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Monday 28 August 2023

A Comeback for God? with Justin Brierley

Christian author and broadcaster Justin Brierley joined the Rev Jamie Franklin to discuss his new book The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God and why he believes that we may be seeing signs of a revival of interest in Christianity in the Western world. Topics include: - The New Atheist movement: its appeal, internal division and eventual demise - Whether the Science vs. Religion question is relevant anymore. - Jordan Peterson, Tom Holland, Louise Perry and other secular thinkers who provide a challenge to the secular Enlightenment liberal narrative. - The need for the Church to be distinctively Christian and to offer real community for spiritual seekers. That and much much more as ever. For Justin's book please go to: https://justinbrierley.com/the-surpri... For Justin in general: https://justinbrierley.com/ If you enjoyed this special episode, please consider supporting the podcast in the following ways: Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/irreverend) or Buy Me a Coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/irreverend). Subscribe to Jamie's Blog here: https://jamiefranklin.substack.com. And please rate, review us and share on social media! Timings: 00:00 Unbelievable? and early apologetics podcasts 02:23 Bringing difference points of view into debate 03:28 What is Justin doing post-Unbelievable? 06:00 The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Justin’s new book 07:02 Please convince me to be an optimist about the future 07:44 New Atheism and the background to rebirth of belief in God 12:20 Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion and the decline of New Atheism 17:58 Why science cannot prove God 19:55 Is it still worthwhile engaging the Science vs. Faith question? 21:33 People are still conditioned in the anti-Christian Enlightenment narrative 23:38 Tom Holland and the historical pushback to the Enlightenment narrative 25:26 Jordan Peterson, the “Intellectual Dark Web” and the new conversation on God 33:38 Tom Holland and the insufficiency of recognising the cultural value of Christianity 38:25 Louise Perry, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution and feminist interest in Christianity 46:12 The need for Christian communities to help people live differently 48:48 Christianity works because it is literally true 49:30 The Church’s need to find confidence in the Gospel 53:48 Isn’t the West decline into barbarism and moving away from Christianity? 58:48 The rapid secularisation of culture could be reversed 1:03:45 Thank you, please buy The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God