The plot of the television series (streaming on Peacock) Mrs. Davis follows Betty Gilpin as Sister Simone, a nun who goes to war against a peace-keeping artificial intelligence called Mrs. Davis that has quietly taken over the minds of the world. A fascinating and “of the moment” premise, to be sure. Yet, rather than develop into any kind of meaningful thought experiment that evolves that age-old debate about “faith versus reason” into something more specific to our times — “faith versus technol...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 17 min
It’s been called “a marvel” and “the Protestant magnum opus on sexual ethics we’ve been waiting for.” It’s also been called “Sacred Pornography,” a “Protestant bowdlerization” of Theology of the Body,4 and “a rhapsody over a very male-centered experience of sexual intercourse.” If you haven’t heard of it by now, welcome to the Twitterstorm. Josh Butler’s newly released book Beautiful Union, and the excerpt from chapter one titled “Sex Won’t Save You (But It Points to the One Who Will),” edited a...
Jun 09, 2023•26 min
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Anne Kennedy about her Practical Hermeneutics article, “ The Upside-Down Metaphor: A Hermeneutical Critique of Josh Butler’s Beautiful Union “. https://www.equip.org/articles/the-upside-down-metaphor-a-hermeneutical-critique-of-josh-butlers-beautiful-union/ Also see Alisa Ruddell's Viewpoint article on the same book, " Beautiful Union by Joshua Ryan Butler and the Trouble with Borrowing Icons ". https://www.equip.org/article...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 2 min
CRISPER biotechnology, an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, took the expensive and complicated world of gene editing and transformed it into a more accessible field. Born out of the ongoing war between bacteria and viruses, CRISPR scientists discovered a bacterial defense mechanism built around identifying and splicing genetic information in viruses and transformed that bacterial defense into a tool that promises medical miracles, cures, and the ability to ed...
May 31, 2023•1 hr 6 min
In the last few years, many Christians had said that all Christians need to be winsome at ALL times. Now, of course, Christians should always have the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and that absolutely must govern our conversations. But it is not that simple. Some Christian apologists are so nice and so accepting when talking with those who have rejected the truths of Christianity that the non-Christian they were talking to might not realize that their eternal destination is at stake. Also, ...
May 24, 2023•48 min
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Cole Burgett about his online article, "Finding Family Among The Last of Us." the discusses the video game and HBO Tv Series, The Last of Us. https://www.equip.org/articles/finding-family-among-the-last-of-us/ When you to subscribe to and support the Journal, you join the team of print subscribers whose paid subscriptions help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our e...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 21 min
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author John Ferrer about SatanCon 2023 held in Boston, MA on April 28th-30th, 2023 presented by The Satanic Temple.When you to support the Journal, you join the team of members who help provide the resources at equip.org that minister to people worldwide. These resources include our ever growing database of over 1,500 articles , as well as our free Postmodern Realities podcast . Please click here to support the ongoing work of the...
May 10, 2023•37 min
In discussions about modern infertility treatments, many articles concerning in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy, and even the ethics of using a third-party gamete donor, have been written. As an extension of the ethical conversation surrounding fertility treatments, the fertility industry itself must be examined. From lack of reasonable regulations, to targeting young gamete donors, to the problem of anonymous donors and non-transparent medical information, the fertility industry itself ...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 13 min
“I am a woman trapped in a man’s body.” “Trans women are women.” “A woman is anyone who identifies as a woman.” Statements like these are now commonplace: they reveal that words, and the way we use them, change over time. That which used to go without saying is now being said in a way that implies its opposite. The words “woman” and “man” and the categories they denote, which used to be intuitive and axiomatic, are beginning to crack under the pressure of a culture determined to do away with nat...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 26 min
Athenagoras of Athens is one of three great Greek pagan philosophers who, during the second century AD, converted to Christianity on account of the wisdom of its teachings and the moral lives of its followers. Rather than abandon their former training, Aristides, Justin Martyr, and Athenagoras all used their pagan learning as a springboard for bearing witness to the gospel before the most powerful rulers of their day. This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Lou Ma...
Apr 19, 2023•50 min
Buried beneath a mountain of make-up and prosthetics so that he is nigh unrecognizable, Brendan Fraser has earned no small amount of acclaim for his portrayal of Charlie. The Whale , filmed on a $3 million budget (pocket change by the standards of modern Hollywood), first began making waves when Fraser received a highly publicized six-minute standing ovation at the movie’s Venice Film Festival premiere. The role has since netted him “Best Actor” accolades from outlets as varied as the Toronto In...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 12 min
That those who do not believe might be converted to genuine faith has been the constant prayer of the church since the apostolic era. Every preacher hopes that God might use his preaching to bring this about. Within the context of this hope, the practice of the altar call has arisen. Most readers will be familiar with the altar call, but perhaps not all. So I will sketch out two of the most common methods. The first, popularized by Billy Graham, has antecedents stretching back to the 19th centu...
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 2 min
When the Mormons (also known as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) come to my door, you should always ask them the same question because it’s a question Mormons can’t answer. You should do this because this question is essential to their beliefs. The question to ask regards why Mormons believe Mormonism is true, which they believe to be true because they had a subjective personal inward witness of the truth of it. The book of Moroni encourages seeking this inward witness...
Mar 29, 2023•48 min
Most universities today are swiftly accommodating themselves to an increasingly radicalized postmodern worldview. American colleges and universities— a disturbing number of which claim to be Christian —have abdicated their responsibility to train students in virtue and to measure what they teach against cultural standards of goodness, truth, and beauty. But it's not all doom and gloom—there is hope. Christian college-bound students need to keep their eyes fixed on their true and secure citizensh...
Mar 22, 2023•48 min
Brianna Wiest is lesser known self-help guru (author of The Mountain is You and 101 Ways to Change Your Thinking ) but her voice is one to be reckoned with. Her unique, breezy, even comforting blend of psychological tips and spiritual advice is both nuanced and potent. Following her path will lead you to the front of the Temple, your face turned up to heaven, explaining how good you are. For, indeed, Wiest is more right than she knows—you are a mountain. But if God is merciful, not one to be sum...
Mar 15, 2023•51 min
Please see this encore presentation of Episode 283: When the Hurlyburly’s Done: A Review of E verything Everywhere All at Once that we did in April 2022. In March 2023, this film won the following Oscars. Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with Journal author Cole Burgett about his online-exclusive article, “ When the Hurlyburly’s Done: A Review of Every...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 11 min
The term “war film” tends to conjure in the popular imagination one of two images: 1) that of the sober-faced “band of brothers” toughing it out together somewhere in Europe or in the Pacific isles during the Second World War (à la Saving Private Ryan [1998], Band of Brothers [2001], or The Pacific [2010]); or 2) that of the shellshocked soldier in green fatigues stumbling out of the Vietnamese jungle wearing a thousand-yard stare (à la Apocalypse Now [1979], Platoon [1986], or Full Metal Jacket...
Mar 08, 2023•59 min
Christian theology regards human beings as creatures standing both within and beyond nature, the material world. Although exceptions as old as Lucretius abound, this belief is also found outside the Christian faith. So far as we can tell, humans are the only creatures who distinguish themselves in this way. Mary Oliver, best known for her Pulitzer-prize-winning poetry collection American Primitive (Atlantic/Little, 1983), believes animals rejoice at being alive in this world but knows they do no...
Mar 01, 2023•41 min
The recent occurrences of unidentified anomalous phenomenon (aka unidentified flying objects) over United States airspace has caused some renewed interest in extraterrestrials (ETs). Curiosity about the possibility of life beyond our planet is nothing new, and films and television shows have never shied away from the conversation. Ancient Aliens (History, 2009-) fuels the flames of speculation. The series, which is in its nineteenth season, continues to captivate viewers, so much so that it has ...
Feb 22, 2023•57 min
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author John Ferrer about his online-exclusive article, “ A Christian Apologist Responds to Sam Smith and Kim Petras’s Satanic Grammy Performance ” https://www.equip.org/articles/ancient-aliens-and-the-bible-what-the-popular-television-series-says-about-extraterrestrials-in-scripture/ Editor’s note: While nothing explicit is discussed in the article and related podcast, the subject matter of the Unholy song lyrics and original music...
Feb 13, 2023•53 min
On June 24, 2022, The Supreme Court of the United States released the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, ending Roe v Wade’s nearly 50-year legal hegemony over the issue of abortion throughout the U.S. Pro-life advocates, many who had been active fighting to overturn Roe their entire adult lives, celebrated hoping the tide had turned as our nation moved toward a future without abortion. Abortion rights advocates mourned the ruling as an attack on their rights and warned the Am...
Feb 08, 2023•57 min
“So teach us to number our days,” prayed the great prophet Moses in Psalm 90, “that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90: 12).1 The request lies at the center of his meditation on the impermanence of the creature compared with the everlasting power of God. Our days end “like a sigh” (Psalm 90:9), they are “soon gone and we fly away” (Psalm 90: 10). For modern people striving to separate themselves from any sign of death, it might seem morbid to ask God to show you how short your life will be....
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 30 min
When James Cameron’s Avatar hit theaters in 2009, few could have predicted the new, CGI-laden intellectual property would enjoy such a staggering box office return, becoming the first film in history to gross two billion dollars. The film would be nominated for a whopping nine Academy Awards, and end up winning in three categories, all of them related to the film’s stunning visuals. Given Hollywood’s propensity to capitalize on success, a sequel was inevitable and long discussed by Cameron. That...
Jan 25, 2023•56 min
Why do humans exist? What is our ultimate purpose? A person will arrive at wildly different answers depending on whether they’ve been spending more time under the cross of Christ or under the “Bodhi Tree” (the “tree of awakening” under which the Buddha found enlightenment). On the one hand, there is Christianity’s robust sense of purposefulness, as humans were created by God for a purpose — eternal life in union with God. On the other hand, there is Buddhism’s view that life is fundamentally imp...
Jan 18, 2023•51 min
JOURNAL author Doug Groothuis of Denver Seminary talks about his anecdotes of apologetics encounters over his lifetime to encourage Christians to have fire in their bones, love in their hearts, and knowledge in their minds to bring the whole Bible to the whole world for the glory of God, the good of His church, the extension of His Kingdom, and for peace and truth on earth (Jeremiah 20:9; Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 10:31). As the apostle Paul said, follow me inasmuch as I follow Christ (1 C...
Jan 11, 2023•46 min
Carl Jung is a controversial figure. This pioneer of psychoanalysis, though beloved by the pop psychology world, has a dark side: he experimented with occult spirit guides, his movement was both an esoteric mystery-cult and a personality cult, and his theology was heretical, his conception of God that of an amoral demiurge beyond good and evil. Jung made theological errors worthy of rejection, but also stunning insights worthy of attention, especially because his psychoanalytic work with patient...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 2 min
In 2001, Spirited Away became the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time. Twenty years later, in the midst of the pandemic, another Japanese release emerged and toppled Spirited Away’s box office record. This film wasn’t a critical darling or the work of an esteemed auteur. It wasn’t even a standalone film. It was a transitional installment of the anime series Demon Slayer (2019–), fitting right between seasons one and two. This 1-hour and 57-minute bridge story made more than 500 million do...
Dec 28, 2022•44 min
This episode focuses on the sad but triumphant tale of the martyrdom of Polycarp. Well-named was our beloved Bishop of Smyrna; “much fruit” is what his name means in Greek, and he has done just that, both in his ministry to the church and in the glorious manner of his death. There are some who claim that Polycarp harbored a death wish, but nothing could be further from the truth. When he was advised to flee the city to avoid arrest, trial, and execution, he humbly complied. But escape was not to...
Dec 21, 2022•53 min
In many ways, Andor is anti-Star Wars—and not in the same sense that many seem to think Rian Johnson’s 2017 sequel, The Last Jedi, is anti-Star Wars. That film is subversive, sure, but Andor, by comparison, seems downright heretical. Gone is the clear sense of good and evil that defines the moral compass of the films. Gone are even passing references to the Jedi or the Sith. Forget the will of the Force, consider the willpower of the average, everyday folks just trying to make it through life un...
Dec 13, 2022•54 min
This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Jonah Haddad about his online-exclusive article, “Wagering with Jesus and Pascal: Two Prudential Offers for Christian Belief”. https://www.equip.org/articles/wagering-with-jesus-and-pascal-two-prudential-offers-for-christian-belief/ Locked articles are online exclusive content that are only available to subscribers. There are three subscription options to access our online exclusive content. 1. Subscribe ($33.50) to the prin...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr
