Richard Johnson Lectures

In this episode, you'll hear Tim Winton’s 2024 lecture, Exiles at Home: what our contempt for nature is costing us. Writer and activist Tim Winton reminds us that life on earth is a gift, a miracle we often fail to honour or even recognise. As we face an ecological crisis unprecedented in human history, Tim points to the critical need for solidarity - with the earth, our home, and with each other. Tim’s literary career spans 40 years and 30 books for adults and younger readers. His books have been translated into 29 languages and won numerous awards including the Miles Franklin Literary Award four times and he has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Tim is also the writer, narrator, and executive producer of the nature documentary series Ningaloo that screened around the world in 2023. Tim lives in Western Australia. --- Check out CPX’s other podcast, Life and Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. If you’d like to know more about CPX, our website is publicchristianity.org

In this episode, you'll hear the Q&A session follwoing Tim Winton’s 2024 lecture, Exiles at Home: what our contempt for nature is costing us. Writer and activist Tim Winton reminds us that life on earth is a gift, a miracle we often fail to honour or even recognise. As we face an ecological crisis unprecedented in human history, Tim points to the critical need for solidarity - with the earth, our home, and with each other. Tim’s literary career spans 40 years and 30 books for adults and younger readers. His books have been translated into 29 languages and won numerous awards including the Miles Franklin Literary Award four times and he has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Tim is also the writer, narrator, and executive producer of the nature documentary series Ningaloo that screened around the world in 2023. Tim lives in Western Australia. --- Check out CPX’s other podcast, Life and Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. If you’d like to know more about CPX, our website is publicchristianity.org

In this episode, you'll hear the Q&A session that followed Leisa Aitken's 2023 lecture titled, Rediscovering Hope. How we lost it. How we get it back? You can hear her lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Leisa, with Simon Smart, digging deeper into the topic. --- Leisa is a clinical psychologist who's been counselling and teaching for more than 25 years in workplaces, hospitals, and private practice. She recently completed a PhD on the shifting grounds of hope through Western history and philosophy, theology, and psychology. --- Check out CPX’s other podcast, Life and Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century.

In this episode, you'll hear Lisa Aitken's 2023 lecture, Rediscovering Hope. How we lost it. How we get it back? The future feels tenuous these days, uncertain … overwhelming, even. Hope might be scarce, but it's not lost. At least not with Leisa Aitken is our guide. Leisa is a clinical psychologist with 25 years’ experience in her field and she's just completed a PhD on Hope. For those feeling hopeful, and perhaps especially for those who are not, this is a great talk to hear – hope from the perspective of psychology, philosophy, and theology. --- Lisa is a clinical psychologist who's been counselling and teaching for more than 25 years in workplaces, hospitals, and private practice. She recently completed a PhD on the shifting grounds of hope through Western history and philosophy, theology, and psychology. --- Check out CPX’s other podcast, Life and Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century.

In this episode you’ll hear the Q&A session that followed Scott Stephen’s 2021 lecture titled…  Out Of Sight: Attentiveness in a Dismissive Age  You can hear his lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Scott, with Simon Smart, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  Scott is the ABC’s Religion and Ethics online editor, and the co-host, with Waleed Aly, of The Minefield on ABC Radio National. His book On Contempt is published by Melbourne University Press.  Read Scott Stephens’ Uncivil Wars, written with Waleed Aly for the Quarterly Essay    Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

In this episode you’ll hear the Q&A session that followed Sarah Irving-Stonebraker’s 2020 lecture titled…  Free To Be Me? The Forgotten Story of Religious Liberty  You can hear her lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Sarah, with Simon Smart, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  Sarah is Senior Lecturer in History at Western Sydney University. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Cambridge, after which she was a Junior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford then Assistant Professor at Florida State University. Her book Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire, published in 2008, was awarded The Royal Society of Literature and Jerwood Foundation Award for Non-Fiction.  Sarah Irving-Stonebraker’s book, Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire    Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

You can hear his lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Tim, with Simon Smart, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  Tim is co-founder of More in Common, an international initiative which has published some of the world's leading research on the drivers of polarisation and social division. He has worked as chief speechwriter and economic adviser for two Australian Prime Ministers and has helped start and grow social movement organisations around the world that have worked to protect civilians in Syria, address modern day slavery, promote gun control in the U.S., and engage faith communities in social justice.  Tim Dixon’s organisation, More in Common    Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

In this episode you’ll hear the Q&A session that followed Nick Spencer’s 2018 lecture titled…  Where Did I Come From? Christianity, Secularism, and the Individual  You can hear his lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Nick Spencer, with Simon Smart, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  Nick is Research Director of Theos Think Tank in London. He has written for The Guardian and The Telegraph and has been described by The Economist as “like a prophet crying in the post-modern wilderness”. Nick is the author of several books including Atheists: The Origin of the Species, and The Evolution of the West: How Christianity Has Shaped Our Values.   Some of Nick Spencer’s books:  Atheists: The Origin of the Species  Darwin and God  The Political Samaritan  Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

In this episode you’ll hear the Q&A session that followed Amy Orr-Ewing’s 2017 lecture titled…  Is Christianity Bad News for Women?  You can hear her lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Amy, with Simon Smart, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  Amy is a Senior Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and is a widely sought-after speaker who has addressed audiences at the White House and the UK Parliament. She regularly appears on TV and radio to comment on a variety of topics relating to the Christian faith. Her doctoral studies focused on the British novelist, essayist, and “Christian humanist” Dorothy L. Sayers, and she is the author of several books, including Where is God in all the Suffering, and Why Trust the Bible?  Some of Amy Orr-Ewing’s books:  Is the Bible Intolerant?  Where is God in all the Suffering?  Why Trust the Bible?    Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

In this episode you’ll hear the Q&A session that followed William Cavanaugh’s 2016 lecture titled…  The Myth of Religious Violence  You can hear his lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is William, with John Dickson, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  WIlliam is Professor of Theology at DePaul University in Chicago. He holds degrees from Notre Dame, Cambridge, and Duke University, and has worked for the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the Notre Dame Law School. His areas of specialisation include political theology and economic ethics. He is the author of The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology, The Roots of Modern Conflict, and Field Hospital: The Church’s Engagement with a Wounded World.  Some of William Cavanaugh’s books:  The Myth of Religious Violence  Field Hospital: The Church’s Engagement with a Wounded World    Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

In this episode you’ll hear the Q&A session that followed Peter Harrison’s 2015 lecture titled…  The End of Faith: Has Science Made Religion Redundant?  You can hear his lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Peter, with John Dickson, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  Peter is currently an Australian Laureate Fellow at the University of Queensland. Before taking up that post he was the Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He has published extensively in the area of intellectual history with a focus on the historical interactions between science and religion, and has authored or edited six books, including The Territories of Science and Religion.  Some of Peter Harrison’s book:  The Territories of Science and Religion  The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science    Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

In this episode you’ll hear the Q&A session that followed the inaugural Richard Johnson Lecture, which was delivered in 2014 by Yale University’s Miroslav Volf.  His topic was A Public Faith: Serving the Common Good, and you can hear the lecture in an earlier episode of this podcast, but here is Miroslav, with John Dickson, digging deeper into the topic.  ---  Miroslav is Founding Director of the Yale Centre for Faith and Culture, and the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. He has written more than 15 books, including Exclusion and Embrace, A Public Faith, and most recently For the Life of the World.  Some of Miroslav Volf’s books:  A Public Faith  Exclusion and Embrace  For the Life of the World    Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. 

In this episode you’ll hear the open Q&A session following Andy Crouch’s 2022 lecture, Disconnected: Why technology keeps disappointing us --- Andy Crouch is a partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organisation that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. He is an author of many books and his latest is The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming relationship in a technological age --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. Andy’s book: The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming relationship in a technological age This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission

In this episode you’ll hear Andy Crouch’s 2022 lecture, Disconnected: Why technology keeps disappointing us Technology promises so much — and truly has transformed our lives — but somehow it never quite delivers. Drawing on an older vision of human beings as heart-soul-mind-strength complexes, designed for love, Andy Crouch makes the case for applying our scientific knowledge in a way that restores things that are in strangely short supply in our technological age: real connection, relationship, and hope. --- Andy Crouch is a partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organisation that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. He is an author of many books and his latest is The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming relationship in a technological age --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. Andy’s book: The Life We’re Looking For: Reclaiming relationship in a technological age This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission

In this episode you’ll hear Scott Stephen’s 2021 lecture, Out of Sight: Attentiveness in a Dismissive Age We commonly hear that the times in which we live are “unprecedented”. Not entirely without justification, when we consider the proliferation of technologies that flood our waking hours. Yet beneath the busy surface of our media-saturated age, there lurks a temptation that is in no way unprecedented: the old temptation to live superficially – which is to say, inattentively. Like Shakespeare’s King Lear, we increasingly crave affection, fear irrelevance, are unsure who to trust, and so banish those who might wound us “out of our sight”. The eyes are a moral organ. The contemptuous gaze can wither; the attentive glance gives life. At a time when so many distractions can cloud our vision, Scott Stephens urges us – in the tender words of the loyal Kent, in King Lear – to “see better”. --- Scott Stephens is the ABC’s Religion and Ethics online editor, and the co-host, with Waleed Aly, of The Minefield on ABC Radio National. His book On Contempt is published by Melbourne University Press. --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission

In this episode you’ll hear Sarah Irving-Stonebraker’s 2020 lecture, Free To Be Me? The Forgotten Story of Religious Liberty "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion", reads the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But how did we get here? Freedom of religion - or of no religion - is grounded on liberty of conscience, an idea with a back-story most of us are unaware of. In recovering this story, historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker takes us all the way back to the ancient Middle East, and on a whirlwind tour through Europe, the Americas, and Australia, and asks: does the notion of religious liberty still have currency today? --- Sarah Irving-Stonebraker is Senior Lecturer in History at Western Sydney University. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Cambridge, after which she was a Junior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford then Assistant Professor at Florida State University. Her book Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire, published in 2008, was awarded The Royal Society of Literature and Jerwood Foundation Award for Non-Fiction. --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. --- This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission

In this episode you’ll hear Tim Dixon’s 2019 lecture, Crossing the Great Divide: Building Bridges in an Age of Tribalism The Western world is seeing a collapse in people’s faith in institutions, democracy, and even each other. Societies are fractured; political norms upended. Polarising debates centre on issues of identity, values, and belonging, and tribal voices muzzle the notion of a common good. In many countries, religious faith is becoming just one more marker of tribal division. Tim Dixon offers a vision for how we might reunite increasingly fragmented societies. --- Tim Dixon is co-founder of More in Common, an international initiative which has published some of the world's leading research on the drivers of polarisation and social division. He has worked as chief speechwriter and economic adviser for two Australian Prime Ministers, and has helped start and grow social movement organisations around the world that have worked to protect civilians in Syria, address modern day slavery, promote gun control in the U.S., and engage faith communities in social justice. --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. --- This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission

In this episode you’ll hear Nick Spencer’s 2018 lecture, Where Did I Come From? Christianity, Secularism, and the Individual It's obvious, isn’t it? Life should be respected. We should obey the rule of law. Humans have inalienable dignity. People are of equal worth. Freedom is good. Science is legitimate. And - as Life of Brian reminded us - "we are all individuals". Except that it is far from obvious. Nick Spencer is on a quest to rediscover our origin stories, and what makes the West the West. --- Nick Spencer is Research Director of Theos Think Tank in London. He has written for The Guardian and The Telegraph and has been described by The Economist as “like a prophet crying in the post-modern wilderness”. Nick is the author of several books including Atheists: The Origin of the Species, and The Evolution of the West: How Christianity Has Shaped Our Values. --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. --- This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission

In this episode you’ll hear Amy Orr-Ewing’s 2017 lecture, Is Christianity Bad News for Women? The 2nd-century Greek philosopher Celsus famously dismissed Christianity as a religion of women, children, and slaves – that is to say, not to be taken seriously. But Christianity is much more likely to be condemned today, not for being a religion of women, but a religion against women. If gender equality mattered to the early church, what happened to it? What does Christianity’s chequered treatment of women mean for its credibility today? And is the Christian faith a force for the oppression of women, or for their flourishing? --- Amy Orr-Ewing is a Senior Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, and is a widely sought-after speaker who has addressed audiences at the White House and the UK Parliament. She regularly appears on TV and radio to comment on a variety of topics relating to the Christian faith. Her doctoral studies focused on the British novelist, essayist, and “Christian humanist” Dorothy L. Sayers, and she is the author of several books, including Where is God in all the Suffering, and Why Trust the Bible? --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. --- This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission

In this episode you’ll hear William Cavanaugh’s 2016 lecture, The Myth Of Religious Violence It’s a widely held assumption in Western societies that religion has a peculiar tendency to promote violence. Indeed, much of our domestic and foreign policy assumes this – but is it a fair assumption? Are religions more inclined to promote violence than things like nationalism and access to oil? What even counts as “religion”? And what role have “secular” ideologies as well as “religious” ones played in fomenting violence? American philosopher William Cavanaugh offers some provocative arguments. --- William Cavanaugh is Professor of Theology at DePaul University in Chicago. He holds degrees from Notre Dame, Cambridge, and Duke University, and has worked for the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the Notre Dame Law School. His areas of specialisation include political theology and economic ethics. He is the author of The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict, and Field Hospital: The Church’s Engagement with a Wounded World. --- Check out CPX's other podcast Life & Faith, a weekly conversation about the beauty and complexity of belief in the 21st century. --- This episode is sponsored by International Justice Mission