Episodes
What is the paranormal? What is parapsychology? Do these fields have any relevance for Christian apologetics? Jimmy Akin joins us to discuss these questions in detail.  The Classical Theism Podcast aims to defend Catholic Christian ideas in conversation. With the help of various guests, I defend three pillars of the Catholic Christian worldview: (1) the God of classical theism exists, (2) Jesus is our Messiah and Lord, and (3) He founded the Catholic Church. We place a strong emphasis on the...
Published 09/29/24
Published 09/29/24
How can we study the Gospels well? Sal Ciresi shares with us some wisdom and insight from his decades spent studying God's word. 
Published 09/17/24
What is the doctrine of divine immutability? Why think it's true? What are some of the most pressing philosophical objections against the doctrine? How can they be answered? Dr. Karlo Broussard joins the show to discuss his doctoral dissertation on these topics. Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support  
Published 08/27/24
We discuss Dr. Ben Shaw's new book Trustworthy: Thirteen Arguments for New Testament Reliability.  The Classical Theism Podcast aims to defend Catholic Christian ideas in conversation. With the help of various guests, I defend three pillars of the Catholic Christian worldview: (1) the God of classical theism exists, (2) Jesus is our Messiah and Lord, and (3) He founded the Catholic Church. We place a strong emphasis on the first pillar, defending classical theism, drawing upon the work of...
Published 08/12/24
What is meant by the Incarnation? What is meant by the hypostatic union? How can the God of classical theism become Incarnate if He is immutable? What does it mean to say that the Son of God died? How can we answer two analytic objections to the Trinity and Incarnation? Dr. Tim Pawl joins the show again to discuss these topics. Want to be a part of these Live Q & A sessions? Join the Community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 07/31/24
Fr. Cajetan Cuddy joins the show to introduce Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange's major two-volume work on apologetics. He wrote the introduction to this magnificent work, recently translated by Dr. Matthew Minerd. In this episode, Fr. Cuddy explains why someone who denies *just one* article of faith, even if he believes 99% of the other articles, does not have supernatural faith.  Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support  
Published 07/15/24
What has Dr. Michael Sirilla been up to? Why are these two volumes On Divine Revelation so important? What are the motives of credibility? What is their role for believers? What are some different distinctions Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange makes when setting out the motives of credibility? Dr. Michael Sirilla rejoins the show to discuss these topics. The Classical Theism Podcast aims to defend Catholic Christian ideas in conversation. With the help of various guests, I defend three pillars of the...
Published 07/01/24
What is causation? How does divine causation differ from creaturely causality? What are some ways people view divine causality that you reject? Why do you emphasize an "extrinsic model" of God's causality? Dr. W. Matthews Grant joins the show to discuss these topics and takes live listener questions on even more topics.  Join the Community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 06/24/24
What is classical theism? What is sacred scripture? Is it possible to interpret Scripture without a particular metaphysics or particular philosophical assumptions? Is the God described in the Bible compatible with the classical theist conception of God? Dr. Gaven Kerr joins the show to tackle these topics (and more!). Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support  
Published 06/09/24
What is the doctrine of Divine Simplicity? What are Dr. Gavin Ortlund's thoughts on his recent exchange with Dr. Ryan Mullins on the topic? Is God really related to creatures or not? Why is Divine Simplicity such an important doctrine? Pat Flynn and John DeRosa sit down with Gavin Ortlund to debrief his recent exchange and examine Divine Simplicity from a philosophical perspective. Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support  
Published 05/27/24
What is the biblical book of Wisdom all about? Who wrote it? Is? Why is this an important book for philosophically interested Catholic Christians? Why is wisdom spoken about as female in various parts of the book? How does Wisdom point us to Jesus Christ? Dr. Mark Giszczak joins the show to discuss his new commentary on the book of Wisdom. Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 05/11/24
This is a debrief of Jimmy Akin's two recent debates with Reformed Baptist James White. The first debate was on sola scriptura and the second debate was on how one has peace with God. In this debrief, we look at the following topics: Jimmy’s debate attire: What were your debate goals? Jimmy’s debate preparation How did you plan for cross-ex? Why did you use slides for rebuttals? Is sola scriptura the default position?  The charge of overloading Weak response gish gallop  Why avoid...
Published 05/03/24
What is salvation? What is justification? Where should we start in explaining the Catholic viewpoint on these topics to others? How does the Catholic view of justification differ from other major Protestant conceptions? Can Catholics coherently interpret Romans 4? Should we think of justification as a legal declaration? Dr. Michael Dauphinais joins us to discuss these topics. Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 04/29/24
Why bother to make technical distinctions in how we speak about God? How does St. Thomas Aquinas categorize the ways of speaking about God? Is it true that according to Aquinas, God is only Lord and Creator in our minds and not in reality? How should we understand the notion that in God there are no real relations to creatures? Ryan M. Hurd joins the show to sort through these topics. Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 04/15/24
Who was Christopher Dawson? What made him such an important Catholic intellectual in the 20th century? What was the main focus of his work? How is his work relevant for those doing apologetics? Dr. Joseph T. Stuart joins the show to discuss these topics. Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support  
Published 04/08/24
Is atheism a simpler theory than theism? What are the strongest arguments for God's existence? Is apologetics a hopeless enterprise because motivated reasoning and confirmation bias are inherently involved? Where does the Incarnation and Trinity fit into our apologetics project? How can we answer the problem of divine hiddenness? Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P. joins the show again to examine these topics.  Join our community: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 03/25/24
Many critics say the Old Testament is unreliable because it contains (i) empirical claims that have been scientifically falsified, (ii) historical claims that are entirely unsubstantiated, (iii) and moral claims that are eminently repugnant. To the contrary, Dr. John Bergsma holds that the Old Testament is highly reliable and defensible as God's inspired Word. He joins us to tackle these topics. We also take questions from a live audience. If you want to ask a question during the next Live Q...
Published 03/18/24
What is the doctrine of divine simplicity (DDS)? What's in Dr. Tomaszewski's new book about the topic? How does DDS play a role in ultimate explanation? What is the relation between DDS and revealed theology? What should we think about the intentional collapse objection? Dr. Christopher Tomaszewski joins us to discuss these topics and take some live questions from the supporting audience. The Classical Theism Podcast aims to defend Catholic Christian ideas in conversation. With the help of...
Published 03/04/24
What is artificial intelligence? To what extent should we be concerned about the proliferation of large language models like Chat GPT? How should Catholics think about the use and spread of this technology? What does it reveal about the human person and human interaction? Heather Foucault-Camm joins us to discuss these topics.
Published 02/24/24
What are the most important theological themes of the Pentateuch? Does the Pentateuch teach philosophical monotheism or rather some form of henotheism? Who wrote the Pentateuch? What are the most important lines of evidence regarding debates over Mosaic Authorship? Can Catholics tolerate multiple opinions on the matter? We examine these topics with three experts on the Pentateuch. Join the community here: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support  
Published 02/16/24
What is the document of Fiducia Supplicans all about? Does it contradict previous Church teaching? Can Catholics criticize it? Why would the Church issue a document that is so prone to abuse? In this episode, we're joined by Michael Lofton to answer 12 BIG questions about Fiducia Supplicans. Join the Classical Theism Podcast Comminuty: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support  
Published 02/14/24
What is the problem of divine hiddenness? Is God a bad parent who doesn't show his presence to his children? How can Christian theists respond to skeptics who press arguments from hiddenness? Dr. Gavin Ortlund joins us to expand on some of his recent research into the problem of divine hiddenness.  Like the show?  Want to become part of our community to participate in live expert Q & A?  Join here: https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 02/02/24
What is theology? How did the theological methods of Karl Barth and Fr. Karl Rahner differ from the scholastics and neo-scholastics? What is a mystery and what is its role in theology? Can theology make progress and how does that work? Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P. joins the show to discuss these topics. https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 01/22/24
Is the God of the Old Testament a vindictive bully? What should we think about the dochotomy often presented between the angry Old Testament God and the loving New Testament God? How can we respond to Bible difficulties concerning violence and Ancient Israelite warfare? Prof. Paul Copan joins us to discuss these topics as we look at his book Is God a Vindictive Bully?  https://www.classicaltheism.com/support
Published 01/14/24