June 2022
00:00:00 - Announcements
00:02:13 - The symbolism of naming more fringe things like albums or comics
00:03:20 - A question about St. Paul losing his patience and going to jail being a smaller image of the Resurrection
00:05:13 - Is Paradise meant to be built on Earth or is it an ever-distant ideal?
00:07:16 - How does the parable of the sower and the birds eating the seeds on the wayside connect with higher level beings, egregores, angels and principalities?
00:08:54 - If you state that higher level beings have an influence over people and affect their will, how does this permit/destroy the vision of freedom to choose?
00:13:39 - Announcement: My version of Snow White
00:14:26 - How does one make an image of Christ while worshiping Christ and His image, and not worshiping the works of oneâs hands as would an idolater, or someone captive to self-love?
00:16:50 - In this season of Pride, I have a question about the meaning of LGBTQ+. What is the meaning of a cross (+) that represents the margin of the margin being found at the END of this group of identities?
00:19:20 - What is the symbolism of surviving fire or being fireproof?
00:21:12 - What is the symbolism of Jesus spitting onto the ground making mud and applying it to the blind manâs eyes to heal him? (John 9:6)
00:24:27 - When the woman is caught in adultery, Jesus writes with his finger on the ground. The 10 commandments were written by the finger of the lord. What is the significance of the finger?
00:25:43 - Could you please comment on the symbolism of the number 40? Moses stays on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights, Christ in the desert, etc. Is this somehow related to the human gestation time of 40 weeks in the womb, and does it have anything to do with birth or rebirth?
00:27:08 - Does the story of the Apostle Peter give us any symbolic insight into the Roman Catholic Church and the role it plays in broader Christianity?
00:30:42 - Can you comment on the carnivore diet?
00:33:12 - John Vervaeke described âbeautyâ as a disclosure of reality. Is such âbeautyâ an overlapping category to âsymbolââand if so what are the distinctionsâor is it in fact equal to the idea of symbol?
00:35:22 - Could you convince Matthieu to write a Bible companion?
00:36:05 - In Icons of the Crucifixion, we see St John and the Theotokos on both sides of Christ. From tradition we are told that they both died naturally before being bodily assumed into Heaven. Iâm wondering if you have any insight here.
00:37:13 - Why does Pinocchioâs nose grow when he lies? How does this relate to what you said about saints being depicted with long noses, and the idea that noses are associated with finding truth (nosing around, sniffing out etc)?
00:40:00 - In (rural) Germany, we have this folk tale of the âWiedergängerâ. It is essentially the spirit of a deceased person which haunts people close to them, often their relatives. Whatâs your interpretation of this?
00:42:04 - What is the symbolic significance of wedding rings going on the left hand instead of the right?
00:43:48 - Is the eastern yogic concept of the kundalini energy rising in the body the same as the Holy Spirit? Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit the one unforgivable sin?
00:45:42 - Symbolism of tornadoes? And why do tornadoes feel like such a uniquely American phenomenon even though they happen everywhere?
00:46:23 - Whereâs Jonnyâs ring?
00:47:27 - Why are mostly male animals sacrificed to God in the Old Testament?
00:48:15 - Does the proper hierarchy pattern that you have described connected to the rich having an obligation to let their blessings flow down through them to the poor is connected to the story of Cain and Abel in some way?
00:49:45 - I canât help but feel like the rainbow as the symbol of âPRIDEâ is a sort of inversion of what the sign originally stood for. And are the constant additions to their âflagâ a sort of âTower of Babelâ in the making?
00:52:04 - You once said that the symbolism in the Narnia series doesnât work. Why do you think so?
00:53:55 - Understanding the Deity of Christ insofar as Christâs final words were: âMy God my God, why have you forsaken me?â
00:58:31 - Is the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost the rectification of the confusion of tongues during the construction of the Tower of Babel?
00:59:39 - What is the symbolic tendency of revolutions and civil wars to culminate into a single figure wielding absolute power (i.e. Caesar, Cromwell, Napoleon, Stalin) and in what way does Christ point towards how to break out of this pattern?
01:02:21 - The role of the east and the three magi giving their gifts to Christ
01:04:51 - What is the symbolism of the morning star? As in the spiked mace called morning star, the meaning of its form and the relation to the aspergillum
01:09:07 - What is the symbolic significance of the fruit that Adam and Eve eat, being an apple?
01:10:24 - What is the distinction between the logoi and angels as you describe them?
01:12:30 - How did the ancients approach history? That is, in contrast to our modern historical critical method. Polls, statistics, motives, whether political, economic, or social, everyone is fighting over the narrative of history. Would people have done this in antiquity if they had the technology?
01:18:11 - Could you comment on the depictions of snails often found in the marginalia of medieval manuscripts.
01:19:05 - What is the symbolism of coffee, specifically in a church setting? Almost every church Iâve been to offers coffee, whether itâs a mini cafe in a megachurch, or itâs coffee hour after Divine Liturgy.
01:20:16 - Could you speak about the symbolism of owls? Do you see a way to reconcile their symbolism with Christianity?
01:21:24 - I was wondering what your thoughts on Bernardo Kastrupâs idea of Metaphysical Idealism are, and if you had any broader reflections on the conversation you had with him.
01:25:51 - How do you explain this sort of stuff to materialists and people that are so invested in science and empiricism?
01:29:25 - When a word is continually used, it seems to lose its elasticity and poetic nature, and resolve into a type of prose. Does this happen with icons? Is iconoclasm necessary to set icons free again?
01:31:23 - Outro