Catholic Answers Live

“How is the Eucharist not cannibalism?” This question opens a discussion on the nature of the Eucharist, addressing misconceptions while also touching on the movement of the Holy Spirit in communities, the need for an infallible interpreter of scripture, and the concept of mortal sin in Catholic teaching.

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Questions Covered:

04:24 – How is the Eucharist not cannibalism?

15:30 – I think the Pentecostal belief in the real movement of the Holy Spirit within the community was pretty convincing. What is the best response to this?

22:31 – How do I answer the following: The Catholic argument that we need an infallible interpreter for scripture would not work because then you would need an infallible interpreter of the infallible interpreter and so on.

37:08 – For Catholics almost anything can be a mortal sin but for Jesus there is one mortal sin.

43:00 – What was lacking in Jesus that made the Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah in the early church?

52:15 – How do we interpret the magisterium? How do we know when we are interpreting the magisterium correctly?

“How do we know Mary is a perpetual virgin?” This question leads to a discussion on the implications of Luke 1:34 and the differing views between Catholics and Protestants. Other topics include whether Jesus fulfilled all Mosaic sacrificial offerings and the nature of baptism, specifically if it refers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit rather than water.

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Questions Covered:

06:40 – In support of the belief that Mary was a Perpetual virgin, Catholics appeal to Luke 1:34 where Mary asks Gabriel how she’s going to conceive a child since she doesn’t “know man,” the implication being she hasn’t had sexual relations with Joseph. But some Protestants counter that Mary asked this because she wasn’t yet married to Joseph. How do we respond?

13:29 – Regarding Jesus’ sacrifice, did he fulfill all Mosaic sacrificial offerings? Or just specific offerings?

21:19 – Is baptism actually the baptism of the holy spirit, not that of water, and is the evidence speaking in tongues?

29:49 – Were Mary and Joseph actually married but just hadn’t consummated it?

41:35 – Mark 9:38-41 is the best argument for Protestantism.

51:15 – What is the connection between the coronation and the bodily assumption?

Did Vatican II introduce harmful changes to the Catholic Church, and does Catholic theology go too far in defining mysteries like the Eucharist? In this episode of Catholic Answers Live, Catholic Answers apologists respond to major Orthodox objections to Catholicism, covering theology, Church history, and doctrine. The discussion examines Catholic teaching on remarriage and original sin, the necessity of the Immaculate Conception, and the Christological differences between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Additional topics include whether transubstantiation “overdefines” the Eucharist, why Orthodox and Catholic biblical canons differ, and whether Catholic theology lacks the Orthodox essence–energies distinction. A thoughtful and charitable look at some of the deepest divisions between East and West.

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Objections Covered:

02:12 – Vatican II introduced harmful theological and liturgical changes. 

05:51 – Catholic teaching on remarriage is too rigid. 

13:36 – Catholic original sin wrongly teaches inherited guilt. 

17:14 – The Immaculate Conception is unnecessary and unfounded. 

28:52 – What does one say about the Christological differences between the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Catholic. They claim they hold to the early definitions of Ephesus that we have abandoned. 

36:14 – Transubstantiation overdefines the Eucharistic mystery. 

39:57 – Why do Orthodox Churches differ with us on the canon of Scriptura? 

47:57 – Catholicism lacks the essence–energies distinction.

Are papal supremacy and papal infallibility later inventions unknown to the early Church? In this episode of Catholic Answers Live, Catholic Answers apologists respond to some of the most common Orthodox objections to Catholicism. Topics include whether the papacy is biblical, if the Filioque was an illegitimate change to the Nicene Creed, and whether mandatory clerical celibacy reflects apostolic Christianity. The discussion also examines claims that purgatory and indulgences are Western corruptions, whether doctrinal development preserves or distorts the faith, and if Rome’s actions caused the East–West Schism. Finally, the episode addresses whether Vatican I contradicts the structure and authority of the early Church. A deep and charitable exploration of the major theological divisions between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

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Objections Covered:

02:34 – Papal supremacy is unbiblical and unknown in the early Church. 

12:00 – Papal infallibility is a late doctrinal invention. Papal authority undermines conciliar Church governance. 

18:45 – The Filioque is both unauthorized and theologically incorrect. Rome illegitimately altered the Nicene Creed. 

24:20 – Mandatory clerical celibacy is non-apostolic. 

30:33 – Purgatory is a Western innovation without early consensus. 

36:37 – Doctrinal development is corruption, not preservation. 

42:07 – Indulgences distort repentance and were historically abused. 

45:40 – The East–West Schism was caused by Rome’s overreach. 

49:42 – Vatican I contradicts the structure of the early Church.

Could Jesus have been an alien using advanced technology—and how can Christians know that’s not true? In this episode of Catholic Answers Live, Jimmy Akin tackles some of the strangest and most fascinating questions listeners have ever asked. He explains whether receiving Communion affects Ash Wednesday fasting rules, what kinds of abilities resurrected bodies may have, and why theories about Jesus as an extraterrestrial don’t hold up historically or theologically. The discussion also explores why Rome is called the Church founded by Christ despite Jerusalem coming first chronologically, whether dinosaur cancer challenges traditional understandings of the Fall, and what Christians should think about pets and the end times. A fun and thoughtful episode blending theology, science, apologetics, and the unusual questions Jimmy Akin is famous for addressing.

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Questions Covered:

04:04 – In the case of Ash Wednesday, when fasting and abstinence are required, would receiving communion break one’s fast or count as a smaller meal? In other words, can one receive communion in addition to eating one full meal and two smaller meals? Thanks, Jimmy! 

12:24 – Hi Jimmy. You’ve previously mentioned Aquinas and the possibility that humans have low-level psychic ability.. Will our resurrected body have other abilities, such as telekinesis or telepathy? Will I be able to fly like Superman? Jesus ascended, and there are stories about Saints “levitating”, so will the body get any potential flying or levitating abilities, or what other abilities might we get? 

23:48 – How can we be sure that Jesus wasn’t actually an alien talking about his “father in heaven” who is actually in outer space and his spaceship is actually his kingdom? And the eternal life that we get from following Jesus to his kingdom is from advanced alien technology that keeps you alive forever? And the immaculate conception was by an alien that performed IVF on Mary, and the “angels” in the Bible are actually all just aliens too? This question has really been the only thing challenging my faith, even though it seems preposterous. 

40:59 – How is the Church of Rome considered “the first church” or “the church that Christ founded”, when (chronologically) the first church was in Jerusalem? 

44:38 – I watched a video with a young earth creationist who claimed that there are dinosaur fossils that show evidence of cancer, which was, in his opinion, proof that dinosaurs existed after the fall because cancer wouldn’t have existed until after the fall. The question has kind of bothered me ever since. If dinosaurs went extinct before humans existed, why would they have had cancer? 

50:22 – What will happen to our pets after the Rapture?