Why did a writer who defended so many deeply Catholic ideas stop just short of becoming Catholic—and what can that tell us about faith, history, and influence?

In this episode of the Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais and ⁠Joseph Pearce⁠ ⁠ explore the fascinating tension at the heart of C.S. Lewis’ life and thought. Mr. Pearce is a Visiting Professor Literature at Ave Maria University and author of C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church, published by ⁠Ignatius Press⁠.

They highlight why Lewis remains essential reading for Catholics, pointing to his strong affirmation of doctrines like purgatory, sacramental life, and the inseparable unity of faith and reason.

Pearce and Dauphinais reflect on the paradox that Lewis’ distance from Catholicism may have expanded his reach, making him a trusted voice for non-Catholics while quietly leading many readers toward the Church.

While also highlighting Pearce's books: C.S Lewis and the Catholic Church⁠

Relevant Episodes:

Why Catholics Should read the Classics w/Joseph Pearce | Ep. 184

Defending the Faith Today with C.S Lewis' Mere Christianity w/Dr. Andrew Swafford | Ep. 169

The Four Loves of C.S Lewis w/David Bates | Ep. 109

What if our modern obsession with justice is actually missing its foundation?

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show,

Dr. Michael Dauphinais and Fr. Stephen Brock explore the meaning of justice through the lens of Thomas Aquinas.

They contrast the classical view of justice as a virtue—a habit of giving others what is due—with modern approaches that reduce it to rights, power, or social systems, often influenced by thinkers like Thomas Hobbes. Fr. Brock argues that today’s intense desire for justice can become distorted when separated from God, leading to frustration, false solutions, or utopian thinking.

Drawing on Aristotle and the Christian tradition, the conversation highlights how justice begins in the moral character of the person, is formed within the family, and ultimately finds its fulfillment in God, who alone can fully set things right. The episode offers a concise but rich reflection on virtue, society, and the deeper meaning of justice in a world searching for it.

Check these out:

The Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Sketch

The Light That Binds: A Study in Thomas Aquinas’s Metaphysics of Natural Law

More Episodes like this:

The Summa for Beginners: Aquinas and Theology w/Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P.

Exploring the Catholic Spiritual Life w/ Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.

What happens when timeless stories of faith are told in a way that feels immediate, human, and deeply personal? In this episode of the Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais interviews Peter Atkinson about the vision behind The Merry Beggars and its rapid growth through audio storytelling. Peter recounts his path from Ave Maria University to pursuing acting, and how an unexpected pivot during the pandemic led to a creative breakthrough. Now working with Relevant Radio, The Merry Beggars produces immersive audio dramas that present the lives of the saints in a compelling and accessible format for modern audiences.

Throughout the conversation, they emphasize the importance of portraying saints as fully human—people who struggled, suffered, and chose courage and faith. These stories, they explain, help listeners better understand their own spiritual journeys, especially in moments of difficulty and doubt. The episode also explores themes of ongoing conversion, the meaning of suffering, and the reality of God’s mercy, ultimately pointing to a larger goal: shaping culture by forming hearts and imaginations through consistent, high-quality storytelling grounded in faith.

Related Episodes:

Faith, film, and the art of story telling w/ Daniel Bielinski

Sharing the Catholic Faith with Generation Alpha w/ Ambrose Bean

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Poetry is far more than personal expression; it is a contemplative encounter with reality itself. In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Ave Maria University welcomes poet, critic, and theologian James Matthew Wilson, Cullen Foundation Chair in English Literature and Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

Professor Wilson explores how the Catholic imagination restores the unity of truth, goodness, and beauty. Drawing from Augustine, Aquinas, Dante, and Benedict XVI, he shows beauty as the splendor of being—the force that first draws us into wonder and ultimately leads us to contemplative praise. Through readings from his collection Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds, Wilson illustrates how disciplined poetic form becomes an act of doxology, responding to the divine love that precedes and sustains all creation.

Related Episodes:

An Introduction to Chestertonian Theology with Joseph Pearce

The Theology of Tolkien w/ Joseph Pearce

Tolkiens Liturgical Imagination in the Lord of the Rings w/ Dr. Ben Reinhard

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Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.

What does it really mean to be a man in a culture that often confuses strength with dominance and softness with compassion? In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Michael Dauphinais welcomes Fr. James Mason for a focused discussion on a largely overlooked challenge in priestly formation: the vice of effeminacy. Drawing on his article, “The Forgotten Vice in Seminary Formation,” Fr. Mason explains effeminacy in the Thomistic sense as a lack of fortitude—an undue softness that hinders authentic masculine virtue.

He situates this vice within a broader crisis of masculinity, outlining a continuum between healthy masculinity—marked by sacrificial love, perseverance, and responsibility—and its distortions: effeminacy on one side and machismo on the other. The conversation also highlights the complementary vocations of men and women, emphasizing masculine self-sacrifice modeled in Christ.

Grounded in Scripture, tradition, and recent Church history, Fr. Mason offers practical ways to cultivate fortitude, including discipline, self-denial, meaningful work, and faithful commitment to one’s duties. Ultimately, the episode presents true manhood not as toughness, but as sacrificial love in service of the Church and the common good.

Related Episodes:

How to Discern God's Will with the Spiritual Exercises w/Fr. James Mason | Ep. 174

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Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.

Storytelling is intensely human, and is the matter of our own humanity. In this CTS episode, Ave Maria University alumnus, filmmaker, Director of Dramatic Arts & Fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND), and founder of Canticle Productions, Daniel Bielinski, shares his faith, everything that goes into making film and the art of storytelling. Dr. Dauphinais engages with Bielinski on the logistics of creating and writing film productions, the theology of movies, what stories can do for us, and how stories allow us to understand that we are a part of God's story. Daniel discusses his recent film Hazel’s Heart, based on a young girl’s sacrificial love during a North Dakota blizzard, and his upcoming project Medora, which examines marriage and sacrifice on the historical frontier. He walks through the filmmaking process—from discovering a story to writing, producing, and distributing—while stressing the need to uncover the deeper “heart” in real events.

Related Catholic Theology Show Episodes:

Defending the Faith Today with C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity w/Dr. Andrew Swafford | Ep. 169

Tolkien's Liturgical Imagination in The Lord of the Rings w/Dr. Ben Reinhard | Ep. 171

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Dr. Michael Dauphinais welcomes back Joseph Pearce—acclaimed author, literary scholar, and Visiting Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University (currently teaching an intensive course on G.K. Chesterton)—for a rigorous examination of the place of pre-Christian ("pagan") Greco-Roman literature in the formation of the Catholic mind.

The discussion engages longstanding theological questions: Should Christians read Homer, Virgil, and Sophocles? Drawing on patristic sources such as St. Basil the Great's Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature, the episode addresses early tensions (e.g., Jerome's dream challenging devotion to Cicero, Tertullian's query "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?") while affirming the providential role of Hellenic culture in preparatio evangelica—preparing the intellectual and imaginative soil for the Gospel, as articulated in Pope Benedict XVI's Regensburg Address.

Pearce elucidates how these classics illuminate perennial truths: the destructive consequences of pride and wrath (Achilles in the Iliad, Odysseus' men), the redemptive embrace of humility and innocent suffering (Priam, Oedipus in Oedipus at Colonus), sacrificial loyalty and family duty (Hector, Penelope, Telemachus, Antigone), and the groping toward monotheism and providence amid polytheistic cosmology (Zeus' overarching will). These insights harmonize with Christian doctrine on virtue, sin, natural law, and the mystery of iniquity, serving as moral exempla and narrative silhouettes of virtue (per St. Basil) that complement scriptural precepts.Integrating reflections from C.S. Lewis (pre-Christian pagans as "virgins awaiting the bridegroom"; myths as divine "pictures" for those who "forgot how to read") and G.K. Chesterton ("Tradition is the democracy of the dead"), the conversation underscores the living transmission of Western Christian patrimony—countering cultural amnesia and equipping each generation to pass on the "fire" of civilization.

Relevant for educators in classical Catholic curricula, university students, and those committed to the renewal of Catholic intellectual life.

Resources:

https://ignatius.com/literaturelwckp

https://ignatius.com/classic-literature-made-simple-clmsp

https://ignatius.com/authors/joseph-pearce

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Ave Maria University is committed to providing a liberal arts curriculum based on Catholic principles and thought. We strive to enlighten students intellectually and spiritually, to prepare them for a life well lived.

Whether you are starting your career, a CEO, or a college student, this episode is for you.

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, host Michael Dauphinais welcomes Jeff Schiefelbein, Managing Partner of Undivided Life, to explore the Catholic theology of work as a true vocation. Drawing on the Pontifical document The Vocation of the Business Leader (“the bane of man’s existence is the divided life”), Vatican II’s Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens, and St. Josemaría Escrivá’s call to sanctify ordinary labor, they present work as co-creation with God—neither ruthless nor monastic, but permeated with Christian generosity. Key themes include: subsidiarity as the path to agency, mastery, and human formation (in business and family); pitfalls like fear-driven centralization, judgmental language, passive conformity (“going along to get along”), and inadequate miscarriage bereavement policies; remedies through neutral outcome-focused feedback, bold faith witness, and explicit recognition of every child lost to miscarriage as a profound grief deserving mercy and support. A highlight is Howdy Homemade Ice Cream, a thriving pro-life enterprise providing dignified, challenging employment to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities—demonstrating that businesses can do both good and well. Resources: https://www.amazon.com/Ruthless-Elimination-Hurry-Emotional-Spiritually/dp/0525653090 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/schiefelbein_storytelling-leadership-keynotespeaker-activity-7135620927144300544-Cy5t?utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://www.undivided.life/ Catholic Mass Times App | Find Catholic Churches Near Me:The most popular app worldwide for finding Catholic Mass times near me. Confession times. Adoration. 110,000+ churches. Updated in 2025:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...https://catholicmasstimes.com/