Crash Course Catholicism

Crash Course Catholicism

A summary of the teachings of the Catholic Church, given to you in short, easy-to-digest episodes, uploaded fortnightly.

Episodes

July 8, 2025 29 mins

What is the Bible, really, and how do we read it? How can we say that the Bible is both the Word of God and the work of human authors? What should we do when we come across a tricky passage that we don't know how to interpret?

Welcome to our next deep dive! In these next few episodes, we'll unpack some of the most common questions about the Bible, and lay a foundation for how to approach it as Catholics.


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  • To wrap up our deep dive into the existence of God, in this episode we take a look at the life of St Augustine.

    St. Augustine is a doctor of the church, and one of the greatest saints in the history of Christianity. But before his conversion, he spent his youth struggling with sin, heresy, vanity, and lust. He was the product of a culture that celebrated male sexual exploits as a sign of status and masculinity, and he felt that hap...

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    "The fact that people's religion tends to align with the culture and country that they grew up in shows that religion is just a cultural construct"

    "There are so many hypocritical people who have used religion to abuse others, to start wars, or to seek power. These people undermine the validity of religion."

    "We no longer need God; science explains everything we need to know."

    "If God exists, the...

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    "Atheists don't need to substantiate their position; the burden of proof lies with the theist because they're the one making a positive claim to belief."

    "God is just something people turn to for comfort."

    "Atheists just believe in one god fewer than Christians do."

    "There is no evidence for the existence of God."

    "If God is good and He loves me, then why is He so difficult to find?&...

    In this episode, we continue our deep dive into the question: How do we know God exists?

    Today we will give an overview of various popular arguments for the existence of God, including the Kalam Cosmological Argument, the fine tuning of the universe, William Paley’s Watchmaker Argument, the argument from aesthetic experience, and Pascal’s wager.

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    May 3, 2025 11 mins

    In this short, bonus episode, we discuss what a papal conclave looks like. How does voting work? How many votes are needed for someone to be elected pope? Why is the process so secretive?

    The information in this episode comes from "Universi Dominici Gregis", an apostolic constitution which outlines the prescriptions for papal elections. The full document can be found here.


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    In this episode, we continue our deep dive into the question: How do we know God exists?

    Today we will wrap up our discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas's Five Ways by analysing the Fourth Way (the argument from gradation/degree) and the Fifth Way (the argument from order).

    Aquinas' Five Ways are among the most famous arguments for the existence of God, and they have been hugely influential in the history of the Philosophy of Re...

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    Welcome to our deep-dive into the question: How do we know God exists?

    In this series, we return to the topic of God's existence, which we covered aaall the way back in Episode 2 (!!), and we break it open to explore it more deeply.

    In this episode, we look at St. Thomas Aquinas's first three 'ways', or arguments for God's existence. These are among the most famous arguments for the existence of God, and they hav...

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    March 31, 2025 38 mins

    Welcome baaaaaaaack it's Season 3!

    In this season, we're plumbing the depths of Catholicism and the Catechism, doing deep-dives into topics that we have only touched on previously, like the existence of God, the bible, the social doctrine of the church, and theology of the body.

    In this episode, we round off an exploration of the three theological virtues - Faith, Hope, and Love - which we began in our very first episode, by...

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    January 6, 2025 31 mins
    Happy 2025! Let's talk about Hope! Pope Francis has declared 2025 a jubilee year - a year of reconciliation, healing, and mercy. The theme for this jubilee year is "Pilgrims of Hope." So what does it mean to have Hope? How can we grow in Hope, even when bad things are happening? How can we be signs of Hope to others? We'll also wrap up this episode with a quick update on the next few months for the podcast. References and furth...
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    December 8, 2024 31 mins
    What does the "Immaculate Conception" mean? Where do we see evidence of Mary's sinlessness in the Bible? What did the early church fathers have to say about Mary? Why is Mary so important? In this episode, we look at the Catholic church's dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crashcoursecatholicism/ ...
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    November 24, 2024 33 mins
    What is a declaration of nullity, and how is it different from divorce? Can the Catholic church ever dissolve a marriage? What factors would render a marriage null? What does the process of annulment involve? In this episode, we look at the often-misunderstood process of annulment. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crashcoursecatho...
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    November 11, 2024 31 mins
    What's the difference between doctrine and dogma? What's an ecumenical council and how is it different from a synod? What's an encyclical, or an apostolic exhortation, or a papal bull? In this episode, we cover terminology that often comes up in Catholic teaching: DoctrineDogmaEcumenical councilSynodApostolic ConstitutionEncyclicalApostolic ExhortationApostolic LetterMoto ProprioPapal BullVatican Holy SeeReferences and further rea...
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    October 28, 2024 38 mins
    Why does the Catholic church have a pope? What does the pope do? Is he always infallible? Who chooses the pope? What should we do about bad popes? In this episode, we look at how the papacy works. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crashcoursecatholicism/ References and further reading/listening/viewing: Matthew 16John 21Isaiah 22...
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    October 13, 2024 33 mins
    What does the Catholic church teach about angels? How many angels are there? Can they read our minds or see the future? Can I give my guardian angel a name? In this episode we cover the church's teaching on the angels, and tell some stories of the relationship of the saints to their guardian angels. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com...
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    September 29, 2024 36 mins
    Paul and Mary Magdalene were not part of the twelve apostles, but they WERE two incredibly important figures in the early Christian church. They were also both just completely awesome. In this episode, we wrap up our discussion of the apostles with the stories of Saints Paul and Mary Magdalene. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cr...
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    Who were the apostles? What were their lives like? What do we know about them? In these episodes, we unpack the lives of the apostles (plus a couple of bonus extras). Today, we continue with Matthew and John. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crashcoursecatholicism/ References and further reading/listening/viewing: John 1The letter ...
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    September 1, 2024 30 mins
    Who were the apostles? What were their lives like? What do we know about them? In these episodes, we unpack the lives of the apostles (plus a couple of bonus extras). Today, we continue with Matthew and John. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crashcoursecatholicism/ References and further reading/listening/viewing: The Gospel of Joh...
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    Who were the apostles? What were their lives like? What do we know about them? In these episodes, we unpack the lives of the apostles (plus a couple of bonus extras). Today, we continue with four apostles: Andrew, Philip, and the two Jameses. Donate via PayPal Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crashcoursecatholicism/ References and further reading/li...
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    August 4, 2024 25 mins
    Who were the apostles? What were their lives like? What do we know about them? In the next few episodes, we're going to unpack the lives of the apostles (plus a couple of bonus extras), beginning with this episode on Simon Peter. Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=6WSCLFHLCDXH2 Support us on Patreon! Contact the podcast: crashcoursecatholicism@gmail.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crashco...
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