https://www.academia.edu/41586437/The_Metaphysical_Idealism_of_the_Eastern_Church_Fathers

In this fifth installment on the Problem of Evil, Dr. Jacobs examines the patristic narrative, exploring how the early church fathers understood creation's purpose and humanity's relationship with the divine. The episode investigates the Genesis narrative through a patristic lens, revealing how creation was designed for communion and participation in divine life. Learn how partaking in the divine will offers a framework for understanding evil not as God's creation, but as a privation of good. 

All the links: 

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs

00:00:00 Intro 

00:10:22 The nature of God 

00:41:58 God & Creation 

01:02:32 Why even create creatures with free will? 

01:05:31 The Genesis creation narrative 

Dr. Jacobs gives feedback on the recently viral Cliffe & Stuart Knechtle clip with an Orthodox college student. You’ll get a rundown of some specific differences between Eastern and Western Christianity and why they can’t be ignored in discussions like this. Specifically you’ll hear about basic misunderstandings of grace and works. 

All the links: 

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TheNathanJacobsPodcast

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs 

Dr. Jacobs explains the Eastern Christian understanding of Christ's descent into Hades, distinguishing it from Hell. The letter clarifies how Eastern Church fathers viewed Christ's descent as destroying death's power and liberating humanity. A comparison with Western theological perspectives reveals fundamental differences in how these traditions understand this doctrine.

All the links: 

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TheNathanJacobsPodcast

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs 

In this fourth installment on the Problem of Evil, Dr. Jacobs explores the complex relationship between divine providence and human freedom. What does it mean that God delegates subsovereignce to creation? And how does divine foreknowledge interact with human self-determination? Tune in as we examine biblical figures like Abraham, Job, and Saul alongside the desecration of goodness and the atheist's problem with evil. This episode lays crucial groundwork for understanding the synergistic nature of providence before our final exploration of theodicy.

All the links: 

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:02:13 The rational ordering principle

00:13:17 What is the individual? 

00:32:05 Divine foreknowledge 

00:40:08 Abraham, Job, & Saul 

00:52:06 Providence: blueprint or synergy? 

01:01:29 The desecration of goodness

01:08:28 The atheist’s evil problem 

01:18:51 So why doesn’t God intervene? 

01:34:30 God delegates subsovereignce  

01:46:06 A critical feature of providence 

01:49:51 What DOES God do? 

01:56:49 The divine energies 

02:16:40 The synergistic nature of providence 

02:27:17 Engaging in self-determination

Other words for the algorithm… 

Leibniz, A defense of God, Epicurus, David Hume, Heraclitus, The Problem of Pain, The Problem of Divine Hiddenness, Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Orthodox Christian, Christianity, Evangelical, Protestant, Catholicism, Catholics, pantheism, Empedocles, body-soul dualism, metaphysical dualism, Manichaeism, Augustine of Hippo, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Nicene Creed, The Arian Dispute, Christology, Seven Ecumenical Councils, Jonathan Pageau, Fr. Josiah Trenham, Jordan Peterson, Pints With Aquinas, Christian apologetics, theology, Alex O'Connor, John of Damascus, Alvin Plantinga, modal logic, Scholastics, the consequent will of God, Origen, complex goods, Theism, philosophy of religion, natural theology, moral philosophy, ontological argument, teleological argument, cosmological argument, ancient philosophy, patristics, church fathers, suffering, existentialism, free will, determinism, sovereignty, divine attributes, omnipotence, omniscience, benevolence, theological ethics, moral evil, natural evil, comparative religion, religious epistemology, divine justice, meaning of suffering, spiritual formation, rationalism, empiricism, atheism, agnosticism, William Lane Craig, Ravi Zacharias, Bishop Barron, apologetics debate, philosophical theology, Thomas Aquinas, divine providence, spiritual warfare, eschatology, redemptive suffering, qualified omnipotence

In this third installment on the Problem of Evil, Dr. Jacobs lays the groundwork for understanding Eastern patristic theodicy. Why can God do no evil, despite having free will? And why don’t these conditions apply to humans? Tune in because this will lay the foundation for the finale episode on the problem of evil. 

All the links: 

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:05:18 The narrative of the problem of evil 

00:18:29 A refresher: goodness, evil, and the great chain of being

00:33:03 If God has free will and can’t commit evil, why can’t humans do the same? 

01:02:55 The permissive will of God 

Go to 33:15 to skip the recap of the first installment  

In this second installment on the Problem of Evil, Dr. Jacobs looks at the notion that our world is an orchestral expression of divine goodness. But this insight reveals the uncomfortable fact that not all goods can co-exist and many goods are entangled with evils. So, though we may casually speak about the idea that God can do anything, the choices of providence are far more complex than the average person admits. 

00:00:00 Intro and recap of part 1 

00:33:15 The great chain of being 

00:52:29 The myopic focus on evil over goodness 

01:07:55 The complex puzzle of making man 

01:26:30 God must forego certain goods 

01:34:09 Complex goods 

01:57:53 Is some amount of evil tolerable? 

All the links: 

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs 

My Wild Ride to Orthodoxy https://youtu.be/yRYBsOXX3e0

Part 1 on Problem of Divine Hiddenness: https://youtu.be/J7uP9uFNThY

Today Dr. Jacobs will examine the basic philosophical and theological elements of the Problem of Evil. He’ll explore perspectives from Christian tradition and philosophical discourse. The episode tackles key concepts including free will, divine permission, and whether a sinless world would be preferable.

All the links: X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QSApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcastSubstack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs

00:00:00 Intro 

00:10:34 What is the Problem of Evil?

00:14:34 What is evil? (Illusion, metaphysical dualism, or privation) 

00:31:25 Why Christianity is the most compelling option (And the atheist’s coherence problem)

00:47:36 Problems with the anti-proofs 

01:01:39 The Free Will Defense 

01:13:42 The Possible Worlds Theory 

01:25:59 Is a sinless world preferable? 

01:30:08 The permissive and consequent will of God 

01:49:25 The Christian narrative  

Find the original episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJHCg8xt_l8

The early church fathers went to great lengths to ensure that the followers of Christ did not innovate but rather perpetuate “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3), and this conversation seeks to understand what they meant, where we may have gotten off track, and what it means to become truly human through Christ.

Topics discussed include: 

- Balancing academic research and writing with artistic innovation and creation

- A search for authenticity and authority led Jacobs to study the early church fathers, such as Athanasius of Alexandria, where he came to realize the difference of thought between Eastern and Western Christianity

- Ephesians, examining the use of the term “energeia” by Paul, and understanding that faith and works are not in opposition

- Ecumenical councils where early church fathers defended the faith by answering the question “What is the faith that we received handed down by the apostles?”

- Biblical illiteracy, historical ignorance, and troubling Trinitarian analogies

- The importance of a Trinitarian God as opposed to Unitarian

- The sophistication of the early church fathers and our anachronistic belief that we are more intelligent than our ancestors, theologically speaking or otherwise

- Distinguishing between creation and types of causation

- Biblical terminology getting lost in translation and the linguistic advantage the early church fathers had over the scholars that proceeded them

- Understanding the balance between rationality and mystery

- Addressing the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist

- Objectivity in academics, distinctions between different systems of thought, and the systems of thought creating the biggest divide between Eastern and Western Christianity

- The difficulty of communicating complex issues in a soundbite culture

- The importance of Christians being part of a church community; and should Christians confess their sins?

This week’s episode, Jacobs delves into Jesus’ uncomfortable teachings  about wealth and salvation with guest Charles Lelon, an Orthodox Christian and private equity investor. The two tackle the question of whether the rich can be saved or must sell all they have to become poor to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

All the links: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheNathanJacobsPodcast

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs

Original article with citations: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/p/on-apokatastasis-and-universal-salvation

Back to the theological letter series to explore a key distinction that's often missed: universal salvation isn't the same as apokatastasis. Dr. Jacobs dives into what early Christian thinkers really meant by these terms, untangling common misconceptions and showing why it matters for modern discussions of salvation. From the nature of human corruption to the difference between Hades and Hell, this episode will show new ways of thinking about universal salvation through the lens of Eastern Orthodox tradition.All the links: X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPodSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QSApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcastSubstack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs