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Every week on Undeceptions we’ll explore some aspect of life, faith, history, culture, or ethics that is either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten. With the help of people who know what they’re talking about, we’ll be trying to ‘undeceive ourselves’ and let the truth ‘out’.
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Small Wonders

Laurel Moffatt

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The clarity the desert brings. Hurricanes and hard relationships. Finding reason in the middle of a ruin. Small Wonders are quiet but profound observations about life from Dr. Laurel Moffatt. In each fifteen-minute episode, Laurel uncovers lessons learned from broken and beautiful things that are polished to perfection and set in rich audio landscapes for your consideration.
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With All Due Respect

The WADR Project

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Less aggro, more conversation. Is it even possible to have a deep discussion without it descending into chaos? Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit think yes, and want to show the rest of us how to do it. There’s plenty of things they disagree on: free will, feminism, where you should send your kids to school and what type of church you should go to. But there are also plenty of other things that they have in common. They want to talk about all these things with conviction. But they also ...
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Delorean Philosophy

Steve McAlpine

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Where are we going as a society? And will you be happy when we get there? Steve McAlpine is here to help you answer those questions. If a Delorean time machine pulled up in front of your house - Back To The Future style - and someone offered to show you what the future would be like, would you be content with what you found? And if not, what could you do to change it? Thinking this through is what Steve McAlpine calls Delorean Philosophy. Steve McAlpine is a well-known social commentator, re ...
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The recent feature film ‘Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin' attracted controversy for its portrayal of Europe’s most celebrated martyr of the 20th century. There are so many questions surrounding the life of Bonhoeffer - chief among them, how involved was he in the botched 20 July plot to kill Hitler? Our hosts this week share their thoughts on the…
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A trip to Western Australia brought Laurel to the famous Busselton Jetty - a 1.8 km timber-piled jetty stretching out into the Indian Ocean - the longest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Initially built for practicality, the jetty is now a tourist destination and even features on postcards. The way it reaches out with such purpose is similar…
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According to the data, chemistry is the scientific discipline with the highest number of ”theists”. Perhaps it’s not that surprising: Chemistry grew out of alchemy, a mysterious science that attempted to uncover the secrets of nature, with goals some would consider supernatural. Modern chemists are also working to uncover the secrets of nature. For…
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In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul has a challenge for Christians: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” But where can we actually start with this renewal?…
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Like it or not, life will let us down. We all face disappointment. Despite this, people spend their entire lives trying to avoid and outrun disappointment. But the Bible offers a different solution. It gives us the tools to feel and express disappointment. Tools to grieve well. Tools to lament. But it doesn’t stop there. In the Bible, we also find …
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John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way has become a Christian bestseller since its publication last year. It’s part of a new wave of books focusing on the ‘spiritual disciplines’. This week, our hosts delve into what these disciplines are and how we can approach them in a biblical manner. Author Alex Sosler then joins the show to discuss modern appro…
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Along York Lane in the Sydney CBD are alcoves and recessed doorways set into the buildings. It was in one of these recessed doorways where a man named Karl used to live (or rather, sleep). Hundreds of people passed Karl every day - and sadly, in 2013, Karl died in his sleep, exposed on York Lane. However, in a remarkable postscript, his long-lost b…
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Mary Magdalene has played many roles throughout history. She’s been a prostitute, a temptation, Jesus’ wife, Jesus’ lover, a cave-dwelling mystic, a devoted follower, a revolutionary, and a penitent. The supposed sinner-turned-saint comes to us in a multiplicity of earthly, perhaps even scandalous, portraits that surprise and inspire. So what can w…
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The gap between what an Ibis is made for and what it does in the city becomes very apparent once you see it in its natural habitat. The Ibis is made to roam marshlands and use their elegant bills to dig for crayfish and mussels - not for scraps of rubbish in bins. But like these birds, we also often lose sight of the type of world we are made for a…
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This week, leading up to Easter, we’re looking at the most famous trial of all time: the trial of Jesus. It’s a courtroom drama like no other, and its outcome changed everything. But what do we actually know about the trial and conviction of Jesus? Was it fair? Was it real? (00:00) - - Intro (06:15) - - Gospel anti-Semitism? (08:27) - - Judea and G…
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With an Australian federal election called for May, our hosts think about how Christians should approach the ballot box and whether there is a "right" way for a believer to vote. We then hear multiple Australian Christian leaders answering the question, "What should Christians consider when casting their vote this year at the Australian federal ele…
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When John Dickson convinced top Christian songwriters Ben Fielding and Chris Tomlin to have a go at transforming an 1800-year-old hymn into a tune for our times, they felt the weight of responsibility. This is part two of our mini-series on how the song 'The First Hymn' came to life, with a full documentary soon to follow, which will track the hymn…
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Welcome to season XIV of Undeceptions! Anthropology has a reputation for being the most “godless” of all the sciences. The so-called Father of Anthropology, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, abandoned his faith as an anthropologist, declaring religion was “animalistic”. But religion hasn’t gone away - and many anthropologists are now realising there might …
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Is a revival breaking out in the Western world? Or is the reappraisal of Christianity - leading intellectuals like Richard Dawkins and Jordan Peterson to proclaim themselves “cultural Christians” - just a passing fad? Evangelist Glen Scrivener joins the show to discuss, before our hosts turn their attention to the latest "Catholic political thrille…
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So much of our world is built on hierarchical relationships. If one is of more excellent status, importance, or class than another, that can dictate so much of their interactions. A meeting with the late Henry Kissinger two decades ago brought this reality into focus for our host - and reminded her how this is anathema to the Creator of all things.…
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The cliche: ‘faith’ is the antithesis of knowledge, of wisdom and therefore “Christian philosophy” is an oxymoron, right? For this Undeceptions rewind, we speak to two Christian philosophers who explain why that’s not the case. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, listen to the episode in full: Episode 57 'Jesus…
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Last year, Australia introduced a law banning certain social media platforms for children under the age of 16 - the first of its kind in the world. This week, our hosts move the conversation offline and into real life, pondering the effects of social media and how the Bible can guide us in how to use it. Professor Andrew Campbell, Chair of the Cybe…
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More often than not, libraries collect and organise works of human creativity, intellect and industry. They are repositories of finished works. Books and recordings, films and magazines and many more - all discrete units of human creation. Archives, in contrast, provide us with the backdrop to the works, the settings, the background, and the workin…
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Why are Christians such god-botherers? Is it possible to share your belief system with someone who doesn’t accept it without being a jerk? In this Undeceptions rewind, we revisit a conversation about why Christians are so committed to sharing their faith with others - and why, if done right, it can be life changing. If you like what you hear, liste…
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Words can change lives – whether on paper, on screen, or spoken down a phone line. A library has an abundance of words – and an abundance of opportunities to change a life. After a long break, Laurel Moffatt returns with season 4 of Small Wonders! Undeceptions is pleased to introduce our listeners to this podcast in our network. Each episode of Sma…
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Welcome to a new season of Small Wonders! This is the first of a two-part series on the power of words. People read for different reasons. For some people, reading is work; for others, it's a hobby. Sometimes, reading can cause something within us to shift; we might go from wanting to read to needing to read. Our lives can suddenly - unexpectedly -…
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Welcome back to another season of With All Due Respect, where your hosts, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen, tackle tricky topics with respect and grace. To kick things off, celebrated author Marilynne Robinson joins the show to discuss her new book Reading Genesis, which looks at God's covenant with humanity - despite how dark things get. Ou…
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Is Christianity an offshoot of an ancient fertility cult? Why do the Gospels only talk about Jesus' genealogy in connection to Joseph? Is there a place for Christian patriotism? John answers all these and more in our Season XIII Q&A! (00:00) - - Intro (04:58) - - Missionaries (12:44) - - Anglicanism (16:48) - - Resurrection science (26:08) - - Inte…
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The Acts of the Apostles is the epic sequel to Luke's Gospel. It follows the dramatic events immediately after the resurrection of Jesus, and follows how the first Christians - led by perhaps the most unlikely person - took the news of the Messiah to the edges of the Roman Empire - and beyond. (00:10) - - A Biblical sequel (05:32) - - The genre of …
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If we’re talking only about liquids you drink—because the water in the Bible is washed in, crossed over, and even walked on once—wine is no.1. Wine appears more than 200 times in the Bible. And almost all of them are positive references—not critiques. Christianity has a long, rich history with wine. But oftentimes, we’ve made it much more complicat…
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There's just something about the Virgin Mary. She stirs up big feelings - she has for millennia. Some have perhaps given her more prominence than she would feel comfortable with. Others have hacked down her statues in reforming zeal. Others never think about her, except when they come across a nativity scene in a shopping mall (and even that’s beco…
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In the 3rd century, in the Ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, a group of Christians composed a song of praise set to the pagan music of the time. Now, 1800 years later, John Dickson is working with two of the world's best songwriters to bring this lost song - this First Hymn - back to life. Along the way, they make some incredible discoveries ab…
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The great project of the Enlightenment was to bring reason to the forefront. No more would humans be held back by superstitions: the power of the mind was all that was needed for advancement. Three centuries on though, and some people are beginning to think the pendulum has swung too far. Celebrated journalist and public intellectual Stan Grant joi…
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A new movie has been released this week about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was killed by the Nazis for his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler. Bonhoeffer's fame has ballooned into a kind of mythology that has seen people of all stripes "claim" him as their own. But our guest for this episode says that if we only think of him as a “h…
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Sam Allberry was involved in environmental activism when he became a Christian - a development that his activist friends saw as bad news. After all, why would a follower of a religion that looks forward to the coming of a new Earth be concerned with the state of the current world? For Sam though, becoming a Christian led him to a very different con…
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The Old Testament is sacred not just to the Christian but also to the Jewish religion. Its 39 books cover thousands of years with an array of literary genres including poetry, history, creation myth, apocalyptic, and song. It can be confusing and overwhelming - but luckily, John happens to work in the same building as a leading expert on it all who…
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In the aftermath of the 2024 Lausanne Congress - at which Megan was a delegate - our hosts take stock of what went on, review the Seoul Statement (and other alliterative faith declarations of past conferences), and mull over the insights of other attendees. They also discuss a documentary on the first Lausanne Congress, held way back in 1974. (01:5…
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Is there a masculinity crisis? Or have we fundamentally misunderstood what being a man in the 21st century means? Our hosts spend some time discussing their understanding of masculinity, how they’ve seen it shift around them, and what a Christian vision of masculinity really looks like. Executive Director of the Centre for Public Christianity Simon…
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The 21st century has seen—and will continue to see—the rise of Christianity in the ‘Global South’, with surging conversion numbers in Asia and Africa. That’s according to Gina Zurlo, a leading authority on Christian demographics, and our guest on episode 75, ‘Global Christianity’. According to Gina, while the Western world is grappling with secular…
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We interviewed Tom Holland, historian and co-host of the extraordinarily popular podcast The Rest is History, back in 2021 for episode 45, Christian Revolution. At the time Tom wouldn’t have called himself a Christian (and we won't speak for him now), but he was adamant that not only is Christianity good, but our very sense of what good is comes fr…
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Do we live in a culture that thrives on offence? Is it ever okay to intentionally offend? Michael and Megan are joined this week by Presbyterian Minister and writer Nathan Campbell to think through these questions. Our hosts also discuss the theology behind offence, and what offends them. Finally, the 2022 Psychological Thriller Tar - starring Cate…
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This week, our hosts discuss the touchy topic of class. Does Christianity have an issue with class in Australia? What class do our hosts think they belong in? For 'Through the Wardrobe', Michael and Megan share their thoughts on the hit HBO drama The Gilded Age, a show dedicated to the world of the upstairs and downstairs world of 19th century Amer…
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Artists have used their tools not just to capture beauty and transcendence, but also the essence of what it means to be human. In this episode, we learn from history's greatest artists about loss, hope, the ugly, and the sublime. What lessons can we take from these broken artists? What might their observations about the world tell us about God? (04…
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This week, our hosts are grappling with the topic of sin. They discuss what sin is, and then ponder the relationship of desire to sin. In particular, is all sinful desire ... sinful? Michael and Megan don't entirely see eye to eye on this one! Writer and podcaster Elizabeth Oldfield, well-known as the host of The Sacred podcast, then joins the show…
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Is there a "right" way to read The Bible? Millennia of Ink has been split trying to answer that question. Surely if The Bible is God's word it should be easier to understand, right? Well, some experts think there is a right way to read scripture. What we need is a key to unlock The Bible for us. (00:48) - - The Rossetta Stone (05:44) - - Reading th…
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This week our hosts ponder the role of animals in creation. What is the standing of animals in comparison to humans in the created order? Is it ever ok to eat animals? Do they go to heaven? Ethicist and Professor of Animal Theology Clair Linzey then joins the show to ponder these questions further, before Michael and Megan turn their attention to t…
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Famed Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once (well, several times actually) claimed Christianity was irreconcilable with the science of the Universe. But there's plenty of scholars who beg to differ. Recorded live in Brisbane at the State Library of Queensland. (01:08) - Show begins (06:24) - Introducing Peter Harrison (09:23) - Did we used to hav…
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