Hello Dr. Nathan. It’s Fr Jeremiah from Iviron monastery,Mt. Athos. I very much enjoyed your presentation and it’s clarifying the theology of St. Augustine, and the difference between raising St. Lazarus and the resurrection of Christ. I sometimes wonder why you publish books about the obscure philosophy of Leibniz, which I have heard you say nobody buys. Wouldn’t it be better and beneficial to publish your theological presentations on the differences between east and west? I would purchase it immediately. Anyway. All best wishes for the new year for you and all your family. This year I will be 70 years old. Am I too old fashioned?
Father Jeremiah! It’s wonderful to hear from you again! I sent you a direct message on here some time back in response to your invitation to visit Athos. Did you see my reply? If not, check your inbox. I’d love to speak with you about that. To your comment, first, thank you for your kind words on my talk. As for my work on obscure and wildly expensive academic scholarship, your question is fair. If you read my piece on my journey to Orthodoxy (parts 1 and 2), which you can find through my Table of Contents, you’ll find the explanation for why I spent so much time on figures like Kant and Leibniz. The Leibniz book was one I was asked to write, initially by Cambridge but I pulled it and gave it to Routledge for reasons I need not go into. I published it for two reasons. The first is that I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Leibniz, so it was a way of making sure those years of research did not go to waste but made their way into the public square. The second is that I do plan to write a book on the Eastern Church fathers and the problem of evil, and Leibniz is really the foundation of all modern discussions of that topic in philosophy of religion. So having my research on the topic “out there” allows me to site that work concisely and authoritatively. That said, I admit that a shift occurred in my research after discovering the Eastern fathers and the Orthodox Church. The first shift was in my scholarship. I no longer cared for what academia liked or didn’t like; I instead published on what I thought matters: the wisdom of these fathers and how this wisdom sheds light on metaphysics and philosophy of religion. But a second shift occurred for me after I made a documentary for the Antiochian Archdiocese. I saw the way that project affected people, exposing them to Orthodoxy and drawing them into the Orthodox Church. I soon realize that I didn’t care about having an academic legacy. I cared about speaking to real people about the faith of the fathers and helping them find the Church. I resolved that I would rather have a legacy like C. S. Lewis than like a scholar of obscure philosophy, as you put it. So I began this Substack. I started my podcast, The Nathan Jacobs Podcast. And I began doing more popular speaking engagements. And what I am presently doing is exactly what you say: I am moving toward more accessible books (Lewis level) on the very sort of topics I deal with in here, including and especially East-West differences. I take it from your comment you approve. Father bless.
I should add one further note, Father. I am working on my 25-part lecture series on the East and West. Did you see my posts related to that? That’s presently my main project. I would love to secure a blessing and endorsement from Mount Athos on the project. And while the series is a video series, I do plan to publish the contents as a book.
Hello Dr. Nathan. I just noticed your comment and thank you for taking the time to write as I know that you’re very busy. And may I also take this opportunity to wish you a blessed Lent. Here the daily program of services and diet has dramatically changed and you notice it. Of course, you have the blessing of AGION OROS to go ahead with your 25 part lecture series, although it’s not essential. The essential thing is that you have YOUR spiritual advisors blessing, so that we know that we’re not on a big ego trip. My own position, together with that of a friend of mine, and together we subscribed to your Substack, is that I like and listen to many free podcasts. The only 2 that I have subscribed to and paid for are yours and Zac Porcu. [I came to Athos straight after my Uni. degree (arts-social work) in 1981 (aged 25). So I feel that I do have some experience of spiritual things, but would like to also have some intellectual understanding. The former is essential and acquired through God’s grace, while the latter is not essential and acquired through hard work; studying. And the latter cannot lead you to the former, maybe only pain and suffering can lead to the former, which I understand that you have had your fair share. God’s grace is made perfect through weakness, pain and suffering or in a word “humility”]. Sorry, for going off on this tangent. I have only subscribed to two podcasts. There’s so much very good content in philosophy, history, and theology available for free. I also like your “Theological Letters “ and am trying to finish them all. So I thought that I wouldn’t have time for anything extra. But I would like to purchase the material in book form.( Having the book on your shelf is the next best thing to having the information in your brain!). What do you think?
PS. I also think that the series by Drs. Dell and Joiner is brilliant. The question of what it means to be human and a person is essential. I listened to the first lecture and loved it.
This lecture was excellent. We Orthodox jump through so many hoops striving to explain the differences regarding our view of the gospel, often times with poor success. This was very helpful, I’ve never heard it done better.
Thank you for this important discussion! I was tracking along until I bumped into this: "When you turn away from the source of life and goodness, you inevitably begin to erode and to die. And as we’ll see, whatever God imposes on us, the way the Eastern fathers understand God introducing death, or more accurately, dissolution, to the body of Adam is ultimately redemptive. God never ceases to be providential toward his creatures. Everything is aimed at restoring and continuing the providential care and bringing us back to life into our goodness."
Could you briefly clarify:
If erosion and death is a natural (bad) consequence of turning away from the source of life and goodness, in what sense is death providentially introduced by God, apparently as a good thing at the same time?
Hello Dr. Nathan. It’s Fr Jeremiah from Iviron monastery,Mt. Athos. I very much enjoyed your presentation and it’s clarifying the theology of St. Augustine, and the difference between raising St. Lazarus and the resurrection of Christ. I sometimes wonder why you publish books about the obscure philosophy of Leibniz, which I have heard you say nobody buys. Wouldn’t it be better and beneficial to publish your theological presentations on the differences between east and west? I would purchase it immediately. Anyway. All best wishes for the new year for you and all your family. This year I will be 70 years old. Am I too old fashioned?
Father Jeremiah! It’s wonderful to hear from you again! I sent you a direct message on here some time back in response to your invitation to visit Athos. Did you see my reply? If not, check your inbox. I’d love to speak with you about that. To your comment, first, thank you for your kind words on my talk. As for my work on obscure and wildly expensive academic scholarship, your question is fair. If you read my piece on my journey to Orthodoxy (parts 1 and 2), which you can find through my Table of Contents, you’ll find the explanation for why I spent so much time on figures like Kant and Leibniz. The Leibniz book was one I was asked to write, initially by Cambridge but I pulled it and gave it to Routledge for reasons I need not go into. I published it for two reasons. The first is that I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Leibniz, so it was a way of making sure those years of research did not go to waste but made their way into the public square. The second is that I do plan to write a book on the Eastern Church fathers and the problem of evil, and Leibniz is really the foundation of all modern discussions of that topic in philosophy of religion. So having my research on the topic “out there” allows me to site that work concisely and authoritatively. That said, I admit that a shift occurred in my research after discovering the Eastern fathers and the Orthodox Church. The first shift was in my scholarship. I no longer cared for what academia liked or didn’t like; I instead published on what I thought matters: the wisdom of these fathers and how this wisdom sheds light on metaphysics and philosophy of religion. But a second shift occurred for me after I made a documentary for the Antiochian Archdiocese. I saw the way that project affected people, exposing them to Orthodoxy and drawing them into the Orthodox Church. I soon realize that I didn’t care about having an academic legacy. I cared about speaking to real people about the faith of the fathers and helping them find the Church. I resolved that I would rather have a legacy like C. S. Lewis than like a scholar of obscure philosophy, as you put it. So I began this Substack. I started my podcast, The Nathan Jacobs Podcast. And I began doing more popular speaking engagements. And what I am presently doing is exactly what you say: I am moving toward more accessible books (Lewis level) on the very sort of topics I deal with in here, including and especially East-West differences. I take it from your comment you approve. Father bless.
I should add one further note, Father. I am working on my 25-part lecture series on the East and West. Did you see my posts related to that? That’s presently my main project. I would love to secure a blessing and endorsement from Mount Athos on the project. And while the series is a video series, I do plan to publish the contents as a book.
Hello Dr. Nathan. I just noticed your comment and thank you for taking the time to write as I know that you’re very busy. And may I also take this opportunity to wish you a blessed Lent. Here the daily program of services and diet has dramatically changed and you notice it. Of course, you have the blessing of AGION OROS to go ahead with your 25 part lecture series, although it’s not essential. The essential thing is that you have YOUR spiritual advisors blessing, so that we know that we’re not on a big ego trip. My own position, together with that of a friend of mine, and together we subscribed to your Substack, is that I like and listen to many free podcasts. The only 2 that I have subscribed to and paid for are yours and Zac Porcu. [I came to Athos straight after my Uni. degree (arts-social work) in 1981 (aged 25). So I feel that I do have some experience of spiritual things, but would like to also have some intellectual understanding. The former is essential and acquired through God’s grace, while the latter is not essential and acquired through hard work; studying. And the latter cannot lead you to the former, maybe only pain and suffering can lead to the former, which I understand that you have had your fair share. God’s grace is made perfect through weakness, pain and suffering or in a word “humility”]. Sorry, for going off on this tangent. I have only subscribed to two podcasts. There’s so much very good content in philosophy, history, and theology available for free. I also like your “Theological Letters “ and am trying to finish them all. So I thought that I wouldn’t have time for anything extra. But I would like to purchase the material in book form.( Having the book on your shelf is the next best thing to having the information in your brain!). What do you think?
PS. I also think that the series by Drs. Dell and Joiner is brilliant. The question of what it means to be human and a person is essential. I listened to the first lecture and loved it.
This lecture was excellent. We Orthodox jump through so many hoops striving to explain the differences regarding our view of the gospel, often times with poor success. This was very helpful, I’ve never heard it done better.
Thank you so much, Deacon! That’s means a lot — truly.
Thank you for this important discussion! I was tracking along until I bumped into this: "When you turn away from the source of life and goodness, you inevitably begin to erode and to die. And as we’ll see, whatever God imposes on us, the way the Eastern fathers understand God introducing death, or more accurately, dissolution, to the body of Adam is ultimately redemptive. God never ceases to be providential toward his creatures. Everything is aimed at restoring and continuing the providential care and bringing us back to life into our goodness."
Could you briefly clarify:
If erosion and death is a natural (bad) consequence of turning away from the source of life and goodness, in what sense is death providentially introduced by God, apparently as a good thing at the same time?