Good Faith

Are Aliens Demons, Our Cosmic Neighbors, or Something Stranger?
 
Host Curtis Chang and author Andy Crouch explore the theological implications of UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and the possibility that humans are not the only created beings in the cosmos. They ask whether aliens should be understood as material creatures, angels and demons, image bearers, or cosmic neighbors—and what Scripture, Christian theology, and even Aquinas suggest about our human uniqueness. Along the way, they consider whether first contact would reveal Christian love, humility, and wonder—or our instinct toward fear and domination.
 
00:47 - Introduction to Alien Life and Declassified UFO Reports
02:19 - Do Aliens Exist?
08:32 - The Value of Pondering Alien Life
13:02 - Aliens vs. Angels and Demons
23:18 - God's Mysterious Creatures in Scripture
27:42 - The Octopus Dilemma and Human Specialness 
38:26 - Missional Work and Alien Life?
44:26 - The Nature of God's Love
48:49 - Domination or Love : The Human Response to Aliens
50:58 - Andy Imagines Worshipping with Cosmic Neighbors
 
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Scriptures Referenced:
Job 1–2 (ESV)
Job 38–41 (ESV)
Genesis 1–2 (ESV)
Genesis 4 (ESV)
Ephesians 2 (ESV)
2 Peter 1:4 (ESV)
Romans 8 (ESV)
Isaiah 11 (ESV)
Romans 10 (ESV)
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
UFO-related declassified files
UAP disclosure
Meghan Sullivan and Notre Dame's DELTA project
What is the Fermi paradox?
Eleanor Stump's Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering
C.S. Lewis's Perelandra
Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary: A Novel
A scene from Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind
A scene from Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
A scene from Denis Villeneuve's Arrival
St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica: reason / will / dominion
Salvation as Theosis: The Teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy (article)
Isaiah's peaceable kingdom 
Thunderbird in Native American traditions
Do octopus brains work like humans'? (article)
Pythagoras and Johannes Kepler's Musica Universalis or the Music of the Spheres
 
More From Andy Crouch:
Check out Andy's website
Check out Andy's work at Praxis
Read Andy's book: The Life We're Looking For
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

Is Mortality the Enemy of a Meaningful Life?
 
Curtis Chang sits down with psychologist Dr. Dan Allender for a searching conversation about aging, mortality, Christian hope, and the surprising freedom of growing older. Together, they explore why getting older is not merely decline, but an invitation to deeper purpose, tenderness, grace, and wisdom—especially in a culture determined to deny death. From caring for aging parents to reimagining retirement, Dan and Curtis offer biblical insight and personal honesty for anyone seeking renewed purpose, peace, and courage as we grow older.
 
00:43 - Introduction to Aging Well Spiritually, Not Physically
03:25 - Psalm 90 and When to Start Thinking About Age?
05:40- Why Does Our Culture Avoid Aging?
09:52 - Are There Gifts in Getting Older?
19:10 - Counting Your Days: A Biblical Perspective
25:05- Psalm 92: The Righteous Stay Vital By Serving Others 
29:14 - The Problem with Retirement Culture
34:32 - What About the "Sandwich Generation"?
40:55 - Our Inner Emotional Age 
44:45 - The Power of Story  From Lives Well Lived
50:20 - Tending to Your Past Selves
 
Please Enjoy the Reading Guide for This Episode: https://bit.ly/danallenderreadalong
 
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Scriptures Referenced:
Psalm 90:12 (all versions)
Psalm 92:14 (all versions)
Genesis 16 (ESV)
Hebrews 4:11 (all versions)
 
Mentioned in This Episode:
Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Good Faith podcast episode 211: Nancy French's Joyful Grandparenting Lessons & Living Like Tomorrow Isn't Guaranteed
Schindler's List scene:  "I didn't do enough"
 
More From Dan Allender:
The Allender Center resources 
Dan Allender at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology
The Allender Center Podcast
 
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The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What Is Spiritual Weariness and How Can We Find Renewal?
 
In this episode of The Good Faith Podcast, Curtis Chang chats with Tish Harrison Warren—Anglican priest, former New York Times columnist, and author of What Grows in Weary Lands—about burnout, spiritual weariness, and the exhaustion that escapism and rest alone cannot fix. Tish explains how polarization, digital distraction, consumerism, and isolation can leave us tempted to "flame out" or "numb out." Instead, she invites listeners to "go deeper" through prayer, silence, embodied community, Sabbath, and the difficult but meaningful commitments that lead to lasting renewal.
 
00:36 - Introduction to World Weariness
02:43 - Tish Describes the Draining Experience of Public Faith
06:04 - What Are the Cultural Factors of Collective Burnout?
13:01 - Dysfunctional Responses: Reinvention and Escape
15:01 - Flame Out, Numb Out, or Go Deep
20:51 - Are There Practical Steps to Go Deep?
23:29 - The Practice of "Staying in Your Cell"
26:40 - The Tough Sell of Going Deeper
32:07 - The "Dark Night of the Soul" as a Growth Stage 
36:11 - Learning from Historic Church Practices 
38:04 - What Do Healthy Rhythms of Engagement and Withdrawal Look Like?
 
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Mentioned in This Episode:
Tish Harrison Warren's What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience
The Ezra Klein Show: Burned Out? Start Here.
Curt Thompson on Covid-era digital fatigue
Thomas Aquinas's idea of arduous goods
St. John of the Cross's The Dark Night of the Soul
Stanley Hauerwas: Evangelicalism Will Die of Exhaustion (conversation with Al Mohler)
the Desert Fathers and Mothers: "Stay in your cell"
 
More From Tish Harrison Warren:
Tish Harrison Warren's website
Tish Harrison Warren's New York Times pieces
Other books by Tish Harrison Warren
 
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)
Good Faith on Facebook
 
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What Is Spiritual Weariness and How Can We Find Renewal?
 
In this episode of The Good Faith Podcast, Curtis Chang chats with Tish Harrison Warren—Anglican priest, former New York Times columnist, and author of What Grows in Weary Lands—about burnout, spiritual weariness, and the exhaustion that escapism and rest alone cannot fix. Tish explains how polarization, digital distraction, consumerism, and isolation can leave us tempted to "flame out" or "numb out." Instead, she invites listeners to "go deeper" through prayer, silence, embodied community, Sabbath, and the difficult but meaningful commitments that lead to lasting renewal.
 
00:36 - Introduction to World Weariness
02:43 - Tish Describes the Draining Experience of Public Faith
06:04 - What Are the Cultural Factors of Collective Burnout?
13:01 - Dysfunctional Responses: Reinvention and Escape
15:01 - Flame Out, Numb Out, or Go Deep
20:51 - Are There Practical Steps to Go Deep?
23:29 - The Practice of "Staying in Your Cell"
26:40 - The Tough Sell of Going Deeper
32:07 - The "Dark Night of the Soul" as a Growth Stage 
36:11 - Learning from Historic Church Practices 
38:04 - What Do Healthy Rhythms of Engagement and Withdrawal Look Like?
 
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Mentioned in This Episode:
Tish Harrison Warren's What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience
The Ezra Klein Show: Burned Out? Start Here.
Curt Thompson on Covid-era digital fatigue
Thomas Aquinas's idea of arduous goods
St. John of the Cross's The Dark Night of the Soul
Stanley Hauerwas: Evangelicalism Will Die of Exhaustion (conversation with Al Mohler)
the Desert Fathers and Mothers: "Stay in your cell"
 
More From Tish Harrison Warren:
Tish Harrison Warren's website
Tish Harrison Warren's New York Times pieces
Other books by Tish Harrison Warren
 
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)
Good Faith on Facebook
 
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.

What Can Lead a Weary Soul to the Divine in a Post-Christian World?
 
Malcolm Guite is back for part two of our chat with him, and this time we go from atheism to awe, from the Psalms to the Holy Grail, and from Keats to King Arthur. Malcolm tells the wild story of how poetry cracked open his imagination and shattered his unbelief, leading him into the living presence of God — then shows why Galahad and the Grail might be the ancient, weird, luminous story our burned-out, disenchanted world needs now.
 
00:00 - The Sonnet Epiphany 1. Magi
01:28 - Introduction to Malcolm Guite Part 2
03:37 - From Atheism to Wonder 
06:27 - Encountering Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale"
12:11 - The Augustinian Idea of Beauty
15:18 - You Are Not the Center of the Universe
20:44 - "Take Up the Tale" A Ballad Introducing Guite's Arthurian Epic
23:54 - Why Does Retelling the Arthurian Legends Matter Now?
25:06 - The Truth of the Wasteland in the Modern World
27:19 - Conclusion and Credits
 
Listen to Malcolm Guite pt. 1: Does Theology Need an Imaginative Spark to Grasp God's Mystery?
 
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Mentioned In This Episode:
Malcolm Guite's Galahad in the Grail
Malcolm Guite's Epiphany 1 The magi
Malcolm Guite's Sounding the Seasons
C.S. Lewis's Surprised by Joy
John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo's The Confessions Of Saint Augustine
 
Scriptures Referenced In This Episode:
Psalm 145 (1928 BCP)
The Psalms (Coverdale edition) PDF version
 
More from Malcolm Guite:
Malcolm Guite's website and blog
Malcolm Guite's Youtube channel
Malcolm Guite's books
 
Follow Us:
Good Faith on Instagram
Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter)
Good Faith on Facebook
 
The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.