More Proof that the Early Church was Catholic

[@henrytucker7189]

For me, it was St Augustine first … then Ignatius. As a Calvinist, Augustine’s ecclesiology was shockingly Catholic. Not just Catholic, but ROMAN Catholic. I realized that this “patron saint” of Calvinist soteriology would never be permitted to mount the pulpit of any Calvinist church I had ever attended. But worse, I would not be admitted into Augustine’s church either. So I had to basically make the decision that either Augustine was totally wrong… or I was. Easy choice. I became Catholic. I could not imagine the Christian church without Augustine’s beautiful faith and mind and love for Christ. But I could certainly imagine it without mine. So I changed.

[@susand3668]

Wonderful testimony!! Thank you!

[@emilyzlockard]

I really hope we can get a deep dive on Augustine some day from Joe. He would knock it out of the park.

[@stefanielozinski]

Beautifully put!

[@MeanBeanComedy]

What specifically did Augustine say that got to you? I've found most Prots who know a little like Augustine, so it'd be good to know.

[@sivad1025]

St. Augustine eased my concerns on the Immaculate Conception. John Calvin was a huge fan of Original Sin, but Augustine saw Original Sin and Immaculate Conception as complementary. Granted, I'm still as a now Catholic queasy with Immaculate Conception, but it at least made me realize that if I could so easily grant Augustine's invention of the original sin articulation, it's not too crazy to accept his Mariology

[@beaniehampton]

As Scott Hahn might say, "I figured out something only to realize the Fathers of the Church already said it." (Cradle Catholic)

[@MeanBeanComedy]

I thought Scott was a convert! 🤨🤔

[@femaleKCRoyalsFan]

Dr hahn is a convert

[@borneandayak6725]

​@@MeanBeanComedy he was Evangelical then convert to Catholicism.

[@peterdavin289]

He does talk a lot but I do think he actually said that.

[@beaniehampton]

@@MeanBeanComedy He was. And he often commented how he discovered something (that ultimately caused him to convert) only to find out the Fathers of the Church had already said it. Like his "new idea" was really 2,000 years old.

[@elizabethking5523]

Just confirmed Catholic Easter 2024. And I found the letters of Saint Ignatius. It blew me away.! How did I not know that they existed? I’ve never heard anyone in my protestant church ever talk about it or in the many many Bible studies that I had taken . Seven years ago, I met Catholic, who simply invited me to look some of the early church fathers up. Saint Ignatius is my patron saint! I am so grateful! And so thankful! Praise be to God!🙏🏻❤️

[@francismarion6400]

Do the letters affect the integrity of the Gospels? or the NT at all?

[@susand3668]

Welcome home!!

[@elizabethking5523]

@@susand3668 , Thank you so much! ❤️I will continue to study bc there is so so much more for me to know! The Mass is just sooo awesome!!🙏🏻❤️ The Prayers! The Beauty! 😀🙏🏻💙

[@rose-annrumpus5772]

@@francismarion6400no, but they help you to understand them

[@ArkansasJaKeAustin]

@@francismarion6400 they don't affect the NT. But they might affect your interpretation of the NT.

[@halleylujah247]

Something about Joe I love is he packs so much relevant information into a concise video. I could never convey all that he said in a less than 30 minute video. St Ignatius pray for Joe and anyone who reads this.

[@alexs.5107]

Lot of substance indeed.

[@viperlt86]

Catholic theology professor here, and, I’ve got to say, Joe is killing it. I think he’s my favorite Catholic KZbinr and the one I refer most to my students. He also has some great shirts, haha.

[@tony1685]

sadly, joe isn't 'killing it' with Bible Truth. catholicism mandates sin, friend -- that much is easy to prove.

[@guyguytchombi5425]

​@@tony1685 Praying for you. May the Holy Spirit come and rest upon you, inspiring and guiding you to the Truth.

[@datalore8270]

@@tony1685 Tony, you've tried many times to prove that, and failed. We have dealt with your arguments about the sabbath. We have dealt with your arguments about idolatry. Now, it's okay if you want to disagree. But to say you've proven anything is to say there is no ambiguity in the text, and that your interpretation simply cannot be wrong. That's just pride, my friend. God bless.

[@tony1685]

@@guyguytchombi5425 hey, same to you!

[@susand3668]

@@tony1685 hello again! I am glad that you are exposing yourself to the Truth -- if you ever listen to these videos that you make comments on!! Of course, the Bible Truth is the Catholic Truth. But you have to open your mind and heat to the Holy Spirit, Who has never abandoned His Church (Acts 2) or her leaders, on whom Jesus breathed and gave the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).

[@aplcc323]

As a former atheist, I thank God that I can partake in His feast and share with all my brothers and sisters, from times without memory, the most Holy communion with Our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless us all, come back to the church all you who have abandoned her! She shall not perish, there is nothing to protest against that would make it good to leave her.

[@Heart_of_Damascus]

Praise God! I was also an atheist for about 12 years. I can't express how much love I was Immediately enveloped in from the moment I had confession, to adoration and being a part of the community.

[@MeanBeanComedy]

And we're just so gosh-darned happy to have you here, Bo! Welcome to the family, the both of ya! 😁👍🏻

[@willskitchen618]

Long before videos like this were being made, I was reading the Patristics. I had to fight really hard to ignore the reality before me: "These people are decidedly Catholic." I hated that fact for years. God, in His grace, has mercifully softened my heart. I am so thankful.

[@jimnewl]

God bless you for affirming that it was hardness of heart, and not any actual intellectual barrier, that kept you from returning to the Church. This is the problem I see with people like Gavin Ortlund and James White, who struggle mightily to give the appearance of having profound intellectual differences with the Church, when it is really just stubbornness and pride.

[@susand3668]

Welcome home!

[@willskitchen618]

@@jimnewl Albert Einstein is quoted to say "The mark of intellect is willingness to change." I'm not saying I'm a smart man. I just want the deepest commune with the Lord Christ that I can have. He's so good, so lovely, so beautiful. Please pray for my wife, friend, that God will bring her along. She's struggling bad with this and has no paradigm to understand what's happening to her husband. St. Augustine, pray for us. St. Monica, pray for her. Holy Mary, pray for us.

[@robertotapia8086]

​@@jimnewltotally agree 👍🏼

[@jonathanstensberg]

St Ignatius is one of many keys to realizing that the Catholic Church emerged immediately from the apostolic age.

[@H1Guard]

I agree. It is shocking how quickly pagan philosophies supplanted the Jewish foundation of the church.

[@mikekayanderson408]

Does not mean that he was true to the Apostolic teaching though!!! Many false teachers emerged during the Apostle’s lifetimes and afterwards. The Apostles and Jesus Himself warned of them - the wolves in sheep’s clothing who would scatter and attack the sheepfold. This is what the Catholic Church has done .

[@spartanastas]

St. Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch. The Antiochian ORTHODOX Church is the Church that I attend now and it was the first Christian Church and is named in the Bible. Just thought you should know that.

[@Tobeouy]

​@@mikekayanderson408So what church do you attend?

[@micyjoejoe5820]

​@@mikekayanderson408 you will know them by their fruits. St. Ignatius was martyred for his faith. Call that rotten if you will, but I think that such a death shows a love and commitment to Christ - to the very end. If, then, the fruit is good, then so must the teacher be.

[@martina.echeverria3767]

Ex Evangelical here! I read these letters and knew I was a heretic 😂. I wanted to please my Lord in all things, I wanted to be part of His REAL Church, I wanted to eat HIS Flesh and drink HIS Blood, and St. Ignatius is my patron Saint now. God bless! "All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die on behalf of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth." - St. Ignatius

[@susand3668]

Welcome home!

[@lindaakguest4ever50]

Welcome home!

[@smeatonlighthouse4384]

Have you ever heard the expression - Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

[@SolaPastora]

@@smeatonlighthouse4384Loving Jesus more than ourselves brings us home. Self-giving and not self-serving-- Eternal Security only exists because of Sola Pastora.

[@JustADudeOnTheInternetSoChill]

The ecclesiology of St Ignatius the Theophoros of Antioch is the ecclesiology lived by the Orthodox Church. He would have absolutely condemned papal supremacy (papal infallibility and universal jurisdiction) for the heresies they are.

[@dlfincher6887]

I was raised anti-Catholic. Churches I attended deliberately proselytized Catholics. This was true through my years at Moody Bible Institute and in my own churches when I pastored. I was in my late 40’s when I stumbled upon Justin Martyr and Ireneaus. They shook my world! I was so anti-Catholic, I first went Anglican, then Anglo-Catholic (studying for the priesthood). I realized that Anglicanism wasn’t solidly committed to Nicene beliefs. I went Orthodox but continued studying the Ecumenical Councils. They affirmed papal primacy. I finally humbled myself & gave in to became Catholic. I am so incredibly thankful!

[@susand3668]

Thank you for sharing your story! It makes me so happy to know you have come home!

[@alan-muscat]

Amazing testimony. Thank you.

[@ArkansasJaKeAustin]

You didn't just change your mind like the rest of us. You walked away from a long-established career. You're the real deal.

[@carakerr4081]

Praise God!

[@borneandayak6725]

Welcome home to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

[@clarkkent5442]

I am a recent catholic revert, having fallen away from the church after high school graduation. it was absolutely the early church fathers that helped "convince" me of the truthfulness of catholic doctrine, and more specifically Saint Ignatius of Antioch, and what the eucharist actual is. my story may have led me into a protestant denomination of it weren't for those two things. well that and great apologists like you, Trent Horn, and Jimmy Akin. so after being away from the church for over 25 years, I'm finally getting confirmed. better late than never, right?

[@shamelesspopery]

Absolutely! Welcome back home, Kal-El!

[@johns1834]

As a former episcopalian, once I woke up and finally realizing how messed up that church was, becoming Catholic was very easy. The real presence and learning Mary is our Mother was icing on the cake.

[@johnbrowne2170]

You didn't know Mary was the mother of Jesus?

[@johns1834]

@@johnbrowne2170 Yes, I knew Mary was the Mother of Jesus. Duh! However, I didn't realize when Jesus told John at the Cross, "behold your Mother', Jesus was giving his Mother to all of us.

[@peterdavin289]

My question is, before conversion, when you read that part did you think "who knows what that means," and keep reading? Because it seems to me like there are a dozen places in the Bible where a Protestant has to skip, meanwhile the Catholic (and Orthodox) church has an answer.

[@johns1834]

@@peterdavin289 Before my conversion, I never really paid much attention to the Bible and generally only read it during church. The episcopal minister's sermon was supposed to reflect on the scripture reading, but rarely did. It was my hunger for the truth, during my actual conversion, that I began to see the truth and seek reliable resources, like Catholic Answers, to explain the message in scripture.

[@borneandayak6725]

Welcome home to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

[@JenniferMcMann]

St. Ignatius' letters are a treasure, thank you for providing this background on his writings.

[@katathoombs]

I wrote my BTh on (kinda) the genuineness of Ignatian epistles, middle recension. It's somehow elating to hear the stuff I spent a year delving into to be so well summarised here. Btw fun coincidence I just now made a note of: I submitted said thesis early May 2019, I was confirmed into the Church late May 2019.

[@BensWorkshop]

Welcome home!

[@borneandayak6725]

Welcome home to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

[@classicalteacher]

I converted in 2006. I earned my undergrad degrees in Bible and Music at a very anti-Catholic "non-denominational Christian" University. There were so many conflicting interpretations of Scripture between professors. They never taught early Church history. For them, Christian theology started in the 1500s. My Biblical Archeology prof taught that the earliest church building excavated had a cup holder for water for the preacher. I was so angry that he refused to teach it was for the Communion Cup. They lied to me and everyone about real Christianity. The music department was just as bad. Music history is Catholic history. The historic liturgical music is Catholicism. This is why the Traditional Latin Mass is critical to Catholicism. The ancient chants in the Liturgy are Catholic proofs. Vatican 2 taught that all Catholics should be able to chant the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin. These chants unify Catholics throughout the ages of Christianity.

[@henrytucker7189]

@@classicalteacher it’s shocking how bad some of these “Christian” colleges are. Just mediocre.

[@levibarros149]

I was raised Baptist/non-denominational, was Pentecostal for a brief time, and reluctantly converted to the Catholic faith in 2019 after years of debating with Catholics and writing essays on why Catholics are wrong. I used to be one of those obnoxious people who say "I don't need to read the church fathers! I have the Bible!" Which is silly because the apostolic fathers were students of the apostles, whose own writings are a part of the bible! It's sort of like saying "I don't need a professional mechanic to help me fix my car. I have the owner's manual!" Here is the logical reasoning that made me Catholic; Premise 1 - The earliest Christians, having lived among the apostles or at least the disciples to the apostles, understood Christianity better than my generation. Premise 2 - If the earliest Christians were wrong about the majority of their beliefs, then there is no chance my present generation could be right about the majority of their beliefs regarding Christian doctrine. Premise 3 - Whatever were the core tenets of the Christians living within the first 500 years, or even just the first 200 years; those are what the core tenets of the correct denomination is. Conclusion - With easy access to the writings of the first Christians, it is clear that the first Christians were Catholic, since all of their beliefs, which were tested and dogmatized, align with with what Catholics believe today. All Protestants with emotional control and a burning curiosity for the truth, will all, eventually, become Catholic again, like their ancestors were.

[@ArkansasJaKeAustin]

That's pretty much how it happened for me, too.

[@susand3668]

Well said! And Welcome Home!

[@H1Guard]

Each of these premises is fundamentally flawed. Premise 1 is the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. Each of the Apostolic authors (and we will include James, Jude, and the unnamed writer of Hebrews) warned against apostacy and false doctrine. Some used very strong terms to condemn such teachers who were already among the believers. They are wolves in sheeps' clothing. Premise 2 is the fallacy of appeal to propriety. If this assumed authority is wrong, then we can't know the truth. But we can know the root of their error, and thus find the correct path from which they veered. Premise 3 is more of the same. "No true Christian" of the first 500 (or 200) years could possibly be wrong, even though the Apostles warned of false teachers. Your Conclusion conveniently ignores texts that demonstrate otherwise. This is the error of confirmation bias. If I can show one Patristic source that contradicts your conclusion (and the three premises on which it is built), the whole argument falls apart.

[@nocomment3866]

The followers of Christ were called Christians, why did it become catholic?

[@calmontes651]

⁠​⁠Why conclude that the closest people to the apostles (their disciples) were the false teachers and not people outside their circle? You said it yourself, false teachers were among believers, not among those in the inner circle of the apostles, or what would that say about the apostles? Even during Jesus time people were casting demons in his name, so yes, there were false teachers around even during Jesus time but they weren’t associated directly with Jesus, directly with the apostles or apostles disciples. It’s well known that the church didn’t accepted all writings of the time and called all of them early church fathers. The church discerned false teachings from true teachings precisely because that’s one of the roles of the organized church. That’s why Jesus founded a church and did not write a book because he knows us better than we know ourselves. The premises are solid if you care to humbly reflect on them on your own time. You didn’t prove any fallacies, you lack data.

[@timmleonard111]

As a Protestant, I was looking for more reverence and respect in my worship of God. I was tired and discontented with singing radio hits and listening to mediocre messages, and I new that there had to be so much more to church than that. When I began looking into the Catholic Church for myself, I fully expected to discover that the Church was heretical and then I would move on. One by one, I was shocked to discover that their interpretation of doctrine was correct. The Catholic faith takes the Bible more literally. I started seeing things in Scripture that I had always glossed over because of my biases. It was like I had a new Bible, even though I was reading the same one. I couldn't soak up information fast enough! I want to worship God the way that He deserves. I want to correctly interpret Scripture, and the early fathers shed light on how the apostles meant their traditions to be interpreted. I want to practice my faith the way that the early Christians did. There's more that I could say but these things and more led me to being confirmed in the Catholic Church this spring. 😊

[@maryjordan4129]

Welcome home and may God continue to bless you!✝️💕

[@Bkenda05]

I'm Protestant...you've articulated EXACTLY how I'm currently feeling!!

[@timmleonard111]

@@Bkenda05 I will pray for you! May God bless you and lead you to truth. :)

[@bluecomb5376]

Why hasn't this channel exploded? Your lessons are amazing! I will pray that more people encounter your work.

[@kentadamson6992]

Fantastic video, Joe you are on fire man. I am convert from non-denominational Protestantism. This video really resonated with me because Ignatius was one of the first sources I started reading from the early church. Shortly after reading his writings I changed my mind on sacraments and structure of the church. These two beliefs ultimately lead me home to the Catholic Church. In my opinion, an honest reading of Ignatius pretty much demolishes Protestantism as well as LDS and Jehovah's witness.

[@DrewTheCatholic]

Saint Ignatius’ letters were one of the most pivotal sources in me becoming Catholic. After tearing through all of Ignatius letters and reading Irenaus, it was very hard for me to be anything other than Catholic or orthodox and then after a few more years studying the papacy I came home..

[@shamelesspopery]

Welcome home! (And good to see you this weekend).

[@consecratedsoul]

If you don’t quote mine our Saints you’ll end up Catholic or Orthodox, anything else is self deception.

[@marcokite]

Hopefully Orthodox! ☦☦☦

[@RedWolf5]

Can’t be schismatic after deep study so you’d have to be Catholic. Schism is condemned in the Bible and how fathers.

[@tony1685]

if they don't honor all Ten Commandments, it's not Christianity. see Exodus 20:8-11

[@DavidFarrington13]

The Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church are false religions l. Such could be proven through various topics

[@RedWolf5]

@@tony1685 you don’t so begone Satan!

[@niftyspiffyguy]

My journey back home started with the Lord drawing my curiosity with a simple question, “What was the early Church like? How did it get started?” I opened up Acts and rather than just read I also decided to get back into going to church on Sunday. I was going to go to various local congregations in search of a home and the Catholic Church was second after a Methodist service (I was going with a Baptist friend who also wanted to find a church home and Methodist seemed like a “middle ground” since I had Catholic roots. Long story short, I got into OCIA and received the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Confirmation this past Easter! I hadn’t missed a Sunday Mass since that first one and have been happy to be home ever since!

[@JailHousePreacher]

I remember first time I heard of the church fathers. First i read Clement it shocked me to here about apostolic succession. Then reading Ignatius. "Submit unto your Bishop as you do to the Lord, Do all things in communion with your bishop" My evangelical Mind was not ready for that 😂

[@josh39684]

I'm starting rcia tomorrow. St Irenaeus works were big for me. You should do an episode on them

[@bluecomb5376]

Awesome! Praise God for your journey. May Christ fill you with peace.

[@borneandayak6725]

Welcome home to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

[@spartanastas]

Look up St. John Chysostom... St. Basil The Great. St. Gregory the Theologian...

[@JennieChancey]

Coming into the Church after 45+ years as a Protestant, I can tell you it was reading the Early Church Fathers and deeply studying Church history that convinced me. I realized that Protestantism is only slightly more connected to the Early Church than Mormonism and shares the same belief in a great apostasy. Once I read the earliest Church writings and studied the councils, there was no turning back. I thank God that what Jesus promised is still true today: the gates of hell cannot prevail against His Church.

[@jimherlihy]

I bought and read "Early Christian Writings" Penguin Books - The early church was undeniably Catholic, those 7 letters by St. Ignatius and the Didache amoung other writings there lay it out very clearly.

[@peterzinya1]

Joseph Smith says the church of Mormon is gods true church. How come you dont read and believe him? Russel Taze says the Jehovas are the true church. How come you dont believe him? Jesus said.....ye shall know them by what they say about themselves.

[@stevefredrick6113]

​Cuz none of them were taught by the apostles, who was taught by Christ. By your logic, even the evangelists and Paul claimed certain things were true. Why do YOU believe them? Cuz they were taught by our Lord. ​@@peterzinya1

[@catholicguy1073]

@@peterzinya1because Joe Smiths evidence is non existent. Mormons didn’t exist and they can’t prove the CC fell away and somehow some kid in NY stumbled across gold plates. Not all evidence equal and in Smiths case there is none. Regarding JW they deny the Trinity which is the cornerstone of orthodox belief. No reason to believe them either. There theology didn’t exist in the early Church

[@borneandayak6725]

​@@peterzinya1 it easy. Joseph Smith was not the disicple of the apostles. While the earliest Fathers like St. Clement, St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp are the diciples of the apostles (Apostle Peter and Apostle John), so they got their knowledege, doctrines and understanding of the Church and the Bible directly from the apostles.

[@peterzinya1]

@@borneandayak6725 Doctrines of a church? You mean peter handed down a warehouse full of canon laws and men in costumes calling themselves priests? Making and bowing befor images? Peter told them to do that? Christ and him crucified is all one needs.

[@A_Guido_Lost_In_The_Woods]

I asked a very dear protestant friend of mine to read St. Ignatius' letters recently. My friend's final thoughts were that St. Ignatius sounded "suicidal" and obsessed with his own death (even more so than the death of Christ). He saw him as 'some guy' with no authority who sounded crazy. Finally, he insisted that if St. Ignatius was truly as important as we are led to believe, his beloved bible church pastors and Sunday school teachers would have taught about him. He felt that because he had gone all through childhood and into adulthood, never hearing about this guy who came after the gospels, it made this man irrelevant. St. Ignatius' writings "did not pass [his] sniff test." Please pray for my friend

[@aaronsomerville2124]

This is the danger of treating Protestants like they are Christians. Without the Fathers a man is cut off from the Apostolic Faith, and therefore from grace, and therefore from heaven.Speak to them as though they are pagans; without the Holy Eucharist that’s effectively what they are.

[@AquinasBased]

Tell him all those guys who taught him are wrong

[@robertotapia8086]

Several protestante friends of mine that are all different denominations say that the church fathers are irrelevant 😢 so sad to hear that from them.

[@stefanielozinski]

@@aaronsomerville2124Protestants are objectively not pagans. Baptized persons are Christians, though separated, and we don’t necessarily know their culpability for their materially heretical beliefs. Not to mention how generous God is with His grace! 🙏🏻

[@stefanielozinski]

Praying for him! ❤

[@Electric_]

I’m a former Protestant and St. Ignatius of Antioch was extremely convincing, along with the other Church fathers. Seeing the Hagia Sophia in-person, and its holy water fonts and infant baptismal font, also helped convert me even though it was officially a museum at the time i went, because it showed me that Christianity early on didn’t look at all like Southern Baptist churches or Evangelical churches, it looked exactly like the 1 or 2 Catholic Churches I had been to. I also discovered the Hagia Sofia began construction at least 12 years before the Bible was even canonized at the Council of Rome, and that the leaders of the Church in Constantinople who were working on it helped canonize the Bible. So if these guys were trusted by Protestants as guided by the Holy Spirit to canonize the Bible and they were clearly practicing Catholicism or Orthodoxy, that was a huge problem. I couldn’t stay Protestant.

[@susand3668]

Welcome home!

[@borneandayak6725]

Welcome home to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

[@spartanastas]

Catholic Churches? Looks more like a Byzantine Orthodox Church because that's what it is.

[@BlankPaperFilms]

The apostolic fathers were a big deal in my conversion, although highest credit goes to the Holy Spirit.

[@PatronSaintKolbe93]

Absolutely. The church fathers can get your brain to think and the Holy Spirit can take you home by your heart being softened. Welcome home.

[@peterzinya1]

@@PatronSaintKolbe93 All these church "fathers' do is talk about how wonderful the CC is. Victims of the inquisition dont believe the CC is so wonderful.

[@PatronSaintKolbe93]

@@peterzinya1 Look into history and not just one or two people. It wasn’t to convert people, but to find people who were outwardly claiming to be Christian but secretly practiced another religion, such as people who had become Christian outwardly, but who were still secretly practicing anti-Messianic Judaism, Islam, etc. Even Protestants have their version that killed a lot of Catholics. A heretic named John Calvin burned people at the stake. If you’re going to bring up this, you have to bring up “The Crusades” that last longer and defense against Muslim/Islam extremists. If that didn’t happen, possibly all Christians would be practicing Islam today.

[@peterzinya1]

@@PatronSaintKolbe93 Hi. So it was just one or two people who did all the evil. Spoken like a true catholic. So what if someone pretended to be christian? Do they deserve to be burned? What gave the CC the right to kill people, for any reason? Calvin was a catholic. Burning is all he knew to do. Say, anyway, how could one or two people kill hundreds of thousands of people over 600 yrs? Why dont you just say....there was no inquisition? That sounds better than saying one or two people did all that.

[@crusaderACR]

​@@peterzinya1 The Protestant Inquisitions were more bloody and racked up casualty numbers in a decade what the Catholic Church did in centuries. Special mention to the Anabaptist, who were burned at the stake en masse by John Calvin. I understood how wicked of a heresy it is to deny the saving grace of Baptism, but that's just too outrageous. When the Catholic Church burned a heretic, it was one dude and it happened like once a decade. Bad mistake, we'll make sure it won't happen again, but you didn't at any point ever see Protestants burning as lampposts over the streets. You did, however, see Anabaptists burning among the Calvinists, often by the active insistence and approval of Calvin himself. .

[@lynnedwards8333]

All of your presentations on the early Church are wonderful! Our Catholic Bible study, "The Bible and the Church Fathers", is addressing these topics and your work augments our weekly topics! So happy I discovered you at "Shameless Popery"!!!!

[@exjwlaura]

Shared this on my Catholic Channel Divine conversion absolutely love your work thank you so much❤

[@maxellton]

This channel has to grow!

[@benjaminshirley]

Something that surprised me as a SBC Baptist for 30 years with a history/archaeology background. I read Eric Metaxas' book on Martin Luther (I read it twice btw). I found myself siding with the Church on almost all of the issues Luther raised against the Church. This scared the c*** out of me, and began my search into Church history (unfiltered by SBC narratives). This lead to the realization the Reformation could be boiled down to a question of authority. Once you think about authority long enough its hard to push the Church away!

[@peterzinya1]

If you read CC history, you will come acroos Tyndale, Wyclif and Huss and others the CC hunted down, for the crime of getting bibles into the hands of the people. Smooth choice of religions.

[@willskitchen618]

"Do nothing without the Bishop..." St. Ignatius of Antioch

[@Hope_Boat]

Which describes the orthodox Church ☦️ Kyrie eleison

[@Tobeouy]

@@Hope_Boat The Pope is The Bishop of Rome.

[@Hope_Boat]

@@Tobeouy Primus inter pares. He's not an universal bishop. St pope Gregory the Great wrote _Whoever calls himself universal bishop, or desires this title, is, by his pride, the precursor to the Antichrist_ Pretty harsh to hear from a doctor of the Church is it not?

[@borneandayak6725]

​@@Hope_Boat nope, Orthodoc doesn't have a pope (the Bishop of Rome who are the leader of all bishops), therefore the early Church is certainly not Orthodox Church. St. Ignatius and other Fathers talking about the Bishop of Rome as the leader of all bishops (Pope).

[@Hope_Boat]

@@borneandayak6725 Saint pope Gregory the Great, doctor of the Church, wrote to saint John the faster, Patriarch of Constantinople (Epistle XVIII) that whoever calls himself universal bishop, or desires this title, is, by his pride, the precursor to the Antichrist. _Lo, by reason of this execrable title of pride the Church is rent asunder, the hearts of all the brethren are provoked to offense._ _Certainly Peter, the first of the apostles, himself a member of the holy and universal Church, Paul, Andrew, John, what were they but heads of particular communities? And yet all were members under one Head. And (to bind all together in a short girth of speech) the saints before the law, the saints under the law, the saints under grace, all these making up the Lord’s Body, were constituted as members of the Church, and not one of them has wished himself to be called universal._ _Was it not the case, as your Fraternity knows, that the prelates of this Apostolic See which by the providence of God I serve, had the honor offered them of being called universal by the venerable Council of Chalcedon. But yet not one of them has ever wished to be called by such a title, or seized upon this ill-advised name, lest if, in virtue of the rank of the pontificate, he took to himself the glory of singularity, he might seem to have denied it to all his brethren._ _ The king of pride is near, and (awful to be said!) there is an army of priests in course of preparation for him, inasmuch as they who had been appointed to be leaders in humility enlist themselves under the neck of pride._ There was no Roman Pontiff in the early Church. The early Church is the orthodox Church. Kyrie eleison.☦

[@a.t.6322]

I came back to Catholicism after being a protestant for many years. I was Christian all of the time. But I realized that Christ would not institute a church and then leave it to the willy-nilly desires of different denominations. If he did institute of church, it had to be there from the start and have endured throughout all of the centuries. If the early apostles warned us about schisms and people moving away from the faith to create their own churches, then I had to wonder what all these thousands of protestant denominations were about. I also thought that Catholics did not really follow the Bible or believe in the Bible. But then I ran across the writings of Brant Pitre and saw that contrary to my misunderstanding, Catholics were far more biblical in their teachings and worship.

[@borneandayak6725]

Welcome home to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

[@ArkansasJaKeAustin]

I finally couldn't ignore the schizophrenia of Protestantism anymore... asked myself what did the first Christians believe? Do we even have any writings of the early Christians? I didn't care about Origen or Augustine. I only wanted Clement, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, the Didache. Didn't take me long to figure out that these guys weren't Baptists. I just turned 51yo, and I'm in my 4th week of RCIA.

[@tony1685]

first Christians kept Holy the 7th day Sabbath -- not one pretended the day changed to the 1st day -- this is proven in Scripture. Bible shows none prayed to other humans, certainly not dead ('Hail Mary') -- but to God Alone. Bible shows us none acted as if another sinner can forgive 3rd party sins -- God Alone does that as well. i wasted 35 yrs in catholicism, friend. don't do that -- open a Christian Bible and come to Truth.

[@femaleKCRoyalsFan]

​​@@tony1685wrong! They worshipped on the Lord's day, *SUNDAY*

[@ArkansasJaKeAustin]

@@tony1685 I didn't do any doctoral dissertation on this stuff, so I hope I don't come across like some kind of know-it-all. Jesus said to the apostles (John 20:23) "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Sounds like somebody besides God can forgive sins. The Didache (c. 70AD or earlier) talks about meeting on the Lord's day (Sunday). Justin Martyr (c. 160AD) writing to the Roman Emperor, trying to convince him to stop killing Christians, talks about meeting on the Lord's day. When Jesus said the gates of hell will not overtake His church, I don't think he meant ...but right after you apostles die, everyone will forget what you taught them and immediately fall into quasi-pagan heresy for the next 1500 years... and THEN the gates of hell will not overtake it. Open a Christian Bible and come to Truth? Who's truth would that be? Pentecostal truth? Methodist truth? SDA truth? Calvin's truth? Hippie dippie spiritual-but-not-religious truth? Maybe I should go to my local Episcopal priest, who is "married" to another man, and ask him which Bible verse makes that okay. It's obvious that, with enough intellectual gymnastics, you can interpret the Bible to mean just about anything you want. God is not the author of confusion; but confusion has dominated Protestantism since its advent. Without the shepherd, the flock is easily scattered. I have met many ex-Catholics. But I have never met a well-catechized ex-Catholic. Whatever reason you had for leaving the Church, whatever doctrine you don't understand/disagree with, you're not the first person to question it. There is a good, Scriptural reason for it. Got questions? The Church has answers. ...better answers if they were written more than 60 years ago. Yes, the Church is in a crisis (Modernism) right now. Look at history: the Church is ALWAYS in some sort of crisis. And yet it remains. As if someone promised to protect it. Come home, by brother.

[@padraicbrown6718]

@@ArkansasJaKeAustin --- I can see another coming home apologist in the making! Welcome home and keep at it!

[@padraicbrown6718]

@@tony1685 --- I'm curious. What led you away from the Church?. I am saddened that in 35 years, no one seems to have adequately taught you the answers to those challenges! 1. Of course the early Church "kept holy" the sabbath! Every time Paul and his companions go into a place, they teach in the synagogues! People gather in the synagogues, for teaching and discussion, on the sabbath! Yet, did you not also read that "on the first day, when we gather to break bread..."? You don't need to be a Catholic for 35 years to know with certainty that "the first day" is the Lord's Day, and the Lord's Day is Sunday; nor that "when we gather" is the ekklesia, the calling of the church and that when the church gathers it is for worship; nor that "breaking bread" is the quintessential phrase that refers to the Eucharist, the bread of life! 2. Of course the Church never "prayed to dead people"! That's necromancy! Yet surely you have read that, when the dead Jewish soldiers who wore the idols of Jamnia, when they were discovered, were prayed for and that sacrifices were made on their behalf? We don't pray to the dead, but for the dead. 3. And of course God alone forgives sins! And God gave the Church in her priests that authority over sin. Did you not read "whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained"? He's not giving that authority to you or to me, but rather to his Apostles, who are the bishops. Whenever you went in to confess to a priest, it is not the priest who forgives you. It is Jesus who forgives you through his priest. 4. Open a Christian Bible. The Bible is a Catholic book. The Old Testament is our inheritance from people of Israel; the New Testament is our bequest to all the Protestant churches. But mostly, it is the record of the Gospel and the first commentaries and teachings on the Gospel: witnessed by the first Catholics, written down, copied, transferred, translated, studied, taught, and carried to every inhabited continent on the planet by Catholics. Wherever you are now, come on back home. Just do it. You don't need to wander around among the scattered churches of Luther, always seeking for truth but never finding it.

[@Bob_Oxnard-sp1gr]

Top surprises as a revert: 1. How all the documentary writings of the early Christians are consistent with Ignatious (e.g., it is impossible to read Clement I and not see Roman church authority, and impossible to square Justin Martyr and sola fide) 2. How nothing in the early church writings supports any doctrine that is uniquely or distinctively Protestant or Evangelical. The opposite, actually. 3. How hard one myst strain to “interpret” the Bible to try to avoid Catholic doctrine. I used ti think Protestantism and Evangelicalism is super Biblical. I now see they are supra-Biblical - it is a belief system that elevates its man-made doctrines (e.g., sola fide, sola scriptura, and its 15th century or later takes on John 6 and baptism and salvation) far above and beyond the words of the Bible.

[@peterzinya1]

Theres noting in the writings of Joseph Smith that dont support Mormon superiority. Mormons must be the true church, because they say they are.

[@DDickinson458]

I was raised Prot/Evangelical but we weren't an every Sunday kind of family. I fell away in my teens and went through various things like Norse Paganism and Atheism and finally back to Christianity. When researching different denominations it quickly became clear to me that the only contenders were Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy when I was introduced to the early Apostolic Fathers like Ignatius, Irenaeus, and Polycarp. Another big one was researching how the canon of Scripture developed. I'm currently in OCIA and will hopefully be joining the Church on Easter Vigil 2025.

[@carakerr4081]

Welcome home 🏠

[@borneandayak6725]

Still, Orthodox Church is not the Church that Christ established. Orthodox Church is the break away Church from Catholicism. There is two major break away or schism, in 4h century and 11th century. Orthodox Church are proto-protestanism.

[@DDay9731]

I am currently going through RCIA, and what really convinced me that the Catholic Church is true, is the Eucharist. I grew up Lutheran, so I believed in the presence of Jesus, but only spiritually. St Ignatius, however, helped me see that it really is Jesus, and that this was believed to be true by even the first Christians. Ernest Hemingway wrote that things happen “Gradually then Suddenly,” and that’s exactly how it was with me, because once I realized that the Eucharist is true, after months and months of research, I very quickly realized that the Catholic Church is true; that Peter really is the Rock, that tradition is also true and sacred, etc. And ever since then I have just been on fire for God, more than I ever have before. I love reading, and researching, and each week I look forward to going to Mass and RCIA classes. I look forward to being able to receive the Eucharist, as I have a deep hunger and desire for it, a desire that I believe is righteous. I look forward to this upcoming Easter where, God willing, I will be welcomed into full communion, and I have St. Ignatius, as well as so many other early church Fathers, Scott Hahn, Pints with Aquinas, Council of Trent, and you, Mr. Heschmeyer, for helping me along my way. God bless you all!!

[@stefanielozinski]

God bless you! This makes me so happy to hear. Lutherans seem to make really awesome converts 😅

[@peterzinya1]

if anyone say unto you, here is christ or lo, there is christ, believe it not.

[@Michael-pw2td]

​@peterzinya1 Good point. So I'll stay with Christ in his Catholic Church. Thanks again.

[@peterzinya1]

@@Michael-pw2td Where was Christ during the inquisition?

[@Michael-pw2td]

@@peterzinya1 Which Inquistion? Since you bring up "inquisition", you must know about them. Which one? There were 3. I'll spoil it for you. He was exactly where he was during the Salem Witch Trials. That's when Protstants tor churred and mur derred innocent women.

[@dirtysink373]

what made me a Catholic? Well it is recent, I just couldnt square Sola Scriptura and the myriad of denominations anymore.

[@johnbrowne2170]

But you were never born again and that's why you left a Christian church for the pope's church.

[@ArkansasJaKeAustin]

Amen. God is not the author of confusion.

[@johnbrowne2170]

But the RCC is among those myriad denominations. Including Eastern Orthodox.

[@crusaderACR]

​@@johnbrowne2170 Confusing the Church with a denomination is understandable, but mistaken. If you see or read "the Church" your mind should rapidly add "Catholic" right in the middle, and "Roman" somewhere. It's the oldest by far, the one that always hits the news. Who's the bishop of Canterbury? The Patriarch of Constantinople? The Dalai Lama? You likely don't know, but you do know the Pope. It has always been so. Denominations are like ships, of varying strengths and ages, sailing their way to salvation in different degrees of cleanliness: Some quite clean, some not so much. The Catholic Church is massive, seen from afar, with every light shining upon its great merits and great sins. You look inside and its full of filth - but not all of it is filth. You see it from outside, you may think its about to break down and sink due to old age or mismanagement, but it never, ever does. Its the oldest, largest and most robust ship in the entire world, and EVERY other ship in Christendom is built off its rotten pieces of wood, which dropped out as lifeboats from this massive ship that always seems to be doomed to sink - but again, it never does. The Church is undeniably the Mother of all of God's men. Your denomonation traces back from it, and yet, your denomination will one day be dead, sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and the Church shall endure. The Catholic Church is Noah's Ark, and it is the only ship you can trust to endure the storms of the ages.

[@dirtysink373]

@@johnbrowne2170 lolz Orthodox and then protestants were then ones who split off of RCC and created the first denominations. RCC is not a denomination, it is the OG, THE Church that Jesus founded

[@thomasberar4311]

Like this comment if St. Ignatius was a force of your conversion!

[@codycampbell9851]

Yup woke me up as well as the didache and polycarp and taking off my Protestant baptist glasses and reading scripture the way the church fathers did.

[@thomasberar4311]

@@codycampbell9851 Same here, but coming from the presby flavor

[@RenegadeCatholic]

BuT yOu'Re ReAdInG RoMaN cAtHoLiCiSm InTo IgNaTiUs!!!!! He WaS tAlKinG aBoUt ThE iNvIsIblE uNivERsal bOdy Of BeLiEvErS WhEn hE uSeD tHe WoRD cAtHoLiC, nOt RoMaN CaThOliCiSm Sincerely, members of a denomination that didn't exist for over 1.5 MILLENIA after Ignatius wrote his letters.

[@VirginMostPowerfull]

Ignatius was the start, Irenaeus sealed the deal.

[@truthnotlies]

Yep, from JW to non-denominational to here!

[@FahlosueeWoWStream]

This is not my story but I've been looking for the Catholic reasoning behind it. I know thru my parents a couple who were faithful protestants who were strict Sunday service attenders. They were part of the military like my parents and overseas it can be difficult to attend church, what with timezones travel and base chapel services. No other service was available so they decided to go to a catholic mass on what ended up being Pentecost. They heard the priest in his homily announce that today they were celebrating the birthday of the church. They apparently were stunned at the notion but using logic agreed that the church had to have an actual beginning. They were so impressed that it was only in the Catholic church that they had been introduced to this idea they started their journey to joining the fullness of the faith. I'm Catholic but would love to hear the history of Pentecost and if or why protestants don't celebrate it as we do?

[@crusaderACR]

Protestants do all sorts of weird things and seem to sometimes go with their gut. I can't begin to fathom why they don't celebrate some things. I've had one tell me Easter was Pagan. Easter! The Jewish holiday, where our Lord literally died and resurrected! That one's crazy. Pentecost is another Jewish holiday that modern Jews don't seem to celebrate anymore. Its significant because the Apostles got the gift of tongues and were commanded to go out and establish the Church. After a speech from Peter, and the appointment of a replacement for Judas, they went out and baptized thousands. Big moment.

[@HowdyHowdens]

As a former Mormon, who started going to an evangelical church with my wife, I found a lacking. Mormons are convicted and are sure of their theology. And I didn’t find that in the evangelical church. Mormons say the church fell into apostasy after the apostles, since I no longer believed that I started reading the early church fathers and who would have thought… THEYRE EXTREMELY CATHOLIC. The early church and the rosary totally converted me to Catholicism. My wife followed me in my journey 6 months later after she was healed by the arm bone of St Jude. Love this channel so much. And I appreciate your videos on Mormonism. They are the best.

[@HaleStorm49]

In fairness, there are signs of apostasy everywhere you look and have been for centuries. Someone studying Apostolic healing in scripture would see apostasy in the claim that someone can be healed by human remains. Not believing in Apostasy doesn't make it go away.

[@ChaChaDancin]

So people didn’t take handkerchiefs and aprons that Paul had touched, and use them to heal people? The concept of “relics” comes from early Christian practice, as recorded in the Bible. (Acts 19) If that’s “apostasy”, then I have to wonder from where you’re getting your ideas of what the “original” beliefs and teachings?

[@HaleStorm49]

@@ChaChaDancin yes they did. The apostasy isn't in the recorded events, its in the conceptualization by uninspired but well-meaning men. The concept of "relics" evolved over time. There is no argument that it's not _based_ on early Christian practices. Not dissimilar from movies that are based on true events.

[@HowdyHowdens]

@@HaleStorm49 where are the signs of general apostasy? And how do those “signs of apostasy” constitute the complete falling away and loss of the priesthood, Secondly, how could being healed by human remains be apostasy?? You should read 2 Kings 13 or maybe Acts 19.

[@shamelesspopery]

God bless you, and welcome home! As for the "apostasy" of believing that someone's bones can heal, I second your point: we see it explicitly in 2 Kings 13. Is the Old Testament apostate, then?

[@megred7364]

Even after encoutering Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome and how they talked about the authority and necessity of the bishop, I resisted the Catholic Church still. Initially, I looked into Orthodoxy because I still refused to consider Rome. Ultimately, it was the Bible that convinced me that Catholicism is true.

[@IridiumAxle]

Bring back the musical intro! It always got me pumped for a new video!

[@pooja_catherine]

Ex-evangelical, and 2024 Catholic convert! St. Ignatius’ writings and testimony played a huge role for me. He explicitly wrote in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans “Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is administered either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude of the people also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." And then when I heard about the writing Joe mentioned too where heretics abstain from the Eucharist and do not confess the Eucharist to be our Lord, I KNEW I was in deep trouble 🤣 It didn’t help my case as a Protestant that St. Ignatius was appointed as Bishop of Antioch by St. Peter and was a disciple of St. John, the Beloved Apostle. Also, that tradition claimed the baby that Jesus Christ Himself blessed was St. Ignatius. Or that St. Ignatius died as a martyr EATEN BY LIONS! I worked through my other Protestant questions because the history is undeniable that the early Church is Catholic. At that point I knew I had to make a decision to intentionally choose NOT to follow the early Church interpretation, or to follow it by becoming Catholic. Becoming Catholic was the best decision I’ve ever made.

[@adelbertleblanc1846]

Thank You for Your comment. God bless You and Yours ! I would share this quote : "By the will of Christ, the Catholic Church is, in fact, mistress of truth: its function is to authentically express and teach the Truth which is Christ [...] the disciple is bound towards Christ Master TO THE DUTY TO KNOW EVER MORE FULLY THE TRUTH THAT HE RECEIVED FROM HIM, to announce it faithfully and to defend it energetically while refraining from any means contrary to the Spirit of the Gospel. (Extract from the book “365 Days of Hope” by Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan who spent 13 years in jail in hard conditions, bacause his faith)

[@daddydaughterbrogue5446]

The early church fathers were a big part of my conversion to Catholicism from an evangelical Protestant background. On the way to conversion, I taught a summer Sunday school class at an evangelical church on early church history which included readings from Ignatius. I recall being amazed at the dismissive response of one class member who called Ignatius’ promotion of a bishop’s authority as “self-serving.”

[@vtaylor21]

19:00 St. Ignatius's organization of the Church clearly shows how Jesus established an authoritative body to bind and lose (Matthew 16 and 18). Not listening to Jesus' authoritative body is cutting yourself off from Jesus.

[@peterzinya1]

In that case, i better start reading what cardinal McCarrick and Father Marciel Maciel said. Surely, i dont want to be cut off from Jesus.

[@susand3668]

@@peterzinya1 Are you also going to read the writings of Judas Iscariot? Honestly, there is no call for such sarcasm. Jesus founded the Church. Wicked people will always be tearing at His Church until The Day of His Coming. Then His enemies, Sin and Death, will be made His footstool.

[@peterzinya1]

@@susand3668 Hello. Gosh, i didnt know Judas wrote a book. Am i a wicked person for mentioning McCarrick and Maciel? Yes, its not right to bring them up. Lets keep it quiet. Only talk happy things (;-D Come on, sing along with Uncle peter.... Happy talkin', talkin', happy talk Talk about things you'd like to do You've got to have a dream If you don't have a dream How you gonna have a dream come true

[@crusaderACR]

​@@peterzinya1Rotten elements don't disprove the whole. In fact, it adds to it. The Catholic Church so often seems so mismanaged and on the brink of collapse, not just today but again and again throughout history. But it does not collapse. It never does. It's the ship that never sinks, despite the attempts of malicious forces from inside or out. "The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine - but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight." - Hilaire Belloc

[@jabelltulsa]

This is far and away my favorite channel

[@lizfeola]

I was a non-denominational Protestant and became Catholic at the Easter Vigil 2022! I was most surprised to discover that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) is not a way for the Church to punish me for my sins, but it is a Sacrament of healing!❤️

[@borneandayak6725]

Welcome home to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

[@agiraffe5]

Former Anglican/Lutheran. What kick started my conversion was finding out basically everything I thought the Catholic Church believed/taught was completely wrong.

[@johnwright1447]

Ex-atheist here. When I converted, I felt like an orphan who just discovered that his parents were still alive. Imagine my joy. Then imagine an orphan who finds his parents have quarreled and divorced, and no longer dwell under the same roof. Not a good testament for followers of the Prince of Peace. So, thanks to you quarrelsome Christians, I had to decide between denominations. Here is what I noticed. These seven points made up my mind. (1) the selfsame arguments I used to use as an atheist to cast doubts on Christianity, the Protestants used to cast doubts on the Catholic Church. It was the same skepticism, arguing against the same belief in revealed truth. (2) My Protestant friends did not know Catholic teaching. Protestants routinely denounce some strawman -- worship of Mary, or buying one's way out of hell -- which is a half-truth or a full lie. Whereas no Catholic friend was ignorant of Protestant teachings, at least, not the friends to whom I spoke. No strawman arguments. (And, referring back to the paragraph above, this is commonplace of Atheists -- they disbelieve in a strawman God, not the Go as taught in Christian teachings). No one shoots blanks who has ammo. (3) Reading the history of heresies convinced me that Luther and Calvin were no different than Arius, Nestor, or Simon the Magician. All heresy takes one part of a teaching, proclaims it to the be the sole and supreme teaching, and uses it as a club to batter away the other branches of the original, organic whole. Here is the best history I have read : sensusfidelium.com/apologetics/history-of-heresies-their-refutation-st-alphonsus/ (4) A Mormon told me his Church was the one true Church, because the Apostles did not appoint prophets and apostles to succeed them, so that, the moment St. John went to heaven, the Church was in apostacy hence non-Christian until the advent of Joseph Smith. While most Protestants do not go as far as this crackpot notion, they all believe the Church was honest at first, then became apostate. Their history books are blank between the year when John was exiled to Patmos, and the Advent of Luther nailing his thesis to the church door. (5) Likewise, heaven is empty of saints, and the Bible has no authoritative interpretation, except your private conscience, guided by the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the Bible is the sole guide to salvation, and nothing else is needed, except for seven books of the Bible Luther, acting on the authority of his own person, tossed out. Not even the most corrupt Pope in history dared to edit the Bible. At this point in my puzzlement, the whole Protestant protest looked like it was self-refuting. (6) Did Luther or Calvin heal the sick and raise the dead? Cast out demons? If they claim to be prophets with authority from God to overthrow St. Peter and St. Paul, where are the signs and wonders following? (7) Matters came to a head for me when my closest and dearest Protestant friend earnestly urged me NOT to read the Early Church Fathers or the Didache. My final conclusion? The Protestants were merely the Arians, Gnostics, and Nestorians of their generation, people drunk on their own imagination, pretending to have more authority to interpret Church teaching than the Pope. Protestants were also recklessly contemptuous of the very authority on which they themselves rested for their own assertions. How do we know the Bible is Holy? Because the Church said so. Why reject the Book of Maccabees or the Wisdom of Solomon? Because a German monk, relying on his own imagination, said so. Well, Church disputes are settled by Church Councils. Trent settled the heresy of Lutheranism. Issue over. Case closed. What? Do you not accept the findings of Church Councils? If the Church has no authority to settle issues of Church teaching by Church councils, then why, praytell, and on whose authority, do you yourself preach and teach Trinitarianism? Why are you not in communion with the Greek Orthodox? Reading a little history was the final nail in the coffin for me. Everything I had been taught about the Reformation turned out to be Protestant propaganda, unsupported by any honest historian. I concluded that the Protestants were the Woke of their generation: violent, arsonist protestors, eager to loot monasteries, rebelling against the social order in reaction to imaginary abuses. The Woke should know George Floyd died of a drug overdose. White cops do not shoot unarmed black man unprovoked. Such bad cops are published. Likewise, there was not selling of indulgences. That is something the Church never taught, and, indeed, the practice of Simony is punished. An advertising jingle from one layman fundraiser named Tetzel is not a Papal Bull. The systemic corruption of the Whore of Babylon is like the systematic racism of the USA. It is imaginary, half-truth or outright lie. So I joined the one, true, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and I pray for the reunion of our heretical brethren.

[@JoshN91]

It’s almost a cliche at this point, but I read the fathers and saw the consensus that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. At that point I had to decided if I would believe that, or stop being a Christian. So as hard as it was to comprehend, I was confirmed on April 20th 2019.

[@shamelesspopery]

Welcome home, Josh!

[@ArkansasJaKeAustin]

At the very beginning, that was tough for me as well. I'd always thought Catholics were superstitious yokels for that. Then I read Ignatius. Fortunately, there are several good videos on YT about Eucharistic miracles. Very convincing!

[@lellachu1682]

Thanks for sharing! Each story is beautiful and hearing it will never get old for me. God bless you!

[@Kyri33leison]

I’m also a convert (confirmation 2024) and to me what I found to be influential is the argument of St Card. J.H. Newman who says we should interpret Church history as we interpret the Bible - not without the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Obviously other factors motivated me but this point was presented to me at the right time (I had just developed an interest in the Catholic understanding of Sacraments giving grace).

[@timrichardson4018]

As a former protestant, I can attest to this. The overwhelmingly Catholic view of the early Church and the fathers was a big data point for me. They clearly had a view of apostolic authority, and it's passing on by the apostles to those they appointed, in the way the Catholic Church does. Then, I started reading the new testament with Catholic eyes, and I found the Catholic interpretation to make simpler and better sense compared to any of heard before.

[@smeatonlighthouse4384]

Show anywhere in the Bible where apostolic authority was handed down. It stopped with the apostles when the scriptures were completed.

[@timrichardson4018]

​@@smeatonlighthouse4384Paul more than once refers to the authority given to others through the laying on of his hands (e.g. Timothy). More than once, we are exhorted to obey those in authority over us (which is only meaningful if we have to do it when we disagree). And where did they get that authority? I'll come back to that. The new testament says the Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth, founded upon the apostles and prophets. We can quibble about whether to call it "apostolic" authority. But the NT clearly describes authority being given to certain men by the apostles to lead the Church in various places. This is a visible authority structure. We can argue about whether the current Catholic model is the same thing. But what we can't say is that the Bible supports the idea of just anyone who feels called to start a Church and teach whatever they happen to think. This is antithetical to scripture and virtually no Christian for 1500 years thought it worked that way. Show me any anywhere in scripture that says apostolic authority died out with the death of the apostles. It doesn't and can't say that because the apostles were still living then, which means you believe something not found in scripture. Assuming you believe Sola Scripture, this is actually a good example of the fact that our beliefs, even functionally, cannot be based on scripture alone. Historically, Sola Scripture was completely untenable. Most people couldn't read and couldn't afford much in the way of written material even if they could. Universal literacy and access to the written scriptures wouldn't come around for 1500 years (printing press). So, how did people learn the Word of God? From those who had authority to teach it. How did they get that authority? From the previous men who had the authority. How did they get it? This chain of authority goes all the way back to the apostles and to Christ himself. My point is that reliance on the visible authority structure of the Church was the only possible way for someone to have any assurance that they were believing and following the truth. What's interesting to me is the new testament doesn't show Jesus writing a book and distributing it for people to interpret on their own. It shows him calling apostles and establishing a church. And the new testament is a product of that church and part of it's tradition. It's not something separate from the Church.

[@heroicacts5218]

As a Presbyterian, what astonished me the most was the deep connection between the New Testament and the Old, and with the jewish tradition.

[@H1Guard]

You mean, all the Jewish traditions they had completely cast aside in favor of pagan innovations? Jesus condemned the hierarchical leadership as corrupt. Jewish tradition relies on Rabbis, who are emphatically NOT priests, but learned elders in a teaching role.

[@galaxxy09]

Thank you Joe! While I do appreciate your long form videos on occasion, I think 20-30 mins is the sweet spot. God bless 🙏

[@neillarremore8779]

My ahha moment was when I realized how almost the entirety of the Catholic mass is straight from the Bible. As well as the daily mass readings lead you through the Bible, not just the same few passages that where read over and over again, as was done by the church I attended when I was younger.

[@Maranatha99]

Hebrews says several times that Jesus was sacrificed ONCE AND FOR ALL. The reenactment of Jesus's sacrifice is not biblical. Jesus is resurrected, glorified & in Heaven. He is not on a sacrificial altar

[@neillarremore8779]

You misunderstand but that’s ok we can disagree.

[@Maranatha99]

@neillarremore8779 Hello! If you think that I have misunderstood something, maybe you can explain me why there is even a part in the Mass called liturgy of the sacrifice, when Jesus's sacrifice was once and for all (Hebrews 10). Thks.

[@neillarremore8779]

@@Maranatha99 if I may refer you to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I can explain init in much greater detail than a KZbin comment. A good starting place is section 1362-1367. I hope that clarifies your questions.

[@NicoMartinez-pk4xr]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@Maranatha99we completely agree it’s one sacrifice for all. That is what the church teaches and has always taught.

[@RedWolf5]

As I read some of the comments from converts here I see myself moved to tears, I don’t know why but is just beautiful.

[@FrJohnBrownSJ]

Real question: Why is Saint Ignatius depicted with such strange ears?

[@susand3668]

I think that is his hair, not his ears??

[@peterzinya1]

Lots of orthodox pictures of these supposed saints have 3 fingers. And there are phallic symbols everywhere. Its all strait from the pits of burning Sulphur.

[@dizzynoggin]

I thought it was a weird headpiece. Or maybe Lord Elrond.

[@crusaderACR]

The best Jesuit priest alive is here, boys!

[@peterzinya1]

@@crusaderACR Where the boys are, someone waits for me A smilin' face, a warm embrace, two arms to hold me tenderly Where the boys are, my true love will be He is walkin' down some street in town, and I know he's lookin' there for me

[@jerrylehner8703]

Thank you, Joe, for another amazing episode! This contains such good supportive evidence of the authenticity of Ignatius's letters. His letters were instrumental in my coming back to the Catholic Church after 45 years in charismatic evangelicalism.

[@mclarenemmonsmma4968]

Former Mormon. The didache surprised me with two things one repetitive prayers and allowing baptism in ways other than full immersion

[@H1Guard]

I don't think either of those things would commend the source, except to indicate how much the Apostolic tradition had already degraded.

[@mclarenemmonsmma4968]

@@H1Guard in 85 ad. When our oldest physical copy is dated to. Ie before the death of John the apostle

[@mathiashight3343]

As someone who grew up non-denominational/baptist, the comparative infancy of the protestant movement as opposed to Catholicism and orthodoxy was the first warning sign for me. The second was just how similar orthodoxy and Catholicism were, and how different protestantism was. I tried in vain to find where the Catholic Church strayed, and I was forced to conclude that although at times imperfect, I needed to follow the Church built for me by Jesus Christ.

[@timboslice980]

I think Augustine was my main driver in conversion. This section in particular really got me thinking And so, lastly, does the name itself of Catholic, which, not without reason, amid so many heresies, the Church has thus retained; so that, though all heretics wish to be called Catholics, yet when a stranger asks where the Catholic Church meets, no heretic will venture to point to his own chapel or house. Such then in number and importance are the precious ties belonging to the Christian name which keep a believer in the Catholic Church, as it is right they should, though from the slowness of our understanding, or the small attainment of our life, the truth may not yet fully disclose itself

[@drewschinderwolf2683]

As a former Reformed Protestant with a Bible/Theology degree, what God used to initially soften my heart toward His Church was the Deuterocanon. I had ALWAYS been told that Catholics just added the books at the council of Trent. But hearing that the early Church simply adopted the Septuagint as its scriptures BLEW MY MIND. Bc as a sola scriptura Protestant - thats a hugeeee deal. What books are in (or not in) the Bible is not something to take lightly at all. So then I began exploring more and more. I eventually discovered the life and writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch during my reading of Four Witnesses by Rod Bennett. In it there's a scene where St. Ignatius goes before the Caesar and proclaims that Christ is king, is then sentenced to death, and then falls to his knees and rejoices at the opportunity to be martyred for Jesus. Its absolutely beautiful and inspiring and had me weeping. The concept of redemptive sacrifice on behalf of others, the Church, and for Jesus was never made so clear to me in that moment, and it was then that I knew St. Ignatius was my patron saint. My wife and I were confirmed into the Catholic Church a few months after that, and our kids were baptized a few months later. Being Catholic is the best thing that has ever happened to me and my family. I can say with confidence that I am a better Christian, husband, father, and all around person. I am happier and more filled with joy. I love to pray and I pray daily with my family (my daughter loves for me to sing her the Gloria before bed - twice). And I just more in love with Jesus than I ever have before. Due in part to the sacraments and practices of the Church, but also the inspirational example and guidance of the saints like St. Ignatius and our Blessed Mother. If you took the time to read all this - you're a trooper! And I pray that you are blessed and encouraged today!

[@vinb2707]

For me it was the testimony of so many ex Protestant/evangelical pastors that lead me to the realization that the Catholic Church was the true church founded by our Lord. The reason for this was because they taught what the early church believed. This is what converted them. The more I looked into it, the more I was drawn in. It became harder and harder to ignore what was so clearly there. I have tried listening to some in the Evangelical world who have tried going into the early church writings to show that the early church was not the Catholic Church, but have found their arguments to be weak since they are limited to a few lines or paragraphs of what an early Church father may have said.

[@ContendingEarnestly]

*For me it was the testimony of so many ex Protestant/evangelical pastors that lead me to the realization that the Catholic Church was the true church founded by our Lord.* I've spoken with a number of those ex evangelical pastors. They bought into a lie. Some of the things they say are utterly ridiculous. Especially when some say they went to seminary. The rcc is not the church Jesus started. It wasn't around for hundreds of years post apostolic age. *The reason for this was because they taught what the early church believed. This is what converted them.* Please show us in the n.t. where anyone taught that Mary was without sin. Show us who taught Mary's assumption. Where is the papacy in the n.t.? Where is papal infallibility? Who thought they were eating god during The Lords Table in the n.t.? If we move into the post apostolic age, who taught Marys assumption or her being sin free before Nicea? The new testament teaches nothing the rcc teaches today, regarding its distinct doctrines and dogmas. And if that is what converted them, then they swam the Tiber for all the wrong reasons.

[@vinb2707]

@@ContendingEarnestly ​​⁠people like yourself aren’t intellectually honest. You’re completely entitled to your point of view, but the facts are the facts. These are men who knew and breathed the Bible and now have come home to the church that that our Lord founded. You cannot change history and what the Fathers of the Church recorded from the earliest days. And I have done my research just as those men had done. What we believe may be “utterly ridiculous” to you, but we say differently. I know where you’re coming from though. I too use too listen to a video without paying attention to the arguments being made. Instead, I was more interested in finding anything that I could attack without even genuinely listening to what the argument actually was.

[@ContendingEarnestly]

@@vinb2707 If you've done your research then you shouldn't have a problem answering my questions. I stand by my statements. You can name call, thats fine but at the end of the day youre simply dodging the very thing you claim to know so well. If you had those answers you would have cited them.

[@vinb2707]

@@ContendingEarnestly I have debated these and other subjects with plenty of evangelicals. It’s often a waste of time when people aren’t interested in the other person’s views. I don’t say that to be confrontational, but because I was once there before. There are answers to your questions and let’s be honest, you’re not interested in the answers. Your objections are the same old arguments that have been around for years. My suggestion to you is to do some honest research. Have an honest interest in what is being said. I began by watching some videos, read some books and listened to numerous debates on these subjects. Have an open mind and be willing to listen to what the opposing side has to say. And I’m not sure why you say that I resulted to name calling? Remember you confronted me first and certainly was not in a spirit of charity. Anyway, God bless!

[@ContendingEarnestly]

@@vinb2707 *And I’m not sure why you say that I resulted to name calling* Hmm, maybe this? *people like yourself aren’t intellectually honest* *It’s often a waste of time when people aren’t interested in the other person’s views.* Oh, but I am interested in your views. Thats precisely why i asked. And you keep dodging. *There are answers to your questions and let’s be honest, you’re not interested in the answers.* If i wasn't interested i wouldn't have asked. Twice. *My suggestion to you is to do some honest research.* Oh, i've done my homework which is why i asked the questions i've asked and you keep dodging. If you had answers you would have given them. *Have an open mind and be willing to listen to what the opposing side has to say.* Obviously not. Or you would respond with answers not evading. I'm here to discuss this. Are you?

[@SaintSasquatch]

198 comments in 2 hours is amazing. Praise God to see Joe continuing to take off.

[@alexs.5107]

This podcast is one of a kind: lot of substance.

[@susand3668]

I think this is the third time I am watching this video -- it is THAT GOOD! (the caps are my way of shouting from the rooftops. Didn't mean to hurt your eardrums -- eyeballs?!)

[@MathAdam]

I have now added “flapper doodle” to my personal lexicon

[@nyckmaia]

Amazing schollarship! Thank you very much Joe!! You are the best!

[@alexjohnston2962]

So I have heard your old pal Gavin Ortland and others make the case that the Bishop in Ignatius' letters is more akin to the "senior pastor" of a typical modern protestant church rather than the monarchical episcopate we see in the Catholic/Orthodox churches. He will point to things like the Shepard to show multiple bishops in a single city. I realize there are certainly some things, like the awesome hats for example, that came later, but is there a way to more effectivly defend that these bishops were much more like modern bishops than "senior pastors"?

[@rickydettmer2003]

This has been my question as well👍.

[@stevenwall1964]

The reason I am a Christian is the same reason I am Catholic. Jesus states that his church would be unified - - that is how the world would know that Christianity is true. I used to be an atheist but when I read about the early church almost every scholar whether Protestant, Catholic, or Agnostic like Will Durant, they all admit that by the middle of the second century (150 AD) that ALL OVER THE KNOWN WORLD the structure of THE CHURCH was that there was one Bishop over each major city or area who could appoint "Presbyters" and Deacons. And so, Christ's prediction that THE CHURCH would be unified came true. It is amazing that the worldwide church had the same structure. Ortland, is frustrating because he comes across as a sincere nice guy but when you just write down all of his anti-Catholic rhetoric I believe at least he gives the impression that he is seeking truth but almost everything he says about Catholicism is negative and he states his claims at least in this case with no evidence. To say Ignatius sounds more like a senior pastor giving advice to other Christians is almost laughable. Can you imagine Charles Stanley writing letters to Jeff Durbin, John MacArthur, James White, Ravi Zacharias, and Gavin Ortland telling them they should all have the same structure and believe in the same doctrines? Could you see Stanley writing to them saying these words from Ignatius: "Jesus Christ or inseparable life is the manifestation of the Father as also all the Bishops of the church SETTLED EVERYWHERE (on doctrine) to the utmost ends of the earth are so BY THE WILL OF CHRIST ... Let us be careful then not to set ourselves in opposition to the Bishop. And then moving on writing to the Church at Rome: to THE CHURCH (at Rome) beloved and enlightened after the love of Jesus Christ, our God, by the will of HIM that has willed EVERYTHING which to the Church (at Rome) which holds the presidency in the place of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of sanctification, and because you HOLD the Presidency named after Jesus Christ and named after the Father, here therefore do I salute you in the name of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father. You envy no one and have not (in the past) envied no one BUT OTHERS YOU HAVE TAUGHT. I (Ignatius) desire ONLY to what you enjoined in your instruction and may remain in force. It goes on and on. I just don't see how anyone who follows the evidence where it takes you could read Ignatius and say that is it sounds like a senior pastor writing to other people. Ignatius states there is one structure in the one church of God world -wide that has a common doctrine taught by all of the Bishops of the church and each person must submit to their bishop or THEY ARE NOT IN THE CHURCH. If Charles Stanley wrote that to Ortland, James White, Jeff Durbin, Todd Friel (of Wretched Radio fame), Ravi Zacharias, David Jeramiah, John MacArthur or Pastor Bob that they all must belong to one church and believe in one set of doctrines and submit to the authority of a Bishop ... do you think they would accept it? You know they would not because White, Durbin, Friel, Zacharias, Jeramiah, and MacArthur all have some different beliefs in doctrine and they are their own authority. They are not going to submit to anyone's interpretation but their own. Ortland's claim that Ignatius just sounds like a senior pastor is completely different than John Calvin's opinion. Calvin's opinion was that Ignatius letter's are so "NAUSEATING CATHOLIC" that they must be forgeries. Somehow Gavin is missing what was blatantly obvious to Calvin himself. I was an atheist growing up. I had no axe to grind. I hated Catholicism because of all the common misconceptions but when I actually made myself look at the evidence the New Testament clearly states in a dozen ways that Jesus Christ started a church. He said that HE would build a church. He did not say that he would give his teachings and that others should build a church. The New Testament says that Jesus built a visible church. It says that the pillar and foundation of truth is "THE CHURCH." When people sin which includes false teaching; Jesus said to approach them, and if they won't listen, then take witnesses and if they still will still not listen the tell it THE CHURCH. And if the person does not listen THE CHURCH then treat him as a pagan. If the New Testament is true, then there must be one church somewhere that you can take this non yielding sinful person to that can give a definitive answer to issue at hand. If there are two churches with different beliefs regarding doctrine then Jesus's command to take it THE CHURCH would be absurd. If there are two churches with two conflicting sets of doctrine then which one would you take it to? And that is what Ignatius addresses. When the church had then grown by Ignatius time across the known world, how can you take something to the Church? Ignatius states that you go to the Bishop; that is how you take things to the church. And that is how the church operated for the first 500 years. When Arius denied the deity of Christ what happened? Athanasias approached him and told him to stop. When Arius would not, then other bishops wrote to Arius as witnesses telling him to stop his sinful false teaching. And when Arius would still not stop, what happened? The issue was taken to the Church, just like Christ said. The Church held the Council of Nicaea and condemned Arius and confirmed that Christ was of the same essence as the Father. What church held the Council of Nicaea? It was a church with a college of Bishops who believed there was only one church with one set of doctrines, and they all recognized the Bishop of Rome who was Sylvester I at the time. So you have a college of Bishops who hear a dispute about doctrine and the define a doctrine which is approved by the Bishop of Rome. What church does that sound like to anyone? Does it sound Mormon? Does it sound Baptist or Methodist or Pentacostal? Was there some other church in 325 AD during the Council of Nicaea anywhere that was jumping up and down and saying that that Catholic Church led by the Sylvester Bishop of Rome is the horrible bad church? I cannot find one in history that was making that claim. Was there a church somewhere saying "Don't listen to that Catholic church at Nicaea, listen to our church instead! Does that other church in 325 exist? The answer is "no" it does not exist. There was no church in existence who was claiming that we should reject the ministerial priesthood of the church meeting in Nicaea. And there was no church claiming that we should reject the church meeting at Nicaea and instead just believe in salvation by faith alone. There was no church claiming that we should reject the church at Nicaea and instead just go by our own private interpretation of "sola scriptura." The early church was the Catholic Church. I think I will write a book about that. Oh no wait... some guy already wrote it. I would suggest anyone who is not Catholic to go read Joel's book "The Early Church was the Catholic Church." Read it and then go point by point and try to find evidence against it what it states. You won't find it. The early Church was Catholic. If it wasn't I would have expected someone to rebut that book point by point with evidence and yet no one has even tried.

[@fantasia55]

Gavin's brother just endorsed pro-abortion Kamala Harris.

[@fantasia55]

My diocese has four Catholic bishops.

[@rajupmathai]

I am so thankful to God for being born in a catholic family and upholding that faith in Jesus. It is just because I realize I live in a universal community as St. Paul says in Ephesians 2:19-22. 19“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

[@christopherpowell1950]

Love this video. Thank you Joe!

[@ironnick1356]

I was raised in a very legalistic Baptist church, after that we went to a few different Pentecostal churches. After many years away from any kind of church, I related more to atheists and scientists, and for about a decade I tried to get my family to see reason, and that there wasn’t a God. Then God spoke to me. I won’t say what He said here but it was related to my disability and chronic pain. It was very much a “road to Damascus” moment that I will never forget. He hasn’t spoken to me in that same audible voice again, but during prayer and then listening time after I am able to feel what the Holy Spirit has wanted me to do. After watching a bunch of different (quite exceptional) pastors online, I started getting that feeling of “this is wrong”, that I was getting back when I left Pentecostal churches. But this time I had that buffer of God having spoken to me, so it didn’t get me depressed like it had previously, I pushed into it, and worked out what the Holy Spirit had churning in my gut. I had to find the early church, the way they did church right after Jesus left. I started reading about the early church fathers who were taught by the apostles, and I read the translations of their writings, but as the years progressed I realised there was way too much for me to read. This early church had presbyters and bishops sounded more like the Anglican churches I went to a few times. I watched a very cool history of the church video, and I realised fairly quickly that the Roman Catholic Church and possibly Orthodox Church were the ones that held onto those very old traditions. I found this little KZbin channel called Shameless Popery and I have watched probably about 50 of these videos now (some of them I’ve listened to on the podcast app in my car when driving), and, Joe your thorough and respectful way of breaking down topics, and presenting all of the facts has really been immensely helpful for me, as has Pint with Aquinas as well as Gabi. I have been attending our local Roman Catholic Church out in the country Australia, and your videos have helped me talk to my family about all of this (they went from “this is amazing” to “what? You’re Catholic?”). I’ve started the process of confirmation and will be baptised in a couple of months. I’ve read through the Bible, and now going through the Apocrypha for the first time. I was praying multiple times a day, now I’m praying the rosary multiple times a day as well as spending time listening. It’s been an extremely blessed journey so far, and if you told me 6 months ago that by the end of the year I’d be hearing from God, be hurting in my gut over what Jesus did for me, praying the rosary and building adoration for Our Lady, I would have laughed so hard. But here I am. God Bless Joe, thank you so much.

[@johnwright1447]

I had a similar experience -- a vision, and a miracle healing, and a later religious experience -- which led me to God. God calls people. He finds them.

[@ironnick1356]

@@johnwright1447 that’s awesome. I can’t believe the journey I’ve been on. Especially the fact that He had me find the Catholic faith with only subtle nudges. We were soooo anti-Catholic that it was a bit strange walking through the doors, but the whole time I was in my first Mass the Holy Spirit was with me, just letting me know that I was in the right place. I’m sure you know what that peace feels like when you enter a Catholic Church.

[@carakerr4081]

Praise God! Welcome home 🏠

[@christopherpowell1950]

Youre awesome Joe. Thank you for listening to your students. You are a wonderful example in the Lord

[@JohnDierckx]

I was born Catholic, baptized Catholic, but went through Christian high school and left there as the biggest sceptic you could imagine. Yet now at 60 I am finding my way back home even though there is a period of Protestantism for 17 years. I have to admit going back to the Catholic church was like coming home. It's great to see and experience that it's not just about me and how I understand the Bible and most of all finding the reverence back that I missed so much in the protestant church, services that go somewhere and don't leave Jesus hanging on the cross while you walk out because that's what the worship leader wants to do. Glad to be back to reverence, direction and purpose.

[@hirakisk1973]

For me, it has been a long process, but St. Ignatius was definitely a step along the journey. The more I learned about the actual early Church and what the Jews ACTUALLY believed at the time of Jesus Christ, I came to realize that in order to be Protestant I had to ignore history and act as if it didn't happen. If anyone is intellectually honest, they can't remain Protestant. Most Protestants don't really dig deep into Church history and just believe whatever history they have been told. The VAST majority of Protestants believe that the Judaism at the time of Jesus was the same Judaism of the European Jews in the 16th Century that Martin Luther based his views on in regard to many Christian practices. Protestants don't realize that their version of Christianity is based on the modern Jewish rejection of Christianity and patterned itself after that. Examples, are: Removal of the Deuterocanon, removal of prayers to the dead, Purgatory (which is STILL believed in Judaism, Martin Luther just didn't like it), and Intercession of the Saints/Angels, just to name a few things.

[@maxwellr2533]

Loving your Channel

[@RobertWCornell]

I will stay a Christian, because thats what the book of Acts called those who follow JESUS!

[@AquinasBased]

Do you think the book of acts tells you everything you need to know about how to run a church, which church to join, and how to practice the faith? If so, then explain how it does

[@joeleach5089]

@@AquinasBased the Bible does.

[@str33ttun3r9]

I subscribed to this channel keep going with the good work

[@Frst2nxt]

John Calvin wrote his so-called divine institutes as a 22 year old brat who knew much scriptural content because of his earlier Catholic upbringing, despite lying that the Church had forbidden the Bible. It makes sense, looking at his youbg age, why calvin put firward such an immature view of predestination Ignatius had much knowledge of sayings and acts of JESUS no where written, and said JESUS was DOCUMENTS enough for him. Polycarp to the Philippians says the Letters just written by Ignatius should be collected together. And, of course there are a few traditions about Ignatius concerning which tthe Church of Antioch never gives denial, nor does any patristic voice cast doubt: that he was the child JESUS held up aa an example of the sirt of child one must be like to enter the Kingdom, and that he established the responsorial form of the Psalms in the Liturgy, and taught the nine choirs of angels, etc.

[@Maranatha99]

Ignatius had knowledge of acts of Jesus never written???

[@datalore8270]

@@Maranatha99 "Ignatius had knowledge of acts of Jesus never written???" John 21:25 tells us that Jesus did many things that are not written down. Ignatius knew Polycarp and both of them were taught by John. So this is not much of a leap. In fact, it's no leap at all unless you think that people can only be taught things through books. 2 Thessalonians 2:15

[@Maranatha99]

@@datalore8270 thks. I had forgotten that he might have been a disciple of John. Have a great day!

[@datalore8270]

@@Maranatha99 You too, God bless!

[@fantasia55]

​@carolinajackson7621 Certainly, the early Church remembered and passed on (meaning of tradition) what Jesus said and did.

[@dynamic9016]

Thanks much for this video.

[@mmbtalk]

I don't think these arguments are not a problem to Protestants, because Ignatius is not infallible and what ever he says must be compared with the word of God

[@shamelesspopery]

It's not a question of infallibility. It's a question of basic reliability. If the Christians who knew the Apostles came away claiming that this is what they taught, it seems to me that one of two things follows: (1) it's what they taught; or (2) the earliest Christians are completely unreliable witnesses. And (2) is a major problem for Catholics and Protestants alike. After all, how do we know which books belong in the New Testament? Largely because of the witness of these earliest Christians, and what they said about the apostolicity and orthodoxy of these books. And if they're THAT unreliable, how can we trust that they even got that question right?

[@ContendingEarnestly]

Bingo!

[@ContendingEarnestly]

@@shamelesspopery Demas knew Paul then deserted him. Would you trust Demas? Hymenaeus and Philetus knew Paul too yet their teaching on the resurrection is wrong. Youre putting too much stock in those who are not apostles. *After all, how do we know which books belong in the New Testament?* This is a canard. Most of the n.t. books were considered inspired by the end of the first century. Others took longer, but since no one had a check list of 27 books they were marking off, the total number is arbitrary. Today we have 27 books but what they had in the first century they knew was of God. Youre putting the cart before the horse.

[@mmbtalk]

@@ContendingEarnestly To add on, I don't know where the Catholics get the idea that to be saved you need the full Canon of scripture, the Ethiopian Eunuch was saved by just reading a few verses of Isaiah as found in Chapter 53!

[@ContendingEarnestly]

@@mmbtalk Exactly. They just cast doubt on what we believe and then push us to think we need some infallible interpreter. We don't. And nowhere in the bible does it say we do.

[@UrielAngeli147]

The Early Church is Catholic. Bergolio is not Catholic. Thank you for attending my TED talk.

[@anglicanaesthetics]

Remember that time Anglicans *in the Reformation* positively quoted Ignatius in defense of the Episcopate? Yeah..."Protestants wanted to accept none of them" simply isn't true. And of course, most Protestant scholars like Philip Schaff did accept the now-accepted authentic letters from Ignatius. And to be fair, Ignatius doesn't even show it's of divine institution--he shows that it's in full force by his time. I'd hold it's apostolic because Irenaeus taken together with Ignatius seems to demonstrate this. Of course, we agree that Ignatius sounds catholic. We deny that they sound *Roman* Catholic. Of course, we *do* confess the Eucharist to be the flesh of Jesus Christ. What Ignatius doesn't tell us is how the Eucharist is the flesh of Christ. Irenaeus teaches a Eucharistic theology that's quite explicitly at odds from Rome: “For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.” (IV.XVIII.5) “When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread receives the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and the body of Christ is made,1814 from which things the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him?-even as the blessed Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians, that “we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” He does not speak these words of some spiritual and invisible man, for a spirit has not bones nor flesh; but [he refers to] that dispensation [by which the Lord became] an actual man, consisting of flesh, and nerves, and bones,-that [flesh] which is nourished by the cup which is His blood, and receives increase from the bread which is His body. And just as a cutting from the vine planted in the ground fructifies in its season, or as a corn of wheat falling into the earth and becoming decomposed, rises with manifold increase by the Spirit of God, who contains all things, and then, through the wisdom of God, serves for the use of men, and having received the Word of God, becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ; so also our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father, who freely gives to this mortal immortality” (V.II.3) Irenaeus uses this as an analogue to the resurrection of the body. He's saying *just as* the bread and wine receive the Word to become the body and blood, so our bodies receive the Word unto resurrection. That would be a terrible argument against the Gnostics if he thought the substance of bread and wine no longer existed--it would just show the Gnostic's claim that material reality becomes a sheer appearance in light of the divine to have some merit.

[@shamelesspopery]

Are you objecting to Heiko Oberman or me? Either way, both of us pointed out explicitly that there were Anglican scholars who defended the Middle Recension. Did you miss all of that in looking for something to be aggrieved by?

[@anglicanaesthetics]

@@shamelesspopery I specifically stated what I was disagreeing with. I don't disagree that there were Anglicans who held to the Middle recension. I argued that this doesn't at *all* move the needle towards Roman Catholicism since many of us explicitly hold to the episcopate (including many Lutheran bodies). So that Ignatius says "Catholic sounding stuff" is a disingenuous argument for Roman Catholicism. Or did you miss my point because you were looking to obfuscate?

[@anglicanaesthetics]

@@shamelesspopery For instance, you claim that Ignatius held to a sacrificial Eucharist whereas Anglicans and Lutherans do not. But you know that this is a falsehood, Joe. You've been around this issue too many times to not. You know that Anglicans and Lutherans alike approvingly quoted Peter Lombard, and denied the Eucharistic sacrifice *as Rome meant it*--i.e. a sacrifice that wins merit to expunge temporal debt, on account of which one would be retributively punished. It's a very specific critique, which I'm *certain* you've been informed of, since you know Cranmer and Ridley's Oxford disputations, Jewel's approvingly statement that the Eucharist re-presents the sacrifice (otherwise why on earth would we affirm that the Eucharist channels the forgiveness of sins??). So nice try at deflection. But the truth is, you're exploiting your audience's ignorance of the actual issues to make it seem like the fathers sound Roman Catholic, when in truth you actually know better about the real issues at stake.

[@PalermoTrapani]

@@anglicanaesthetics I am just an American whose ancestors who were part of the Italian immigration from Southern mainland Italy and Sicily in the late 19th century, so I don't perhaps know as much as you. Can you tell me who the Anglican Bishop in Canterbury was when Saint Clement of Rome in circa 95 AD wrote his letter to the Church in Corinth? Can you tell me if Saint Ignatius of Antioch in 107 AD wrote a letter to the Anglican Bishop of Canterbury? Who was the Anglican Bishop of Canterbury in 144 AD when Pope Saint Pius I unilaterally excommunicated the Gnostic Marcion? If you can't help me with the answer to the above question, perhaps you can help me with who the Anglican Bishop of Canterbury was during the papacy of Saint Pope Callistus I who excommunicated the Sabellius (Modalism) around 220 AD? Finally, last question I promise, who were the Anglican Bishops at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD? Cheers and God Bless

[@hynjus001]

As a protestant convert with Jewish family, I spent a great deal of my life trying to find the authentically Jewish Christianity, in obedience to Matthew 5:17. Having attended Jewish passovers, the Eucharist smacks you in the face as the fulfilment of all of Judaism in one Divine orchestration of Holy time travel.

[@JustinWest]

First

[@powerlessburger]

This is going to be the highlight of my day

[@Freef_01]

My initial push to Catholicism (other than Fulton Sheen) was my personal failure to understand scripture. The more I read the Bible (from Genesis to Revelation), the more confused I got by contradictory conclusions, and how every website could have multiple contradiciting explanations. Then I asked God how it could be that anyone understands him if there are so many answers. Little did I know he already gave us an authority for interpretation.

[@peterzinya1]

The bible says what it means and means what it says. No need to interpret.

[@Freef_01]

@@peterzinya1 Have you read it from start to finish without pre-supposing a certain theology? It's a book that constantly switches between war and peace. Genocide in one part, then a loving promise of God in another. My expectations were shocked. It's why we've got more denominations than we can count, something not really present in other religions as far as I know.

[@peterzinya1]

@@Freef_01 Hi. I have read it from A to Z but skipped alot of Numbers and Deut. No denominations needed. Its just you and Jesus. Who cares what denominations think? I dont. The Lord is my Shepherd, he leadeth me to still waters. Yes God had lots of people wiped out. And he favors his people of Israel. He created all this for his pleasure. He does what he wants. Like it or not. One bit of advice i need to give you friend. Leave that catholic church alone. People read catholic literature which says the CC is gods true church. I wish i had a nickel for every church that says that. The CC used to get rid of people tryingto get bibles into the hands of people. The CC outlawed the bible. Thats cause it is owned and operated by Beelzeebub himself. You want interpretation of scripture? The CC takes the 2nd commandment to mean...make as many graven images as you can and bow down to all of them. Are you going to trust the CCs interpretations when its flock is on their knees befor idols? read the bible for yourself. Believe what you read.

[@SDPopesplainer]

My journey started when I was 13 in a Southern Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA. I believed that since I was saved, nothing could separate me from God. The Southern Baptist church didn’t form my conscience/heart. So I just did anything I wanted. Then I tried charismatic churches. After months of never being slain in the spirit, or speaking in tongues they asked me not to come back. The feelings and emotions were everything they had. No education in the scriptures or doctrine. Then I met Jehovah’s Witness and things I had encountered in my personal study of scripture were part of their beliefs. Like the lack of proof for the Trinity, the mess of commercialism in holidays, how difficult it is to see the incarnation in scripture alone, even the missing concept of literally trying to reach others with the gospel by going door to door and arraignments to teach the members how to do that. Not to mention the conventions and relief efforts they were set up for. Plus, the community was a real family. The gotcha moment came when after being ready to join them, I realized I was outwardly doing things but not really living the things I claimed to believe. So no changes came to my mind or life. Then I came across Latter-Day Saint Missionaries. They had the community thing on steroids! Yet, nobody knew the Bible, or the other Standard Works. They relied on feelings as a marker for what to believe. Just like the charismatic groups I tried. Plus, the history of their faith was taught more than grace, forgiveness, love, peace, mercy, or anything Jesus taught. So, I made a study of the Mormon history and found gaping holes in it. Horses without a fossil record. Iron before it ever existed. People becoming Angels. The river near where Joseph Smith lived called the Lehigh River and the stars in the Book of Mormon come from a guy named Lehi. Everything felt like a pair of three legged pants. You can put them on and they seem to fit but something isn’t right. Then I began looking to my lifelong hobby for answers. History! I found world history to be smeared with the activities of the Catholic Church. No matter what I looked at for a resource. Textbooks, documentaries, movies, magazine articles. Then I came across the Early Church Fathers. My goal then became to figure out the Church Jesus started. It just couldn’t be the Catholic Church!!! Yet overwhelming evidence is there. Even the evil done by people who were claiming to be Christian. To my mind, if that organization that seemingly had a hand in so much evil and abuse of authority has not yet fallen, it had to be only by God’s hand it was still alive today. Because the Devil couldn’t defeat it from within. So he began to attack it through the Protestant reformation. Jesus prayed that his followers would be one and visible. Even the gates of hell shall not prevail! Three years ago, after fourteen years of personal study, with the only standard being that the church Jesus started couldn’t be the Catholic Church, I became a Catholic!

[@arsenicrice9990]

Ignatius’ connecting the bishop to the Church and that we ought to follow him as one would follow Jesus was key. It was only second to the famous letter to the smyrneans, after which reading I could no longer deny the first Christians held a Catholic view of communion.

[@menoftheclothKTOG]

Former OPC presby here. My dear friend recently expressed dismay that my business may be hindered (I'm a barber) because of the expression of the Christian faith present in my shop... specifically, the "Catholic stuff". He asked "Don't you think you should just have Christian stuff without the Catholic part?" As if the Catholicity was extra and an addition to the Christian expression. I explained that this would assume that Protestantism is the default of Christianity and the Catholic expression is an addition but that rather Catholic expression of the faith is the default and to remove it would be a distinctively protestant change. Also, could you do a vid comparing and contrasting elder led/invisible church ecclesiology with apostolic/successive visible ecclesiology? I will need to defend the church on this soon and it's a weak point for me apologetically. For whatever reason I retain the info best when it comes, at least in this format, from you.

[@globalmilitarycollections4591]

My friend has been trying to convert me but ever since learning about that weird satanic stature I have been turned off by Catholicism. I like learning about orthodoxy right now.

[@bluecomb5376]

what satanic stature?

[@globalmilitarycollections4591]

@@bluecomb5376 pericle fazzini resurrection sculpture.

[@MikePasqqsaPekiM]

Saint Ignatius of Antioch may have been one of the sources, I guess my heart was ready, and the Holy Spirit convicted me when I read a collection of the church fathers on the Eucharist. The next morning, I started looking up RCIA classes.

[@mariocano2767]

Joe, I was hoping you were going to be wearing the same suit you had on the first day of the Catholic Answers Conference. That was 🔥. Maybe this Thursday?🙏🤞

[@konverteradarnljot]

For me, reading what Luther had to say about the epistle of James was a big eye opener. Seemed like some very fishy tactics.

[@MrRotwell]

Excellent. Keep up the good work! When I converted, I was indeed shocked by how not baptist the early church was. That sounds silly, but we had so ingrained in us that we were just going by the Bible that it seemed absurd to suggest the early church wasn’t doing roughly what we were doing.

[@jamesgarlick4573]

For me, it was while researching church denominations to go to and join, I really liked the Lutheran theology. Then I learned that protestants as a whole don't view marriage as a sacrament. I then used Ai to help me research using Martin Luther's criteria for the changes he made to Christianity, utilizing Sola Scriptura principle as well as pre-Schism church fathers and I came to the conclusion that the Catholic church IS the Church of Jesus Christ. I start my catechism soon this year.

[@Mason_O]

Calvin is my favorite theologian right now, but I was happily surprised this morning to see Jerome in a commentary on Mathew used by Aquinas in his Gospel Catena mention ignatius’s Epistle to the Ephesians ch. 19