Considering Catholicism

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 pursu...

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 consideringcatholicism@gmail.com! ): 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 Cat...

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 a...

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 equip...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com

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: consideringcath...

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 yea...

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: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com

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...

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 peop...

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, sh...

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...

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 Cath...

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 r...

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...