New Books in Catholic Studies

Long Live the Empire! (with Amb. Archd. Eduard Habsburg)

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Eduard Habsburg is Archduke of Austria and Hungarian Ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta. He’s also a husband, a dad, and a ...

Lynsey Black, "Gender and Punishment in Ireland: Women, Murder and the Death Penalty, 1922-64" (Manchester UP, 2022)

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Lynsey Black is a lecturer in criminology, in the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University. She researches in the areas of gender and pun...

Miri Rubin, "The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford UP, 2014)

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Middle Ages is a term coined around 1450 to describe a thousand years of European History. In The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford...

The Book of Job (with Jonathan Fessenden)

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan Fessenden, theologian and editor of Missio Dei, and I discussed this ancient and supremely interesting book on his podcast. The Book of Jo...

Down Deep in My Soul (with Fr. Maurice Nutt, C.Ss.R.)

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In his new book, Down Deep in My Soul: An African American Catholic Theology of Preaching (Orbis Books, 2023), Father Maurice Nutt, a doctor of pre...

Purgatory (with Tim Staples)

09 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Staples is Director of Apologetics and Evangelization at Catholic Answers. His piece, “What Happens in Purgatory?” is the most read article o...

Craig L. Blomberg, "Jesus the Purifier: John's Gospel and the Fourth Quest for the Historical Jesus" (Baker Academic, 2023)

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The third quest for the historical Jesus has reached an impasse. But a fourth quest is underway--one that draws from a heretofore largely neglected so...

You Set a Table Before Me (with Sr. Maria Catherine, OP)

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sr Maria Catherine was looking for Truth in the wrong places when she started practicing witchcraft as girl. But she found her way out of the darkness...

Defining Man and Woman: A Conversation with Abigail Favale

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amidst fraught debates about what gender is, and how it fits into feminism, Annika sits down with Dr. Abigail Favale, an English professor specializin...

Martyrs in Mosul: A Conversation on Christian Persecution with Father Benedict Kiely

28 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With Christmas approaching, in this episode we reflect on Christian persecution in the Middle East, the historic cradle of Christianity and the birthp...

Bart D. Ehrman, "Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End" (Simon and Schuster, 2023)

28 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A New York Times bestselling Biblical scholar, reveals why our popular understanding of the Apocalypse is all wrong—and why that matters. You’ll...

Reyhan Durmaz, "Stories Between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond" (U California Press, 2022)

27 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond (University of California Press, 2022)...

Raúl E. Zegarra Medina, "A Revolutionary Faith: Liberation Theology Between Public Religion and Public Reason" (Stanford UP, 2023)

27 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Religious commitments can be a powerful engine for progressive social change. In A Revolutionary Faith: Liberation Theology Between Public Religion a...

Lee Martin McDonald, "Before There Was a Bible: Authorities in Early Christianity" (T&T Clark, 2023)

26 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Before There Was a Bible: Authorities in Early Christianity (T&T Clark, 2023) is a natural outgrowth from McDonald’s significant and ongoing work ...

Down to Earth (with Richard Foster and Brenda Quinn)

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Quaker theologian Richard J. Foster and charismatic pastor Brenda Quinn talk with me about Foster’s new book (which Quinn worked on with him), Lear...

After the Pill: A Conversation with Mary Eberstadt

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The pill has rocked our society to its core: but have we fully examined all its repercussions? Influential author and essayist Mary Eberstadt thinks w...

Rosamond McKitterick, "Rome and the Invention of the Papacy: The Liber Pontificalis" (Cambridge UP, 2020)

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The remarkable, and permanently influential, papal history known as the Liber pontificalis shaped perceptions and the memory of Rome, the popes, and t...

Here We Stand? (with Bishop Donald Hying)

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, wrote a statement in his diocesan journal, the Madison Catholic Herald about the German Synodal Way. Th...

Geoffrey S. Smith and Brent C. Landau, "The Secret Gospel of Mark: A Controversial Scholar, a Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, and the Fierce Debate Over Its Authenticity" (Yale UP, 2023)

13 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In The Secret Gospel of Mark: A Controversial Scholar, a Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, and the Fierce Debate Over Its Authenticity (Yale University P...

Andrew R. Casper, "An Artful Relic: The Shroud of Turin in Baroque Italy" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2021)

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1578, a fourteen-foot linen sheet bearing the faint bloodstained imprint of a human corpse was presented to tens of thousands of worshippers in Tur...

The Miraculous Mind (with Paul Bloom)

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Psychologist Paul Bloom and I talk about the human brain, morality, empathy, perversity, all the things—including Professor Bloom’s new book, Psy...

Christine Kooi, "Reformation in the Low Countries, 1500-1620" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

06 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this new history of the Reformation in the Netherlands, Christine Kooi synthesizes fifty years of scholarship provide a broad general history of th...

People of the Book (with Munir Sheikh)

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I talk with a Muslim friend about the places that Islam and Christianity overlap, and also the places where they diverge. Of these subjects, none is m...

Francis Xavier Clooney, "Saint Joseph in South India: Poetry, Mission and Theology in Costanzo Gioseffo Beschi's Tēmpāvaṇi" (Brill, 2022)

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Costanzo Gioseffo Beschi was an Italian Jesuit who worked in South India from 1710 to 1747. A brilliant scholar of Tamil, his works include hymns, ins...

Chandra Mallampalli, "South Asia's Christians: Between Hindu and Muslim" (Oxford UP, 2023)

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

South Asia is home to more than a billion Hindus and half a billion Muslims. But the region is also home to substantial Christian communities, some da...

Eric Hoenes del Pinal et al., "Mediating Catholicism: Religion and Media in Global Catholic Imaginaries" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

29 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Mediating Catholicism: Religion and Media in Global Catholic Imaginaries (Bloomsbury, 2022), the authors and the three editors (Eric Hones del Pi...

Pablo Bradbury, "Liberationist Christianity in Argentina (1930-1983): Faith and Revolution" (Tamesis Books, 2023)

29 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did liberationist Christianity develop in Argentina between the 1930s and early 1970s? And how did it respond to state terrorism during the Dirty ...

Andrew Walker, "Social Conservatism for the Common Good: A Protestant Engagement with Robert P. George" (Crossway, 2023)

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Robert P. George is the indispensable man of American social conservatism. The Princeton professor is a scholar of such intellectual power that he alm...

Remember the Sabbath (with Senator Joe Lieberman)

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today I talked with Senator Joe Lieberman—who ran for Vice President in 2000 with Al Gore, and for President in 2004 in the Democratic primary—abo...

Andreas J. Köstenberger and Greg Goswell, "Biblical Theology: A Canonical, Thematic, and Ethical Approach" (Crossway, 2023)

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pastors, thoughtful Christians, and students of Scripture must learn how to carefully read and understand the Bible, but it can be difficult to know w...

Catholics and Religious Toleration in Early America: A Conversation with Michael Breidenbach

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did American Catholics go from subjects to citizens? Who is the "godfather" of the First Amendment? How can spiritual and temporal duties be recon...

Ninon Dubourg, "Disabled Clerics in the Late Middle Ages: Un/Suitable for Divine Service?" (Amsterdam UP, 2023)

22 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today I talked to Ninon Dubourg about her new book Disabled Clerics in the Late Middle Ages: Un/Suitable for Divine Service? (Amsterdam UP, 2023). ...

Catholic Movies, Part 2 (with Jonathan Fessenden)

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan Fessenden and I talk about two movies, Roland Joffé’s The Mission (1986) and Fred Zinneman’s A Man for All Seasons (1966), both writ...

Ângela Barreto Xavier, "Religion and Empire in Portuguese India: Conversion, Resistance, and the Making of Goa" (SUNY Press, 2022)

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did the colonization of Goa in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries take place? How was it related to projects for the conversion of Goan colon...

Revival (with Fr Norman Fischer): The Holy Spirit at Work in Kentucky . . . and Many Other Places

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For three weeks in February of 2023, a spontaneous ‘Outpouring’ at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, set the hearts of American Christians a...

Jacques Dalarun et al., "A Female Apostle in Medieval Italy: The Life of Clare of Rimini" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2022)

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A Female Apostle in Medieval Italy: The Life of Clare of Rimini (U Pennsylvania Press, 2022) centers on a fascinating woman, Clare of Rimini (c. 126...

This is My Body: Communion and Cannibalism in Colonial New England and New France

08 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Carla Cevasco, Assistant Professor of American Studies at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, discusses her recent article, "This is My Body:...

Leah Mickens, "In the Shadow of Ebenezer: A Black Catholic Parish in the Age of Civil Rights and Vatican II" (NYU Press, 2022)

07 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The history and practices of African American Catholics has been vastly understudied, and Black Catholics are often written off as a fringe sector of ...

Gay on God's Campus: Mobilizing for LGBT Equality at Christian Colleges and Universities

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s book is: Gay on God's Campus: Mobilizing for LGBT Equality at Christian Colleges and Universities (UNC Press, 2018), by Jonathan Coley. Al...

David I. Kertzer, "The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler" (Random House, 2022)

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Pope Pius XII died in 1958, his papers were sealed in the Vatican Secret Archives, leaving unanswered questions about what he knew and did during...

The Gospel According to Dorothy (with Kathryn Wehr)

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1941, Dorothy Sayers, Christian apologist, author of The Mind of the Maker, and even more famous for her Peter Whimsey mystery novels, wrote a cy...

Gary Kulik: Conscientious Objector Who Served in Vietnam

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gary Kulik was a Catholic Conscientious Objector (CO) during the Vietnam War, but when he was drafted he decided to go and serve as a medic. He tells ...

Margaret Chowning, "Catholic Women and Mexican Politics, 1750–1940" (Princeton UP, 2023)

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Historians have long looked to networks of elite liberal and anti-clerical men as the driving forces in Mexican history over the course of the long ni...

Education in the World not of the World

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rich Meyer, president of JSerra High School—named for St. Junípero Serra, the ‘Apostle of California’—in Southern California, discusses what ...

Peter Heather, "Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300" (Knopf, 2023)

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the fourth century AD, a new faith grew out of Palestine, overwhelming the paganism of Rome and resoundingly defeating a host of other rival belief...

John P. Bequette, "Bede the Theologian: History, Rhetoric, and Spirituality" (Catholic U of America Press, 2022)

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Revered by contemporaries and posterity for both his sanctity and his scholarship, Bede (672-735) is a pivotal figure in the history of the Church. Kn...

Ned Bustard, "Saint Patrick the Forgiver: The History and Legends of Ireland's Bishop" (InterVarsity, 2023)

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ned Bustard is the author of a new children’s book, Saint Patrick the Forgiver: The History and Legends of Ireland's Bishop (InterVarsity, 2023). ...

Joseph W. Peterson, "Sacred Rivals: Catholic Missions and the Making of Islam in Nineteenth-Century France and Algeria" (Oxford UP, 2022)

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Upon the French invasion of Algeria in 1830, the territory quickly became a placeholder for French dreams, debates, and experiments in social engineer...

The Exorcist: Angels, Demons, and the Cosmic Battle around Us

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I asked an exorcist, Monsignor Rosetti, about the spiritual world around us, the demons he fights, and the mischief they cause. He talks about his lif...

Jamie Kreiner, "The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction" (Liveright, 2023)

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction (Liveright, 2023) by Dr. Jamie Kreiner presents a revelatory account of how Christi...

Elina Gertsman and Barbara H. Rosenwein, "The Middle Ages in 50 Objects" (Cambridge UP, 2018)

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The extraordinary array of images included in The Middle Ages in 50 Objects (Cambridge UP, 2018) reveals the full and rich history of the Middle Age...

Who Do You Think You Are?: Thorny Questions about Sex, Identity, and Catholic Doctrine

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Garret Johnson works with Courage, the Catholic apostolate for people experience same-sex attractions. He describes his experience living the gay lif...

Lerone A. Martin, "The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism" (Princeton UP, 2023)

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On a Sunday morning in 1966, a group of white evangelicals dedicated a stained glass window to J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI director was not an evangelica...

Jason Bruner, "How to Study Global Christianity: A Short Guide for Students" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022)

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jason Bruner's How to Study Global Christianity: A Short Guide for Students (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022) provides students with an accessible–yet cr...

Kenneth R. Stow, "Anna and Tranquillo: Catholic Anxiety and Jewish Protest in the Age of Revolutions" (Yale UP, 2016)

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today I talked to Kenneth R. Stow about his book Anna and Tranquillo: Catholic Anxiety and Jewish Protest in the Age of Revolutions (Yale UP, 2016)...

Stephen Bullivant, "Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America" (Oxford UP, 2022)

26 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The United States is in the midst of a religious revolution. Or, perhaps it is better to say a non-religious revolution. Around a quarter of US adults...

Jonathan Homrighausen, "Planting Letters and Weaving Lines: The Song of Songs, and The Saint Johns Bible" (Liturgical Press, 2022)

25 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The illuminations of The Saint John’s Bible have delighted many with their imaginative takes on Scripture. But many struggle to appreciate the cal...

Anthony Bale, "Margery Kempe: A Mixed Life" (Reaktion Books, 2022)

25 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Margery Kempe: A Mixed Life (Reaktion Books, 2022) is a new account of the medieval mystic and pilgrim Margery Kempe. Kempe, who had fourteen childr...

Zachary M. Schrag, "The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation" (Pegasus, 2021)

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Zachary M. Schrag's The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation (Pegasus, 2021) is a grip...

Azzan Yadin-Israel, "Temptation Transformed: The Story of How the Forbidden Fruit Became an Apple" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Temptation Transformed: The Story of How the Forbidden Fruit Became an Apple (University of Chicago Press, 2023) by Dr. Azzan Yadin-Israel presents a...

Anna M. Grzymała-Busse, "Sacred Foundations: The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State" (Princeton UP, 2023)

19 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sacred Foundations. The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State (Princeton University Press, 2023) argues that the medieval church was a ...

Patrick Bixby, "Unaccompanied Traveler: The Writings of Kathleen M. Murphy" (Syracuse UP, 2021)

18 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

At the time of her death in 1962, Kathleen M. Murphy was recognized as “the most widely and most knowledgeably travelled Irish woman of her time . ....

O Death, Where is Your Sting? The Biblical Theology of Resurrection

16 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In his new book, The Hope of Life After Death: A Biblical Theology of Resurrection (Intervarsity Press, 2022), Professor Jeff Brannon traces Resur...

Bewitchment, Possession, and the Diabolical Arts: Daily Life in New France

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast episode, Greg Marchildon interviews Mairi Cowan, the author of The Possession of Barbe Hallay: Diabolical Arts and Daily Life in Early...

Why a Savior? The Theology of Sacrifice and Redemption

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As we start the second year of Almost Good Catholics, I asked my old friend David Basile, the theology teacher (and our very first guest last year) t...

Mary Ann Hinsdale and Stephen Okey, "T&T Clark Handbook of Theological Anthropology" (T&T Clark, 2020)

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The T&T Clark Handbook of Theological Anthropology (T&T Clark, 2020) is a ground-breaking volume that gathers together the voices of veteran theolog...

Mary E. Sommar, "The Slaves of the Churches: A History" (Oxford UP, 2020)

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, stories of religious universities and institutions grappling with their slave-owning past have made headlines in the news. People fin...

Rowan Dorin, "No Return: Jews, Christian Usurers, and the Spread of Mass Expulsion in Medieval Europe" (Princeton UP, 2023)

05 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Beginning in the twelfth century, Jewish moneylenders increasingly found themselves in the crosshairs of European authorities, who denounced the evils...

“Quintessence of Dust?”: Friendly Argument about God and Man

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Hall is my old friend, a once-atheist who now calls himself an agnostic; we’ve known each other for fifteen years since we both taught English...

War, Plague, and Confession in Fourteenth-Century Provence

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nicole Archambeau, associate professor of history at Colorado State University, talks about her book, Souls under Siege: Stories of War, Plague, and C...

Mark A. Schneegurt, "Anthology of Religious Poetry from the Mexican Inquisition Trials of 16th-Century CryptoJews" (2020)

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A century after being expelled from Portugal, cryptoJews in Mexico, false converts to Christianity, could not speak of their beliefs for fear of becom...

Mitri Raheb, "The Politics of Persecution: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire" (Baylor UP, 2021)

29 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurg...

Michael T. Rizzi, "Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States: A History" (Catholic U of America Press, 2022)

28 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States: A History (Catholic University of America Press, 2022) provides a comprehensive history of J...

What if You're Gay? Starting Conversations with and about LGBT Catholics

27 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since 2016, and with the blessing of Pope Francis, Father Jim Martin has been talking with LGBT Catholics about their relationship with their church. ...

In the Swiss Guards: Reflections on Two Years Guarding the Pope

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

David Geisser was a Swiss Guard protecting Pope Francis and the Apostolic Palace between 2013 and 2015. He was following the footsteps of his father w...

Stabat Mater: A Sandy Hook Mom Stands with Mary at the Foot of the Cross

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One morning in December of 2012, Laura Phelps’s little children went to school and lived through an attack by a madman who shot 20 of their classmat...

Faithful Frontiers: A Turkish Scholar Describes How She Became a Catholic Apologist

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Derya Little has been a Muslim, an atheist, and a Protestant; today she is a Catholic writer and apologist. She tells the story of her conversion, tal...

Catholic in Karachi: Living as a Christian in an Islamic Country

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ayyaz Gulzar, journalist and Catholic youth leader in Pakistan, describes the challenges and persecutions the Church faces in the Islamic Republic, wh...

The Feminine Genius: Everyday Mysticism and How to Organize Your Life around It

22 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Danielle Bean talks about everyday mysticism and learning to listen for God in her book, Whisper: Finding God in the Everyday. God is there in our da...

Reflections of a Mormon who Became a Catholic: Understanding the Sacrament of Reconciliation

21 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Christiansen’s autobiography, From the Susquehanna to the Tiber, tells the story of his happy Mormon upbringing, the questioning of his faith...

Wolfgang P. Müller, "Marriage Litigation in the Western Church, 1215-1517" (Cambridge UP, 2021)

21 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Wolfgang Muller, Marriage Litigation in the Western Church, 1215- 1517 (Cambridge University Press, 2021). From the establishment of a coherent doc...

The Thought of Ivan Illich

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Author L. M. Sacasas talks about the life, thought, and legacy of the Catholic priest, philosopher, and social critic Ivan Illich with Peoples & Thing...

Bless Me, Father, for I have Sinned: Understanding the Sacrament of Reconciliation

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Father Joseph Horn explains the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where it comes from, how it works, and what many of us don’t know about it. At its ince...

Better Call Paul: How Did the Early Jewish Christians Understand “Works of the Law”?

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In his new book, theologian Matthew Thomas takes on the big question of what the Apostle Paul means when he talks about "Works of the Law" -- as oppos...

We Shall Overcome: Sister Thea Bowman and the Black Catholic Experience

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Though we are all one—“there is neither Jew nor Greek,” St. Paul wrote to the Galatians—each of us brings a particular heritage to the mosaic ...

Words and the Word: How Scripture Brings Us into God’s Eternal Moment

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Holmes, Theology Professor at Wyoming Catholic College, describes his study of scripture through the lenses of narrative criticism and theologi...

Pray like a Mystic: Mystical Traditions and What to Do with Them

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I asked Bishop Don Hying of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, about mysticism and evangelization. He describes Christianity as unique among the world...

Holy Paradox and St. Teresa of Ávila: Mysticism in Sixteenth Century Spain

15 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Carlos Eire, author of The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila: A Biography (2019) and professor of medieval and early modern European history and religion...

Eternity Now: Talking about Mysticism with the Apostle to the Gangs of LA

14 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jesuit Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries in East LA, the world’s largest and most successful gang intervention and rehabilitati...

Marxists and Mystics: A Vatican Journalist Discusses her Biography of Madeleine Delbrêl and the New Papal Constitution

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Vatican journalist Colleen Dulle discusses her biography of the French Mystic Madeleine Delbrêl, author of The Marxist City as Mission Territory (195...

Queen of Heaven: How the Holy Spirit Works in the Catholic Tradition

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Keith Berube, professor of Mariology, theology, and literature, explains how the Holy Spirit is at work in the scripture, tradition, and magisterium i...

Restless Pilgrims: About CS Lewis

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

David Bates, Catholic apologist and CS Lewis expert, reflects upon Lewis's conversion (how he was 'surprised by joy'), how his reason confirmed his fe...

Did God Just Wink? Seeing the Numinous All Around Us

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Anabelle Mosely talks about living sacramentally, finding holiness in little things, and seeing the numinous in our daily lives. The Kingdom of God is...

Pray for us Sinners: Our Lady of Fátima and Pope Francis’s Consecration of Russia and Ukraine

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Professor William A. Thomas explains today's Consecration (March 25, 2022) by Pope Francis of Russia and Ukraine which is part of a century-long story...

Robin Vose, "The Index of Prohibited Books: Four Centuries of Struggle Over Word and Image for the Greater Glory of God" (Reaktion, 2022)

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Robin Vose (St. Thomas University) talks about his new monograph, The Index of Prohibited Books: Four Centuries of Struggle over Word and Image for t...

What about Hell? CS Lewis and Theology of the Afterlife

08 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph Pearce, writer and literary scholar, leads us through CS Lewis’s theology on the afterlife and the meaning of eternity (and what Catholics sa...

Zen Buddhism, Mardi Gras, and the Metaphysics of Eternity: Talking about Buddhist and Christian Mysticism

07 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

David Basile (who was our guest in Episode 01) returns to talk about his ten years in as a Zen Buddhist monk at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat Cen...

Do We Live in a Christian Country?

06 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I asked medieval historian Rachel Fulton Brown if we ought to still think of our nation (or any Western nation) as “a Christian country” in the tw...

Matthew J. Hart and Daniel J. Hill, "Does God Intend that Sin Occur?" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022)

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew J Hart and Daniel J Hill's book Does God Intend that Sin Occur? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) argues, from a detailed consideration of the Chri...

It's Elementary! Catholic Education in the 21st Century

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph Nagel and Heather Skinner are principal and vice-principal of the School of the Madeleine in Berkeley, California; Mrs. Skinner was also once J...