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CHARLIE KIRK'S INTERVIEW WITH ORTHODOX FATHER JOHN STRICKLAND

The beloved Conservative student activist who was taken from us last Wednesday, Sep. 10 in the prime of his life, also lived a rich spiritual life. He was raised in the Evangelical school of dispensationalism, but was keenly willing to learn about the theologies of more traditional Churches. His wife Erika is thought to be a cradle Catholic. Had he lived, Charlie might eventually have joined the Catholic or the Orthodox Church. Just a month ago he spoke with the Orthodox Archpriest, Father John Strickland, the author of a very important four-volume series of books titled "Paradise and Utopia: The Rise and Fall of What the West Once Was", which chronologically examines the history of Christendom (link). Here's the interview in three parts. 


Aug. 12, 2025 Real America's Voice: INSIDE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY: Father John Strickland Explains Faith, History & Why It’s Growing. Part 1. 


Aug. 12, 2025 Real America's Voice: INSIDE THE ORTHODOX CHURCH: No Bands, No Coffee Bars. Part 2. 


Aug. 12, 2025 Real America's Voice: INSIDE THE ORTHODOX CHURCH. Part 3. 

With respect to Substitutional Atonement, having gone into the differences between East and West at great length, has brought me to the thinkers that have influenced the West.

To sum up the contributions of Plato and  Saint Augustine would take up two volumes by itself. Between them they shaped Western Christianity into what it is today. We will get into it in an appendix at a later point in time. 

About Saint Anselm  of Canterbury (1033-1109) we can be much shorter. Just after the Great Schism, he broke with the Orthodox theology in articulating the 'satisfaction theory of atonement'.

It marked the important divorce from a Church that saw its role as a healer of broken souls to that of a judge in a religious court of law.

Leaving the broken Trinity aside for the moment and to put it colloquially, an angry God demands the tortuous death of his Son as punishment for our sins.

This explains how in the West salvation got caught up with the Crucifixion, whereas in the East the emphasis is on Eternal Life and the Resurrection. Repentance became synonymous with penitence.

Regarding the Eucharist, the Orthodox need no transubstantiation, because of the synthesis in world view: the physical and the spiritual were never separated. So unlike the West, there is no need for a magical reunification.

This point is so deeply buried, that not even advanced theologians have discovered this reality. It is discussed in detail in my upcoming e-book on synthesis and how it can help returning Western doctrine to the original ancient faith.


- More on Charlie Kirk, Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy, synthesis, Substitutional Atonement - 


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