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In many parts of the world, the question of whether you're a Catholic or Protestant means a lot more than if you submit to the Pope, or how you feel about Martin Luther.
One such place is Northern Ireland. For generations, the people of Ireland and the United Kingdom have been steeped in a conflict about religious freedom, civil rights, and discrimination. Tragically, this period of tension boiled over between the 1960's and 1990's, an era of bloodshed and violence known as the Troubles.
Today, we are joined by our fantastic guest Oisin Feeney (don't worry, he'll tell you how to pronounce it), host of The Troubles Podcast. Join us as we're led into the vast history of the Troubles by someone with the accent to prove he knows what he's talking about.
In other news, we're going to use this special episode to close out our season, so we'll be going on a break for a few weeks.
See you guys in Season 3!
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Have you ever wondered why some churches use grape juice for communion, while others insist on using wine instead?
The answer is more complicated than you think. Or it might be less complicated, I don't know, I feel like you're probably pretty smart.
Either way, join us as we discuss Thomas Welch, the Prohibition Era, and the impact still felt by churches today.
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Church history isn't always as, well, historically reliable as we wish it was. Sometimes the stories of saints and heroes tend to blur the lines between fact and fiction.
That would be the case of Saint Dymphna, an Irish-Catholic runaway who sought refuge from her violent father in a small town in Belgium. What's interesting though, is that whether or not her story is more than folklore, this European community is still honoring the legacy of her story: for hundreds of years, its residents have opened their homes to outsiders suffering from mental and cognitive disabilities.
Join John and Tom as we talk through the story of Saint Dymphna and the town of Geel, Belgium. Also Tom humblebrags about graduating seminary. What a nerd.
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It's 1550. A generation has passed since the Reformation swept across Europe like a wildfire.
The Catholic Church has launched the Counter-Reformation, a multi-layered initiative to restore the continent to its former Roman glory. One step of this plan in Germany is to recognize the cities that have fallen into the clutches of Lutheranism and coerce their return to the Church.
Suddenly the town of Magdeburg has an urgent question to answer: what is the responsibility of the local magistrate to defend the church from a violent military threat?
Let's talk about it! Join Tommy and John as we impress all of our Lutheran pals.
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In the 5th Century, the Western Roman Empire is on its last leg.
Riddled with internal conflict, external threats, and even theological disputes tearing at the fabric of the Church, Rome has seen better days. And the great shadow of the Huns looms larger and larger as days go by.
This leads to one of the most engaging (and unexpected) encounters in church history: the frail and elderly Bishop of Rome face to face with the bloodthirsty tyrant of the Hunnic Empire.
Also, John and Tommy talk about why there was no episode last week, but why that's okay, because cool godly guys staying bros is more important.
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If you're not a Baptist (and we still love you even if you are), you're probably no stranger to the idea of infant baptism.
The doctrine of paedobaptism is saturated with the idea that the children of believers are heirs of the covenant of grace, and through baptism are welcomed into God's family.
But did you know that for several centuries of church history, the youngest believers weren't just baptized, but were also given communion?
Join us for an episode that might ruffle a little feathers, where we discuss the history of paedocommunion. But just remember, if you don't ruffle any feathers, you'll never make any pillows. So bear with us. We love ya.
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Beginning as a fringe interpretation of the creation story in Genesis, the Serpent Seed Doctrine asks a question that no one really seems to be asking: what if Satan and Eve had a little...fling?
It's a wild doctrine with even more of a wild history. So let's talk about it!
Also, we're not gonna be too crude this episode, but given the nature of this episode's topic, it may not be appropriate for our youngest listeners. Maybe ask your parents. Or your grandparents.
Thanks for listening, cool cats.
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The 16th Century was a rollercoaster for Japanese Christians.
The first half was amazing-- the first Portuguese missionaries broke ground and people were getting saved by the thousands. Churches were built, clergy established, things were looking great.
The second half was...well, pretty bad. A combination of suspicious Japanese leaders and the shaky reputation of the European powers started to turn the tides of what Christianity would look like in Japan for hundreds of years.
So let's talk about it! Thanks for listening~
Also hey, John and his wife are hosting this episode! Tommy will be back next week.
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The discovery (well, sort of discovery) of the New World was one of the most groundbreaking events in world history. The decades that followed however, would be marked by widespread violence and abuse of power as the colonizing Europeans came to settle in a foreign new land.
In the midst of this broken system, there were several voices who were critical of these injustices. They believed that the Church was betraying a fundamental value of Christianity: to love and lay your life down for your neighbor. One of those voices was the Dominican friar known as Bartolomé de las Casas.
Join us as we chat about your new favorite Spaniard, while John enjoys pretending he can roll his r's. -
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Well folks, we've danced around this topic for long enough. It's time to unpack the grand-daddy of all heresies (most heresies), the second-century slammer, the demiurge devastator...Gnosticism.
Unlike many of the heresies we've discussed so far this season, Gnosticism is a tricky one to pin down. There is no singular, authoritative Gnostic worldview, so it takes a little nuance to define. But we'll do our darnedest.
Thanks for listening, pal.
(you can skip to 7:21 if Christian metal banter isn’t your cup of tea btw)
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In the second century, it's safe to say that Christians were still kind of figuring things out.
One of those things for example, was the celebration of Easter. There was a heated disagreement in the church about whether Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday (the Lord's Day) or whether it should stay on the day of the Jewish Passover.
What came of this agreement is one of the oldest and richest homilies from that era: the Peri Pascha (roughly translated to 'On the Passover') by Melito of Sardis. It contains some beautiful affirmations of Christ being the center of the Christian faith, and how He fulfills the themes introduced in the Old Testament. It's really cool. So we're gonna talk about it!
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Well gang-- our Instagram followers supplied the questions, and here we are with the answers.
What heresy do we find most dangerous to the church? How do we feel about nondenominational churches? How has our study of church history affected our work as pastors? WILL WE EVER DO AN EPISODE ON THE CRUSADES???
All of these questions (and a lot more) will be answered.
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Manifest Destiny is a heck of a drug.
In the 1800's, American and Canadian settlers were faced with a problem: what should be done about all these Native/Indigenous people? The result was a pretty gross blemish on the face of North American Christianity: the adoption of Indigenous Boarding Schools.
The story behind this episode isn't a fun one, but we believe it's important as believers to remember the full story of our Christian heritage, even the parts that make us squirm a little. Praise God for His abundant mercies.
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Okay fine, "original doomsday cult" is a little on the dramatic side. But come on, Montanism is like the perfect Frankenstein's monster of heresies. You've got a dash of modalism, a sprinkle of hyper-pentacostalism, and a healthy splash of end times panic. And all before the 3rd Century!
Montanism was a strange movement in the early days of Christianity. It demonstrated a growing tension that some believers had about how the Holy Spirit interacted with believers at that point in history. There are lots of cool things to talk about in this episode.
Thanks for being here! You're the coolest person we know.
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The Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century wasn't just a movement. It was a million dominoes falling to trigger a BUNCH of movements all across Europe.
One of the most unique of these movements was that of the Anabaptists. While Lutherans and Calvinists fought about whether justification or predestination were cooler sounding words, Anabaptists were marching to the beat of a very different drum.
So what's the deal? Are Anabaptists the ancestors of modern day Baptists? We'll talk about all that and more.
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Have you ever read through the Old Testament and thought, "Geez, God seems a little harsh compared to that Jesus guy"?
Well, Marcion of Sinope had that thought as well. In fact, he would have argued that they were completely different gods.
Join Thomas and John as they explore Marcionism, a 2nd century heresy with lots and lots of fun heretical ideas. Oh and John will consistently call him "Marcius" instead of Marcion, because we're really bad historians.
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David Brainerd was an 18th century colonial man for the people. We also have it on good authority that his pals called him 'Davey the Brain.'
After running into obstacles on his path into pastoral leadership, David opted for a different calling: mission work to the Native Americans.
Although his life would be cut short by illness, Brainerd's legacy would survive him through his journal, published by Great Awakening titan Jonathan Edwards.
Check it out.
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Historically, Christians have believed that when the first humans sinned, it introduced corruption into everything. Human hearts turned away from God, nature began to decay, and all creation groaned for its Redeemer.
But what if that wasn't the case? What if humans weren't born bad at all? In fact, what if humans could be perfect?
Join John and Tommy as they discuss Pelagianism, as Tommy recovers from his brief bout of 'the pox.' -
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Have you ever wondered why Protestants don't have a richer view of the sacraments (a fancy word for 'visible means of grace,' like baptism if you're a Protestant, or confession if you're a Catholic)? Or ever wondered why most Protestant churches tend to be so "dressed down" and casual, compared to high-church settings?
Well then you're in good company.
Join us today as we're joined by our good friend Nick Davis, who will be walking us through the life of John Williamson Nevin, 19th century theologian and author of Mercersburg Theology.
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At this point, people really should have learned to stop making up new ideas about Jesus' nature. But some people never learn.
This week, we end up with Eutychianism, an overcorrection of the heresy of Nestorianism. This one suggested, "What if Jesus' two natures were just kind of, like, blended together into one?"
We'll break down why that's problematic, but also how this particular issue broke a lot of church unity...and why that may not have been a bad thing...
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