Philip Clayton: Science & the Sacred

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2025

⏱️ 97 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What's up Theology Nerds! Today I'm thrilled to share my conversation with the brilliant Philip Clayton on his new book Science and the Sacred: Beyond the Gods in Our Own Image. This isn't your typical science vs. religion debate - it's something way more interesting! Philip co-authored this book with Claudia Pierce, an atheist religion journalist, creating a beautiful dialogue between theistic and non-theistic perspectives that finds surprising common ground. We explore how their five-year collaboration revealed shared values even as they maintained different views on God. Phil walks us through how modern scientific understanding can coexist with spiritual meaning, challenging both religious fundamentalism and reductive scientism. We dive into questions from both conservative Christians and skeptical atheists who read the book in advance, creating a lively three-way conversation about doubt, faith, and what it means to approach mystery with openness rather than certainty. If you're tired of culture war takes on science and religion and hungry for nuanced dialogue across differences, this episode is your jam! And guess what? Phil's coming to Theology Beer Camp this year, so grab your tickets before May 15th when prices go up! You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube As a scholar, Philip Clayton (Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology) works at the intersection of science, philosophy, and theology. As an activist (president of EcoCiv.org, President of IPDC), he works to convene, facilitate, and catalyze multi-sectoral initiatives toward ecological civilization. As a disciple of Jesus, he finds himself energized by the Spirit in the Quaker community. Previous Podcast Convos w/ Philip Clayton Celebrating the Life, Legacy, and Thought of Jürgen Moltmann The Christology Ladder Christ, Christmas, & the Incarnation How to Think Theologically On the Meaning of Life on the Mindfulness of Nature The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg w/ Philip Clayton Finding God in Everyone and Everywhere w/ Philip Clayton and Andrew Davis Can a process theologian be an Evangelical & other questions with Philip Clayton The #GodDebacle w/ Philip Clayton and LeRon Shults Philip Clayton on the Shape of Postmodern Theology Party Time with Philip Clayton for “The Predicament of Belief” Bootlegged Christianity with Philip Clayton, Jack Caputo, Bill Mallonee, Peter Rollins, & Jay Bakker Philip Clayton on The Resurrection, Trinity, Eschatology & the Predicament of Belief Coming to Jesus with Daniel Kirk & Philip Clayton ONLINE CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT: The Many Faces of Christ Today The question Jesus asked his disciples still resonates today: "Who do you say that I am?" Join our transformative 5-week online learning community as we explore a rich tapestry of contemporary Christologies. Experience how diverse theological voices create a compelling vision of Jesus Christ for today's world. Expand your spiritual horizons. Challenge your assumptions. Enrich your faith. As always, the class is donation-based (including 0), so head over to ⁠⁠ManyFacesOfChrist.com⁠⁠ for more details and to sign up! _____________________ ⁠⁠Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. ⁠⁠ This podcast is a ⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠ production. Follow ⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our⁠⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 45 classes at ⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠. ⁠⁠Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What is up, nerds?
0:03.7	This is Tripp today on the podcast, returning for who knows how many times he's been on here,
0:10.3	is Philip Clayton.
0:11.4	He just released a brand new book, and we had an online book release party where we had some fun.
0:18.2	Not only, not only did Phil and I get to talk about his brand new book, uh, right here, right here, which I'm assuming you're watching the video, but if you have it, you can actually subscribe to our YouTube channel where you get to see stuff like this. And you'll also get that little ring of ding ding ding reminder when we're doing live streams. but he has a brand new book, Science and the Sacred, Beyond the Gods in Our Own Image. Great book. Easy, like easy read.
0:44.7	It gets written and edited. Almost anyone can pick it up in here. What does a philosopher of religion
0:49.9	who's been engaged in the sciences and working in that area's whole life do when he co-writes a book
0:56.6	with a religion journalist who is an atheist who also holds her convictions because of science.
1:04.2	What is the vision of the sacred that emerges?
1:06.2	How do we have new partnerships and boundaries and collectives?
1:09.4	That whole whole conversation shapes this book.
1:12.1	It's an easy conversation-type pick-up and read with friends book.
1:16.3	And so, yeah, yeah, check it out.
1:18.5	And you know why I know?
1:19.7	It's a good book to read with people.
1:21.5	I sent copies of this book to a bunch of members of the process of this stub stack.
1:26.7	My substack.
1:27.4	I message to those who are donating members that anyone want this stub stack. I substack. I message those who are donating
1:28.8	members that anyone want to read this book and send some questions for the book release party,
1:33.1	and they said, yes. So Phil's going to open up at the beginning, share a bit about the book.
1:38.9	I got a bunch of questions, but we also had some amazing ones from different listeners. And I asked ones that said, look, if you were post-religious, you aren't even sure about God. You would say you're an atheist or an agnostic. I want some of your questions. And then I asked some of my friends, even some conservative, much more conservative evangelical friends of mine to read the book and send them. So it's a fun, it's a fun conversation. And hopefully, hopefully,
2:02.6	it's half as good as the book. So go check it out. Phil Clayton, Science and the Sacred. And if this
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.