Seeking the Hidden Thing Podcast

[Note: if you are listening in “video” format, you will discover that at around the 1h20 mark the sound will start cutting in and out. If you listen in “audio only” format — click the headphone icon to the left of the video to switch — you will not encounter these problems.]I have long time mutual and friend, Bits of Paul, on to talk about something very close to his heart: Christian worship.Paul and I begin our whole discussion of Christian worship and the music we use to worship by discussing the whole genre of “Jesus is my boyfriend” type songs. From there we discuss the divide between low church and high church, which we agree is maybe not the most important distinction. In the end, we both agree that the real problem is the effect of making “accessibility” a primary goal of the worship service as opposed to “meeting God.” We complexify it and try not to give easy answers. I think you will really enjoy this conversation. It was one of my favourites. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

I am joined by Ron Dodson and The Black Horse to talk about a problem that is on the lips of everyone these days on the Online Right: distributed ownership and the problems it creates.Many people talk about renewing federalism in response to the centralized administrative state. And those who like to talk about possible political solutions to the centralization of power almost never acknowledge that business and economic consolidation leading to national and multi-national corporations is almost as much, if not more, of a problem than the political consolidation of power. If we are to devolve political power, returning it to a more local scale, in a way that does not break society, it must be understood that we must localize economic activity and scale first. Grappling with that hornet’s nest of problems means addressing the question of distributed ownership and the criminal and civil liability of owners for the actions of their business ventures. I have Ronald Dodson and The Black Horse on to discuss the subject. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

[Note: if you are listening in “video” format, you will discover that at around the 1h20 mark the sound will start cutting in and out. If you listen in “audio only” format — click the headphone icon to the left of the video to switch — you will not encounter these problems.]Athenian Stranger and I get together to discuss the modern origins and interest in pagan revival in Europe during the modern period.We go through a lot of material here and try to approach this from a philosophical and history of scholarship to address the question of where this interest comes from and why it started happening in the modern period. The answers are in some ways more mundane than you might think but also much bigger in scope than many realize. We do not get into the specifics of the content of today’s internet neo-paganism, which is probably the least interesting part of this whole discussion. I have enjoyed reading the Eddas and other primary source materials myself and will do so again in the future. But that is not what this discussion is about.If you have questions, please do ask them in the comments and Athenian and I may do a follow up episode.Also: Athenian mentions the one passage in the New Testament which mentions the word philosophy — φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ — and I said it was from 1 Corinthians 1-2. I was mixing up the words “wisdom” and “philosophy.” The actual text is Colossians 2:8 …Βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶν διὰ τῆς φιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης, κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου καὶ οὐ κατὰ ΧριστόνSee to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

Many have tried to tackle the question of why the Christian church dwindled in the modern age. One answer is that perhaps it is trying to become "modern," but modernity does modern better. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

[Note: if you are listening in “video” format, you will discover that at around the 1h20 mark the sound will start cutting in and out. If you listen in “audio only” format — click the headphone icon to the left of the video to switch — you will not encounter these problems.]Brandon listened to my conversation with Nate Fischer on this subject a while back and had some thoughts he wanted to add to the discussion. We finally managed to connect and have that talk.In the opening set up for my conversation with Brandon, I had assumed that I had talked with Nate 10 months or a year ago, but it was just December of last year. If you haven’t listened to that episode and want to set the table for my chat with Brandon, you can listen to it here: https://www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/p/26-nate-fischer-can-technology-solve This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

Building on my post from a couple of weeks ago about the imago Dei as the "person-in-community," the theology of the image of God has social, moral and political implications. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

[Note: if you are listening in “video” format, you will discover that at around the 1h20 mark the sound will start cutting in and out. If you listen in “audio only” format — click the headphone icon to the left of the video to switch — you will not encounter these problems.]Dimes and I discuss his recent piece at The Vanguardist Journal. Seeking the Hidden Thing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

[Note: if you are listening in “video” format, you will discover that at around the 1h20 mark the sound will start cutting in and out. If you listen in “audio only” format — click the headphone icon to the left of the video to switch — you will not encounter these problems.]Spoons joins me and we talk about this thing called "the right." Well, he ends up getting me thinking and I spurg on at length about a couple of things. But it ended up being a fun time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

There are a number of political battles in which people throw around this idea that human beings are made in the image of God but do so in an unexamined way. Let's explore this idea some. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

Prior to writing my recent piece on the “Hero Myth” I bounced some ideas around of the participants in a group chat dedicated to the scholarship of the Greek and Latin classics as well as the “Great Books.” This generated enough pushback and discussion that I thought it might benefit my readers and audience to have a discussion with Stephen and Joe, exploring the content of the Hero Myth and why they feel it has value in today’s context. Because my piece was written before recording, it also allowed me to develop the “Steward” archetype further and how we might present that alternative to a society that is predisposed to the Hero Myth and resistant to the symbol of the Steward. I think you will enjoy this discussion. Seeking the Hidden Thing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe