WOF 391: Why Modern Men Look Elsewhere for Spiritual Wisdom
The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture
Brandon Vogt
4.9 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 19 June 2023
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Friends, an interesting article was published at The Gospel Coalition titled “Savior or Stoics? Why Modern Men Look for Spiritual Wisdom Outside the Church”. The author observed how a growing number of young men are filling a moral and spiritual void in their lives by turning to modern self-help books based on ancient Stoic thinkers. Authors such as Jordan Peterson, Ryan Holiday, and Navy SEAL Jocko Willink have won large followings of men by translating the principles of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus into modern advice.
Why is Stoicism so appealing to many young men today? And what lessons might Christians learn from this development? That is what Brandon Vogt and I discuss on today’s episode of “The Word on Fire Show.”
A listener asks for recommendations before receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.
Links
- “Savior or Stoics? Why Modern Men Look for Spiritual Wisdom Outside the Church” by Shane Morris (The Gospel Coalition)
- Word on Fire Eucharist resources
- This is My Body: A Call to Eucharistic Revival by Bishop Robert Barron ($2 per copy)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Be harder not softer, be more demanding not less demanding. |
| 0:04.1 | Go against the instinct that says, oh god, you know, get the kids or get the young high school kids. |
| 0:09.6 | We got to really bend over. |
| 0:11.6 | No backwards. I'd say no. |
| 0:13.9 | On the contrary, challenge them. |
| 0:23.1 | Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. |
| 0:25.2 | I'm Brandon Vot, the host and the senior publishing director at Word on Fire. |
| 0:29.6 | At a time when many men are leaving the church, why are so many young men gravitating toward books |
| 0:35.9 | and podcasts promoting stoicism or the frank talk of Jordan Peterson or the numerous |
| 0:43.3 | bodybuilding training types on Instagram? |
| 0:46.1 | And what can the church learn from all of this? |
| 0:48.6 | Well, that's what we'll discuss today with Bishop Baron, who joins us from our interim |
| 0:53.6 | production studio in Rochester. I'll get to why I said that in a moment, but Bishop, good to see you. |
| 0:58.7 | Hey, Brandon. Always a joy to see you. |
| 1:01.2 | We have been working long and hard to develop a more permanent studio solution there in Rochester. |
| 1:07.0 | And I'm happy to say at the time of this recording, it is almost finished. Can you tell us a little bit about it? |
| 1:12.5 | Yeah, so we had a nice studio in Santa Barbara and we had to pick all that up, |
| 1:16.8 | all the equipment and lights and cameras, everything else and move them out here to Minnesota. |
| 1:21.1 | And then we rented some space right in downtown Rochester, right near the Mayo Clinic. |
| 1:26.5 | And beautiful space, but then we had to get it ready and rework it and all that. |
| 1:32.1 | And finally, it's there and it's wonderful. It's beautiful. So all these podcasts and |
| 1:39.1 | sermons and programs will be coming now from this new studio right in the heart of Rochester. |
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