Advertise on podcast: Universalism Against the World

In this episode, Rajat and I engage in some meta-commentary, responding to a YouTube response video ("Contra Green"). The response video by Original Win Productions features a panel of amateur theologians (John, Alex, Christian) defending the doctrine of eternal conscious torment against objections originally leveled by the atheist YouTuber and podcaster Emerson Green. Rajat and I deliver some counter-objections to their objections and close by watching some clips from Emerson's original video. Links to the response video and the original video, respectively, are given below. Note: For unknown reasons, Zoom failed to record about 10 minutes of audio/video around the 1:25:00 mark. I apologize for the jarring transitions there and elsewhere, as our conversation as a whole was interrupted multiple times.  https://youtu.be/a5sejzBUuug https://youtu.be/iYXI9e8M6d4

In this conversation we discuss biblical interpretation, universalism, and different thinking styles.

Highly speculative thoughts on the incarnation as the overlap between God and creature. Christology. Fractality. Synecdoche.

Rajat and I are two friends united by a mutual interest in philosophical theology but separated by circadian rhythms. (I am a morning person; he is a night owl.) However, we finally got a chance to talk, and we discussed the similarities and differences between my Christian universalism and Rajat's more philosophically driven "optimistic theism." There are a couple things I regret about this conversation: First, I really need to upgrade to a proper microphone sometime soon. Second, in my excitement over the topics Rajat brought up, I interrupted him too frequently. Hopefully in the near future we will get a chance to converse again at greater length. In the meantime, here is the link to Rajat's YouTube channel, which explores theology and political philosophy from a libertarian perspective: Unorthodox Libertarian Theology https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnBXHg3M6AZ6z-PLLyAmAQ Christian universalists will be interested to learn that Rajat interviews the brilliant Eric Reitan on this channel along with several other high-caliber thinkers in more secular areas.

Wayne Fair is a database manager and former pastor who, like myself, moonlights as an amateur theologian. Both his and my amateurishness become apparent at many points during this conversation, and we both struggle to stay on topic at times. That being said, this ended up being one of my all-time favorite conversations, and I strongly recommend you check out Wayne's YouTube channel, Sovereign Love. (I myself have watched every video.) Below are links to all the YouTube videos and podcasts that we reference throughout this conversation. I particularly recommend listening to John Milbank's appearance on the Grace Saves All podcast by David Artman. Seekers of Unity: Eriugena https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zszjA21plE Milbank's appearance on Grace Saves All (see especially 34:40 - 45:00) https://www.davidartman.net/podcast/ep-77-john-milbank-on-radical-orthodoxy-paradox-david-bentley-hart-apocatastasis-mystery-and-practicality Seekers of Unity: Interview with Ihsan Alexander (Jewish-Muslim interfaith dialogue) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdLu9_EoYbM&list=PL_7jcKJs6iwVlsj4eCjvj-DJDLo-wZEeN&index=5 Robert Hart's appearance on Grace Saves All https://www.davidartman.net/podcast/ep-80-robert-warren-hart-jr-on-the-universal-virtue-limit-with-a-brief-appearance-from-his-dog-savannah Wayne's Youtube channel, Sovereign Love https://www.youtube.com/user/MrHwaynefair Finally, two beautiful quotations from Nicholas of Cusa, selected by Wayne: “For Thou, the Absolute Being of All, art as entirely present to all as though Thou hadst no care for any other… Thou, Lord, dost regard every living thing in such wise that none of them can conceive that Thou hast any other care but that it alone should exist… and that each thinketh all other existing things exist for the purpose of serving this end, namely, the best state of him whom Thou beholdest.” (Pg. 14-15)   “Thou art the Father of the whole world, and of each individual. Each saith Our Father, and because of it Thy fatherly love comprehendeth each and all of Thy sons. For a father so loveth all his sons as he doth each one, because he is as much the father of all as he is of each one. He so loveth each of his sons that each may imagine himself to be favored above all.” (Pg. 34) -- Nicholas of Cusa, The Vision of God

Since the summer of 2020 when I regained my faith in God, I have been fascinated by the testimony and character of Howard Storm, an American artist who had a near-death experience (NDE) in France in 1985. His story has been well-publicized and beautifully portrayed in Mr. Storm's own book, My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life. The first link below is to an early interview of Mr. Storm in which he discusses the details of his experience. If you are unfamiliar with them, I suggest watching the video because our conversation does not dwell much on the content of Mr. Storm's NDE. The second link is to Mr. Storm's website, which showcases his beautiful original artwork and provides details on his ministry work in Belize, which currently involves building a community center that will double as a hurricane shelter. The third link is to the construction project's GoFundMe page. My sincerest thanks in advance to all who donate to or help publicize this beautiful project, and I hope you find this conversation as uplifting as I did.  P.S.: The conversation begins "in medias res" or in the middle of things, as many of my episodes increasingly tend to do. ("When you're learning the infinite, any starting point is as good as any other.") I think the subject matter becomes clear pretty quickly, however. I felt it more important not to miss anything than to provide a smooth introduction. Please note also that this episode contains some profanity although it is not especially harsh or distasteful. Thank you as always for your indulgence! P.P.S.: Some will note that I quoted Terrence Malick's To the Wonder in my closing prayer without attribution. I want to take this opportunity to give credit where credit is due for the beautiful wording. (See fourth YouTube link for the scene from which the words were originally taken, and thanks to my friend Luke Thompson for first sharing it with me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi3e16JY6UM https://howardstorm.com/ https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-center-in-san-victor-belize?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=poster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJCfS_OyxGk&t=183s

In this episode, I get to speak with a new friend from Bulgaria, Atanas Nikolov. I consider him a brother and kindred spirit in many ways. Very broadly, we discuss systematic theology as amateur theologians. Below is the link to the conversation in which I first heard Atanas share his views on theology, and I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to check it out as well. https://youtu.be/_t4R0XVkW2I

In this episode, Lance and I talk about our spiritual journeys, the interpretation of Scripture, and, of course, universal salvation. Lance closes by reading a striking passage from The Ethics of Beauty by Timothy G. Patitsas and shares his understanding of it in connection with creation and the atonement. 

This episode begins and ends somewhat abruptly, so this description will have to serve as both introduction and conclusion. This episode is my reading and commenting on the opening of Jonathan Edwards' A Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World. Despite the exasperated tone in which I sometimes respond to this essay, I have deep respect for Edwards as a theologian, and I consider this work in particular to be a gem of Reformed theology. This episode concludes with some remarks on time as well as protology or first things, with special reference to God's love for each individual. If anyone would like to me to read and comment on more of this dissertation, please let me know, and I may make it an ongoing series. Otherwise, I will let this episode stand on its own although I'm sure that I'll have more to say about Edwards in the future. 

I originally recorded this conversation with Luke sometime last fall; however, I didn't initially upload it here because I thought I wasn't at my sharpest in this exchange. Recently, though, my reflections on Scripture have made me think of Matthew Korpman's appearance on the Reluctant Theologian podcast, on which he discussed his book Saying No to God. It was a brilliant performance, one that has had a lasting effect on me. Rather than record a new reaction to it, I thought I would air the original conversation I had with Luke about it. Luke is characteristically perceptive here, and his command of scripture shows the extent to which he has taken the Bible seriously in attempting to answer many of the same questions as Korpman. The link to Korpman's original conversation with Ryan Mullins on the Reluctant Theologian podcast can be found here: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8yNjU4ODAucnNz/episode/ZDQxOTlmZGYtNGVmMi00NGMxLTgyMDMtMWE0ZDM2YjFkY2I1?ep=14

In this episode, I chat with Josiah Gorter, a young Reformed pastor, about Calvinism and Reformed theology broadly. Although I probe and critique some Calvinist doctrines, I also try to highlight the motivations--biblical and theological--behind them in order to give Calvinism a more balanced treatment than it usually gets on my podcast. I let Josiah lay out his views at some length and distinguish his personal hunches and predilections from what you might call "orthodox" Reformed theology, for which he does not claim to be a spokesperson (although his credentials seem strong to me). Hopefully there will be more conversations like this to follow. 

In this episode I revisit the question of how "Biblical" universalism is and try to honestly examine some of the weaknesses in that case. I conclude with some higher level thoughts on the nature of interpretation as well as the relationship between the spirit and the letter of scripture.