420 - How Free Will Actually Works

This was September 2025's patron video that we decided to make public. Thank you to my supporters.
I explore the question of free will, drawing on the insights of St. Maximus the Confessor. While thinkers like Sam Harris argue that free will is an illusion and always contingent on material circumstances, I show how the Christian understanding reframes freedom—not as arbitrary choice, but as submission to the good. True freedom is not transgression, but moving toward higher and higher goods, where life becomes more natural and effortless.

Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/burSzHmo4o4

The Symbolic World Enters Paradise
Join me and Deacon Seraphim Rohlin this November in our course on Dante's Paradiso.
-Course length: 5 weeks, 15 hours
-Dates of live classes: Wednesdays, November 5th to December 3rd, 2025
-Time: 2-5 pm Eastern Time
-Cost: 190 USD (Involved patrons can get 10% off)
-Register today: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-paradiso

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My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/