Polycarp's Paradigm

The last episode (for now) of Polycarp's Paradigm! The mission has been fulfilled and it is time to retire the podcast. In this episode Eric parts ways with final thoughts and advice for his listeners. Enjoy! 

Pat Flynn and Eric Robinson have teamed up on 72 episodes. Join them as they reflect on some of their favorite episodes and grill one another with tough questions one last time.

Katie is my beloved bride to be. It is time to introduce her to you all. In this episode you get to hear some of her faith journey and the story of how we first met. Enjoy! 

Pat and Eric finished their commentary on all 21 chapters of the Gospel of John and it is time to summarize the key themes: Jesus is God, Mary's Role as Intercessor and Mother, and the sacramental life of the Church (Baptism & Eucharist), among other themes.

Arland Nichols is the Founder and President of the St. John Paul II Foundation. "Together in Holiness" is one of their initiatives that provides marriage enrichment to couples. Arland not only speaks to this program, but being a husband and a father of nine children, he gives Eric some great marriage and parenting advice in this episode. https://forlifeandfamily.org/

Jesus restores Peter to shepherd His Church as the Gospel of John concludes.

Dr. Michael Dauphinais, Professor and Chair of Theology at Ave Maria University, helps unpack biblical answers to ten pressing questions about Catholicism. He co-authored a book with Dr. Matthew Levering, "The Wisdom of the Word." Check it out at https://www.wordonfire.org/wisdom/.

Christ is risen! 

Salvation is a process. The sacraments and our cooperation with the grace God gives us through them is integral to our salvation. In this episode, we will explore some of the rich Scriptures in the New Testament that underscore Catholic teaching. 

Jesus carries his cross, gives us his Mother, and dies for our sins as the Lamb of God. 

Jesus speaks about the Church, her sacramental life, and the necessity of following his commands. In this episode we explore different Bible verses from the Gospels that every Catholic should know when in dialogue with others. 

The suffering of Christ begins in this chapter with the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is struck by soldiers, denied by Peter, and condemned as a heretic. 

There are specific Bible verses I believe every Catholic should know when speaking with non-Catholics. Going over these verses allows us to see the Scriptural roots of our faith. We begin in this episode with the Old Testament. 

If you only believe in that which you can see, taste, touch, smell, or test under a microscope, then how do you begin to grapple with invisible realities like concepts, math, abstractions, etc. If these dimensions are real, then what is their cause? There must be a Prime Thinker, namely God.

Ought all Christians to become Catholic? Most Christians think of Christian unity as a good thing, but oftentimes due to having a differing view of the nature of the Church, they have conflicting views as to what unity looks like. In this episode we explore my essay from "Essays in the Deep" on the necessity for all Christians to be visibly unified in the Catholic Church.

On the eve of Christ’s Passion, Jesus prayed to the Heavenly Father for his disciples, “that they may all be one… so that the world may believe that you have sent me”(Jn 17:21 RSV-2CE). What kind of unity is Jesus praying for and why? Is this unity only an invisible bond between believers, or is it something more, something both invisible and visible?

This is my favorite essay from my new book, "Essays in the Deep," which can be found on Amazon.com. In it we discover what true reform is and why the Protestant Reformation was really a revolt against the Church Christ established, the Catholic Church. 

Jesus consoles his disciples by reassuring them that it is better for him to leave so the Spirit can come to them who will guide them into all truth. Oftentimes we think of this individually, rather than collectively for the Church. Pat and I unpack this passage and much more in John 16.

Christ is clearly portrayed as divine in the latest written Gospel, the Gospel of John, but what about the earlier Gospels? Did the early Christians just have hallucinations of a bodily resurrection and then make the man Jesus into a divine being? Or did the resurrection actually happen and Christ was shown to be divine from the beginning? 

Eric's new book: "Essays in the Deep"

We must abide in Christ as a branch remains on the vine, or else we will not bear fruit and be cut off. How do we abide in Christ?