In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by one of my all-time favourite guests Steve Weidenkopf. Steve is a lecturer, author, renown speaker, and an absolute expert on the subject of Church history and he brings his knowledge to bear on today's fascinating topic: the greatest myths of the Reformation. We tackle the underlying philosophy of the Reformation – what is a reformation or a revolution? – and what was the original intentions of the Reformers? We also dig into what led up ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Evangelical convert to Catholicism Brandon Forschino to talk about his journey into the Catholic faith.Brandon was a zealous evangelist for Christ who went to Evangelical seminary to deepen his understanding of the faith, evangelism, and apologetics and after encountering crippling divisions in the faith he began to investigate other Christian denominations – and discovered Catholicism!It was in his unpacking of the things he thought he k...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the wonderful Sam Nunnally. Sam spent two decades as a charismatic, evangelical pastor before leaving to pursue the truth of Catholicism – a journey which took him many more years to confront, understand, and finally embrace... and it's all on his story, this week on the show!Sam's story is a phenomenal one – clocking in at one of the longest – including a serious examination of Sola Scriptura in an approach and context which we've never ...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the extraordinary Justine Callis from The Theology of Conversion. She shares her journey from a staffer at a non-denominational, Evangelical Mega Church to a Catholic convert – and what drew her in. Her story – of learning about the Eucharist, the magisterium, the Early Church and more – is the story of so many converts but the incredible MIRACLES that accompanied her along the way make for some AMAZING stories. Including one about Dr. Sc...

In this not-to-be-missed episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic Answers contributor, speaker, and apologist Joel S. Peters to talk about arguments for Sola Scriptura – "Bible alone" Christianity – and reasons why he thinks non-Catholic Christians should reconsider this theological position. For me, as host of this show, this topic gets to the core of what drove me to a deeper investigation of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy: the question of the interpretation of Scripture a...

In this not-to-be-missed episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Russ Breault, a long-time researcher, writer, speaker, and evangelist who has made it his life's mission to share the incredible miracle that is the Shroud of Turin with audiences across the globe. Russ brings an absolute wealth of knowledge about this intriguing biblical artefact to explain why it is absolutely a miracle – a tool for evangelization – for the 21st century. Russ talks about the scientific data, the attempt...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Brayden Cook, the host of The Catechumen YouTube channel, to talk about his conversion to Catholicism as an intern Baptist minister. Brayden's story – which is my own story in so many aspects – begins by encountering the Early Church Fathers and realizing that they didn't look like his local Baptist and non-denominational churches. This realization spurred Brayden to look deeper in Catholicism and to begin to unwind some of...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Paul Zucarelli. A Catholic author, speaker, and evangelist to talk about the Church. Did Jesus found the Catholic Church – or many, different churches? What was Christ's plan from the beginning, and how do we know? What evidence do we have from Scripture? The Early Church? And from history... With charity and clarity Paul walks us through these questions to answer what he argues is one of the most fundamental questions of Christianit...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my new best friend Nic Davidson to talk about how he, and his whole family, converted to Catholicism. Nic's got an amazing story to tell. As a missionary following the call of Christ Nic has some amazing adventures to recount, how God was with him and his family every step of the way, and how listening and following that call he had become to accustomed to led him to pursue Christ right into the Catholic Church. Nic discusses the importan...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the renown expert on the Bible, apologist Gary Michuta. With bucketloads of insight, wisdom, and decades of research and experience Gary explains exactly how the Bible came out of the Catholic Church and why understanding the origins of the Bible is so important when talking to our non-Catholic Christian friends – who love their Bibles!Gary explains the process used to discern which books of the Bible belonged in the Canon, how this began...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the indefectible Dr. Larry Chapp to talk about the heart of what draws Catholic converts into the Catholic Church – the truth, beauty, and goodness – and what sucks when those things don't seem to exist in the way they ought to in day-to-day, on-the-ground Catholicism. With Dr. Chapp's trademark clear-eyed perspective, we talk about divisions in the Church, what happens when the truth of Catholicism is tested against fringe ideas on the l...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Catholic convert Nate Ebel to explain how he became Catholic – by accident!Nate walks us through his faith journey. A journey not unlike my own conversion – it was in dispelling the misinformation he had about Catholicism, about looking into Catholic sources to discover how seamlessly the Church's theology and practice fit together, and about being attracted to the beautiful and ancient contemplative prayer practices of Catholic mysticism...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Noah Bradon, the Director of Marketing at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and the founder of Cross the Tiber, to talk about his conversion journey, his experience in evangelization, and what the work from his Master's Degree in Theology and Communication says about how we can be Catholic, online, in today's virtual landscape. It's a fascinating conversation about evangelizing online without losing our...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by David Douglas, President of the St. Therese Institute of Faith and Mission, to tell us his long, winding, and incredibly compelling faith journey. It begins, for David, in a socialist commune, the son of a prominent bluegrass musician, David's parents had a radical conversion to Evangelical Christianity through the Jesus People movement in the 1980's which would forever shape the trajectory of David's faith life – and this would only be t...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by JuliaMarie Woolbright, an atheist convert to Catholicism to tell, first of all, her story of conversion to the Catholic faith, but then the story of her ongoing conversion through the experience of her daughter, Anastasia. Diagnosed in utero with Anencephaly – a fatal type of neural tubal defect where a baby is born without parts of their skull or brain – JuliaMarie shares deeply from her experience of Anastasia's life, from the time of d...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Cameron Riecker, a Catholic apologist, speaker, and YouTuber to share his thoughts on a variety of topics including discernment, evangelizing our Protestant brothers and sisters, common Evangelical misunderstandings of Catholicism, Mary's role in the Church, and much more. It's a great conversation and Cameron is a phenomenal apologist and a wonderful guy!For more from Cameron check out his YouTube channel and make sure to subscribe while...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Nathan Lancaster, a campus missionary completely sold out for Jesus Christ and His Church – with a fantastic passion for his faith and a great story to tell! First, Nathan talks about his incredible story of deeper conversion to Christ through campus ministry. Then, Nathan and I dive into what's going on on college and university campuses around North America, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, what it's like to do missionary work o...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Ken Kopelson to tell what I think is one of the most unique and amazing conversion stories I've ever heard.Raised in a conservative Jewish home, Ken began asking questions about Christianity when a family member converted and began to share about Christ. Those discussions sparked a radical conversion to Christ and 45 years of serving as God's "errand boy" across all manner of ministries, crisscrossing the world, to go where...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Brandon Eaves and Chris Kellam, two former Evangelical seminarians, to talk about how, as Evangelicals studying Scripture, they discovered the Biblical basis for the papacy and the Catholic view of justification. Brandon and Chris, two good friends with a great dynamic, explain how many of their misconceptions about Catholicism were dismantled as they looked into Scripture, the witness of the Early Church, and in the actual practice of th...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by the incredible Austin Molt, an Evangelical pastor, who's invited me to try and convert him to Catholicism – in 60 minutes!Austin, the pastor of New Vintage Church in Richland, WA, introduced himself to me a while back and we struck up an online friendship. He's doing and has done some great, deep thinking about the Catholic faith and invited me, in 60 minutes or less, to try to convert him to Catholicism. Of course, that's impossible! But...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by my new friend Joseph Dinesh from the incredible JD Catholic Engage YouTube channel to talk, first of all, about his amazing faith journey and then to dig into some of the anti-Catholic misunderstandings and misconceptions that Protestants have about Catholicism. JD's journey is one of a passionate young man converted away from the nominal Catholicism he was raised in, into a vibrant Evangelical faith only to come storming back into the Ca...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Soren and Ever Johnson. Soren, a convert to Catholicism, and his wife, raised in a large Catholic family, are pioneering authentic Catholic communities in parishes across the world. They join me to discuss the "Evangelical sacrament" of fellowship and the need to bring authentic community to Catholics. We talk about the importance of doing life together, the reality of fellowship in Catholic parishes today, and practical steps to begin to...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Scott Oakland, a former Baptist pastor, a Reformed and Lutheran elder and, finally, a grateful Catholic convert. Scott shares the story of how his love for the Bible and his quest to find the Church founded by Christ drew him ever deeper in towards the ancient Catholic Church. From a Baptist pastor, questioning his beliefs about infant baptism, to a Reformed Calvinist, steeped in the theology around predestination, to a Lutheran elder, ho...

In this episode of The Cordial Catholic, I'm joined by Dr. Douglas Beaumont, a former Evangelical seminarian professor and a convert to the Catholic faith, to unpack how trying to decipher the "Evangelical essentials" led to his conversion. Dr. Beaumont, a student of the late Evangelical theologian Dr. Norman Geisler, studied deeply into the history of the Church, the Bible, and tried to identify the "essentials" that all Evangelical Christians held in common. Using the Bible as the sole infa...