Next week we kick off our fourth public theology programme in conjunction with St Peter’s College and Whirlow Spirituality Centre.
‘Christian Voices’ is a well-established annual forum for public conversation and theological reflection, focussing on contemporary social, ethical and intellectual questions.
Our first speaker will be Dr Guy Brandon. Guy has been a researcher at the Jubilee Centre in Cambridge for the last 10 years, and author of works including Just Sex, Votewise, and Crumbling Foundations: A Biblical Critique of Modern Money.
Q: Hello Guy, what have you been doing over the last 6 months?
A: I’ve worked on a range of projects, including the booklet that this talk will be based on, ‘Crumbling Foundations: a biblical critique of modern money’. As well as ‘Digitally Remastered’, which is about the ways that Christians can engage with the web, smartphones and social media. Separately from the Jubilee Centre, I’ve been involved in a number of projects including launching a new loyalty company that challenges the existing paradigms of reward programmes.
Working for a mixture of people all over the world is pretty tiring and I got close to burnout. Starting this year, I took some time out from Jubilee Centre and cut down on some other projects, with the intention of working a lot less overall. It’s done me good and given me more time to spend with the kids. I’ve also had an unexpected week in Australia, where the loyalty company is based.
Q: What difference has faith made in your life?
A: Faith to me is a lodestone. Matthew 22 states that everything in the Bible is about love for God and neighbour. That offers a framework for making decisions of all kinds. Bottom line, there shouldn’t be any areas of my life that aren’t impacted by faith.
Q: If you could go for dinner with one famous person dead or alive today, who would it be and why?
A: Judas would be pretty interesting, and it would be good to clear up what was going through his mind. But Meatloaf would be interesting too, and I imagine the food and entertainment would be outstanding.
Q: What was the first thing that made you passionate about your topic?
A: I became involved in the digital money world over three years ago. It’s a radically different model to the way fiat money works, much more like the earliest forms of money than the latest, and highlights just how broken our current system is.
Q: In ten words or less, what can people expect from your talk?
A: A biblical critique of the modern monetary system.
You can hear Guy speak on the subject of: Crumbling Foundations: A Biblical Critique of Modern Money at 7:30pm on Wednesday 8 March at Ecclesall All Saints’ Church.