Twenty Centuries. Twenty-Four Timezones. Two Hemispheres. One Church.

Episodes

Jan. 8, 2024

Three Questions About Baptism (#171)

All Christian churches practice the sacrament of baptism, but they don't all understand it in the same way. From a Catholic perspective, Greg answers three questions: 1) Why do we baptize? 2) Who/what/when/where do we baptize...
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Three Questions About Baptism (#171)
Jan. 4, 2024

Armor for the Battle (#170)

As our society kicks out the load-bearing walls of the civilization that Catholicism built, things are going to get weirder and darker. Spiritual warfare and demonic activity will become more obvious. But we have armor and we...
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Armor for the Battle (#170)
Jan. 2, 2024

My Story and the Purpose of this Podcast (#169)

On the second anniversary of the podcast, Greg finally tells his own story: how he became a Christian, his life as a Protestant, and his conversion to Catholicism. Learn why he started this podcast, what motivates him, and th...
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My Story and the Purpose of this Podcast (#169)
Dec. 28, 2023

Snapshot: Is Mary Really the ”Mother of God?” (#168)

On January 1, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. For most American Protestants, especially evangelicals and Pentecostals, the idea that Mary could be called “the Mother of God” is jarring, ev...
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Snapshot: Is Mary Really the ”Mother of God?” (#168)
Dec. 26, 2023

Snapshot: Is the Christian Life Worth It? (#167)

Anyone considering ancient and biblical Christianity, particularly Catholicism, has to ask, “Why does the Christian life have to be so hard? If God wants us to follow him, why doesn't he just make it easier? Is living the Chr...
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Snapshot: Is the Christian Life Worth It? (#167)
Dec. 22, 2023

Christmas Snapshot: Mary’s Place in the Manger (#166)

What was Mary doing in the manger? Obviously she gave birth to Jesus among the sheep, but why her? Why was she chosen? And did her role end once he was born and raised? As Greg explains, Mary's place in the manger, and the Ch...
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Christmas Snapshot: Mary’s Place in the Manger (#166)
Dec. 20, 2023

New Age But the Same Old Devil (#165)

Part 2 of Greg's conversation with Angie Griffith, a Considering Catholicism listener who spent over a decade as a music industry executive in Nashville. After COVID lockdowns disrupted her career, she found herself immersed ...
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New Age But the Same Old Devil (#165)
Dec. 17, 2023

From New Age Nashville and On the Road to Rome (#164)

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...
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From New Age Nashville and On the Road to Rome (#164)
Dec. 15, 2023

Snapshot: Is Christianity Impractical or Impossible? (#163)

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 ...
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Snapshot: Is Christianity Impractical or Impossible? (#163)
Dec. 13, 2023

Snapshot: Is Christianity Crazy? (#162)

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 t...
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Snapshot: Is Christianity Crazy? (#162)
Dec. 10, 2023

Searching for a Christmas Playlist (#161)

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...
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Searching for a Christmas Playlist (#161)
Dec. 8, 2023

Good Popes, Bad Popes, Mostly Average Popes (#160)

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 P...
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Good Popes, Bad Popes, Mostly Average Popes (#160)
Dec. 4, 2023

Snapshot: Discover Advent (#159)

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 v...
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Snapshot: Discover Advent (#159)
Nov. 28, 2023

Snapshot: Stuff Jesus Never Said (#158)

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 hav...
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Snapshot: Stuff Jesus Never Said (#158)
Nov. 26, 2023

The Crusades (#157)

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 mu...
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The Crusades (#157)
Nov. 25, 2023

Snapshot: Christ the King (#156)

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 Chris...
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Snapshot: Christ the King (#156)
Nov. 21, 2023

Snapshot: The End of Ordinary Time (#155)

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. Bu...
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Snapshot: The End of Ordinary Time (#155)
Nov. 19, 2023

Charity and Social Justice (#154)

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://gi...
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Charity and Social Justice (#154)
Nov. 14, 2023

Listener Questions, Part 2 (#153)

Greg answers questions sent in by listeners (send your own to consideringcatholicism@gmail.com ): "I'm a recent convert to Catholicism, but my wife is still Protestant. We disagree over which church to raise our children in. ...
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Listener Questions, Part 2 (#153)
Nov. 12, 2023

Demons (#152)

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 Cor...
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Demons (#152)
Nov. 9, 2023

Snapshot: ”God, Country, Notre Dame” (#151)

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, ...
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Snapshot: ”God, Country, Notre Dame” (#151)
Nov. 5, 2023

What is Evil? (#150)

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 Cat...
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What is Evil? (#150)
Nov. 2, 2023

Snapshot: Taking Death Seriously (#149)

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 remember...
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Snapshot: Taking Death Seriously (#149)
Oct. 31, 2023

Snapshot: (Un)Happy Reformation Day! (#148)

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....
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Snapshot: (Un)Happy Reformation Day! (#148)