‘The Deep Places,’ with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat rejoins the Mere Fidelity crew to discuss chronic illness, Christian witness, and ... Christmas?

Ross Douthat

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat returns to Mere Fidelity to discuss his harrowing experience with Lyme disease as told in his new book, The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness & Discovery. Alastair and Matt take the conversation in some interesting directions that you’ll probably only find on Mere Fidelity, like how the sociological experience of chronic illness compares with the psychology of witness in the Christian community.

The Book of the Month is Pointing to the Pasturelands, a collection of several decades of J. I. Packer’s contributions to the pages of Christianity Today. This volume includes his editorial columns, longer articles, and brief answers to readers’ theology questions. The book concludes with a profile of Packer from Mark A. Noll. Enjoy timeless insights from a man whose life was devoted to knowing God and making him known. For the months of December 2021 and January 2022, Mere Fidelity listeners will get a 40% discount on their purchase of this volume with the code MEREFIDELITYDEC21 at checkout.

Timestamps

0:00
Pointing to the Pasturelands
0:48
Favorite NYT Columnist
3:07
Lyme Horror
7:01
“The land would not let us go.”
12:58
The Shattering of Rationality
19:46
Private Pain and Public Punditry
25:40
Pain & Empathy
32:03
The Social Experience of Illness (Havana Syndrome)
39:50
Believe Patient Experience
49:47
Christmas Hope

Follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Crouch for keeping us organized. Special thanks to Tim Motte for sound editing and show notes. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.

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