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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

19:24

That Time I Wrote a Paper for Agnes Callard on Love

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/03/14

Agnes Callard’s faculty office was decorated in a manner partway between a child’s bedroom, an art studio, and an Andy Warhol installation.I entered, and as I sat down, I commented on how cool the decor was (unlike the stale bookshelves of the male professors).We discussed my upcoming presentation and class discussion for her course, Moral Psychology of the Emotions. I had chosen our reading of Martha Nussbaum, “Emotions as Judgments of Value,” from her book Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of

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23:03

Federal Vision, NA

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/03/09

I never thought I was “Federal Vision.”(What’s the correct grammar? A “Federal Visionary”?)Then, some things happened, and I found that I was attending a church whose pastor was influential within the movement and who had faced a presbytery trial on exactly these theological charges.Nature and Grace is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.I’m not the only one who has arrived at our church and been surprised to discover

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3:09

A Newcomer's Guide to "The Natural Theologian"

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/03/08

As I began to write this Substack, I did not know what direction my writing would take. Following the directions of my own interests, I found that the convergence of my interests in philosophy and theology and in the relationship between the two was captured in the theological problem of “nature and grace.”The questions that drive me have to do with the relationship between natural human life and eternal, spiritual things. In a parallel way, there is the question of the relationship between secular

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13:48

Side B Celebrates Same-Sex Attraction. What Could Be...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/03/07

In my interaction with the Side B, celibate gay Christian community and literature, I have heard much about the positives of being gay, of being subject to homosexual sexual desire. While “Side B” Christians accept the biblical restriction of sexual intercourse to marriage, they recognize that being gay, being subject to such a pattern of sexual attraction, is part of their condition in this life. It is not something they brought upon themselves, not something they willed, but part of their nature

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17:29

Biblical Political Theology: What I Learned from 1...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/03/03

As I have begun to write about the relationship between theology and politics, one Scriptural lesson I learned long ago keeps returning to my mind.The lesson provided an answer to a long-standing, truly perennial debate: Should Christians prefer that the socio-political order disintegrate, or that it prosper? Following the first route, the disintegration of the socio-political order might provoke a sort of spiritual desperation that would lead people to seek hope outside of this life. Following the

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11:42

Delano Squires and Glenn Loury Talk Gay Marriage

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/27

Yesterday, I watched this enjoyable discussion between Glenn Loury, an esteemed professor of sociology at Brown University, and prominent black conservative, and Delano Squires, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a black, Christian conservative.Over the course of the interview, Squires had the opportunity to express and defend a Christian view of marriage and the family to Loury, who was at one time an evangelical Christian but retains sympathy for Christian morality.This is what I heard as I

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16:55

Common Grace, Nature, and Our Most Fundamental Identity

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/21

In conjunction with my writing on common grace and Christian coherentism, I am making available an eBook on the strictest form of Christian coherentism, titled, “50 Errors of Christian Presuppositionalism.”My inquiry into the common grace vs. nature discussion finds me uniting camps that might be thought quite opposed to one another. On the one hand, my interrogation of the doctrine of common grace was inspired by Aaron Renn’s reaction to the debate surrounding Stephen Wolfe’s The Case for Christian

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26:59

Based Belief: On the Possibility of Christian Empiricism

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/14

Alongside my article on Christian empiricism, I am making available an eBook on the strictest form of Christian coherentism, titled, “50 Errors of Christian Presuppositionalism.” Click this link to download.1. Against Christian CoherentismMy intellectual nemesis, to a certain extent, is Christian coherentism. Christian coherentism argues that what Christianity teaches can only be defended by appeal to other things Christianity teaches. To argue for Christian conclusions, you must start from

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11:39

Abigail Favale’s The Genesis of Gender

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/09

Abigail Favale’s The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory is the best book I have read in a long time. As a baseline, this is because of its timeliness. The matter of transgenderism, as it has been called, is the heart of the present culture war. It is where a voice of clarity and truth is most needed and needed now.However, The Genesis of Gender is not a culture-war kind of book. It is a book that is philosophical and theological in the highest senses. It is concerned with timeless truths of the

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10:30

Why I’m Not Going to Read “Biblical Critical Theory”

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/07

I have been exploring the possibility of a Christian empiricism, based belief, grace and nature. Two books lie before me that illustrate the difference between Christian coherentism and Christian empiricism. One I wholeheartedly recommend: Abigail Favale’s The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory. The other, Zondervan could have saved a lot of paper on: The 648-page Biblical Critical Theory, by Christopher Watkin.If I could summarize the difference, it is clear from Favale’s book that she has

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8:16

On the Idea of a Christian Village

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/06

Yesterday, I tweeted, “Envisioning an online community as a hub for IRL Benedict Option communities.” The tweet was directed at Holium, a company that is, conveniently, building a digital platform for online communities.This comes as I am, of late, softening my approach to technology. Per The Benedict Option’s own recommendation, I have been keeping myself apart from many of the digital technologies of our day. However, aiming to be the producer and not the consumer of content, I have been seeing

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13:22

Three More Reasons Aaron Renn Is Right about Common...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/03

In mid-December, Aaron Renn took up the question, “Why Aren’t Evangelicals Leaders In Our Society?” on his podcast. He offered two theological reasons: The first was a weak doctrine of vocation, and the second was the theology of common grace. As I mentioned, that piqued my interest because I had encountered criticism of common grace once before on the lips of one of my fellow seminarians. In short, Renn argued that common grace disguises a weak theology of nature, of the created order, one that

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8:40

Why Aaron Renn Is Right About Common Grace

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/02

Last night, I listened back through the podcast of Aaron Renn’s in which he suggested that the theology of common grace hampers Protestant leadership and public engagement, “Why Evangelicals Are Not Leaders in Our Society.” (The relevant section begins at 20:56.)It was the first I had heard “common grace” blamed as the source of our problems since my friend Joel Zartman had identified it as such at Westminster Theological Seminary. (Apparently, he had identified it as such several years before.)

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6:36

Why You Should Leave Your Church

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/02/01

The idea is afoot among theologically astute churches and Christians that it is wrong to leave a church, or that the only reasons one can leave are theological or deeply moral.Assuming you’re not irremediably shallow and aren’t leaving to find a slightly more able rock band or better lights show, can you leave a church if it just isn’t doing it for you?Nature and Grace is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Of course

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16:00

Nature Destroyed: The Doctrine of Total Depravity

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/01/31

During my first semester at Westminster Theological Seminary, Dr. K. Scott Oliphint offered a course on the philosophy of Alvin Plantinga. Having just studied Plantinga’s Warrant and Christian Belief in some detail in my capstone epistemology course at Wheaton College - and over my honeymoon, just some light reading - I signed up.Joel Carini is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.While my sympathies weren’t exactly for

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9:21

[Audio] Nature: Fallen, but not Destroyed

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/01/30

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11:13

In Defense of Christian Stoicism

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/01/27

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5:43

Christians, Atheists, and Gnostics: Christian...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/01/26

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11:27

[Audio] Is the “Divine Dictionary” View of Language...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/01/25

Get full access to The Natural Theologian at joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe

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6:55

Audio - Based Academia, Part 4: The Perennial...

The Natural Theologian ·

2023/01/25

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