In the late 2nd century AD, a Christian convert from Phrygia (modern Turkey) named Montanus began experiencing visions and speaking in tongues, which he believed were the Holy Spirit speaking through him. Soon he was joined by two women, Priscilla and Maximilla, who experienced the same ecstatic episodes. Montanus and his followers believed he was a prophet, called to lead Christians back to their primitive purity. In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a look at the history of Montanism, as its followers were called, and how it parallels other heretical movements in the history of the Church.

With the election of Pope Leo XIV, we move into a new papal reign, and in this brief episode, I share a few thoughts about the new pontiff, the challenges he will face, and musings on the larger historical context of those challenges. Cheers!

Our latest episode continues our discussion on the cult of the saints, but this time focusing on one of its more controversial aspects: the veneration of relics. In this episode, I talk about what the veneration of relics entails, how it emerged from the cult of the martyrs, and the evidence for its practice among early Christians. I also describe how by the sixth century, belief in the powers of relics became a defining feature of Christianity, and why the practice distinguished Christians from both pagan Greco-Roman religion and Judaism in the ancient world.

Controversies in Church History is back! This time, I interview the husband and wife team of Joseph and Monique Gonzalez about their book, Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: How God Prepared the Americas for Conversion Before the Lady Appeared. In our interview, they discuss the history and culture of the peoples of Mexico prior to the Spanish conquest, and how certain aspects of their culture prepared them to receive the revelation of Jesus Christ. They make the case that the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego in 1531 led to the conversion of millions of native Mexican peoples because of this "preparatio evangelica" deposited within Nahua culture (Nahua is the native language of the peoples of Mexico the Spanish encountered). This is an enlightening discussion and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers!

Hello! This is just a brief update on what's cooking for Controversies in Church History. Please take a listen, I have some good things in store for my followers. Cheers!

When did the early Christians begin to seek the intercession of particularly holy people, such as the martyrs? Was this something they copied from Greco-Roman society? In the latest episode of Controversies in Church History, we take a look at the origins of the cult of the saints. In it, I discuss when and how the early Christians began to venerate Christian martyrs, and the evidence of this practice. I address the similarities and differences between the veneration of the saints and Greco-Roman religion, and why veneration of saints marked a radical departure from other religions in the ancient world.

Hello! I thought I would drop a short, unscripted episode about something that has been on my mind recently, namely, elites. Inspired by an embarrassing situation in the Catholic Church in England, I muse on the theory of "elite overproduction" and how it might apply to the Protestant Reformation. Which means I geek out over the numbers of universities founded in late medieval Europe. If you like thinking about history, I hope this more speculative episode whets your appetites. Cheers!

In this episode of Controversies in Church History, we tackle the subject of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire. In the eighth and ninth centuries, Byzantine emperors waged a campaign against the veneration of sacred images, destroying them and persecuting their defenders. Despite this, the practice persisted, and eventually supporters of icons proved victorious and the veneration of images was enshrined in Orthodox and Catholic teaching. In this episode, we will look at the historical context of this important period, discussing the motivation for iconoclasm, the arguments on both sides, and why the eventual triumph of icon veneration is important for the history of Catholicism and Christianity in general.