Way of the Fathers
139 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 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
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...
2.2 The Council of Nicaea: First and Foremost
June 29, 2022 12:17 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBNicaea (325 A.D.) is the first of the ecumenical councils, not only in chronology, but also in importance. It occupies a certain primacy. The phrase "Nicene Faith" is sometimes used as an equivalent term for classic Christian doctrine. That's how we see it after centuries of development. But what did it mean to those who attended? LINKS Eusebius of Caesarea, Oration in Praise of the Emperor Constantine https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2883 Eusebi...
2.1 Where Councils Come From: An Introduction
June 15, 2022 13:15 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBWhen the Church is in crisis, its bishops meet in council. Since the generation of the Apostles, this has been the customary way of settling major disputes over doctrine and discipline. In the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15, the Twelve met with certain elders and chosen experts to exercise an authority that was different from the authority that any of them possessed individually. This established a practice for the ages to follow. The councils in the time of the Fathers—the first seven ecu...
Martyrdom and the Mass
May 25, 2022 17:22 - 21 minutes - 29.8 MBIn the first three centuries of Christian history, the practice of the faith was a capital crime, and many gave their lives as the ultimate testimony. The Church called them “witnesses”—in Greek, martures, whence we get the English word martyr. To speak of martyrdom, the early Fathers employed language usually reserved only for the Eucharist. So what does martyrdom have to do with the Mass? LINKS Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, “Eucharist and Mission,” in Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Chur...
Through Hymns, With Hymns, In Hymns: The Fathers & Music
May 11, 2022 23:13 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBMusic formed the early Christians in faith. It catechized them. Inspired them. Unified them. Healed them. The Fathers — from Ignatius of Antioch to John of Damascus — testify to this fact. Many of them wrote music. Augustine wrote a book about music. At a time when most people could not read, music was the most effective delivery system for doctrine. The decisions of the councils would have been dead letters apart from their placement in musical settings. In this episode, early Christian mu...
Apocrypha Now! On the Myth of the Lost Gospels
May 04, 2022 04:59 - 36 minutes - 35.3 MBWhy is it big news when someone claims to find a fragment of a lost "gospel"? Why do people say that these ancient apocrypha threaten to overturn everything Christians believe? In the second century, some of these pseudonymous books appeared and quickly landed in the remainder bin, called into question by giants such as Irenaeus and Tertullian. They're news today because of a modern myth, crafted by one of the renowned literary critics of the 20th century — and sustained by ivy-league celebr...
The Paradoxical Prestige of the Deacon in the Early Church
April 26, 2022 01:38 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBMost lowly and most loved, deacons played supremely important roles in the early Church. Think Lawrence of Rome. Think Ephrem of Syria. They were consistently voted most likely to be pope. Jerome wryly observed that when a bishop wanted to demote a deacon, he ordained him to the priesthood. LINKS Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Trallians https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1630 Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Philadelphians https://www...
Catena — The Chain That Set Scripture Free
March 22, 2022 16:57 - 19 minutes - 20.7 MBEver wonder how Bible study was done in the early Church? It was done with chains. The CATENA did the work that Bible software does for us today. It did the work of concordances and even entire shelves of commentaries. Catena is Latin for chain, and the links in these long-ago chains were extracts from the sermons and letters of earlier interpreters of Scripture. LINKS Roger Pearse’s blog entries on ancient catenae https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/category/catena/ St. Thomas Aquinas...
How Clericalism Happened: A Tale of Theodosius
March 09, 2022 13:53 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBWhen asked what’s wrong with the Church, commentators from Pope Francis to Russell Shaw will blame an elusive beast named “clericalism.” But what is clericalism, and where did it come from? In this episode we track the beast to its birthplace, the Church of the fourth century. Our native guides are Augustine, John Chrysostom, and others—who offer us good counsel for defeating it in our own time. LINKS Anonymous, The Epistle to Diognetus https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0101.htm Minuci...
The Healing Imperative: How Christians Invented the Hospital
February 23, 2022 15:03 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBThe hospital arose as a Christian institution, dependent on the Christian principles of charity and hospitality. There were no pre-Christian hospitals. This episode tells the story of how it happened—how the early Church changed the practice of medicine forever. LINKS Mike Aquilina, The Healing Imperative: The Early Church and the Invention of Medicine as We Know It https://catholicbooksdirect.com/products/mike-aquilina-the-healing-imperative Gary B. Ferngren, Medicine and Health Care...
Women and Children First: Reconfiguring the Roman Family
February 09, 2022 16:15 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MBThe Empire faced a crisis in the year 9 A.D. Romans were not reproducing. They weren’t even marrying. Caesar Augustus recognized that this posed a dire threat to the Roman way of life—the empire’s cultural and intellectual heritage, and its homeland security. He made new laws to encourage fertility. He even proposed a pagan “theology of the body.” His successors made more laws. All failed, and eventually it was Christianity that restored and revived the Roman family and Roman world. Here’s t...
56—John of Damascus: Last Witness to a Lost World
January 25, 2022 21:33 - 21 minutes - 22.5 MBJohn of Damascus, the last of the Fathers, was born into a world newly conquered. In the seventh century, many lands that were once home to Eastern Christianity, had fallen to the invading armies of Arab Muslims. John’s father and grandfather, both devout Christians, served as treasury officials for the Muslim caliphate. So John was able to provide a rare outsider’s view of Islam when it was new on the world scene. In Christian history he is known as the great defender of the practice of ven...
55—Isidore of Seville: Last of the Red-Hot Latin Fathers
January 12, 2022 15:09 - 15 minutes - 20.8 MBIsidore of Seville lived at a time when the memory (or fantasy) of a homogeneous Roman culture was rapidly fading. It was a time to gather the last of the classical harvest into the barns. The conquering “barbarians,” the Visigoths, had now been ruling in Spain for centuries. They were no longer foreigners. Rather, a new culture was forming, a “melting pot” of Roman and northern elements. A man of holy ambition, Isidore laid strong foundations for the medieval European culture that would fo...
54—Maximus the Confessor: Where East and West Meet
December 29, 2021 14:38 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBBy the seventh century, Christian thinkers of East and West were settling into scholastic methods, synthesizing and systematizing the thought of their Greek or Latin forebears. Maximus represents the best mind (by far) in this movement. Greek by origin, he spent decades living in Latin lands. His writing reflected the beauty and brilliance of piety and theology on both sides of the Mediterranean. In Maximus (to steal a phrase from Pope John Paul II) the Church breathed with both lungs. ...
53—Gregory and His Greatness
December 14, 2021 12:40 - 19 minutes - 18 MBHis name retains its greatness, even in modern times—even for Christians who don’t know much history. They know Gregorian Chant, and maybe Gregorian Masses. Who was the Gregory behind those monuments? Born into nobility, he held vast estates in Italy and Sicily, but gave them up to be a monk. Then he gave up being a monk so that he could serve the Church. Elected pope, he recast the papacy as a full-time exercise of servitude. He was “servant of the servants of God,” and as such he reformed...
52—Benedict of Nursia: The Elusive Man Behind the Rule
November 29, 2021 20:36 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBBenedict was not the first monk to compose a rule for living in community — but he's certainly the most influential. He wrote the Rule that the Emperor Charlemagne would propose as guidebook for all monks in the West. Yet Benedict himself was self-effacing in the extreme, and he remains elusive for historians. Lately, he has emerged as a patron and model for people whose civilization could be entering a Dark Age. Know anybody like that? LINKS Benedict of Nursia, The Rule https://ccel.or...
51—St. Patrick: Paternal and Patristic
November 11, 2021 12:39 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBForget the shamrocks. Pour the green beer down the sink, and drive the snakes from the Emerald Isle of your imagination. Listen up and encounter the real St. Patrick, author of two passionate, fascinating Christian works—deserving of a place with the Church Fathers. Patrick arrived in pagan Ireland in the fifth century, first as a slave and then as an itinerant bishop. By the end of his life, Ireland was a Christian nation. LINKS Patrick of Ireland, Confessio https://www.confessio.ie/et...
50—Peter Chrysologus: The Doctor of (Short) Sermons
October 27, 2021 12:29 - 16 minutes - 16.1 MBPeter Chrysologus is known as the “Doctor of Homilies,” and he always preached with brevity. Every word was golden. He was archbishop of Ravenna during that city's brief term as capital of the Western empire. His sermons rang like poems, rich with biblical insight and glimpses of ordinary life in a fifth-century urban center. LINKS Peter Chrysologus, a sermon in the Office of Readings https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=173 Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 148 http://...
49—Romanus the Melodist: Through Hymns, with Hymns, in Hymns
October 14, 2021 12:42 - 14 minutes - 16 MBRomanus the Melodist looms large from his lifetime in the sixth century. Today he is much sung and little known—at least with certainty. Beautiful legends have filled in the cracks of his biography. According to one, he was tone-deaf and non-musical when heaven granted him the gifts of composition and vocal performance. He went on to compose many verse homilies, kontakia, which are still sung in the Eastern churches today. Having lived in Homs, and then Beirut and Constantinople, he introdu...
48—Leo the Great: Who Roared with the Voice of Peter
September 28, 2021 14:41 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBThough prolific in his words and prodigious in his deeds, Leo was utterly self-effacing. Classically educated, he never quoted the classics. He preached with Gospel simplicity. He strove always to let Christ shine through his sermons and his letters. Yet he made history for three world-changing interventions. It was Leo who stopped Attila the Hun’s rampage through Europe. It was Leo who put a decisive end to the ancient heresies about the natures of Christ. And it was Leo who kept the barba...
47—Vincent of Lerins: Believed Everywhere, Always, by All
September 15, 2021 02:36 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBAll Christians respected the authority of Scripture, but already in the fifth century the Church was riven by conflicting interpretations of Scripture. A monk in Gaul, Vincent of Lerins, developed a formula to determine true doctrine from false. "All possible care must be taken," he said, "that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all." Conservative by temperament, Vincent nonetheless allowed for development in religion through the ages. He emphasized the specia...
46—Cyril of Alexandria: The Fifth-Century Man from Uncle
August 25, 2021 12:07 - 22 minutes - 23.5 MBCyril's uncle was the notorious Theophilus, a ruthless and fiercely competitive churchman — and the old manhood handpicked his nephew to be his successor as bishop of Alexandria. Cyril learned from Theophilus how to orchestrate an international incident and carry it through to the victorious end. But he was very much his own man: a towering intellect, the mastermind of the Council of Ephesus, a prodigious commentator on the Scriptures, and a saint of a different sort. LINKS Socrates Sch...
45—John Cassian, Monk on the Move, Solitary in the City
August 10, 2021 12:18 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBThe great ascetic movement was in its first years of explosive growth when John Cassian journeyed from West to East. He visited the communities of monks and hermits in Palestine and Egypt. Though he sought a quiet life, he got caught up in international intrigue and adventure. In his later years he drew together the memories of his years in the desert, and composed two works on the cultivation of virtue and the practices of prayer. LINKS John Cassian, The Conferences (Part 1) https://ww...
BONUS: Interview with Mike Aquilina
August 04, 2021 09:00 - 52 minutes - 51.1 MBIn this bonus episode originally from the Catholic Culture Podcast, CatholicCulture.org’s director of podcasts, Thomas V. Mirus, interviews voice actor James T. Majewski (Catholic Culture Audiobooks) and author Mike Aquilina (Way of the Fathers) about how they make their shows and the effect reading and studying the Church Fathers has had on them personally. Contents [2:15] James’s training in philosophy and acting as preparation for narrating the Fathers [7:00] How Mike meandered i...
44—Prudentius, Poet Laureate of the Western Fathers
July 26, 2021 17:51 - 23 minutes - 24 MBPrudentius is the Latin poet most praised from the ancient Church. Phenomenally creative, he invented new poetic forms and genres—and established artistic standards that would hold through the Middle Ages. Scholars as varied as C.S. Lewis and Robert Wilken call him “the first Christian poet,” the first great representative of a real Christian literature. Compared to Prudentius, all earlier Christian poets were dabblers. Upon his model depended such later luminaries as Bunyan, Milton, and Sp...
43—The Pastoral Poems of Paulinus of Nola
July 14, 2021 13:57 - 16 minutes - 17.7 MBPaulinus was tagged as the most promising poet of his generation—by the most famous poet of the preceding generation. He was supposed to carry the torch forward for his art. And he did, but not in the way the old school had wanted or expected. Instead he fashioned a new esthetic for the empire, a deeply Christian appropriation of the old classical forms. Along the way, he formed a religious community and then served as bishop. LINKS Letters Of St. Paulinus Of Nola https://archive.or...
42—Chrysostom (Part 2): Triumph, Tragedy & Glory
June 30, 2021 19:29 - 16 minutes - 18.2 MBNo sane person ever proposed John Chrysostom as a model of diplomacy. His name means "Golden Mouth" and reflects his eloquence. His words, however, proved his undoing when he chose to preach a word of criticism against the Empress Eudoxia. He soon found himself battling for his position as bishop and then for his life. LINKS Works by John Chrysostom https://www.catholicculture.org/search/searchResults.cfm?querynum=1&searchid=2126796&page=1&showcount=10 Letters to Olympias https://www....
41—Chrysostom (Part 1): Golden Mouth & Golden Mysteries
June 16, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MBChrysostom means “golden mouth,” and only one man has credibly borne the title. John Chrysostom may have been the greatest pulpit preacher in Church history. In his lifetime he was also renowned for his asceticism and spiritual counsel In recent years, however, he’s been maligned — and mischaracterized — for his views on marriage and sex. Here we set the record straight with an account of his developing understanding of the one-flesh union and its particular graces. LINKS Works by John ...
40—Augustine (Part 3): Last Days and the End of an Age
May 25, 2021 14:40 - 21 minutes - 22.7 MBWhen Augustine's story is told, it too often ends with his baptism. But the drama of his later years is no less moving. He was as introspective at the end as he had been in his Confessions decades before. He gave his life and work a thoroughgoing review, even as he produced what many consider his masterpiece. His City of God marked the close of an age and the twilight of a brilliant life. LINKS Works by St. Augustine on Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://www.catholicculture.org/comment...
39—Augustine (Part 2): A Mob-Made Bishop Makes His Mark
May 12, 2021 13:29 - 17 minutes - 16 MBThe drama of Augustine’s life hardly ended with his baptism. The years that followed included his ordination-by-mob, an attempt on his life, and wars of words with at least four major heresies. His years were breathless adventure and busyness, and yet they yielded 44 volumes of work that continues to exercise a profound influence—no only on Christian theology, but on civilization. This is the second of three episodes on his life. LINKS Works by St. Augustine on Catholic Culture Audiobook...
38—Augustine (Part 1): Youth and Conversion
April 28, 2021 13:13 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBAugustine of Hippo is a name that appears on any short list of the most influential intellectuals in the history of the world. He seemed to live several productive lifetimes in the course of his own. In this first of three episodes on Augustine, we examine his early years — from his childhood through his conversion to Christ at age 31. We also consider the profound influence of his mother, Monica. LINKS Works by St. Augustine on Catholic Culture Audiobooks https://www.catholicculture.or...
37—Jerome, the Choleric Commentator
April 14, 2021 12:19 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBJerome is renowned for his biblical studies and translations, The Church invokes him as Doctor, Father, and Saint. Yet he is just as famous for his sharpness in dispute. He clashed with Augustine and Rufinus, disdained Ambrose and Chrysostom. His put-downs stand with the best of Mark Twain and Groucho Marx. Links Justin McClain’s splendid collection, The Quotable Saint Jerome, https://www.amazon.com/Quotable-Saint-Jerome/dp/0813233216/ J.N.D. Kelly’s biography, Jerome: His Life, Writi...
37—Jerome, the Curmudgeonly Commentator
April 14, 2021 12:19 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBJerome is renowned for his biblical studies and translations, The Church invokes him as Doctor, Father, and Saint. Yet he is just as famous for his curmudgeonly character. He clashed with Augustine and Rufinus, disdained Ambrose and Chrysostom. His insults stand with the best of Mark Twain and Groucho Marx. He is often depicted angry in works of art, and the poet Phyllis McGinley said: “He wasn’t a plaster sort of saint.” Links Justin McClain’s splendid collection, The Quotable Saint Je...
36—The Luminous Vision of Didymus the Blind
March 25, 2021 15:05 - 13 minutes - 12 MBDidymus lost his sight at age four, and yet he became one of the most respected theologians on earth. This was in the fourth century, more than a millennium before Braille, audio tech, or other accommodations. Among his renowned disciples were Jerome, Rufinus, and Palladius. His life was long and full, intensely engaged in the controversies surrounding the doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation. His story should inspire anyone who hears it. And the story isn’t over yet. Links Jerome t...
35—Epiphanius of Salamis: A Passion for Pure Doctrine
March 11, 2021 03:06 - 13 minutes - 12.5 MBEpiphanius was a master of many languages and a scholar of profound biblical culture. He had a passion for pure doctrine—and a pure loathing for error in all its forms. He labored through a long life to root heresy out of the Church. He distrusted classical literature because of the taint of idolatry. He compiled a reference work he called his “Medicine Chest,” diagnosing erroneous doctrines as “snakebites” and then prescribing cures from the pharmacy of true doctrine. In pursuing clarity, ...
34—Cyril of Jerusalem: Mystery and Mayhem
February 24, 2021 13:28 - 17 minutes - 18 MBCyril served as bishop during ugly times. The Church was divided, and suspicion was universal. He suffered false accusation, conspiracy, and exile. Yet he was able to see supernatural beauty shining through natural signs in the Church’s liturgy: bread and wine, oil and water, breath and gesture. He is history’s great practitioner of the art of mystagogy—guidance in the sacramental mysteries. His lectures, in fact, cover all the basics of Christian life: creed, commandments, prayer, and sacra...
33—Ambrose of Milan: How the Church Regards the State
February 11, 2021 13:23 - 20 minutes - 10.3 MBAmbrose of Milan, more than any other figure, is invoked in the West as the model for church-state relations. He’s the one who said: “The emperor is within the Church, not above the Church.” And he said it with deeds as well as words. He said it in private letters and public demonstrations. He said it through direct confrontation and civil disobedience. A former politician himself, he had a keen understanding of the game—and in the late fourth century the stakes were very high. Links Am...
32—Julian, the Apostate Who Aped the Church
January 27, 2021 13:56 - 25 minutes - 23 MBThere’s no anti-Christian like an ex-Christian, and there was no figure in antiquity like the Emperor Julian. He promoted the return of paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire. But it was a strange paganism, modeled on the Christian Church. Julian began by making it difficult for Christians to work in professions like education, law, and military. His methods were mostly bloodless. He knew that martyrs made Christianity strong. It was better he thought, to marginalize believer...
31—Gregory of Nyssa: Zero to Hero
January 12, 2021 15:39 - 18 minutes - 17.9 MBGregory of Nyssa was born into a family of high achievers. His brother was Basil the Great; his sister was Macrina the Younger. In Gregory’s young life, however, he was something of a disappointment. It’s not that he was a sinner or unbeliever, but he seemed to lack the holy ambition and drive that were characteristic of his older siblings. Basil often reprimanded him as a bumbler. But at Basil’s death Gregory came into his own and suddenly emerged a major player on the world scene—a master...
30—Gregory Nazianzen: Greatness in the Passive Voice
December 28, 2020 14:29 - 17 minutes - 17.5 MBAll Gregory wanted was a quiet place where he could relax with his books and a few close friends. From young adulthood he believed God was calling him to the contemplative life, and to old age he never lost that sense. But history kept dragging him into its current. First, his father (a bishop) coerced him into ordination to the priesthood. Then his closest friend, Basil the Great, pressured him to be ordained a bishop. Both times he put up little resistance, but later resented the actions ...
29—Basil and the Beginning of Christian Social Thought
December 09, 2020 23:39 - 17 minutes - 17.3 MBHistory calls him "Basil the Great," and his greatnesses were many. He was a brilliant theologian; and anyone today who writes about tradition or the Holy Spirit must engage his works, which are foundational in the field. He also produced some of the earliest sustained reflections on the social order implicit in the Gospel. But he didn't just think about these things. He did something about them. As bishop he was a model administrator, marshaling the resources of Christians in order to buil...
28—Ephrem, Symbolist
November 24, 2020 14:41 - 16 minutes - 17.2 MBAs a theological poet, he is peerless but for Dante. Yet Ephrem’s fame rests not only on his words, but also on his heroic deeds. He lived almost his entire life in a war zone. He helped invent the hospital and the women’s choir. He served tirelessly in times of famine and natural disaster—and he died caring for the sick during a pandemic. More than 500 of his hymns have survived into our time. Links Free audiobook readings of St. Ephrem’s hymns https://www.catholicculture.org/search/se...
27 - Aphrahat: Parsee Sage Primary in Time
November 10, 2020 14:34 - 20 minutes - 20.4 MBAphrahat is known in the tradition as "the Persian Sage." He is the first Father in our series to live, geographically and culturally, outside the Roman Empire. Born in the late third century in the Persian Empire, he flourished amid persecution. Aphrahat is the earliest prominent witness to Syriac Christianity. He wrote in a dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. He maintained close contact with Judaism and demonstrated a profound knowledge of Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish custom...
26 - Hilary of Poitiers: Exile and Understanding
October 28, 2020 21:37 - 15 minutes - 18.8 MBHe is often called the Athanasius of the West, and the two men had much in common. They defended the Council of Nicaea and opposed the emperor ... and suffered exile for their trouble. But Hilary's approach to controversy differed from that of Athanasius. He listened to his opponents, read their works, and found common ground when he could. When he couldn't, he was able to address their concerns clearly and directly. He was even willing to work with heretics as they opposed more radical her...
Ep. 25—Eusebius: History from the Wrong Side of History
October 14, 2020 15:17 - 20 minutes - 20 MBEvery Christian historian or history buff is dependent upon the work of Eusebius of Caesarea. He didn’t invent Church history, but his writings made it a serious discipline. He was the first to attempt a comprehensive, universal history of Christianity. He wanted his account to be the official story. Yet in his own lifetime he showed the perils and ironies of living within history. He did this by aiding and abetting true villains and assisting in the persecution of saints and heroes. Link...
Ep. 24—Athanasius against the World
September 23, 2020 13:08 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBThe world awoke to find itself heretic, but one man would not accept the situation. Athanasius stood fast against emperors, bishops, and even synods of bishops. Ordained as a young man, he lived to reign as bishop for 45 years. But 17 of those years he spent in exile. He was exiled five times at the orders of four different emperors. Athanasius became symbolic—the face of the Council of Nicaea, with its creed and its special word: “consubstantial.” As the fortunes of Nicaea waxed and waned,...
Ep. 23—Alexander’s Lagtime Stand
September 11, 2020 12:51 - 19 minutes - 19 MBAlexander can’t say he wasn’t warned. His predecessor as bishop of Alexandria, Peter, had told him not to trust Arius. But Alexander ignored the advice. Then Arius went into open rebellion, and then his heresy spread throughout the world. And then Alexander had to act decisively, arguing strongly against the Arian heresy and prevailing at the Council of Nicaea in 325. Links St. Alexander of Alexandria, Letter to the Bishop of Constantinople https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/libr...
Ep. 22 - Anthony of the Desert: The Solitary Celebrity
August 26, 2020 11:34 - 19 minutes - 18.9 MBThrough one man’s witness, monasticism took the world by storm. Anthony of Egypt became history’s least probable celebrity. He gave up his money and possessions. He couldn’t read or write. He fled to the desert to be alone with God. Yet he drew disciples wherever he went. His desert became a city populated by monks and hermits. Philosophers and emperors sought his sage advice. In the course of his life he exercised a profound influence on the history of religion. Links St. Athanasius, Li...
Ep. 21 - Lactantius: The Fall & Rise of the Christian Cicero
August 12, 2020 16:58 - 15 minutes - 16.6 MBHe was the greatest rhetorician in the Latin-speaking world. Born in North Africa, Lactantius was summoned to serve at the imperial court. He converted to Christianity and, with the persecution of Diocletian, lost his job and lived in poverty. He continued writing to strengthen the faithful. With the rise of Constantine and the legalization of Christianity, he was restored to glory. In his writings we have a unique eyewitness account of one of history’s most important transitional moments. ...
Ep. 20 - Origen, Part 2: Hero, Heretic - or Hybrid?
July 24, 2020 14:04 - 20 minutes - 19.8 MBIt’s hard to be an intelligent Christian without somehow handling Origen’s ideas. He set the ground rules for scientific study of the Bible. He wrote foundational works in spirituality, apologetics, and fundamental theology. In this episode, we look at those big accomplishments, but also examine the ideas that got him into trouble. Do souls exist before they get bodies? Does Satan get saved in the end? Does allegory trump history when we read the Bible? And did Origen really say all these t...