Church of England priest Jamie Franklin and doctoral student of Divinity Clinton Collister sit down with author of Loving and Hating the World: Ambivalence and Discipleship James Lawson. Fr James' book makes the challenging claim that true Christian discipleship consists in neither wholly accepting nor in wholly rejecting the world but in maintaining a holy balance between those two extremes.
We examined this argument in the light of theological sensibilities such as the Radical Orthodoxy movement and that of Rowan Williams. We also explored the philosophy of Charles Taylor in the same light and considered the potential for a revived Christian Platonism that sees the material world not as a prison-house for the soul but as a conduit of transcendence. In the final section of the conversation, we spoke about Rod Dreher and The Benedict Option and ask why Dreher's thesis has been given short shrift in some Anglican circles.
This is a vital conversation for any Christian attempting to come to terms with our relationship to the prevailing culture and the call of God upon our lives as disciples.
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