A question that I’ve always thought about: if each religion claims that what it teaches is true and that the way to salvation is through its teaching, then aren’t ideas of conversion and even forced conversion morally justified?

Is it possible to religiously justify a group such as ISIS who may say they are trying to convert people to their religion for their salvation. I appreciate there are many other issues at play with the ISIS thing and there are groups of people that do their utmost to convert people to their religious worldview but at a general level why is there not more attempts at conversion that goes on.

Fr Michael is a Jesuit, a former professor of interreligious relations at Heythrop College in London, was the director of the De Nobili dialogue centre which focused on interfaith communication, and served as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue in Rome and to the ecumenical Churches Commission on Inter-faith Relations. His expertise is on the eastern faiths of Hinduism and Buddhism and it's safe to say he is a preeminent voice in the area of interreligious dialogue. I posed to Fr Michael the question: if each religion claims that what it teaches is true and that the way to salvation is through its teaching, then aren’t ideas of conversion and even forced conversion morally justified?

In the ensuing conversation we don’t just talk about the importance of space and respect when it comes to interreligious dialogue but also how we can come to a deeper understanding of our own faith through when we listen and consider the point of view of the other. Ultimately he puts forward a very strong case that ideas of forced conversion are fundamentally antithetical to a loving religious practice.

Fr Michael has also written several books whose titles include: theology and the dialogue of religions, waiting on grace, interreligious learning, and Ignatian spirituality and interreligious dialogue.

In 250AD a young man named Paul walked out into the Egyptian desert in fear of his own life and was never to return. He did not find safety or comfort but rather communion with God.

100 years later, Anthony the Great, a man who had taken Paul's way of life and turned it into a burgeoning communal approach to spiritual living, met the elderly hermit on the day of his death. 

These two great men were the example for the thousands of monks and hermits that came to live in Egypt, Syria and Palestine that would go down in history as The Desert Mothers and Father. 

In this episode, we take a look at The Desert Mothers and Father: who they were, where they came from and what they got up to. At a time of great upheaval throughout the Mediterranean world, they would come to set a foundation of not only monasticism but all Christianity.

This episode forms part of a series on the Desert Mothers and Father and in the next episode we will be heading to Egypt to see the lives of the people who continue to live out this tradition. 

Thanks to Lebot for our new theme music, more of which can be found by clicking this link. 

He has been called the hot priest, the ‘UK's favourite priest’, is a youtube sensation, and an instagram influencer. Rev Chris Lee has amassed a following on social media of over 170,000 people with his account RevChris7 and has become famous for his 60 second sermons where he distils Christian teachings into instagram friendly messages. Beyond this Chris has published a book titled The OMG Effect with two more books set to be published this year.

In this podcast Chris talks about how he came to love God, what it's like dealing with his newfound fame, how he tries to direct people to God and sharing the message the God love us. 

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