Andrew Davison: aliens and incarnation

Oxford's Regius Professor of Theology on what life on other planets could mean.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

Tarantula Nebula, by the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA, via Wikimedia Commons.

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What does the possibility of life on other planets mean for the incarnation? Why is there so much fear and panic around theology? Is it merely a set of rigid rules, or is it something more expansive than that?

These are just some of the questions pondered by our three presenters – Jane Williams, Michael Lloyd and Graham Tomlin – along with Andrew Davison, Canon and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University.

Find out more about Professor Andrew Davison's new role.

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Seen & Unseen Aloud

4 August 2025

1 min read

Portofino, neurodiversity, and McGovern's Unforgivable.

Poverty amid the privileged, the issue of over-diagnosing, and a difficult drama to watch.

Natalie Garrett

Natalie produces and narrates The Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast. She's an Anglican minister and a trained actor.

Portofino harbour.

Peter Thomas, via Unsplash.

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More about this episode

This week, George Pitcher takes us on our tour of the Portofino "bubble"; Henna Cundill has read Suzanne O'Sullivan's book and suggests we don't have an over-diagnosis problem, we have a society problem; and Henry Corbett describes Jimmy McGovern's brave storytelling in Unforgivable and asks whether there is such a thing as an unforgiveable sin.

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