The Areopagus

The Areopagites host Anglican priest Fr. Wesley Walker to talk about how he sees the problems of deconstructionist Exvangelicalism, to talk disenchantment in the Evangelical world within which he was raised, and to share Raleigh in-jokes, but not before Fr. Andrew reveals his weird hobby of researching episcopi vagantes – and how they seem to be following him.

The Areopagites hone in on revivalism – its origins, how it functions, how it distorts church and culture, and how it’s made its way into nearly every facet of American life – bracketing the episode with clips from a couple of their favorite films.

For their fifth anniversary, the Areopagites do a self-indulgent retrospective episode, looking back at their five years of making the second-greatest podcast in existence. Fr. Andrew tells about his upcoming big pilgrimage, Pastor Mike reveals his Lenten secrets, both struggle to remember how this all started, and they do an MST3King of the first five minutes of the Areopagus. Fr. Andrew reveals the ur-podcast of Fr. Stephen De Young, and Pastor Mike tries not to cry. This retrospective does not include Pentatonix, but includes the Pentaverate and… wait, David Bowie?

Steven Christoforou joins the Areopagites in the Emmaus studio to do a post mortem on 2021. Now that it’s in the past even for the Old Calendarists, what did these three guys learn about life and ministry over the past year? And what judgy things can they say to each other about those lessons? Pastor Michael tries not to cry.

Author and podcaster Dr. Nicole Roccas of AFR's Time Eternal podcast joins the Areopagites to return to the Christianity Today podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, which wrapped up this month. They give their assessment of the podcast, asking why it was valuable and why it got millions of downloads, including bringing to bear Nicole's newly-acquired trauma-informed training. She repeatedly surprises the Areopagites with her wit, Fr. Andrew reminisces about radio dramas from his childhood, and Pastor Mike tells the story of how he was given a gun to wear in church.

The Areopagites welcome Fr. Patrick Cardine and Dr. Cyril Jenkins to discuss the phenomenon of Anti-Westernism in Orthodox discourse and writings. What is it? Is the standard polemic against “The West” damaging to our faith and evangelistic witness? If so, how? And what would a proper approach to the Western Christian past and present look like?

The Areopagites go full Q&A, addressing questions on parenting and prayer, finding spiritual profit from authors outside your tradition, how life changes when becoming Orthodox, singleness, keeping sane in the midst of Internet travails, profiting from criticism, what it means that the Orthodox Church is the “true church,” and what exactly is in their coffee cups.

The Areopagites say that there is a crisis of the gospel in the modern world. A lot of people have no idea what it even is. There are numerous versions being preached. And almost all of them are missing something -- demons. And Fr. Andrew promises he’s not trying to sell you a book. Really. No, really.

What happens when ministry success outpaces personal character? The Areopagites welcome fellow AFR podcaster Jamey Bennett to discuss the new Christianity Today podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, which tracks the meteoric rise and collapse of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, led by Mark Driscoll. Far from looking only at Mark Driscoll himself and the particular story of his church, the CT podcast examines the context that made that kind of rise possible and draws out lessons for any who are in ministry or Christian leadership. Fr. Andrew reminds Jamey that he owes him a goat, Pastor Mike does his cartoon Tasmanian Devil impersonation again, and Jamey offers his help with creating Rap Knights.

Fr. Stephen De Young comes back to the Areopagus to talk disenchantment and re-enchantment within a fractured Christian world. How did we get here? And does spiritual warfare “work” outside the Orthodox Church? Fr. Andrew quotes Hamlet, Pastor Mike casts out ghosts, and Fr. Stephen Hulks out.