William Blake on the Last Judgement, Apocalypse & Final Things. #secondcoming #advent

An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Talks and Thoughts, available via podcast feeds. The Last Judgement, William Blake argued, is not a terrifying forthcoming rapture but an awakening present moment, “Whenever any Individual Rejects Error & Embraces Truth”.

Wrestling with Christianity. A Medicine Path podcast conversation with Brian James & Mark Vernon

An MP3 of this conversation can be found at my Talks and Thoughts podcast available via your podcast feed. A conversation on wrestling with Christianity – or perhaps more accurately, the Christianities that swirl around the figure of Jesus – at the Medicine Path podcast, #87, with Brian James. For more on Brian – http://medicinepathpodcast.com,… Continue reading Wrestling with Christianity. A Medicine Path podcast conversation with Brian James & Mark Vernon

Easter according to William Blake. Resurrection is neither miracle nor mystery

An MP3 version of this talk can be found on my Talks and Thoughts podcast, available via your feed. Is the resurrection a miracle? Are the events of Golgotha a mystery? And what of the resurrection of the body and attempts to prove what happened as an historical fact? William Blake argued passionately that treating… Continue reading Easter according to William Blake. Resurrection is neither miracle nor mystery

Mysticism in Christianity – a conversation

An MP3 version of this conversation is at my Talks and Thoughts podcast, on your podcast feed. This conversation is part of the Living Mirrors podcast, hosted by neuroscientist James Cooke, exploring topics like consciousness, science, spirituality, meditation and the renaissance in psychedelic research.

Christianity, Covid & Transformation – Paul Kingsnorth in conversation with Mark Vernon

An MP3 version of this conversation is at my Talks and Thoughts stream available via podcast feeds. What might Christianity have for us today? How might it stories still speak? Where to find what’s right in the tradition? I was delighted to speak with Paul Kingsnorth, whose substack and other writings since his conversion to… Continue reading Christianity, Covid & Transformation – Paul Kingsnorth in conversation with Mark Vernon

NEW COURSE – We Must Be Mystics: Owen Barfield & Christianity

A six week online course with Dr Mark Vernon 6th March 2022 to 10th April 2022 Sunday evenings (6pm-7.30pm, UK-time) £10 per session/£60 total CS Lewis called Owen Barfield his “second friend”: Barfield was the one who challenged him and seeded his own best ideas, an experience of encountering Barfield with which JRR Tolkien agreed.… Continue reading NEW COURSE – We Must Be Mystics: Owen Barfield & Christianity

Living In Awareness – a conversation with Rupert Spira & Mark Vernon

An MP3 version of this conversation is on my podcast feed, Talks and Thoughts. Rupert Spira and I met for a second conversation, beginning with one of William Blake’s great exclamations of nondual awareness: “Awake! awake O sleeper of the land of shadows, wake! expand! I am in you and you in me, mutual in… Continue reading Living In Awareness – a conversation with Rupert Spira & Mark Vernon

How to talk about God: on why God is not an object

An audio-only version of the talk can be found on your podcast feed at my channel, Talks and Thoughts. Some talk about God too much. Others are said to be too embarrassed ever to do so. I think much of the pickle around God-talk arises from a fundamental, modern mistake. God is not an object… Continue reading How to talk about God: on why God is not an object

Know Thyself – Rupert Spira and Mark Vernon in conversation

An MP3 podcast of the conversation is here. What is the direct path of Advaita Vedanta and why is it significant for so many now? How is it found across traditions, including within Christianity? Why might it matter to us today, collectively as well as individually? What are its links to psychotherapy, individuality, freedom, God?… Continue reading Know Thyself – Rupert Spira and Mark Vernon in conversation

Against Moral Christianity

My Philosophy column in the new Idler, September-October 2021. There is an old tradition of writing against figures or groups you disagree with. “Against” is the operative word. Augustine wrote “Contra Faustum”, which was a riposte to the Manichaean, Faustus. Thomas Aquinas wrote “Contra Gentiles”, which was a defence of Christianity against Judaism and Islam,… Continue reading Against Moral Christianity