English L'Abri

Debates around race and racism have become increasingly polarised, both in the church and in our wider society. How can we as Christians think well about race? How can we engage in the current conversations about racial justice in a way that is thoughtful, biblical, compassionate, and humble? Listen to and download recent lectures at englishlabri.org/podcast . For more resources, visit the L'Abri...

In almost any category—social status, education, life experience, economic resources, influence—being lowly (humble) is a disadvantage. And yet, from a biblical perspective, being humble is a very good thing. In the previous lecture , we explored how acknowledging our humble position opens us up to receiving what we need. This lecture clarifies what it means to choose to lower ourselves before ano...

In a recent survey of scientists around the world, the majority of scientists experienced awe in the lab, at least several times a year. Ruth delves into the experience of awe, looking at the experience of Christians both in and outside of the sciences, as well as scientists with other worldviews. Awe often leads to worship, so she also looks at how science can fuel Christian worship in helpful wa...

Shame has had consistently bad press in the popular psychology world. At the same time we see shame being widely used as a tool of social control, mostly online.  With Te-Le Lau, in his book Defending Shame, Richard compares contemporary ideas of shame with Graeco-Roman, Chinese, and Judeo-Christian ideas.  We will explore the relationship of shame to guilt and the possibility of healthy and unhea...

Going to Sunday School was a familiar routine for many of us in our childhoods, but when Sunday Schools began in the late 18th century they were both radical and controversial. Their meteoric growth over the next 50 years on both sides of the Atlantic opened up opportunities for women to contribute to Christian education and had a transformative effect on many poor communities. Can the history of...

Apologetics typically grounds itself in the truth that Christianity is reasonable.  This talk looks at how meaning provides another important starting point – one that is vital in our engagement with sceptics. Listen to and download recent lectures at englishlabri.org/podcast . For more resources, visit the L'Abri Ideas Library at  labriideaslibrary.org.  The library contains over one thousand lec...

Our physical selves, how they look and what others think of them demand a lot of thought and work from us. We are daily confronted with images, ideas and advice on how we should be dealing with our bodies. In this lecture, we think about body image and what it means when we understand that we are made in the image of God. Listen to and download recent lectures at englishlabri.org/podcast . For mor...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” Akira Kurosawa’s film RAN is one of the greatest Shakespearean adaptations ever brought to screen. As well as a visual masterpiece, it illuminates how one man’s hubris can have catastrophic effects on nature, family and society. The themes of Lear have become resurgent in recent prestige drama—from The Terror , to Chern...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” Jesus begins his teaching with what have long been called the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). These statements of ‘blessing’ are some of the most comforting words in all of Scripture, but there is much confusion about what they mean. Is Jesus providing entrance requirements for the kingdom of God? Is he telling us about Go...

In almost any category - social status, education, life experience, economic resources, influence - being lowly (humble) is a disadvantage. And yet, from a biblical perspective, being humble is a very good thing. How can this be true? In Part 1, Joel will unpack this paradox and show how acknowledging our humble position opens us up to receiving what we need. For more lectures, visit the L'Abri Id...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” In December 2021 a significant and tragic milestone was reached: 10 million abortions took place in the UK since the UK Abortion Act was passed in 1967. How have we got to such a milestone? What are some of the consequences for us as a society? What developments are ahead? And what can we do? For more lectures, visit th...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” This lecture reflects on the ways we represent reality and how it expresses what it means to be human in one hand, and how, on the other hand, that can go wrong, leading us to reduce reality, losing the meanings given to humanity by the Creator. Josué explores questions such as: What is a representation? How different d...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” Many of us don't find prayer easy.  However, there is much that those who have gone before us over many centuries have left behind that can teach us and help us as we seek to rest in and struggle before God. In this lecture Peter considers the liturgy of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer as a rich framework for drawing...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” The concept of worldview has become widely used by many of us and certainly within L’Abri. In this lecture, Josué looks at the origins of this concept and some of the critiques of its uses, attempting to respond to them, reassessing how and why we employ this term, especially as we engage with culture. For more lectures...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” Jim looks at visions of the new creation in art and literature as a way of helping us imagine the good life, both now and not yet. You can view the slides for this lecture here: https://bit.ly/3EtMFYJ For more lectures, visit the L'Abri Ideas Library at  labriideaslibrary.org.  The library contains over one thousand lec...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” Our culture views power and authority with the greatest of suspicion. Exploring The Divine Comedy, Romance of the Rose and The Consolation of Philosophy by way of Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength, Caleb Woodbridge look at how Lewis in The Discarded Image and the medieval tradition can help...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” In Part 1, Joel defined and unpacked what maturity looks like through the lenses of relationship and responsibility. This lecture offers a new model of growth in Christ - ‘The Abiding Apprenticeship’ and tries to answer three basic questions:    * Why do we have trouble getting started on the road to maturity? * What in...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” Sociologist Philip Rieff said ‘No culture has ever preserved itself where there is not a registration of sacred order’. What does that mean for 21st Century Western culture? What do we call ’sacred’ and what kind of culture, if any, are we cultivating? For more lectures, visit the L'Abri Ideas Library at  labriideaslibr...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” In part I, Marsh described how we become cynical or romantic to avoid the pain of reality. In part II we will ask how we get beyond cynicism and romanticism to begin the journey to encounter the real. For more lectures, visit the L'Abri Ideas Library at  labriideaslibrary.org.  The library contains over one thousand lec...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” When we think about our faith, it is easy to reflect on how it is relevant for our souls, our hearts and even our intellect. But what does it mean to our bodies? What does the faith in the Incarnated God have to say about our physical selves? For more lectures, visit the L'Abri Ideas Library at  labriideaslibrary.org.  ...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” Do you struggle with commitment phobia? Whether the choice is for a spouse, a job, a community or even what to watch on Netflix, modern people frequently find themselves overwhelmed by possibility. This is a new cultural phenomenon rooted in a revolution in our understanding of freedom. In this lecture, we’ll trace that...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” In the 1966 film Alfie , the hedonistic anti-hero confronts mortality and betrayal, and asks "What's it all about?”. A perennial question. Douglas Adams’ computer famously gave the answer: 42. In 2004, Julian Baggini gave a humanist’s response in his eponymous book “What’s it all about?: philosophy and the meaning of li...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” More than a year on from the murder of George Floyd, many in the UK church are still grappling with how to make progress in the area of racial reconciliation. Jason Roach reflects on a biblical perspective in the light of his personal experience as pastor of a multi-ethnic church on an estate in West London and co-chair...

Both Francis and Edith Schaeffer believed passionately that all human persons are made in the image of God, and thus have a glory inherent in who they are. This conviction impacted everything they taught, including what they taught about how we are to communicate the gospel to people who are not-yet believers in Jesus.  Even more clearly, this conviction of the dignity of all persons impacted the...

To download this lecture on your mobile device, click “Listen in podcast app.” To desire is part of human experience. We often try to escape our desires or indulge them. But desire is a God-given force that, when ordered rightly, can bring us to Him. We will look at the purpose of desire and how it can be put to its proper use. For more lectures, visit the L'Abri Ideas Library at  labriideaslibrar...