How can heaven be perfect if the things that bring us joy in this life are not there with us? For example, the one creature that God gave us capable of being man's best friend: how can I be happy in heaven without my dog who ...
Last week, those who have prepared to enter the Catholic Church at Easter attended the "Rite of Election" at their local cathedral. The "catechumens," those who will be baptized at Easter signed the "Book of the Elect" along ...
Catholic leaders—priests, bishops, even popes—sometimes share their opinions about various political issues. Some Catholics and those considering Catholicism often wonder, "Do I have to agree with them?" Greg and Ed ask wheth...
The Catholic Church is a universal community, transcending time, space, races, languages, nations. So can you be a faithful Catholic and still be patriotic, loyal to your own place, time, tribe, and nation? Greg and Ed discus...
Lent is a time of self-denial, which is a feature (not a bug) of ancient Christianity. It's a form of "asceticism," which Protestants and Evangelicals abandoned. Greg explains what asceticism is, and why sometimes telling our...
As Lent begins, it's time for the annual Lent-bashing on social media (particularly on X) by some Protestants and fundamentalist Evangelicals. Greg takes on the most common myths they drag out every year. Support this ministr...
Greg and Ed speculate about how the Catholic Church might (or might not) change whenever Pope Francis passes. Support this ministry so more people can consider Catholicism! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Ema...
Pope Francis has been in the hospital for a couple of weeks. We are praying for his recovery, but it raises the question: what happens when a pope passes? Greg and Ed talk about the process of papal transitions. Support this ...
In practice, most Protestants believe that after justification we are called to grow in sanctification through good works, which is the Catholic position. So, what's this whole faith vs. works controversy really about? Greg w...
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Faith or Works? Part 10: Is the Church a Real Thing? (#311)
This is one of those age-old debates—“Once saved, always saved?” or can you lose your salvation? And who’s really fretting at night—Catholics, or our Protestant and Evangelical brothers and sisters? Support this ministry so m...
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Faith or Works? Part 9: Locked In or Left Guessing? The Truth About Eternal Security (#310)
Greg tackles one of the trickiest, most misunderstood words in Catholic theology: “merit.” The very mention of merit sets off alarm bells for many non-Catholics (and even some Catholics!), who suspect that we’re advocating a ...
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Faith or Works? Part 8: The Mystery of Merit (#309)
The whole Faith vs. Works debate really kicked off in 1517, when Martin Luther complained about the Catholic Church charging German peasants money for something called "indulgences." Since then, Protestants will pull this out...
We've been talking about how salvation is a multi-phase process, not a single event. It involves justification, which is entirely by grace through faith and repentance. It also involves sanctification, the journey towards hol...
Greg and Ed discuss their friend Danny, who is going through an extremely difficult experience. Ed realizes that before he began considering Catholicism, he didn't really have a way to make sense of this kind of suffering, bu...
Catholicism identifies three categories of sin: original, mortal, and venial. What are the differences? How are they addressed or overcome in salvation? And to which types are our good works applied? Support this ministry so ...
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Faith or Works? Part 5: Types of Sin and Whether We Can "Work Them Off" (#305)
Protestants teach that we have "imputed righteousness" because Christ, in a one-time legal transaction, swaps our guilt and debt for his innocence and perfect credit score. Based on the totality of scripture, Catholicism (and...
Greg explains that the "Romans Road," a handful of cherry-picked verses from the first half of Paul's Letter to the Romans, is the interpretive lens for man Protestants. They read the words of Jesus through this limited view ...
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Faith or Works? Part 3: Where to Begin—Jesus or Paul? (#303)
Greg takes the tired old cliche that Catholicism is a works-based religion in which we earn our way to heaven on our own steam. In this first installment of a series-within-a-series, he looks at some Bible stories that illust...
This next installment of the Arguing with Protestants series, takes on the tired old cliche that Catholicism is a works-based religion in which we earn our way to heaven on our own steam. In this first installment of a series...
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Faith or Works? Part 1: Bringing the Receipts (#301)
This is the 300th episode of the podcast, released almost to the day on the third anniversary of the show. Greg explains that so many arguments with Protestants are endless and result in frustration because Protestants play "...
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Arguing with Protestants, Part 3: Proof Texting Proves Nothing (#300)
Protestant apologists claim that the Bible is the foundation, the beginning of the Church. Catholicism has always said the Church came first and the Bible arose from and derives its authority from the Church. So, which is it?...
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Arguing with Protestants, Part 2: What Came First, the Bible or the Church? (#299)
Protestant apologists like Wesley Huff claim that the Roman Catholic Church didn't exist in ancient times, that the early church was a sort of nondenominational, generic Christianity, a sort of proto-Protestantism. Greg respo...
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Arguing with Protestants, Part 1: "The Early Church Wasn't Roman Catholic!" (#298)
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us." In 1 Corinthians 9:27, St. Paul said that he did works of faith lest "after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." But in 2 Ti...
The author J.R.R. Tolkien was not only one of the greatest storytellers of the 20th century, he was also a devout Catholic. In a letter to his son, he described, "the one great thing to love on this earth." Greg explain what ...
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What's the Greatest Thing You Can Love on This Earth?
