The Inquisition: When Faith Became Fear

St. Benedict and the Rule That Quietly Changed the World

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores St. Benedict and the Rule of St. Benedict as one of Christianity’s quiet revolutions, a way of life rooted in listening, prayer, work, humility, stability, hospitality, and shared community. In a culture shaped by speed, noise, anxiety, self expression, and constant distraction, Benedict invites us into a different rhythm, one that forms us slowly into people of deeper presence, peace, and love. Would love to hear your thoughts! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2617303/fan_mail/new]

The Inquisition: When Faith Became Fear

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores the Inquisition as one of the most sobering examples in Christian history of what happens when faith becomes entangled with fear, certainty, institutional power, and coercion. We look at the medieval, Spanish, and Roman Inquisitions and ask how a tradition centered on the mercy and compassion of Jesus could come to justify forced conversions, torture, and even death in the name of protecting truth — and what that history still warns us about today. Would love to hear your thoughts! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2617303/fan_mail/new]

Theosis: Do We Become Divine?

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores the ancient Christian idea of theosis — the startling belief that salvation is not merely about being forgiven or going somewhere after we die, but about humanity becoming divine by grace, participation, and communion with God. Drawing from the Eastern Church, Athanasius, Irenaeus, icons, the Transfiguration, and Gregory Palamas, the episode asks what Christianity might look like if we understood salvation less as a transaction and more as healing, transformation, and becoming fully alive in the life and love of God. Would love to hear your thoughts! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2617303/fan_mail/new]

The Crusades: When The Church Went To War

This episode of The Unintentional Heretic explores the Crusades as one of Christianity’s most sobering examples of what happens when faith becomes entangled with empire, violence, certainty, and political ambition. It traces the Crusades through their most consequential and tragic moments — the First Crusade’s conquest of Jerusalem, the rise of Saladin, the heartbreaking Children’s Crusade, and the catastrophic Fourth Crusade — while asking how a faith centered on the way of Jesus became capable of blessing holy war, and what that history still warns us about today. Would love to hear your thoughts! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2617303/fan_mail/new]

Gnosticism: Christianity's First Great Heresy?

In this episode of The Unintentional Heretic, we explore Gnosticism—the ancient Christian movement that taught salvation comes through awakening to the divine spark within—and the profound influence of Platonic philosophy, the Demiurge, Valentinus, Marcion, and the battle for the soul of early Christianity. Along the way, we ask a question that remains surprisingly relevant today: is the goal of spirituality to escape the world, or to discover the sacredness of creation, embodiment, and ordinary human life? Would love to hear your thoughts! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2617303/fan_mail/new]