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You're to be familiar with the popularized details of the Mary and Nativity stories—the manger, the shepherds, the star. But this week, Dr. Jacobs takes you beyond the familiar Sunday school narrative to explore the robust early Christian tradition surrounding Mary's birth, her betrothal to the elderly widower Joseph, and the supernatural drama unfolding behind the scenes. This episode examines what the Church Fathers believed about the devil's frantic attempts to thwart the Incarnation, from his watchful surveillance of Israel's virgins to Herod's demonic massacre of the innocents. Dr. Jacobs traces the cosmic war between the powers of light and darkness, revealing how God orchestrated an elaborate divine ruse to veil the Messiah from Satan's gaze. Drawing from sources like the Gospel of James, Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom, this deep dive recovers the fuller Christmas story that shaped Christian understanding for centuries.

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Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

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Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs

Contribute to the East West Lecture Series fundraiser: theeastwestseries.com

Join Jacobs Premium: https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/membership

The book club (use code LEWIS): https://www.thenathanjacobspodcast.com/offers/aLohje7p/checkout

This episode explores the Eastern patristic understanding of Christmas through the doctrines of divine energies, synergy, and man as microcosm. Drawing on Aristotle, Philo of Alexandria, and Church Fathers like Athanasius, the discussion examines why all creation groans for the incarnation and how Christ's becoming creature rebuilds the bridge between God and cosmos. The incarnation is presented not merely as a legal transaction but as the initiation of cosmic healing—a "good infection" that restores humanity's mediating role and allows all creation to partake of divine nature.

All the links:

Substack: https://nathanajacobs.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenathanjacobspodcast

Website: https://www.nathanajacobs.com/

X: https://x.com/NathanJacobsPod

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hSskUtCwDT40uFbqTk3QS

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-nathan-jacobs-podcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathanandrewjacobs

Academia: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/NathanAJacobs

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