Paradise and Utopia
Fr. John Strickland, and Ancient Faith Ministries
Reflections on the Rise and Fall of Christendom
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 2, 2017 • 0sec
The Fall of Paradise I: Reformation Muenster as the New Jerusalem
In this anecdotal introduction to the final reflection of Part 2 of the podcast, Father John relates the extraordinary story of a Reformation-era town that declared itself the kingdom of Christ on earth, a "New Jerusalem." Expressing a profound absence of God in the world, however, the story of Reformation Muenster was in fact a sign of the fall of a Christendom centered upon the experience of paradise.
Dec 15, 2016 • 0sec
The Crisis of Western Christendom V: The Protestant “Resolution”
In this episode Father John concludes his reflection on the critical state of western Christendom on the eve of modern times, exploring how the Reformation tried to resolve the issue of anthropological pessimism but ironically served to intensify it.
Oct 17, 2016 • 0sec
The Crisis of Western Christendom IV: New Directions in Western Soteriology
In this episode, Father John continues his discussion of developments that led to the Protestant Reformation, emphasizing doctrines and practices related to human salvation.
Aug 30, 2016 • 0sec
The Crisis of Western Christendom: The Curse of Anthropological Pessimism
In this latest episode on the impending Protestant Reformation, Fr. John discusses ways in which the long legacy of pessimism about the human condition and the world in general undermined western Christendom at one of her most critical moments.
Jul 6, 2016 • 0sec
The Crisis of Western Christendom II: The Hypertrophic Papacy
In this episode, Fr. John discusses ways in which papal supremacy led to the growing sense of crisis that preceded the Protestant Reformation.
Nov 8, 2015 • 0sec
The Old Believer Schism and the Decline of Russian Christendom before Peter the Great
In this final episode of his reflection on Muscovite Russia, Fr. John describes the Old Believer Schism as a crisis in the formerly optimistic cosmology of eastern Christendom, leading to its decline on the eve of modern times.
Oct 21, 2015 • 0sec
The Third Rome IV: Muscovite Russia and Western Christendom
In this episode, Fr. John discusses Muscovite Russia's encounter with the West in the face of Uniatism, military invasion, and theological "captivity," all of which contributed to the decline of eastern Christendom.
Oct 6, 2015 • 0sec
The Third Rome III: The Possessor Controversy and Its Consequences
In this episode, Fr. John discusses an important and fateful development in the history of Russian Christendom before modern times, the Possessor Controversy.
Sep 30, 2015 • 0sec
The Third Rome II: The Rise of Muscovite Russia
In this episode Father John describes the rise of the Muscovite state within Russian Christendom, and the way its Orthodox leaders began to see themselves as heirs to the fallen Byzantine Empire.
Sep 30, 2015 • 0sec
The Third Rome I: Ivan the Terrible and the Murder of Saint Philip
Having related the fall of Byzantium to the Turks, Fr. John now begins a reflection on the only remaining Orthodox state in eastern Christendom, Muscovite Russia. In this introductory anecdote he tells of an event in the history of this "Third Rome" that signaled the coming decline of ecclesio-political symphony, and with it the experience of paradise.
