The Cordial Catholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by Jon Steingard, frontman of the Christian rock band Hawk Nelson, for a unique conversation about the deconstruction of his Evangelical Christian faith and some of the interesting places where our two "conversion" stories intersect. This is not the kind of conversation I usually host on this podcast but seeing so many sim...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by Dr. Holly Ordway to talk about imagination, evangelization, and her journey into the Catholic Church as an atheist academic. It's a fantastic interview which touches on her conversion story, the use of imagination in apologetics, important points to consider while speaking about Christianity, and the why Dr. Ordway wasn&apos...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by Dr. Lawrence Feingold, one of the Catholic Church's leading theologians, to unpack what everyone needs to know about the Eucharist. We cover the Eucharist from the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Early Church Fathers, and discuss what happened to Eucharistic Theology when the Reformation happened. This is an unbelievab...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by Dr. Jonathan Reimer, an Assistant Professor of History at Eastern University, to talk about how we can talk, intelligently, accurately, and cordially about the Reformation.  Dr. Reimer has some incredible insights about the roots of the Reformation, the Catholic response, and how we can best dialogue, across the Protestant/Cathol...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by former Episcopal priest Andrew Petiprin to discuss his journey into full communion with the Catholic Church. We discuss issues of Anglo-Catholicism, authority, biblical interpretation, the value that non-Catholic Christians bring into the Catholic Church, and how the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be a powerful tool in help...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by apologist, speaker, and author Dr. Douglas Beaumont to discuss the phenomenon of Evangelical Christians "de-converting" and leaving the Christian faith. From his research-based perspective, and with the experience of a convert, Dr. Beaumont talks about some of the factors that go into what causes a person to "de-co...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by theologian and author Dr. John Bergsma to talk about his incredible conversion to the Catholic faith. Raised in the Reformed church, Dr. Bergsma was steeped both in biblical studies and in the doctrines and beliefs of his particular denomination. In this discussion, Dr. Bergsma explains how he began to see the cracks form in his...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by two returning guests, Matt Swaim and Keith Nester. Matt and Keith are both Catholic converts and we get together to discuss the problems we encountered with Sola Scriptura – the idea that the Bible is the sole rule of faith for Christians. We talk about the problem of everyone interpreting things differently, of major issues like salvati...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by returning guest John DeRosa. John is the host of the Classical Theism Podcast and the author of a new book out from Catholic Answers Press called One Less God Than You: How to Answer the Slogans, Cliches, and Fallacies That Atheists Use to Challenge Our Faith . We talk about some of the most popular challenges to belief in God, the Chris...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast I'm joined by Catholic Answers Apologist Karlo Broussard to talk about one of the most widely misunderstood areas of Catholic belief: Purgatory.  What is Purgatory? What do Catholics really believe about it? Where can it be found in the Bible?  Karlo is just finishing up a new book on the topic and is an absolute expert on this area of Catholic...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Father James Bradley, a Catholic priest in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and an Anglican convert to the Catholicism. Father Bradley, a former Anglican priest, joins us to explain how he and his Anglican congregation joined the Catholic Church, en masse, through the Anglican Ordinariate opened up by Pope Benedict XVI....

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Catholic apologist and author Gary Michuta to talk about how the Bible was put together and why modern Catholic Bibles are bigger than their Protestant counterparts? Did Catholics add books to the Bible? Did Protestants take books out? What exactly is the Apocrypha? How do we know which books belong in the first place and, really, what e...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by Bishop Thomas Dowd of the Archdiocese of Montreal to discuss incredibly important topic of apostolic succession. Listen, and learn how the Catholic Church traces its authority, its succession of bishops, right back to the charge which Jesus gave his followers to "bind and loose." Plus, we talk about the Jewish roots of the prie...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by the incredibly personable Sonja Corbitt, the Bible Study Evangelista , to talk about her journey out of her strong Southern Baptist roots and into the Catholic Church. It's an incredible story that touches on what happens when her deep, deep love of Scripture slams head on into issues of authority, interpretation, and church...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by Father Gregory Merkley, a diocesan priest of the Diocese of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. We talk about Father Greg's spiritual journey, the blessing of the priesthood, and the incredible impact that the sacraments have had on his life.  Father Gregory was baptized Catholic, fell into practical atheism, and was eventually led...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by two guests from the National Center for Padre Pio in Barto, PA, USA. Nick Gibboni is the Executive Director of the Center and Vera Marie Calandra, Vice President, and daughter of the founders of the National Center. We discuss all things Padre Pio–my favourite saint–including his miraculous life, his incredible charisms and abili...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by author, evangelist, and pilgrimage guru Steve Ray to talk about the biblical roots of the papacy. Steve should know, as a convert to Catholicism himself he's written two fantastic books on the subject. We discuss the Old Testament precedent for the pope, evidence from Scripture and history, and why we need a pope at all. It&...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by evangelist, speaker, and author John LaBriola to talk about how to pray for our friends and family who have left the Catholic Church. We discuss John's brand new book No Soul Left Behind: How to Pray for Your Loved Ones Who Have Left the Church which is an absolutely fantastic resource for praying for our non-Catholic Christ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by the incredible Dawn Eden Goldstein. Dawn, a former agnostic rock journalist, is a convert to Catholicism and a brilliant theologian. She has a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake and is the author of a number of fine books on the topic of mercy and redemptive suffering. She joins me, in this e...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined again by Dr. Cheryl White, professor of history at Louisiana State University at Shreveport and an expert on the history of relics, especially the Shroud of Turin. We discuss the relics of Jesus' passion: the true cross, the crown of thorns, the Shroud of Turin, and more. It's a fascinating discussion about the importance...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined once again by Catholic Answers Senior Apologist Jimmy Akin to help us unpack the problem of evil and suffering. Why would a good, all-knowing, all-powerful God allow evil and suffering to exist? Why do innocent people suffer? Does the existence of evil make God less powerful, less good, or something other than what Christians say th...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by theologian and author Dr. John Bergsma to talk about the incredible and ancient Dead Sea Scrolls and what amazing insights these documents provide us into our Catholic Christian faith. In these episode we dig deep into what the Dead Sea Scrolls are, what the community of Jewish believers that collected them were like, and how the...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic Podcast , I'm joined by two fantastic Catholic apologists to discuss their joint journey into the Catholic Church. Devin Rose is a Catholic convert, writer, speaker, and app developer. Dr. Douglas Beaumont is an apologist, speaker, and writer as well. Together, these two have written some of the best books in Catholic apologetics and, it turns out, they...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by writer, speaker, and convert Derek Rotty to take about Lectio Divina – the ancient way of reading the Bible. We also discuss Derek's own conversion and the necessary process of daily conversion to Christ, his Church, and the Christian way of life. It's a great conversation! For more from Derek visit his website . His book, A Li...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic , I'm joined by former Protestant pastor Keith Nester and author and speaker Devin Schadt to discuss the process of Catholic conversion from two sides of the same story. In a first for this podcast we unfold the narrative of a Catholic conversion–Keith’s conversion, in this case–from two different perspectives; from the perspective of the Catholic lovin...