‘Playing God’: Science and religion in the 21st century
Playback speed
What would contact with intelligent aliens mean for humanity? Will doctors ever be able to cure depression with a drug? Can we bestow personhood on animals?
Nick Spencer, senior fellow at the religion and society think tank Theos, is the author of the recent book Playing God: Science, religion and the future of humanity. The book explores eight controversial questions thrown up by advances in science, including AI, aliens, gene editing, the science of immortality, animal personhood, the treatment of mental health, mass vaccination and unborn children. In this episode we unpack some of Nick’s argument in the book and think about how Christianity might be able to speak into some of these topics we will all be wrestling with throughout the rest of the 21st century.
Find out more about the book here: https://spckpublishing.co.uk/playing-god
• 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
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com
Released on 8 May 2024
Coming up next
Two is the loneliest number: Can AI friends stop us feeling alone?
Science fiction has long been fascinated by the idea of humans becoming friends with computers. And the dream of an always-on digital companion you can talk to day or night is closer than ever before, thanks to advances in AI software in recent years...
Autism: Disability or superpower?
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...
Elections, the church and threats to democracy
We in the UK have been startled by the sudden announcement from the prime minister that our general election, due at the end of the year, would actually be held in six weeks’ time in early July. In this episode we reflect on why Christians are so pol...
