00:00 Opening
02:50 Fr Symeon's Sermon
21:30 Salvation isn't heaven, or morality, it's illumination
28:11 The paranoia born of living in exile
37:18 Orthodoxy doesn't do philosophical apologetics, we seek illumination
54:10 You can't put an onion dome on The Academy
73:29 Closing & housekeeping

~~~

This, too, Shall Pass (Season Finale) - S7E20

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This is the end of season 7, in which we have focused almost entirely on the journey on the way of the life of faithfulness being one which requires us to put all ideologies to the side & focus on the inner, spiritual life.

~~~

Scripture citations for this episode:

- Gospel Reading from Sunday January 11
- Matthew 4:12-17

- Wisdom & illumination are spiritual not discursive
- Colossians 1:3-14

The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion. Our hosts are Father Symeon Kees of Iowa City & James John Marks of Chicago.

Paradosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555

https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://x.com/podcast_saints
https://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/xtiansaintspodcast.bsky.social

Iconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these images

Prints of all of Nick’s work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.com

All music in these episodes is a production of Generative Sounds
https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com
Distribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative Sounds
Copyright 2021 - 2026

00:00 Opening
01:04 You can't put The Faith on the screen & do it well
04:23 Stop debating if Jesus was an undocumented immigrant or refugee
07:54 Don't use Christian images as a foil for ideological vision
10:42 I care if the vulnerable meet God, which means I have to feed them
18:40 Silencing the monstrous is the only righteous anger
22:33 Response videos & click bait breed arrogance & division
27:43 Our utopian vision tends to not include ourselves changing
31:38 It is too easy to convince ourselves our sin does not matter
34:08 Your anger is probably self righteous, which means it is sinful
38:27 The lesson of Ebineezer Scrooge is "fear not!"
40:44 God wants to look at us & have us look at Him the way husband & wife look at each other
42:25 It is hard to be angry at other people if we know we're an idiot
46:26 The utopian vision eliminates the possibility of forgiveness
50:49 Dungeons & Dragons plane of Nirvana teaches us how scary utopia would actually be if we tried to live in it
53:34 Closing

~~~

It Will All Fail - S7E19

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We are nearing the end of season seven & Fr Symeon didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk about how the two dominant ideologies in our culture both rely on what we could call an unconstrained vision of humanity - the dream of The Enlightenment still alive.

In this third part of three, we delve into a bit more pop culture references than is typical for us as we continue to try to drive home the idea the pursuit of utopia brings dystopia & the problem is human delusion. We must focus on dispelling delusion, not problem solving & system building.

~~~

Scripture citations for this episode:

Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, John 2:13-17 - Cleansing of the temple

Mark 5: 1-20 - Gerasene Demoniac

The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion. Our hosts are Father Symeon Kees of Iowa City & James John Marks of Chicago.

Paradosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555

https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://x.com/podcast_saints
https://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/xtiansaintspodcast.bsky.social

Iconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these images

Prints of all of Nick’s work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.com

All music in these episodes is a production of Generative Sounds
https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com
Distribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative Sounds
Copyright 2021 - 2026

00:00 Introduction
02:20 Opening
06:17 We are all nuts
10:36 The sins others can't see are more dangerous
13:30 Living enslaved to Sin is standing on a cliff
17:39 We Can't Build Utopia
18:45 What we do has far more consequence than we realize
23:00 The Dream of The Enlightenment breeds cattle & monsters
25:27 Pursuit of Eutopia breeds Dystopia
28:45 A rabbit trail about our favorite fiction genres
32:47 Self delusion causes us to make the means The End
34:10 The Gerasene Demoniac & the pigs
36:07 Why can't people see the path of The Kingdom
43:55 Confession shatters self delusion
47:45 The divine revelation to The Apostles was unique
49:30 Humans tend to want kings, one way or another
50:50 Another rabbit trail about movies about The Bible
54:00 Closing

Human Persons Are Not Infinite - S7E18

We are nearing the end of season seven & Fr Symeon didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk about how the two dominant ideologies in our culture both rely on what we could call an unconstrained vision of humanity - the dream of The Enlightenment still alive.

In this second part of three, we delve into a bit more pop culture references than is typical for us, we both admit to a love of dystopian fiction & we also speak of the core mission of The Church to usher all of Creation into Paradise, not to amass warriors to create Utopia through Power.

Scripture citations for this episode:

Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, John 2:13-17 - Cleansing of the temple

Mark 5: 1-20 - Gerasene Demoniac

The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion. Our hosts are Father Symeon Kees of Iowa City & James John Marks of Chicago.

Paradosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555

https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://x.com/podcast_saints
https://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/xtiansaintspodcast.bsky.social

Iconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these images

Prints of all of Nick’s work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.com

All music in these episodes is a production of Generative Sounds
https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com
Distribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative Sounds
Copyright 2021 - 2026