley: The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God’ is a book that I’ve tried to summarise by its subtitle: ‘Why new atheism grew old and secular thinkers are considering Christianity again’.
The victorian poet Matthew Arnold famously described the ‘melancholy, long withdrawing roar’ of the ‘sea of faith’ in his generation, and for the last 150 years the tide of Christianity has continued to recede in the West.
However, in this book I recount the ways in which, after a long spell in the grip of the atheist materialist worldview, we are seeing Western culture begin to open up to the idea of God again – in culture, history, science, philosophy and other areas.
It’s not a simple picture – when people get rid of God they tend to replace him with all kinds modern idols and quasi-religious stories. We don’t become less religious, we just become religious about different things.
However, I believe the Christian story may be ready to sweep in again and make sense of the many smaller stories people are telling themselves today as they tire of the thin gruel of atheist materialism and the confusion of the post-modern ideologies that have proliferated.
GJM: How did writing this book come about?
Justin Brierley: A couple of years ago when I hosted a conversation between atheist journalist Douglas Murray and New Testament scholar NT Wright, Murray referenced Arnold’s line about the sea of faith and said something that struck me hard: ‘The sea has a habit of coming back in again. That’s the point of tides.’
Murray was saying this in the context of noticing that several of his intellectual peers had recently converted to Christianity. I too had come across a number of surprising stories of adult converts.
I had also been noticing a shift in the conversations I was hosting on my Unbelievable? show. The combative debates between new atheists and Christian apologists were less frequent. In their place I was seeing secular intellectuals such as popular psychologist Jordan Peterson, historian Tom Holland and Douglas Murray himself, finding common ground with many Christian thinkers and questioning the atheist paradigm.
I felt there was a cultural moment here that needed to be captured – I’ve tried to do that in the book.
GJM: Who is the book for?
Justin Brierley: It is for thinking Christians and non-Christians. Naturally, I have written it from my own perspective as a Christian. But I’ve always tried hard to take all sides of the argument seriously and I hope that atheists and agnostics find their perspectives fairly represented in this book.
In the end the book is for anyone who is questioning what the ultimate purpose of life is, and whether there is an answer to the problems our culture is running into in an increasingly materialistic, individualist and technology-saturated world.
GJM: Why is the ‘New Atheism’ your starting point? What was the significance of that movement? What will it’s legacy be?
Justin Brierley: In the mid 2000s the New Atheism seemed to vaunt itself as the final step in an inevitable story of the demolition of religious superstition in favour of science and reason. But within a decade or so the movement had imploded under the weight of scandals and divisions within its own community. Once they had agreed that God didn’t exist and religion was bad for us, the new atheists couldn’t agree on anything else.
We still feel the echoes of that movement in the generally skeptical approach many people take to religious belief. But the movement itself is a shadow of what it was. Few of its key leaders are talking about religion any longer – they have moved on to take various sides in the the culture wars.
To that extent the movement simply proved that religion is really difficult to extinguish, as quasi-religious forms of belief now increasingly appear in progressive ideologies around gender and sexual identity, or in right-leaning conspiracy theories and nationalistic fervour.
Ironically, I think the legacy of New Atheism will be that it forced the church to gird it intellectual loins and re-engage its apologetics tradition. For that we can be thankful.
GJM: In the introduction you say, “people need a story to live by”. What do you mean by that, and why is that significant in the UK in 2023?
Justin Brierley: Many atheists will say that religion springs from the fact that we are ‘story-making’ creatures. We need some sense of a purpose and meaning to life. That we aren’t just bouncing around chaotically. The atheist may believe that sense of needing a transcendent story to live by is an illusion instilled by evolution which we need to overcome.
But I think that’s false. I believe the universal need for a story to live by has something very real that meets it – the Christian story through which billions of people have found a pattern and purpose to life that makes sense of the world.
As our culture has drifted away from that story, people have not simply embraced a rational, science-driven view of reality. All kinds of esoteric stories are springing up in its place, and causing quite a lot of chaos as these competing stories bump up against each other.
I think the modern requirement to invent our stories from scratch is also very exhausting for most people and has contributed to the ‘meaning crisis’ and the rise in anxiety, depression and suicide. We live in a materially prosperous age in the West, and yet we are more unhappy than our forebears.
I believe that will only change when we return to the true story of a God who created us in his image and who, through an act of cosmic sacrificial love, stepped in to rescue and redeem us along with the whole of creation. That stands over and above every other ‘smaller’ story we can ever tell ourselves.
GJM: When did you first notice the “God conversation” starting to change?
Justin Brierley: The meteoric rise in popularity of Jordan Peterson in 2018 was a key moment.
Here was a psychologist drawing crowds of thousands of young people to lectures on the book of Genesis… These were essentially the same crowd that would have flocked to hear Hitchens and Dawkins a decade earlier. The big difference was that Peterson wasn’t dismissing religion as poisonous – he was showing why the Bible and Christianity has been a source of meaning and wisdom to generations of people.
At the same time the popular historian Tom Holland published his book ‘Dominion’ in 2019 in which he laid out why he, as a secular person, had come to realise that all the moral instincts he took for granted as a citizen of the West, were actually a result of the Christian revolution.
Along with these examples I noticed more and more secular people pushing back against the simplistic rhetoric of the new atheists (e.g. the journalist Matthew Parris, philosopher John Gray, the comedian Russell Brand) by critiquing their own side, and and also taking Christianity a bit more seriously.
GJM: What do you make of these public-intellectuals who have moved as far as saying “We need Christianity” (for a shared, story, identity, values etc), but who have not said, “I need Christ” (or that they have found him)? Indeed, can the story of Christ be ‘useful; if it is not actually true’? Can we have Christian culture without conversions?
Justin Brierley: I think many of the public intellectuals in this position find themselves conflicted (as Douglas Murray, who calls himself a ‘Christian atheist’, told me himself). They can see the value of Christianity but they can’t bring themselves to believe its supernatural claims.
I think some of them are on a journey towards faith in Christ. Others perhaps can see the cost that would be associated with making that leap, and it is holding them back.
I believe the story of Christ is only ultimately useful if it is indeed true. The benefits of the Judeo-Chrisitan heritage that we enjoy today were won by people who really believed in Jesus. Nowadays we have largely cut off the roots of belief in our culture but the fruits will eventually wither on the vine as they cease to be nourished.
That’s why a lot of these intellectuals seem to have a wistful desire for it to be true. The good news is, there’s actually really good evidence that the story of Christianity is true. Indeed the only reason it has worked so well for us in the past is because it is true.
GJM: The UDHR is a secular document which contains a problem for atheism! Is that true??
Justin Brierley: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is supposedly a secular document. But it emerged from the Christian West. Documents like that have never emerged out of other religious traditions, pagan cultures or modern atheistic regimes.
Its opening paragraph states ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.’
That belief is not one you can derive from science and reason alone. It is a fundamentally theological assumption about humanity which stems directly from Genesis 1: ‘So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’
It is a problem for atheists because I don’t see how you can believe in such a claim without recourse to something like the Christian view of reality. I believe a lot of humanists try to dodge this fact, so it’s helpful when atheists like Yuval Noah Harari honestly acknowledge the difficulty they face by writing:
‘[We] got the idea of equality from Christianity, which argues that every person has a divinely created soul, and that all souls are equal before God. However, if we do not believe in the Christian myths about God, creation and souls, what does it mean that all people are ‘equal’? Evolution is based on difference, not on equality.’
GJM: You describe changing perceptions of what the Bible is in the following rather striking phrase: ” from being book written by ignorant Bronze-age peasants” to one providing “a deep understanding of western culture….. vital to psychological health” ! Are people really more open to considering The Bible in 2023 than they were a decade ago?
Justin Brierley: I think so. Whether you love him or hate him, Jordan Peterson has been a gateway drug for a lot of people to take the Bible more seriously. I don’t agree with all of Peterson’s conclusion about scripture. But I think he speaks with a lot more nuance and sense than the new atheists did about it.
Likewise, when I read other secular psychologists like Jonathan Haidt and John Vervaeke extolling the value of ancient scriptural wisdom in a culturally shallow age, I think we are seeing the pendulum swing back towards taking the Bible seriously in modern culture.
Sometimes it takes a while for that to percolate down into popular culture, but I’ve heard form many people myself who have a new appreciation for the Bible because of what those secular thinkers are writing and saying.
Of course it still leaves the question – ‘It may be useful… but is it really true?’. I believe its a real intellectual option to embrace the best of both worlds. Yes it contains a deep well of psychological truth… and Jesus Christ also really walked out of the tomb.
GJM: In terms of Christianity in the UK, is the tide coming back in, and is there anything we can do to affect that?
Justin Brierley: I think we are seeing the tide begin to turn… but it may not turn into a flood for some time yet!
However, the church can at least be making sure that it is preparing itself for the right kinds of questions people are asking.
Too often I see evangelistic and apologetic ministries that are essentially still answering the intellectual criticisms of Dawkins and Hitchens. There’s obviously still a place for that, but we also need to be engaging people at an imaginative level. To show them why they really want Christianity to be true… and then show them that it is in fact true.
Young people are often uninterested in the question ‘Does God exist?’ but are often fiercely invested in issues around justice and equality. We need to start there and point them to the ways in which only Christianity can make sense of that moral instinct and the stories they are telling themselves.
Likewise, many of the adult converts I’ve met (and those seriously considering faith) have advised the church to ‘keep Christianity weird’. People aren’t looking for warmed-over humanism or the same platitudinous messaging they already surrounded by in popular culture. They are looking for an unapologetically different story of reality – and the church shouldn’t be ashamed of announcing it.
GJM: What are your hopes and prayers for what the book might accomplish?
Justin Brierley: I hope people on every side enjoy it. I hope that it encourages Christians in their outreach and witness. I hope that it helps to change the narrative around God in our culture. I hope that some skeptics may be persuaded by it. In that sense, my prayer is that it will be a contribution in itself to the surprising rebirth of belief in God in our generation.
GJM: Finally then, when does it come out and where is the best place to buy it?
It officially releases on 12 Sep 2023 but you can pre-order the book now by clicking here where I will also be making signed copies available!
Also… look out for a forthcoming podcast documentary series (also titled ‘The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God’) that will accompany the release of the book!
GJM: Thanks Justin – we hope and pray that the book will make a really positive contribution to the discussion
Justin Brierley is a UK broadcaster, writer, and speaker who hosted the Unbelievable? show and Ask NT Wright Anything podcast for many years. He currently hosts the Re-Enchanting podcast and a newly-launched documentary podcast series The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. Justin is passionate about creating thoughtful conversations about faith with both Christians and skeptics. His first book, Unbelievable?: Why, After Ten Years of Talking with Atheists, I’m Still a Christian, was published in 2017.His second book ’The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God’ (Tyndale) publishes in Sep 2023. Justin lives in Surrey, England, with his wife, Lucy, and their four children: Noah, Grace, Jeremy, and Toby.
Andy on Sean McDowell’s Show
With Andy’s new book, “How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like An Idiot” hitting the bookshops in the USA and the UK this Summer, Sean McDowell invited Andy onto his programme to discuss evangelism; what we get right, what we get wrong and how we can get better at it.
The whole programme is available above. Enjoy!
PEP Talk with Rowena Cross
Sometimes on PEP Talk, you just need a pep talk! Our guest today is full of passion, experience and enthusiasm for sharing Jesus that will get you excited to do the same. Have a listen to her amazing stories of how God does unexpected works when we just say yes to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
With Rowena Cross – PEP Talk
Our Guest
Rowena Cross experienced a dramatic conversion to Christ, along with her husband, when they were in their thirties. While he went on to become a Vicar, she has been a passionate evangelist, working alongside him sharing the gospel in all kinds of ways – street-work, door-to-door, Alpha and organising large-scale evangelistic events. She has recently released a book, which is daringly entitled, “Be Bold Stop Faffing About and Crack On For Jesus“
Also check out “Mission Shaped Grace“ by John McGinley, which was significant in mobilising her church in evangelism.
About PEP Talk
The Persuasive Evangelism Podcast aims to equip listeners to share their faith more effectively in a sceptical world. Each episode, Andy Bannister (Solas) and Kristi Mair (Oak Hill College) chat to a guest who has a great story, a useful resource, or some other expertise that helps equip you to talk persuasively, winsomely, and engagingly with your friends, colleagues and neighbours about Jesus.
