In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by the incredible, world-renown theologian Dr. Margaret Turek to provide the Catholic case for the atonement. And, boy, is it ever incredible! Dr. Turek lays out in beautiful depth and poetry, the whole of salvation history. Why Jesus had to come, die, and rise from the dead. Why Jesus had to die the way He did. What was the Father’s role in “abandoning” Christ on the cross? And what do Catholics... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by Catholic Answers apologist extraordinaire Joe Heschmeyer to discuss the structure of the Early Church. Was the Early Church made up of loosely affiliated groups of believers, or did the Early Church inherit a clear hierarchical structure from the apostles? The question is one of the most important ones to answer, considering it’ll help to determine WHICH church Christ founded – out of many different denominations. In this episode, Joe takes... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by Dr. Steven Christine, a medical doctor, lawyer, a lecturer and speaker on Catholic social issues, and the author of Speaking for the Unborn: 30-Second Pro-Life Rebuttals to Pro-Choice Rebuttals. Here, Steve walks us through how to talk to just about anyone about abortion: those that have had abortions, those that advocate for abortions, the passionately pro-choice, and those that haven’t really thought it through. With a vast collection of pro-life... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by my good friend Keith Nester to unpack some of the problems with Protestant Christianity that drove us to convert to Catholicism. Keith Nester is a former Protestant pastor – he spent over 20 years in ministry before converting to Catholicism. Keith is the host of the Catholic Feedback podcast, the author of a fantastic book for new converts, and has an incredibly popular YouTube channel (that I’m sure you’ve already... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by Father Jeffrey Kirby, STD to talk about ascetical theology: the ancient and holy Catholic practice of dying to yourself. We dig deeply, with Fr. Kirby as our guide, into how understanding the purpose of our lives, through a knowledge of Scripture and God’s plan, we can more fully and truly live out our Catholic lives and vocations. It’s a really fascinating, fun, and in-depth conversation – as it always is... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by Shannon Wimp Schmidt, one of the co-authors of Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s: A Black Catholic Celebration of Faith, Tradition, and Diversity, to talk about some of her thoughts on the black Catholic experience. This is a topic I’ve had a lot of requests to tackle on the show and I’m so pleased, and grateful, to have Shannon as a guide this week. Her insights are phenomenal and, I hope, helpful... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined once again by my good friend Catholic convert, author, and historian Rod Bennett to talk about the apostles, apostolic succession, and how the Early Church understood the role of these very first Christian leaders. Rod always brings incredible insights into Early Christianity and this episode is no different. We dig deep into the historical understanding of the roles of the apostles, how this role was passed on, and how the Early... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined once again by Dr. Brett Salkeld, theologian for the Catholic Archdiocese of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada and host of the Thinking Faith podcast to talk about purgatory. What exactly is purgatory? Why does it make sense? Where can we find it in the Bible? In Church history? Isn’t it just a medieval invention? Didn’t it go completely sideways and caused the Protestant Reformation? All of these burning questions, and more, this... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by returning guest Suan Sonna from Intellectual Conservatism to talk to us about the papacy, and the pope. Suan is making major waves these days strongly defending the papacy and he’s here today to tackle some of the most popular (and difficult) objections that you’ve probably heard to the idea of the pope. Where is the papacy in Scripture? Shouldn’t it be obviously found? Isn’t attempts to find the papacy foreshadowed... Read more
In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I’m joined by Jason Bulman, a father, candidate for the diaconate, and one of the “stars” of the Word on Fire show Meet the Bulman’s where Jason and his wife Rachel, a previous guest on our show, open their home and their lives up for viewers to see a picture of a Catholic family, living and loving their faith. In this episode Jason and I talk about his vocation of marriage, family, how... Read more
