…

Christopher Ruocchio is the author of the Sun Easter series published by Penguin Random House. We discuss the apotropaic possibilities of Heavy Metal, how it can be used as a way to warn us of evil and chase it away. We also look at how this inverted symbolism can be subversive as well.

Looking at the narrative about art and technology, how they are related to the fall and how Christ transform that relationship into a new glory.

We look at the Parable of the Sower as a meta-parable which gives us the very structure of meaning making and an image of how the worold lays itself out.

The story of the relationship between adultery, cuckolding and the building of larger than life characters has been a narrative puzzle from the very ancient times. The problem of losing women to strangers or to a king or a god has also been a continuous social question. We examine how Christianity deals with this problem and solves the puzzle.

…

The appearance of the fool and foolish behavior is part of the larger pattern of reality. We look at how it fits and how it can participate in major social transformation.

The image of the Ascent of Alexander the Great has been nearly forgotten, yet it was once a very popular celebration of human capacity while also being a warning of its limits.

I was invited to speak to the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement at St-Tikhon’s Seminary in November. The crowd was mostly future priests. I wanted to show them how the tradition of iconography exemplifies the pattern of Church itself as the body of Christ, but also the pattern of reality as it unfolds before us.

Alastair Roberts is a Protestant theologian working for the Theopolis Institute and running a blog on Biblical symbolism. We explore the places of contact and difference in our approaches regarding such things as liturgy, integration of symbolism and even the Virgin Mary.