The Nathan Jacobs Podcast

Contribute to the East West Lecture Series fundraiser: theeastwestseries.com   Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout This episode explores the Eastern patristic understanding of Christmas through the doctrines of divine energies, synergy, and man as microcosm. Drawing on...

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Contribute to the East West Lecture Series fundraiser: theeastwestseries.com   Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout https://www.keipirestaurant.org/first-things-foundation Dr. Jacobs delivers a talk on hospitality in the ancient world, exploring three stories: Abraham e...

Back the East West Lecture Series: theeastwestseries.com   Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout Dr. Jacobs is joined by guest Jonathan Pageau for an in-depth discussion on the nature of symbolic thinking and philosophical realism. They explore how symbols function in re...

Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout This is part three of our three-part series on the seven ecumenical councils, focusing on the philosophical commitments embedded in the final five councils from Ephesus to Nicaea II. We examine the Nestorian controversy and Cyril of...

Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout This is part two of a three-part series examining the philosophical commitments embedded in the seven ecumenical councils of early Christianity. In this episode, Dr. Jacobs explores the metaphysical foundations of Nicene and Constant...

Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout This week we’re taking a look at the seven ecumenical councils of the early Christian church, from Nicaea (325 AD) to Nicaea II (787 AD). Dr. Jacobs traces how each council addressed Christological controversies while establishing fo...

Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout This episode concludes a four-part series examining slavery, polygamy, and genocide in biblical texts. The discussion addresses remaining questions about the moral gap between Mosaic law and early Christian teaching, arguing that Scr...

Join Jacobs Premium Join the book club (use code LEWIS) This week Dr. Jacobs tackles the Eastern Orthodox perspectives on hell, divine providence, and human nature at Northern Arizona University. This conversation explores how Eastern patristic theology differs from Western Christianity on topics including original sin, the fall of man, Christ's descent into Hades, and the possibility of unive...

Join Dr. Jacobs’ membership for all kinds of perks and access: thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership (use code LEWIS for a discount on the Fellows tier!)  Today Dr. Jacobs takes a look at the challenge of genocide in the Old Testament, particularly the commanded extermination of the Amalekites and Canaanites. We’ll critique divine command theory from a realist metaphysical framework and explores h...

This episode examines the moral case against polygamy from a natural law and Eastern Orthodox perspective, then addresses why polygamous practices appear in the Old Testament. Dr. Jacobs distinguishes between biological and psychological dimensions of sexual ethics, critiques Thomistic approaches for neglecting reason's role in human sexuality, and argues that ancient Near Eastern circumstance...

Enroll for Jacobs Premium Fellows (book club) <<use code LEWIS at checkout for the founder’s discount!>> : https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout   Enroll for Jacobs Premium Scholars: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/CC4Z229F/checkout Enroll for Jacobs Premium Supporters: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/HPjzX2Lk/checkout This episode...

Head to thenathanjacobspodcast.com to snag your membership. Use code: LEWIS when purchasing a "Fellows" for the founders price. Orthodox Foundations includes: 1 - Basic Terms & Concepts 2 - The Gospel According to the Eastern Church 3 - Partaking of the Divine Nature “Theosis” 4 - Descent into Hades 5 - How to Embrace the Life That Christ Has Given Us 6 - The Saints & Christ’s De...

Sign up for Jacobs Premium: thenathanjacobspodcast.com In this postscript to his anthropology and ethics series, Dr. Jacobs examines why people experience discomfort when confronted with moral assessments that challenge their preferred behaviors or beliefs. He draws parallels between objective aesthetics and ethics, arguing that humans possess default intuitions about justice and fairness that cre...

We dive once more into the differences between Eastern and Western Christianity. This time, Dr. Jacobs tackles the nature-grace divide. He’ll trace how Augustine's anti-Pelagian framework created a nature-grace divide in the Latin West, where human nature is seen as inherently incapable of pleasing God without supernatural assistance. In contrast, the Eastern tradition maintains that humans as...

Our culture often frames debates on homosexuality, transgenderism, and abortion as a simple clash between “Christians vs. progressives.” But the real story runs deeper. In this episode, Dr. Nathan Jacobs tackles three of today’s most pressing ethical and cultural issues, examining them through the great traditions of moral philosophy—Natural Law, Deontology, Divine Command Theory, and Utilitariani...

In this fourth installment of our series on Ethics & Anthropology, Dr. Nathan Jacobs traces the evolution of Realism from ancient philosophy through John Locke and even Woody Allen, asking what this tradition missed about the true nature of reality. How does Christianity reframe the conversation on Realism, and why does it matter for ethics, anthropology, and our understanding of the world? Pl...

In this third installment of our four-part (or 5-part 😬) series on Ethics & Anthropology, Dr. Nathan Jacobs explores Moral Philosophy and the enduring debate over Providence vs. Chaos in the history of philosophy and metaphysics. Is history guided by a divine hand, or is it nothing more than accident and chance? All the links: X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com...

What happens when morality is unmoored from its metaphysical foundations? In part two of the Anthropology series, Dr. Nathan Jacobs traces the slow unraveling of moral philosophy—from its classical roots in virtue and teleology to its modern preoccupation with utility and consequence. All the links: X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS Appl...

Dr. Jacobs explores how ancient pagan philosophers understood human nature and the good life, examining key thinkers from Plato and Aristotle to the Stoics and Epicureans. The discussion covers metaphysical dualism, the nature of the soul, and competing views on happiness and virtue. This is a series on anthropology, part 1 of 4.  00:00:00 Intro  00:07:04 Metaphysical dualism 00:09:25 Empedocles ...

Sign up for Dr. Jacobs’ course Intro to Philosophy: https://myprofer.com/    📚 Click “Join as a student”    📚 Fill out registration     📚 Verify your email     📚 Navigate to “Course Registration” in the side menu    📚 Find 180 Introduction to Philosophy     📚 Auditors can register immediately     📚 For college credit, fill out the long form and wait for approval before registration    📖 $1...

Sign up for Dr. Jacobs’ course Intro to Philosophy: https://myprofer.com/    📚 Click “Join as a student”    📚 Fill out registration     📚 Verify your email     📚 Navigate to “Course Registration” in the side menu    📚 Find 180 Introduction to Philosophy     📚 Auditors can register immediately     📚 For college credit, fill out the long form and wait for approval before registration    📖 $1...

Follow Dr. Dell on Instagram @dr.adamdell   Dr. Dell’s book discussed on the podcast has not yet been released, but we will try to get him back on the podcast when it is!   Sign up for Dr. Jacobs’ course Intro to Philosophy: https://myprofer.com/    📚 Click “Join as a student”    📚 Fill out registration     📚 Verify your email     📚 Navigate to “Course Registration” in the side menu    📚 Find...

Find Fr. De Young on his podcast: https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/lordofspirits/ Sign up for Dr. Jacobs’ college course: https://myprofer.com/    📚 Click “Join as a student”    📚 Fill out registration     📚 Verify your email     📚 Navigate to “Course Registration” in the side menu    📚 Find 180 Introduction to Philosophy     📚 Auditors can register immediately     📚 For college credit...

Sign up for Dr. Jacobs’ college course: https://myprofer.com/    📚 Click “Join as a student”    📚 Fill out registration     📚 Verify your email     📚 Navigate to “Course Registration” in the side menu    📚 Find 180 Introduction to Philosophy     📚 Auditors can register immediately     📚 For college credit, fill out the long form and wait for approval before registration    📖 $300 audit    ...