When students started turning in papers written by artificial intelligence, educators were caught flat-footed. We knew that machines would replace many human tasks, but we thought the humanities were immune to that. Have our writing standards fallen so low that we can no longer write better than computers? Or are we about to experience the awakening of Artificial Consciousness? Matt and Alastair discuss this situation with Jason Thacker, the Chair of Research in Technology Ethics at the ERLC.

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Get the ebook Spiritual Formation for the Family at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family.

Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, Keeping Kids Christian: Recovering A Biblical Vision For Lifelong Discipleship, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

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Timestamps:
Written by a Bot [0:00]
The ChatGPT Panic [2:45]
What is human? [6:48]
Is intelligence important? [11:09]
Going Full Hobbit [20:57]
Did we do this on purpose? [28:00]
Inevitable Arms Race [34:44]
Covid Tech-lash [45:20]
AI(dolatry) [52:34]

Derek Rishmawy, James Wood, and Alastair Roberts welcome Dr. Lyndon Jost, author of Transfiguring Headship: A Figural Theology of Gender. Jost argues that headship is rooted in Old Testament figural theology rather than Greco-Roman culture, that it fundamentally means representation rather than authority, and that this reframes debates between complementarians and egalitarians alike.

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Get your copy of our free ebook, Spiritual Formation for the Family, at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family.

Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, Keeping Kids Christian: Recovering A Biblical Vision For Lifelong Discipleship, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

Apply for Beeson Divinity School's Ph.D program by April 1 for Fall 2026 admission here: https://bit.ly/BeesonPhD

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Chapters

01:15 - Overview of Transfiguring Headship

03:06 - Headship as Representation, Not Authority

06:09 - Critiquing Complementarian and Egalitarian Readings

10:32 - Figural Theology and the Fourfold Senses of Scripture

17:05 - Against Greco-Roman Readings of Headship

20:13 - 1 Corinthians 11:3 and Trinitarian Headship

25:35 - Ivan Illich, Gender vs. Sex, and Vernacular Gender

32:48 - Headship, Marriage, and the One-Flesh Union

43:23 - Essentialism, Gender Realism, and Minimalist Claims

50:36 - Headship as Unity, Not Opposition

55:59 - Male Responsibility and the Final Account

58:28 - Headship, Creation Order, and External Representation

01:02:14 - Closing Remarks

Derek Rishmawy and Alastair Roberts explore the Ten Commandments — their structure, their two tables, the bookending parallel between the first and tenth commandments, and how the law is always oriented toward delight rather than mere prohibition. The law shapes the Christian life, testifies to Christ, and reflects the character of God.

Get the free ebook, Spiritual Formation for the Family, at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family.

Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, Keeping Kids Christian: Recovering A Biblical Vision For Lifelong Discipleship, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

Derek Rishmawy, Alastair Roberts, and Brad East consider what Christian theology actually has to say about aliens — from the populated Christian cosmos to the angelic fall, demonic deception, and the Christological anthropocentrism that runs through Lewis, Edwards, and Aquinas. Are UFO encounters spiritual phenomena in disguise? And does any of this unsettle orthodox faith?

—

Get the ebook, Spiritual Formation for the Family, by going to http://mereorthodoxy.com/family.

Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, R30 Key Moments in the History of Christianity: Inspiring True Stories from the Early Church Around the World, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

Apply for Beeson Divinity School's Ph.D program by April 1 for Fall 2026 admission here: https://bit.ly/BeesonPhD

—

Chapters

00:00 Aliens Are In The Air
06:38 What Counts As Alien?
12:22 The Nature of Alien Phenomena
19:08 Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind
25:40 Lewis vs. L'Engle
32:52 Testimony
39:37 The Uniqueness of the Incarnation
45:30 Angels, Humanity, and Salvation
50:48 Christological Considerations
53:07 Be Fruitful and Explore Space!

Derek Rishmawy and Alastair Roberts take up the problem of Christian doomerism in an age of AI development, geopolitical instability, and algorithmic anxiety — diagnosing why our moment feels uniquely threatening, then building a theology and practice of realistic hope from the Sermon on the Mount, the Psalms, eschatology, and the concrete habits (prayer, scripture, crocheting) that keep despair at bay.

—

Get your copy of Mere Orthodoxy's ebook, Spiritual Formation for the Family, by going to http://mereorthodoxy.com/family

Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, R30 Key Moments in the History of Christianity: Inspiring True Stories from the Early Church Around the World, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

Apply for fall 2026 admission to Beeson Divinity School's MDiv (or M.Div., your choice) and be considered for a full-tuition scholarship: https://bit.ly/beesonscholarships

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Chapters

• 00:00 – The Problem of Living in Interesting Times
• 05:05 – I Call All Times Interesting
• 11:52 – Agency
• 17:34 – Hope at Rock Bottom
• 28:03 – The Benefits of Apocalypse
• 32:39 – Eschatology
• 36:13 – Practically Constructing Hope
• 42:03 – Investing in Future Generations
• 49:06 – Back to Basics

In this Replay episode, Matthew Lee Anderson, Derek Rishmawy, and Alistair Roberts are joined by Andy Crouch — Partner for Theology and Culture at Praxis — to examine what the data on social media and video games reveals about the diverging formation of young men and women. The conversation turns on a pointed question: what happens when the skills adolescence develops are simulations rather than realities? And what does that mean for formative communities — home, school, and church — that bear responsibility for shaping persons, not just managing behaviors?

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Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, R30 Key Moments in the History of Christianity: Inspiring True Stories from the Early Church Around the World, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

Apply for a full-tuition scholarship for Beeson Divinity School's M.Div program that begins Fall 2026 here: https://bit.ly/beesonscholarships

-

Chapters

• 2:00 — Guest Introduction: Andy Crouch
• 3:00 — The Tweet: Social Media, Video Games, and Diverging Outcomes
• 5:30 — Why We Now Have Reliable Data
• 7:00 — Social Media's Harm to Girls
• 8:30 — Why Boys Seem Fine (At First)
• 11:00 — The Idolatry Framework: Things That Work at First
• 17:00 — Pornography as Formation Failure
• 19:00 — The Feminization of Internet Culture
• 25:00 — The Algorithmic Turn: From Chronological to Algorithmic Feeds
• 31:00 — The Algorithm Catches You at Your Worst
• 33:00 — Mobile Devices and the End of Distance
• 36:00 — Practical Applications: Give Resistors an Off-Ramp
• 40:00 — Banning Phones in Schools: A Framework
• 44:00 — "But They Need to Prepare for the Real World"
• 46:00 — Instruments vs. Devices: A Distinction
• 48:00 — Closing & Patron Teaser

Derek Rishmawy and Alastair Roberts host Jake Meador for a wide-ranging conversation on why evangelical institutions struggle with leadership transitions and long-term succession. They explore how evangelicalism's emphasis on discontinuity, charismatic personality-driven leadership, and brand-over-institution thinking undermines durability. The discussion touches on the boomer generational bottleneck, the producer-consumer framework shaped by technology, and what healthier models—like RTS or long-tenured churches—might teach us about building things that outlast their founders.

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Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.

Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, R30 Key Moments in the History of Christianity: Inspiring True Stories from the Early Church Around the World, by going to: http://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/mere-fidelity

Apply for a full-tuition scholarship for Beeson Divinity School's M.Div program that begins Fall 2026 here: https://bit.ly/beesonscholarships

—

Chapters

• 00:00 – Introduction & Framing the Problem
• 02:48 – Evangelicalism's Built-In Bias Toward Discontinuity
• 06:34 – Charisma, Personality, and the Exoskeleton Problem
• 08:46 – Brands vs. Institutions
• 11:22 – RTS as a Positive Case Study
• 15:24 – Market Forces and Media Adaptability
• 17:33 – Long-Tenured Churches and the Mold vs. Platform Distinction
• 24:18 – The Boomer Generational Cliff
• 30:16 – Carson, Piper, Keller, and Golden Age Expectations
• 39:23 – Evangelical Anxiety About Institutional Betrayal
• 43:31 – Technology, Formation, and the Performing Self
• 51:26 – Birth Rates, Legacy, and Thinking About Succession