113 episodes

A podcast about the Fathers of the Church—the foundational figures in Christian history. A production of CatholicCulture.org.

Seasons 1-3 were hosted by Mike Aquilina. Season 4 is hosted by Dr. Jim Papandrea.

1: The Church Fathers
2: The Early Ecumenical Councils
3: Cities of God
4: Heresies

Way of the Fathers CatholicCulture.org

    • Religion & Spirituality

A podcast about the Fathers of the Church—the foundational figures in Christian history. A production of CatholicCulture.org.

Seasons 1-3 were hosted by Mike Aquilina. Season 4 is hosted by Dr. Jim Papandrea.

1: The Church Fathers
2: The Early Ecumenical Councils
3: Cities of God
4: Heresies

    4.1 The Heresies - Introduction to the Series

    4.1 The Heresies - Introduction to the Series

    I am honored to be picking up the Way of the Fathers podcast where my good friend, Mike Aquilina, left off. In season 4 of The Way of the Fathers, we’ll be looking at the heresies of the early Church, and how the Church fathers confronted and refuted them. This first episode is the introduction to the series, where I define some terms and tell you what you can expect as we trace through the early centuries of Christianity, tracking chronologically the alternatives to orthodoxy that were proposed, debated, and shown to be inconsistent with Scripture and prior tradition. 
    Links
    For more detail on the Church fathers and the heresies of the early Church, see my book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine, from Sophia Institute Press (2022)
    https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
    SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/
    DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
    To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, on YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
    Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
    Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com
    Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

    • 20 min
    4.2 The Heresies – Judaizers and Ebionites: Denying Christ’s Divinity

    4.2 The Heresies – Judaizers and Ebionites: Denying Christ’s Divinity

    Is Jesus Christ God? Is he a man? Is he both? Spoiler alert: the mainstream Church answered with the both/and, but the factions on the fringes tended to choose one or the other. For our first heresy, we take a look at the Ebionites, and their New Testament-era predecessors, the so-called Judaizers. These concluded that Jesus Christ was a mere human. A human who became a prophet perhaps, but just a human.
    Links
    For more information on Ignatius of Antioch, see Mike Aquilina’s Episode 4: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/
    To read Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Magnesians: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1629&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2351277
     
    To listen to Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Magnesians: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-ignatius-antioch-letter-to-magnesians/
    For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, see Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/
    For more detail on the Ebionite heresy, see the book: 
    The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Age https://www.ivpress.com/the-earliest-christologies
    SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/
    DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
    To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
    Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
    Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com
    Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

    • 32 min
    4.3 The Heresies – Docetics & Marcionites: Denying Christ's Humanity

    4.3 The Heresies – Docetics & Marcionites: Denying Christ's Humanity

    For the second heresy, Dr. Papandrea examines the opposite extreme from the first: these are the Docetics, including the most famous docetic teacher, Marcion and his followers. They concluded that Christ was a god, not necessarily different from the many other gods or demigods in the Greco-Roman pantheon, but that he was not really a human. 
    Links
    For more information on Polycarp of Smyrna, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 5: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5-st-polycarp-and-social-network/
    To read Polycarp of Smyrna’s Letter to the Philippians: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1626&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2365055
    To listen to Polycarp of Smyrna’s Letter to the Philippians: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-polycarp-letter-to-philippians/
    For more information on Ignatius of Antioch, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 4: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/
    To read Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Smyrnaeans: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1633&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2365056
    To listen to Ignatius of Antioch’s Letters to the Smyrnaeans: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-ignatius-antioch-letter-to-smyrnaeans/
    For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/
    For more detail on the heresy of docetism and the Marcionites, see the book: Reading the Early Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
    SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/
    DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
    To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
    Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
    Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com
    Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

    • 31 min
    4.4 The Heresies – Adoptionism: Christ as Anointed Prophet

    4.4 The Heresies – Adoptionism: Christ as Anointed Prophet

    In the third century, the heresy of the Ebionites evolved into a more general form of adoptionism, still denying the divinity of Christ, and now emphasizing his status as an anointed, but adopted, son of God, much like the kings and prophets of the Old Testament. Adoptionism is also known as “dynamic monarchianism,” in part for its claim that it was preserving the oneness (monarchy) of God by denying the divinity of Christ.
    Links
    For more information on Justin Martyr, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 9: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/justin-martyr-everything-good-is-ours/
    To read Justin Martyr’s First Apology: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1610&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2368540
    For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/
    To read Irenaeus of Lyons’ Demonstration of the Apostolic Teaching: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/irenaeus_02_proof.htm
    For more information on Tertullian, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 13: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/tertullian-and-theology-sarcasm/
    and Episode 14: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/tertullian-man-who-forged-words-and-invented-freedoms/
    To read Tertullian’s Against Praxeas: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1670&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2368544
    Read the Vatican document, Instruction on Certain Aspects of the “Theology of Liberation”: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19840806_theology-liberation_en.html
    For more detail on the heresy of adoptionism, see the books: 
    Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
    and The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Age: https://www.ivpress.com/the-earliest-christologies
     
    SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/
    DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
     
    To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
    Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
    Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com
     
    Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

    • 47 min
    4.5 The Heresies – Gnosticism: Christ as Cosmic Mind

    4.5 The Heresies – Gnosticism: Christ as Cosmic Mind

    The heresy of docetism evolved into a complicated web of schools of mythology, which we lump together under the name of gnosticism. These all still denied the real humanity of Christ, though in two distinct ways. Docetic gnosticism continued the trend of seeing Christ as a phantom, with no real tangible body. “Hybrid” gnosticism made concessions to the accounts of a tangible body of Jesus, but called it an ethereal, or luminous, body - in other words, not a true material flesh and blood body.
    Links
    For more information on Clement of Alexandria, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 16: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/clement-alexandria-teacher-in-new-kind-school/
    To read Clement of Alexandria’s Exhortation to the Heathen: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1658&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371968
    For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/
    To read Irenaeus of Lyons’ Demonstration of the Apostolic Teaching: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/irenaeus_02_proof.htm
    For more information on Hippolytus, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 17: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-17the-long-strange-trip-hippolytus-rome/
    To read Hippolytus’ Refutation of All Heresies: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1706&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371969
    and: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1717&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371969
    For more information on the gnostic gospels, listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode “Apocrypha Now!…”: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/apocrypha-now-on-myth-lost-gospels/
    To read some of the gnostic writings, see the Primary Sources tab on Dr. Papandrea’s home page (scroll down to Infancy Gospel of Thomas and following): https://jimpapandrea.wordpress.com/primary-sources-links/
    For more detail on the heresy of gnosticism, see the books: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
    and The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Age: https://www.ivpress.com/the-earliest-christologies
    For more on gnosticism (and the other heresies) and Science Fiction, see the book: From Star Wars to Superman: Christ Figures in Science Fiction and Superhero Films: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/from-star-wars-to-superman/
    For more on the doctrine of the Resurrection Body and its relationship to anthropology, see the book: What Really Happens After We Die?: There WILL Be Hugs in Heaven: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/what-really-happens-after-we-die/
    SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/
    DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
    To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
    Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
    Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com
    Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/
     

    • 50 min
    4.6 The Heresies – The Enigma of Origen and Origenism

    4.6 The Heresies – The Enigma of Origen and Origenism

    Whether Origen is considered a father of the Church, or a heretic, depends on whom you ask. But everyone agrees he may have been just a bit too smart for his own good. At best, he tried in vain to out-gnostic the gnostics, at worst, he was too influenced by gnosticism. In the end, the Fifth Ecumenical Council declared him a heretic. In this this episode, Dr. Papandrea gives evidence why Origen should not be considered a father of the Church, but should be considered a heretic, but in the end, you decide!
    Links
    Make sure to listen to Mike Aquilina’s episodes on Origen, Episode 19:  https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/life-origen-most-controversial-christian-ever/
    and Episode 20: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/origen-part-2-hero-heretic-or-hybrid/
    For more information on Epiphanius of Salamis, listen to Mike Aquilina’s Episode 35:  https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/35epiphanius-salamis-passion-for-pure-doctrine/
    To read Jerome’s Letter to Rufinus of Aquileia:  https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2887&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2376957
    To read the Canons of the Fifth Ecumenical Council (the Second Council of Constantinople) 553 AD: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3812.htm
    Also check out this article by Thomas Mirus on Origen’s theology https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/church-fathers-origens-theology/
    and this one on Pope Benedict XVI on Origen’s thought: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7548
    For more detail on the controversy over Origen in context, and related topics, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
    SIGN UP for Catholic Culture’s Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/
    DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
    To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
    Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
    Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com
    Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/
     

    • 26 min

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