The Fall Before The Fall with Philip G. Porter

The Fall Before The Fall with Philip G. Porter

From Mere Fidelity by Mere Fidelity

March 25, 2026 · 1h 22m · Season 3 · Episode 10

About this episode

Philip G. Porter discusses the concept of death as a wound in creation and its theological implications.

What if death's presence in the cosmos is not native to creation but a wound running all the way down to its foundations, inflicted before Adam ever reached for the fruit? Philip Porter joins Derek Rishmawy, Alastair Roberts, and Brad East to discuss his new book, which retrieves Augustine, Aquinas, Milton, and Tolkien to argue that the angelic fall precedes and precipitates every other form of evil, and that contemporary theology has been too quick to make peace with death. —— Hosts: Derek Rishmawy, Alastair Roberts, Brad East Guest: Philip Porter, assistant professor of theology at Saint Louis University (Madrid) and author of Unnatural Death: Creation, Sin, and the Angelic Fall . He completed his doctoral work under Paul Griffiths at Duke Divinity School. —— Get the free ebook Spiritual Formation for the Family at http://mereorthodoxy.com/family . Mere Fidelity is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership . Get 30% of the Baker Book of the Month, Keeping Kids Christian: Recovering A Biblical Vision For Lifelong Discipleship, by going to…

People in this episode

Hosts: Derek Rishmawy, Alastair Roberts, Brad East

Guest: Philip G. Porter

Topics covered

  • theology
  • death
  • angelic fall
  • Augustine
  • evil
  • creation

Keywords

  • death
  • theology
  • angelic fall
  • Augustine
  • evil
  • creation
  • sin
  • Milton
  • Tolkien

Sponsors

Mere Orthodoxy, Baker Book House, Beeson Divinity School

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Saint Louis University, Beeson Divinity School, Mere Orthodoxy

Books & works: Unnatural Death: Creation, Sin, and the Angelic Fall, Keeping Kids Christian: Recovering A Biblical Vision For Lifelong Discipleship

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