Show Notes
“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)
More from The Happy Revolution
This special episode is a recording of a recent talk by Dr Ben Egerton. Ben is the director of initial teacher education here at Victoria University, and a poet. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Rivendell Center for Theology at Yale University. The event was held at Ngā Mokopuna on Kelburn campus, and was the 2026 Ramsey Library Lecture. Some writers, thinkers and works Dr Egerton mentions: Gert Biesta Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia Canon Mark Oakley Fr Richard Rohr George McDonald Mary Oliver Douglas Coupland Jürgen Habermas Anne Lamott TS Eliot, 'Choruses from the Rock'
This special episode is a recording of a recent talk at Chaplaincy VUW by Professor Cyril Hovorun. Cyril is an archimandrite in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and teaches international relations at University College Stockholm. Having worked for a decade as personal secretary to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow — and having since been defrocked by him — Cyril speaks with unusual personal knowledge of the key figures and ideas driving Russia's theology of war. He traces the development of "sacred war" rhetoric in the Russian Orthodox Church, contrasts it with the Ukrainian search for a theology of peace, and draws on the Christological thought of Maximus the Confessor to argue that any genuine peace must be grounded in ethics and justice. The talk is followed by a lively Q&A session.
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.
In this episode, Rayne and Mika chat with Nick Townsend. Nick is an academic and theologian from England who specialises in Christian politics and ethics. The conversation covers the history of individualism in the West, Catholic Social Teaching and Christian ethics, and conceptualisations of the common good. Nick outlines the role of businesses, workers, governments, and citizens in forming and contributing to the common good, in order to build a society where everyone can flourish. References Laborem Exercens (1981) | John Paul II CCLA – common-good focused investment bank Together For The Common Good (UK charity) Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity (1989) Lynn Stout, The Shareholder Value Myth: How Putting Shareholders First Harms Investors, Corporations, and the Public (2004) Nicholas Townsend, 'Blue Labour + Red Tory = Christian Democracy?' (2015)