Graham Tomlin

Stephen Backhouse joins the resident theologians to discuss patriotism and citizenship in the context of the Christian faith. Who exactly is our neighbour? Author of a report for the Christian think tank Theos entitled ‘Red, White, Blue… and Brown: Citizens, Patriots and the Prime Minister’, Stephen explores the insights of the Danish philosopher-theologian Søren Kierkegaard on the relationship between nationalism and the Christian faith. And in this discussion of church and state, there is a new addition to the team – Chris Tilling, New Testament lecturer at SPTC, who joins the GodPod regulars for the first time.

HTB leaders past and present gather together during the church’s unusually sunny annual week away to answer questions from the congregation.  Graham is joined by current vicar Nicky Gumbel and associate vicar Archie Coates, as well as worship leader Tim Hughes and former vicar of HTB, Sandy Miller, with questions deftly fielded by Andy Emerton.  What is the relationship between the church and the Kingdom of God, and do Christians have a monopoly on living out the Kingdom? How should the church work with secular organisations? The panel also discuss the place of the Trinity in the theology of the Alpha Course, and of singing in worship, before moving on to the stewardship of money, and the books of the Apocrypha. They also touch on the sensitive issue of prayer ministry in the face of terminal illness.

Andrew Walker, Professor of Theology and Education at King’s College London, joins Graham, Mike, and Jane to discuss ecumenicism and the Holy Spirit. Taking us through the debates and councils of the early church, Andrew explains the background to the different understandings of the nature of the Holy Spirit between the eastern and western churches. He also adds a personal note, talking about his own journey of faith and his membership of the Orthodox Church.

Andy Emerton, Director of St Paul’s Theological Centre, joins the GodPod team for the first time. The team open the discussion this week with consideration of Christian ideas about souls and physicality, in contrast with Platonic and Gnostic thought. They continue with the issue of poverty and the church, and go on to look at differences in approaches to the Bible between the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestants churches, particularly the canonicity of the Apocrypha.

Our resident theologians discuss faith in the workplace with financier Ken Costa, Chairman of Lazard International and a Director of Alpha.

Graham, Mike and Jane offer us an insight into their own spiritual walks, chatting about how they themselves approach prayer.

Paul Woolley, Director of Christian think tank Theos, joins Graham and Mike to discuss the place of religion in secular society and matters of environmental and medical ethics. They consider the growth of the global church, as well as the privatisation of faith in the context of secular humanism and world religions. How should Christians be involved in the political sphere and the criminal justice system? And how does what we believe about life after death influence what we think about cremation or burial practices, the donation of organs to medical science, and our stewardship of the environment?

Graham, Mike and Jane consider the different approaches of the Catholic and Protestant Churches to personal transformation, looking at the place of sacraments and the doctrine of Purgatory. They also address questions of the reliability of the Bible and the revelation of God in scripture.

Tim Hughes, worship leader at HTB and formerly of Soul Survivor, joins our resident theologians to discuss worship in the local church.

The regular team are joined by David Hillborn, Director of the North Thames Ministerial Training College, in considering a panoramic sweep of theological issues. The doctrine of God is high on the list, with subjects such as the nature of Jesus and the Trinity among the subjects discussed, as well as the death of Christ and life after death. And bringing this particular discussion to a conclusion, the team discuss our calling to worship God.