What is a human—dust and breath, body and spirit—without tearing ourselves in two?
Deacon Anthony (St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church, San Diego) joins Cloud of Witnesses with hosts Mario Andrew, Jeremy Jeremiah, and John for a rich, practical conversation on an Orthodox vision of the whole person and the mind (phronema) of the Church.

We trace a path away from the twin traps of indulgence (living by our appetites) and denial (pretending we’re already angelic), toward a fearless embrace of reality in Christ. Through Scripture, the Fathers, and stories from parish life, Deacon Anthony shows how God meets us in the tangible—mud on eyes, bread and wine, water and oil—to heal the heart and remake our lives.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Body & Soul together: why the Incarnation means Christianity is never “purely spiritual” or “only physical.”
• The phronema (mindset) of the Church: how a Christian way of seeing reshapes what we notice, how we judge, and whom we love.
• Using God-given tools rightly: judge ourselves, not our neighbor; fear sin, not repentance; hate the illness, not the person.
• Confession as healing: real accountability, a spiritual father, and why naming sin breaks its power.
• Community over isolation: salvation is ecclesial and relational—you can’t be saved on an island.
• Heaven & hell begin now: entitlement and isolation taste like hell; humility and communion taste like heaven.
• Saints as role models: why children (and adults) need holy examples more than celebrities.
• Eucharist & the senses: why worship that engages sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch anchors faith in reality.

If “symbolic religion” has felt thin—or if modern “live-your-truth” scripts leave you empty—this conversation offers a hopeful, time-tested alternative: sacrament, repentance, and daily love that form the whole person in Christ.

Find an Orthodox Church near you today. Visit https://www.antiochian.org/home 

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