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.
In each episode of Matters of Life and Death, brought to you by Premier Unbelievable?, John Wyatt and his son Tim discuss issues in healthcare, ethics, technology, science, faith and more. John is a doctor, professor of ethics, and writer and speaker on many of these topics, while Tim is a religion and social affairs journalist. We talk about how Christians can better engage with a particular question of life, death or something else in between.
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
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