Reawakening Wonder: How Cultural Apologetics and Reenchantment Lead Us Back to Jesus - w/ Dr. Paul Gould

Voxology

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2019

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How the Christian imagination can be restored in a disenchanted world, and why helping others see Christianity as desirable—not just true—is crucial to spiritual renewal. Mike Erre is joined by long-time friend and philosopher Dr. Paul Gould to unpack core themes from Paul's new book, Cultural Apologetics. Through laughter, inside jokes, and deep reflection, they explore how recovering an enchanted view of the world can help both believers and skeptics rediscover the beauty, truth, and goodness of Jesus.

Key Takeaways: • What Is Cultural Apologetics? – Understanding how evangelism has shifted from rational defense of Christianity to restoring the sense that the faith is good, beautiful, and desirable—not just true. • The Crisis of Disenchantment – Exploring how our modern, secular culture has silenced transcendence and suppressed deep spiritual longings, even inside the church. • God and the Human Imagination – Why wonder, art, music, literature, and even stories like Harry Potter or Star Wars can awaken our desire for the divine. • Reenchanting Our Faith – Five practical ways to reawaken beauty and meaning in a spiritually numb world—from engaging Scripture on its own terms to embracing beauty in everyday life. • Engaging the Culture Missionally – Why becoming students of culture helps us meet people where they are while inviting them to "return to reality" in the story of Jesus.

Guest Highlights: Dr. Paul Gould – Philosopher, professor, and author of Cultural Apologetics. He's also the founder of the Two Tasks Institute, which advocates for showing Christianity as both reasonable and desirable. Paul shares how his own journey—from streaking in college with Mike Erre to writing intellectual works on meaning and morality—has led him to believe that beauty and imagination are essential in today's gospel conversations.

Resources Mentioned: • Cultural Apologetics by Paul Gould – Buy the book • Two Tasks Institute – 2tasksinstitute.org • Augustine's Confessions – A spiritual classic exploring desire, beauty, and the search for God • CS Lewis: "Talking About Bicycles" and Mere Christianity • Wendell Berry & Marilynne Robinson – Contemporary authors who explore faith, place, and beauty • Acts 17 – Paul's missionary encounter in Athens

Help us bring beauty, truth, and goodness back into the conversation by reimagining what it means to follow Jesus in a culture hungry for wonder. If this episode stirred your imagination or renewed your desire for God, subscribe, leave us a review, and share Voxology with someone on their own journey of faith.

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Music by Timothy John Stafford | Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

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Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

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Transcript

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0:00.0	But because of disenchantment, we no longer see.
0:12.0	And so what re-enchantment, the hope of re-enchanting is doing is that we would learn to see and enjoy the things around us as gift and then enjoy them in creaturely response.
0:22.9	That's the idea of re-enchanting.
0:28.8	Hey, everybody, Mike Erie here.
0:30.5	Welcome to the Vox Podcast.
0:31.7	So glad you are tuning in.
0:34.1	And today, the guest of all guests.
0:39.0	Oh my goodness.
0:39.9	Now, it's not every day you get to interview one of your best friends ever in the world for a podcast.
0:47.5	I get to interview Dr. Paul Gould, affectionately known as Gouldy, to those of us who grew up together. Paul and I, so he is
0:57.2	a professor of philosophy, he's Ph.D. from Purdue, a big freaking deal, which he always reminds
1:04.2	me about. And Paul and I met what was our first week, freshman year in college. And. Yep. And then we lived in the same dorm.
1:12.6	And then the last two years of college, we lived in the same house.
1:15.5	And he's just, you know, he's just been an amazing, amazing friend.
1:20.8	But it's tough not to make fun of each other.
1:23.5	And so I'm here with Dr.
1:25.2	Gould.
1:25.5	When I call him Dr.
1:26.4	Gould, I kind of smile.
1:29.9	Dr. Gould, say hello to the Vox audience.
1:33.6	Yes.
1:34.1	Well, hello, everyone.
	...

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