We’ve all seen him in action—debating Protestants and Orthodox, writing incredible books, or podcasting on his own channel, Classical Christian Thought—but we rarely get to hear about his personal journey of faith. In this special episode, we sit down with our friend Erick Ybarra to explore his story and all of the reasons why, in the final analysis, he ended up in the arms of the Catholic Church. This is a fun, lively, and deep conversation that you will not want to miss!
0:05 Introduction
2:44 Steven’s new book
5:17 Erick’s story/upbringing
8:45 Baptized Catholic as a child
9:53 Teenage doubts
12:20 College encounter with a Baptist
14:08 Erick begins to investigate Christianity
16:19 He attends a Baptist/Calvinist church
18:55 He is (re)baptized and wipes Catholicism from his mind
23:46 Trauma and scandal at the Baptist church
25:10 Erick excommunicated and becomes a penitent
28:22 He begins to study early church disciplinary practices
29:25 Erick leaves the Baptist church
31:12 Studies Protestant options and becomes Anglican
33:15 questions about justification
37:05 Anglican theology begins to form his thought
40:25 Diving into Patristics
44:53 Doubts about Anglicanism, exploring Eastern Orthodoxy
51:50 Erick discovers Orthodox divisions as a catechumen
53:21 Begins to study Catholicism seriously
55:30 Catholic priest confronts Erick!
58:22 Erick and wife become Catholic, devotes time and energy to studying East-West divisions
1:00:06 Erick searches for a good Catholic parish……and STRUGGLES
1:01:00 Stumbles upon the Ordinariate
1:02:18 Three questions for Erick and open discussion
1:06:46 Starting Reason and Theology with Lofton and writing his Papacy book
1:11:46 A golden age of Catholic apologetics under a difficult pontificate
1:13:54 What is Pope Francis really up to?
1:15:24 Catholic confusion and internet divisions
1:20:40 Doctrine vs Pastoral Praxis. Is the Magisterium “working?”
1:24:38 Things Erick wishes he covered in his book on The Papacy
1:27:52 Papal Failure and how to understand it
1:30:00 Question from a listener of TCB
1:33:07 Erick’s challenge to Gavin Ortlund’s view of the Church
1:40:07 How to break out of intellectual deadlock.
1:44:10 Conclusion
