Jay Dyer & Pavel Schelin: Powers & Principalities 1: Russia, USA & Orthodoxy

He was interested in film and theater before shifting to theology and philosophy.

“I began, I guess, as a guy in high school just really interested in film”

He spent a long time exploring Orthodoxy and eventually converted to it.

“...it took me a long time to grapple with it”

His interests in various fields, including religion and philosophy, have remained consistent throughout his journey.

“Usually people think like, uh, we tend to think that uh faith and Uh other interests of our life... kind of belong to separate brackets.”

Modernity incorrectly separates religion from politics and culture.

“I think that doesn't really make any sense.”

Orthodoxy and political identity are often misunderstood and can overshadow each other.

“it's very uncommon for even within orthodox tradition to treat it as a center point”

He relates conspiracies and geopolitics to audience perceptions of his work.

“it tends to give a kind of possibility of who's he's speaking for”

Modern education primarily emphasizes bureaucratic and modernity-based values over meaning.

“it's kind of basically a combination of bureaucracy with a lot of second-hand modernity”

The modern academic environment neglects the question of meaning in favor of pragmatic approaches.

“modern academy... doesn't bother itself with the question of meaning”

His journey reflects a broader disillusionment with rationalism in political science.

“they kind of failed to actually explain why people do it”

Traditional narratives have been lost in modern political discourse.

“...this is not the story which is being told...”

Kantian philosophy abstracts away meaning in political discourse.

“...one of the things I brought up in that discussion was story and meaning...”

History and its connection to meaning is essential for understanding politics.

“...History itself is not enough if you don't connect it to the bigger story...”

Nominalism disassociates names from their essential meanings.

“nominalism is the idea that things don't have any real essence or”

Historically, names were understood to have an ontological connection to their meanings.

“the ancient world they understood a real Ontological connection between the name and meaning”

Modern rational thought has created a disconnect in understanding reality and meaning.

“What I learned most in my studies was analysis... it takes part of the whole and studies it as a part while insisting that that is enough”

A holistic approach to politics is necessary to overcome current disconnections.

“I hope we will move closer to the question.”