From Heretic to Orthodox: Everything I Thought About Christianity Was Wrong

Why are so many modern philosophers converting to Eastern Orthodoxy? In part one of this two-part episode, Nathan Jacobs shares his personal journey from a "wild-eyed, heretical philosopher" to an Eastern Orthodox Christian. Rather than a standard testimony, this discussion charts a rigorous intellectual odyssey—from a childhood of intense theological debates and a terrifying, LSD-fueled awakening to the reality of hell, to an academic search spanning Augustine, Kant, and process philosophy. Nathan exposes why the Western doctrines of inherited guilt, penal substitution, and scholasticism ultimately repelled him, and how a major philosophical roadblock forced him to rethink everything. If you’ve ever struggled to reconcile the dynamic God of Scripture with Western theology, this episode offers a raw, brilliant look at why the West left a gap that only the Orthodox East could fill.====================================== Do you like this content? Join Jacobs Premium to get exclusive access to written essays, exclusive lecture series, monthly Q&A Zoom calls, and our book club. Use code: LEWIS to get a discount: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/====================================== Timestamps 00:00 Philosophers Becoming Orthodox: A Growing Trend 01:11 Early Life: Lutheran Catechesis and Family Debates 03:47 Questioning Genesis and Common Christian Teachings 06:21 The Deficiency of the Reformation’s View of Salvation 07:28 Embracing Hedonism and Art School 08:21 A Spiritual Awakening: LSD, Consciousness, and Hell 13:44 An Obsessive Pursuit of Truth vs. Comfort 15:48 Investigating the West: Augustine and Hellenic Syncretism 21:25 Why Western Doctrines of Original Sin and Hell Repelled Me 23:35 Turning to Process Philosophy and the Problem of Evil 28:01 Defending Metaphysics Against Immanuel Kant 30:57 Constructing Heresies: Nominalism and Materialism 33:44 Becoming a Platonist: Why Nominalism is a Dead End 35:12 Preview of Part Two: Two Worlds Apart ====================================== Do you like this content? Join Jacobs Premium to get exclusive access to essays, lecture series, monthly Q&A Zoom calls, and our book club. Use code: LEWIS to get a discount: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/ Support the East West Series: http://theeastwestseries.com/ ====================================== All links: The Theological Letters (Substack): https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathanandrewjacobs Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs Listen and please review the podcast elsewhere: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast