Paradise and Utopia
Fr. John Strickland, and Ancient Faith Ministries
Reflections on the Rise and Fall of Christendom
Episodes
Mentioned books
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.
Sep 12, 2015 • 0sec
Continuity and Catastrophe in the Old Christendom VI: The Muslim Conquest of Constantinople
In this final episode of Reflection 17, Fr. John relates the final catastrophe to befall eastern Christendom during the period, the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453.
Sep 6, 2015 • 0sec
Continuity and Catastrophe in the Old Christendom V: Mark of Ephesus and the Council of Florence
Fr. John gives an account of the atmosphere in Italy in which Orthodox and Roman Catholic delegates met to discuss the possibility of union in the middle of the fifteenth century. Only one of the Orthodox would refuse to sign the resulting Treaty of Union, Saint Mark of Ephesus.
Aug 22, 2015 • 0sec
Papal Supremacy and the Parting of the Ways IV
In this episode, Fr. John discusses Pope Urban II's calling of the First Crusade and the impact it and the crusades of the twelfth century had upon relations between the Orthodox and Roman Catholics.
Aug 13, 2015 • 0sec
The Ecclesio-Political System of Byzantium and Its Shortcomings
Fr. John draws attention to a feature of Byzantine statecraft in which the Emperor persecuted and manipulated the leadership of the Church.
Aug 1, 2015 • 0sec
Continuity and Catastrophe in the Old Christendom IV
In this episode, Fr. John draws upon several scholarly works to show how hesychasm protected eastern Christendom from the forces that had begun to lead the new Christendom of the west away from traditional Christianity.
Jun 30, 2015 • 0sec
Continuity and Catastrophe in the Old Christendom III: The Second Triumph of Orthodoxy
In this episode, Fr. John describes why Saint Gregory's defense of hesychasm against the westernized Barlaam represented a defense not only of Orthodoxy, but of Christendom itself.
Jun 30, 2015 • 0sec
Continuity and Catastrophe in the Old Christendom II: Hesychasm
Fr. John introduces the force that kept traditional Christianity on course at a moment of crisis in the east, Hesychasm, and how it maintained Christendom's focus on paradise.
May 28, 2015 • 0sec
Continuity and Catastrophe in the Old Christendom I: Byzantium in the Shadow of the Muslim Turks
After a transition to his new parish assignment, Father John returns to the podcast with a discussion of the atmosphere of catastrophe that hung over the old Christendom of the east as the Muslim Turks advanced on Byzantium, while a defender of traditional Christianity, Saint Mark of Ephesus, prepared to depart for the unionist Council of Florence in the west.
