“The best physics we know about, the deepest we've gone, looks for all the world like it's got fingerprints on it.” In this episode, Rayne and Matthew interview Dr Luke Barnes. Luke is an astrophysicist at Western Sydney University, and was in town to give a lecture called “Why does the universe appear fine-tuned for life?”. Dr Barnes is the arguably the world’s leading expert on the apparent fine-tuning of the universe, working on this from both astronomical and philosophical angles. As well as exploring that topic, we get into a bit of his life story, including growing up in a young-earth creationist church context; the problem of evil; the purpose of academic publishing; and the relationship between science and religious faith more generally.

Show notes

• A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos — Luke Barnes & Geraint Lewis (2016)

• 'A Reasonable Little Question: A Formulation of the Fine-Tuning Argument', Ergo, Volume 6, No. 42, 2019–2020

• • Richard Swinburne, The Existence of God (1979)
  • Does Cosmological Evolution Select for Technology?Jeffrey Shainline, Arvix 2019

• • The Penultimate Curiosity: How Science Swims in the Slipstream of Ultimate Questions, Andrew Briggs & Roger Wagner (2016)

  • The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss , David Bentley Hart, ⁠(2013)

  • Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies, David Bentley Hart (2009)

  • The Cosmic Trilogy, CS Lewis (1938)

In this episode, Rayne and guest-host Dr Michaela Richards chat with Emeritus Professor in the Study of Religion, Dr Paul Morris. Paul Morris talks with us about religious diversity and religious literacy, and the state of Religious Studies both globally and in Aotearoa New Zealand. Paul offers an incisive challenge to the ways in which we think about religion, secular privilege, and the role of religious inter-religious dialogue.

In this episode, Rayne and Rayne chat with Rev. Scottie Reeve. Scottie is an Anglican priest located in Brooklyn, Wellington. He is the author of the book 21 Elephants and host of a podcast by the same name. This episode explores themes of faith, intentional Christian community, the risky business of following Jesus, and hope as an interruption to our lives and our current ways of being. While this episode was recorded over a year ago now, and therefore is a little outdated, the themes of hope remain relevant in seeking personal and social transformation.