The Cordial Catholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic Answers apologist extraordinaire Joe Heschmeyer to discuss the structure of the Early Church. Was the Early Church made up of loosely affiliated groups of believers, or did the Early Church inherit a clear hierarchical structure from the apostles? The question is one of the most important ones to answer, considering it'll help to determine WHICH church Christ founded – out of many different denominations. In this episode, Joe takes us into the earliest evidence to show exactly how we know what kind of Church Christ founded, where it is today, and why it's important to find. Plus, we talk about common objections to some of Joe's findings and where they go wrong. For more from Joe check out his book The Early Church Was Catholic from Catholic Answers Press and visit his website Shameless Popery where he promises to, someday, be launching a podcast.Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on  episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests.To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Dr. Steven Christine, a medical doctor, lawyer, a lecturer and speaker on Catholic social issues, and the author of Speaking for the Unborn: 30-Second Pro-Life Rebuttals to Pro-Choice Rebuttals.Here, Steve walks us through how to talk to just about anyone about abortion: those that have had abortions, those that advocate for abortions, the passionately pro-choice, and those that haven't really thought it through. With a vast collection of pro-life evidence and arguments, Steve explains exactly how we can cordially, kindly, and in a Christ-like manner, work through some of these very important issues, on the ground, in every day life. Abortion, says Steve, is not only a hot issue in the news and in conversations these days, but a place to really change opinions, minds, and hearts through appealing to medical science and evidence that many people who are pro-abortion simply haven't heard before. And while this is a tough topic to talk about, Steve is absolutely the most cordial, kind, and compassionate person to be teaching us HOW to talk is through. For more check out Steve's book from Emmaus Road Press.Also, check out Steve's website for more resources: https://speakingfortheunborn.orgSend your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on  episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests.To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my good friend Keith Nester to unpack some of the problems with Protestant Christianity that drove us to convert to Catholicism. Keith Nester is a former Protestant pastor – he spent over 20 years in ministry before converting to Catholicism. Keith is the host of the Catholic Feedback podcast, the author of a fantastic book for new converts, and has an incredibly popular YouTube channel (that I'm sure you've already heard of). To check out Keith's book, A Convert's Guide to Roman Catholicism: Your First Year in the Church visit his website. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on  episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests.To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Father Jeffrey Kirby, STD to talk about ascetical theology: the ancient and holy Catholic practice of dying to yourself. We dig deeply, with Fr. Kirby as our guide, into how understanding the purpose of our lives, through a knowledge of Scripture and God's plan, we can more fully and truly live out our Catholic lives and vocations. It's a really fascinating, fun, and in-depth conversation – as it always is when Father Kirby stops by! For more from Father Kirby visit his website and be sure to check out Glory Unto Glory: A Primer on Ascetical Theology from Angelico Press. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on  episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests.To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Shannon Wimp Schmidt, one of the co-authors of Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s: A Black Catholic Celebration of Faith, Tradition, and Diversity, to talk about some of her thoughts on the black Catholic experience. This is a topic I've had a lot of requests to tackle on the show and I'm so pleased, and grateful, to have Shannon as a guide this week. Her insights are phenomenal and, I hope, helpful for those within the Church who want to learn more about this perspective and those who are considering converting to Catholicism and wondering – as a black person – how their identity, culture, and experience, can fit into the Catholic Church. It's a fantastic conversation. For more from Shannon, check out her podcast Plaid Skirts & Basic Black everywhere podcasts are found and. her fantastic book Fat Luther, Slim Pickin's: A Black Catholic Celebration of Faith, Tradition, and Diversity. For more, visit The Cordial Catholic. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests! To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined once again by my good friend Catholic convert, author, and historian Rod Bennett to talk about the apostles, apostolic succession, and how the Early Church understood the role of these very first Christian leaders. Rod always brings incredible insights into Early Christianity and this episode is no different. We dig deep into the historical understanding of the roles of the apostles, how this role was passed on, and how the Early Church grappled with filling the sandals of the leaders appointed by Christ when they died.It's a compelling conversation!For more from Rod Bennett, check out his numerous previous appearances in the archives of the show including conversations about Catholic Witnesses to the Early Church (Episode 141) and Were the Early Christians Catholic? (Episode 089).And check out These Twelve, Rod's latest book from Catholic Answers Press. For more, visit The Cordial Catholic. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests! To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

While the show is on hiatus until May 25, allow me to share one of my favourite conversations from last  year: my chat with Evangelical convert to Catholicism, a biblical powerhouse, Dr. Scott Hahn.In this episode, I'm joined by fellow Catholic convert, author, and biblical theologian Dr. Scott Hahn from the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology to talk about the Eucharist. In this discussion, we climb the summit from an Evangelical understanding of Communion as merely symbol up to the Catholic view of the Eucharist as the Real Presence of Christ. We discuss the transformative power and incredible reality of the sacraments and how better understanding the Old and New Covenants and typology deepens our love for the faith and our ability to evangelize! A great conversation on the Eucharist – the centre of the life of the Church – that's made to share with your non-Catholic friends! For more from Dr. Hahn visit the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology where you can find his fantastic books including The Lamb's Supper, Consuming the Word, and The Fourth Cup.Be sure to check out Parousia: The Bible and the Mass, streaming for free at the St. Paul Center's website.For more, visit The Cordial Catholic. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

A short announcement to let you know that this show will be on a short hiatus until May 25, 2022 as our family gets our house ready to sell! We'll be back with an all-new episode on May 25 and, in the meantime, we'd appreciate all of your prayers for the smooth sale of our house and for the sanity of our family as we try to navigate it all with young kids, a dog, and a cat! Oh my!St. Joseph, pray for us! For more, visit The Cordial Catholic. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests! To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined once again by Dr. Brett Salkeld, theologian for the Catholic Archdiocese of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada and host of the Thinking Faith podcast to talk about purgatory. What exactly is purgatory? Why does it make sense? Where can we find it in the Bible? In Church history? Isn't it just a medieval invention? Didn't it go completely sideways and caused the Protestant Reformation? All of these burning questions, and more, this week as Dr. Salkeld takes us on a deep dive into the roots and reasons for purgatory, specifically through an Evangelical Christian lens. For more from Dr. Salkeld, check out our previous episode, Episode 143, on Transubstantiation and the Eucharist and follow him on Twitter. You can also check out his fantastic books Transubstantiation and Can Catholics and Evangelicals Agree About Purgatory and the Last Judgment at fine bookstores or on Amazon.For more, visit The Cordial Catholic. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests! To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by returning guest Suan Sonna from Intellectual Conservatism to talk to us about the papacy, and the pope. Suan is making major waves these days strongly defending the papacy and he's here today to tackle some of the most popular (and difficult) objections that you've probably heard to the idea of the pope. Where is the papacy in Scripture? Shouldn't it be obviously found? Isn't attempts to find the papacy foreshadowed in the Old Testament just "typology gone wild"? And what about the outrageous claims the Catholic Church made at Vatican I? Is the papacy really Biblical?!These questions and more tackled, this week, by one of the foremost scholars working on the papacy today. If you like what you hear, make sure you check out Suan's positive case for the papacy in Episode 116 where he also discusses his conversion story – it's a great one!For even more from Suan check out his YouTube channel Intellectual Conservatism and his podcast by the same name (everywhere podcasts are found).For more, visit The Cordial Catholic. Send your feedback to cordialcatholic@gmail.com. Sign up for our newsletter for my reflections on episodes, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive contests! To watch this and other episodes please visit (and subscribe to!) our YouTube channel.Please consider financially supporting this show! For more information visit the Patreon page.  All patrons receive access to exclusive content and if you can give $5/mo or more you'll also be entered into monthly draws for fantastic books hand-picked by me.If you'd like to give a one-time donation to The Cordial Catholic, you can visit the PayPal page.Thank you to those already supporting the show!A very special thanks to our Patreon co-producers who make this show possible: Amanda, Elli and Tom, Fr. Larry, Gina, Heather, James, Jorg, Michelle, Noah, Robert, Shelby, Susanne and Victor, and William.Support the showFind and follow The Cordial Catholic on social media:Instagram: @cordialcatholicTwitter: @cordialcatholicYouTube: /thecordialcatholicFacebook: The Cordial CatholicTikTok: @cordialcatholic