Best Toxic Church Die Podcasts (2024)

1
Elections, the church and threats to democracy 54:42

2h ago54:42

54:42

We in the UK have been startled by the sudden announcement from the prime minister that our general election, due at the end of the year, would actually be held in six weeks’ time in early July. In this episode we reflect on why Christians are so politically engaged in Britain, with research suggesting they are much more likely to vote, join a part…

1
Autism: Disability or superpower? 1:01:52

1h ago1:01:52

1:01:52

Diagnosis rates for autism have been steadily rising for decades now, and as the condition has become more prevalent there has been a growing debate within the community and wider society about what autism is. Some prefer to talk about neurodiversity rather than think of it as a developmental condition, and others go as far as calling it a superpow…

1
Two is the loneliest number: Can AI friends stop us feeling alone? 42:13

1h ago42:13

42:13

Science fiction has long been fascinated by the idea of humans becoming friends with computers. And the dream of an always-on digital companion you can talk to day or night is closer than ever before, thanks to advances in AI software in recent years. But research into one of the leading AI companion companies and its users has flagged concerns amo…

1
‘Playing God’: Science and religion in the 21st century 1:03:18

2d ago1:03:18

1:03:18

What would contact with intelligent aliens mean for humanity? Will doctors ever be able to cure depression with a drug? Can we bestow personhood on animals?Nick Spencer, senior fellow at the religion and society think tank Theos, is the author of the recent book Playing God: Science, religion and the future of humanity. The book explores eight cont…

1
Assisted dying in Scotland: A bad law but also an inevitable one? 1:11:49

5d ago1:11:49

1:11:49

A new law has been proposed in the Scottish Parliament which would allow terminally ill people to request doctors assist them in committing suicide. This is the latest push in a growing campaign across the UK and more widely in the Western world to legislate for assisted dying and euthanasia. In this episode we look through the bill to discuss its …

1
Abusive relationships and coercive control in church 1:04:11

1M ago1:04:11

1:04:11

Society has been on a long and slow journey in recent decades into a richer and more sympathetic understanding of how abuse and coercion work within relationships. We are much better at both identifying and prosecuting this kind of abuse, and at being more attuned to the needs of victims and understanding why they find it difficult to just walk awa…

1
Q&A: Did ending Roe v Wade actually save unborn children’s lives? 38:29

2M ago38:29

38:29

Our first topic in this Q&A episode is a recent study which found that in 2023, the first full calendar year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion, total abortions actually increased. Despite 21 states enacting full or partial abortion bans, more women not fewer are ending their pregnancies. How c…

1
ADHD, over-diagnosis and should Christians try to enhance our brains with stimulants? 51:28

2M ago51:28

51:28

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the faster growing mental health diagnoses of our age. More and more people, including those well into adulthood, are seeking out and being diagnosed with ADHD. And the typical treatment plan involves taking powerful amphetamine-based stimulant medication, effectively turbocharging parts of …

1
Tim Farron, toxic social media, and how to navigate the ‘mucky business’ of politics 45:36

2M ago45:36

45:36

We’re both away for our Easter breaks, so this week we’re bringing you a classic episode from the MOLAD archive, when we were joined by the former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron to discuss social media and politics. Research suggests UK members of parliament like Tim get sent thousands of offensive tweets every single day. Why have soci…

1
New obesity drugs, the morality of food, and has neuroscience killed off free will? 54:17

2M ago54:17

54:17

A new wave of anti-obesity drugs led by Wegovy (also known as Ozempic) are causing huge ripples in the medical world and popular culture. Astonishingly successful at helping people lose weight, these drugs both offer a tantalising solution to the obesity epidemic and its associated public health crisis, and have also made the pharma companies which…

1
Tech hype: Should Christians resist or lean into AI? 57:36

2M ago57:36

57:36

As is probably obvious from previous episodes, John is extremely interested in generative AI and thinks it will be the next transformative technology to entirely up-end how society works. Tim, however, is much more sceptical and thinks a lot of the rhetoric around AI is overblown. So, prompted by Tim sharing an AI-sceptical blog, in this episode we…

1
Q&A: Why have anti-abortion activists accidentally banned fertility treatment in Alabama? 42:57

3M ago42:57

42:57

Alabama’s Supreme Court has ruled that embryos in deep freeze, stored as part of IVF treatment, can be considered as legally children. This unexpected judgement has prompted many clinics to shut their doors, fearing lawsuits, as the storage and eventual destruction of surplus embryos is standard practice in IVF. In this episode we reflect on how an…

1
How can Christian doctors approach medical-assisted dying (euthanasia)? 1:04:10

3M ago1:04:10

1:04:10

This week we’re bringing you a classic episode from the MOLAD vault. Medical Assistance in Dying is Canada’s euthanasia programme. It started in 2016 with a Supreme Court decision but has since rapidly expanded and liberalised. The latest battleground is over mental health. The government has committed to changing its laws so that people suffering …

1
Psychedelics, spirits and the philosophy of Harry Potter 54:09

3M ago54:09

54:09

Culture is increasingly interested in psychedelic drugs. Whether it’s Silicon Valley execs micro-dosing LSD to turbocharge their meetings, Americans doing ayahuasca weekends in Mexico, or rafts of studies suggesting ketamine can really help in treating depression, we’re all taking drugs much more seriously than any time since the 1960s countercultu…

1
Q&A: Should single Christians use dating apps if they strike out at church? 35:11

3M ago35:11

35:11

A listener has emailed in his dilemma off the back of our recent series of episodes: His small evangelical church teaches a traditional Christian message on relationships and marriage, yet offers single members like him no opportunities to meet like-minded women. Is it OK for him to turn to dating apps to fish in a deeper pool, or are the apps unav…

1
New Creation: Reading the Bible backwards, the ‘opiate of the masses’, Physics 2.0, and the resurrected yet scarred body 56:38

4M ago56:38

56:38

Our four-part series on the deeper narrative of the Bible comes to an end with New Creation. Just as with the beginning of the story, this final chapter is often overlooked in many churches and the Christian narrative is compressed simply to fall and redemption. But losing sight of our future hope and where the story ends is hugely detrimental to o…

1
Egg freezing revisited: What about the ‘surplus’ eggs, and is better contraception part of the solution? 52:03

4M ago52:03

52:03

A listener has emailed in two excellent questions in response to our recent episode looking at egg freezing. What happens to the leftover eggs which are frozen but never reimplanted, and can Christians be relaxed about this intrinsic wastefulness of the process? And also, if the whole problem stems from sexual activity beginning in your mid-teens b…

1
Gender gap in church: Onward Christian Soldiers, the only man in a room full of women, Bonhoeffer’s ‘cheap grace’ and Christian dating apps 39:53

4M ago39:53

39:53

One major response to our conversation on egg freezing was the idea that for many single Christian women it is a sensible choice given the difficulty in finding a partner/husband. For years it has been often said that the church is disproportionately made up of women, which means it is much harder for female believers to find husbands than the othe…

1
Q&A: The contradictions which underpin anti-suicide efforts in an era of euthanasia, and are there any honest and unbiased journalists left these days? 42:38

4M ago42:38

42:38

Some more listener questions: what kind of line is crossed once a country legalises euthanasia and how can a state simultaneously fund suicide prevention for some while offering state-sanctioned and facilitated assisting dying for others? Will this contradictory worldview eventually collapse under the weight of its own incoherence? Then, we respond…

1
Egg freezing: The ticking biological clock, prosecco and cheese evenings, the culture war over maternal age, and living with wisdom and contentment 56:38

5M ago56:38

56:38

Increasing numbers of women are choosing to freeze their eggs in the hope that years down the line they can use these younger, healthier eggs to have children once their relationship, personal, financial or work circumstances are right. And fertility clinics and employers are increasingly pushing women to consider this option as a ‘normal’ part of …

1
Genetics: Libraries of recipe books, BRCA1, Gattaca, and Big Data Towers of Babel 59:01

5M ago59:01

59:01

A final classic episode to see us through the Christmas and New Year break. Today we’re returning to an interview with NHS geneticist Melody Redman. Each of us carries around in our cells about 20,000 different genes – a unique set of biological code which shapes how our bodies develop. As scientists better understand genes and how they work, genet…

1
Pregnancy crisis: A constructive Christian response, heads versus hearts, paternalistic gynaecologists, and ambiguity in the ultrasound clinic 1:04:23

5M ago1:04:23

1:04:23

Today we’re returning to a classic episode from our back catalogue, with special guest Sophie Guthrie-Kummer from Choices, a Christian crisis pregnancy centre in London. Abortion is a flashpoint issue in both the church and wider culture, with the very language you choose used as a cudgel for either side. So how does Choices juggle the theological …

1
Climate anxiety: ’Delay means death’, Extinction Rebellion, throwing pebbles into God’s river, and rediscovering lament 58:28

5M ago58:28

58:28

This week we’re bringing you an episode from our back catalogue, this time from March 2022. The latest report from the UN's climate scientists was both incredibly downbeat about climate change and almost entirely ignored by a media fixated on Ukraine. In this episode we consider the communication and changing narratives around climate change, why a…

1
Q&A: Should we welcome the coming wave of anti-obesity drugs, and what’s at stake in the argument over the 14-day limit on embryo research? 42:48

6M ago42:48

42:48

Our final Q&A episode of the year tackles two medical ethics questions in the news recently. The first is Wegovy, the ground-breaking anti-obesity drug which has been a controversial sensation in the United States. It is now available (in very limited supply) on the NHS here in the UK, but only for those with quite serious obesity with BMIs of 35 o…

1
Redemption: Always Plan A, sharing in Christ’s sufferings, a Disney fairy story, and the offensive incarnation 40:50

6M ago40:50

40:50

Creation. Fall. Redemption. New Creation. Our series on the theological foundations of Christian ethics and the grand narrative of the Bible has reached the third chapter – redemption. How is the story of what Christ accomplished on the cross a uniquely Christian approach to the problem of evil, and what light does it shed on our approach to everyt…

1
Palliative care: Dogs and Guinness on the wards, complicated grief, DNAR discussions, and resisting assisted dying 1:03:23

6M ago1:03:23

1:03:23

John’s on holiday this week so we’re bringing you a classic episode from the Matters of Life and Death vault. A couple of years ago we interviewed Sarah Foot, a Christian palliative care doctor. She spoke about how she treats the physical, mental, social and even spiritual needs of those who are dying, the Christian foundations of the discipline, a…

1
Q&A: Why are we ignoring rising death rates among poorer ethnic minority children, and will the flesh-and-blood girlfriend become a thing of the past? 36:41

6M ago36:41

36:41

New official data in England reveals an alarming and much under-reported phenomenon – significant increases in mortality among children from the most deprived communities over the last two years. What is driving this concerning uptick in the statistics and why has it gone under the radar, both for mainstream society and the church? Also in the news…

1
Science and religion 1: The myth of conflict, Charles Darwin’s beetle research, epistemic humility, and English country churchyard or Californian fridge? 56:57

6M ago56:57

56:57

This week’s guest is Nick Spencer, senior fellow at the faith thinktank Theos, and recent author of Magisteria: The entangled histories of science and religion. Nick joins us to discuss the complicated backstory to how we all came to believe science and faith were inevitably at odds with each other. Where did this myth come from, and what is a more…

1
Q&A: The ‘myths’ leading women to choose abortion, and is digital slavery underpinning breakthroughs in AI? 38:40

7M ago38:40

38:40

This week we dip back into the postbag to look at some more listener questions. First up we return to our episode looking at recent shifts in abortion rates – is the narrative of ‘it’s my body and I’ll do what I want’ what is truly driving increases in abortion figures in recent years, or is that a bit of a myth?We also take a closer look into rece…

1
Friendship 3: Ruth and Naomi, ‘chesed’, trips to the theatre with John Stott, and an unorthodox rabbi 53:49

7M ago53:49

53:49

We last tackled the idea of friendship when we explored the so-called ‘hermeneutic of suspicion’ – that cloud of concern that today hangs over any close relationship between two people. But friendship in the Bible was not inevitably corrupted by sex, coercion, or power plays. Today we pick up some other themes from John’s new book Transforming Frie…

1
The Fall: Bad actor theory, a malevolent voice in the Garden, Total Depravity and Original Sin, and the ‘Christian heresy’ of liberal humanism 46:40

7M ago46:40

46:40

Creation. Fall. Redemption. New Creation. This is the grand narrative of scripture and the theological foundation we use to try to probe into the ethical challenges thrown up by advances in science and technology. We looked at creation in September, and now we’ve come to the Fall. What is the uniquely Christian approach to the nature of evil in our…

1
Baby loss 2: Rising abortion numbers, pills by post, ‘the pregnancy remains’, and Schrodinger’s fetus 49:13

7M ago49:13

49:13

We spoke last week about the hugely welcome shift in how society talks about miscarriage and cares for women (and men) who have experienced it. And yet at the same time in Britain, we desperately avoid using the same language and narrative established in baby loss services when we are in the abortion zone. Now, the fetus is not a much loved, named …

1
Baby loss 1: Elsie’s story, one in five pregnancies, names missing from the family tree, and the power of ultrasound 37:01

8M ago37:01

37:01

We have just finished Baby Loss Awareness Week here in the UK. While the event is not hugely well known, it is indicative of an enormous cultural shift in recent decades around how society talks about miscarriage and stillbirth. Today, the messaging is much more compassionate and empathetic, acknowledging the reality of the baby who has died and th…

1
Women and Christianity: Purity culture, beyond complementarianism, baggy t-shirts over swimming costumes, and recovering Tamar’s voice 57:05

8M ago57:05

57:05

Christianity is sometimes described as ‘bad news for women’. Clearly we would all disagree with this epithet, but why does it have cultural currency right now for a growing number of particularly younger women? In this episode we’re joined by Ellidh Cook, a student worker in central London whose theological studies focused on violence against women…

1
Origins of covid: Gain of function research, zoonosis, the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and truth over tribe 56:36

8M ago56:36

56:36

When the pandemic first spread beyond China there was a straightforward message from scientific elites: the virus came from a wild animal accidentally spilling over into humans, and any suggestion it might have instead been manipulated in a lab and then escaped was a quasi-racist conspiracy theory. However, as the years have gone on this has been s…

1
Q&A: Should Christians use homeopathic medicine and why are climate scientists self-censoring in academic journal articles? 37:45

8M ago37:45

37:45

A listener has emailed in to ask where we stand on alternative medicine, such as homeopathy or chiropractors. Is it fine for believers to partake in these kinds of complementary treatments and therapies, alongside traditional evidence-based scientific medicine? Why are they so stubbornly popular despite mountains of research suggesting they mostly …

1
Creation: The Brethren’s suspicion of the ‘world’, an explosion of joy, Eric Liddell’s sprinting epiphany, and celebrating beauty 51:30

9M ago51:30

51:30

Today we start a new series unpacking the theological foundations of much of what we talk about on Matters of Life and Death. Many Christians, going back to church fathers, have understood the grand narrative of scripture through a four-part journey: from Creation, to Fall, to Redemption, to New Creation. This week we are beginning with creation. W…

1
Q&A: The science of the billions-of-years-old Earth, has God deceived us, and are philosophers so useless after all? 26:03

9M ago26:03

26:03

Our latest episode tackling questions from the listeners starts by considering whether we can harmonise a belief in modern science and a literalistic reading of the Genesis account of creation. Did God really create the universe in six days only 6,000 years ago, but then set up all of created order with fossils, carbon decay and the speed of light …

1
Lucy Letby: Murder on the neonatal ward, Munchausen’s by proxy, doctors versus nurses, and the banality of evil 49:40

9M ago49:40

49:40

Britain has been gripped by horror by the recent conviction of a neonatal nurse called Lucy Letby, who murdered seven premature babies and attempted to kill six others at the hospital where she worked. In this episode we discuss this horrifying and tragic story and whether Letby could or should have been stopped earlier. Will this case damage trust…

1
Q&A: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, psychosomatic disorders, AI acing exams, and the limitations of true creativity 43:30

9M ago43:30

43:30

We have another episode of listener questions today. First, we respond to feedback from a listener with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as ME) who queried how we spoke about the condition in our previous episode touching on Long Covid. What exactly do we mean when we talk about some illnesses being ‘psychosomatic’ and how has the scientific me…

1
Space: The James Webb Telescope, hobbits of the universe, astrobiology, and 16 billion billion Earth-like planets 1:10:42

9M ago1:10:42

1:10:42

This week we have another classic episode of Matters of Life and Death from the archive. We invited theologian Andrew Davison to join us to talk through the spiritual ramifications of cosmology and what light thinking about the wider universe sheds on vital doctrines such as creation and incarnation. We then talked about the subject of his book, wh…

1
Evolution: The cosmic watchmaker, a 6,000-year-old Earth, the immorality of mutation, and intelligent uncertainty 1:03:15

10M ago1:03:15

1:03:15

Evolution versus creationism is the internal Christian argument which doesn’t go away. We recorded an episode last year exploring this knotty problem and how believers might go about trying to debate it respectfully even if they disagree. We look at the age of the Earth, common descent, natural selection, and the historicity of Adam, Eve and the Fa…

1
Abusive leadership: Mike Pilavachi and Soul Survivor, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, Sigmund Freud's chaise longue, and Paul-Timothy relationships 1:02:45

10M ago1:02:45

1:02:45

It’s been almost two years since we recorded an episode about abusive church leadership inspired by the downfall of Mark Driscoll and the Mars Hill church. Today we re-examine that conversation in the light of the latest scandal rocking the British evangelical church – allegations against Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor. We discuss his influence …

1
Suffering: Mystery and presence, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, rediscovering lament and the Gethsemane prayer 1:05:18

10M ago1:05:18

1:05:18

We’re bringing you a classic episode of Matters of Life and Death from the archive today, all about suffering. The problem of suffering has been one of the most intractable and painful theological debates for centuries. But is it perhaps not a problem to be solved, but a deeper mystery to be journeyed through? How does knowing Jesus’s death and res…

1
Q&A: Karl Barth’s complicated home life, and single Christians considering adoption 39:24

10M ago39:24

39:24

In our latest episode tackling some questions from listeners, we begin by thinking about whether it should matter if influential theologians and Christian writers had personal moral failings, and whether we can separate out someone’s theological work from their own sins. Then we move on to a question from an unmarried listener who would like childr…

1
Covid reconsidered 2: Empty Nightingale hospitals, difficult triage decisions, a failure of Christian leadership, and reconsidering lockdown 50:08

11M ago50:08

50:08

Our second ‘lessons learned’ episode looking back at the covid pandemic tackles how our healthcare systems coped, or failed to cope, with the unprecedented crisis of coronavirus. Did we see doctors forced to make impossible choices over who gets a ventilator and intensive care and who is left to die in a corridor? Did we get the balance right betwe…

1
Covid reconsidered 1: Pandemic amnesia, ‘Stay at home, Protect the NHS, Save lives’, lingering Long Covid, and 13.47 billion vaccine doses 56:49

11M ago56:49

56:49

This podcast happened to launch a week or two into the first lockdown in spring 2020, and so for the first year almost all we could talk about on the show was coronavirus. But since normality finally returned last year, it feels like nobody wants to talk about the pandemic again. Yet reconsidering those traumatic, confusing, revolutionary few years…

1
Dementia: Listening to our bodies, 72 unique behaviours, multi-dimensional personhood, and the sacramental ministry of touch 44:49

11M ago44:49

44:49

‘Granny’s body remains, but she was gone’. The public narrative around dementia often presumes that as our ability to talk, move and think gradually withers away, so does our personhood and sense of self. But if we believe as Christians that our humanity and identity is inextricably bound up in our physical flesh and bones, how should we approach t…

1
Surrogacy: The intended parents, altruistic versus commercial, ancient Christians saving abandoned babies, and a post-genetic community 55:24

11M ago55:24

55:24

The numbers of couples choosing to have children via surrogate mothers has been steadily rising in recent years. Now, the UK authorities are considering plans for a radical overhaul of the laws around surrogacy, making it more heavily regulated but also reversing certain presumptions around legal parenthood. In this episode we discuss why surrogacy…

1
Digital church: Worship on Zoom, pandemic revival, time-shifting and Gnosticism (Replay) 34:00

12M ago34:00

34:00

We're both on holiday this week so we're bringing you an episode we first recorded in 2021 during the covid pandemic. It explores one of the most significant and potentially long-lasting ways the covid pandemic has affected church life – the shift to digital. Ever since the first lockdown began, churches of every shape and size and from every denom…

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