Controversies in Church History

Hello friends! The latest episode episode of Controversies in Church History is a replay of what was originally a patron-only episode for patrons on Patreon, which I now make available to everyone. In it, I take a look at a work of history written nearly a hundred years ago, The Problem of Unbelief in the Sixteenth Century, by Lucien Febvre, a French historian who published his book during the dark days of World War II. In this book, he tries to explain why modern atheism was impossible for people in the sixteenth century writer, focusing on the poet Francois Rabelais, a Franciscan friar famed for his skepticism. I take a look at Febvre's work in this episode, and try to explain why it is a topic that is important for Catholics to understand. Cheers!

The latest episode of Controversies in Church History is an interview with James Green, a Catholic teacher and writer. James has penned a series of articles at his Substack taking a closer look at the data on vocations, church attendance and other data on key indicators in the Catholic Church before and since the Second Vatican Council. In our discussion, which is a long one, we look at the impact of the Council but also consider how the trends that became prominent with that Council began in the decades before it took place, and what might have caused them. Finally, we end our discussion by looking at some projections James has made based on current data and what signs of hope one can find in the data, despite the downward trends in the Church. This is a very deep dive into statistics and a very long discussion, so I hope my listeners and viewers enjoy it. Please let me know what you think.Note: the video of the interview contains charts that James has made available, and which we reference in the interview, which can access here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Y_mvSpIkAbIEBep2mfQJp4-PSdLnIz9o44ejZTWxGP0/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.p

Originally a bonus episode for patrons of the podcast, this episode takes a look at some of Charles De Gaulle's recorded opinions concerning the Second Vatican Council. De Gaulle led the Free French forces during WWII and served ten years as president of France (1958-1968). De Gaulle had a keen political sense and his comments on Vatican II are both interesting but also prescient. Enjoy.

The latest episode is a walk-through of what yours truly has been the past year (or so), and gives an update on upcoming episodes and their content (hint: there will be new episodes and they will be awesome). Cheers!

Hello everyone! Controversies in Church History is back after a long hiatus, and we are bringing you an episode about two popes: Pius IX and Francis. We dive into the question of whether the centralization of power in the papacy that began under Pius IX (1848-1878) led to the reign of the late Pope Francis (2013-2025), and whether Pius IX can be said to be responsible for it. Also, I update the state of the podcast and preview future episodes. Enjoy!

Hello everyone. The 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea is upon us, and we are pleased to present you with an interview on the subject. Ben Wyatt is an author, podcaster, and Episcopal priest, who has recently published his first book, Christ and the Council: Conflict, Politics, Theology, and the Outrageous, Extraordinary Story of the Church’s First Creed. In the course of our interview, we discuss the nature of the theological debate surrounding Christ's divinity at the Council, the role of Constantine the Great on its outcome, and the legacy of Nicaea and its creed for Christians today. You can find Ben's book on Amazon and other outlets, and you can listen to his podcast, the Road to Nicaea, on Spotify and other major platforms. Thanks to Ben for sharing his time and discussing his book with us at Controversies in Church History.

In the latest episode, I take a deeper look at a recent controversy. Two Catholic scholars recent wrote an article in Commonweal Magazine comparing Traditionalist Catholics--those who attend the Latin Mass--to a heresy known as "Jansenism." In this short episode, I talk about why this comparison does not hold, but is actually a polemical use of history designed to smear Traditionalists. In it, I discuss the history of Jansenism and the danger of taking historical analogies too seriously.

In the late 2nd century AD, a Christian convert from Phrygia (modern Turkey) named Montanus began experiencing visions and speaking in tongues, which he believed were the Holy Spirit speaking through him. Soon he was joined by two women, Priscilla and Maximilla, who experienced the same ecstatic episodes. Montanus and his followers believed he was a prophet, called to lead Christians back to their primitive purity. In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a look at the history of Montanism, as its followers were called, and how it parallels other heretical movements in the history of the Church.

With the election of Pope Leo XIV, we move into a new papal reign, and in this brief episode, I share a few thoughts about the new pontiff, the challenges he will face, and musings on the larger historical context of those challenges. Cheers!

Our latest episode continues our discussion on the cult of the saints, but this time focusing on one of its more controversial aspects: the veneration of relics. In this episode, I talk about what the veneration of relics entails, how it emerged from the cult of the martyrs, and the evidence for its practice among early Christians. I also describe how by the sixth century, belief in the powers of relics became a defining feature of Christianity, and why the practice distinguished Christians from both pagan Greco-Roman religion and Judaism in the ancient world.

Controversies in Church History is back! This time, I interview the husband and wife team of Joseph and Monique Gonzalez about their book, Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: How God Prepared the Americas for Conversion Before the Lady Appeared. In our interview, they discuss the history and culture of the peoples of Mexico prior to the Spanish conquest, and how certain aspects of their culture prepared them to receive the revelation of Jesus Christ. They make the case that the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego in 1531 led to the conversion of millions of native Mexican peoples because of this "preparatio evangelica" deposited within Nahua culture (Nahua is the native language of the peoples of Mexico the Spanish encountered). This is an enlightening discussion and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers!

Hello! This is just a brief update on what's cooking for Controversies in Church History. Please take a listen, I have some good things in store for my followers. Cheers!

When did the early Christians begin to seek the intercession of particularly holy people, such as the martyrs? Was this something they copied from Greco-Roman society? In the latest episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a look at the origins of the cult of the saints. In it, I discuss when and how the early Christians began to venerate Christian martyrs, and the evidence of this practice. I address the similarities and differences between the veneration of the saints and Greco-Roman religion, and why veneration of saints marked a radical departure from other religions in the ancient world.

Hello! I thought I would drop a short, unscripted episode about something that has been on my mind recently, namely, elites. Inspired by an embarrassing situation in the Catholic Church in England, I muse on the theory of "elite overproduction" and how it might apply to the Protestant Reformation. Which means I geek out over the numbers of universities founded in late medieval Europe. If you like thinking about history, I hope this more speculative episode whets your appetites. Cheers!

In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we tackle the subject of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire. In the eighth and ninth centuries, Byzantine emperors waged a campaign against the veneration of sacred images, destroying them and persecuting their defenders. Despite this, the practice persisted, and eventually supporters of icons proved victorious and the veneration of images was enshrined in Orthodox and Catholic teaching. In this episode, we will look at the historical context of this important period, discussing the motivation for iconoclasm, the arguments on both sides, and why the eventual triumph of icon veneration is important for the history of Catholicism and Christianity in general.

Controversies in Church History returns to its ongoing series on the Latinization of the Eastern Churches. The tenth installment deals with the trials of the Armenian Catholic Church, which faced persecution within the Ottoman Empire but also suspicion from Rome, which led to a brief schism in the 1870s. Along the way we discuss the wider context of the Ottoman Empire, Vatican I and the calamity of the Armenian Genocide during WWI. Please spread the word about the podcast if you like what you hear. Pax Christi!

Controversies in Church History is back! The first episode of 2025 is a review of the books I've been reading the past year, featuring some interesting works on theology and liturgy with a side dollop of nothing-to-do-with-Catholicism-in-particular. If you like hearing someone's else's opinions about books you've never read, this is the episode for you. Also, I preview upcoming episodes and lament how behind I am on book reviews. Cheers! Books Discussed: 1. Peter Kwasniewski, Treasuring the Goods of Marriage in a Throwaway Society 2. Abbé Claude Barthe, A Forest of Symbols: the Traditional Mass and its Meaning 3. Peter Kwasniewski, Ultramontanism and Tradition: the Role of Papal Authority in the Catholic Church 4. Erick Ybarra, The Papacy: Revisiting the Debate Between Catholic and Orthodox 5. Evelyn Waugh, Men at Arms (Sword of Honor Trilogy #1) 6. Tim Blanning, The Romantic Revolution 7. Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning 8. David Grann, The Wager: a Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder 9. Fawwaz Traboulsi, A History of Modern Lebanon 10. Augustus Richard Norton, Hezbollah: a Short History 11. John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy 12. Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine 13. Ilan Pappé, A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict 14. Ronen Bergman, Rise and Kill First: the Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassination Program

This episode is a special one, as I present you with a Controversies in Church History interview, normally reserved for patrons of the podcast. Here is our interview author and apologist Erick Ybarra. We discuss his book The Papacy: Revisiting the Debate Between Catholics and Orthodox, the state of the evidence for papal claims in the first millennium and much more. Enjoy!

Just a brief preview of some upcoming events I am involved in the next month or so, including the next Controversies in Church History interview. Cheers!

The latest episode of Controversies in Church History takes a look at the early 19th century writer and apologist Francois Rene Chateaubriand (1768-1848), and his work, The Genius of Christianity. Often considered one of the first "Romantic" authors, we will take a look at Chateaubriand's life and background and how it shaped his approach to arguing for the truth of the Catholic faith.

Hello! The latest episode in our series on the Latinization of the Eastern Catholic Churches is now available. In this episode, we take a broad look at the policy of the papacy toward the Eastern Churches--both Catholic and Orthodox--from the reign of Pius IX to the death of Pius XII. The episode discusses how the centralization of authority in the Vatican during the 19th century affected the Eastern Catholic Churches. I argue that though such centralization likely increased the tendency toward Latinization initially, it ultimately wound up benefiting the Eastern Churches in communion with Rome.

The latest episode of Controversies in Church History covers a curious topic and debate among academics. Why are modern Western societies so different from other civilizations? Why are they WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) when so much of the world is not? In this episode, we take a look at the thesis that the medieval Church's prohibitions on marriage paved the way for changes in social structure that account for the modern West's WEIRDness, and why the Church insisted on those prohibitions in the first place.

Hello everyone! The latest installment in our series on the Latinization of the Eastern Churches is now available to all of our listeners. In it, we discuss the conflict between the Latin rite bishops of the United States in the late nineteenth century and the immigrant clergy of the Ruthenian Catholic Church, which resulted in the defection of tens of thousands of Ruthenian Catholics to Orthodoxy. 

The latest Catholic Lives episode, in which we look at notable non-saints in Catholic history, delves into the brief life of Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem (1174-1185). Famous for contracting leprosy when he was a child, he fought multiple battles with the Muslim emir Saladin, and successfully protected the kingdom while he lived. Face with particularly difficult personal, political and diplomatic challenges, Baldwin IV earned the praise of contemporaries, and continues to fascinate today. 

Hello! The latest episode of the podcast is now available. Last year I did a "what I've been reading episode" and the feedback was in favor of a repeat, so here we go. In this episode, I recount the ten best books I have read this year, from poetry to history and liturgy. Enjoy! Books Covered: 1. John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther (1687), Poetry   2. Byung Chul-Han, The Disappearance of Rituals: a Topology of the Present (2019), Philosophy   3. Julian Jackson, A Certain Idea of France: the Life of Charles de Gaulle (2018), Biography   4. William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794), Poetry   5. Carlos Eire, War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship From Erasmus to Calvin (1986), History   6. Fr. Robert McTeigue, S.J., Christendom Lost and Found: Meditations for a Post-Post Christian World (2022), Religion   7. Yamen Manai, The Ardent Swarm (2017), Novel   8. Mike Yomer, Please Tell Me (2023) Novel             9. James Simpson, Under the Hammer: Iconoclasm in the Anglo-American Tradition (2010) Literature/Art   10. Michael Fiedrowicz, The Traditional Mass: History, Form and Theology of the Classical Roman Rite (2011/2021) Theology/Liturgy    

In this episode, we take a look at the Liturgical Movement of the early twentieth century in the Catholic Church. The Liturgical Movement's original aim was to make the Catholic faithful partake of the Church's liturgy more deeply and fruitfully.  However, it did not originally envision a radical revision of the liturgy as actually occurred after Vatican II. I try to answer the question of what might have changed between the early twentieth century and the Second Vatican Council in the Liturgical Movement that might account for this. Pax!

In the final episode on the Early Modern Era, our series on Latinization covers the relations of the Latin Church with Eastern Christians in Eastern Europe, primarily the Ukrainians, as well as the sad tale of the Italo-Albanian Church and its struggles to maintain its heritage in Italy. Finally, we also take a look back at the Early Modern Period itself, and discuss the changes spurred the increasing insistence of the Western Church that its traditions and customs take precedence over those of Eastern Christians. 

The latest episode in our series on the Latinization of the Eastern rites is now available. In the latest installment, we examine how and why Catholic missionaries in the 16th century forced Latin customs on the Thomas Christians of India, native Indian Christian communities who trace their ancestry back to St. Thomas the Apostle. 

In this episode, I take a look at some of the most important magisterial documents that state there are limits to papal authority issued in the recent history of the Church (since 1870).

Hey everyone. On this episode of the podcast, I read a blog post in which I look at the term and concept of "synodality," and argue that it is an unnecessary novelty which neither "conservative" or "traditionalist" Catholics should not use.

The latest episode in our series on Latinization deals with the Church of the East, the ancient Church of Persia associated with the Nestorian heresy, which flourished in the first millennium but declined thereafter. In this, we talk about how some of these Eastern Christians came into communion with Rome in 1553, creating the Chaldean Catholic Church, which is one of the Eastern Rite Churches in communion with Rome today. 

In this brief episode, I respond to a listener's question about Elisabeth Anscombe and Truman, while also giving an update on future episodes of the podcast.

In this episode, I take a look back at a 1995 book by the Polish philosopher Lezsek Kolakowski, "God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on the Religion of Pascal and the Spirit of Jansenism." Kolakowski's book tackles the problem of theodicy (how a good and just God can allow evil in the world) via an examination of the 17th century heresy of Jansenism. In this episode I take a look at his arguments for the idea that God is not a subject of any human moral obligations, and that the modern split between faith and science has left believers with an all-powerful but inscrutable God who "owes us nothing."

From the blog, a meditation on the controversy over World Youth Day, and what it says about larger trends in the Church since Vatican II. You can check out the original post on the website here: https://churchcontroversies.com/2023/08/14/world-youth-day-syndrome/

In this brief episode, I discuss Elisabeth Anscombe's argument against the dropping of the atom bomb on Japan and defenses of Harry Truman's actions. But the real purpose is to ask the listeners what they think--was Anscombe right in saying that Truman was a mass murderer?

In this episode, I read an article of mine which takes at look at the attitude so common in Western life today, which sees its past and its heritage as a backward stage in history that needs to be overcome. In doing so, I compare the influence of Modernism to that of 19th century Western Colonialism, reading this attitude through the prism of Chinua Achebe's book, Things Fall Apart.

In this episode, we take a look back at Ridley Scott's 2005 film "Kingdom of Heaven," his epic about the Third Crusade which ended with capture of Jerusalem by the Muslim prince Saladine. We examine how it treats the beliefs of characters in the past, specifically those of Christian Crusaders, and what it says about modern Hollywood's sense of history--or lack thereof. 

In 1970, three professors at the University of Kansas created a unique humanities program--the Pearson Integrated Humanities Program--that captivated students, introducing them to the "Great Books" of the Western tradition and the "perennial philosophy." But some in the university did not care for this program, and pointed to the Catholic faith of the three professors in claiming they were "brainwashing" their students. When six students in the program entered a monastery, their opponents seized on this to help bring the program to an end. In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a closer look at the rise and fall of the IHP, and the role of ideology and anti-Catholicism in its demise.

In the fourth installment of our series on Latinization of the Eastern Churches, we take a look at Rome during Renaissance and Reformation era and its relationship with the Eastern Churches that come into communion with it, above all the Maronite Church. We also take a look at the influence of European powers on this process, as well as the creation of new Eastern Catholic Churches in the 18th century.

In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a look at the 1964 feature film Becket, a bio pic about the medieval marytr and bishop St. Thomas Becket. After a brief relation of the history of Becket's martyrdom, we take a look at the film, which based on the play by Jean Anouilh, and assess its strengths and weaknesses as a film and as history. 

Hey everyone! This is new Short, a preview of the latest patron only episode for everyone else. This is from Episode IV of our series on Latinization, which is on Rome's relationship with Eastern Christians in the Ottoman Empire between 1450 and 1800. In this clip, I discuss the relationship between Rome and the Maronite Church of Lebanon during the late 16th century, and how both sides sought to gain from their relationship, but which contributed to Latinization of the Maronites in the long run. The full episode will be available to all listeners at months end, but if you want to listen to it now (and free of ads), consider becoming a patron of the podcast. Pax Christi!

Hello! The latest episode of the podcast is another "ReView" of an historical film This time, I riff on the one of the most heralded movies about a ever made about a Catholic historical figure. I am of course talking about "A Man For All Seasons," the biopic about St. Thomas More which won six Oscars in 1966, and in the film I discuss what it gets right and wrong historically, and also talk about the inspiration for the film's writer, Rober Bolton, to write about a Catholic saint.

Hi everyone! In this episode, we give a brief overview of the trends in the early modern era that affected Rome's attitude toward Eastern Christian customs, and how that led to instances of "Latinization." We take a look at papal policy in that era, as embodied by a papal encyclical of Benedict XIV, which lays out the papal rationale for altering (or not altering) Eastern Christian customs. 

Our latest episode is now available. In this installment, I take a look at the "Galileo Affair" as it is often called, and talk about how it became a founding myth of modernity, not only concerning the relationship between science and religion, but also the myth of the modern "expert," which is very much still a crucial part of our world today. 

Hey everyone! This is a new feature I will be using going forward. I provide early access to certain episodes to my supporters on Patreon, in particular the episodes in my longer ongoing series. After a month, I drop the episode for everyone. So, to give non-subscribers a sneak preview, I am going to share clips of the full episodes before they drop, to give you a sense of what's going on. The current series is on the topic of Latinization, how Rome "latinized" or otherwise made Eastern Churches in communion with her adopt Latin liturgical and disciplinary customs. This clip is from Episode III of that series, a primer for the Early Modern Period. In it, I discuss Pope Benedict XIV, a scholar and pontiff of the 18th century who wrote an encyclical on the Eastern Rites in communion with Rome called Allatae Sunt (1755). The clip focuses on his contention that, barring any question of orthodoxy (which popes have a natural right to investigate), Eastern Christians in communion with the Holy See ought to keep and celebrate their own rites and not be "Latinized" by missionaries. You can hear the full discussion of this episode later in the month, or you can go to Controversies in Church History's patreon account to get access now. Thanks to all of my listeners as always. Pax Christi!

It is common to hear Catholics say the pope is an "absolute monarch." But is that true? In this episode, I examine the question and conclude that yes, he is--but not in the way you probably think.  

In this re-recording of an earlier episode, I take a look at the Arian Crisis of the Fourth Century, when conflict over the nature of Christ's divinity shook the Church for over half a century. In it, I discuss the nature of the dispute as well as how the Roman emperors played a role in the conflict. Finally, I consider the Arian Crisis in comparison with the current crisis of faith in the Church today, to which many have compared it.

In this second installment of our series on Latinization, we tell the story of how Rome's reforms in the 11th and 12th centuries led to conflicts in the border lands of Eastern and Southern Europe with the Byzantine Orthodox, and how the Crusades set in motion the (mostly) voluntary Latinization of the Armenian and Maronite Churches. We end with a consideration of the reunion councils held between the Eastern and Western Churches, and whether they can be considered attempts at "Latinization." Finally, we discuss the role of political power and ideals of "ecclesiastical universalism" in the whole question of Latinization.  

Hello everyone! On this episode of Controversies in Church History, I take a look back at another piece of recent cultural history. This time, I review the HBO TV series Rome, which aired from 2005-2007, and look at how the creators of the Show framed the series as a contrast between pagan Roman and Christian morality. 

In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we look at the reign of Pope Joan (855-857), the only woman ever to reign as bishop of Rome. If you like the podcast, please follow us on Spotify for Podcasters, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel, and if you are so inclined, become a patron of the podcast via our Patreon account.