The Centre for Public Christianity's (CPX) Natasha Moore joins host Jonathan for a conversation about public Christianity. They begin with an overview of the work of CPX, before moving on to the question of how to define and understand public Christianity more broadly, particularly in light of Christian division, denominational particularity and an often uninterested or hostile secular public. They then take a close and considered look at Marilynne Robinsons's Pulitzer Prize wining novel Gilead as an example of public Christianity. This sparks an unexpected and interesting detour into gender before the pair return to the question of public Christianity to close out the show.
Dr Natasha Moore is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. She has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and is the author of For the Love of God: How the church is better and worse than you ever imagined and, most recently, The Pleasures of Pessimism. She has worked for CPX since 2014 and written on topics that include books, movies, politics, food, domestic violence, Scripture in schools, war, Thanksgiving, and freedom of speech.
Host of The Political Animals, Jonathan Cole, is an academic, writer, speaker and translator who specialises in political theology: the intersection of religion and politics. He is currently Assistant Director of the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University. He is the author of Christian Political Theology in an Age of Discontent: Mediating Scripture, Doctrine, and Political Reality. Previously, he worked as a Senior Terrorism Analyst at Australian intelligence agency The Office of National Assessments. You can follow Jonathan on Twitter and Facebook.