Some Recent YouTube Dialogues

Categories: Miscellaneous · roman catholicism5 Comments

I’ve been too swamped for much blogging lately because over the summer I was traveling a bit and finishing up a book project, and also because over the summer and into the fall I’ve been doing a lot more stuff on YouTube. For the rest of this fall, I’m just focusing on my church, my family, and finishing up a few remaining items of research in my project of engaging ecumenical theology. In 2022 I’m hoping to draw that research into a book, and then launch into a new study project of various cultural issues (gender, CRT, issues of justice,…

Why I’m Engaging Catholicism on YouTube

Categories: roman catholicism43 Comments

The biggest surprise of my YouTube ministry thus far has been getting pulled into the orbit of Catholic-Orthodox-Protestant dialogue. I did not expect that, and it has not previously been a particular area of emphasis for me. However, I’ve been amazed to discover (1) how much hunger there is on YouTube for such conversations, and (2) how relatively weak the Protestant side is on YouTube, particularly in relation Roman Catholic channels. For whatever reason, the volume of Catholic content and Catholic viewership on YouTube is absolutely massive. And lots of Protestants considering converting to Catholicism are taking to YouTube with…

Church Fathers Who Denied the Immaculate Conception

Categories: History · roman catholicism · Theologians17 Comments

Recently I had the privilege of participating in a discussion with some Catholic brothers over at the Reason and Theology channel on our respective views of the virgin Mary. Thank you, Michael, Erik, and William for having me! For anyone interested, we are talking again on February 9. I thought it might be useful to compile some of the quotes I referenced that I regard as countervailing data among the church fathers with respect to the third Marian dogma, the immaculate conception of Mary. That way those following the debate can look them up for themselves. I know there is…

Some thoughts on Noll and Nystrom’s Is The Reformation Over?

Categories: Book Reviews · roman catholicism1 Comment

Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom’s Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism (Baker Academic, 2005) is a fascinating read, and has helped me learn a lot more about contemporary Roman Catholicism. The book especially put on my radar the massive role of Pope John Paul II in shaping contemporary Catholicism, the significance of the Council of Trent and Vatican I and II, the significance of the 1999 “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification,” the importance of the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is the Roman Catholic Church’s official statement on its theology), and…