#347: Dr Nick Spencer - Why Christianity Will Survive In The Age of AI

Nick Spencer an author, and Senior Fellow at Theos. He is the author of a number of books and reports, including Magisteria: the entangled histories of science and religion (Oneworld, 2023), The Political Samaritan: how power hijacked a parable (Bloomsbury, 2017), The Evolution of the West (SPCK, 2016) and Atheists: The Origin of the Species (Bloomsbury, 2014). He is host of the podcast Reading Our Times. Outside of Theos, Nick is Visiting Research Fellow at the Faiths and Civil Society Unit, Goldsmiths, University of London and a Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion. Timestamps: 00:00 - The entanglement of science and religion 1:00 - Lessons To be taken from scientific conflicts 3:30 - Are scientific and religious views more similar than different? 6:53 - The religious worldview on immortality and ‘anti-aging’ 12:01 - Ray Kurzweil and resurrecting people from the dead with AI 14:00 - What does it mean to be human? 16:30 - what are humans for? 19:30 - Should elephants have human rights? 23:48 - What would it mean for society if animal did have human rights? 26:28 - Alien life 29:50 - Is AI a threat to Christianity? 32:00 - Was Stephen Hawking wrong about AGI? 34:20 - What AI can never replace 37:01 - Should humans play God? 43:40 - Are religious people happier? 45:30 - The invention of anti-depressants 50:10 Debating Steven Pinker on Christianity 52:30 - What makes a life worth living 53:30 - Connect with Nick Connect with us: https://freedompact.co.uk/newsletter​ (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter) twitter.com/freedompactpod Email: [email protected] https://Tiktok.com/personaldevelopment Connect with Nick: https://x.com/theosnick https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssf5XN5o9q4&pp=ygUaTmljayBhcGVuY2VyIHN0ZXZlbiBwaW5rZXI%3D