(The) Church Episodes

Greg answers questions listeners have sent in about the Traditional Latin Mass and why some younger priests are starting to wear cassocks again. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com

Greg answers questions listeners have sent in about joining the Catholic Church, what relatives can (and can't) do if the parents aren't baptizing their kids, and whether you have to attend your "geographic parish" or if you can shop around for one that suits you. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com

For 1600+ years, the Catholic Church took the gospel to the ends of the earth. But eventually, revolutionary changes in Europe and the Americas (the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment, revolutionary ideologies, etc.) shattered the old Christian civilization and the Church's missionary efforts had to cope with hostile modern and post-modern cultures at home. Greg and Cory continue their conversation about the Church's missionary history. Support this ministry so more people can consider C...

Christianity was born in a pagan world. At first, it was an oppressed sect but it came to overcome the religions of Greece and Rome, the Celtic and Germanic tribes, and carried the gospel to the ends of the earth. How and why were Catholic missionary efforts so successful? Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com

A listener asked why entering the Catholic Church is so much more complex than joining a nondenominational church. Greg and Ed discuss what entering the Church means and the steps involved. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com

Greg knows a Catholic priest who was criticized for not having a "vision." Greg and Ed discuss how destructive the "vision thing" has been in the evangelical world, and how comforting it is that the sacramental and pastoral ministry of Catholic parishes is mostly predictable and consistent across the planet. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com

A listener named John asks, "What about bad popes who lived immoral lives, etc? How can they lead the Church?" As Greg explains, there have been good popes, bad popes, and mostly average popes, but the office of the seat of Peter is greater than any man who occupies it. Listen to two previous episodes about the papacy: #38: “A Protestant Asks, ”Why Do Catholics Have a Pope?” #39 “More Protestant Questions About the Pope: Can He Just Make Stuff Up?” Support this ministry so more people can con...

Greg was traveling in the Rocky Mountains last week, and revisited a contemporary evangelical Protestant church that he attended sometimes before he converted to Catholicism. These are his reflections on the differences that he noticed seeing it again through Catholic eyes. Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz We are a small non-profit ministry dedicated to educating and equipping people to live, share, and defend the historic Catholic faith. We receive no support from any ...

Greg and Ed talk about Halloween. Can Christians participate? Are its origins really in the Catholic Church incorporating pagan Celtic rituals? And has the Church adopted pagan rituals throughout history, including Easter celebrations? Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz We are a small non-profit ministry dedicated to educating and equipping people to live, share, and defend the historic Catholic faith. We receive no support from any organizations and rely completely on th...

So you or your friends or family are looking for a new church. How do you pick one? Is it like standing in the cereal aisle at the grocery store, surveying the various colors, textures, shapes, and tastes, and finding one that suits you (or your "needs," whatever those are) best? Greg and Ed talk about the choices and how to navigate them. Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz We are a small non-profit ministry dedicated to educating and equipping people to live, share, and ...

Ed the Protestant had breakfast with three of his friends, and they couldn't understand his attraction to Catholicism. From their perspective, it seems full of mystical rituals instead of being straightforward, simple, and rational. Ed tells Greg about his conversation, and they talk about how to respond to this charge that Catholicism seems...spooky. Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz We are a small non-profit ministry dedicated to educating and equipping people to live,...

What must someone believe as infallible "dogma" in order to be "in the Catholic faith?" How does that differ from doctrines, teachings, and recommended beliefs? There are important but subtle differences that carry different levels of authority. This is the second half of Greg and Cory's conversation about knowledge, belief, and faith (see the episode, "What is Faith?" for the first part). Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz We are a small non-profit ministry dedicated to ...

After a few weeks of summer break in episodes, Greg and Ed the Protestant gather again in the secret compound on the Summer Solstice to talk about different answers to the question, "Why should I go to church on Sunday?" Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz We are a very small non-profit ministry dedicated to educating and equipping people to live, share, and defend the historic Catholic faith. We receive no support from any organizations, and rely completely on your generosity. H...

On a cold April day, Greg and Ed the Protestant sit in the piney woods and talk about the Catholic Church's authority, and what it means to "bind and loose." Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz We are a very small non-profit ministry dedicated to educating and equipping people to live, share, and defend the historic Catholic faith. We receive no support from any organizations, and rely completely on your generosity. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

Ed the Protestant looks at a lot of Catholic religious paintings and statues and ask, "Why are they kind of weird? The composition, the colors, the subject matter seems so out of step with modern aesthetic tastes." Greg responds. This podcast is a nonprofit ministry. Please consider supporting its production: DONATE

This is the second of a two-part episode in which Greg, Cory, and Ed the Protestant discuss G.K. Chesterton's famous essay, "Why I Am A Catholic." You can listen to the first have of their conversation in Episode #75. And you can read the essay on the ConsideringCatholicism.com website.

Greg brought Ed the Protestant and Cory Lakatos together on the podcast for the first time to discuss G.K. Chesterton's famous essay, "Why I Am A Catholic." You can read the essay on the ConsideringCatholicism.com website. This is the first of a two-part conversation continued in Episode #75.

After considering Catholicism for a year, Greg's Protestant friend Ed shares where he's at, whether he's ready to enter the Catholic Church, and asks, "How Catholic can I be without actually becoming Catholic?"

In this Church Chat with Ed, Ed asks Greg about whether and why Catholics have a "Sunday Obligation."

Along with the decorations, every year the same myths get brought out about how the Catholic Church was corrupted by the ancient pagans, and invented its Christmas celebrations by borrowing pagan festivals. So, it's time for Greg and Cory to swat down this nonsense and tell the truth about why and how the Church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity on December 25.

Father Noah Thelan is a new, young Catholic priest. Greg asks him about why and how he became a priest, what it means to him, and what he hopes to accomplish in his priesthood.

On the fall equinox, Greg and Ed venture into deep, piney woods and discuss the present and future hope represented by "the Communion of the Saints."

Greg asks Father John Kartje, the Rector/President of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake and Mundelein Seminary, about what a Catholic priest is, how priests are formed in the seminary, and about what qualifies or disqualifies men to advance to ordination.

Who is, or isn't, "Catholic?" What do you have to believe or do to "be Catholic?" What about people who don't or won't do those things? Are they still Catholic?