About Archways: Western Civilization History Podcast
Archways is a podcast for learning history! We offer a classical perspective to history, believing that Western Civilization's future success hinges on helping everyone understand our Judeo-Christian heritage: the events, ideas, and people who worked to build it and ensure its success. But we will also be seeing what we can learn from other parts of the world as well.
In this episode we're discussing the origins of demonology in Western Civilization, tracing it back to its ancient roots. Pre-Christian cultures across Mesopotamia, Egypt, and beyond featured a range of supernatural beings blamed for sickness and bad choices.
When Zoroastrianism came on the scene, in 8th century BC Iran, religion first developed the idea of dualism: that the world is locked in the struggle between good and evil. This idea profoundly influenced post-exilic Judaism during Persian rule, enabling them to develop concepts of organized demons, angels, Satan, and eschatology in texts like the Book of Enoch, Jubilees, and Tobit.
Christianity built on this rich heritage, portraying Satan as God's active adversary and demons as a malignant force to be reckoned with in the New Testament.
Later works, from the Testament of Solomon and Dante's Inferno to Milton's Paradise Lost and C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters, further enriched the popular imagination of demons thus giving us the understanding of demons that we have today.
This episode is the first in a series exploring demonology. Further episodes will look into exorcisms and demon hunting.
26 Apr 2025
History of Leisure (384 BC - AD 2020)
In this episode we discuss the history of thinking about leisure from Aristotle, Epicurus, Seneca, and Cicero to St. Paul, Gregory I, St. Benedict, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, and John Calvin to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Leisure was once seen as a time for debating philosophy or studying the universe, before giving way to slothful bread and circuses. Christian thought hit back hard against Roman excess, teaching leisure was a sinful waste of God's time. In modern times, thinkers are trying to discover what leisure is good and how much is too much. In the face of the AI revolution, will we choose a future of constant passive entertainment, or will we continue to find meaning in our leisure or at the very least more work to do?
27 Mar 2025
Ranking American Monarchies (AD 1804-1883)
In this episode we use a ranking system I made up to examine the unique monarchies that were declared in the Americas during the Age of Revolutions. We will learn about the Haitian Revolution that led to the Empire of Haiti and the Kingdom of Haiti. We will learn about the Mexican Revolution that led to the First and Second Empires of Mexico. And we will learn about the Brazilian War of Independence that led to the establishment of the Empire of Brazil. Based on duration, power, accomplishments, and swagger we will determine the best endemic non-colonial western civilization-based empire of the Americas.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100
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Quality
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YouTube
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Engagement
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