Intellectual Catholicism

Michael P. Barber of the Augustine Institute examines popular misconceptions that people have aobut the first Christmas.

Michael P. Barber, a prominent biblical scholar and theologian at the Augustine Institute, dives into popular misconceptions about the Bible. He challenges outdated narratives influenced by early scholarship and clarifies misconceptions about the high priest's attire, including the myth of the safety cord. Barber also addresses the complexities surrounding the Pharisees and their misrepresentation in texts, while unpacking the connections between early Christianity and Jewish traditions. His insights encourage a deeper understanding of forgiveness and ritual in biblical contexts.

Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP discusses his experiences as a Catholic priest in Jerusalem and the global presence of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. He explores the origins of the quest for the historical Jesus and the need to control presuppositions. The chapter delves into Jesus' messianic consciousness, reframing its understanding and connecting it to a second coming. The speaker emphasizes the need for a contemporary exegesis and explores different viewpoints on Jesus, aiming for a historically informed study defensible with reasonable use of historical methods and serviceable to the Church.

Erick Ybarra discusses three famous episodes of papal failure and how to reconcile them with Catholic teaching on the papacy. 

New Testament scholar Matthew J. Thomas and Catholic Apologist Gary Michuta discuss the case for the Catholic canon of the Old Testament from a historical evidence standpoint. They explore arguments against the canonicity of the Deuterocanonical books, the inclusion of deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament, the uncertainty and complexity surrounding the canon debate, the influence of the Septuagint in the New Testament, the process of determining the canon of scripture, the inclusion and exclusion of books in the New Testament, and the authority of the early church.

Michael Licona discusses why there are differences in the Gospels based on ancient writing conventions. He also touches on inerrancy and his forthcoming book. 

Fr. Thomas Crean, OP and Erick Ybarra defend the Filioque on philosophical, historical, biblical, and theological grounds. 

Suan explains the problem with "historical retrieval" as stated by Gavin Ortlund in this 5-minute case for Protestantism (2:43): "And to be sure many contemporary Protestants do have a shallow historical consciousness. But Protestantism as such is nothing other than an effort of historical retrieval. The magisterial reformers appealed to the church fathers just as much as, and sometimes more than, they appealed to scripture to oppose what they saw as the novel accretions and innovations of the medieval west." In short, historical retrieval eventually became the extreme secular form of the historical critical method. 

The Cordial Catholic (Keith Little) shows that although Jerome taught that presbyters and bishops are equals, Jerome also shows that the apostles universally decreed that one bishop-presbyter should be placed over the other bishop-presbyters. In other words, the monarchical episcopate, the structure of the Catholic Church, has its origins in the apostles. 

Alan Fimister, an atheist convert to Catholicism, argues that the Protestant reformation led to secularism.