Podcast Summary

The Lord of Spirits Podcast

Episode: Yesterday, Today & Forever
Date: December 30, 2025
Hosts: Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen De Young
Main Theme: The Seen and Unseen World in Orthodox Christian Tradition—Exploring the Incarnation, Eternity, and Time

Overview

In this Christmas episode, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Fr. Stephen De Young explore the profound theological question: How does the Incarnation of Jesus Christ intersect with the nature of time, eternity, and human experience? With characteristic humor and depth, the hosts untangle misconceptions about time and space, examine what it means for God to be eternal, and illuminate how the Incarnation answers ancient theological dilemmas. The episode moves from playful banter about holiday traditions through dense theological territory, always returning to the heart of the Orthodox Christian understanding: that Christ’s entry into human history bridges the infinite and the finite, offering hope for the deification of humanity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Banter: Setting the Stage

• The episode opens with friendly jokes about Christmas traditions, Chinese restaurants, and cultural references, establishing the casual yet intellectually rigorous tone for the discussion.
• [03:11] Fr. Andrew introduces the central question: "What does it mean when God appears bodily in the Old Testament?" and announces that the whole episode will be dedicated to exploring the Incarnation as it relates to time.

2. Time and Space: Do They Exist? (11:03)

• Fr. Stephen asserts provocatively: "Time and space don't exist." [11:03]

• The hosts break down what "existing" means, distinguishing between subjective experience (like color) and objective existence (like a wall).

• Time and space, they argue, are categories of human experience, not absolute external realities:

  "The categories of time and space are categories of human experience, like color, and not things that objectively exist without any people there." — Fr. Stephen [14:34]

• Our perception of time and space, including causality, is rooted in our finitude and subjectivity.

• Physics and personal experience affirm that time is relative and perceived differently depending on circumstances.

3. God and the Grid: Omnipresence and Eternity (25:17)

• The analogy: God’s omnipresence in space is similar to His eternity in time.

• God as omnipresent doesn't mean He "fills" space like a really big object or multiplies Himself across space, but rather that spatial categories simply do not apply to God:

  "Those categories don't apply to God because God is not a thing in the world. He doesn't exist in the way we do." — Fr. Stephen [34:02]

• Platonic ideas: They critique the Platonic notion that divine eternity means total stasis and changelessness, leading to mistaken theological constructs (e.g., God cannot act).

• Instead, the Orthodox understanding is that “temporal categories do not apply to God.” There is no "before," "after," or succession of moments for God.

4. Incoherence of "God in Time" Debates (45:47)

• Fr. Stephen directly challenges the assumptions behind Calvinist, Arminian, Molinist, and “open theist” debates:

  "The question, does God know what's going to happen in the future? Is an incoherent question. There is not an answer to it because it's not coherent." [45:55]

• The hosts stress that God does not exist at a point in space or time but that God nonetheless acts at particular times and places within the created order so that humans can encounter Him.

5. Incarnation: The Bridge Between Infinite and Finite (56:24)

• Key thesis: The Incarnation is both the paradigm and the basis for God's entering into human experience.
• The eternal Word takes up human nature—not merely a human person or a representative, but truly Himself. This destroys the barrier between God's infinity and human finitude.
• This provides an answer to the dilemma faced by rabbinic Judaism and Islam: how can the infinite God communicate with finite humans? In Christianity, Christ is not a messenger; He is the message:

  "Christ is not a human person...but he is God. And not at the expense of each other." — Fr. Stephen [65:55]

6. Christology Explained: The Human and Divine Natures (66:32)

• The Son of God assumes our shared human nature; not a “thing,” but the set of human powers and potentialities (including a soul, will, passions).
• Incarnation is additive, not subtractive:

  "He was everything he always was. Plus. Plus these human powers and potentialities." — Fr. Stephen [72:12]

• Christ does not set aside divinity (“kenosis” is about suffering and humiliation, not ceasing to be God).

7. Christ, Time, and the Orthodox Reading of History (74:50)

• The Old Testament is full of God being both infinite and present locally (e.g., in the Holy of Holies, at Abraham's table).
• The Incarnation doesn't just appear in the New Testament—it is retroactively the key to all of these paradoxes.
• Anthropic language in the Bible is not merely poetic but relates to the intrinsic theomorphic nature of humanity.

8. The Resurrection Body & Transcendence of Categories (98:12)

• Post-resurrection, Christ’s body is physical and interacts differently with space/time (e.g., appears in locked rooms, not always recognized).
• The resurrected humanity of Christ now participates in divine omnipresence; spatial and temporal categories no longer apply.
• Orthodox anthropology: Christ’s humanity is the logical antecedent for all humanity. Adam is modeled after Christ, not vice versa.

  "Christ's humanity is logically prior to Adam's humanity. Adam's humanity is a reflection of Christ's humanity." — Fr. Stephen [96:47]

9. The Destiny of Humanity: Theosis and Eternal Life (101:26)

• Theosis: Christians are deified in Christ, partaking in the divine nature.
• Eternity for the saved does NOT mean endless unchanging time, nor repetitive cyclical existence or Platonic stasis—it is participation in the infinite, which is ultimately beyond current human comprehension.
• The hosts warn against projecting our current finite, temporal categories onto the life of the age to come.

10. Practical Implications: Saints, Prayer, and the Christian Life (106:21)

• Communion with the saints is possible because they now share in Christ’s deified, infinite humanity.
• Spiritual phenomena (prayer to saints, “bilocation,” etc.) are not magical but are the extension of Christ’s transfigured humanity to the faithful.
• Christian hope is not just for a vague afterlife, but the restoration and eternalization of all that is truly good, beautiful, and joyful in creation.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the incoherence of debates about God’s foreknowledge

  "Saying God chose people in advance for salvation is incoherent. Saying that he made that choice based on his foreknowledge—equally, if not more, incoherent." — Fr. Stephen [46:54]

• On Incarnation as additive, not subtractive

  "He was everything he always was. Plus. Plus these human powers and potentialities, plus allowing himself to suffer these blameless passions." — Fr. Stephen [72:12]

• On Christ as the basis for humanity

  "Christ’s humanity is logically prior to Adam’s humanity. Adam’s humanity is a reflection of Christ’s humanity." — Fr. Stephen [96:47]

• On the future hope for Christians

  "Everything that was good, everything that was beautiful, everything that was joyous, every experience of peace... is all going to come back. That is all going to be made eternal... And everything that stopped you and I... all those barriers are going to be gone." — Fr. Stephen [121:11]

• On the present reality of the Kingdom

  "The infinite God and the infinite possibility of human exaltation, elevation, salvation, deification is available to us right now. Right now." — Fr. Andrew [113:08]

Important Timestamps

• 03:11 — Introduction of the episode’s main question: God’s appearances in the Old Testament and time
• 11:03 — “Time and space don't exist.” Begin discussion on the categories of existence
• 25:17 — Spatial analogy for understanding eternity
• 45:47 — God, time, and the incoherence of Western theological debates
• 56:24 — The Incarnation as key to the infinite/finite divide
• 66:32 — Orthodox Christology: The divine person, shared human nature, natures and powers
• 96:47 — Christ’s humanity precedes Adam’s in the logic of the Incarnation
• 101:26 — Eucharist, deification, eternity for human beings
• 113:08 — The present reality and availability of the Kingdom of God through Christ
• 121:11 — Final reflections on hope, eternity, and the transformation of all that is good

Tone and Delivery

• The hosts employ sharp wit, self-deprecating humor, and playful jabs (especially at William Lane Craig, Calvinists, and certain Western theological tropes).
• Their language is rich, direct, sometimes irreverent but always returning to deep reverence for the subject matter.
• They make the theology accessible through analogies, pop culture references, literary allusions, and frequent scriptural citations.

Concluding Thoughts

This episode gives listeners a sweeping yet precise tour of Orthodox Christology and its implications for anthropology, soteriology, and eschatology, centered on the mystery of the Incarnation. The practical result is a message of boundless hope: through participation in Christ, the limitations of time, death, and finitude are transcended—not just in some far-off future, but beginning here and now.

Final Word: Orthodox Christmas Greeting

Fr. Andrew:

"Christ is born. Glorify him. That the infinite one is born, that he is human. And we glorify him because he is God. And in glorifying him, then we also participate in his glory... the infinite possibility of human exaltation...is available to us right now." [114:20–115:20]

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!