Send us Fan Mail

The Living In Faith Everyday Podcast: L.I.F.E. Podcast:

This is my Bi-Monthly podcast that seeks to respond to and engage with the world of Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment from a Christian Perspective.

Welcome to my next episode, taking you through the history of philosophy from my Christian perspective.

Today the philosophical landscape doesn’t just expand… it tilts, cracks, and rearranges itself entirely. Up to now, our journey through the Presocratics has been almost gentle. The Milesians and Pythagoras were asking big questions, yes, but they were still playing the same game. Today, the whole question changes, and today, the ground beneath our feet begins to move. Because, in this episode, we meet three thinkers who are no longer content to identify the universe’s ingredients. They want to know something far more unsettling:

What is real?

Is the world we see the world as it truly is?

And what, if anything, can we say about the divine?

And the thinkers who ask them—Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Parmenides—will reshape the entire trajectory of Western thought.

Xenophanes: The Poet Who Challenged the Gods

He is the first Greek thinker to say, “God is not like us, and we should stop pretending He is.”

Heraclitus: The Philosopher of Fire and Flux

Heraclitus is the first to say that reality is not static; it is dynamic, restless, alive.

Parmenides: The Philosopher Who Froze the Universe

For Parmenides, change is impossible. Reality is one, eternal, unchanging, indivisible.

If Heraclitus gives us a river, Parmenides gives us a sort of philosophical block of marble.

Their clash will shape Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, the medieval theologians, and what later emerges as the entire Christian philosophical tradition.

This is the moment in the story where philosophy becomes self‑aware and where the questions deepen. Where the conversation becomes even more dramatic, and woven through these thinkers are themes that Christians will later recognise with startling clarity:

The criticism of idols.

The search for the One behind everything.

The desire for a truth that does not move

So welcome to today’s episode, where the river meets the rock, where the poet meets the prophet, and where the ancient world begins to wrestle with q

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

Send us Fan Mail

Episode Notes: Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Pythagoras - From the Breath of Life to the Music of the Spheres.

In our last episode, we spent time with Thales, the man who looked at the world and said, “Let’s think about this properly.” In today’s episode, we meet the three more thinkers who followed in his wake, three men who took his spark of curiosity and fanned it into something far larger, stranger, and maybe more ambitious.

If Thales dipped his toe into the waters of philosophy, Anaximander dove straight into the deep end. He wasn’t satisfied with water as the source of everything. No, he wanted something bigger, something more mysterious, something he called the apeiron, a term meaning something more “boundless, the limitless.”

Then comes Anaximenes, the philosopher of breath, of spirit, of the invisible substance that he believed filled the world and animates life.

And finally, today we will also meet Pythagoras, the man whose name still haunts schoolchildren everywhere. But behind the triangle theorem is a thinker of astonishing depth. A mystic, a mathematician, a community‑builder, and a man who believed that the universe itself is structured like music.

So today, we’re stepping into a world where philosophy begins to stretch its wings—where thinkers start asking not just what the world is made of, but how it holds together, why it is ordered, and what that order might mean for human life.

From the limitless… to the breath of life… to the music of the spheres…

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

Send us Fan Mail

Thales of Miletus was one of the so-called ‘Seven Sages of Greece’. He lived in a thriving Ionian port and was known not only as a thinker but as a gifted astronomer, mathematician, and engineer. But what truly makes Thales the origin story of philosophy is not his practical genius or his comic mishaps. It’s the fact that he sought a single natural principle—the archê—from which everything comes and to which everything returns.

And here’s where things get interesting for Christians.

Firstly, Thales believed the world had a single unifying source

Secondly, Thales believed the world was animated by a life‑giving principle

Thirdly, Thales believed the universe was intelligible.

Finally, Thales believed wisdom begins with self‑knowledge

Thales didn’t know where his questions would lead. But he opened the door. And when the Christian later stepped through that door, it brought the answers his world had been reaching for….

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

Send us Fan Mail

2nd in my series, which follows my journey through a History of Philosophy and puts my particular spin on what I have learned over the last 2 weeks.

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

Send us Fan Mail

Introduction to the Year-Long Series.

For the next year on The L.I.F.E. Podcast, we’re going on a journey. Well, if I’m going on this journey, I’ve decided to take you with me.

I’m currently starting a course called The History of Philosophy, using A.C. Grayling’s well-known book of the same name as the course textbook. Grayling is a brilliant thinker, a sharp writer, and—let’s be honest—a committed atheist and humanist who approaches philosophy with the confidence of a man who has never once been tempted to pray before an exam.

But here is the thing.... Even when a worldview differs from ours, I still believe there is treasure to be found. What Christians refer to as gifts of God’s, ‘Common Grace.’

There are questions worth wrestling with, ideas worth reframing, and moments when the Christian story shines all the brighter when contrasted with a humanist worldview. So, each month, I’ll take what’s helpful from the talks, the readings, and the lively discussions that follow, and then react to those ideas from a Christian philosophical worldview—one shaped by Scripture, the wisdom of the Christian thinking, and the lived experience of faith.

Think of it as a guided tour through the great thinkers of history… with a Christian commentary track in the background. And occasionally you might even hear me, by the tone of my voice, raise a Christian eyebrow.

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

Send us Fan Mail

My Reflection on the Illusion of living in a modern consumer society.

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

Send us Fan Mail

Episode Notes:

The centre of the Christian faith is not an idea, a philosophy, or a spiritual technique. It is a person. A person with skin and bones. A person who ate, wept, touched, and was touched. A God who became a person who lived a fully embodied human life.... God did not save us by lifting us out of our humanity. God saved us by entering it.

From the opening chapters of Scripture, we see that God cares about the whole of life. In Leviticus, even the smallest details—how we eat, how we rest, how we treat the sick, how we honour the land—are woven into worship. Nothing is too small or too physical to matter to God.

In a digital age, this truth feels more urgent than ever. We live more online than in person. We argue without seeing faces. We curate images of ourselves that hide our real bodies. We fear touch because of past harm, and we fear presence because of illness. We are becoming a generation unsure of how to inhabit our own skin.

But Scripture calls us back to something deeper: You do not have a body—you are a body. You are a whole person, made in the image of God. Your physical presence is part of your spiritual calling.

The resurrection of Jesus shows us that our future hope is not disembodied escape but renewed, restored, embodied life. Jesus rises with his scars, the marks of his suffering. He eats. He breaks bread. He is changed, yet still recognisably human. Our hope is not to leave our bodies behind, but to have them made whole.

References:

Scripture:

John 1:1–14

Leviticus 11:44 – “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Genesis 2:7, 23 – “Flesh of my flesh.”

Matthew 6:10 – “Your kingdom come…”

Romans 12:1 – “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice…”

Luke 3:6 – “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Church Fathers & Classical Theologians.

Athanasius of Alexandria. “He became what we are, that He might make us what He is.” (On the Incarnation, §54.)

Gregory of Nazianzus. “What is not assumed is not healed.” (Epistle 101 to Cledonius).

Irenaeus of Lyons. “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” (Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapter 20.)

Modern Theologians & Thinkers.

Abraham Joshua Heschel. “The Bible is not man’s theology but God’s anthropology.” (God in Search for Man.)

N.T.

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

Send us Fan Mail

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” — Proverbs 16:9

This week, I found myself lingering in the company of a man who lived three centuries before the birth of Christ: Aristotle. This is a special double-length episode in which I explore "A Christian History of Aristotle." It is a long conversation, and one I recorded and offered as ‘Patreon-only’ content back in 2024. However, I believe it is a discussion that is vital for anyone wanting to understand the "spiritual architecture" of the world we live in today.

Aristotle famously said that "an unplanned life is not worth examining." He believed that to truly "live well" and to achieve what he called Eudaimonia (happiness or flourishing), a person must live with intentionality. He argued that we are not born virtuous; rather, we become what we repeatedly do. Excellence, in his eyes, was not an act, but a habit.

As I sat with his writings, I couldn't help but feel a sense of thankfulness for what Christian theologians call "Common Grace." He saw that we are creatures of habit. He saw that we have "real goods" (the things we truly need, like truth and friendship) and "apparent goods" (the things we think we want, but which often leave us empty). When Jesus said in John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full," He was addressing that same deep human ache for flourishing—but He provided the only source that can satisfy it.

The Bible takes this even further in 2 Corinthians 13:5, urging us to "examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith." In the podcast, I look at how the Christian process of sanctification takes Aristotle’s idea of "virtuous habits" and breathes supernatural life into them. We aren't just trying to be "better versions of ourselves"; Christians believe we are being transformed into the image of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, Aristotle was a man of his time, and as Christians, we must hold his wisdom with a discerning hand. That's why, in the episode, I don't shy away from his controversial views on slavery and women—views that fall when placed alongside the radical equality of Galatians 3:28, where we learn that we are all "one in Christ Jesus."

Support the show

Follow and support me on Patreon.

Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon

To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at:

Jeremy McCandless | Substack

Check out my other Podcasts.

The Bible Project: https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com

The L.I.F.E. Podcast (Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment).

https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com

The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891

The Classic Literature Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906

To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit:

Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update