Mon
Nov
14
2005

Boyer Lecture - 1 - Jesus, the Prophet at the End of the World

Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen has delivered the first of the six Boyer Lectures on Radio National.
This is an extraordinary opportunity to help put Jesus back on the national agenda, and the first lecture is a great start. It’s intellectually stimulating and clear in it’s presentation of the historical Jesus.
I recorded it from the webcast, but I don’t think I can legally post it for download, as the ABC are selling the mp3’s of the lectures…
But you can listen to it online here

Posted by Neil, 14 November 05
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Comment

  1. Dr Jensen’s Boyer lectures are both a delight and a frustration.

    Coming as they do via our National Public Broadcaster, I was vexed to find that if I wanted to obtain a copy as an MP3 file for my further study and edification, I would have to pay nearly six dollars for each of them, as you’ve discovered yourself.

    I was not aware that the Word of God now attracts such a hefty premium, and I am disappointed I cannot point near-saved or fellow Christians whose faith is in doubt to these excellent lectures for free to give them some encouragement in addressing the issues they face in their own conception of our Lord Jesus.

    In this day and age we no longer need to talk in terms of the “covering costs of distribution”. Offering the lectures as a podcast, MP3 and so on attracts very negligible costs and could have easily been negotiated with the ABC, who have the technology and bandwidth to spare, as a condition of Dr Jensen’s appearance on the ABC to deliver the lectures.

    One may argue that the lectures are not necessarily pastoral, or that the context or content makes the lectures fair game for commercial gain. I put a rather simpler construction on it: Dr Jensen is a priest and he is talking about God through a publicly funded broadcaster. Put in these simple terms I find the necessity of charging for the lectures contrary to the spirit of the Gospel and the aims of the Church. God is not a commodity.

    The lectures should be put on-line in MP3 form for free distribution. If the Church’s intent is to sell the book of the series, then I think you will find this approach will ensure greater success, not less.

    — Nathan Zamprogno · Dec 19, 06:34 PM · #

  2. I understand your frustration Nathan.

    I was disappointed that they weren’t available as podcasts. But I think your comments should be addressed to the ABC.

    Peter J. was invited to give the lectures by the ABC, and I think it would have been a tricky thing (not to say rude) to then insist on certain conditions being met.

    It’s a real privilege to be invited to present such a series, and perhaps we should be thankful that they actually went to air on national radio?

    Of course, to the secular authorities at the ABC, any arguments pertaining to the “spirit of the gospel” are unlikely to go down very well. ;-)

    — NeilA · Dec 20, 06:46 AM · #

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