Paul Kingsnorth: the conversion of a celebrated author and environmentalist 

Saying a prayer for you right now, my friend.

I wandered away from God and actually became a practising Buddhist. I got really good at meditating and was able to sit without thinking for minuits at a time, but then kept thinking, 'so what now?' I was drawn back to God and now when I meditate, I know I am sitting in the presence of God and I use the phrase, 'Be still and know that I am God', breathing with the words. Now it all makes sense.

@@avalon6467 I've said several prayers for you since I posted that comment. Thanks for the update -- I'll keep praying. :)

I pray it will lead you down the narrow way. Home.

I wish you the best on your journey.

I don't believe in a personal god that speaks english. But I think part of it is that god is always talking to us, we just ignore him. Part of prayer is simply just listening to whatever is already being told to you.

​@@dixonhill1108That's one way to understand it too. At the end of the day, when you listen, to when you ask. God may sometimes speak to you through your conscience or an external event you can't explain why it happened, except that God answered your prayer 😁 Anyways, happy Easter/Paschal. Christ is risen! ☦️🙏🏾

I also had a powerful experience this last Easter. It felt like my ego was melted down in the face of Christ. The absolute majesty of our Heavenly Father is more than a lot of people will be able to bear when their blindness is lifted. There's really nothing like Jesus, but people sadly only have this cartoonish conception of Him. A lot came to me in this experience as well. We have science, logic, symbolism, etc. but what grounds all of these is *experience.* This is what I experienced as profoundly and deeply true on Easter. Our blindness is how we actually experience reality in a certain way that allows us to truly grow and learn. Paradise is perfect. It is so filled with peace and multiplicity all at once. Before this experience, I was experiencing what I understood to be spiritual warfare - even if it was in my mind, it was scary. My mother had been playing around with these cards, and I stopped trusting in them (she gave me a deck, like tarot but not tarot). I experienced something like seeing a demonic rune in my mind's eye, appearing as a portal to the false paradise that these cards promised in a black void of nothing... the void so black that it is almost like anti-something rather than nothing. I experienced an image of Paradise as though looking out from a Gothic Cathedral during my Easter vision. I realized afterwards that this was the evil rune, but transformed. I then later found out that symbolically speaking (from someone else), God transforms such symbols through death. Just as the cross was transformed as a symbol of a humiliating execution through death, this horrific false vision of Paradise was transformed into a true vision of Paradise... on Easter, after I had my experience of a sort of death. Reality is stunning. That is all I can say. I used to be an atheist nihilist, by the way. Physics bachelor's. I also do not have psychosis or anything like that - this was all temporary and confined to that week before Easter and on Easter morning.

I've been having experiences every year at Easter for quite a few years (I must be obtuse lol). Same message.

@@kathleen7849 We're all pretty obtuse and blind most of the time. Lol.

Yeah. True growth means humility in the face of the ultimate abyss, the cosmos, death. Not hubris to think that humans can conquer or understand ultimate truth.

Your summary is excellent on these "New Atheists". The repetitiveness of their message has become so predictable that I've completely tuned out, especially when it comes to those three individuals. They offer nothing fresh or insightful, reminiscent of listening to my 16-year-old self, which was both tiresome and self-satisfied.

@@aisthpaoitht No, to fall for this ancient superstitious garbage is the opposite of humility. Humility would mean excepting that we dont have all the answers and not just going with the answer that feels good or is the historical precedent, which is what this guy is arguing. Humility would mean excepting that there is no compelling evidence for god no matter what any book says

@@jimreplicant wrong

That's a good way to describe their demeanor and the impression it leaves - that of a teenager who has condescended to lecture the adults concerning the meaning of life and the universe and who cannot resist insulting his audience.

My story as well. Yes, good to know we are not alone.

This is funny...I began reading your comment at the very second he he said those words. Unusual timing.

I tell people that one of the main reasons I became a Christian is because Christians are different.

There are several other books in Greek on St Porphyrios that have not yet been translated or widely distributed. I’ve read some accounts by people who knew him and the miracles they experienced were like right out of the Bible. There were other such saints who reposed in the 90’s such as St Paisios (Mount Athos), and in Essex, England, you have St Sophrony, spiritual son of St Silouan of Athos. Who will there be in our day? TS Eliot had a line in Murder in the Cathedral….”We wait, we wait, And the saints and martyrs wait, for those who shall be martyrs and saints.” The martyrs of our age are many, not least among them the 21 Coptic martyrs (one being from Ghana or Chad, Matthew Ayariga) who were beheaded in Sirte, Libya by the Islamists on 15 February, 2015…their day of birth into heaven

"...lockdown helpful in the ways described..." Yes, but it was not at all helpful to the poor and working class. More evidence that it is impossible to come up with a universal answer for The Machine.

It's easy to forget that the stories are the product of a Middle Eastern culture and are thousands of years old. For many, the only exposure to them comes from an imperfect, 400-year-old early modern English translation. No wonder so many people are confused. Having said this, your description of struggles with meaning, sometimes for long periods, and then out of nowhere, sudden flashes of insight, is accurate.

A

@@peterplotts1238 And my experiences are mostly from Swedish translations,Swedish is even further away than the english. It is a poorer language. Still sometimes I think the meaning of the Bible transcend language and cultural barriiers.

@@viktoriaregis6645 Sorry about the blank I just sent you. Swedish is closer to German. Would it have been any help? Probably not. Translation is a tricky business under the best circumstances. Of course, you are absolutely right about the transcendence of the Bible's message. By the way, I have been considering picking up another language, and Swedish is on the shortlist.

@@viktoriaregis6645 That would be ideal. It's how we learn language as children. Unfortunately, there is a severe shortage of Swedes in Texas. Please send more.

Listen again. For one, he spoke of his dream about Jesus.

That is true. So many people lost their lifes, jobs, education, homes, and children could not go to school. We could not see the elderly in person a lot or visit them when they got sick!

The part that was nice is that people got to be home more with loved ones, traffic and smog reduced and the skies cleared so people could see mountains and things that were previously obscured by smog

I don’t think that they were trying to say that the pandemic was a good thing. Of course, people dying, losing their jobs was bad. But animals being able to come out freely where they usually would not be able go and less smog was definitely a silver lining.

she made a great point actually. I remember looking up at the skies (in central London) and it just being completely clear of planes, and no cars anywhere. Fresh air!

If you can't see the good in things, you aren't seeing God's work in it. Be like a bee and find the sweet things. Not like a fly constantly attracted to 💩.

Romanian Orthodox is just the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church he was received into. When one becomes Orthodox one is simply Orthodox Christian and you are in communion with all other Orthodox Christian's, so you can be received into Orthodoxy through the Romanian jurisdiction, but attend a Greek or Russian Orthodox church..

Then dont engage with it😊

@@dianefarrell2343 I was curious. But now I keep away from it. ChatGPT is too woke for my taste. It is odd that it made me angry. It also made me think about anger in online communities. How much of it is authentic anger?

I never reached a point in the video where he revealed how he trusted in Christ for pardon from sin and eternal life.

You didn't understand. He read Bible for shure but he belongs to the Church not to bible circle so he reads the lifes of saints too

Well, in the orthodox (primary ancient christian church) there is no Sola Scriptura, sorry. The Gospels and Bibile are the most important books of course, but not the single ones. There are also many others like the books giving the rigjt interpretation how to understand the Bible in the spirit not by the law, also Philocallia collection books, The Egyptian Paterikon, the writings of the saints teachings from God or telling us from their wisdom and expriences etc. There is not any Sola Scriptura, but there is the Bible + The tradition of the Church. Actually I would be afraid of a man who belongs with narrow mindness to a single one book.

Scripture doesn't say you have to only be blown away by scripture alone. Be careful not to turn the Bible into an idol. The saints are people who've lived out the Gospel in their lives and so it makes sense as to why a Christian is amazed by the life of a saint. He sees Christ in Saint Porphyrios

@@olubunmiolumuyiwa great spokesperson

Wounded by Love: The Life and Wisdom of Saint Porphyrios

@@georgepaul7019 thank you so much !

Those communities have loads of issues. It’s not a utopia.

@@Wrensparrow Agreed. But also imagine if Jesus had decided to live in religious community & not in the world. The following quote seems to be a call for engagement rather than isolation: "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

These cultures, like Jesus, focus more on love than war. Love your enemies.

@@geoattoronto Agreed! (Though did anybody claim otherwise?) The point I was trying to make was that Jesus went into the world, (to spread love!), not into a commune or monastery cut off from the world.... Peace.

He went into the desert all the time...much of the gospel records the apostles looking for him after he went off on his own to a lonley place. He spent the first 30 years out of public ministry. And, his work of salvation, in the end, was done largley alone. With his mom, and aparently John being the only ones around at the very end. @@marcsmirnoff936

When does he actually say in this video that he entered into a relationship with Christ? I didn't pick up on that.

@@bettyrouch1833 You are right he doesn't actually say this.

A personal relationship with Jesus is at the center of Orthodox Christianity. He doesn't use evangelicalese language, but he does talk about the need for a personal relationship with God. At the center of Orthodox Christianity is inviting Jesus to be the Lord of your life on the altar of your heart. This is what the divine liturgy dramatizes at a corporate level. The priest invites Jesus into the heart of the church, which is the altar, and God becomes food for us. Can't get more personal and self-giving than that. Can't get more personal than God offering himself to you, and uniting himself to you at every level of who you are. If you are looking for him to talk like an evangelical Christian, then you are looking for a lexicon that has a 200-year history.

He even talks about having a vivid dream where Jesus met him, and he realized he was seeking a personal relationship with the one who made him.@@tinfacesful

@@bettyrouch1833Does Jesus come over for coffee?

How does that work?😊

@@grahamblack1961 Evidently, it doesn't work for you. If you would like a proper answer, I can give you one, but I expect you would rather I didn't. On the other hand, I have been wrong about people's intentions in the past and could be wrong now.

@@peterplotts1238 You still have said anyof any substance

😂

I hear you.

Is it not a relationship between you and Jesus? Not so much about joining anything (of this world) but becoming united by the blood of Christ in the Kingdom of God? Denomination doesn't equate to salvation. Joining what might be deemed as the 'right' denomination but failing to have a relationship with Christ is pointless 👀

My reaction exactly. When did he actually commit himself to Christ and have a born-again experience? He just started identifying as "Christian."

@@bettyrouch1833 For your information, I am an Orthodox Christian. I have immersed myself in the deep stream of the true church. And - literally - in the deep waters of the river Shannon, at my baptism. The Orthodox know precisely what the faith is: they have guarded it unchanged for 2000 years. Christ is risen. Blessings to you.

@@Peekay72 God bless you, too. Your standing with God is between you and Him, obviously. Your off-the-target response only deepens my concern, however. I wondered what day it was and you answered, "Steak and chips."

You know what christianity is, right?

The world is burning

The Lord has that under control...Paul will probably come to realize that. I wonder if Paul has yet to get around to the 2nd coming of Jesus, which Jesus promised. Probably too early in his walk with the Lord.

A surprising number of people, from ancient history to now, have had supernatural conversions in which belief was (in a manner) forced on them-albeit in a very gentle, loving manner. And is "evidence" the only thing that leads to faith? (It's the only factor you mention.) Curiosity, sensitivity, insight, experience, & a love of truth (among other things?) might also help lead to it. Side Note: If what you claim is true about what causes belief, it also follows that Dawkins & his ilk disbelieve because they "have a longing, a need...a genetic need to" disbelieve, which sounds kind of stunting or maybe even ominous.

...I suppose Dawkins believes that statement to be true because of his own genetic need then....

But that need is itself a form of evidence. Why does humanity as a whole have this need? We need food, and there is food. We need sex, and there is sex. We need shelter and there is shelter. This latter could be a good analogy. The religions of the world are all the sorts of shelters humans built for themselves, like houses and building etc. But the essence of 'shelter' is given to us by the natural world, in caves and in forests. We are in danger of straying from the truth with our overweening imaginations. To the extent that we use our imagination to alienate ourselves from what we are given, the further from God we are. It's an awareness of the true path, not that we should live in caves and forests. It's an analogy, but also relevant to our proper relationship with nature. Organized religions are either close to God or far from God, ie. in league with the Devil. They've lost the true path.

Buddhism in the West is still very much a minority religion compared to Christianity. If you look at say the UK. 52% are no religion. 35% Christian. 6.7% Islam. "Other Religions" - (of which Buddhism is just one of them). 3.6%. Mindfulness has been growing in popularity though which perhaps accounts for something. I don't know the specific reasons for the decline of Christianity in the West - given the 52% no religion, presumably secularisation has a big hand to play.

Gravity is also only a theory.

Less of a boyfriend or best mate... more of a Saviour I suspect for both branches.

Can't say for others, in general: 1. It's more manly, 2. if all saints have it - it's ok for me to have it too, 3. Becomes clear it's irrelevant to have fine trim and do stuff like that, it's a bit of passion to over-caring over oneself

That’s a bit unfair and highly judgmental , it seems you’re knowledgable on the Christian basics and that’s true what you said of course(I’m a Christian), but it was an interview, they asked him questions and he responded best he could , keep in mind he’s a new Christian. shouldn’t you at least listen to the entire thing before you base a (fully informed) opinion on him to say such things? Your final sentence> That’s a most awful and uncaring presumption.

@@kendallmiller-coates5998 The interview was supposedly about his becoming a Christian. I simply stated what I objectively observed. If your testimony omits the essentials of a genuine Christian conversion, your testimony is hollow. I listened to more later. Nothing allayed my disappointment. I would think any regenerate believer would react similarly. You seem annoyed and put out that I merely pointed out a fact. I find THAT response peculiar.

He is orthodox christian, he is not protestant, and orthodox christian teaching about salvation is more complex than just "have faith and believe", like the reductionist protestant perspective. Because in the orthodox church there is not such statement and belief by simply only believe . Believing in Jesus Christ and having faith is only the beginning of the journey, is only the first step. Demons too believe in Jesus Christ, they know Jesus is God and Son of God (remember in the Gospels how many times they were yelling through the possessed persons when Jesus would get closer). So demons have faith too, right? But that is not enough to be saved. Demons believe too, even having a stronger faith than most of the people in the world like atheists, that Jesus Christ is really the Saviour of the mankind and the Son of God. But that doesn't mean that demons are being saved! :)))) So only having some faith in Jesus Christ is not enough for being saved. This is only the starting point. The journey to salvation means also many other things like "metanoia"/the changing of the mind, sacraments for the grace of the Holy Spirit, purification of the sins and passions, illumination and unification of the mind and heart, etc. How could be such an essential thing on Earth to be so easily achieved only if you believe and that's all? Salvation is not a destination but a journey of a life time. Even more, besides the fact that is the most ancient primal christian denomination with roots back in the times of the Apostles, orthodoxy is not actually a religion, it is "going back home", it is way of living, according to many saints of God. If you want to understand more and why he didn't say only "I was saved by only believing that Jesus Christ is God" , than read more about the Orthodox Christianity Church, history and teachings, (the primar ancient christian church with almost 2000 years long tradition).

That’s what people did from the beginning, they didn’t go off with their book

Yeah - I had only just discovered him when I also discovered that he'd converted. Let's just say, it certainly opened up a whole new world of opportunities for him to expand his brand.

I asked God to prove himself to me by answering an impossible prayer. He answered it that same afternoon. And He answered two more that were very very improbable. Then a few weeks later I was born again as Jesus says you MUST be (John 3). Just this week a non-believer heard my story about a prayer God answered (not the ones above). She was aghast at all the conditions that had to be met for the prayer to be answered. She was reeling at all the supernatural intervention that occurred. There is a God. He answers prayer. And His son Jesus died so every person could be reconciled to God (and not have to pay the penalty for his own sin).

I am a Christian, and I share your assessment of Kingsnorth. I could tell you why I believe, tho, and while you likely would discount my reasons, I do have them. He does not, except for some vaguely implied opinion that Christianity (not Jesus himself, just the antimodern trappings of the Orthodox church) are very appealing to him.. Honestly, I think he just likes the idea of slapping the "pedigree" of ancient British folk christianity on top of his dirt worship, and this is a phase for him, like all his other spiritual meanderings. His wife is a Buddhist, I believe, and is probably waiting for him to grow bored with his latest reinvention of self and move to something else.

What we call Christianity has a Greek myth at the basis of salvation and differs from real sanctification that Jesus was an example of - this meant a close oneness with God and receiving his love nature into one’s spirit.

Through Theosis (becoming one with God and participating in the Divine Energies) such a thing is impossible. One becomes a perfect divine being (though not a god) in unity with Christ upon entering into Heaven, and will remain as such after the Final Judgement and the establishing of Christ's Kingdom on Earth.

That is not possible.

The pitch that "we don't believe in god any more" ... is nonsense. It's more that most of us don't feel the need to frame our beliefs in terms of traditional religious forms.

You seem to be having fun leaving negative comments underneath all my videos at the moment, Nick. Always good to see someone who once broke bread in your house mouthing off against you on the Internet. I'm not a fan of Jordan Peterson, but if you're not aware that vast numbers of young people, especially men, very much are, then you're living in cloud cuckoo land. I'mn not sure which 'chattering classes' you can see 'reinforcing the religious instititions' in Britain. Those institutions are in full on collapse, and the chattering classes - including artists like yourself - have been aiding and abbetting that collapse for years. The world in which 'institutional religion' had any power in Britain or Western europe has been dead for a century. As for 'a religious system that divides people by virtue of the fact it defines them as other to everyone else': I've no idea what this word salad means, but given that the Christian faith is the origin of your apparent belief in equality, it is especially confusing. Every human being is an icon of God: this is the central Orthodox understanding. On the other hand, God expects things of us. And Christianity has beliefs: just like any philosophy, or indeed any person. Your politics very clearly 'divide people' by defining groups you don't like (Christians, the 'right', 'white men', all the usual categories) as 'other to everyone else.' Any actually self-aware individual would know that being a human on this Earth requires us to define our beliefs: what is right and wrong, what is true and untrue. We both do that. You just pretend not to.

Funny the atrocities committed by officially atheistic regimes, just in the 20th century

Of course nobody religious ever committed atrocities