Controversies in Church History

In this episode, I take a look back at a 1995 book by the Polish philosopher Lezsek Kolakowski, "God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on the Religion of Pascal and the Spirit of Jansenism." Kolakowski's book tackles the problem of theodicy (how a good and just God can allow evil in the world) via an examination of the 17th century heresy of Jansenism. In this episode I take a look at his arguments for the idea that God is not a subject of any human moral obligations, and that the modern split between faith and science has left believers with an all-powerful but inscrutable God who "owes us nothing."

From the blog, a meditation on the controversy over World Youth Day, and what it says about larger trends in the Church since Vatican II. You can check out the original post on the website here: https://churchcontroversies.com/2023/08/14/world-youth-day-syndrome/

In this brief episode, I discuss Elisabeth Anscombe's argument against the dropping of the atom bomb on Japan and defenses of Harry Truman's actions. But the real purpose is to ask the listeners what they think--was Anscombe right in saying that Truman was a mass murderer?

In this episode, I read an article of mine which takes at look at the attitude so common in Western life today, which sees its past and its heritage as a backward stage in history that needs to be overcome. In doing so, I compare the influence of Modernism to that of 19th century Western Colonialism, reading this attitude through the prism of Chinua Achebe's book, Things Fall Apart.

In this episode, we take a look back at Ridley Scott's 2005 film "Kingdom of Heaven," his epic about the Third Crusade which ended with capture of Jerusalem by the Muslim prince Saladine. We examine how it treats the beliefs of characters in the past, specifically those of Christian Crusaders, and what it says about modern Hollywood's sense of history--or lack thereof. 

In 1970, three professors at the University of Kansas created a unique humanities program--the Pearson Integrated Humanities Program--that captivated students, introducing them to the "Great Books" of the Western tradition and the "perennial philosophy." But some in the university did not care for this program, and pointed to the Catholic faith of the three professors in claiming they were "brainwashing" their students. When six students in the program entered a monastery, their opponents seized on this to help bring the program to an end. In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a closer look at the rise and fall of the IHP, and the role of ideology and anti-Catholicism in its demise.

In the fourth installment of our series on Latinization of the Eastern Churches, we take a look at Rome during Renaissance and Reformation era and its relationship with the Eastern Churches that come into communion with it, above all the Maronite Church. We also take a look at the influence of European powers on this process, as well as the creation of new Eastern Catholic Churches in the 18th century.

In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a look at the 1964 feature film Becket, a bio pic about the medieval marytr and bishop St. Thomas Becket. After a brief relation of the history of Becket's martyrdom, we take a look at the film, which based on the play by Jean Anouilh, and assess its strengths and weaknesses as a film and as history. 

Hey everyone! This is new Short, a preview of the latest patron only episode for everyone else. This is from Episode IV of our series on Latinization, which is on Rome's relationship with Eastern Christians in the Ottoman Empire between 1450 and 1800. In this clip, I discuss the relationship between Rome and the Maronite Church of Lebanon during the late 16th century, and how both sides sought to gain from their relationship, but which contributed to Latinization of the Maronites in the long run. The full episode will be available to all listeners at months end, but if you want to listen to it now (and free of ads), consider becoming a patron of the podcast. Pax Christi!

Hello! The latest episode of the podcast is another "ReView" of an historical film This time, I riff on the one of the most heralded movies about a ever made about a Catholic historical figure. I am of course talking about "A Man For All Seasons," the biopic about St. Thomas More which won six Oscars in 1966, and in the film I discuss what it gets right and wrong historically, and also talk about the inspiration for the film's writer, Rober Bolton, to write about a Catholic saint.