Shows
The Natural TheologianFurther Reflections on Machen: Objectivity, Convictions, and InstitutionsIn response to my recent post on J. Gresham Machen, readers offered thoughtful pushback on several fronts.Some questioned whether Machen’s later turn away from “objective” methods wasn’t the right move after all.Others raised concerns about the dangers of free inquiry, especially when it risks undermining Christian convictions.Still others debated the wisdom of staying and reforming corrupt institutions rather than leaving them to act authentically.Here are a few reflections in response to those critiques.1. Should Christians Strive for Objectivity? A common objection was:...2025-07-2110 min
The Natural TheologianWhy I STOPPED Being a PresuppositionalistMy theological education took place at Westminster Seminary, the bastion of presuppositionalism.Presuppositionalism: Christian thinking must begin from all and only Christian presuppositions.And this thesis had a noticeable effect on our studies.95% of the time we would read people who already agreed with us in order to believe what they said.5% of the time, we would go find somebody we disagreed with and be assigned to go figure out what was wrong with them.But after Westminster, I did a program in philosophy at the University...2025-06-2319 min
The Natural TheologianThe Zwingli OptionIn this video, Nathan Shaver cohosts a discussion with me about the Zwingli option. We discussed the tension between depravity and dignity, the distinction between humanism and scholasticism, and much more!Thank you Inst.of.Christian.Spirituality, Noah Jones, Jacob Brogdon, and many others for tuning into my live video with Nathan Shaver. Join me for my next live video in the Substack app.The Natural Theologian is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public...2025-06-121h 11
The Natural TheologianForget Calvinism. Become a Zwinglian.I used to think that Calvinism was simply a system of soteriology.But I’ve come to see that there’s something more, a Calvinist vibe: to exaggerate human sinfulness in order to exaggerate the role of the grace of God.Before Calvin’s time, Zwingli articulated a Reformed theology that was deeply humane, sympathetic to the foibles and weakness of sinful human nature.If we take “the Zwingli option,” the fact that our nature is already predetermined in various ways does not make us the more evil and wicked and guilty. Rather, it...2025-06-0924 min
The Reconnect with Carmen LaBergeGetting past the surface level, willing to be vulnerable – Linda Mintle | What it looks like to strive after a higher responsibility – Joel CariniLinda Mintle, the relationship doctor, shares about the danger of constantly chasing perfection and the difference between letting God into the decisions you make versus following the Spirit's leading. Joel Carini of The Natural Theologian talks about the pursuit of being self-controlled and the danger of reducing spiritual Truths we find in the Bible. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here2025-06-0248 min
The Natural TheologianZwingli Was Right: Original sin is not sin, but defectIn their latest album, Mumford and Sons take aim at the doctrine of original sin.I will take this darknessOver any light you castYou and all your original sinThe motivation for this denial is heartfelt:Cause there’s no evil in a child’s eyesIn saying this, lead singer and songwriter Marcus Mumford fears he may be engaged in “heresy”:I will take this heresyOver your hypocrisyBut Mumford and Sons are not the only ones moved by a child’s...2025-05-1417 min
The Natural TheologianDo People’s Different Beliefs about God Mean They Worship Different gods?Do people’s different beliefs about God mean they worship different gods?Many Christians speak as though they do.Wheaton College fired a professor for claiming that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.In a recent video, YouTuber Redeemed Zoomer said that, because Mormons and orthodox Christians have different conceptions of God – as an ‘Eternal Trinity’ or as a ‘Godhead of many changing divine beings’ – they “believe in different gods” and Mormonism and Christianity “can’t be said to be the same religion.”My freshman year at college, I wrote that Catholics and Prote...2025-04-2517 min
The Natural TheologianWhy I'm Getting a PhD in Philosophy, Not TheologyHello, readers! The last several weeks, I’ve been deep in work on my Ph.D. dissertation. I’m excited to share some of the fruits of that research here. I’ll begin with my reflections on why I’m getting a Ph.D. in philosophy in the first place. Thanks for reading.Hey, I’m Joel Carini, the Natural Theologian.And in this post, I’m going to talk about why I’m getting a PhD in philosophy and not theology.1. Biblical Exegesis Is Not EnoughMy first intellectual l...2025-04-1817 min
The American Reformer PodcastWorldview Symposium (ft. Simon Kennedy, Stephen Wolfe, Joel Carini, & Benjamin Mabry)What is “worldview”? What are its uses and abuses? Contributors to our recent worldview symposium, Simon Kennedy, Stephen Wolfe, Joel Carini, & Benjamin Mabry, answer these questions and more in a wide-ranging roundtable discussion.
#Worldview #Christianity #Culture #Society #StephenWolfe #SimonKennedy #JoelCarini #BenjaminMabry #AmericanReformer #Symposium
Show Notes:
https://americanreformer.org/2025/02/worldview-and-its-discontents/
Simon P. Kennedy is research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia and a non-resident fellow at the Danube Institute in Budapest. He is associate editor of Quadrant magazine and teaches at a variety of institut...2025-03-271h 52
The Natural TheologianIn Defence of Christian CivilizationYes, that’s right — “defence,” with a ‘c.’That’s because my guest on this episode is an Anglican priest and Substacker Father Thomas Plant (Fr Thomas Plant).Father Plant recently responded to Paul Kingsnorth’s lecture “Against Christian Civilization” with his well-titled reply, “Kingsnorth’s Radical Protestantism: In Defence of Christian Civilisation.”Fr. Plant writes:“Do we want civilization,” he asks, “or do we want Christ? What if we can have only the one or the other?” The question is rhetorical, the presumed answer clear. Christ and civilisation are antitheses. To follow one is to reject the oth...2025-02-2751 min
The Natural TheologianJordan Peterson's Vision of Christian CivilizationRecently, Jordan Peterson spoke at ARC, the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, his organization for international leadership. This article contains the transcript of his talk and my reaction to it, taken my from most recent YouTube video.Hey! I’m Joel Carini, the Natural Theologian.In this post, I'm going to react to Jordan Peterson’s speech at ARC 2025, the text of which is transcribed below.The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship is Jordan Peterson’s sort of global policy and vision network, kind of an antidote to Davos and the elite culture. And he’s been c...2025-02-2133 min
The Natural TheologianTEN Things I Learned from Jordan PetersonDear readers, the following article is taken from the transcript of my latest YouTube video. I hope you enjoy!I've learned many things from Jordan Peterson since he came on the public scene in 2016. I've learned things about psychology, morality, philosophy and even about Scripture and the Christian faith, things that have bolstered my understanding as a Christian philosopher and theologian.So without further ado, ten things I learned from Jordan Peterson.1. The Reality and Importance of PersonalityJordan Peterson is a personality psychologist. Following Carl Jung, he believes in the...2025-02-1422 min
The Natural TheologianPraeparatio Evangelica: The Evangelistic Step Evangelicals Forgot[Doorbell buzzes]“Hello! Would you like to change religions? I have a free book written by DJEE-ZUS!”While the Broadway show from which that line comes is not about evangelicals but Latter-Day Saints, it fits.The average evangelical is liable to think that their free afternoons and weekends ought to be spent engaged in similarly abrupt evangelistic conversations.After all, people are dying! If we don’t act quickly, they’ll soon face God’s throne of judgment; and then they’ll go to hell.But our Christian forefathers would have h...2025-02-1113 min
The Natural TheologianIs the Secular Sacred?I did my first Substack Live this afternoon, discussing the Protestant theology of nature and grace. Following on my recent discussions of whether the secular is sacred, I go back before the fall and ask if nature was, even then, sanctified by grace. Was the covenant of works a gift of grace, i.e., supernature? Should Protestants accept Aquinas’ doctrine of the beatific vision?These are all the questions I’ll have to answer toward a Protestant theology of nature and grace. Towards the end of the video, I put forward a hypothesis that I call theological natu...2025-02-0133 min
The Natural Theologian"Secular" Is a Christian Category“Secular.” It’s a word my teenage, Christian brain assumed had to be more or less synonymous with “sexual.”Many people know better than that, but even highly-educated Christians still assume that “the secular” is intertwined with secularism. The category of the secular, they think, is a pillar of an anti-Christian worldview, or, at best, a purportedly neutral pluralism or liberalism that, in fact, crowds out religious faith.But the secular is a category of the Christian worldview. It denotes the dimensions of life that are not specifically religious, but common to human beings in the present ag...2025-01-2911 min
The Natural TheologianMarriage Is SecularAll across the internet, and in the academic presses, pundits and philosophers place blame for secularization on Protestantism.Scholars and streamers complain that the Reformation precipitated the disenchantment of the world.Orthodox converts waft their smells and ring their bells before evangelical noses and ears. Catholics look on evangelicals with pity, beholding our strip-mall sanctuaries, as they find shade below their towering, ancient cathedrals.And many Protestants feel the Roman nostalgia. I admit I’m among them.More than just nostalgia, we admire the intellectual tradition, Christian humanism, and ethical guidance of...2025-01-2116 min
Conversations That MatterScripture and Natural LawJoel Carini joins the podcast to talk about his reply to Brian Mattsen's article on 1 Cor 2. To Support the Podcast: https://www.worldviewconversation.com/support/Become a Patronhttps://www.patreon.com/worldviewconversationFollow Jon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonharris1989Follow Jon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldviewconversation/Our Sponsors:* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code HARRIS for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com2025-01-111h 13
New KinshipBonus: Marriage Idolatry Discussion over on The Natural TheologianTJ and David were interviewed on Joel Carini’s podcast, the Natural Theologian, a previous guest of ours, to discuss the role of marriage, family, other significant others, covenants, Side B perspectives on kinship, and more! Check it out! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newkinship.substack.com2024-11-2502 minNew KinshipBonus: Marriage Idolatry Discussion over on The Natural TheologianTJ and David were interviewed on Joel Carini’s podcast, the Natural Theologian, a previous guest of ours, to discuss the role of marriage, family, other significant others, covenants, Side B perspectives on kinship, and more! Check it out! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newkinship.substack.com2024-11-2502 min
The Flâneur and the PhilosopherIs the Evangelical Church Guilty of Marriage Idolatry?In the context of secular, individualist culture, the American evangelical church has put a premium on marriage. Yet critics from within and without evangelicalism have accused Christians of treating marriage and the nuclear family in idolatrous ways.Our guests this week, David Frank and TJ Espinoza, argue that the church has neglected forms of kinship beyond marriage and the nuclear family - which is particularly damaging to same-sex attracted Christians, like themselves. David and TJ are the co-hosts of the podcast “New Kinship” where they discuss life as celibate, gay Christians and the possibilities of kinship, community, and...2024-11-251h 37
The Natural TheologianThere IS Common Ground Between Believers and UnbelieversA woman was interviewing for a philosophy professorship at a Catholic university. Though she respected the intellectual tradition of the university, she was not herself Catholic. She hoped to find there similar respect for her own thinking, whatever its metaphysical conclusions.The interview began well. Potential future colleagues discussed her research and gave her an opportunity to display her considerable knowledge of epistemology and continental thought.Then a new voice chimed in. A crotchety but not-yet-old Catholic man began to dig into her moral and political views. He settled on the topic of...2024-07-0213 min
The Natural TheologianWhat's After Young, Restless, and Reformed?As a young Christian, I jumped wholeheartedly into a burgeoning theological movement, one which got young people excited about the Bible and Protestant theology, inspired us to devour books and attend church religiously, and provided us with guides and gurus to direct us in a confusing world: The young, restless, and Reformed.After years of reading their blogs and books and watching videos, after a three-year seminary degree and a decade attending Reformed churches, it’s time to take stock. What should we think now of the young, restless, and Reformed movement?Briefly, that while it...2024-06-1715 min
The Flâneur and the PhilosopherThe Marks of Authoritarian EcclesiologyDr. Joseph Minich, residential teaching fellow at The Davenant Institute, joins King Laugh - before you go further, subscribe to his Substack, Laughing with God - and Joel Carini this week on The Flâneur and the Philosopher. Our topic is the ideology of Mark Dever’s Nine Marks ministry. While on the face of it, designed to limit the pastor’s authority to the word of God, we detect in Nine Marks’ teaching an unjust accruing of authority to the sole preaching pastor.Dr. Minich tells us about his review of Jonathan Leeman’s Political Church, an accoun...2024-05-271h 43
The Flâneur and the PhilosopherLatter-Day LaymenThis week, Joel Carini and King Laugh are joined by Michael, author of Build the Village, a publication about building community beyond mainstream institutions.I came across Michael through his engagement with Aaron Renn’s cultural commentary, but as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (Michael wrote this review of Renn’s recent book, Life in the Negative World.)In my judgment, the LDS church is an interesting example of a church that has already adjusted to “the negative world,” i.e., adopted a minority mindset and practiced a kind of large...2024-05-241h 38
The Natural TheologianCheck Your Sources: Theology from the Bible and ExperienceScripture is the only source of theology that evangelical Christians all accept. As a result, the methodology of evangelical theology is to argue deductively from premises of a single source: the Bible. Excluded from theology are philosophy, empirical science, and literary imagination. Accordingly, evangelical theology is functionally biblicist.If a theologian introduces a premise that is not biblically-derived but is based in experience, that theologian invites suspicion that his premise is unbiblical. “The earth is 4.5 billion years old” - unbiblical. “Sexual orientation is a real feature of human psychology” - unbiblical. “Christianity is at least socially u...2024-05-2121 min
The Natural TheologianWhich Evangelicals Are Woke?Yesterday morning, I listened to Preston Sprinkle’s response to criticisms of his Exiles in Babylon conference. Sprinkle presents, in his books and on YouTube, an evangelical perspective that is arguably theologically orthodox, but sympathetic to Side B, celibate, gay Christians. He is also mildly left-leaning on politics, from an Anabaptist-inflected Christian perspective. Hence, “Exiles in Babylon.”Alisa Childers and Christopher Yuan criticized Sprinkle and his conference in a recent podcast. Alisa Childers is a former contemporary Christian music star, turned Christian discernment YouTuber. Christopher Yuan is the author of Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son's...2024-05-1008 min
The Natural TheologianEquality Is Moral, Not MathematicalThis article is the text of my presentation at a working group on theology and DEI hosted by the Princeton Initiative in Catholic Thought.Today, there is a confusion of moral equality with mathematical equality. Ethicists and theologians are out; number-crunching nerds - empathic as they may be - are in.Today it is held - especially by proponents of the doctrine of equity - that those most qualified to speak on the subject of human equality are social scientists: Whether human beings are equal turns on the mathematical outcome of social-scientific studies...2024-04-3017 min
The Natural TheologianThe Theistic Argument from the Failure of LiberalismWhat I found most difficult about evangelism as a child was the disinterest of my audience. Those whom I was supposed to evangelize - secular liberals in an affluent society - saw no need of the message I peddled.But today, secular ex-liberals approach me from every direction, desiring to talk about the failures and inadequacies of liberalism and secularism. Their minds are open to a word of wisdom from the Christian faith.And some even have open hearts.In Christian apologetics, the traditional arguments for God’s existence appeal to universal features of...2024-04-1519 min
The Natural TheologianWhy I'm Against ConceptsI’m currently deep in the weeds of writing chapter two of my dissertation, “Content Empiricism: The Case Against Content Rationalism.”If I had to drop the jargon and say what I’m arguing for in English, I would say I’m against concepts.Concepts. They’re like the curtains of the mind. Whenever I want to argue that our minds are related to the things of the world, my discussion partner mentions “concepts.” The opaque curtains of the mind are drawn, and the room darkens.We only ever see the world through ou...2024-03-2809 min
The Natural TheologianToward a Religious RightTo evangelical ears, this title will seem to read as an attempt to revivify the spirit of Jerry Falwell. And it will be said that his spirit seems alive and very well - too well.But I have a different audience in mind. In the intellectual circles of the political right, there are many open questions about the direction of the movement, chief among them whether and how religious the right ought to be.You see, while the popular voting bloc of the Republican party is relatively religious, the intellectual elites of conservatism...2024-03-2614 min
The Natural TheologianFive Ways Reinhold Niebuhr Is Still RelevantI recently spent some time with Reinhold Niebuhr’s The Nature and Destiny of Man and Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. This comes on the heels of my writing about Christian realism, a theology and philosophy indebted to Niebuhr.Niebuhr reminds me of Jordan Peterson. Like Peterson, he brought the claims of Christianity to public and political debate. Also like Peterson, Niebuhr arouses suspicion for whether he was really a Christian, this in spite of him being the most influential American theologian of the 20th century.Here are five wa...2024-03-2210 min
The Natural TheologianJordan Peterson: He Who Wrestles With GodThe evangelical takes on Jordan Peterson’s “We Who Wrestle With God” tour are coming out. Jake Meador attended Peterson’s lecture in Omaha and says that Peterson’s ideology is focused on excellence to the exclusion of mercy. Aaron Renn attended in Indianapolis and says that Peterson’s message is, at the end of the day, a New Age alternative to Christianity.Anna and I attended on Valentine’s Day in St. Louis. It was a moving experience. Here are some of our reflections.Anna’s ReflectionsGoing to hear Jordan Peterson was quite a life...2024-03-0716 min
Samsara AudioConversation, NOT Conversion | with Joel Carini (The Natural Theologian)In this long overdue episode of Samsara Audio, my old friend Joel Carini (“The Natural Theologian”) joins me to discuss his piece “Berating the Godfearers” which raises a host of questions close to both our hearts — how does the Christian ideology of “worldview” get conversion wrong, and consequently disable real conversation along the way?This conversation was born out of years deep inside particular communities which eschew empirical observation and experimental procedures for axiomatic assertions and pious certainty. We want to move past the stance which starts with the answers, and instead find ourselves in the trenches with others wh...2024-03-061h 26
The Natural TheologianAre Thoughts Sins?This is our first joint post. Enjoy!I (Anna) have been counseling many people who experience obsessive thoughts and actions due to OCD. Some of them experience a cognitive distortion where a person conflates the thought of doing something with actually having done it.Psychologists call this “thought-action fusion.” The mind conflates the thought with the action. Meanwhile, I (Joel) have been writing about sexual desire and sin, mainly same-sex attraction. I have argued that same-sex attraction is not sin.But in that discussion, many people argue that...2024-02-1410 min
The Natural TheologianAlistair Begg: Christian RealistStudy: Non-Affirming Attendance at Gay Weddings Saves SoulsOver the last twenty years, out of the public eye, evangelical researchers conducted a longitudinal study of the relationship between evangelical parents and grandparents and their LGBTQ+ youth. They conducted interviews and gathered qualitative data about the “coming out” experience and the evangelical adult response, church participation, and the theological and ethical views of youth and adults.One finding stood out. When non-affirming parents did not attend a same-sex wedding, the LGBTQ+ individuals remained convinced of affirming moral views. But when non-affirming evangelical parents did attend their chil...2024-02-0715 min
The Natural TheologianChristian Realism: A Philosophy of Effective ActionI’ve critiqued the evangelical subculture for some of its mindsets that lead to ineffectiveness in public action.But during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, when the Neo-Evangelical movement was just getting up and running, theologians like Emil Brunner, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Richard and Reinhold Niebuhr were articulating a compelling, non-partisan Christian political ethic known as Christian realism.Christian realism provides key solutions to the problems of evangelical ineffectiveness and deserves to be revived and adopted by contemporary Christians, evangelical and otherwise.What Is “Realism?”“Realism” is related to but differ...2024-01-3018 min
The Natural TheologianAgainst Christian NihilismChristianity too often leads to this view: Nothing we do here matters.For some Christians, this is because of their “end-times” views: “It’s all going to end soon, and Jesus will return. There’s no time to do anything lasting, just to tell people urgently to get saved. Nothing else matters.”For others, it’s their desire to answer in a moment the question of salvation. This can be through conversionism: The real action in Christianity is the initial moment of conversion. Or it can be through the doctrine of justification by faith: Jesus d...2024-01-2418 min
The Natural TheologianTo Escape Ideology, Give In to ItI recently bought a bass guitar. After imagining, dreaming about, and lusting after a vintage instrument, I pulled the trigger. I could feel the dents and scratches in my mind, smell the aging wood, and sense the mojo of the object of my desire.Within days, the instrument arrived. I plugged it in to an amplifier, and it sounded, well, alright. For a deep, dark, vintage bass, it sounded way too bright. I compared it to my previous bass; not that different. Don’t get me wrong; after a few tweaks and a good “set-up”, I’m a...2024-01-1714 min
The Natural TheologianFive Strategies to Escape IdeologyI’m deeply interested in the idea that most thinking follows narrow, ideological ruts and that it takes real effort to escape these ruts and allow one’s thought to be shaped by the complexity and multiplicity of empirical inputs, by the reality of how things are.From several quarters, I receive pressure to hold that ideology, worldviews, presuppositions, socially-constructed conceptual systems, and so on, always color our vision such that the aspiration to empirical reception of the real is a modernist fantasy, even a hubristic one, a naïve realism and brute empiricism.At...2024-01-1014 min
The Natural TheologianBerating the GodfearersLast week, a group of young men with shared interests in self-improvement, virtue, and masculinity gathered in a Zoom meeting for an evening discussion. While they found common ground on their shared interests, the discussion took a turn when a difference emerged between one of the members, Brent, and the rest of the group. While the leader of the group, and the majority with him, held to a six-day-creationist, literal reading of Genesis, Brent was a devotee of Jordan Peterson’s evolutionary path to the divine.Quickly, discussion soured. Brent was cast as the resident be...2024-01-0214 min
The Natural TheologianHow to Be a Non-Ideological, Feel-Good Religious PersonSince it’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s, here are three things I’m thinking about, topics that may inspire future full-length essays.The first one is the meaning of “gay,” the next frontier in my ongoing engagement with the question of homosexuality and the Christian life. The second is the inspiration and encouragement I’ve been receiving from Ali Abdaal’s new book, Feel Good Productivity. The third is the difference between ideology and empirical thinking that I’ve been trying to formulate. Enjoy!What Does “Gay” Mean?The other week, I...2023-12-2716 min
The Natural TheologianMy New Book: "The Natural Theologian: Essays on Nature and the Christian Life"In the last couple of weeks, I compiled all the essays I’ve written at this Substack over the last year into a book: The Natural Theologian: Essays on Nature and the Christian Life. It’s currently on sale as a hardcover and as an eBook at Amazon.For today’s post, I republish the book’s introduction, which I wrote specifically for the book. Enjoy the introduction, as well as a free PDF of the front matter, table of contents, and introduction.Introduction to The Natural TheologianEvangelical theology is shaped by its enga...2023-12-1313 min
The Natural TheologianAre We Living in the Negative World?Since 2014, changes in political ideology, toward cancel culture on the left, and political tribalism on the right, have been relatively obvious to observers. Conservative Christian concern is often focused on the cancel culture and the central place of sexual and gender ideology in it.However, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, co-author with him of The Coddling of the American Mind, originally observed changes on college campuses at the psychological level, before things ever reached the political level. Lukianoff observed college student attitudes on free speech and censorship shifting strongly against free speech around 2014...2023-12-0518 min
The Natural TheologianConservative Christian, Do Not FearSeveral years ago, for one day, I was a conspiracy-theorist.Changes were happening in the world that I could not understand. I sought an explanation, and I dove down an Internet rabbit-hole to find it.The personality I heeded was a brand-new Christian; he was also a conservative, to say the least. After several hours of taking in his perspective, I was a believer in his brand of conspiracy.But it was a dark place. It felt like the forces of evil had consolidated power; all these different changes were coordinated; and there...2023-11-2914 min
The Natural Theologian"Gay": Identity, or Description?One aspect of the “celibate, gay Christian” debate that I haven’t yet discussed is the idea that using the adjective “gay” treats it as part of one’s identity, and therefore a Christian should not “identify as gay.” This objection concerns language specifically, rather than the psychology of sexual orientation, which has been my focus.But my response to this claim about gay identity flows directly from my defense of the category of sexual orientation. “Gay” is an accurate description for people whose sexual orientation is homosexual. To describe oneself or another as “gay” is not to create an “identity”...2023-11-0807 min
The Natural TheologianHow to Be a Post-Theology-NerdLast 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 discount our similarities as superficial. And when I was a theology nerd, that is what I would have done. But so...2023-10-3114 min
The Natural TheologianSexual Orientation Is Not a Social ConstructIn 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 same sex.”Now, Mohler said, “Early in this controversy, I felt it quite necessary, in order to...2023-10-2420 min
The Natural TheologianIs Sexual Desire Natural?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 skipped puberty, until doctors artificially induced puberty, and just in time.2023-10-1709 min
The Natural TheologianSuffering from Original Sin: Misty Irons on Same-Sex AttractionOne 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 because I argued that the claim that same-sex attraction and sexual orientation are sin is not theologically well-grounded, because...2023-10-1007 min
The Natural TheologianOn Being a Natural TheologianIf 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 Scriptural revelation.This task has fallen on hard times. Secul...2023-09-2618 min
The Natural TheologianConservatives Against CapitalismSince 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 Deal and the Great Society, but a continued conservative suspicion of government aid has fed the narrative that conservatives are callous to those...2023-09-1314 min
Mutually Assured Conversation#21: Theistic Evolution with Joel CariniMutually Assured Conversation #21 | More: https://linktr.ee/mutuallyassuredconversationJoel CariniSubstack: https://joelcarini.substack.com/X: https://twitter.com/NaturalTheolognSamuel BarnesSite: https://samuelbarnes.comX: https://twitter.com/smlbarnesSubstack: https://barnes.substack.com2023-09-081h 01
The Natural TheologianThe Evangelical Critics of the Evangelical Majority: On Russell Moore’s “Losing Our Religion”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 say the least, distasteful.While there has long been an evangelical left, a new...2023-08-2217 min
The Natural TheologianWhy Not Theistic Evolution? Part 4: Does “Darwin Devolves” Survive Criticism?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 book by Gregory Lang and Amber Rice, two of his own...2023-08-1523 min
The Natural TheologianWhy Not Theistic Evolution? Part 3: Darwinism Is DevolutionImagine 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 others that are encountered either do not interfere significantly or...2023-08-0826 min
The Natural TheologianWhy Not Theistic Evolution? Part 2: The Typological Pattern of BiologyIn 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 Universe without Design, an influential work of biological theory but also a founding work of the “New Atheism.” As the title reveals, Pale...2023-08-0316 min
The Natural TheologianWhy Not Theistic Evolution? Part 1: Clarifying Terms and MotivationIn 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 tell against the merits of evolution as an explanation of the origins of life and sp...2023-07-3110 min
The Natural TheologianAristotle's Argument Against Evolution1. 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 scientific question are its being resolvable by experiment and observation...2023-07-2420 min
The Natural TheologianThis Sunday in the Church Calendar: Six-Day Creation SundayThis 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 Christians in the present culture. While I could speak of the details of the exege...2023-07-1910 min
The Natural TheologianNine Gifts the Revoice Conference Gave MeI 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 theologically and politically conservative Christians. It has led the Presbyterian Church in America to make theological statements and policies in r...2023-06-2009 min
The Natural TheologianWhy Am I Going to Revoice?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 continued adherence to a traditional Christian sexual ethic. They often point to Revoice as the marker that the PCA is trending liberal.So why am I, a staunch...2023-06-1406 min
New Kinship#29 - Weigh and Consider the World: Joel Carini on Nature, Truth, and Side BWe (TJ and David) first connected with philosopher Joel Carini from a few of his articles on a reformed theology of same-sex attraction. In this episode, Joel joined us for a conversation around various Christian contexts, nature and grace, Side B and identity language, and, of course, philosophy. We appreciate Joel’s care and thoughtfulness around his work, and we hope (whether you agree with him or not) you’ll find his approach worth engaging!—Note: This episode uses the terms “Side A” and “Side B” (and X, Y) as shorthand quite a bit. If you’re...2023-06-141h 40New Kinship#29 - Weigh and Consider the World: Joel Carini on Nature, Truth, and Side BWe (TJ and David) first connected with philosopher Joel Carini from a few of his articles on a reformed theology of same-sex attraction. In this episode, Joel joined us for a conversation around various Christian contexts, nature and grace, Side B and identity language, and, of course, philosophy. We appreciate Joel’s care and thoughtfulness around his work, and we hope (whether you agree with him or not) you’ll find his approach worth engaging!—Note: This episode uses the terms “Side A” and “Side B” (and X, Y) as shorthand quite a bit. If you’re...2023-06-141h 40
The Natural TheologianToward a Sophisticated RealismA 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 line, that since Kant, we have all...2023-06-0821 min
The Natural TheologianAn Exchange on Christian RealismIn 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 Christ in it.In many corners, “direct realism” is known as “naive realism,” and this reflects how many people view it, simply naively ignoring the way that human being...2023-05-3108 min
The Natural TheologianTim Keller and Kevin DeYoung Miss the Nature of Sexual DesireIn 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 agree with Side B that same-sex sexual orientation exists a...2023-05-0214 min
The Natural TheologianNiebuhr’s “Christ and Culture” RevisitedRichard 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 status of this cultural work, and how does...2023-04-1212 min
The Natural TheologianWhat Is My Dissertation About? Bertrand Russell and the Objects of ThoughtThis 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 month, I have a lot on my plate. But I’m going to try, in this p...2023-03-2117 min
The Natural TheologianThat Time I Wrote a Paper for Agnes Callard on LoveAgnes 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 Emotions. Nussbaum is the highest-profile philosophy professor at the University of Chica...2023-03-1419 min
The Natural TheologianFederal Vision, NAI 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 that that made us FV. Earli...2023-03-0923 min
The Natural TheologianA Newcomer's Guide to "The Natural Theologian"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 forms of knowledge, chiefly science and philosophy, and religious forms, revelation and theo...2023-03-0803 min
The Natural TheologianSide B Celebrates Same-Sex Attraction. What Could Be More Controversial?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. Therefore, in spite of its unnaturalness in certain respects, reflecting the fall and the misery of our cond...2023-03-0713 min
The Natural TheologianBiblical Political Theology: What I Learned from 1 Timothy 2:1-4As 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 second route, we do wish temporal good for our neighbors, even if we also want them to seek and...2023-03-0317 min
The Natural TheologianDelano Squires and Glenn Loury Talk Gay MarriageYesterday, 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 listened: Delano Squires eloquently expressed the Christian position, but he failed adequately to defend it.2023-02-2711 min
The Natural TheologianCommon Grace, Nature, and Our Most Fundamental IdentityIn 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 Nationalism. On the other hand, in response to Kevin DeYoung’s tweet, “Our most fundamental identity is that we a...2023-02-2116 min
The Natural TheologianBased Belief: On the Possibility of Christian EmpiricismAlongside 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 Christian premises. You say, “But that’s circular,” and they say, “Everyone argues in a circle.” Thus, they really do take the position of coherentism as the best accou...2023-02-1426 min
The Natural TheologianAbigail Favale’s The Genesis of GenderAbigail 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 human condition, ad...2023-02-0911 min
The Natural TheologianWhy I’m Not Going to Read “Biblical Critical Theory”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 engaged with the issues of human sexuality the book is about and has, through experience, found the Christian acco...2023-02-0710 min
The Natural TheologianOn the Idea of a Christian VillageYesterday, 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 the various other benefits of the use of technology.One of these benefi...2023-02-0608 min
The Natural TheologianThree More Reasons Aaron Renn Is Right about Common GraceIn 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 hampers Christian engagement and leadership in the public square.Yesterday, I gave t...2023-02-0313 min
The Natural TheologianWhy Aaron Renn Is Right About Common GraceLast 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.) “Hocus pocus,” he called it, referring to the way it allowed Reformed theologians to claim that nature was rad...2023-02-0208 min
The Natural TheologianWhy You Should Leave Your ChurchThe 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 you ca...2023-02-0106 min
The Natural TheologianNature Destroyed: The Doctrine of Total DepravityDuring 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 Plantinga himself, I found myself as the lone defender of P...2023-01-3116 min
The Natural Theologian[Audio] Nature: Fallen, but not DestroyedThis is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-3009 min
The Natural TheologianIn Defense of Christian Stoicism This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-2711 min
The Natural TheologianChristians, Atheists, and Gnostics: Christian Co-Belligerency and the Possibility of Based BeliefThis is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-2605 min
The Natural Theologian[Audio] Is the “Divine Dictionary” View of Language as Bad as Postmodernism? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-2511 min
The Natural TheologianAudio - Based Academia, Part 4: The Perennial Philosophy of LanguageThis is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-2506 min
The Natural TheologianWhatever Happened to Reformed Theology?I am, or was, a Reformed theology nerd. Aptly described as young, restless, and reformed, my shelves are littered with tomes by Calvin, Edwards, Hodge, Berkouwer, and Bavinck, not to mention Schaeffer, Tripp, Ryken, etc. Once, I visited Bethlehem Baptist Church and waited in line afterward to speak with John Piper. As I shook his hand, I broke into tears and Piper gave me a hug. I’ve done editing for Reformed Forum and attended Orthodox Presbyterian Churches and even a conference with Daryl Hart and John Muether (look them up), all which people and organizations consider themselves so Re...2023-01-2414 min
The Natural TheologianAudio of "Same-Sex Attraction and the Misery of Our Condition"My fellow theological conservatives commonly hold that the “Side B,” celibate gay Christian position does not have scripture and the confessions on its side. Side B’s use of the word “gay” is thought to make too many concessions to the cultural and political movement that would transform sexual relationships across Western countries. Specifically, it is alleged that this way of speaking makes out same-sex attraction to be sinless, as opposed to admitting that having same-sex sexual desires is itself sinful. This form of conservative response I will call “Side C.”However, the classification of the temptations and the psychology of...2023-01-2417 min
The Natural TheologianCan’t We Just Say “Common Grace,” Even if We Mean Nature?I received the following response twice since posting my critique of Common Grace Theology (CGT): “Can’t we just say ‘common grace,’ even if we mean nature?” This response led me to consider a connection to the philosophy of language, the subject of my PhD dissertation. There, a prominent debate concerns a distinction between sense and reference, the meaning of a term and the thing it refers to. When we have two ways of referring to the same thing, these share a referent (thing referred to) while differing in sense (connotation, meaning, etc.). This prompts a question: Aren’t “Common Grace”...2023-01-2308 min
The Natural TheologianAudio of "Based Academia, Part 3: Christian Analytic Philosophy"The most interesting test case of the assumptions of analytic philosophy are the Christian analytic philosophers. Clearly, orthodox Christianity falls outside the Overton window of secular, materialistic analytic philosophy. But in spite of departing from secular analytic orthodoxy on a couple of obvious points, they abide by the strictures of analytic thought on a great many others. In short, the problem is that Christian analytic philosophers reject some of the prejudices and assumptions of mainstream analytic philosophy, but not enough of them, and not always the right ones. This is a public episode. If you'd like...2023-01-2314 min
The Natural TheologianAudio of "CGT: Common Grace Theology and the Theology of Nature" This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-2011 min
The Natural TheologianMuted Trumpet on "Existentialism"Hear more at: Follow my music on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/joelcarinimusic. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-1900 min
The Natural TheologianBased Academia, Part 2: The Assumptions of Analytic Philosophers This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-1910 min
The Natural TheologianBased Academia, Part 1: Words and the WorldA reading of today's post, "Words and the World: Toward a Based Philosophy of Language." This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joelcarini.substack.com/subscribe2023-01-1803 min
Behind the WheelWe chat with master car restorer Wayne CariniChasing Classic Cars host talk’s car restoration on Behind the Wheel.
With a lifetime of experience in automobile restoration under his belt, master car restorer Wayne Carini has a resume that includes work on rare car collections owned by the likes of David Letterman and Ivan Lendl.
Wayne's passion for cars started when he was a child, working alongside his father on such classics as Duesenbergs, Lincolns, Packards and Ford Model As.
Then, at just 9 years of age, he experienced a life altering event: he went for a ride in his first Ferrari. Wayne was instantly bitten by the Fe...2015-11-2610 min