Way of the Fathers
138 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 124 ratingsA podcast about the Fathers of the Church—the foundational figures in Christian history. A production of CatholicCulture.org.
Seasons 1-3 were hosted by Mike Aquilina. Season 4 is hosted by Dr. Jim Papandrea.
1: The Church Fathers
2: The Early Ecumenical Councils
3: Cities of God
4: Heresies
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Episodes
4.11 The Heresies — Arianism: A Man Who Became a God
April 24, 2024 09:00 - 45 minutes - 68.3 MBArianism was the fourth century evolution of adoptionism, in which Arius made a concession to the mainstream by accepting a quasi-divinity in Jesus Christ. But this was an acquired divinity, an earned divinity, and a divinity that was less than that of the Father. The controversy led to the first worldwide (ecumenical) council of bishops, the Council of Nicaea, in the year 325 AD, and it ultimately led to the crafting of the Nicene Creed, as the Church’s definitive statement of orthodox fait...
4.10 The Heresies — Rebaptism and the Donatists
April 10, 2024 09:00 - 29 minutes - 45.9 MBIn the aftermath of the persecutions, controversies arose over the sacraments, which required clarification of the Church’s sacramental theology. Out of those controversies, new schisms emerged which had a correct understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity, but incorrect understandings of ecclesiology (the doctrine of the Church) and incorrect understandings of what makes a sacrament valid and effective. The significance of these schisms cannot be overstated, since it is still true to this...
4.9 Novatian: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 2 (The Bad and the Ugly)
March 26, 2024 09:00 - 36 minutes - 36.5 MBIn this second part of a two-part series on Novatian of Rome, Dr. Papandrea discusses the flawed sacramental theology and ecclesiology of Novatian, which led to a schism that not only lasted for centuries, but created a new situation in which a faction could be orthodox with regard to the doctrine of the Trinity, yet not within the mainstream of the Church and her Tradition (i.e., Christian, but not Catholic). Links To read the document Against Novatian (possibly by Pope Sixtus II): htt...
4.8 Novatian: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Part 1 (The Good)
March 13, 2024 09:00 - 37 minutes - 57 MBNovatian of Rome is an extremely important, but conflicted, character in the early Church. On the one hand, he clarified and helped define the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, preparing the Church for the ecumenical councils. On the other hand, he was the central figure of a schism in a controversy over the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. In this first part of a two-part series on Novatian, Dr. Papandrea discusses the positive contributions of Novatian, as a Church father, and as t...
4.7 The Heresies – Modalism: God as a Monad with Three Names
February 28, 2024 10:00 - 40 minutes - 60.8 MBModalism denies the distinctions between the three Persons of the Trinity, so that God is presented as, not a Trinity at all, but rather a monad with three names. Modalism can be expressed chronologically (the Father became incarnate as the Son) or functionally (the names describe activities like Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer), but either way, in modalism the Son IS the Father in disguise, which ultimately denies the real humanity of Jesus Christ and the reality of his passion. Links For ...
4.6 The Heresies – The Enigma of Origen and Origenism
February 14, 2024 10:00 - 26 minutes - 27.8 MBWhether Origen is considered a father of the Church, or a heretic, depends on whom you ask. But everyone agrees he may have been just a bit too smart for his own good. At best, he tried in vain to out-gnostic the gnostics, at worst, he was too influenced by gnosticism. In the end, the Fifth Ecumenical Council declared him a heretic. In this this episode, Dr. Papandrea gives evidence why Origen should not be considered a father of the Church, but should be considered a heretic, but in the end...
4.5 The Heresies – Gnosticism: Christ as Cosmic Mind
January 24, 2024 10:00 - 50 minutes - 74.8 MBThe heresy of docetism evolved into a complicated web of schools of mythology, which we lump together under the name of gnosticism. These all still denied the real humanity of Christ, though in two distinct ways. Docetic gnosticism continued the trend of seeing Christ as a phantom, with no real tangible body. “Hybrid” gnosticism made concessions to the accounts of a tangible body of Jesus, but called it an ethereal, or luminous, body - in other words, not a true material flesh and blood body...
4.4 The Heresies – Adoptionism: Christ as Anointed Prophet
January 10, 2024 10:00 - 47 minutes - 42.6 MBIn the third century, the heresy of the Ebionites evolved into a more general form of adoptionism, still denying the divinity of Christ, and now emphasizing his status as an anointed, but adopted, son of God, much like the kings and prophets of the Old Testament. Adoptionism is also known as “dynamic monarchianism,” in part for its claim that it was preserving the oneness (monarchy) of God by denying the divinity of Christ. Links For more information on Justin Martyr, listen to Mike Aqui...
4.3 The Heresies – Docetics & Marcionites: Denying Christ's Humanity
December 27, 2023 10:00 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBFor the second heresy, Dr. Papandrea examines the opposite extreme from the first: these are the Docetics, including the most famous docetic teacher, Marcion and his followers. They concluded that Christ was a god, not necessarily different from the many other gods or demigods in the Greco-Roman pantheon, but that he was not really a human. Links For more information on Polycarp of Smyrna, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 5: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5-st-poly...
4.2 The Heresies – Judaizers and Ebionites: Denying Christ’s Divinity
December 13, 2023 05:44 - 32 minutes - 34.9 MBIs Jesus Christ God? Is he a man? Is he both? Spoiler alert: the mainstream Church answered with the both/and, but the factions on the fringes tended to choose one or the other. For our first heresy, we take a look at the Ebionites, and their New Testament-era predecessors, the so-called Judaizers. These concluded that Jesus Christ was a mere human. A human who became a prophet perhaps, but just a human. Links For more information on Ignatius of Antioch, see Mike Aquilina’s Episode 4: h...
4.1 The Heresies - Introduction to the Series
November 22, 2023 10:00 - 20 minutes - 24.5 MBI am honored to be picking up the Way of the Fathers podcast where my good friend, Mike Aquilina, left off. In season 4 of The Way of the Fathers, we’ll be looking at the heresies of the early Church, and how the Church fathers confronted and refuted them. This first episode is the introduction to the series, where I define some terms and tell you what you can expect as we trace through the early centuries of Christianity, tracking chronologically the alternatives to orthodoxy that were prop...
The future of Way of the Fathers: Mike Aquilina and Jim Papandrea in conversation
November 08, 2023 10:00 - 39 minutes - 38.8 MBAfter 99 wonderful episodes by Mike Aquilina, Way of the Fathers is getting a new host! We are sad to see Mike go, but excited about his hand-picked successor, Jim Papandrea. In this conversation, Mike introduces Jim to the listeners and these two friends and collaborators talk about their love for all things Patristic. Please help CatholicCulture.org - and Way of the Fathers - to continue in the new year. Donate now and your gift will be matched! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio ...
3.13 Cities of God: Last and Lasting Lessons
October 25, 2023 15:21 - 22 minutes - 22.8 MBChristianity conquered cities one by one, not by arms or propaganda, but by the quiet witness of ordinary lives well lived. Worldly power yielded before the prayers of the saints and the blood of the martyrs. What can we learn from the first evangelization as we work our witness today? Links Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Christianity-...
3.12 Cities of God: Carthage, African Christian Genesis
October 11, 2023 04:31 - 21 minutes - 20 MBWestern Christianity—Latin Christianity—began in Africa and made its way across the sea to Italy. All the great orthodox Latin writers of the first through third centuries were African. The distinctive western liturgy was likely a product of Roman Africa. Christianity came to Africa at a time of literary renaissance, and the Church is still the beneficiary of that particular Christian culture. Links Mike Aquilina, Africa and the Early Church: The Almost-Forgotten Roots of Catholic Chris...
3.11 Cities of God: Ravenna, Capital on the Swamp
September 27, 2023 13:02 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBFrom Rome to Milan to Ravenna, the Western capital moved—searching for the site least vulnerable to barbarian incursion. And wherever the capital moved, money followed. And where there’s money, there’s monumental art, science, and literary culture. In Ravenna there were great figures such as Galla Placidia and Peter Chrysologus. Today, the early Christian art and architecture of Ravenna are among the world’s great treasures. It’s one of the few places on earth where you can walk into a chur...
3.10 Cities of God: Constantinople (Not Istanbul)
September 13, 2023 16:57 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MBIn a short span of time, in the fourth century, Byzantium made the leap from a relatively insignificant harbor city to the de facto capital of the world. Constantine moved there from Rome and gave his empire a new (and Christian) founding. He also laid the foundations for a political milieu that made “Byzantine” a byword meaning complicated, bureaucratic, and corrupt. Constantinople’s laws, for better and worse, circumscribed the movements and actions of many of the later Fathers. Eusebiu...
3.9 Cities of God: Ejmiatsin and Christian Armenia
August 30, 2023 19:16 - 20 minutes - 19 MBAs if an interest in patristics isn’t strange enough, in this episode we’re getting still more exotic. We’re entering the world of Armenian patristics. We’re visiting the ancient city of Ejmiatsin—leaping over the barriers of language (and even alphabet) to encounter the heroes too often neglected in the histories. This is the story of St. Gregory the Illuminator and his contemporaries, and the Church they founded. Armenia also became a great center of learning and so houses translations of...
3.8 Cities of God: Lugdunum, the French Connection
August 15, 2023 23:38 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBFaith came to France very early and very strong. It seems likely that traders brought the Gospel from distant Smyrna (modern Izmir in Turkey) to Lugdunum (modern Lyon). The blood of martyrs was seed. Blandina, a sickly slave, emerged from her trials an epic hero, honored forever. Irenaeus, the globetrotting scholar-bishop, arose as the second century’s greatest theologian. LINKS Museum and ruins of Lugdunum https://lugdunum.grandlyon.com/en/ The Letter of the Churches of Vienna and Lug...
3.7 Cities of God: Edessa Starts with the Abgar Score
July 31, 2023 12:36 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBIn Edessa—the borderlands of the Empire—we make our first encounter with Syriac Christianity. Its origins are shrouded in mist, and within the mist we meet the indistinct figures of heretics, saints, and a king who is both historic and mythic. LINKS Labubna, Acts of Addaeus (Addai), https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1907 Various, Extracts from Various Books Concerning Abgar the King and Addaeus the Apostle https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/li...
3.6 Cities of God: Ephesus, a Church and Its Riots
July 12, 2023 15:11 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBEphesus was home to one of the Wonders of the World; and it’s the setting for one of the most dramatic moments in the itineraries of the Apostles: the riot of the silversmiths. It was also the location of one of the most dramatic moments in the age of the Fathers: the riotous council that condemned Nestorius. LINKS Socrates Scholasticus, Church History (Book VII) https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/26017.htm Jerome Murphy O’Connor St. Paul’s Ephesus: Texts and Archaeology https://www.ama...
3.5 Cities of God: Alexandria: Library and Lighthouse of Christian Learning
June 29, 2023 13:37 - 23 minutes - 24.1 MBAlexandria was cultural capital of the ancient world — and the ancient Church. It had the greatest library on the planet and a state-subsidized community of scholars. It was the city where theology first developed as a science. The Alexandrians had their own distinctive way of interpreting Scripture, developed over centuries by giants: Clement, Origen, Athanasius, Cyril. Its influence on the development of Christianity was profound and permanent. LINKS Jean-Yves Empereur, Alexandria...
3.4 Cities of God: Rome between Time and Eternity
June 15, 2023 00:57 - 22 minutes - 31.4 MBNo one would have guessed when Rome was founded that it would become anything important. But it became the capital of a vast empire and earthly center of the universal Church. It is the destination of the Acts of the Apostles — a place consecrated by martyrs' blood, a city to which the Fathers ventured as pilgrims, a city whose Church and bishop spoke with a singular authority. LINKS Mike Aquilina's 2023 Rome pilgrimage https://www.pilgrimages.com/mikeaquilina/ Margherita Guarducci, T...
3.3 Cities of God: Antioch, the City of Lights
May 25, 2023 14:23 - 21 minutes - 29.9 MB3.3 Cities of God: Antioch, 'First Called Christian' Antioch, in so many ways, was the place where the lights first went on. It was the first city in the ancient world to have street lamps and unending night life. It was the city where the disciples were first called Christians. And it blazed brightly for centuries, in the lives and words of the Fathers: Ignatius, Theophilus, John Chrysostom. LINKS D.S. Wallace-Hadrill, Christian Antioch: A Study of Early Christian Thought in the East ...
3.2 Cities of God: Jerusalem, the City of Origin
May 10, 2023 13:44 - 21 minutes - 22.1 MBJerusalem, the holy city — a city built with compact unity and beloved by the Apostles — was the first home of the Christian Church. Sacred to the Jews, it was for the early Christians a pilgrim destination. Melito and Egeria and Gregory of Nyssa visited there. Cyril reigned there as bishop. John of Damascus moved there. In any consideration of Christian communities, it must come first, because it was the origin and the model for all that came afterward. LINKS Franciscan Foundation for ...
Mike Aquilina Q&A on early Christianity
May 09, 2023 17:07 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBFor those who missed the YouTube livestream Q&A with Mike Aquilina on May 8th, 2023, here is the audio. It was a lively conversation where Mike fielded viewer questions about important cities of the early Church, early evidence for papal primacy, the role of charity in the early Church, Origen, the providential role of easy travel for the spread of the Gospel in the first centuries, and more. We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $...
Livestream announcement
May 04, 2023 06:14 - 2 minutes - 4.66 MBWe'll be doing YouTube livestreams on the next 3 Monday evenings, as part of CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. In these freewheeling conversations, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions and prompt discussion in the live chat box! 5/8, 8pm ET - Mike Aquilina (host, Way of the Fathers podcast) 5/15, 8pm ET - Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast) 5/22, 8pm ET - Phil Lawler & Jef...
3.1 Cities of God: Introduction to Series 3
April 26, 2023 12:16 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBWith this introductory episode we begin our exploration of the cities where the Fathers lived and taught. At first these were cities that raged against the Gospel and persecuted the Church. The Fathers brought them to faith. Each city was different from all the others—and each became more perfectly itself through its encounter with Jesus Christ. We can learn from the history. LINKS Mike Aquilina’s 2023 pilgrimage to Rome https://www.pilgrimages.com/mikeaquilina/ Fustel de Coulanges, Th...
Patristic Pilgrims’ Progress
April 12, 2023 11:50 - 14 minutes - 13 MBChristianity is the odd religion that does not require pilgrimage, but Christians do it anyway, and in great numbers, as they have since the earliest days of the Church. Many of the early Fathers made the journey to the holy sites. They trekked to the Holy Land to walk in Jesus’ footsteps and to Rome to honor Peter and Paul. How can we follow their example? LINKS Mike Aquilina’s 2023 pilgrimage to Rome https://www.pilgrimages.com/mikeaquilina/ Margherita Guarducci, The Primacy of the ...
The Mother of All Vigils
March 22, 2023 15:07 - 15 minutes - 16.7 MB’Twas the night before Easter, and all through the Church every heart was stirring. The early Christians kept a Vigil that made a lasting impression. The symbols were elemental: fire, water, darkness, nakedness, music, dramatic preaching, surprising chalices, and more-than-marathon endurance. Prepare for your Easter Vigil by learning about theirs. LINKS Melito of Sardis, Peri Pascha https://sachurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/On-Pascha-Melito-of-Sardis.pdf Melito of Sardis, Peri Pa...
Work of Human Hands: The Fathers and the Revaluing of Labor
March 08, 2023 18:37 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBPlato scorned manual labor. Aristotle believed that “no one who leads the life of a worker or laborer can practice virtue.” Plotinus, Celsus, and Herodotus agreed that work was ignoble and contemptible. Pagan religion reflected these precepts of the philosophers. In such a world, Christianity seemed revolutionary. The churches were full of laborers, who worshipped a Laborer—and whose Scriptures preserved NOT the syllogisms of philosophers, but the stories of people who got jobs done. Implici...
Sicily: The Fathers Long Before the Godfathers
February 21, 2023 21:30 - 20 minutes - 21.4 MBTo Plato it was an island paradise. To Cicero it was the beginning of the Roman Empire. To Basil it was a name synonymous with luxury. To Augustine it was a place of natural marvels: a mountain that burned perpetually, but was never consumed. To Gregory the Great it was a shrine to his favorite martyrs. Modern Christians know Sicily mostly from the Godfather movies, so they know nothing of its rich Christian history. Till now. Listen up. Links John Julius Norwich, Sicily: An Island at th...
The Deep Roots of Consecrated Life
February 08, 2023 15:06 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MBAs long as there’s been Christian faith, there have been ascetics—athletes of prayer—and these athletes, both female and male, have sought ways to live in intentional community. Experiments in communal life went on in every corner of the Empire—in Egypt, Palestine, Rome, Cappadocia, Athens, Antioch, Africa—and involved the greatest names in the early Church. LINKS Tertullian, On the Veiling of Virgins https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1699 Ambrose...
Denis & the Menaces: 3rd-century Pandemic, War, Climate Change
January 25, 2023 21:06 - 11 minutes - 18.5 MBDenis (aka Dionysius) the Great, in the years he was bishop, faced many of the terrors of the ancient world, all while the empire was persecuting Christians to the death. He saw his congregations reduced by death and defection. He saw the ranks of the clergy reduced to just a handful of priests. Yet he lived to see the day when the Church of Alexandria in Egypt revived to become a world leader once again. LINKS Eusebius, Church History Church History (Book VI) https://www.newadvent.org/f...
The African Roots of Western Christianity
January 11, 2023 16:01 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBWestern Christianity is fundamentally African in the way that Eastern Christianity is fundamentally Greek. It was in Africa that a vigorous Christian Latin culture first developed. Carthage had a Latin liturgy for a full century before Rome switched over from Greek. Africa gave the Church great saints and Fathers such as Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Cyprian, Arnobius, Lactantius—and the greatest of all: Augustine. For a Western Christian, to know early African Christianity is to know one’s o...
From Controversy to the Calendar: The Lord's Baptism
December 29, 2022 13:23 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MBThe calendar is a catechism. Every feast is a lesson in doctrine. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, like Christmas, rose to prominence at a time of deep division in the Church, as some Christians disputed Jesus’ true divinity. Both celebrations served as a kind of credal statement—and they still do today. LINKS Kilian McDonnell, OSB, The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan: The Trinitarian and Cosmic Order of Salvation https://www.amazon.com/Baptism-Jesus-Jordan-Trinitarian-Salvation/dp/0...
The Scandal of the Virgin Martyrs
December 14, 2022 15:31 - 21 minutes - 22.2 MBIn Greek and Roman epics, the heroes are men who conquer by violence. But in early Christianity the epic heroes were often heroines — specifically those who had suffered violence rather than submit to a patriarchy that despised them for what they were. The virgin martyrs refused to conform to society’s idea of womanhood. In a time of demographic winter, they refused to marry and bear children for the good of the empire. They consecrated their lives to Christ instead. Thus they were seen as ...
The Scandal of the Virgin Martyrs
December 14, 2022 15:31In Greek and Roman epics, the heroes are men who conquer by violence. But in early Christianity the epic heroes were often heroines — specifically those who had suffered violence rather than submit to a patriarchy that despised them for what they were. The virgin martyrs refused to conform to society’s idea of womanhood. In a time of demographic winter, they refused to marry and bear children for the good of the empire. They consecrated their lives to Christ instead. Thus they were seen as a...
The Scandal of the Virgin Martyrs
December 14, 2022 15:31In Greek and Roman epics, the heroes are men who conquer by violence. But in early Christianity the epic heroes were often heroines — specifically those who had suffered violence rather than submit to a patriarchy that despised them for what they were. The virgin martyrs refused to conform to society’s idea of womanhood. In a time of demographic winter, they refused to marry and bear children for the good of the empire. They consecrated their lives to Christ instead. Thus they were seen as a...
Deaconesslessness
November 30, 2022 15:43 - 15 minutes - 17.2 MBThe questions arise every few years, and each time they're news. Who were the "deaconesses" in the early Church? What was their role? Why did the role vanish in the first millennium? Should the role be revived? The questions are never answered to everyone's satisfaction. Why must that be so? "Divergent expectations in the deaconess debate: Interview with Sister Sara Butler" https://angelusnews.com/faith/divergent-expectations-in-the-deaconess-debate/ International Theological Commission...
The Gentle Intervention: Frontline Church Discipline
November 09, 2022 19:50 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBMany ideas that seem peculiarly modern actually have deep Christian roots. This is true of much of the terminology of addiction and recovery. Today we look for the roots of “intervention” in the Gospel and the works of the Fathers—and find applications for ordinarily life, even beyond the orbit of addiction. LINKS Joseph Carola, S.J., Augustine of Hippo: The Role of the Laity in Ecclesial Reconciliation https://www.amazon.com/Augustine-Hippo-Ecclesial-Reconciliation-Gregoriana/dp/887839...
Liturgy and Love: Revolutionary Acts
October 26, 2022 14:59 - 25 minutes - 25.6 MBThe Fathers saw a profound connection between Eucharistic communion and social concerns — between liturgy and charity. It’s evident in the works of the great saints of antiquity, from Ignatius of Antioch and Justin Martyr to Tertullian and John Chrysostom. It's spelled out even in the ancient liturgical books. LINKS Tertullian, Apology XXXIX https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1662 Justin Martyr, First Apology LXVII https://www.catholicculture.org/cul...
The First Social-Justice Struggle
October 12, 2022 15:26 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBThe early Church initiated many struggles for the cause of social justice: opposition to slavery, capital punishment, and other institutions of pagan society. But the condemnation of abortion was singular in its consistency and vehemence, from the very beginning of the Gospel proclamation. LINKS The Church’s original social justice struggle https://angelusnews.com/faith/the-churchs-long-fight-against-abortion/ Abortion and the Early Church: Christian, Jewish and Pagan Attitudes in the...
2.8 Picture This: Iconoclasm and Second Nicaea
September 28, 2022 13:33 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBThe last of the classic councils was, like so many of the others, a comic production worthy of the Marx Brothers—and simultaneously a tragedy worthy of Tolstoy. In the eighth-century run-up to the Second Council of Nicaea we encounter an emperor known as “Poopyhead,” who summons a synod known as the “Headless Council”—all for the sake of forbidding the use of devotional images. That’s where it started anyway. Eventually the emperor got around to condemning any honor paid to saints, and then...
2.7 Third Constantinople: Where There's a Will, There's Two
September 14, 2022 15:45 - 17 minutes - 18.8 MBLeave it to intellectuals (in any age) to “solve” the world’s problems in ways that create bigger problems. Monothelitism was a religious idea concocted by policy wonks in boardrooms. It was supposed to remedy the doctrinal differences that divided Constantinople from Egypt. It failed to do that, and it also provoked a schism between Constantinople and all of western Christendom. The Third Council of Constantinople was called in 680 to clean up the mess. LINKS Christoph Cardinal Schonbor...
2.6 Second Constantinople: The Emperor and the Waffling Pope
August 26, 2022 12:35 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBEvery council represents a crisis — often provoked by strong and eccentric personalities. But Constantinople II, in 553 AD, may have been the strangest of all. At the center of the drama were an imperial power couple, Justinian and Theodora, and a weak pope who vacillated between cowardice and duty. LINKS Extracts from the Acts https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3812.htm Biography of Justinian https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08578b.htm Biography of Pope Vigilius https://www.newadven...
2.5 Chalcedon: Firm Foundation for the Doctrine of Christ
August 11, 2022 02:40 - 16 minutes - 18.2 MBWhat happened when God took flesh? A simple question roused hundreds of speculative answers, most concerning the “person” and “nature” (or natures) of Jesus Christ. But the philosophical terms themselves were slippery, and mistranslations only made matters worse. The wild speculation came to a stop at the Council of Chalcedon, thanks to a letter from Pope Leo the Great. His “Tome” defined terms with abundant clarity. Since then, in mainstream Christianity, Orthodox Christology has been Chal...
2.5 Chalcedon — Firm Foundation for the Doctrine of Christ
August 11, 2022 02:40 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MBWhat happened when God took flesh? A simple question roused hundreds of speculative answers, most concerning the “person” and “nature” (or natures) of Jesus Christ. But the philosophical terms themselves were slippery, and mistranslations only made matters worse. The wild speculation came to a stop at the Council of Chalcedon, thanks to a letter from Pope Leo the Great. His “Tome” defined terms with abundant clarity. Since then, in mainstream Christianity, Orthodox Christology has been Chal...
2.4 Ephesus: The Mother of All Controversies
July 27, 2022 13:29 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBFrom the distance of more than a millennium and a half, Nestorius can seem a comic character. He was a verbally fussy man with an uncanny knack for alienating people. Within days of his installation as bishop of Constantinople, he had offended the imperial family, the monks, and the nobles, but also the common people. He also caused a major fire in the city. But when he tried to suppress devotion to Mary as “Mother of God,” he invited all his enemies to join forces against him—because such ...
2.3 First Constantinople: A Capital Council
July 13, 2022 18:12 - 21 minutes - 22.2 MBNicaea didn't resolve the Arian crisis. In fact, it provoked a riot of reactions — endless variations on the Arian theme. Imperial force only made matters worse. For a half-century, conflict raged. The situation seemed hopeless until Theodosius summoned bishops to meet in 381. LINKS Socrates Scholasticus, Church History (Book V) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2884 Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History (Book VII) https://www.catholicculture.org/cultur...
2.3 First Constantinople: A Capital Council
July 13, 2022 18:12Nicaea didn't resolve the Arian crisis. In fact, it provoked a riot of reactions — endless variations on the Arian theme. Imperial force only made matters worse. For a half-century, conflict raged. The situation seemed hopeless until Theodosius summoned bishops to meet in 381. LINKS Socrates Scholasticus, Church History (Book V) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2884 Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History (Book VII) https://www.catholicculture.org/culture...