The Deacon Frederick Bartels Show

The voice you just heard is from a video clip of Mike Winger. Mike is a Protestant Christian who doesn’t think that there’s evidence for the office of the pope or the papacy in the bible. He’s one among many thousands of other Protestant Christians who have similar views. But is it true that there is no evidence for the office of the pope in the bible? No, it’s not. There’s actually lots of eviden...

This episode explores two approaches to making moral decisions. When we make a choice to comply with the moral law, do we do so out of a sense of obligation, such as to avoid some type of punishment? Or, on the other hand, do we do so because we desire to choose what is truly good for the sake of goodness itself? That’s what we’ll be talking about today. If you like this content, please subscribe,...

Hey everyone. Thanks for being here and listening to the show. The voice of the person you heard at the beginning is Mike Winger, a Protestant Christian. This episode discusses a video Mike Winger recorded on his YouTube channel. Mike seems to be a sincere Christian who loves Jesus and loves the Bible—so that’s great. I decided to respond to his video because some of the claims he makes are fairly...

In this episode, we explore the Calvinist doctrine of eternal security or what is often called “once saved, always saved.” By the way, if you like this content, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with family and friends. Thanks, I really appreciate it.

Recently Wes Huff made a YouTube video giving six reasons for why he remains a convictional Protestant and favors Protestantism over Catholicism. This episode interacts with his video, and explores one of the reasons Wes gave for why he favors Protestantism, which is his claim that scripture is the sole infallible authority on Christian faith and practice. If you like this content, please subscrib...

In this episode, we’ll explore in vitro fertilization, or IVF, and talk about its dark side by addressing some of the reasons for why it is immoral. By the way, the topic of this episode might not be appropriate for young children, although it does not contain any graphic details. Parents are advised to use discretion. If you like this content, please subscribe and leave a review. It will help to...

This episode explores the theological virtue of faith, why this gift of grace from God is essential, and what our response to it should be. If you like this content, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with others. Thanks!

This next Monday (May 25th) the Church celebrates the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Church. Mary is an icon of the Church, and the Church walks the path Mary has forged ahead of us. Furthermore, the Virgin Mary is truly our mother. There are many spiritual benefits to fostering a relationship with Mary. In this episode, we’ll look at a few of those benefits. If you like th...

In this episode, we explore the cardinal virtue of fortitude. Before you listen to this episode, you might want to go back and listen to episodes 9, 13, and 14 to learn about the other three cardinal virtues, if you have not already listened to those episodes. I should also mention that this episode touches on the topic of Christian martyrdom. Although it does not contain graphic details, it might...

In this episode, I discuss some of the views of Alex O’Connor. He’s a self-professed atheist, or perhaps an agnostic. He thinks there are contradictions in the gospels. And he thinks Matthew invented the story about the rising of the saints after Christ’s resurrection found in chapter 27 of his gospel. It is this specific claim that I’ll discuss. Thanks for listening. If you like this content, ple...

In this episode I’ve compiled a few clips from a video on Cross Examined’s website involving a question and answer session with Frank Turek. It features a discussion Frank had with an Orthodox Christian. The Orthodox Christian man raises a lot of important questions that deal with the root of the Protestant dilemma, specifically, how do we know that any particular person’s interpretation of the Bi...

Is the earth flat? Well … there is only a very small minority of people who think that it is. Based on tons of scientific evidence, the vast majority of people believe the earth is a sphere. I’m not going to go through the overwhelming scientific evidence for the roundness of the earth, or that it orbits the Sun, etc. I don’t think most people need to hear about that. But I am going to talk about...

It’s Friday in the Octave of Easter in the Year of our Lord 2026. In this episode, we’ll discuss the resurrection of Christ and what it means for our future as Christians, namely, the resurrection of the dead at the end of time when Christ returns. If you like this content, please subscribe, leave a review and some comments, and share it with others. Thanks!

It’s Friday of the Lord’s Passion. On this sacred day we remember our Lord’s passion and death on the cross. In this episode, we’ll explore the Roman practice of crucifixion as an exercise of capital punishment. We’ll look at what it entailed and some of the reasons why the Romans engaged in this form of executing criminals. And we’ll briefly reflect on what Jesus’s crucifixion means for us. If yo...

The Virtue of Temperance In episodes 9 and 13 the cardinal virtues of prudence and justice were discussed. If you missed those, consider listening to them first. In this episode, we’ll look at the cardinal virtue of temperance. It’s often the case that temperance is associated only with drinking alcohol in moderation, but it actually has to do with moderating the use of all created things. So, wha...

What is the virtue of justice? In this episode, we’re going to look at the virtue of justice, which is one of the four cardinal virtues. If you like this content, please leave a review and some comments, and share it with others. Thanks!

Are UAPs and Aliens Demons? That’s a question some people are asking, especially as official military footage and congressional testimony have brought unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs, as they are called today) back into the public spotlight. Some Christians and others are convinced these sightings must be fallen angels or demons masquerading as strange craft flying or hovering in the sky. But...

The novelist Flannery O’Connor once made this comment at a dinner party about the Eucharist: “Well, if it’s a symbol, to hell with it.” Is the Eucharist merely a symbol or is it something far greater? What has the Catholic Church always believed about it? And how should we interpret Jesus’s teaching in John’s gospel, chapter six? In this episode we’ll explore those questions and more. By the way,...

We’re now in the season of Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday. The whole point of Lent is to orient our lives to Christ and foster greater love of God and neighbor. Lent is also a penitential season in which we practice the Lenten disciples of fasting and abstinence from flesh meat.   With that in mind, in this episode we’ll talk about the Church’s fasting and abstinence laws. By the way, I’m tryi...

The cardinal virtues are essential for building self-mastery and living a life of excellence in freedom. In the Catholic tradition, four cardinal virtues are identified. These virtues are called “cardinal” because they serve as a “hinge” for the other human moral virtues. In this episode, we’ll explore the cardinal virtue of prudence. I’m trying to grow this channel, so if you like this content, p...

Is the Catholic Church important? Is it necessary? Is it the plan of God and willed by God? Is it founded by Christ himself? On the other hand, are Catholics merely one group of Christians among hundreds or thousands of others who all have equal claims on the truth about what God has revealed? These are some of the topics we’ll explore in this episode. If you like this content, I’d really apprecia...

What is the God of the Gaps Error, and why is it important for Christians to avoid it? In this episode, we’ll discuss what this error is and why it’s a problem. I’m trying to grow my channel, so if you like this content, please subscribe, leave a review and some comments, and share it with family and friends. Thanks! I really appreciate it.

What if I told you that in one of the deadliest explosions in human history—an explosion so powerful it erased an entire city in seconds—eight men were only about 8 blocks away from the blast-center, and these men walked away almost completely unharmed? No serious burns. No radiation sickness. No cancer. And their home? It was still standing after the blast. Sounds impossible… yet it happened. In...

Have you ever asked yourself, “If God is good… why is there so much suffering in the world?” Why do innocent people suffer? Why do children get sick or die? Why do wars, violence, and injustice seem to be everywhere? These aren’t just philosophical questions. They’re deeply personal . Almost all of us have experienced loss, pain, or injustice in some form. And for many people, the problem of evil...

One of the most quoted—and most misunderstood—statements Jesus ever made is, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” It’s often used as a conversation-stopper, a way to avoid moral accountability, or even to suggest that Christians should never call out wrongdoing. But when we read Jesus’ words in context, a very different picture emerges. In this episode, we’ll look closely at what Christ actually t...