The Catholic Brothers

In this episode, the brothers discuss the rise of Christian philosophy in the second century among a group of writers known as “The Apologists.” While the Apostles were very successful in bringing both Jews, God fearers, and lower class pagans into the Christian movement, they were not able to significantly penetrate the philosophical classes of Greco Roman society. The Apologists of the second century, therefore, stepped in and framed the Christian faith in such a way that it became a serious interlocutor for the greatest philosophical minds of the day.

In this episode we discuss one of proto-orthodoxy’s most formidable challenges: the rise of the Gnostics. We often hear the word “Gnosticism,” and we think we know what it refers to, but here we dive into the Gnostic worldview and explain why these teachers were worthy of so much apologetic ink in the second century.

In this installment of the First 500 Years series, the brothers take a journey through the life and thought of the church’s first major Heresiarch: Marcion of Pontus. Along the way, they propose fresh ways of understanding the origins of his doctrine and explain why he proved a formidable enemy for the earliest apologists as they began their struggle to preserve apostolic tradition.

Discover the cosmic battle that unfolds with Christ's incarnation, and its impact on both redemption and demonic powers. Explore humanity's role as a bridge between divine and dark forces, and gain new insights into Satan's envy and pride. Delve into the theological nuances surrounding angels, demons, and the fall, while examining the Eucharist's power against evil. Finally, engage with contemporary controversies, highlighting the spiritual significance of the body in modern belief systems.

Former Protestant and Orthodox debater Erick Ybarra shares his journey to the Catholic Church, from Baptist to Anglican to Catholicism. Topics include trauma at the Baptist church, studying early church practices, doubts about Anglicanism, exploring Eastern Orthodoxy, and finally embracing Catholicism with his wife.

A fascinating chat with a former Orthodox Christian blogger who converted to Catholicism. Topics include the journey from atheism to Catholicism, exploring prayer, unity, historical schisms in Christianity, and the transition from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. The discussion delves into theological debates, the Philo-Quae controversy, and personal challenges faced during the conversion process.

A Superstition? Funerary society? Guild? A philosophical school? What the heck is this “Christian” thing? In this episode, we complete our discussion of the vitality of Roman Religion and then analyze various ways in which Roman writers politically and culturally tried to classify the novel Christian movement throughout the second century. How Christians were politically classified by various Roman authorities have serious implications. It would determine whether or not they were free to debate in the public square or merely destined for ostracization and execution. This is a fascinating topic that you don’t want to miss!

In Part One of this episode, we flip the table a bit and try to understand Rome’s relationship to her gods *from the inside out* so that we can paint a fuller picture of the religious landscape of Christianity’s rise in Late Antiquity. Heretofore, many scholars have argued that early Christianity was able to spread so rapidly because the religion(s) of the Roman Empire had increasingly lost vitality and failed to fulfill emerging soteriological hopes of Late Antique peoples. But, is any of this true? Is this merely the residue of centuries of anti-pagan bias and propaganda? What was Roman religion *really* like; how captivating was it; and why did the fledgling Christian movement cause such concern for some of the brightest Roman minds of the second century?

In this episode we address the topic of exorcism in the early church, particularly from the lens of Hebrew cosmology and Christian mission to a pagan world from the second century onward. Connecting the dots between research on exorcism in Late Antiquity and Divine Council Scholarship, we explain why Christian exorcism became a major force for the conversion of the Roman Empire.

In this episode on Liturgy in the second century, we resume our journey of reconstructing and envisioning early Christian worship.