Do You Think Pope John Paul II Was Right on Contraception?

Michael Novak's Confessions of a Catholic was written in the 1980s. He may have changed his own mind, says Ira Flatow. "The whole arc of modernity is created in the life of the church," he adds.

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Episode notes

On this episode, New York Times Opinion columnist Ross Douthat tells Russell Moore where he's wrong on Catholicism and American culture. Kind of.

Douthat and Moore consider what it looks like for Christians to engage civically without surrendering to the relentless urgency of the political cycle. They discuss the Roman Catholic Church and what's happening at the intersection of religion, American culture, and world culture. They have a rich discussion of Douthat's religious upbringing, corruption in religious hierarchies, and when Martin Luther did (and didn't) have a point. They talk about Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, the insufficiency of punditry, and whether or not America is a post-Christian nation.

Their discussion plays by the "Tell Me Where I'm Wrong" rules: Moore is only allowed to ask questions that seek to understand the guest's point of view, and if he starts to argue, the guest is supposed to stop him.

Episodes in the "Tell Me Where I'm Wrong" series include:

Bill McKibben Tells Me Where I’m Wrong About Cultural Christianity
Shane Claiborne Tells Me Where I’m Wrong on the Death Penalty
Ligon Duncan Tells Me Where I'm Wrong on Infant Baptism

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

Bad Religion by Ross Douthat
The Deep Places by Ross Douthat
The apologetic works of C.S. Lewis
The apologetic works of G.K. Chesterton
The Ninety-Five Theses by Martin Luther
Confessions of a Catholic by Michael Novak
To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism by Ross Douthat