A Commitment to Reality

“What part of you has come here to die?”It’s a question that Martin Shaw—one of our great living storytellers—is famous for asking.Shaw offers these kinds of provocations to a Western world where Christianity has largely been domesticated and desperately needs to recover its wildness.Prayer doesn’t feel real to you? Rip up a twenty-dollar bill every time you pray. On your phone too much? Smash it with a hammer.Have something you need to confess but are afraid to tell another living soul?  Dig a “confessional hole” in the ground with your bare hands and shout it into the earth.In this episode of A Commitment to Reality, Shaw joins Dave Hanegraaff to explore how to recover a wild Christianity in a world where faith for many has become cold, abstract, and domesticated.Thank you for joining A Commitment to Reality, hosted by Dave Hanegraaff. Follow A Commitment to Reality wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube for full episodes + clips: https://www.youtube.com/@ACommitmenttoReality (Timestamps below.)  0:00 — Intro / Friends in Common Recovering Wild Christianity2:20 — Belief is cool again—Atheism is for old people3:45 — Aesthetic Arrest6:45 — You don’t want persona, you want presence8:00 — Make a covenant with limit in a culture of excess13:55 — Growing up the son of a preacher man17:15 — The cost of becoming religious23:05 — What is myth? (And why is it not what we think?)27:30 — On Sectarian Christianity30:00 — Theology without practice is the theology of demons31:35 — Night vigils and reclaiming initiation rites 35:50 — What part of you has come to die?42:15 — His home burned down—Discussion of losing everything.45:00 — What is a saint?46:35 — Death — how can we breathe new life into death?50:40 — The value of a good cry53:45 — How to tell our stories differently56:00 — On your phone too much? Smash it57:10 — Struggling with prayer? Rip up money when you pray59:20 — Confessional holes—dig a hole with your hands and confess into the earth1:00:40 — In a world that feels unreal, what feels real?1:02:30 — Johnny Cash had a Boy Named Sue. Glen Hansard has a Boy Named Grace: Dave tells the story of naming his son Grace.

Jay Richards and Dave Hanegraaff explore why reality requires commitment, embodiment, and disciplined practices that keep us grounded when our digital lives lead us into abstraction.This is a wide-ranging conversation, beginning with the reality of economics before diving deep into the accelerating presence and authority of AI and why the tech debate is ultimately about anthropology—what a human person is, and what we’re becoming.Jay makes the case for why the forgotten discipline of fasting is a forgotten fountain of fortitude—for body, mind and soul—especially in a culture of excess increasingly out of touch with reality.Follow A Commitment to Reality wherever you listen.TIMESTAMPS00:00 – Intro00:30 – I used to hate you—the value of conversation and actually listening03:00 – How to change your mind05:15 – How social media bubbles create reality distortion07:35 – Go outside—embracing embodiment in a digitized world11:15 – Intentionality and going analog in an increasingly digital world15:10 – Beneficial uses of AI18:40 – We can’t stop AI: fear, inevitability, and panic20:20 – Metaphysics/anthropology: the real battleground beneath AI debates22:14 – Is AI demonic? What’s actually happening “under the hood” with AI tech?26:45 – “AI” is a marketing term—how that language shapes fear of AI28:30 – How AI could create a massive class divide32:25 – Mamdani and socialism—the power of images vs reality36:45 – The benefit of being able to say “I used to think that”41:25 – How to be productive45:00 – Why did most Christians stop fasting?50:00 – The appeal of ascetic practices in a culture of excess55:15 – Combatting spiritual warfare with fasting58:00 – Physical benefits of fasting explained—and how to begin1:08:30 – Why flipping the old food pyramid is a great idea1:13:00 – I hate talking about fasting—but we need to talk about fasting1:16:20 – How Eastern Christianity can lead a revival in fasting for all Christians1:18:10 – The forgotten gift of fasting seasons like Advent and Lent1:19:00 – “A feast without a fast is a strange, half-finished thing”1:23:30 – Fasting is a skill—how to start1:26:00 – Best practices for grounding us in reality1:27:40 – Where are we most eager to look away from reality?1:31:55 – Understanding what A Commitment to Reality means1:32:35 – In a world that feels increasingly unreal, what feels real to you?1:34:00 – New Atheism is dead

Welcome to A Commitment to Reality, hosted by Dave Hanegraaff.Frederica Mathewes-Green and Dave Hanegraaff explore the importance of “shared reality” in a post-truth age—and why the most important word in the title might be commitment.This is a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to live in alignment with reality, while also hitting topics such as how the internet is optimized for outrage, why our social muscles are atrophying, and why AI feels different from every other tool: it presents itself like a person—earning trust and authority fast.Along the way we explore how to respond with everyday practices that re-align us with reality.Follow A Commitment to Reality wherever you listen.TIMESTAMPS00:00 – Intro00:49 – What A Commitment to Reality means07:17 – Who is Frederica Mathewes-Green?12:35 – The Glenn Beck moment: how listening changes conceptions15:23 – How is your soul?17:20 – What breaks your heart?19:15 – Social atrophy—why can’t we communicate anymore?23:44 – TV and the Internet—Architects of Anger25:15 – Why is it so hard to change our minds?29:05 – Charlie Kirk and the courage to speak up35:00 – Theology in West vs East: knowing about God vs. knowing God40:55 – Feelings and emotions are not the same (why that distinction matters)48:20 – How important is getting it right when it comes to truth?49:55 – Truth as living reality—alive like a forest, not dead like a cold statue56:15 – The Replication Crisis—A Modern Tower of Babel?59:30 – AI is dangerous, irresistible and irreversible1:01:00 – My cat died and ChatGPT comforted me—why AI feels real (and scary)1:14:25 – Are we experiencing true “Future Shock” today?1:16:13 – AI as the anti-Eucharist1:19:30 – AI is already an authority and everywhere in our lives1:21:30 – Practices that can re-orient us to reality1:28:00 – The pursuit of imperfection in a world where everything is the same1:31:00 – Do we need to follow the news?1:35:15 – Why reality must include the miraculous1:40:10 – Frederica Mathewes-Green is writing a new book?1:43:40 – How well does ChatGPT handle profoundly spiritual topics?1:47:10 – In a world that feels increasingly unreal—what feels real to you?1:48:45 – Synesthesia1:50:15 – Public challenge to Frederica’s son—David Mathewes to write a song about “A Commitment to Reality”

A Commitment to Reality is a podcast for a post-truth—and increasingly post-reality—age.We are living through one of the most disorienting periods in human history—leaving many to wonder: What is reality? As artificial intelligence accelerates and institutional trust erodes, our shared sense of what is real continues to crumble.A commitment to reality is a dedication to discerning what is true and developing the discipline to live in alignment with that truth—with reality. This podcast is an apologetic for reality—each episode serving as an intentional act of grounding our existence together as we commit to what is beautiful, good, and true. Subscribe to A Commitment to Reality on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ACommitmenttoReality for the full episodes + clips, as well as Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-commitment-to-reality/id1876254826 , Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/378rR6Oz8YkbTOIqSfhlV3 and follow wherever you get podcasts.  You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!