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The Natural Theologian

PhD Student in philosophy at Saint Louis University. I am a father and a philosopher. I write about life and philosophy. joelcarini.substack.com

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

14:43

How to Be a Post-Theology-Nerd

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/10/31

Last week, my wife and I met a United Pentecostal couple who live down the street from us. (The United Pentecostal Church is a “Oneness Pentecostal” denomination, denying that God is Trinitarian.) The couple are involved in publishing Christian books, Christian counseling, and looking for a good Christian school to send their children.Having been theologically educated, I ought to pull down a few books from my shelves on Trinitarian heresies, label this couple “modalist” and therefore “heretic,” and

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20:50

Sexual Orientation Is Not a Social Construct

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/10/24

In 2014, Al Mohler announced that he had changed his mind on homosexuality.No, he had not determined that homosexual marriage was compatible with Scripture, nor that any form of sexual expression outside of heterosexual marriage was divinely sanctioned. He had changed his mind on the existence of sexual orientation.Formerly, Mohler had written, “Actually, the Bible speaks rather directly to the sinfulness of the homosexual orientation — defined as a pattern of sexual attraction to a person of the

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9:36

Is Sexual Desire Natural?

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/10/17

James Linehan was just like the other kids until about age 12. By age 16, he was playing with kids several years younger than him, his appearance remained boyish, and his body undeveloped. He was eventually diagnosed with a rare “intersex condition,” or Disorder of Sexual Development. His body was “a puberty blocker.”Without puberty, Linehan could not even understand the interest the boys and girls in his classes had begun to take in each other. Sex had no appeal for him. He was asexual because he

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7:43

Suffering from Original Sin: Misty Irons on Same-Sex...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/10/10

One of the first topics I wrote on at “The Natural Theologian” was same-sex attraction and the Christian life. While I do not experience same-sex attraction myself, I found that the predominant conservative evangelical narrative on same-sex attraction was unduly harsh to those who do. My post “Same-Sex Attraction and the Misery of Our Condition” found an audience with Side B readers, that is, readers in the community of celibate, gay Christians (leading to my being interviewed here). This was partly

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18:28

On Being a Natural Theologian

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/09/26

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you subscribe to this newsletter, “The Natural Theologian.” Some of you subscribed very recently; others may not yet have subscribed. But all of you may be asking the question, “What is a natural theologian? And why does Joel describe himself as one?”There is no reason to delay in answering your question: A natural theologian is a theologian who primarily explores what can be known of God, morality, and true religion from nature alone and apart from

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14:54

Conservatives Against Capitalism

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/09/13

Since I first became aware of politics, one of the major criticisms of conservatives I heard was of their callousness to economic suffering, especially among the poor and working classes. If conservatives opposed the welfare state in favor of private charity and individual self-improvement, progressives prided themselves on a concern for the downtrodden, with a social safety net provided by the government. Of course, conservatives have not succeeded in dismantling the welfare state since the New

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17:00

The Evangelical Critics of the Evangelical Majority:...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/08/22

There is a new divide among evangelicals.Over the course of the 2010s, a new division arose over matters, not of theology, but of culture, morality, and politics.A major inflection point for that divide was the 2016 presidential election. The majority of evangelical Christians continued to vote Republican in that election, in spite of the Republican candidate’s low moral character and nativist political resonances. Many evangelical leaders even leaped to the candidate’s defense in ways that are, to

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23:17

Why Not Theistic Evolution? Part 4: Does “Darwin...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/08/15

A number of readers have, in their comments, drawn my attention to critiques of Intelligent Design. I thoroughly agree with one reader’s encouragement to give attention to these:I do think it’s important to engage with mainstream science’s responses to the ID crowd, many of which strike me as generally persuasive and sincere.In particular, in response to my last post in my series “Why Not Theistic Evolution?” based on Michael Behe’s Darwin Devolves, I was directed to the following review of Behe’s

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26:40

Why Not Theistic Evolution? Part 3: Darwinism Is...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/08/08

Imagine a machine that produces and reproduces video games. An internal mechanism replicates the digital code of an existing game and spits out a copy of that game. The mechanism is quite reliable, but not perfect. Every so often it will change a command or a letter of programming language.The machine also has a computerized video game tester. Each copy is delivered to the game tester, which judges the copy by a single play-through. This means that many errors in the digital copy are overlooked, and

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16:36

Why Not Theistic Evolution? Part 2: The Typological...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/08/03

In 1802, Anglican philosopher William Paley published his Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, an influential version of the argument for the existence of God from biological design. In the work, which featured many descriptions of biological features, like the eye, as evidence of divine design, Paley popularized the metaphor of God as watchmaker.In 1986, British biologist Richard Dawkins published The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a

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10:11

Why Not Theistic Evolution? Part 1: Clarifying Terms...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/07/31

In my recent writing, I have argued that a Christian view of origins should incorporate scientific evidence by allowing for a long geological history. Many young-earth creationists may wonder why this doesn’t open the door to Neo-Darwinian evolution and universal common ancestry. On the other hand, many theistic evolutionists will also wonder why openness to science and an old earth does not lead me to their position.I began to answer that in my last post, arguing that philosophical reasons alone

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20:21

Aristotle's Argument Against Evolution

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/07/24

1. Philosophy and EvolutionThe claim that the theory of evolution is settled science has never sat well with me. My reservation is not primarily that the scientific support of evolution can be contested, though it can. Instead, my reservation has been that the question of evolution is not purely, or even primarily, a scientific one.The Natural Theologian is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Some hallmarks of a

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10:45

This Sunday in the Church Calendar: Six-Day Creation...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/07/19

This Sunday, my church is celebrating “Creation Sunday,” focusing on the doctrine of creation, with guest speakers in the service and Sunday school. I say “the doctrine of creation,” but, well, it’s really the doctrine of six-days-of-twenty-four-hours-each creation. And I can’t say I’m looking forward to it. Maybe I’ll serve in the nursery again.My wife has asked me to explain why I think that “six-day creation” is not the correct theological view of the matter or a strategically wise move as

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9:32

Nine Gifts the Revoice Conference Gave Me

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/06/20

I encourage my readers to listen to the following podcast from Communion and Shalom, on which I was interviewed concerning theological method, being a “natural theologian,” and Christians and same-sex attraction: Weigh and Consider the World: Joel Carini on Nature, Truth, and Side B.Last Thursday and Friday, I attended Revoice, a yearly conference for Christians who are same-sex attracted, i.e., gay, or who experience gender dysphoria. The conference has received a lot of negative press from

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6:57

Why Am I Going to Revoice?

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/06/14

Revoice is a yearly conference for Christians who are same-sex attracted or have gender dysphoria. Since 2018, it has been hosted at or associated with Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, until recently a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). It has attracted controversy in the PCA for adopting the common usage of “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” “transgender,” “queer,” “LGBTQ+,” and so on. Critics also accuse it of adopting progressive and “woke” politics, in spite of its

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21:01

Toward a Sophisticated Realism

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/06/08

A year or so ago, I walked into a local coffee shop and noticed that the young man in front of me was carrying works of Heidegger and other philosophers under his arm. I engaged him in conversation, and our conversation over the next two hours reminded me why I needed to be a Christian voice in philosophy.As it turned out, my conversation partner was a graduate of Calvin College, who had studied philosophy under James K. A. Smith. From Smith, among others, he had learned the Christian postmodernist

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8:32

An Exchange on Christian Realism

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/05/31

In my post, “What Is My Dissertation About? Bertrand Russell and the Objects of Thought,” I laid out my argument for what I called “Christian direct realism,” as opposed to indirect realism. According to Christian direct realism, human beings know the world without concepts, frameworks, or presuppositions functioning as intermediaries. Accordingly, Christian thinking does not require putting on Christian conceptual glasses, the fabled “Christian worldview,” but viewing the world directly and finding

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14:30

Tim Keller and Kevin DeYoung Miss the Nature of...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/05/02

In the last several weeks, I have been thinking a lot about the question of what the Christian life looks like for those with a same-sex sexual orientation.TJ Espinoza and David Frank recently interviewed me for their podcast “Communion and Shalom” on the subjects of theology and same-sex sexual orientation, and I will be excited to share that interview with all of you when they publish it. We talked about what it means to be a “natural theologian,” how theology can be open to experience, and why I

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12:04

Niebuhr’s “Christ and Culture” Revisited

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/04/12

Richard Niebuhr’s classic Christ and Culture has long been on my reading list. It is a book I remembered for its title, and the title summarizes a major topic of debate in Christian circles and beyond. As I understand, the question of how Christ relates to culture is closely related to that of how grace is related to nature, the major question of this newsletter. It is broached every day in a Christian’s life, as we find ourselves doing things other than praying and reading the Bible. What is the

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17:06

What Is My Dissertation About? Bertrand Russell and...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/03/21

This week, I’ll be presenting at a philosophy conference, called Collaborations, which features collaborative efforts of professors with graduate students. My professor was invited to participate, and he kindly chose to present on the topic of my forthcoming dissertation. He and I have been working together for over a year now to settle on and understand the issue I’ll be considering in my dissertation: The question of the objects of thought.Given that my dissertation prospectus is also due this

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