The Symbolic World

I had the opportunity to sit down with Justin Brierley to talk about Christian apologetics, the state of public discussions about faith, new converts, the identity crisis, and the rise of the “Christian atheist” with figures like Tom Holland, Jordan Peterson, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali intellectually aligning themselves with Christianity.

Justin Brierley is a freelance writer, speaker and broadcaster who has become known for creating dialogues between Christians and non-Christians. Justin is passionate about creating conversations around faith, science, theology, and culture. Through creative use of podcast, radio, print, video and social media, he aims to showcase an intellectually compelling case for Christianity, while taking seriously the questions and objections of sceptics.

Justin has worked in radio, podcast and video for over two decades. Until April 2023 he was Theology & Apologetics Editor for Premier Christian Radio, and hosted the Unbelievable? radio show and podcast as well as the Ask NT Wright Anything podcast. Justin was also editor of Premier Christianity magazine from 2014-2018, for which he continues to contribute articles. 

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/nIqBOQ-Vyhc 

Justin’s website: https://justinbrierley.com 
Surprising Rebirth Book: https://justinbrierley.com/the-surprising-rebirth-of-belief-in-god/
Surprising Rebirth Podcast: https://justinbrierley.com/surprisingrebirth/

Justin Brierley’s book on Amazon, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again (Sep 2023): https://www.amazon.com/Surprising-Rebirth-Belief-God-Christianity-ebook/dp/B0BX14YSTH

My recent feature with Justin Brierley on the Re-Enchanting podcast brought to you by ( @SeenUnseenMag ) Seen & Unseen Magazine: https://youtu.be/ToWHWrmN2xY?si=7zU_Te_-p5aasJWm 

Mentioned:
- Jordan Peterson on the Unbelievable podcast, debating with Susan Blackmore: https://youtu.be/syP-OtdCIho?si=7UFzr6K6PIluV7fO 
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali's article on UnHerd magazine, ‘Why I am now a Christian: Atheism can't equip us for civilisational war’: https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/ 
 

Timestamps:
00:00 - Coming up
00:44 - Intro music
01:10 - Introduction
02:49 - The rise of the Christian atheist
05:57 - Elevatorgate
11:54 - Giving Christianity a second look
14:11 - Ayaan Hirsi Ali Unherd article
14:39 - New converts
18:14 - Men's meaning crisis
21:22 - What's lying ahead
27:07 - Recapture apologetics today
29:16 - The role of artists
33:41 - Non-Christian Christian apologists
36:34 - Jordan Peterson's debate on Unbelievable
41:10 - “It depends on what you mean by ____”

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 
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📱 SOCIAL MEDIA  
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Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

In this dialogue with the amazing artist and iconographer, Aidan Hart, we discuss an image he has been developing depicting the New Jerusalem. This cosmic image shows many fractal relationships, including the Garden of Eden, the role and destiny of mankind, heaven, earth, and all of creation. It’s a beautiful synthesis presenting the positive aspect of the apocalypse.

- YouTube version: https://youtu.be/5KYqlzhZqMg

- Join me in supporting Aidan Hart’s work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AidanHartIcons 
- Aidan Hart’s website: https://aidanharticons.com/

- A few years ago I gave a talk about the Icon of the Last Judgement that might be of interest: https://youtu.be/TsHnGUKEEdM?si=d3BL5nMtzoEP-vB4

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 
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📱 SOCIAL MEDIA  
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld 
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

This is a discussion that Ken Lowry kindly organized on his YouTube channel and podcast, Climbing Mt. Sophia. The panel includes me, John Vervaeke and DC Schindler. We talk about the ontology of artificial intelligence from different perspectives: the scientific, philosophical, and spiritual or theological perspectives. 

Follow the Climbing Mt. Sophia channel: https://www.youtube.com/@climbingmt.sophia

John Vervaeke’s video essay that prompted this discussion:
John Vervaeke - AI: The Coming Thresholds and The Path We Must Take | Internationally Acclaimed Cognitive Scientist: https://youtu.be/A-_RdKiDbz4?si=K3SUnyrA1ywedRzf

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau 
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe 

📱 SOCIAL MEDIA  
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld 
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ 
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

In this podcast, I give you a sneak peek into some of what we are doing with GodsDog and the Garments of Skin comic, while also sharing my very first experience encountering the idea of the garments of skin in the apocryphal Book of Jasher. This was monumental not just for what would later become GodsDog, but it was also part of what drew me to Holy Orthodoxy. Through this kind of storytelling, we can weave together tradition and fiction to hopefully understand tradition better, and enjoy fiction more. Please consider supporting the GodsDog Kickstarter to bring stories like this to life.

Support the GodsDog: Warrior Kickstarter today. Only 5 days left to pledge. Don't miss out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/symbolicworldpress/godsdog-warrior

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/yo8TrzRm6J4

Check out this text I wrote in 2002 that started it all. “Garments of skin” and other symbols of periphery - by Jonathan Pageau: https://drive.google.com/file/d/190xqZrzqQv3o4F7jjfP05OGgisbN_5zQ/view?usp=sharing

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💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

📱 SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

In this episode of Universal History, Richard Rohlin and I discuss the Tower of Babel in Scripture (Genesis) and the Book of Jubilees, the symbolism of the structure itself, what it means for us today, Pentecost, and the solution to authoritarianism.

- Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/wj9EK0QAW54

Links:
- The Symbolic World Summit in-person tickets: https://thesymbolicworld.com/summit
- Summit Virtual Conference tickets: https://thesymbolicworld.com/virtual-ticket
- Godsdog: Warrior (Volume 2) Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/symbolicworldpress/godsdog-warrior
- Read my latest newsletter about the Snow White Kickstarter and Symbolic World Press: https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/109126/emails/112690471726221267

Mentioned:
- Derek Fiedler: The Universal Icon - S.R. Rohlin Reveals the Medieval Model, Lewis, & The Discarded Image - https://youtu.be/9LiR0TN0sfA?si=RNmLJOTMRX7mmsXQ
- Universal History: Dragons! - with Richard Rohlin - https://youtu.be/WN56hLnN8Qg?si=vx4ZdC-kCoOhwJ5-
- The Leviathan in Scripture: Ouroboros Symbolism - https://youtu.be/wxg468NL3S8?si=6EJG-j-d-AewANts
- The Lord of Spirits podcast - https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/lordofspirits
- Apocrypha: An Introduction to Extra-Biblical Literature, by Stephen DeYoung - https://www.amazon.com/Apocrypha-Introduction-Extra-Biblical-Stephen-Young/dp/1955890366

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
📱 SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

The Leviathan is a strange creature in the Bible and tradition. In this podcast episode I look at the Leviathan, the sea serpent, the dragon, and its relationship to the devil, and how al of these associations came to be what they can mean. And also it can help us understand how symbolism can be polyvalent that is that symbolism can have multiple meanings at the same time, and that understanding those multiple meanings can also help us understand how symbolism works and then also help us understand the specific meanings that are attributed to each symbol and the leviathan.

Links:
- The Symbolic World Summit in-person tickets: https://thesymbolicworld.com/summit
- Summit Virtual Conference tickets: https://thesymbolicworld.com/virtual-ticket
- Godsdog: Warrior (Volume 2) Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/symbolicworldpress/godsdog-warrior
- Read my latest newsletter about the Snow White Kickstarter and Symbolic World Press: https://preview.mailerlite.io/preview/109126/emails/112690471726221267

Article: The Serpents of Orthodoxy, by Jonathan Pageau: https://orthodoxartsjournal.org/the-serpents-of-orthodoxy/
Videos related to the Symbolic World Summit speakers:
- With Fr. Stephen DeYoung: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQgOYkzj0ek
- With Dr. Martin Shaw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4BVKOBrnTY
- With Richard Rohlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN56hLnN8Qg
- With Nicholas Kotar: https://youtu.be/U6ysSWIe9bY?si=ZiSN3XZoJq3ZFlvh

Timestamps:
0:00 - Coming up
0:23 - Intro music
0:49 - Start
1:35 - The Leviathan imagery
7:13 - Noah and the Sea dragon
12:09 - The hell mouth
15:09 - Chaos and potential
19:19 - Ouroboros
24:08 - The feast of the Leviathan
33:12 - Satan, the Devil
39:08 - The final paradox

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
📱 SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

This is my discussion with James Poulos about technology and spirituality, how technology has reshaped our world and America, the hope of taking control over new technologies and putting them in the right hands, the role of global institutions, laws, and authority.

James Poulos is the co-founder and executive editor of The American Mind at the Claremont Institute and the cofounder and publisher of Return at New Founding.
He is the author of the books The Art of Being Free: How Alexis de Tocqueville Can Save Us from Ourselves, and Human Forever: The Digital Politics of Spiritual War: https://humanforever.us/

He holds a PhD in government from Georgetown University and a BA in political science from Duke University. A fellow at the Center for the Study of Digital Life, he was previously the communications director at the Heraion Foundation, a veterans-run rescue and recovery nonprofit operating in failed and fragile states.

Follow James:
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/jamespoulos
Substack, The Build: https://poulos.substack.com

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

📱 SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

Visit https://thesymbolicworld.com/summit for more information about the Symbolic World Summit

Stephen James Blackwood is a Canadian-American professor, academic, and social commentator. Blackwood is the founder and president of Ralston College, a liberal arts college awaiting accreditation in Savannah, Georgia. We met on the Daily Wire+ Exodus panel where he had a lot of amazing insights and we have become friends since.

In this discussion, we talk about Stephen’s wonderful book, The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy, an exploration of The Consolation of Philosophy, a book by Boethius. We discuss Boethius’ role and contribution to the Medieval Western world and the amazing treasury of wisdom and consolation he can still offer us today. His legacy beautifully bridges and synthesizes the ancient pagan world, and a secular space, with the foundations and hope of a Christian vision.

The 2024 enrollments for Ralston College are not open: https://www.ralston.ac/humanities-ma

The Exodus series, free on Jordan Peterson’s YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL22J3VaeABQAppIsV0MmKYhGeFGJsy-dS&si=77eG5hbodzWm0HW3

Stephen Blackwood: https://www.ralston.ac/people/stephen-blackwood

Stephen’s book, The Consolation of Boethius as Poetic Liturgy: https://www.amazon.com/Consolation-Boethius-Liturgy-Christian-Studies/dp/0198718314

Ralston College is more than a university and an online portal. It is a movement dedicated to seeking the truth without censorship or shame. It is a call to build a free and flourishing culture for one and all. Read more about it: https://www.ralston.ac/

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

📱 SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.

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In this episode of Universal History with Richard Rohlin, by popular demand, we finally explored the topic of dragons! We discussed the ubiquitous appearance of dragons across history and different cultures, a dragon’s essential characteristics and mythical nature, their connection to snakes, birds, and angels, and the dragon as a hybrid and guardian of paradise. We also discussed the treatment of dragons in Eastern traditions and various languages, as well as in Christianity and even in medical symbolism. Enjoy!

Support the God’s’Dog: Warrior Kickstarter that was launched this week: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/symbolicworldpress/godsdog-warrior

Sign up for the Symbolic World Summit on February 29th, 2024. Check our website for information on the schedule, FAQ, hotel discounts, speakers, and more: https://thesymbolicworld.com/summit

Check out our Universal History: Beowulf course on the Symbolic World website, where we presented 6 classes covering the Beowulf epic, many hours of which included dragons: https://thesymbolicworld.com/news/the-beowulf-course-by-richard-rohlin-and-jonathan-pageau

OTHER LINKS:
The Dragons that Almost Exist, by Jonathan Pageau: https://orthodoxartsjournal.org/dragons-almost-exist/
Discussion with Fr. Joseph Lucas: https://youtu.be/0FuO88QVlN0?si=d66NKZ2JkyqWdNV7

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💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

📱 SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.
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In this video I discuss the symbolism of titans, giants, and Nephilim in anticipation of the God's'Dog: Warrior Kickstarter. Sign up for early bird specials: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/symbolicworldpress/godsdog-warrior

💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
🔒 BECOME A PATRON: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe

📱 SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau

Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.