Controversies in Church History

Originally a bonus episode for patrons of the podcast, this episode takes a look at some of Charles De Gaulle's recorded opinions concerning the Second Vatican Council. De Gaulle led the Free French forces during WWII and served ten years as president of France (1958-1968). De Gaulle had a keen political sense and his comments on Vatican II are both interesting but also prescient. Enjoy.

The latest episode is a walk-through of what yours truly has been the past year (or so), and gives an update on upcoming episodes and their content (hint: there will be new episodes and they will be awesome). Cheers!

Hello everyone! Controversies in Church History is back after a long hiatus, and we are bringing you an episode about two popes: Pius IX and Francis. We dive into the question of whether the centralization of power in the papacy that began under Pius IX (1848-1878) led to the reign of the late Pope Francis (2013-2025), and whether Pius IX can be said to be responsible for it. Also, I update the state of the podcast and preview future episodes. Enjoy!

Hello everyone. The 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea is upon us, and we are pleased to present you with an interview on the subject. Ben Wyatt is an author, podcaster, and Episcopal priest, who has recently published his first book, Christ and the Council: Conflict, Politics, Theology, and the Outrageous, Extraordinary Story of the Church’s First Creed. In the course of our interview, we discuss the nature of the theological debate surrounding Christ's divinity at the Council, the role of Constantine the Great on its outcome, and the legacy of Nicaea and its creed for Christians today. You can find Ben's book on Amazon and other outlets, and you can listen to his podcast, the Road to Nicaea, on Spotify and other major platforms. Thanks to Ben for sharing his time and discussing his book with us at Controversies in Church History.

In the latest episode, I take a deeper look at a recent controversy. Two Catholic scholars recent wrote an article in Commonweal Magazine comparing Traditionalist Catholics--those who attend the Latin Mass--to a heresy known as "Jansenism." In this short episode, I talk about why this comparison does not hold, but is actually a polemical use of history designed to smear Traditionalists. In it, I discuss the history of Jansenism and the danger of taking historical analogies too seriously.