There's good and bad and then there's good and evil--or so Nietzsche says. One is strong, the other weak; one is active, the other passive; one is noble, and the other slavish; one is of Rome, and the other conquered and destroyed Rome. What in the world is Nietzsche talking about? Where does Christianity fit in here? Are good and evil bad? Or good and bad evil? Travis gives a summary of the first essay of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality, and then Joel and Travis discuss it.

Joel and Travis are back! Whether this is good news or bad, they nevertheless have begun a series on Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality--a troubling and fascinating work. In this episode, Travis gives an overview of the Preface of the book, which explains what Nietzsche is doing in the book and why. Joel then tosses Travis some questions about Nietzsche and the Preface. Was Nietzsche simply a hater of ethics? Wasn't he a Nazi? Did he have any friends? Was he a misogynist? These questions are answered at least partly, as they begin the journey into a strong critique of Christian morality, and attempt to show what even Christians can learn from this fascinating philosopher.

Joel and Travis discuss the miracle of the Second Person of the Trinity become flesh. Everything from whether the Incarnation was only necessary because of sin to the nobility given humans to why it is that children are probably better at Christmas than we are. Hope you all have (had) a Merry Christmas!

Joel and Travis continue talking about Advent—specifically how the 2nd Advent (the return of Jesus and the revelation of him as Lord) affects our understanding of ourselves in history. If history is moving toward an end, and we are in that history, what is our place and purpose? Is it to get souls saved for heaven? Is it to establish political or social justice? Or is it that this dichotomy between the physical world of history and the spiritual world of heaven is itself conquered by Jesus, who is Lord of all?

What do N.T. Wright, Kierkegaard, Advent, and Natural Theology have in common? Well, Joel and Travis talk about them in this podcast. Whether there's a real, meaningful connection between these various topics may take a few weeks to be decided. But in this podcast, Joel and Travis reflect on an important problem and fascinating uniqueness with Christianity: At the center of the faith is the belief that historical events matter to the faith—God become flesh, Christ's life, death, and resurrection, as well as his return and the time we are living in now. What does this all mean? It'll take a few weeks to flesh it out, but maybe they'll get there.

For N.T. Wright's talk discussed in the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=749CTPZkV-8

Joel and Travis talk everything from David Foster Wallace to Plato to the claim of 1 Timothy 6 that the love of money is the root of all evil in this last installment reflecting on Christian Miller's book "The Character Gap." How do Joel and Travis, both of which have notable gaps in their own character, think you should develop a virtuous character? Do they agree with Miller or do they think we have some better ideas? And could Travis use the word "more" a bit less, please?

Joel and Travis continue discussing elements related to Christian Miller's book "The Character Gap." They consider questions about the nature of desire, desire fulfillment, and whether these have anything to do with flourishing. There are two central issues that arise that make so that having our desires fulfilled cannot be related to real virtue. But perhaps we need to re-think what it is that we really want.

Joel and Travis talk Christian B. Miller's book "The Character Gap." We start off in this podcast asking what Dr. Miller asks in his book: Why would anyone want to develop a good character? And from that we move to questions about whether flourishing has anything to do with our desires being fulfilled, why we might want to change our desires, and what it is that we actually desire.

Matt (of Tactical Faith Radio fame) and Travis do a TF Radio and W_ndering Toward Wisdom joint interview with Christian B. Miller about his book "The Character Gap: How Good Are We?" Miller references numbers of empirical psychological studies that suggest that we are not as good as we think we are--nor are people as bad as we think they are. Rather, most of us lack both virtuous and vicious character. He also offers suggestions on how to develop truly virtuous character. Hint: Cinnamon rolls are not the answer (unfortunately).

This podcast is also available on TF radio: https://www.tacticalfaith.com/how-important-is-character-dr-christian-miller/

Check out Christian Miller's site: https://www.christianbmiller.com/

And look for his book: https://www.amazon.com/Character-Gap-Good-Philosophy-Action/dp/0190264225/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Joel, Travis, and outrage hang out for a half hour or so. They talk about the election, why the people on the other side of the political aisle are reprehensible and moronic....and if you're getting excited reading this, you (just like Joel and Travis) have a problem. They talk about how outrage is addictive, whether it is ever appropriate, and related issues that are sure to make you angry...or hopeful.