Blsd. John Duns Scotus w/ Dr. Tom Ward 

Tom's story feels very similar to my own regarding Calvary Chapel specifically. I was a pastor & even planted my own "church" within that system. Coming into the Catholic Church at this last Easter Vigil, brought the kind of peace & purpose to my Christian faith that I had always longed for. Glory to Jesus Christ - glory forever!

I hear the frustration and sorrow in this discussion when the pilgrim church fails, and I understand only too well, but I have hope. I was a protestant who loved Jesus, but due to difficulties had wandered away from church. Unexpectedly, I heard God call me to Catholicism, and I was at a very strange place in life, and told God straight up, you see my life right? Me a Catholic? Would they even let me in the church? This is crazy, but when you hear God's voice it is so powerful, you simply can't deny it. I studied for a year writing to a priest. I studied, reading book after book, I had to have all those uncomfortable conversations with family and friends. I was blessed by God to have a Protestant family that supported my calling, and it was not easy for them, but they love God and said if He called you, you must go. To me Catholicism is reason, intellect, miracles and wonders rolled up into this shiny ball of goodness delivered to us by Jesus. It is a truth surpassing all others; it is transformative. Two years after I converted, the priest that helped me so much and who my family embraced was arrested and eventually convicted of possessing child pornography. He was turned in by his fellow priest and a deacon. How can you keep going to the Catholic Church, my family said. I was heartbroken but I told them, God called me to be Catholic. God is calling people home to the His church. If all the good people leave, where will the church be. I was confirmed under the name of Saint Michael, the archangel, defender of the church, so I go; I love; I hope, and I pray. Men may fail, homilies be boring, idiots may follow political trends, but my devotion is to Christ/Holy Eucharist, and my prayers will call down the Holy Spirit to right the wrongs, little by little, day by day. Hang in there! Semper fidelis.

Thank you for saying you had to "man up", Dr. Ward. I need to be reminded: be ready to take up my cross. The easy way out is seldom the right way.

It gives solace to the heart to hear the challenges we face in the Church expressed with such tenderness - in acknowledgment of the frustration and discouragement we experience in the face of the lukewarm and broken, but also to hear shared that genuine yearning to fght off the negativity and isolationism this can foster. Thank you for the reminder that we must be in the fray. There is beauty in the perseverance. God bless you both!!!

I'm in the age category of the youngest Boomers. I feel for members of your generation who are just looking for a more meaningful culture not based on profits and what's new, but what's good, beautiful and true. You're definitely on the right track. Stay the course.

The conversation about culture really hits hard for me, I'm currently going through experiences in my life that are leaving me feeling very isolated and without community. (I'm also Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿)

As a convert from 2017 I understand feeling exhausted from triumphalism. I still rejoice in the faith, but I found it from our rule of life like the Dr. said. I know i can’t make the church prettier, but i can still rejoice in the heritage of faith.

Dr. Ward should play Teddy Roosevelt in a biopic

That's a fantastic mustache!

Phew yes, my family is Anglo Catholic and when I've brought up the issues it's not really gotten through...at all. But hey, they're willing to let me share and don't talk over me about it. I'm glad this specific issue was brought up because I've not heard it discussed much.

It’s so crazy. I taught at Biola, I live in Long Beach, have attended Ss Peter and Paul in Wilmington. So bizarre to hear someone on a podcast talk about all these places I know haha. My parents also became Christians during the Jesus Revolution under Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, and they too initially struggled with me wanting to become Catholic and entering the church this last Easter Vigil. And also, yes, LMU is very liberal, barely Catholic at all. The teacher I teach with at a Catholic school in Garden is a graduate from there, an agnostic pagan “pansexual” Jew…not at all spiritually challenged by her time there.

The good Anglican versus bad Catholic church problem is a real thing. My folks are Anglicans, and they quite reasonably point out that the local Anglican church has a more flourishing community oriented to Christ than my local Catholic church, and that my kids would benefit from this. I belong to an Ordinariate community, but my nearest Ordinariate church is not close enough to attend weekly, and this is an excellent church that I would attend mass at all the time if I lived closer.

I watch almost every podcast you put out, just realized I have to comment and like more

Forrest of blaahhh. Yup. I’m at a parrish with a very monotone speaking priest. It’s work to listen to him. Especially when kids are noisy and such. I try to follow along in the missal to try to concentrate.. and often fail miserably. I wish all priests would listen to this and work on making Mass beautiful.

Fun interview. Appreciate the return to roots so to speak in terms of bringing high powered philosophers on the show.

Until you take a formal logic course, you will have no idea just how incredibly smart Duns Scotus was. After taking logic in seminary, it blew me away that Scotus and Ockhams minds even existed

I'm so excited for this! Tom Ward taught at least one of my Brazos Fellows classes! Very inspiring philosophy professor and person. - Kelsey

Thank you for a great conversation!

Thank you for this wonderful conference. We need this type of information on the web. It’s the kind of talk I can listen to several times and get more out of it every time. These are marvelous rays of light during the “dark ages” of contemporary philosophy. I know not all of today’s philosophies are worthless, but I am informed that 75% of philosophy professors in the United States are atheists. This is probably because atheism is in style and appears to accredit them. Also, I am told that today only 7% of university students are humanities majors.

I think I've got to root out my soul's droning of 'Oh God how can you permit xyz' and transmute this to 'How can I xyz' & 'God's arm is not too short...'

I went to Loyola Marymount & attended Mass at Sacred Heart Chapel. I don't disbelieve his experience but mine was vastly different. Mass was reverent & the Jesuits were unafraid to faithfully answer the burning questions of students coming of age in a chaotic society that rejects Christian values. I think the Jesuit order can be painted with a broad brush when individual priests are lacking both in & outside of the order.

One of the best episodes of PWA

Excellent episode.

Wow! What a life story! So real

Thx gentlemen

All love from the Ordinariate down in Murrieta!

At 47:00 Matt really conveys some deep, sad truths about our current condition. Kudos for perceiving this awkward state, and being able to articulate it.

That's a great U2 song that you mentioned Matt. No, I do not think it has a place in the liturgy, but I think it is a better choice than much of what we hear on a given Sunday morning. Beauty matters. The Catholic church has a rich heritage of beautiful music with singable melodies and meaningful lyrics. Let's do our part to make sure our children and our parishes know about this treasure.

When you doubt at adoration its the Devil at work, if you have faith in Our Lords Church its the gift our lord gives you..

I don't collect stamps, but I confess that I have very much considered a hair transplant to move hair from the back of my head to the front since my considerable thinning and receding of hair as of around age 24. However, my thinning has seemed to have paused for a time, now 33 (I keep my hair a little long). What Matt has said in this talk, that it is in vain, and that it is in a way a denial of the temporality of my state as a young person, an embrace of aesthetics without ethical or religious ground, and simply distraction from the cross.

Per the conversation on uncaused causes the recent book by Gaven Kerr is particularly helpful

Scotus talk starts an hour in

I'm so excited for this podcast! Duns Scotus was my personal favorite philosopher in medieval philosophy (no offense, Thomas).

Calvary Chapel was my last stop before the Catholic Church, as well.

Wow! Raise as a Catholic, and die as a Catholic...pray and have the faith!

Loved Wards book, Ordered by Love. I'm a John Duns Scotus Fan Girl! And I'm looking forward to Wards latest book too!❤

That dude’s mustache makes Magnum PI’s look weak.

Really interesting stuff, learned a lot and expanded my list of people to study substantially. One thing I wonder, what is so wrong about meditation?

Wish they would have Lutheran (LCMS) Pastor Will Weedon on to discuss Lutheranism. As a Lutheran- we don't really fit in with other Protestants and we don't fit in with Catholics...we kinda ride the divide. Pastor Will Weedon is amazing!

Aquinas proof for there must be only one unmoved mover is dependent on the proof of divine simplicity. Divine simplicity is that the unmoved mover cannot have a property that is not necessary. In order for the unmoved mover to have an unnecessary property, it would mean the unmoved mover is a composite of necessary and unnecessary properties. In order for something to be a composite, something else must "move" it into that state. So since the unmoved mover being moved would be a contradiction, the unmoved mover must not be a composite and must only be necessary. That is the simplest way to explain divine simplicity. Now given divine simplicity, suppose there are two or more unmoved movers. In order to differentiate two different beings, there must be some property that one possesses that the other does not. But given that the unmoved mover must also only contain necessary properties, both beings would have all of the same properties and none that are different. Thus they are not different beings, they are the same. So there must be only one unmoved mover. I think Aquinas' logic makes a lot of sense if you have ever studied set theory in mathematics. An interesting corollary to divine simplicity is that God being the unmoved mover is also the only being possible to not be a composite. All other beings are composite. He is "necessary being" itself, that "exists necessarily". It is also necessary that God is perfection since perfection is defined in terms of God. God could not create something more perfect than himself because Aquinas argues that perfection cannot come from imperfection. But also God cannot create a perfect being, because by this definition God is perfect being, meaning perfect being is necessary being. For God to create a perfect being would be God creating himself, which is a logical contradiction.

Tip: say the rosary during the homily. Focus on the sacrament.

I totally thought this guys name was Jon Duns and that he had something to do with the Supreme Court. 🤦🏻‍♂️

I converted from episcopalian to Catholic. Almost every person I came into contact with was either cradle episcopalian or ex-catholic. Same for my husband who was cradle episcopalian. I find it odd they needed to treat his Anglican baptised kids differently? Both of our boys were baptised anglican but didn't need anything extra at first communion. The things he noted about the Jesuits are....concerning to say the least. One had hoped it was just rumors and malice when people say to avoid Jesuits for the most part now. But apparently not. There ARE good ones out there but i wouldnt send my kids to a Jesuit school.

the mustache game is next level

I'm glad Scotus is getting some love, from what I can tell he was just very "subtle" but wasn't the rationalist Abelard was nor the nominalist Ockham was

Urgent and honest Protestant question here: This is totally unrelated to the video, but I watch regularly and love this space and all you Catholic legends! My wife’s auntie lives in rural KZN, South Africa, and is a professing Catholic. However, the priest left the area 15 years ago and she hasn’t been able to receive mass since then. I am Protestant and pray with her but I need some Catholic answers for her. There are no other Christians there at all. What is she meant to do? She is elderly and lives in complete material poverty. I live in the UK and visit her yearly when visiting the rural village. But this means i can’t transport her the 3-4 hours to the nearest town regularly, let alone the further distance to the nearest town with a Catholic Church. Please help: this is an honest question to anyone here!

Where do we fast forward to get to Scotus?

Goooooooooooood MORNING VIETNAM

I was not expecting Sam Hyde to come up on a PWA lol

i felt the same in catholic churches- not friendly in comparison to Anglican. Why is that?

I hadn't heard of the Pope's new restrictions on the Latin Mass. This seems an absurdly imprudent act.

Being in Christ, being in Christ being in Christ

Thursday, I think most people concluded that there was, in fact, zero heroin in the cheese 😂

A young looking Patrick Madrid.

"Why can't they converge in multiple things?" Because that's not what "converge" means? If there are multiple things that "exist" at the "top" you still have to go back to shared existence. They "converge" in "being." "I am who am." And these guys have degrees in philosophy?

Love you Matt but this constant conversation that the Catholic Church is the only way yet you guys are constantly complaining about the pope. I just don’t understand. Keep up the good work! I love your show

Matt, this is a sincere request: please stop referring to the Deuterocanonical books as "the apocryphal books." To be apocryphal is to be in doubt. There is no doubt that the Deuterocanonical books are authentic, and true. Thanks Matt. Love, love, love your show!!

Why do Anglicans not question their origin in Henry VIII and the reason of separation from the original Church...leading to the killing of his wives and his murderous campaign of killing Catholics and stealing their churches? Anglicans seem to convince themselves of an origin in the original Church founded by Christ, Peter, the Keys of His Kingdom.

Why did he say he was a Ukrainian catholic, then say he is welsh, when I thought he was Australian with an Irish background?

56:34 dam too real bro Stop reading my mail Lol I'm a service plumber and I drive a lot, listen to Pints instead of Andrew Tate these days.

On doubt: believe means you believe enough to do X. Also: atheism may seem to solve some problems but it causes other, far more serious ones. To the doubter who really cannot come to faith no matter how hard he tries, so long as he sees that it is desirable _that_ God exist, I would take the Jewish approach--leave the door open to future certainly of belief, but for now life _as of_ he exists. Go to mass, confession, etc, pick a devotion and do it well. If you find you start believing with the fervor of Billy Graham--great. But even if you don't, you'll have a better life than if you didn't.

Why this Catholic Push right NOW? Incredible Self Service in my opinion. *Baptized Catholic Very Early

The answer is Orthodoxy is it not obvious?? This was 3 hour cope session about how Rome and Pope lol

Hey Matt, try processing it in Christ . You’re wandering in the courtyard with your own words. Process it in Christ!

I agree with Matt that we need clear rules what can be what cannot be worshiped. Theses are the heretic bishops and priests. These are the bishops who follow the true God. In these chaotic and divisive times, I need comfort to know I’m following Jesus, my Lord.

Raised Lutheran but they are allowing transgender and female pastors, so I have left. I see the appeal of the Catholic Church, but your Pope, man... Whenever I hear anything he's said, I hear demons speaking. I've been deep diving into the desert fathers and all the old theology, so I am leaning toward Orthodox. Oddly enough, my faith in God has never been stronger, even though I haven't found a place in his church yet.

Being in Christ is not a?

That’s a mustache…

Tradition and the ancient mass is the solution to Catholic dissolution.

@24.45, your spiritual reflex is always to blame the Pope, I know you don't like Francis, but like I have heard often from some very wise people, you don't have to like someone, you have to love them. But on this particular topic, the Pope, your reflexes and reactions are to accuse the Pope of the worst possible heresies. You over intellectualize, that's your job, but you are like the Church leaders of the time of Jesus, they where more concerned with rules and form over the substance behind those rules. Jesus emphasized mercy over sacrifice. You are a lot like Jesus, you like to take part in a social drink or two, hence the 'pints with Aquinas' . Jesus appeared to have no negative reflexes, in fact his attitude inspired a certain freedom in others, like the prostitute who broke in through His friends to kneel before Jesus' feet to wash them with her tears of joy, the apostles in training were most taken aback by what they judged to be bad form, Jesus reminded them of the substance back then too, just like the substance behind the Pope's public statements and associations now.

Give your kids, Christ not yourself.

You can do nothing without Christ. Your words prove it. Instead of playing the devils advocate be Christ advocate.

If Taylor Marshall had a Mustache

If you have to ask your not in Christ

Something zezus

Yeah, the Catholic Church really is terrible at fellowship.

I hate to be rude but it really appears Rome is a phase for this guy. Frances or his successor is gonna declare gay marriage is licit and he will jump back to some new flavor. I grew up Protestant in a church with shallow theology. Rome is not the answer. Seek out the riches of our own tradition. Stick around and stop jumping all over the place.