That was a brilliant line: "We are catechized by our culture and paint this veneer of Christianity over top of it." That describes so much of the "popular" or "mainstream" Christianity I see today. Well said.
I agree Dan. I love this quote from Austin so much. It immediately reminded me of what Ghandi said about Christians. He said I like your Christ. How wonderful it would be if Christians were more like Him. I must admit that I am not quoting Ghandi word for word here, but the statement has stuck with me for decades. Austin's insight continues to impress me.
@@liammac5540 Arians of the fourth century openly denied Christ’s divinity, today‘s Arians will profess Jesus as God, and yet through their actions deny it. In other words, they don’t even know they are Arians...
Just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate it this interview. my only point of critique would be that it only was in a half hour? Hahaha Great stuff! This is what Christendom needs, to even survive for one generation.
It's so profound that you understand how Americanism has perverted the gospel. If I hadn't married a Punjabi, I wouldn't have realized just how corrosive such worldviews can be, especially when conflated with Christianity. I also wouldn't have found Orthodoxy. God bless your efforts!
I remember Evangelicals and Catholics together. Chuck Colson was in it. I was very very into it! I am a cradle Catholic grandma. I learned so much from my Evangelical sisters and brothers everywhere! Still do. I have great memories of so many past events etc.we can unite on Christ! We must unite on Christ! I love you guys! Thank you! Yes help Father L get this going again! 💜👍🙏✝️😊
Was pleased to hear a discussion, if only briefly, on the "Cosmic Scope of Redemption". As Christians, we’re meant to be a part of something larger than ourselves. In other words, Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension have cosmic, universal consequences. It isn’t just about “me” and “my salvation", the power of the Cross goes far beyond that.
What a wonderful set of interviews with Father. I agree wholeheartedly- with what he is saying - one of reasons I went to the eastern Catholic Church for years and ultimately found myself drawn to the Traditional Latin mass is directly related to “wanting steak and not hamburger” comment - that hits the nail on the head. I think - like the east - there s a place for a married priesthood alongside with the celibate priesthood. From what I’ve seen it can work - but the wives have to just as committed. Thanks again Austin for another great interview !
As a Catholic...I have to say...you put some really good content on your shows! I love learning the differences that other religious denominations hold.
Absolutely excellent! So much of what Fr. Longnecker said really resonated with me. So profound. I'm really looking forward to reading his books! Thank you for another great interview, Austin.
I think that almost all of Christianity has been plagued by "moral relativism" for too long. As a Catholic, I rarely hear the priest mention anything about sin, hell, or the need to go to confession. If we have no rules, what's the point in following them? I find it interesting that in many cases, the traditional Latin Masses are better attended than the Novus Ordo. People look for guidance and direction. You just can't be a ship without a rudder. I also have to sadly agree with him about there being a lot of anti-catholic sentiment out there. There is still much of a mentality of "ABC--Anything But Catholic". Something could be good and completely innocuous, but if it has the label "Catholic", many Protestant brothers and sisters won't touch it. It's like, "if I touch or even come close to this I'll die". Very sad.
@csterett. The TLM / NO divide in the US Church is deplorable. In Asia and Africa, there is virtually no TLM but the NO Mass is celebrated reverently - one can recover the Holy Eucharist kneeling, standing in the mouth or hand - and the number of converts growing rapidly. There is authenic orthodoxy and traditional Catholic beliefs been taught. So it is sad to see the bitter divide in the US Catholic Church and many holier than thou attitudes of rad trads
@@jeremiahong248 IMHO there has been too much “experimentation” in the Novus Ordo. there are ones that are anything but reverent. They are more entertainment than worship. We have lost the sense of sacred. Lay people reading and distributing communion, some gyms being anything but reverent. When an ordinary person is allowed to distribute the Eucharist instead of a priest it says “this is ordinary. When only the priest distributes communion it says “this is sacred because only a priest can handle it.” I could go on and on. I grew up with the Novus Ordo, but I still remember a time when Mass was celebrated with deep reverence. I do consider myself to be a traditionalist, but I am so because I see what has happened in the church. This doesn’t mean I disrespect those who have a different opinion, and it also doesn’t mean I don’t respect Pope Francis.
@@csterett I don't respect Pope Francis either. But it doesn't mean I identify with the rad trads. The NO Mass is reverently celebrated in many countries including mine. I am a convert to Catholicism through the NO. There are many practising Catholics who attends reverently celebrated NO Masses. Cardinal Sarah, Cardinal Schneider are from Asia and Africa. Even with the NO Mass, there is more orthodoxy and traditional Catholicism in Africa and Asia than the US. I am not gloating about this nor am I happy. It is sad to see the right and left wing divide in the US Church. A number of the US cardinals are heretics and with poor leadership bred poorly formed priests which lead to NO Masses having a bad name and the sex abuse cases.
@@jeremiahong248 I respect Pope Francis because he is the successor to St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ. That doesn't mean I agree with what he's done. Just as in the military, it's about the rank, not the person. I agree that the Novus Ordo *can* be cerebrated reverently, but more often than not it isn't. I don't like the divisions within the Church. Sadly they reflect the divisions within our society. I don't think the sex abuse scandals have much to do with the NO. These are very sick people who want control. Sex abuse isn't about the need for sexual gratification, it's about controlling the individual(s). That's why allowing priest to marry wouldn't help the situation. The you would have *married* priests abusing children, perhaps their own children.The bishops have made a mess of it, but they are far from alone. It happens in Protestant churches also, and it gets covered up because people don't want to believe that a (supposed) man of God could do these despicable things, They also want to avoid scandal.
@@csterett For lay people who have been screened and trained to proclaim Scripture and distribute the Body and Blood of Christ does not make them less sacred. Our priests are sinners as much as the rest of us. If the priest must do everything, soon we will have no Mass at all. Already in the U.S., one priest is often responsible for 2-3 parishes. Involving people in the Eucharistic celebration deepens our sense of the sacred. But we do need to rid ourselves of those odd practices that do not belong. Entertainment and festivals belong in the church hall, not in the Mass.
When it comes to the spiritual warfare, it says in Revelation that the saints overcome by the word of their testimony ( who Jesus is) and the blood of the Lamb.
I loved this video. Things the two of you touched on are things that I've been discussing with friends and family, and why I'm in the process of converting to the Orthodox Church.
Thank you, Austin go another good presentation. I believe you are encouraging Evangelicals, Catholic and Orthodox together. I teach Confirmation classes to high school kids. I teach them that the world they live in is neo-pagan as opposed to Judeo-Christisn. Man is matter only versus body and soul. Truth is time, place and circumstance as opposed to absolute, eternal and universal. The source of truth is the self, as opposed to God. The measure of truth is one's feelings rather than natural law (reason) and faith. The purpose of life is pleasure as opposed to service. The afterlife is none as opposed to heaven, hell and (pace our Protestant brethren) purgatory. Matter has always existed as opposed to creatio ex nihilo, therefore a creator as determined by the Greeks through reason and natural law, by the Jews from Revelation and by the Christians by reason and revelation. As always informative.
Wow. That was a wonderful interview and I really enjoyed that. Thank you Austin for all your efforts in bringing these dialogues to your subscribers. Great work your doing on your channel. Excited to see your next videos!
I have little push back on the speaker here. The idea that society has no role in someone’s choices seems like a huge blind spot. While as individuals we are responsible. I think we can see the impacts of living in a broken society. Growing up in a very poor violent neighborhood I have seen first hand how many of the kids I grow up with would of had different lives if it wasn’t for the impacts of having bad schools, addicted parents, childhood abuse. I need to know what the biblical view of that is. Because to ignore that reality doesn’t seem like a biblical world view but a modern conservative American talking point. Thanks for the interview as always.
I can’t answer for the speaker but Catholics do believe that free will can be affected by some of the factors you mentioned. The way I interpreted what the speaker said was that it shouldn’t be a free pass always. That teaching victimhood as society has done is a disservice. I think I understand what you mean being a public school teacher. Sometimes I don’t know how students keep trudging through life with things that have happened to them and situations they are living in. Some have been through more in 14 years than I have in a life time.
I think Fr Longenecker was overemphasing the wrongness of excluding individual responsibilities the same way society entails, paradoxically, individualism, hedonism and egotism. But your points are just tremendously important. One document that talks about some effects like violence and divorce through the children’s lives is “Amoris Laetitia” (the Joy of Love, in Latin), a post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation from Pope Francis (in 2016) that caused polemics amongst the most conservative Catholics. I haven’t read it all though, but the parts I read truly made a positive impact on me (I didn’t get to see polemics in those parts).
I am Mexican American and grew up very poor in a family with 9 brothers and sisters. My siblings and I could have made poor choices because of our lack of money and material things, but we did not because of how are parents centered our lives around our Catholic faith. We are all productive in society (several have college degrees) but most of all we still center our lives around our faith. I look back at my life and thank God that I grew up poor, because who knows what poor choices we would have made living in a materialistic environment. I hate when people push their victim ideology on others especially when they have never experienced it. Instead they should push the importance of family and Christ’s Church. God will always provide and we should never believe that he has the answers for things we don’t understand.
Excellent. Your title was an excellent draw. Christianity I believe has become harder, because of the world pushing in so much more. I know as a Catholic I have been persecuted a lot recently, and am considered a bigot and racist somehow because of my Christianity. I’m not liberal enough. But, I totally agree with him that this an atheistic culture. But to fight in this current world is getting more difficult because we are seen as horrible people, not liberal enough. And it will only get worse. Natural disasters are on the rise. Just look at the cold. We had Texas, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia even had snow. And India! All in the same week. I believe God is in control of the weather, and although people may have a slight effect on it via pollution etc, but aren’t we being a bit arrogant here thinking we can control it? More atheistic Culture. There is more anger, rioting around the world and churches still closed in some areas, but abortion centers are open, and more. Evil, demons have been running rampant and have ramped up their work. And we mustn’t be arrogant thinking we are smarter than they are because we aren’t. But if we stay close to Christ we are on the right path and nothing can hurt us. I recently moved to a new area and attend a rural church. I have a wonderful priest who isn’t liberal like my last one was. He is terrific. And receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ in the mass is a blessing. Pray for souls. Pray for their conversion.
21:26 >Jesus shows us what true love is like >superficial I'm sorry, WHAT? Love is the whole reason for all of this and the cross. If you think that is superficial you missed the whole point and you teach heresy!
Well, Fr Longenecker explicitly said it is not the only important thing about religion; so to say love is all that matters, according to his argument, is not really bringing any truer sense to Christianity. But saying love is the summary of God’s commandments and the most important virtue of a Christian life, more important than faith itself - because love is the very essence of what God is -, can and do make us closer to Him and can make we share and participate in the divine glory. So I understood his criticism but it would be better to calibrate it, of course. Look, what “love” is can fit the worst of ourselves (that sometimes can resemble anything but love) and be depicted in a virtue signaling fashion, being hugely adaptable to the surrounding culture that values everything and hates Christ. The more it can be mixed into the demands of popular and secular culture and to serve it, the less we are actually serving Our Lord. So I wouldn’t say Fr Longenecker said “love is superficial”. I watched this part all over again. But to say (like the Beatles) that “love is all you need” is superficial, the same as saying we don’t need “religio vera”, the true religion, to transform us and the world. So that is much closer to dancing the wrong song and to misunderstanding our faith; to make it resemble what we want but not what we truly need as sinners and fractured people. Maybe it was his point (because I understood it that way). God bless you and yours.
@@brunot2481 My great issue with this is that God himself is love. The name of the Holy Spirit is Love. How can anyone call that superficial? Maybe the english language just sucks at expressing stuff, but to call Love superficial is outright blasphemy. It's either Love or it's superficial, take your pick, those two things don't mix.
Evangelicals have an easier time facing the problem Father discusses. Catholics are stuck with a Pope who is Exhibit I of a Christian trying to baptize the Zeitgeist.
Contemporary Christian scholarship is very superficial and lazy. Biblical verses are cherrypicked and extrabiblical works are essentially never taught. I am just now at 27 reading about the Orthodox patristics. I feel that I should have learned about such material in my Sunday schools and church sermons as a child.
Hi, I think this was an interesting interview, but the structural aspects of the good Father’s work isn’t really on point. Take, for example, a theology of poverty and injustice. We don’t just have a Bible which instructs us to keep our heads down to injustice or to hold blame, but one that even God Himself condemns. Look at parts of Micah or even the Book of James. Unfortunately, American Catholicism has been so tightly wedded to its own cultural norms that unlike say in Europe or especially Latin America, where people can call capitalism out by name and deed, we in the North reduce everything to the individual. Which strikes me as somewhat ironic, given how the English and French Enlightenment philosophers would have agreed, perhaps to the chagrin of the interviewee.
I respectfully disagree with any kind of theology of poverty and by that I mean any kind of theologizing that will make the poor a theological “topos” to use as an instrument for liberation in this world, but not in the next. I agree with the criticism of capitalism, materialism and individualism, but any kind of theology that wanted to make heavenly realities here in this realm explicitly diminished the transcendental dimension of faith and made a swap for pure immanence whenever embracing political categories. So that’s exactly the error from the Jews: they didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah because they thought He would liberate God’s people from their enemies (and they imagined the enemy to be the foreign conqueror but not the Prince of the World, Satan, and ignored that Jesus freed us truly from sin and from eternal damnation, not from poverty and political or material affliction). So political or economic liberation can be preached theologically as long as they serve the true Kindgom of God and are the works of love, and so long heaven is not really of this world but of the world to come - therefore this world is a preparation for realities to come, and I mean the glory to see God face to face. All ideologies that promised heaven on earth produced nothing but the cruelest versions of hell: absolute tyranny in misery and/or materialistic corruption with grave moral deprivation. I am a Brazilian Catholic and the bizarre dimension of this “theology of liberation” made grave damage to our faith in all Latin America just as obtuse individualism and the lack of true missionary spirit and works of charity/love maybe can be said to have made equivalent damage in the USA, the richest country in the world by far. So I actually despise the politicization and the “ideologization” of the faith or the Church, whatever direction it points in the political/economical spectrum, even though I would recognize that individualism and egotism won in the surrounding mainstream culture of the world, and I’d say having large possessions can be very dangerous to our spiritual life and therefore cause difficulties to our salvific processes (and we need to call it out sometimes).
Hey Brother, I think you raise some great points! But the audience for me is the uncritical, knee-jerk conservative Christian who often equates his or her culture as the correct one-because it addresses one or two sins. In North America, it’s hard to find a single person who knows Dorothy Day, for example, or the Catholic Worker movement. Because they are too fixated on the narrow cultural lens we here have sadly grown up with.
The True Christianity never changed since the time of Christ. Christians are to follow the life of Christ and should only do what is acceptable to Him. - We have to do, each in our own way, what Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount.
What is religion? It is man's attempt to please Deity and come up to His standard. Christianity is God reaching out to a lost world and lifting man up to His standard.
Yes! that and so much more. Reminds me of 2 Peter 2:2-4: "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature"
Yes it has gotten too easy. FOr starters the protestant creed of Sola Fide has eliminated the need for authentic parctice of faith. It really is NOT all that biblical if you take into account all the bible has to say about faith versus works.
So what did this gay Jesus actually achieve on a personal level?! Jesus achieved absolutely nothing!" However, .. any debate on this is useless, since a god needs to be proven - First.
Anyone in the military will tell you that when standards are high (ie: difficult) and applied consistently, morale is high. When standards are low or applied inconsistently, morale will deteriorate. I believe the low standards and tolerance of evil and sin found in contemporary Christianity is deeply demoralizing, especially to men. The virtue of care, which is appropriate for toddlers in a home but not for adults with moral agency, has been weaponized to protect evil ... we want all of the "You're forgiven" with none of the "Go and sin no more." Asceticism and beauty will attract more souls than pop music and coffee shops (which exist in superior forms in the secular marketplace).
![[[OFFICIAL MV]] เอิ้นขวัญให้อ้าย- อ๊ะอาย สกุณาพร | ค่ายเพลงเป็นหนึ่ง](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/83x6L3X3qh0/mqdefault.jpg)
That was a brilliant line: "We are catechized by our culture and paint this veneer of Christianity over top of it."
That describes so much of the "popular" or "mainstream" Christianity I see today. Well said.
Thanks!
I agree Dan. I love this quote from Austin so much. It immediately reminded me of what Ghandi said about Christians. He said I like your Christ. How wonderful it would be if Christians were more like Him. I must admit that I am not quoting Ghandi word for word here, but the statement has stuck with me for decades. Austin's insight continues to impress me.
@@liammac5540 Arians of the fourth century openly denied Christ’s divinity, today‘s Arians will profess Jesus as God, and yet through their actions deny it. In other words, they don’t even know they are Arians...
Boy. This is what I needed. This is what we all need. A return to the Old Rugged Cross.
Glad you enjoyed it!
As you see the weight of the sin.
You see the Glory of the Cross.
Mindblown
Right?
Great interview 😇 My favorite book by Fr. Longenecker is *The Romance of Religion*
Thanks! I'll have to check it out
Just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate it this interview. my only point of critique would be that it only was in a half hour? Hahaha
Great stuff! This is what Christendom needs, to even survive for one generation.
It's so profound that you understand how Americanism has perverted the gospel. If I hadn't married a Punjabi, I wouldn't have realized just how corrosive such worldviews can be, especially when conflated with Christianity. I also wouldn't have found Orthodoxy. God bless your efforts!
Getting to see things from different cultural perspectives is so valuable! I’m glad that has been helpful for you
I remember Evangelicals and Catholics together. Chuck Colson was in it. I was very very into it! I am a cradle Catholic grandma. I learned so much from my Evangelical sisters and brothers everywhere! Still do.
I have great memories of so many past events etc.we can unite on Christ! We must unite on Christ! I love you guys! Thank you! Yes help Father L get this going again! 💜👍🙏✝️😊
Fr. Longnecker has a very pleasing voice to listen to!
Awwww thanks for the❤️!
Was pleased to hear a discussion, if only briefly, on the "Cosmic Scope of Redemption".
As Christians, we’re meant to be a part of something larger than ourselves. In other words, Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension have cosmic, universal consequences. It isn’t just about “me” and “my salvation", the power of the Cross goes far beyond that.
What a wonderful set of interviews with Father. I agree wholeheartedly- with what he is saying - one of reasons I went to the eastern Catholic Church for years and ultimately found myself drawn to the Traditional Latin mass is directly related to “wanting steak and not hamburger” comment - that hits the nail on the head.
I think - like the east - there s a place for a married priesthood alongside with the celibate priesthood. From what I’ve seen it can work - but the wives have to just as committed.
Thanks again Austin for another great interview !
Yes, that’s also why I went Traddish. I told my husband I was looking for meat and getting fed gravy.
Married priest with a beard and solid theology. More catholic priests like him, please.
I concur
Read the Imitation of Christ by St Augustine This is what Catholic priests are called for.
@@celiagage that's not by st augustine. It's by Thomas Kempis. I own that book.
@@St.Augustine4006 yes ! My apologies. The book however does explain why priests are called to imitate Christ and are not called for family life.
@@celiagage yeah, it's the greatest book for contemplation besides the books of the Bible.
As a Catholic...I have to say...you put some really good content on your shows! I love learning the differences that other religious denominations hold.
Thanks!
How did you manage to get Fr. Longenecker on here?? This is great
You'd be amazed how many people say yes to a simple email
Mind Blown
Weight of the sin
Makes us realize Glory of the Cross
Looking forward to this second part! Thanks Austin.
Hope you enjoy it!
Absolutely excellent! So much of what Fr. Longnecker said really resonated with me. So profound. I'm really looking forward to reading his books! Thank you for another great interview, Austin.
I'd love to hear you chat with Jonathan Pageau
I'd love to chat with him!
I think I’ve heard Pageau express a similar sentiment about how we’re all scientific materialists and Christianity is sort of layered on top of that
I think that almost all of Christianity has been plagued by "moral relativism" for too long. As a Catholic, I rarely hear the priest mention anything about sin, hell, or the need to go to confession. If we have no rules, what's the point in following them? I find it interesting that in many cases, the traditional Latin Masses are better attended than the Novus Ordo. People look for guidance and direction. You just can't be a ship without a rudder.
I also have to sadly agree with him about there being a lot of anti-catholic sentiment out there. There is still much of a mentality of "ABC--Anything But Catholic". Something could be good and completely innocuous, but if it has the label "Catholic", many Protestant brothers and sisters won't touch it. It's like, "if I touch or even come close to this I'll die". Very sad.
@csterett. The TLM / NO divide in the US Church is deplorable. In Asia and Africa, there is virtually no TLM but the NO Mass is celebrated reverently - one can recover the Holy Eucharist kneeling, standing in the mouth or hand - and the number of converts growing rapidly. There is authenic orthodoxy and traditional Catholic beliefs been taught. So it is sad to see the bitter divide in the US Catholic Church and many holier than thou attitudes of rad trads
@@jeremiahong248 IMHO there has been too much “experimentation” in the Novus Ordo. there are ones that are anything but reverent. They are more entertainment than worship. We have lost the sense of sacred. Lay people reading and distributing communion, some gyms being anything but reverent. When an ordinary person is allowed to distribute the Eucharist instead of a priest it says “this is ordinary. When only the priest distributes communion it says “this is sacred because only a priest can handle it.” I could go on and on. I grew up with the Novus Ordo, but I still remember a time when Mass was celebrated with deep reverence. I do consider myself to be a traditionalist, but I am so because I see what has happened in the church. This doesn’t mean I disrespect those who have a different opinion, and it also doesn’t mean I don’t respect Pope Francis.
@@csterett I don't respect Pope Francis either. But it doesn't mean I identify with the rad trads. The NO Mass is reverently celebrated in many countries including mine. I am a convert to Catholicism through the NO. There are many practising Catholics who attends reverently celebrated NO Masses. Cardinal Sarah, Cardinal Schneider are from Asia and Africa. Even with the NO Mass, there is more orthodoxy and traditional Catholicism in Africa and Asia than the US. I am not gloating about this nor am I happy. It is sad to see the right and left wing divide in the US Church. A number of the US cardinals are heretics and with poor leadership bred poorly formed priests which lead to NO Masses having a bad name and the sex abuse cases.
@@jeremiahong248 I respect Pope Francis because he is the successor to St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ. That doesn't mean I agree with what he's done. Just as in the military, it's about the rank, not the person. I agree that the Novus Ordo *can* be cerebrated reverently, but more often than not it isn't. I don't like the divisions within the Church. Sadly they reflect the divisions within our society.
I don't think the sex abuse scandals have much to do with the NO. These are very sick people who want control. Sex abuse isn't about the need for sexual gratification, it's about controlling the individual(s). That's why allowing priest to marry wouldn't help the situation. The you would have *married* priests abusing children, perhaps their own children.The bishops have made a mess of it, but they are far from alone. It happens in Protestant churches also, and it gets covered up because people don't want to believe that a (supposed) man of God could do these despicable things, They also want to avoid scandal.
@@csterett For lay people who have been screened and trained to proclaim Scripture and distribute the Body and Blood of Christ does not make them less sacred. Our priests are sinners as much as the rest of us. If the priest must do everything, soon we will have no Mass at all. Already in the U.S., one priest is often responsible for 2-3 parishes. Involving people in the Eucharistic celebration deepens our sense of the sacred. But we do need to rid ourselves of those odd practices that do not belong. Entertainment and festivals belong in the church hall, not in the Mass.
Just bought his book, Immortal Combat. Can't wait to read it!
Hope you enjoy it!
When it comes to the spiritual warfare, it says in Revelation that the saints overcome by the word of their testimony ( who Jesus is) and the blood of the Lamb.
I enjoyed this so much! Thank you!!
Delightful conversation! Austin, your questions were on point. Fr. Dwight is so interesting, I could listen to him for hours. Hope you two talk again!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Do priests do mic drops?
I support it
I loved this video. Things the two of you touched on are things that I've been discussing with friends and family, and why I'm in the process of converting to the Orthodox Church.
Ooo can't wait for this one, got my reminder notification on.
Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you, Austin go another good presentation. I believe you are encouraging Evangelicals, Catholic and Orthodox together. I teach Confirmation classes to high school kids. I teach them that the world they live in is neo-pagan as opposed to Judeo-Christisn. Man is matter only versus body and soul. Truth is time, place and circumstance as opposed to absolute, eternal and universal. The source of truth is the self, as opposed to God. The measure of truth is one's feelings rather than natural law (reason) and faith. The purpose of life is pleasure as opposed to service. The afterlife is none as opposed to heaven, hell and (pace our Protestant brethren) purgatory. Matter has always existed as opposed to creatio ex nihilo, therefore a creator as determined by the Greeks through reason and natural law, by the Jews from Revelation and by the Christians by reason and revelation.
As always informative.
Thanks for the kind words and thoughtful reflections!
@@GospelSimplicity Always a pleasure to see your work.
Excellent stuff!! You have the smartest guests! Keep up the good work!
Thanks!
Wow. That was a wonderful interview and I really enjoyed that. Thank you Austin for all your efforts in bringing these dialogues to your subscribers. Great work your doing on your channel. Excited to see your next videos!
Amazing as always Austin! Great topic and discussion!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I would love to give the Christian psychologist's perspective on some of this.
Excellent!
Excellent discussion
Thanks!
Wow this was informative
Glad to hear that!
So good, thank you!
Our pleasure!
Moody is pretty close to Saint Nicholas Greco Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy. You should try to schedule a meeting with Bishop Benedict :)
I'll have to look into that!
If I remember correctly, Watchman Nee said that Christianity is not about a changed life but rather an exchanged life.
Ohhh interesting. I read one of his books and really enjoyed it
I have little push back on the speaker here. The idea that society has no role in someone’s choices seems like a huge blind spot. While as individuals we are responsible. I think we can see the impacts of living in a broken society. Growing up in a very poor violent neighborhood I have seen first hand how many of the kids I grow up with would of had different lives if it wasn’t for the impacts of having bad schools, addicted parents, childhood abuse. I need to know what the biblical view of that is. Because to ignore that reality doesn’t seem like a biblical world view but a modern conservative American talking point.
Thanks for the interview as always.
Anyone have a Catholic teaching to address this?
I can’t answer for the speaker but Catholics do believe that free will can be affected by some of the factors you mentioned. The way I interpreted what the speaker said was that it shouldn’t be a free pass always. That teaching victimhood as society has done is a disservice. I think I understand what you mean being a public school teacher. Sometimes I don’t know how students keep trudging through life with things that have happened to them and situations they are living in. Some have been through more in 14 years than I have in a life time.
That’s a good critique!
I think Fr Longenecker was overemphasing the wrongness of excluding individual responsibilities the same way society entails, paradoxically, individualism, hedonism and egotism. But your points are just tremendously important. One document that talks about some effects like violence and divorce through the children’s lives is “Amoris Laetitia” (the Joy of Love, in Latin), a post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation from Pope Francis (in 2016) that caused polemics amongst the most conservative Catholics. I haven’t read it all though, but the parts I read truly made a positive impact on me (I didn’t get to see polemics in those parts).
I am Mexican American and grew up very poor in a family with 9 brothers and sisters. My siblings and I could have made poor choices because of our lack of money and material things, but we did not because of how are parents centered our lives around our Catholic faith. We are all productive in society (several have college degrees) but most of all we still center our lives around our faith. I look back at my life and thank God that I grew up poor, because who knows what poor choices we would have made living in a materialistic environment.
I hate when people push their victim ideology on others especially when they have never experienced it. Instead they should push the importance of family and Christ’s Church. God will always provide and we should never believe that he has the answers for things we don’t understand.
I'm a gay christian, please pray for me.
Happy to pray for you!
@@GospelSimplicity Thank you!
Praying
I will pray for you!
🙏
Excellent. Your title was an excellent draw. Christianity I believe has become harder, because of the world pushing in so much more. I know as a Catholic I have been persecuted a lot recently, and am considered a bigot and racist somehow because of my Christianity. I’m not liberal enough. But, I totally agree with him that this an atheistic culture. But to fight in this current world is getting more difficult because we are seen as horrible people, not liberal enough. And it will only get worse. Natural disasters are on the rise. Just look at the cold. We had Texas, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia even had snow. And India! All in the same week. I believe God is in control of the weather, and although people may have a slight effect on it via pollution etc, but aren’t we being a bit arrogant here thinking we can control it? More atheistic Culture. There is more anger, rioting around the world and churches still closed in some areas, but abortion centers are open, and more. Evil, demons have been running rampant and have ramped up their work. And we mustn’t be arrogant thinking we are smarter than they are because we aren’t. But if we stay close to Christ we are on the right path and nothing can hurt us. I recently moved to a new area and attend a rural church. I have a wonderful priest who isn’t liberal like my last one was. He is terrific. And receiving the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ in the mass is a blessing. Pray for souls. Pray for their conversion.
Thanks for sharing!
The link to his page is broken.....
Great talk, and timely too!
what about doing an interview with a nun on your channel? I think that would be really interesting!
I’m hoping to!
@@GospelSimplicity that would be so cool! Is there anyone you're thinking about having?
And thanks for the reply and the ❤️!
I suggest the Sisters of Life.
Spiritual Warfare
Feel good Christianity
21:26
>Jesus shows us what true love is like
>superficial
I'm sorry, WHAT? Love is the whole reason for all of this and the cross. If you think that is superficial you missed the whole point and you teach heresy!
Well, Fr Longenecker explicitly said it is not the only important thing about religion; so to say love is all that matters, according to his argument, is not really bringing any truer sense to Christianity. But saying love is the summary of God’s commandments and the most important virtue of a Christian life, more important than faith itself - because love is the very essence of what God is -, can and do make us closer to Him and can make we share and participate in the divine glory. So I understood his criticism but it would be better to calibrate it, of course.
Look, what “love” is can fit the worst of ourselves (that sometimes can resemble anything but love) and be depicted in a virtue signaling fashion, being hugely adaptable to the surrounding culture that values everything and hates Christ. The more it can be mixed into the demands of popular and secular culture and to serve it, the less we are actually serving Our Lord. So I wouldn’t say Fr Longenecker said “love is superficial”. I watched this part all over again. But to say (like the Beatles) that “love is all you need” is superficial, the same as saying we don’t need “religio vera”, the true religion, to transform us and the world. So that is much closer to dancing the wrong song and to misunderstanding our faith; to make it resemble what we want but not what we truly need as sinners and fractured people. Maybe it was his point (because I understood it that way). God bless you and yours.
@@brunot2481 My great issue with this is that God himself is love. The name of the Holy Spirit is Love. How can anyone call that superficial? Maybe the english language just sucks at expressing stuff, but to call Love superficial is outright blasphemy. It's either Love or it's superficial, take your pick, those two things don't mix.
Evangelicals have an easier time facing the problem Father discusses. Catholics are stuck with a Pope who is Exhibit I of a Christian trying to baptize the Zeitgeist.
Austin, were you referring to a specific work of James K. A. Smith when you mentioned him in this video? If so, which book or article?
I think I was referring to his book Desiring the Kingdom, though You Are What You Love covers similar topics
Excellent video. Must admit I wouldn't go to mass if God hadn't told me to.
Hi Austin. What it the book about the sin of the world?
Contemporary Christian scholarship is very superficial and lazy. Biblical verses are cherrypicked and extrabiblical works are essentially never taught. I am just now at 27 reading about the Orthodox patristics. I feel that I should have learned about such material in my Sunday schools and church sermons as a child.
I heard Fr. L had a stroke and was not doing much now. Is he ok? Is that true or a rumor?
I hope I am wrong.
God bless.
Classical School Movement
Merch link isn’t working 😔
✌️
Hi, I think this was an interesting interview, but the structural aspects of the good Father’s work isn’t really on point. Take, for example, a theology of poverty and injustice. We don’t just have a Bible which instructs us to keep our heads down to injustice or to hold blame, but one that even God Himself condemns. Look at parts of Micah or even the Book of James.
Unfortunately, American Catholicism has been so tightly wedded to its own cultural norms that unlike say in Europe or especially Latin America, where people can call capitalism out by name and deed, we in the North reduce everything to the individual. Which strikes me as somewhat ironic, given how the English and French Enlightenment philosophers would have agreed, perhaps to the chagrin of the interviewee.
I respectfully disagree with any kind of theology of poverty and by that I mean any kind of theologizing that will make the poor a theological “topos” to use as an instrument for liberation in this world, but not in the next. I agree with the criticism of capitalism, materialism and individualism, but any kind of theology that wanted to make heavenly realities here in this realm explicitly diminished the transcendental dimension of faith and made a swap for pure immanence whenever embracing political categories. So that’s exactly the error from the Jews: they didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah because they thought He would liberate God’s people from their enemies (and they imagined the enemy to be the foreign conqueror but not the Prince of the World, Satan, and ignored that Jesus freed us truly from sin and from eternal damnation, not from poverty and political or material affliction). So political or economic liberation can be preached theologically as long as they serve the true Kindgom of God and are the works of love, and so long heaven is not really of this world but of the world to come - therefore this world is a preparation for realities to come, and I mean the glory to see God face to face. All ideologies that promised heaven on earth produced nothing but the cruelest versions of hell: absolute tyranny in misery and/or materialistic corruption with grave moral deprivation. I am a Brazilian Catholic and the bizarre dimension of this “theology of liberation” made grave damage to our faith in all Latin America just as obtuse individualism and the lack of true missionary spirit and works of charity/love maybe can be said to have made equivalent damage in the USA, the richest country in the world by far. So I actually despise the politicization and the “ideologization” of the faith or the Church, whatever direction it points in the political/economical spectrum, even though I would recognize that individualism and egotism won in the surrounding mainstream culture of the world, and I’d say having large possessions can be very dangerous to our spiritual life and therefore cause difficulties to our salvific processes (and we need to call it out sometimes).
Hey Brother, I think you raise some great points! But the audience for me is the uncritical, knee-jerk conservative Christian who often equates his or her culture as the correct one-because it addresses one or two sins. In North America, it’s hard to find a single person who knows Dorothy Day, for example, or the Catholic Worker movement. Because they are too fixated on the narrow cultural lens we here have sadly grown up with.
Catholics twisting the true gospel message ? Talking about Fr James Martin ?
My answet is yes. Christianity has become too easy. For most people. But too difficult for some (gays and lesbians).
Interesting perspective!
It's literally never been easier in Christian history to be gay than today.
The True Christianity never changed since the time of Christ. Christians are to follow the life of Christ and should only do what is acceptable to Him. - We have to do, each in our own way, what Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount.
He focused on Rousseau too much. No one has heard of him
What is religion? It is man's attempt to please Deity and come up to His standard. Christianity is God reaching out to a lost world and lifting man up to His standard.
Yes! that and so much more. Reminds me of 2 Peter 2:2-4:
"His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature"
Wrong.
Amen 🙏🏾
Yes it has gotten too easy. FOr starters the protestant creed of Sola Fide has eliminated the need for authentic parctice of faith. It really is NOT all that biblical if you take into account all the bible has to say about faith versus works.
Secular Materialistic Worldview
Tell it to the Pope, Father.
So what did this gay Jesus actually achieve on a personal level?!
Jesus achieved absolutely nothing!"
However,
.. any debate on this is useless, since a god
needs to be proven - First.
Anyone in the military will tell you that when standards are high (ie: difficult) and applied consistently, morale is high. When standards are low or applied inconsistently, morale will deteriorate.
I believe the low standards and tolerance of evil and sin found in contemporary Christianity is deeply demoralizing, especially to men. The virtue of care, which is appropriate for toddlers in a home but not for adults with moral agency, has been weaponized to protect evil ... we want all of the "You're forgiven" with none of the "Go and sin no more."
Asceticism and beauty will attract more souls than pop music and coffee shops (which exist in superior forms in the secular marketplace).