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A Commitment to Reality

A Commitment to Reality

Von: Christian Research Institute
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 Hosted by Dave Hanegraaff

A Commitment to Reality is a podcast for a post-truth—and increasingly post-reality—age. We are living through one of the most disorienting periods in human history—leaving many to wonder: What is reality? As artificial intelligence accelerates and institutional trust erodes, our shared sense of what is real continues to crumble. Reality is the way the world truly is—independent of our beliefs, opinions, or illusions. If truth is the map by which we navigate our lives, then it is no surprise that we feel disoriented when we live by lies. The post-truth, post-reality crisis is not merely an intellectual problem; it is an existential one. A commitment to reality is a dedication to discerning what is true and developing the discipline to live in alignment with that truth—with reality. This podcast is an apologetic for reality—each episode serving as an intentional act of grounding our existence together as we commit to what is beautiful, good, and true.Copyright Christian Research Institute Spiritualität
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  • Sin Isn’t Your Main Problem—Art of Unseen Warfare | Justin Marler

    Sin Isn’t Your Main Problem—Art of Unseen Warfare | Justin Marler
    Apr 21 2026
    Sin is a problem. But, one of the great psychological tragedies of the West is a misunderstanding of sin. We turned it into a legal category — a list of infractions — and lost what the word actually means: missing the mark. The ancient Church didn't start with sin. It started with the passions — the disordered desires that pull us off target before we ever act. When we misunderstand the reality of sin, it makes it much harder to overcome the passions—which are the real problem.

    But, make no mistake, we are at war. The Church Fathers knew this. They trained for it. They built entire traditions around it. As St. John Chrysostom put it, “Our warfare does not make the living dead, but rather makes the dead live.” Powerful.

    And then we forgot. Or worse, we’re ignoring the battle we’re in.

    Like any good father, Justin Marler—former punk guitarist turned Orthodox monk turned author—wants the best for his children. Leaning on the legacy left by the Church Fathers, Justin has provided his children—and us—with a survival guide for life with his book The Art of Unseen Warfare: Ancient Teachers for the Modern Fighter.

    In this episode of A Commitment to Reality, Justin and Dave cover such issues as why monks are the real punks, why trying actually matters, why the virtues are skills you practice and not feelings you have, why God wants progress and not perfection, why suffering is a gift and not a problem to solve, and what happens when you stop asking "Am I saved?" and start asking "Where am I right now — heaven or hell?"

    For more information on receiving Justin's book The Art of Unseen Warfare: Ancient Teachers for the Modern Fighter please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-the-art-of-unseen-warfare-ancient-teachings-for-the-modern-fighter/

    Thank you for joining A Commitment to Reality, hosted by Dave Hanegraaff. Follow A Commitment to Reality wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube for full episodes + clips: https://www.youtube.com/@ACommitmenttoReality

    (Timestamps below.)
    0:00 — Intro / Unseen Warfare: A Guidebook for Life
    1:45 — From a punk to a monk
    5:45 — Life in a monastery
    7:55 — The education of everyday monasticism vs “traditional” modern education
    10:35 — Practicing detachment while also embracing the beauty of life
    17:00 — Having a healthy discomfort with the world
    23:45 — The difference between the passions and sin and the baggage with the way so many people perceive sin
    30:45 — The world is soul-sick and the Church is the hospital
    33:45 — The purpose of life is to become a saint
    36:45 — We need to try in life, to work out our salvation and become what we were created to be 41:20 — Why is it necessary for Christians to have the mindset of a fighter in battle?
    45:55 — The modern book of virtue—we don’t talk enough about the virtues
    51:30 — Trying to understand the will of God is all about developing a relationship with God
    56:30 — The virtues are something we practice like anything else we want to get better at
    1:00:45 — The problem with apologetics
    1:08:35 — Should Christians spend time online?
    1:10:15 — The reality of the unseen realm
    1:12:45 — Suffering is a gift
    1:17:40 — The reality of spiritual warfare
    1:21:45 — We don’t talk enough about guardian angels
    1:32:30 — You don’t earn your salvation, but you do work for it
    1:34:45 — Salvation is a living process, you can experience heaven and hell on earth
    1:38:55 — Where are we most eager to look away from reality?
    1:40:15 — In a world that feels increasingly unreal, what feels most real?
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    1 Std. und 41 Min.
  • Christian Atheism: God as an Idea Is No God at All | Fr. Stephen Freeman

    Christian Atheism: God as an Idea Is No God at All | Fr. Stephen Freeman
    Apr 7 2026
    Re-Enchantment—Everyone is talking about it these days.

    But, you can’t re-enchant something that always was. We are simply realizing the reality of Enchantment.

    In this episode of A Commitment to Reality, Fr. Stephen Freeman joins Dave Hanegraaff to remind us that the world has always been Enchanted—we have just been ignoring that reality.

    Secularism has caused many modern people—even Christians—to misunderstand the reality of the world we live in. Modern life has flattened our conception of reality into something purely material, neutral, and abstract. Many Christians have even made God an abstraction—something Fr. Stephen Freeman calls Christian Atheism.

    But, God as an abstraction is no God at all. God is everywhere, present and filling all things.

    This leads to a myriad of misunderstandings—including something as important as our salvation. Salvation is about being restored to reality itself: to God, to others, and to the world as it truly is.

    Glory to God, in all things.

    For more information on Fr. Freeman's book Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-everywhere-present-christianity-in-a-one-storey-universe/

    Thank you for joining A Commitment to Reality, hosted by Dave Hanegraaff. Follow A Commitment to Reality wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube for full episodes + clips: https://www.youtube.com/@ACommitmenttoReality

    (Timestamps below.)
    0:00 — Intro / The Story of Fr. Stephen Freeman
    6:45 — Enchantment
    9:45 — Understanding the “one-storey universe”
    16:45 — Reality is a gift. Be thankful for it, in all things
    18:45 — The true meaning of secularism
    21:30 — There is no neutrality in the public square
    24:15 — How Marxist rhetoric is used
    26:25 — Secularism is heresy
    30:00 — God as an idea is no God at all — Christian atheism
    35:40 — The reality of salvation
    40:30 — Salvation is not a legal problem, but a problem of communion
    49:30 — Total depravity, the imago dei, and the goodness of creation
    56:00 — Modernity, materialism, and money
    1:00:00 — We have so much to learn from the poor
    1:07:25 — Did history end with the Resurrection?
    1:10:45 — Become a fool for Chris
    t1:13:00 — Technology and progress are not always what they seem
    1:18:15 — Literalism is the enemy of reality
    1:20:10 — We don’t weep enough
    1:23:15 — Who do you hate? Your work starts there
    1:31:45 — What happens to a culture that can no longer name what it sees?
    1:33:25 — Where are we most eager to look away from reality?
    1:34:30 — In a world that feels increasingly unreal, what feels most real to you?
    1:38:25 — Glory to God in ALL things
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    1 Std. und 40 Min.
  • Are We All Cyborgs Now? Reclaiming Our Humanity from the Machine | Joshua Pauling

    Are We All Cyborgs Now? Reclaiming Our Humanity from the Machine | Joshua Pauling
    Mar 24 2026
    Are we all cyborgs now?

    We’re not just building machines that act like humans. We’re becoming humans that act like machines.

    In a world obsessed with whether AI can become human, far less attention is given to the way we are sacrificing our humanity at the altar of data, efficiency, and optimization.

    This is not inevitable.

    We can reclaim our humanity from the machine by making a commitment to reality—embracing our embodiment and the physical world around us.

    Making a commitment to reality means being intentional and communal in our assessment of every new technological breakthrough—and how we incorporate it, or don’t, into our lives.

    We must ask hard questions—and make even harder decisions.

    Where do we draw the line?

    On this episode of A Commitment to Reality, Joshua Pauling joins Dave Hanegraaff to discuss Are We All Cyborgs Now? Reclaiming Our Humanity from the Machine (co-authored with Robin Phillips), and what it means to remain human in an age increasingly defined by abstraction, efficiency, and disembodiment.

    Because we weren’t made for “datafication”—but for deification—communion with creation and the Creator.

    For more information on the book Are We All Cyborgs Now? Reclaiming Our Humanity from the Machine please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-are-we-all-cyborgs-now-reclaiming-our-humanity-from-the-machine/

    Thank you for joining A Commitment to Reality, hosted by Dave Hanegraaff. Follow A Commitment to Reality wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube for full episodes + clips: https://www.youtube.com/@ACommitmenttoReality

    (Timestamps below.)

    0:00 — Intro / Have we made a technological deal with the devil?
    3:30 — Forget the Turing test, what about humans choosing to live as machines?
    5:50— The rapid pace of technological change
    7:45 — How is digital technology different from past technologies?
    10:45 — Why start a book on technology by writing about woodworking?
    13:45 — Gnosticism—how did our body become the enemy of our lives?
    18:15 — Personal Practices that help us live an embodied life
    20:55 — Intentionality
    23:25 — Will the Amish have the last laugh? (What we can learn from the Amish)
    28:15 — The distinction between access and ownership
    29:45 — Who were the Luddites and what can we learn from them?
    31:45 — Monastic wisdom for our world today
    35:45 — Should we be missionaries online?
    38:30 — Can you go to church online?
    40:30 — The problem with viewing church as education
    45:30 — Does a memorial view of the sacraments make light of our embodiment?
    46:45— We were made for deification not data processing and accumulation
    50:45 — Where do we draw the line with technology?
    54:30 —Human enhancement vs restoration—serious bioethical questions on the horizon
    58:30—Tech realism, pessimism or optimism?
    1:00:00 —The need for intentional, communal reaction and resistance to the machine
    1:04:00 — What is the joy of thingness?
    1:07:00—What is true leisure and how can it save us?
    1:09:50—the importance of No Agenda togetherness
    1:13:10 —Can hospitality save the world?
    1:17:00—Lightning round questions about reality
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    1 Std. und 20 Min.
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