Considering Catholicism

Angie Griffith spent more than ten years as an executive in the music industry in Nashville. She was also enmeshed in New Age religion. Then the Holy Spirit, through a range of events and influences (including the Considering Catholicism Podcast), opened her eyes. She burned her Tarot cards, smashed her crystals, and began taking steps to enter the Roman Catholic Church. In this episode, Angie shares her story. In the next episode (#165), she and Greg explore the seduction of New Age beliefs and practices. Angie is the host of the "You Get What I'm Saying" podcast. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Christianity, conversion, the occult

If you’re not crazy for being a Christian, can you realistically pull it off? Because living out your faith, living the Christian life, in the face of all of the struggles of this world and all that life in general throws at us? Well, that can sometimes seem impractical or even impossible. So, is Christianity impractical? I mean, can anyone really live this way? YouTube: Is Christianity Impractical? YouTube: Is Christianity Crazy? Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Christianity, doctrine, culture

How do all the agnostics, atheists, secularists, nihilists, and neopagans that make up our 21st-century culture view the Christian religion? Culturally, we’re living through the last days of the new Roman world. And how did the Romans view Christians? Generally, they thought that they were crazy. They considered the Christian religion silly and nonsensical and Christians to be dangerous anarchists, a threat to the order and worship of the State, to the civil religion of the empire. That’s what the establishment, the elites, the deep state, think of you and me: we’re dangerous because we worship a crazy religion instead of the technocratic bureaucracy of the modern globalist elites. So, is Christianity crazy? An insane idea? A nutty religion? Are Christians just wacko religious extremists? Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Christianity, doctrine, culture

Every year, Greg tries to build a new Christmas playlist on his phone, and every year, he realizes how few decent Christmas carols there are. Why not? Why haven't any new Christmas carols been written in the last 100 years or more? Ed the Protestant and Cory lend their insights into the problem. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Christmas, Christmas music

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 consider Catholicism! Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, pope, papacy

We have begun Advent, the liturgical season of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Advent means "coming" or "arriving," but what, exactly, is coming? And has it all arrived yet? To learn more, watch the series of four videos, "Discover Advent:" Part 1: https://youtu.be/DxxC6UkyMGM?si=4_ysAk9YE165btSy Part 2: https://youtu.be/d0dST3iZKs4?si=iJa1n6yrpxkdZLOk Part 3: https://youtu.be/RwFjqu0zuVg?si=vPINRPz-hgwWIy3p Part 4: https://youtu.be/rTVP5iFnOwQ?si=UxhhotIV_wfoCwkm Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/consideringcatholicism Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Advent, Christmas, Christ

Those who want to change the Church's teaching on homosexuality and same-sex marriage like to argue from Jesus' silence on the issue: "If Jesus didn't bother mentioning it in the gospels, it shouldn't matter." Protestants have made similar arguments against Catholicism for 500 years. Greg points out that this is a crazy standard, because there are a whole lot of things that Jesus never talked about that we recognize as essential to Christian morality, ethics, and social justice. Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/consideringcatholicism Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, doctrine, morality, homosexuality, same sex marriage

Ed asks about the Crusades: did the Catholic Church really launch brutal wars of colonization, invading Muslim ancestral lands with hordes of Catholic knights to rape, pillage, and steal the Middle East? Greg explains that much of what people think they know comes from Hollywood and isn't exactly what happened. Buy Me a Coffee? https://www.buymeacoffee.com/consideringcatholicism Write me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Crusades, Catholic History

In the last snapshot ("The End of Ordinary Time"), Greg pointed out that the Catholic Church has a major feast to celebrate the end of ordinary time and the liturgical year. That feast is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or Christ the King. It anchors us in the truth of Christ's supremacy and gives us hope that whatever the world throws at us, he is greater. Buy Me a Coffee? https://www.buymeacoffee.com/consideringcatholicism Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, time, liturgical calendar

Ordinary Time is coming to an end, very soon. If that sounds alarming and weird to you, then listen to this short explanation of the Catholic conception of time, and the cycles and landmarks that ought to define our lives. Buy Me a Coffee? https://www.buymeacoffee.com/consideringcatholicism Send me an email: [email protected] Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, time, liturgical calendar

Ed the Protestant asks about the Catholic Church's commitment to charity and the poor. Greg explains where that comes from and the related but very different concept of Catholic Social Justice. Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, charity, social justice

Greg answers questions sent in by listeners (send your own to [email protected]): "I'm a recent convert to Catholicism, but my wife is still Protestant. We disagree over which church to raise our children in. My wife loves the passion of her evangelical church and Catholics seem so lukewarm. Do y9u have any advice?" "When the priest consecrates the Eucharist, how does the Catholic Church know that he's doing it correctly? How can it be sure that its liturgies and formulas actually work?" Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, family, sacraments

What does the Catholic Church teach about Satan and demons? Is he, or are they, the opposing force in the universe to God and angels? What do they know? What can they do? Can they possess us? What is an exorcism? Greg and Cory explain that in Catholic doctrine, while the demons possess vast intelligence, their power leads nowhere because in futility they have chosen nothing, an emptiness of God's presence. Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Good and Evil, Doctrine, Morality

This iconic motto is all over merchandise at the University of Notre Dame. Non-Notre Dame fans find it arrogant and annoying. But most don't realize that it's a double entendre, and that the real meaning, the deeper meaning, is perhaps a formula for how to live well, on the path to sainthood. Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Mary, Our Lady, discipleship, sainthood

What does the Catholic Church teach about what evil actually is? Is it the opposite of good, like light/dark or yin/yang? Is it moral failing? Being outside of God's will? A social construct? Greg and Cory explain that in Catholic doctrine, evil is nothing at all: it is literally no thing, a void, an emptiness, non-being. Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, Good and Evil, Doctrine, Morality

In this snapshot, Greg discusses why it's important to take death seriously in a culture that doesn't, and takes comfort in Catholicism which offers a coherent, comprehensive, and mature approach to death, dying, and remembering those who have gone before us. Support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz Visit the website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ ----more----Keywords: Catholic, Catholic Church, All Souls Day, Death, Dying, Memento Mori

For secular folks this is Halloween, for Catholics it's the eve of All Saints Day, but for Protestants it's Reformation Day, when Martin Luther nailed his complaints against the Catholic Church to a cathedral door in Germany. Today, Protestants celebrate what they imagine is a heroic and prophetic scene. But as Greg explains in this snapshot, it's nothing to celebrate. Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz

Greg and Ed discuss the concept of happiness and the responsibility to cultivate happiness in one's life. Pursuing immediate gratification does not lead to genuine happiness, but rather, pursuing goodness, truth, and beauty can bring lasting joy. They also touch on the negative impact of consuming negative media and the importance of surrounding oneself with positivity. We all have a duty to pursue a more positive and joyful outlook in life. Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz

Snapshots are a type of episode: around 10 minutes on a single topic. Today, Greg follows up on a recent episode about whether UFOs are aliens, angels, or something else. What should Christians, and Catholics in particular, believe? Greg reviews and recommends a new book on the topic: "Only Man Bears His Image" by Daniel O'Connor. Please support the podcast: https://givebutter.com/BaUAnz

Greg answers questions sent in by listeners (send your own to [email protected]!): How do I overcome my distrust of the Catholic Bible (the "deuterocanonical books)? Can salvation be lost? What if I commit a mortal sin and don't confess to a priest? Why was the Immaculate Conception necessary? Does Marian devotion sometimes cross the line into idolatry? Can I disagree with some Catholic doctrines and still be Catholic? Why do we need Purgatory? Why can't God just "beam me up?" 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 the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

Greg and Ed have an honest talk about what stewardship means. Because our life is a gift, God expects us to try and become the best possible versions of ourselves that we can be. 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 the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry. z5QmkmDrRU6tnPsvEw6N

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 organizations and rely completely on the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry. Contact Greg at [email protected].

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 the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

What are angels? How are they different from us? What do they do? What are the types or categories? Do we have a guardian angel, and what does he do? Greg and Cory unpack the nature of these spiritual beings. 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 the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

UFOs are in the news again, as Congress holds hearings about what the government knows about them. How should Christians feel about this issue? What does the Catholic Church teach? And how do we make sense of it. Greg and Cory sat down to discuss it all. 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 the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

Greg and Ed discuss one of the most divisive issues between Catholics and evangelicals: infant vs. believer baptism. 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 the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

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 defend the historic Catholic faith. We receive no support from any organizations and rely completely on the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

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, share, and defend the historic Catholic faith. We receive no support from any organizations and rely completely on the generosity of our listeners. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

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 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.

An invitation to take a free online course with Greg Smith about Catholic church history (and some other updates about the podcast). Sign up for the class at LANEcatholic.org The conversation with Cory about knowledge, belief, and faith will resume in the next episode on the regular schedule. 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 your generosity. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

Christianity makes truth claims, like that Jesus rose from the dead. But what if we aren’t sure? Greg and Cory discuss the difference between certain knowledge, confident belief, and the mystery of saving faith.

Greg and Ed continue their conversation in the woods about the Bible, this time asking whether it is really the "Word of God?" Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: [email protected]

Greg and Ed sit in the forest and continue their conversation about the Bible--its sources, how it was compiled, the difference between the Catholic bible (a.k.a. "the Bible") and Protestant bibles--by asking who wrote the New Testament and how it was put together. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: [email protected]

Protestants have been told that Catholic Bibles are wrong and weird and that medieval popes snuck suspicious extra books into the Catholic Bible! Which is tampering with God's Word, right?! Ed asks Greg about this while they sit in the forest, and Greg explains that the correct question is not why Catholic Bibles have extra books but why Protestants took books out that had been there for 1,500 years. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: [email protected]

Why is modern life so unsatisfying? Why are so many of us discontent? Greg and Cory reflect on how Catholicism offers a boring yet fundamentally satisfying antidote to heal our frantic postmodern souls. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: [email protected]

Supposedly, during the dark ages, the Catholic Church threw the brave scientist Galileo Galilei into a dungeon for discovering that the earth revolved around the sun because the Church wanted to keep the people in intellectual darkness. Greg and Cory explain that this is a myth, and probably everything you think you know about it is wrong. 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.

Many assert that Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, is opposed to science. Greg and Cory explain why that's not strictly true, but that some people misuse the word "Science" to describe something that is, by definition, opposed to all the world's religions. 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.

Greg and Cory wade into a thorny subject: Catholic vs. Protestant views of the creation of the world and mankind, evolution and whether the early chapters of Genesis are to be understood literally. As they illustrate, nothing about this topic is simple. 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.

As a Christian, how should you organize your life, set your priorities, spend your time? Greg and Ed talk about how in the evangelical Protestant world the highest priority was/is "mission," while Catholicism stresses that life is lived according to "vocation." 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.

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. Help us to keep going and expand this ministry.

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.

Part 2 of a conversation between Greg and Cory (who develops family and parish community ministries) about the challenges of developing "community" and relationships in a typical Catholic parish. 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.

Part 1 of a conversation between Greg and Cory (who develops family and parish community ministries) about the challenges of developing "community" and relationships in a typical Catholic parish. 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.

Greg and Ed the Protestant conclude their exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins by discussing Lust and Chastity.

Greg and Ed the Protestant explore what glutton isn't, what it is, and the antidote of temperance.

Greg and Ed the Protestant continue their exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins by tackling Sloth, which is far more subtle and dangerous than mere laziness. It is the "noontime demon."

Greg and Ed the Protestant discuss greed, how deceptive it can be, and what generosity means.

Greg and Ed the Protestant continue their exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins, this time discussing wrath, how it differs from anger, how it takes control of a life, and how the corresponding virtue of meekness does not mean weakness.

Greg and Ed the Protestant continue their discussion of the Seven Deadly Sins. In this episode, they look at envy, how it differs from jealousy, and how it is second only to pride as a rejection of God.

Greg and Ed the Protestant explore the first of the seven deadly sins, pride. It comes first because it is the capital sin, the source from which the other six flow. Then they discuss the antidote that Catholicism prescribes: humility.