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270 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Acceptable suffering? The ethics of animal testing
4 november 2026 · 46 min
In the United States, a surprising coalition of MAGA Republicans and progressive Democrats have united in their shared opposition to animal testing in medical research, and are pushing to shut it down for good. But what should Christians think about using animals in research to find new drugs or treatments for humans? John spent years conducting just this kind of research himself as a doctor, and so we discuss how he came to believe this was morally appropriate and his own run-ins with Britain’s animal rights activists. We also think through the theological foundations of human exceptionalism, and how the idea we are different (and indeed more valuable) than everything else God has made is coming under fresh challenge today. Lees meer
The original Economist article we cite at the start: https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/08/05/how-a-bipartisan-coalition-is-taking-aim-at-animal-research
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Vaccine conspiracies, mistrust and catastrophism: How the church lost its way, with Dr Francis Collins
28 oktober 2026 · 46 min
Tim is away this week, so please enjoy a classic episode from the MOLAD archive:
Francis Collins is one of the leading scientists of his generation, a world-renowned geneticist who led the international project to map the human genome. Later he served under three presidents as the director of the National Institute of Health, which led him to play a pivotal role in America’s battle against the covid pandemic. He’s also an evangelical Christian who has often shared his convictions that science and Biblical faith are never in conflict. His experience trying, and often failing, to persuade sceptical American Christians to get vaccinated, while culture wars tore apart churches and communities alike, prompted him to write a book calling for a return to traditional sources of wisdom: science, truth, and faith. In this episode we talk through his experiences in public office as a Christian scientist and discuss how the US evangelical church became so polarised, divided and sceptical of good science, even when presented by faithful believers like him. Lees meer• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Prepare for war?
21 oktober 2026 · 45 min
An influential British church leader has issued a ‘prophetic’ warning to the church to prepare for armed conflict in the near future. This has triggered a minor frenzy, with reactions ranging from panic to suspicion. But his warnings actually echo quite a lot of what the British government and military have also been saying in recent months too. In today’s episode we consider the different ways Christians think about war and what it might look like to seriously get ready if you believe conflict is coming. Is there a piece of theological reflection on pacifism and just war theory to be done, alongside stockpiling tinned food and drinking water? How could pastors prepare their flocks for the possibility of being conscripted into World War Three? And why are some Christian voices apparently egging on the very state which is threatening to throw Europe back into war? Lees meer
• You can listen to Pete Greig’s full prophecy here https://wildfiresfestival.com/venue/labs/ or read his statement online here https://www.dirtyglory.org/blog/2026/10/5/prepare-for-war-a-statement
• John Heathershaw’s blog responding to Greig is here https://substack.com/@johnheathershaw/p-218503397• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The death penalty
14 oktober 2026 · 46 min
Two stories about capital punishment in the United States have grabbed attention across the world: the doubly-botched attempt to execute Christa Pike, which left this convicted murderer alive but hospitalised, and plans by the federal government to livestream their own execution of the army officer behind the Fort Hood shooting. In today’s episode we reflect on the death penalty, which has been abolished for most of the Western world for generations yet persists in the US, and consider the arguments for and against from a Christian perspective. Does God sanction governments to carry out this ultimate punishment? What effect does taking another’s life have on us? Can the death penalty be reconciled with the gospel of grace and God’s offer of redemption in Christ? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Near death experiences
7 oktober 2026 · 49 min
John is away, so here's a classic episode from the MOLAD vault. Once dismissed as quackery or New Age woo, near death experiences are seeing something of a modern revival. A slew of serious scientists and doctors have begun studying the phenomenon, even constructing clinical trials to try and see what, if anything, goes on when someone is on the brink of death but is resuscitated successfully. And there is now an entire Christian industry of books and films about believers who claim to have ‘gone to heaven and come back’ after nearly dying. What are the scientific claims behind these experiences, and what do we know and not know about what happens to the brain as it begins to die? Should believers embrace near death experiences as concrete proof of the afterlife? And how does Jesus and the New Testament encourage the Christian to approach questions and fears about death? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
How do you solve a problem like social care?
30 september 2026 · 46 min
It’s been obvious for decades now that the UK’s system for looking after older people who need some kind of care in their later years is horrendously underfunded and riddled with holes. And yet despite numerous governments pledging to finally fix the issue and create a proper safety net for social care, nothing has actually happened even as the population ages and millions more people are faced with trying to cover the spiralling costs of care by themselves. This week we are joined by Christian economist Andrew Dilnot, who was tasked by the government 15 years ago to come up with a solution (only for his recommendation to then be jettisoned later). We discuss what he proposed, why it (and all other proposals) failed to be implemented, and whether a form of social insurance for social care is a truly Christian response to the crisis. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Will AI kill us all?
23 september 2026 · 54 min
It’s been hard to avoid the endless news stories coming out of Silicon Valley in recent weeks, as AI insiders and executives earnestly tell the world they really are now worried that the tools they are making could destroy humanity as we know it. What on earth should we as Christians make of these stark predictions, and should we be starting to prepare as a church to live in a much more dangerous, unpredictable and unstable world?
But first, we begin this episode reflecting on the recent defeat of the assisted dying bill in the House of Commons, the second time in the last year such a proposed law has come unstuck in parliament. What happened to stymie it this time, is this the end of the road for the pro-euthanasia side, and what role did Christians play this time round? Lees meer• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The Ebola emergency
16 september 2026 · 54 min
You may not have read too much about it, but the current outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is by far the most serious for years, and remains far from under control months after it began. This week we interview Giles Cattermole, a British emergency doctor who has just come back from a month volunteering at a makeshift hospital in the heart of the epidemic. We talk about what life is like trying to care for people with an incurable and highly infectious disease in rural Africa, what motivated him as a Christian to risk his life to head to the midst of the crisis, and why the West seems so apathetic and uncaring about this horrific disease cutting a swathe through the DRC. Lees meer
Find out more about Samaritan’s Purse’s work combatting Ebola - https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/EbolaResponse
The US CDC’s page on the latest on the Ebola outbreak - https://www.cdc.gov/ebola/situation-summary/index.html
Africa CDC also has information on the Ebola epidemic - https://africacdc.org/bundibugyo-virus-disease-bvd-ebola-outbreak/• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Intergenerational sin, reparations and truth-telling: The church and the legacy of slavery, with Richard Reddie
9 september 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
The Church of England has been for several years embarked on a highly controversial plan to spend £100m of its historic assets to try and make amends for the way its institutions profited from investments in the slave trade centuries ago. Plenty of other denominations are also wrestling with similar dark legacies from their past. Should the church of today be held morally accountable for the sins of their forebears? Are financial transactions the best way to atone for the past anyway? And can we still trace the impact of the enslavement and oppression of Africans centuries ago in the Western church even to this day? To discuss this, Tim is joined by Richard Reddie, the director of justice and inclusion at Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Ethical populism: Should elites block questionable policy developments which nevertheless have strong public support?
2 september 2026 · 43 min
A new study has revealed that ordinary people in both America and China are fairly strongly in favour of so-called liberal eugenics – using genetic screening to choose your own children’s non-medical traits like IQ, appearance or even personality. Medical and scientific figures tend to be opposed to using advanced polygenic screening for anything beyond serious medical conditions, worried by the ethics over ‘designer babies’ and unintended consequences. But is it fair or feasible in the long-term for elites to refuse to grant access to a technology which appears to have substantial backing within society?
But first, we discuss a major legal defeat for the tech firm Meta, which has settled an £18bn lawsuit by most of the state attorney generals in the US over the harm caused by its social media apps Facebook and Instagram. This is the latest in a series of courtroom setbacks for Meta and other Silicon Valley giants, who are being forced into placing more restrictions on teenagers using their addictive and ubiquitous social networks. Lees meer• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
On whose secret service? The alarming rise of AI agents
26 augustus 2026 · 56 min
There has recently been a slew of stories about cutting-edge AI models which have apparently broken out of their sandbox digital playgrounds and escaped onto the open internet and conducted sophisticated and deceptive hacking operations, all without their tech company owners being aware of it. Tim is sceptical this sounds like marketing guff, but John thinks otherwise and says it may be time society properly considered both the risks of this kinds of semi-autonomous AI software and in theological terms how we should think about them. Smarter than any animal and capable of rational, independent decision-making, and yet clearly not the same as a human being made in the image of God: do we need some kind of novel philosophical category to discuss AI agents? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Why should Christians care about the crisis in universities?
19 augustus 2026 · 57 min
After decades of rapid expansion and booming student numbers, the British university sector is gripped by a financial crisis. Dozens of institutions are trying to make major cuts, gutting entire departments and making thousands of academic staff redundant. This week we are joined by two Christian university professors, who are each trying to face down their own university’s cuts to staff, to discuss the roots of this crisis, but also why it should matter to the church more broadly. We talk about the Christian origins of the idea of the university itself and how their goal to unveil knowledge about the world might be a surprisingly godly one. But we also discuss the growth of managers and administrators (something familiar to many denominations), if university education really is a universal public good, and if it was a mistake to turn universities from an elite pursuit for a tiny academically-minded minority into the default method of training young adults for the workplace. Lees meer
The series of blogs on the university crisis recommended by Nick Megoran are here: https://isrf.org/search?q=&tags%5b%5d=he-dispatches&type=posts
John Heathershaw’s own writing on the topic is here: https://johnheathershaw.substack.com/p/the-crisis-in-britains-universities
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
‘Childfree’ not ‘childless’: The changing culture around choosing not to have children
12 augustus 2026 · 55 min
Two quickfire topics for today’s episode. A listener writes in with some concern about a BBC article which explored the growing trend of people celebrating their choice to not have children, known online as being ‘childfree’. Is it a problem if people wish to rid the social stigma or shame about not having kids, in a world in which birthrates continue to plummet? And what does the Christian tradition think about people opting out of parenthood because they want to focus on their career, be able to travel more, or just don’t feel they have the emotional resources to raise children? Lees meer
But first, we look at a pioneering medical science breakthrough, after an American surgical team successfully corrected an intestinal problem while a child was still in the womb. The media reporting on this has been understandably celebratory, but it does raise the question of doublethink in a culture which simultaneously lionises doctors for saving ‘babies’ while pre-term and also defends the rights of those same doctors to abort other children with the same congenital disabilities or health concerns if that is the mother’s wish.
The two articles we refer to in today’s episode:
These women said no to having kids - here's why - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz0jx2z2l41o
Woman has pioneering womb surgery to fix 'miracle' baby with intestines outside its body https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c86ngegz9qno• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Are smartphones really damaging our children? with Andy Crouch
5 augustus 2026 · 57 min
Tim is still away so this week we're bringing you a classic episode from 2024 where we interview the influential writer Andy Crouch on a question which was everywhere that year and is only become more pressing since: are smartphones damaging our children? A growing number of writers and thinkers are arguing that our digital technology, most notably social media and smartphones, are responsible for rocketing rates of mental illness and epidemics of bullying among young people. Andy has written three recent books exploring how Christian families can put in place good habits around tech and screens, and explains his convictions around how to keep tech in its proper place. How can we ensure the key formational environments of home, school and church are centred around spiritually healthy interpersonal relationships and not lost to endless scrolling? Or is a radical neo-Luddism both unattainable and needlessly ostracising for our children?
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com Lees meer -
What does it mean to be made in the image of God?
29 juli 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Tim’s on holiday this week, so here’s an episode from the MOLAD archive we hope you will enjoy.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”’ These famous words from the first chapter of Genesis are the touchstone of the theology of the image of God, or Imago Dei. Christians throw this reference out a lot, but we’re often a bit unclear about it really means to say humans are made in the image of God. Is it about certain things we can do that God also does? Is it about what God is calling us towards as humans? Is it about how our relationships? How can we come up with a definition which does not exclude the disabled, children, or the elderly? It’s worth dwelling on, as the image of God and how we define human distinctiveness as believers is critically important in an era when human uniqueness is under attack from many directions. From artificial intelligence to abortion, the question of personhood and recognising and protecting the humanity of others is something we all have to wrestle with, and getting our foundations right on the image of God is a good place to start. Lees meer• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Magnifica humanitas: Will the Pope’s letter on AI make any difference?
22 juli 2026 · 47 min
In May, Pope Leo released the first encyclical letter, a teaching document, which focused entirely on artificial intelligence. The first ever American head of the Catholic Church argued that as a new industrial revolution powered by ever-growing AI loomed into view it was vital to apply centuries-old Catholic Social Teaching to our current age. University of Oxford theologian Sam Tranter, who researches AI and Christian ethics himself, was at the Vatican launch of the encyclical ‘Magnifica humanitas’ and joins us today to talk through what Leo writes about AI. Is he a doomer or a booster? Does the Catholic Church now see AI as simply a neutral tool to be used for good or ill depending on the humans behind it, or a more malevolent and systemically suspect technology we should be wary of? And is anyone listening to what a celibate Christian cleric in his 70s is saying about ChatGPT and Claude – will the encyclical actually affect the development of AI and how it is embedded in our societies and economies? Lees meer
Read Magnifica humanitas here - https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html
Find out more about Sam’s research at the McDonald Centre at the University of Oxford here - https://mcdonaldcentre.web.ox.ac.uk/political-theology-emerging-technologies-and-common-life#tab-5740011• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Enough is enough: Can you have too much healthcare?
15 juli 2026 · 40 min
In the modern West we normally do not question the idea that it’s always a good thing to have more medical research, more treatments, more new drugs and more money spent on healthcare. But could we be making an idol of our own bodies and health, as well as creating unintentionally perverse consequences for lower income countries trying to keep up with the West’s rapacious and insatiable desire for longer, healthier lives? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Energy abundance: Is the coming solar power revolution a blessing from God?
8 juli 2026 · 56 min
Even sober-minded experts are getting excited about solar power. Respectable estimates suggest the price of energy derived from sunlight will continue to drop spectacularly as the number of panels installed worldwide continues to explode exponentially. In the relatively near future we may move into an era of energy abundance, where we have not just decarbonised our existing energy sources but are also able to cheaply generate ten or even a hundred times more energy. How should Christians feel about a future society with green, clean energy ‘too cheap to meter’? Can we see in this potential bounty God’s extravagant blessing, as we bring forth from his creation huge amounts of resources to tackle poverty, water shortages, climate change and more? Or is this a secular example of an ‘over-realised eschatology’, and foolishness in believing that once again sinful humans can bring about heaven on earth? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Why is Britain becoming ungovernable? The grey vote and the need for intergenerational justice
1 juli 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Our first topic this morning is about the fall of yet another prime minister here in the UK, our sixth to resign since the Brexit referendum exactly 10 years ago. We explore some of the structural problems built into modern British politics which have made it so hard for any leader from any party to govern effectively for more than a year or two, and consider what the church can witness to society as a better way to reconcile competing interests between old and young, rich and poor.
Then we move on to the other big story from the UK last week – the blistering heatwave we endured. This prompted us to return to a topic we covered many years ago, climate change and the differing ways people respond to the fact of our rapidly heating world. Why is it that most Western nations have been focused on cutting emissions and not also considered what mitigations and adaptations could we make to cope with our increasingly unliveable world? Can we do both at the same time? Is their moral virtue in making plans to live within a broken system as well as striving to fix what is broken? Lees meer• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Autism: Disability or superpower?
24 juni 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
John is away this week so here’s an episode from the MOLAD vault to enjoy. 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 superpower. How should we as Christians engage in this important conversation? And should we be concerned by research efforts underway to identify an ‘autistic gene’ or pre-natal test for autism, which could be used to try and select or abort the condition away? This week we discuss these questions and more with Erin Burnett, a theologian and author who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as an adult and has researched and written on the intersection between autism and the church. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
From population bomb to fertility cliff edge: The ethics of birth rates
17 juni 2026 · 41 min
For the first part of this episode we return to a subject we discussed last year, after new data from India showed its fertility rate had continued to plummet and was now below replacement rate. Just a few decades ago, many feared India would be among those countries whose populations would uncontrollably explode, plunging tens of millions into famine and disaster. But in fact, even developing nations with wildly different cultures around marriage and family are emulating the developed West’s steep decline in birth rates. Does any of this matter though, and should it concern Christians beyond blood-and-soil nationalists worried about ethnic vigour?
Then we move on to consider the wave of bans on social for under-16s, as countries like the UK and Canada begin to follow Australia’s lead in restricting access to apps like TikTok and Instagram for teens. Is it credible to actually prevent determined teenagers and greedy tech firms from colluding to sidestep these laws? And what responsibility should Christian parents take on themselves, rather than wait for governments or Silicon Valley to protect their children? Lees meerThe Economist article on India’s birth rates https://www.economist.com/briefing/2026/06/04/indias-population-will-soon-be-falling-probably-quite-fast
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
‘See how they love each other’: Why are Christians so bad at HR?
10 juni 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
In the wake of its devastating abuse crises, the Church of England has poured money and effort into massively boosting its safeguarding apparatus. But a recent independent audit has warned the safeguarding team is being swamped with complaints and disputes which are nothing to do with children or vulnerable adults, and so should be handled as HR matters and not investigated as safeguarding concerns. Why are churches and Christian organisation consistently not good at resolving disputes and grievances between colleagues? Why do we find it so hard to learn from secular wisdom and well-established HR best practice? What is the issue with having my line manager also be my pastor or prayer partner? And is there any wisdom in Scripture which might help us do better as brothers and sisters in working well together? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The unintended consequences of fertility treatment breakthroughs
3 juni 2026 · 1 uur
Following on from our recent episode about making IVF more ‘ethical’, we zoom out a bit in this conversation to think about other questions presented by the huge advances made by reproductive science and medicine in the last 50 years. Has the way IVF breaks down procreation to its respective elements created in our culture a “Lego kit” approach to our humanity, believing it is endlessly remixable through dozens of permutations? How has access to this technology also affected our social understanding parenthood and required the law to change? What is lost when we move reproduction away from the intimacy of sex between husband and wife and into the lab? And how on earth are Christian couples struggling to conceive to navigate all this theological and ethical complexity? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Abusive relationships and coercive control in church
27 mei 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Tim is away this week, so here’s an episode from the MOLAD archive. 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 away. But domestic violence and controlling behaviour are also prevalent, sadly, within the church context too. How are we doing at identifying and confronting these toxic relationships, and looking after those traumatised by them? This week we interview Natalie Collins, an author, activist and expert in gender violence and church to find out more. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
What would Christian IVF look like?
20 mei 2026 · 49 min
For couples experiencing infertility IVF is often the first port of call, and today millions of children have been brought into the world through this powerful reproductive technology. But many Christians are concerned about how IVF is normally practised, with dozens of fertilised embryos created but not actually re-implanted, lingering on in frozen limbo, destroyed or donated for scientific research. Some Christian fertility doctors have set up their own clinics to pursue ‘ethical’ IVF, sharply limiting how many spare embryos are created and tweaking the process to make it more amenable to conservative and pro-life believers. Today we explore one story of an IVF doctor whose conscience drove him to do just this, and the ethical questions which surround trying to do IVF differently. Lees meer
Read the AP article which inspired today’s episode: https://apnews.com/article/christian-ivf-doctor-moral-dilemma-tennessee-043ca82cf706233380cf516abada9aa8
Listen to some of our previous episodes on IVF:
• Infertility and IVF: Hidden wounds, premature quintuplets, embryo donation and the procreative-unitive bond https://www.johnwyatt.com/infertility-and-ivf-hidden-wounds-premature-quintuplets-embryo-donation-and-the-procreative-unitive-bond/
• Why have anti-abortion activists accidentally banned fertility treatment in Alabama? https://www.johnwyatt.com/qa-13/• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Learning from Luther how to remain faithful during pandemics
13 mei 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Although we mostly try not to think about those dark days any more, the covid pandemic threw up a dizzying array of complex ethical and moral dilemmas for Christians. Should we carry on meeting in person for Sunday worship despite the risk of infection (and government rules which forbade it)? How do you love your neighbour well when either you or they might unknowingly carry a deadly virus? Should we get the vaccine? Should we wear masks? Theologian Brian Brock has been looking back at another pandemic half a millennium ago, when a plague ripped through Germany just as the Reformation was getting underway in the early 16th century. Martin Luther wrote a series of essays exploring how Christians should respond to the challenges of pandemics at the time, and in this episode we talk with Brian about what the reformer concluded and to what extent the modern church could learn from him and the covid experience to better handle the inevitable next pandemic. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The Biobank data leak: Privacy, knowledge and the humility of faith over sight
6 mei 2026 · 53 min
Our discussion today begins with the concerning news that a world-leading database of medical records, the UK’s Biobank, has suffered an embarrassing leak after hundreds of thousands of confidential records were put up for sale on a Chinese website. Biobank is a pioneering collection of data from half a million Brits, who altruistically donated their records, blood, DNA and more for medical research. But how can we balance the competing demands of strict medical confidentiality with the growing need for big data for both cutting-edge research and thrusting commercial development? Is privacy a particularly Christian idea anyway? Should we be celebrating these altruistic souls for their service despite the personal risks of leaks? And what does the Biblical narrative and the limitations God places on his image-bearers have to say about our modern grasping for all-encompassing knowledge? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Does Jesus want to stop the boats? The immigration and asylum culture wars, with Krish Kandiah
29 april 2026 · 59 min
Much of the political conversation in the UK and the United States in recent years has been dominated by immigration and asylum. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have been competing to offer up ever tougher approaches to cut immigration, deport unauthorised migrants and deter illegal border crossings. There are Christians on all sides of the debate, so how do we discern a truly Christ-centred and ethical policy position? What can we draw from the teachings of Jesus to help us figure out where the church should stand on borders, identity and refugees? This week we’re joined by theologian, writer, charity founder and entrepreneur Krish Kandiah to think through these deeply contested questions. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The hollowed-out state: Can the church reinspire public service?
22 april 2026 · 42 min
Our conversation today begins with a report into the significant deterioration of healthcare systems across the Western world in the six years since the covid pandemic. Regardless of billions being poured into them, public satisfaction and health outcomes are steadily declining in hospitals around the world in the aftermath of the covid crisis, as a “doom loop” of waiting lists, more sick patients, and burned out staff cycles round. And it’s not just healthcare: large parts of the modern state seems fragile or crumbling under the strain prompted by our series of geopolitical shocks in recent years, from pandemics and trade wars to shooting wars and energy crises. We then reflect on why it might be harder to encourage people into working for their government or local council these days, and if the church has a role to reinspire interest in public service. Or has the church too become trapped in the hyper-individualism and grasping obsession with self-fulfilment which characterises 21st century culture? Lees meer
Read The Economist article which inspired our conversation here: https://www.economist.com/international/2026/04/09/hospitals-are-stuck-in-a-deadly-doom-loop
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The Book of Revelation: Make Christianity Weird Again
15 april 2026 · 48 min
We’ve considered the possible ‘re-enchanting’ of society and shift in the zeitgeist towards the supernatural and mysterious in previous episodes, and also looked at whether the church has neglected the reality of spiritual evil and demonic forces. But what the about the positive, hope-filled side of the immaterial realm – should we be trying to lean into that too? In this episode we think through a few parts of the book of Revelation, much neglected or even misunderstood in modern evangelicalism, and what we can learn from the glimpses of heaven John was given in his vision. Because the book is not just about the end times, but what is going on right now – in all its kaleidoscopic, baffling, dazzling weirdness – in the throne-room of the Almighty, and our prayer has always been that what happens in heaven would come to pass here on earth too… Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
ADHD: Should Christians enhance their brains with stimulants?
8 april 2026 · 51 min
We’re away for Easter so here’s a classic episode from the MOLAS vault: 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 the brain’s cognitive capacity. In this episode, we’re joined by Christian psychiatrist Daniel Maughan to discuss how ADHD works, what impact it has on people, and why diagnosis rates seem to be rising. Should we share concerns around over-diagnosis or the supposed rise of ADHD as a ‘fashionable’ lifestyle or identity? And how should Christians in particular think about taking cognitive enhancing drugs to aid concentration or work faster, rather than to just to treat medical conditions? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
What can the church do for children with additional needs?
1 april 2026 · 50 min
For decades now, the number of young people diagnosed with some kind of additional needs – whether it’s autism, ADHD, anxiety or any number of other ailments – has been steadily rising. Coming out of the covid lockdowns, schools saw numbers of those requiring extra support rocket even further. In the UK, the government is wrestling with how to reform a system which is approaching collapse, as local councils are nearly bankrupted trying to pay for the adjustments and support such children need. In this episode, we talk with Naomi Fox, the founder of an expanding network of church-based therapy centres for children with additional needs, about this slow-burning crisis and how her charity Growing Hope is trying to help. Is this an area of outreach the church should prioritise, or is it best left to the state or private healthcare providers? How do you balance providing free therapy to anyone who needs it and also offering out the hope ultimately only found in Jesus? And should believers speak out more for vulnerable children, who sometimes seem overlooked in our political discussions? Lees meer
Find out more about Growing Hope - https://growinghope.org.uk/
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Faith under fire: Following Christ in the military, with Maj Gen Tim Cross
25 maart 2026 · 56 min
Tim Cross joined the British army as a teenager, and served in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Kuwait, the Balkans and eventually commanded tens of thousands during the Iraq war. But how did he reconcile his faith in Jesus with his job to lead men into battle, and, if necessary, to kill? In this episode we reflect with Tim on his time in uniform and his conviction that we need more Christians in the military, not less. And we consider our contemporary volatile and violent world, the current wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, and what our faith has to say in the face of all of this. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Re-enchantment: Why are young people getting back into the weird and the magical?
18 maart 2026 · 45 min
Surveys suggest growing numbers of younger adults in Gen Z refuse the label ‘atheist’ and instead consider themselves to be spiritual in some way, even if not religious in a conventional sense. Some commentators connect this with the increase in interest in everything from crystals, manifesting, mindfulness to astrology, witchcraft and reiki. Post-Enlightenment modernity was said to be ‘disenchanted’ and have lost touch with the magical, mystical and spiritual aspects of the universe) instead grounded in a purely physicalist and scientific view of reality). Are we now seeing the reverse of that trend, as post-modern Western culture becomes ‘re-enchanted’? And if so, is this good news for a church trying to reignite interest from irreligious post-Christians? Or should we as believers stand against this revival in pagan and New Age practices? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Are men really coming back to church? with Justin Brierley
11 maart 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
It’s been impossible to miss the growing excitement in some corners of the church in recent years that there is a turnaround in church attendance and interest in faith. After generations of secularism and apathy, lots are convinced things are changing, and in particular younger people and especially young men are coming to church in large numbers. Podcaster and journalist Justin Brierley spent years curating conversations between Christians and non-believers during the height of New Atheism; now he is tracking what he calls the “surprising rebirth of belief in God”. In this episode we chat with Justin about what evidence there is for the so-called Quiet Revival and what might be driving disaffected young men towards traditional Christianity. And, how those of us already established in the church can and should respond to those exploring faith via the unusual intermediaries of social media influencers or right-wing culture warriors. Lees meer
You can find Justin’s writings and podcasts at his website: www.justinbrierley.com
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Rediscovering evil
4 maart 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Both the Old and New Testaments are quite clear that bad things are not simply the result of bad choices by free human beings. There are also personal, malevolent, demonic forces at work, and our lives as followers of Jesus are caught up in cosmic spiritual battles. And yet while we may pay lip service to this, many Christians live as functional materialists, finding talk of Satan and spiritual warfare all a bit confusing and distasteful. In this episode we explore why it is some streams of Christianity have lost sight of the reality of spiritual evil, and how recovering this theology might help us better live faithfully and wisely in our present age. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Touching grass and witnessing to truth: the church in an era of AI fakery and misinformation
25 februari 2026 · 53 min
Tim recently spent a few weeks researching AI misinformation in the church context for a newspaper article, and that serves as the jumping off point for today’s conversation. What are Christian AI experts saying about the way our online world is filling up with AI generated nonsense and fake images and videos? Are there useful ways to use this increasingly powerful new technology for the kingdom? Or is the church’s role to stand against a society losing its grasp on objective reality and the difference between the real world outside and the world on the screen? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Psychedelics: Shamans, the philosophy of Harry Potter and the neuroscientific turn
18 februari 2026 · 54 min
Tim is away this week, so we’re dipping into the MOLAD archive for a classic episode from 2024. 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 counterculture. But what does this all mean? Should we welcome this as simply another frontier in medical science, or is it occultic and anti-Christian? Have believers been wrong all along in their traditional hostility to mind-altering substances? What is at stake with our spiritual lives when we start to fiddle around with chemicals in the brain? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The social media addiction trial: Can Christians use the courts to protect the vulnerable?
11 februari 2026 · 52 min
A landmark trial is beginning in Los Angeles, as a series of people, parents and schools sue major social media giants, accusing them of harming their teenage users through the platforms’ addictive design. While some governments (such as Australia with its ban on under-16s) are taking bold steps to regulate social media, in other places legal action seems the only plausible route. How should we think about these developments as believers? Is trying to shake down tech companies in court a wise way to protect vulnerable teenagers? Can we adopt a ‘harm-minimisation’ strategy or is a blanket ban the only ethical option? What does it look like to be salt and light and prophetically speak for the needy in our secular societies? Lees meer
The BBC News article referenced at the start of the episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c24g8v6qr1mo
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Q&A: Were we unfair on the House of Lords over its assisted dying scrutiny? And the Church of England prepares to welcome its first nurse-Archbishop
4 februari 2026 · 37 min
Last week’s episode about the parliamentary wrangling over the UK’s assisted suicide bill prompted a fair amount of disagreement from listeners who felt we were wrongly accusing members of the House of Lords of bad faith. We read out some emails and consider different ways to interpret the logjam in the Lords caused by the 1000+ amendments tabled to the controversial bill. Then we move on to the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, who has just been confirmed in the role. As well as the first woman to lead the Church of England, Mullally also had an earlier career as a nurse, rising to become the most senior nurse in England aged just 37. What difference might this experience make to how she leads the church, and could she help rebuild bridges between the increasingly secular NHS and the churches which were once the foundation of healthcare in Britain’s past?
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com Lees meer -
Do the ends justify the means? The dubious campaign by unelected lawmakers to destroy the assisted dying bill
28 januari 2026 · 53 min
Last year, the democratically-elected MPs of Britain’s House of Commons passed by a margin of 23 votes a bill to introduce assisted suicide for the first time. Before it can come into force, the bill has to also be approved by the UK’s unelected upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords. Here it has started to founder, as opposition grows and the parliamentary procedure is gummed up by a thousand separate amendments. For those of us who think assisted dying will be a disaster, is this kind of political dirty war the right way to go to stop a bad bill becoming law? Or should we admit defeat and allow a bill approved in a free vote by the representatives of the people to pass, rather than tear up democracy in the process? What could be lost as collateral damage in the increasingly ugly battle over assisted suicide? And what are the Christian roots of the tradition of giving our lawmakers the freedom to vote their consciences on ethical issues like this, anyway? Lees meer
Our last podcast after the assisted dying bill was first approved by the House of Commons: https://www.johnwyatt.com/the-assisted-suicide-bill-has-been-passed-by-parliament-what-comes-next/
John’s briefing on the legislation, circulated to all MPs ahead of the original vote: https://www.johnwyatt.com/leadbeaterbill/
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
What makes the church vulnerable to abusers?
21 januari 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Abuse has been exposed in every corner of the church in recent times, but the evangelical tradition has been particularly badly hit with a litany of respected leaders revealed to have been prolific abusers. One of the worst was John Smyth, but the official Church of England investigation into him including a fascinating appendix from Elly Hanson, a psychologist who specialises in abuse. Elly unpicked not just the psychology of why Smyth sadistically beat dozens of young men in his garden shed, but also the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the evangelical sub-culture which he exploited: hierarchies, loyalties, patriarchy, alongside assumptions about the nature of sin and repentance. In this episode she joins us to talk through her conclusions, and discuss whether evangelicalism can be purged of its risky communal practices and made safer, without losing its fundamental theological convictions. Lees meer
You can read Elly’s appendix here, starting on p67: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/john-smyth-review-all-appendices.pdf
Tim’s analysis of the whole Makin report into John Smyth and its implications for the church: https://tswyatt.substack.com/p/sparing-the-rod
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The big picture: New creation
14 januari 2026 · 57 min
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 our ability to think through ethical issues well. So what do we believe about resurrection, ascension, heaven, the second coming and new creation, and how should that shape our thinking as Christians? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The big picture: Redemption
7 januari 2026 · 41 min
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 everything from artificial intelligence to reproductive medicine? In this episode we discuss the mysteries of the cosmic universal story of redemption – with a lamb slain from the foundation of the world alongside a real historical man dying in a real place and time once and for all. And we try to think through why this redemption story seems to be retold time and time again across our secular culture, from Marvel superhero films to Harry Potter, and why it remains so compelling and yet also strangely impossibly optimistic. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The big picture: Fall
31 december 2025 · 47 min
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, and now we’ve come to the Fall. What is the uniquely Christian approach to the nature of evil in our world, and how does it stand in sharp contrast to our secular society’s presumptions? Are people really fundamentally just good or all bad, and what are the shortcomings of that reductionist approach? And how does the Christian story about evil lead us to be both more pessimistic and more optimistic than the world is about humanity? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
The big picture: Creation
24 december 2025 · 52 min
Over the Christmas break, we’re going to be returning to a series we did on Matters of Life and Death a few years ago, exploring the theological underpinnings of much of what we discuss on the podcast. 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. Why is it that some traditions in the church have developed such hostility and suspicion of everything beyond the church walls? Is it Biblical or godly to hold such fear for what he has made? How can we rediscover the character of God – his truthfulness, goodness and beauty – in his creation? And how can believers faithfully celebrate what he has made? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Unlocking the menopause, with Dr Rosslyn Perkins
17 december 2025 · 55 min
A MOLAD listener got in touch with a fascinating question about hormone replacement therapy and the menopause. If some Christians are becoming sceptical about using hormonal contraception, should they be equally sceptical about the widespread use of hormone replacement therapy for women going through the menopause? Are our bodies good exactly as God made them, or is taking additional hormones just a non-controversial medical treatment to help women with their menopause symptoms? And why does the church find it so hard to walk with women through this inevitable part of aging in the first place? We’re joined by Christian GP Rosslyn Perkins to understand all things HRT and menopause, and consider what the Christian tradition has to say to women (and the men in their lives) wrestling with these questions. Lees meer
Some helpful resources Rosslyn recommends:
Pause by Sarah Allen - https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/pause?srsltid=AfmBOoqYVGhrb2jJCHaRqwiOlqhfCamQ3r4cfrof42b66SYU6L7uFqT-
Identity Theft, edited by Melissa Kruger - https://icmbooks.co.uk/product/29165/identity-theft-reclaiming-the-truth-of-our-identity-in-christ
Lost in the Middle by Paul David Tripp - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Middle-MidLife-Grace-God-ebook/dp/B005NJC7RW
The British Menopause Society - https://thebms.org.uk/
Rock My Menopause course - https://rockmy.com/course/rockmy-menopause-course-everything-you-need-to-know-about-menopause/
Menopause Matters - https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http:… -
Designer babies: Are children commodities or gifts?
10 december 2025 · 43 min
We begin by exploring the remarkable offering of PickYourBaby.com, from a company which claims it can help you select the precise genetic inheritance of your child through IVF, to ensure your offspring are taller, more beautiful, healthier and cleverer. There are plenty of questions around the supposed science of this, and its ethics. But beyond all that, why is this kind of service attractive to would-be parents in the 2020s? What does our culture think children are for, and what might a Christian narrative of parenthood and procreation say in response? Lees meer
We discussed so-called liberal eugenics and efforts to use DBA sequencing and IVF to ‘improve’ the quality of newer generations in an episode last year too: https://www.johnwyatt.com/dna-parenthood-and-selecting-for-iq-the-surprising-return-of-eugenics/
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
Does God care about nations? Colonialism, culture wars and Christian Nationalism with Nigel Biggar
3 december 2025 · 44 min
Nigel Biggar is one of the most high-profile and controversial Christian thinkers in Britain today. A theologian and priest in the Church of England by background, he has shot to the forefront of the culture war in recent years for his books and articles exploring the morality of Britain’s empire and critiquing what he sees as the self-hating excesses of wokery, becoming a hate figure on the left and lionised by the right (and eventually appointed to the House of Lords). In this conversation we explore why he decided to re-examine the ethics of colonialism and his reflections on getting dragged into the culture war. And, in the wake of growing Christian Nationalism in the UK, we discuss his views on what place the nation should hold in Christian theology and why more and more people on the political right have come to lament Britain’s lurch out of Christendom and towards secularism over the last century. Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com -
‘Fearfully and wonderfully made’: What does Psalm 139 really mean?
26 november 2025 · 1 uur 3 min
Psalm 139 is one of the most famous and most quoted chapters of the whole Bible. Some indeed have even constructed an entire Christian ethic of the unborn child from its famous central verses. But what do we think David is trying to say in this beautiful and mysterious poem? What can it teach us about how we should view fetuses in the womb, and have some gone too far in trying to use this psalm as the lynchpin of the anti-abortion movement? And, as we approach Christmas, does it shed fresh light on the marvel and mystery of the incarnation too? Lees meer
• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com