Episodes
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“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is right? But even if you do suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”
—1 Peter 3:13-15
What is the field of apologetics? What does it mean to have a rational, logical, and organized defense of the Catholic faith and the Christian worldview? How can you be better equipped to think through the faith, and to provide meaningful answers to anyone who might approach you inquiring about this “hope that is in you”?
Join us in for this new course in apologetics that ranges from the meaning and scope of apologetics, the existence of God, the subject of divine revelation, the historical reliability of Scripture, the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, miracles, and the problem of evil.
We’ll go over all these topics and more during this new theological series of our podcast. To sign up for access to this episode, and all the rest of these episodes going forward, sign up for a paid subscription and follow along week-by-week.
Theology & Reality is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is right? But even if you do suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”
—1 Peter 3:13-15
What is the field of apologetics? What does it mean to have a rational, logical, and organized defense of the Catholic faith and the Christian worldview? How can you be better equipped to think through the faith, and to provide meaningful answers to anyone who might approach you inquiring about this “hope that is in you”?
Join us in for this new course in apologetics that ranges from the meaning and scope of apologetics, the existence of God, the subject of divine revelation, the historical reliability of Scripture, the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, miracles, and the problem of evil.
We’ll go over all these topics and more during this new theological series of our podcast. To sign up for access to the rest of these episodes going forward sign up for a paid subscription and follow along week-by-week.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Missing episodes?
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“These tales say that apples were golden only to refresh the forgotten moment when we found that they were green. They make rivers run with wine only to make us remember, for one wild moment, that they run with water.”
This Lent, get ready to take a journey through one of G.K. Chesterton’s most beloved works, Orthodoxy, a short book that takes us, his readers, through a series of thought experiments and hypotheses that demonstrate the truth and wonder of the Catholic faith.
In this new podcast series, Dr. Joshua Madden will be going through the book chapter by chapter, highlighting Chesterton’s most interesting ideas and his most persuasive arguments.
In each episode you’ll be invited to learn more about one of the 20th century’s most unique thinkers, and explore how Chesterton’s words can inspire you this Lenten season.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it.”
This Lent, get ready to take a journey through one of G.K. Chesterton’s most beloved works, Orthodoxy, a short book that takes us, his readers, through a series of thought experiments and hypotheses that demonstrate the truth and wonder of the Catholic faith.
In this new podcast series, Dr. Joshua Madden will be going through the book chapter by chapter, highlighting Chesterton’s most interesting ideas and his most persuasive arguments.
In each episode you’ll be invited to learn more about one of the 20th century’s most unique thinkers, and explore how Chesterton’s words can inspire you this Lenten season.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
This Lent, get ready to take a journey through one of G.K. Chesterton’s most beloved works, Orthodoxy, a short book that takes us, his readers, through a series of thought experiments and hypotheses that demonstrate the truth and wonder of the Catholic faith.
In this new podcast series, Dr. Joshua Madden will be going through the book chapter by chapter, highlighting Chesterton’s most interesting ideas and his most persuasive arguments.
In each episode you’ll be invited to learn more about one of the 20th century’s most unique thinkers, and explore how Chesterton’s words can inspire you this Lenten season.
Theology & Reality is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Why are you a Christian? What possible reasons could you have to hold fast to faith in a world that finds the ideas of God and religion strange and irrational?
This Lent, get ready to take a journey through one of G.K. Chesterton’s most beloved works, Orthodoxy, a short book that takes us, his readers, through a series of thought experiments and hypotheses that demonstrate the truth and wonder of the Catholic faith.
Theology & Reality is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
In this new podcast series, Dr. Joshua Madden will be going through the book chapter by chapter, highlighting Chesterton’s most interesting ideas and his most persuasive arguments.
In each episode you’ll be invited to learn more about one of the 20th century’s most unique thinkers, and explore how Chesterton’s words can inspire you this Lenten season.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Today’s episode is the final episode of our series on Spiritual Theology.
The first half of the pod focuses on St. Ignatius of Antioch, and his approach to the spiritual life, spiritual warfare, and living a life in imitation of Christ. The second half is taken up with a response I gave to a question that was asked of me on how we are meant to receive Ignatius’ comments on being submissive to spiritual attacks when we also want to be sensitive to people who deal with issues like domestic violence or abuse, or who happen to deal with great tragedies in their lives.
In other words, how do we deal with the tragedy and violence in the world that we might be on the receiving end of, and how do we act in imitation of Christ, without justifying it or making excuses for it. I edited out the question for the sake of that person’s anonymity, but it prompted some good discussion and I wanted to include that in the episode because I thought it was interesting. I was recovering from a cold at the time, and my voice and breathing is a bit raspy, so I hope you’ll forgive me for that.
Theology & Reality is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Much of what I speak about here today can be found in the most significant book on St. Ignatius of Antioch in the modern period, Learning Christ: Ignatius of Antioch and the Mystery of Redemption by Dr. Gregory Vall, an expert theologian and biblical scholar whose course on St. Ignatius and the Apostolic Fathers I was privileged to take while a doctoral student. I can credit Dr. Vall’s lectures and book with anything edifying I have to say about Ignatius.
The quotations of Ignatius in the lecture are taken either from Dr. Vall’s book—whose work includes original translations of Ignatius—or from the Greek/English edition of the Apostolic Fathers translated by Michael Holmes.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Thanks for being here and tuning in after a short hiatus (due to the birth of my sixth child). Now… let’s get back to our regularly scheduled content!
In today’s episode, we begin to explore the question of mystical experience, and what it means to speak about the mystical life.
Thanks for listening!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Today’s episode is a good one, we’ve got an exclusively in-depth interview with author Megan Madden, talking about her new book, Mary, Teach Me to Be Your Daughter, published by Ascension Press.
We go through her origin story as an author, the reasons she wrote the book, and her favorite chapters, as we take a behind the scenes look at how this project made its way out into the world and, hopefully, into your hands!
In America, you can get the book here:
You can also find it on Amazon:
In the UK & Europe, you can order here:
If you’re new to the podcast, thanks for listening in. Theology and Reality is a really great website that I founded about a year ago now, and we host tons of Catholic content on theology, spirituality, Scripture, cultural commentary and more. Starting this week, in fact, we’re launching some brand new content so if you’re interested please consider subscribing not just to the podcast but to the Theology and Reality substack as well, so you don’t miss a single thing.
We’re hoping to continue growing this project, to publish more stuff and to continue expanding our reach, so if you feel called, consider becoming a paid subscriber to Theology and Reality, where you can access even more content than is readily available to everyone.
Theology & Reality is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
We’re back with a brand new topic for late summer and fall: Christian Spirituality.
For the next few months, we’ll be exploring the ins and outs of the Christian tradition regarding prayer, the life of the soul, and spiritual theology. This first episode is free, but the remaining episodes of the series will be available to paid subscribers only, so if you haven’t already, consider signing up to catch each and every episode.
To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Below you’ll find a document that lists some of the readings and texts I’ll be mentioning in the next few episodes, so check it out and let it help guide you through what you’ll be hearing on the podcast.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“From a standpoint of obedience to God’s will, it is clear. Maternity and priesthood are two complementary but incompatible charismas. They are jeweled crosses, too heavy to be carried simultaneously.”
—Alice von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, p. 163
The final episode! Join us as we explore one of Alice von Hildebrand’s most poignant works, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention. In part six of a multi-part podcast miniseries, today’s episode dives into Chapter 6: “Women and the Priesthood.”
Thank you for your support!
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“Every single woman, whether married or unmarried, is called upon to embody that mission [of motherhood], if only in the sense of giving love without counting its cost… To be a mother is to understand that to sacrifice oneself is to follow Christ, Who loved us to the very end.”
—Alice von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, p. 99
Join us as we explore one of Alice von Hildebrand’s most poignant works, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention. In part five of a multi-part podcast miniseries, today’s episode dives into Chapter 5: “Women and Relationship: Women and Motherhood.”
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“Saint Bernard tells us that the devil fears Mary more than he fears God. This statement is at first puzzling, but the doctor mellifluous (honey-sweet doctor) explains his claim as follows: The devil is pride incarnate. To be defeated in his plans by a humble virgin, and a woman to boot, is for him more humiliating than to be defeated by God, for he knows God’s power and strength. Being the incarnation of pride, being the one who said, ‘I will not serve,’ it is humiliation that he dreads most.”
—Alice von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, p. 92
Join us as we explore one of Alice von Hildebrand’s most poignant works, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention. In part four of a multi-part podcast miniseries, today’s episode dives into Chapter 4: “With Mary: From Defeat to Victory.” Our discussion today explores Alice von Hildebrand’s perspective on various topics of Mariology, and the central role that Our Lady plays in the spiritual life, in salvation history, and in the cultivation of virtue.
“This book is a profound meditation on the superiority of being over bustling, of love over the impress of one’s will, and of receptivity to God over what we take to be our creative ingenuity. As such it poses challenges to those creatures we call men and women, but in different ways. Dr. von Hildebrand reminds men that, apart from the genius for personal and the concrete that women possess, they become architects of heresy and inhumanity. She reminds women, meanwhile, of their at once humble and high calling to motherhood, physical or spiritual. It is a work steeped in the reverence she enjoins upon us all.”
—Anthony Esolen [from the endorsement of the book]
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Thanks so much to everyone who joined us along the way for our Mariology series! I genuinely hope that it was insightful and clear. Mariology is one of my favorite lecture courses to give, and so I hope that it was as much fun to listen as it was to create.
This is the final episode in the series, make sure to subscribe for ongoing news and updates, and to make sure you don’t miss our next theological series, “Christian Spirituality and Spiritual Theology,” slated to begin in August.
This podcast is listener-supported! Consider becoming a paid subscriber for new and archived episodes.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“Pascal wrote that ‘man is the most amazing object in nature.’ Indeed, we are such complex beings that not only do we have great difficulties understanding others, but worse, we have great difficulties understanding ourselves.”
—Alice von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, p. xiii
Join us as we explore one of Alice von Hildebrand’s most poignant works, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention.
In part three of a multi-part podcast miniseries, today’s episode dives into Chapter 3: “The Feminine Genius: Mystery, Veiling, Piety, and Modesty.” The discussion ranges over a host of topics, from the relationship between receptivity and efficiency, to the role of grace allowing men and women to “put on Christ,” and even on the role that sin plays in emphasizing our natural tendencies, virtues, and vices.
“This book is a profound meditation on the superiority of being over bustling, of love over the impress of one’s will, and of receptivity to God over what we take to be our creative ingenuity. As such it poses challenges to those creatures we call men and women, but in different ways. Dr. von Hildebrand reminds men that, apart from the genius for personal and the concrete that women possess, they become architects of heresy and inhumanity. She reminds women, meanwhile, of their at once humble and high calling to motherhood, physical or spiritual. It is a work steeped in the reverence she enjoins upon us all.”
—Anthony Esolen [from the endorsement of the book]
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“Pascal wrote that ‘man is the most amazing object in nature.’ Indeed, we are such complex beings that not only do we have great difficulties understanding others, but worse, we have great difficulties understanding ourselves.”
—Alice von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, p. xiii
Join us as we dive into one of Alice von Hildebrand’s most poignant works, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention. In today’s episode—part two of a multi-part podcast miniseries—we look at Chapter Two and discuss the roots and implications of feminism, and explore the meaning of various words and ideas that have changed and shifted throughout the last century. This topic could not be more relevant in the 21st century, so listen along as we explore some fascinating ideas!
“This book is a profound meditation on the superiority of being over bustling, of love over the impress of one’s will, and of receptivity to God over what we take to be our creative ingenuity. As such it poses challenges to those creatures we call men and women, but in different ways. Dr. von Hildebrand reminds men that, apart from the genius for personal and the concrete that women possess, they become architects of heresy and inhumanity. She reminds women, meanwhile, of their at once humble and high calling to motherhood, physical or spiritual. It is a work steeped in the reverence she enjoins upon us all.”
—Anthony Esolen [from the endorsement of the book]
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
“Pascal wrote that ‘man is the most amazing object in nature.’ Indeed, we are such complex beings that not only do we have great difficulties understanding others, but worse, we have great difficulties understanding ourselves.”
—Alice von Hildebrand, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention, p. xiii
Join us as we dive into one of Alice von Hildebrand’s most poignant works, Man and Woman: A Divine Invention. In today’s episode—part one of a multi-part podcast miniseries—we look at the Introduction and Chapter One, and try to unpack the wounds of original sin on human nature and what that means for how men and women live out their specifically embodied lives in the world. This topic could not be more relevant in the 21st century, so listen along as we explore some fascinating ideas!
“This book is a profound meditation on the superiority of being over bustling, of love over the impress of one’s will, and of receptivity to God over what we take to be our creative ingenuity. As such it poses challenges to those creatures we call men and women, but in different ways. Dr. von Hildebrand reminds men that, apart from the genius for personal and the concrete that women possess, they become architects of heresy and inhumanity. She reminds women, meanwhile, of their at once humble and high calling to motherhood, physical or spiritual. It is a work steeped in the reverence she enjoins upon us all.”
—Anthony Esolen [from the endorsement of the book]
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Responding to the hard saying of Jesus in the Gospels concerning marriage, Our Lord’s apostles understandably ask a sensitive question: “Is it of any benefit to marry?” With contemporary mores shifting more rapidly than ever before concerning marriage, sexuality, and the meaning of family, it is worth asking the question anew: what are the benefits of marriage?
When viewed through the lens of the ancient tradition of the Church, marriage—which St. Thomas Aquinas calls “the greatest of friendships”—can be seen as a school of wisdom, a venue for the cultivation of virtue, and the ordinary means to achieve the supernatural end of the human person.
This talk was originally given at the Wisdom Summit, hosted by St. Patricks Soho in London on June 17, 2023.
Here are some helpful books on the topic that I have read, and that influenced this talk:
The First Society: The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Restoration of the Social Order, by Scott Hahn (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2018)
Vocation to Virtue: Christian Marriage as a Consecrated Life, by Kent J. Lasnoski (CUA Press, 2014)
The Mystery of Christian Marriage Through the Ages: The Scriptures and the First Thousand Years, by Anna Silvas (Cascade Books, 2020)
Theology & Reality is a reader-supported publication
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe -
Theology & Reality is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theologyandreality.substack.com/subscribe - Show more
