Mysterion: Recent Episodes
Mysterion
Two friends. Two pastors. Two theologians explore the greatest questions of life and the mystery of God. In each episode, Dr. Wes Arblaster and Dr. Ethan Smith probe a question of spiritual life in conversation with Scripture and figures from the first 1000 years of the church. In the process they discover that the God Christians worship is more mysterious and compelling than we ever imagined.
Wes and Ethan explore the famous line of Ignatius's and discuss the relationship between worldly desire and the love of God.
Ethan reflects on the practical and spiritual use of the Psalms and divine commandments in spiritual life. He ends with a brief theological exposition on the unity of Scripture.
Wes explores the relationship between sound and silence in the spiritual theology of Ignatius of Antioch.
Wes and Ethan explore Ignatius's teaching on silence and stillness in the face of death and the end of the world. Ignatius points us to Christ's silence as manifest in the Gospels and urges us to be temples of this silence so that we might be capable of love.
Ethan and Wes discuss Ignatius of Antioch as a living exposition of the teachings of Paul the Apostle. That is to say, Ignatius writes as one living beyond the fear of death. This he accomplishes through actively taking up his cross in his journey to martyrdom.
Wes and Ethan introduce the new season and St. Ignatius of Antioch. They discuss how Ignatius can provide a hopeful posture towards our own mortality.
Wes and Ethan end the season by exploring what Origen has to say about the love of Christ and our struggle with it.
Wes and Ethan explore Origen's account the fragrance of the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs.
Wes and Ethan examine Origen's reading of the first verses of the Song of Songs as a guide to spiritual reading.
Wes explores Origen’s treatment of the 7 songs of Scripture as marking our spiritual journey toward God.
Origen shows how the Song of Songs is not simply bizarre erotic poetry, but central to revealing the relationship between Christ and the soul and church.
Nathan Gilmour joins Mysterion to discuss ways of reading Scripture from antiquity to our modern period. Along the way they touch on everything from Aristotle to Dante to Walter Brueggemann.
Wes and Ethan explore Origen's view of the resurrection and how it includes the church and the whole cosmos.
Wes and Ethan explore Origen's interpretation of Christ's entry into Jerusalem as also His entry into the human soul.
Ethan follows Origen's lead in a meditation on the radical priority of Christ in theology, Scriptural reading, and spiritual life. Along the way he let's Origen challenge our modern assumptions about how to identify God.
Wes and Ethan discuss Origen's profound reflections on "the Word was with God and the Word was God."
Wes and Ethan allow Origen to lead them through John 1:1, revealing the ways in which Christ is "the beginning" and "the Word."
Ethan and Wes begin Origen's commentary on John by discussing the role of the interpreter of scripture. Origen's view, they suggest, is surprising and fruitful.
Ethan and Wes interview Fr. Seraphim Aldea, orthodox monastic and founder of Mull Monastery in Scotland, about the Celtic Saints and desire for God.
Wes and Ethan explore the relationship of the Trinity to the full and final coming of the Kingdom of God. They consider both our relationship to the End and it's implications for our spiritual lives.
Wes and Ethan explore creation as glory and symphony. In it they learn our redemption is nothing less than the Spirit transforming our groans into glorious praise.
Wes and Ethan contrast the picture of creation as a piece of technology with a picture of creation as words spoken in the eternal Word.
Wes and Ethan answer listener questions about faith, works, and salvation as well as preview an upcoming season on Scriptural interpretation.
Wes and Ethan examine how through Christ and the Spirit the life of the Trinity invades and overcomes the kingdom of death that we carry in us in our everyday lives.
Wes and Ethan discuss how the cross is a revelation of the life the Trinity according to the Scriptures and Church Fathers.
Wes and Ethan explore the Gospel of John and discover that the Holy Spirit is a personal actor cooperating with Christ for our salvation.
Wes and Ethan discuss the way in which God is personal. In the process, they discover what it means for us to be persons.
Wes and Ethan explore the Trinitarian dimensions of the Lord's Supper through reflecting on Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity.
Ethan interviews a special guest scholar about the theology of the church and Christian Life.
Wes and Ethan discuss Maximus the Confessor with international patristics scholar Paul M. Blowers
Wes and Ethan explore how the Spirit draws us into the life of the Trinity by gathering us for worship. John's vision of the eternal throne in the book of Revelation is explored in detail.
Wes and Ethan trace Trinity in baptism. By exploring Matthew and Ezekiel they find baptism to be our entrance into God’s triune life.
Wes and Ethan dive into the problems of most theologies of the Trinity. By looking to Gregory Nazianzen they lay out the grounds for a better approach.
Ethan, Wes, and Gene discuss how to prepare our hearts to encounter Christ through humility.
Wes and Ethan dive into week 1 of Lent by exploring St. Isaac on the fear of God and faith.
Ethan and Wes discuss the Jesus Prayer, Prayer of the Heart, and prayer as incense before the Lord.
Ethan and Wes discuss the nature of prayer and the importance of prayer practices for Lent. They also explore the relationship between prayer and personal transformation.
Wes and Ethan discuss the relationship between Lent, fasting, and death. They explore the role of fasting in finding freedom in our relationship with weakness, pain, and mortality.
Ethan and Wes explore the issue of fasting during Lent. Why do it? What should we expect? And what should we avoid?
Ethan and Wes ask Fr. Silviu about the history, practice, and purpose of Lent. In this discussion we learn more about fasting, Lenten observance, scripture, and the practice of humility.
Wes and Ethan explore the character of Mary in the Gospel of John. They discover that her apparent insignificance is the sign of her sharing in the glorious life of her Son.
Wes and Ethan explore the Scriptural and Patristic accounts of Christ's relation to Adam and Mary's to Eve.
Ethan and Wes tackle the biblical image of Church as Mother through reading Galatians 4 in the manner of the Fathers.
World-renown patristic scholar Archbishop Alexander Golitzin discusses how the Fathers and Scripture mutually illuminate each other.
Wes and Ethan take an in-depth look at Galatians and discover what it means to become a God-Bearer.
Ethan and Wes discuss the history of Christian devotion to Mary in light of the Scriptures. In it we take the first steps into understanding who she is and who she isn't.
Wes and Ethan discuss the fall of Adam and the crucifixion of Christ on the season 2 finale.
Wes and Ethan wrap up our Hate the 8 Season with an overview of Evagrius' teachings on love, dispassion, and finding our salvation in Christ
Wes and Ethan discuss the final passion of their "Hate the 8" Season. Here they explore the question of why Pride is the most terrible and demonic perversion of all. By connecting pride with patristic angelology and the vision of glory we realize the heart of human life is in slowly becoming "all eye." Yes, the truth is that trippy.
Ethan and Wes discuss the 7th Demon of “Vain-Glory” and why it is so dangerous to the life of Christ in us.
Wes and Ethan explore acedia, depression, and restlessness in relationship to Psalm 91 and the story of Noah's flood.
Ethan and Wes discuss depression and sadness in relation to the Bible and the spirituality of the desert fathers.
Pastor Chad Group and Ethan discuss their favorite characteristics of the Gospel of John and how it has impacted their spiritual lives.
Ethan is joined by Dr. David Smith and pastor Rob Brown to discuss why we go to church and what it has to do with each of us becoming a temple of Christ
Wes and Ethan explore Jesus' teaching about the dangers of money and greed in the light of Evagrius' spiritual psychology.
Ethan and Wes explore the nature of lust and the notion of sexual purity by discussing Evagrius, Joshua Harris, and Colossians 3.
Wes and Ethan get in the hot seat as they try to answer the theological questions of a 10 year old! Also, anger and prayer.
Ethan, Wes, and Fr. Silviu Bunta discuss what to do in the wake of the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio and elsewhere. We address the issues of guilt, anger, and despair in light of the book of James and the practice of repentance.
Wes and Ethan discuss the wisdom of Scripture and Evagrius concerning food. They explore the role of food in our spiritual lives in the modern world.
Ethan and Wes introduce Season 2 “Hate the 8” by discussing why the way of love is made possible by “dispassion.” In this they show why the Fathers believed that it was a life free from the passions that makes Christian life possible.
Wes and Ethan summarize season 1 through a reading of the parable of the prodigal son as understood by the church fathers.
Wes and Ethan explore Christ's parables to illuminate the relationships between human nature, the kingdom of God, and the vision of God.
In this episode Ethan and Wes explore theophany within the three stages of the spiritual life. Also John Cassian, the fathers of the Philokalia and Spiritual Experience.
In this episode Ethan and Wes begin their multi-episode exploration into "theophany" or seeing God. They discuss the spiritual and biblical roots of the desire to see God and how it lies at the center of our Christian Faith.
In this episode we explore the incarnation as the reason for, well… pretty much everything. Maximus the Confessor, Genesis, and the Gospel of John are our central readings.
Wes and Ethan discuss Christ's resurrection and His "harrowing of hell" on Holy Saturday. They show what both these have to do with salvation and spiritual life.
Fr. Silviu Bunta, Orthodox Priest and Biblical theologian discusses with Ethan and Wes the meaning of the cross and the way of love.
In this episode Wes and Ethan get schooled on the topics of Incarnation, Watchfulness, Creation, and Holiness.
In this episode Wes and Ethan discuss suggest heaven is not a ‘place’ insomuch as a condition of the soul wherein we are in complete and intimate union with God.
Wes and Ethan discuss getting saved, Maximus the Confessor, and why Jesus was never plan B.
Wes and Ethan explore the practice of theology as prayer and healing therapy. The Church Father, Evagrius of Pontus, serves as their guide. Along the way, they delve into the concrete shape of human illness and why and how prayer heals.
Wes and Ethan discuss why they both prefer saying "The Scriptures" rather than "the Bible." They contrast modern understandings of the Bible with the ancient notion of all of the Scriptures arising from and leading to union with Jesus Christ.
Wes and Ethan introduce the mysterion show and discuss why "mystery" is crucial for theology, the study of Scripture, and the spiritual life. They also discuss why the early theologians of the church refused to separate any of these themes from each other.