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Puritan Pastor in Revolutionary America Becomes Catholic: The Conversion of John Thayer | Ep. 69

Eternal Christendom Podcast

CULTIVATING SAINTS, SAGES, AND STATESMEN THROUGH THE GREAT TRADITION OF CHRISTENDOM In our first episode since Easter Sunday, and in light of the extraordinary number of new Catholic converts this year, we cover the amazing (and very familiar sounding!) conversion account of the first early American Puritan Pastor to the Catholic Faith. His name was John Thayer. He was known to Benjamin Franklin, and even challenged John Adams on Luther and Calvin. He converted in 1783, the same year the United States won its independence from Great Britain, and later became a priest dedicated to evangelizing his beloved America. Christ is King! Christ is Risen! Alleluia! VISIT OUR WEBSITE https://eternalchristendom.com/ BECOME A PATRON OF THE GREAT TRADITION As a non-profit, you can support our mission with a tax-deductible gift. Help us continue to dig into the Great Tradition; produce beautiful, substantive content; and gift these treasures to cultural orphans around the world for free: https://eternalchristendom.com/become-a-patron/ CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA X: https://twitter.com/JoshuaTCharles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshuatcharles/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuatcharles/ DIVE DEEPER Check out our “Becoming Catholic” resources, where you’ll find 1 million+ words of free content (bigger than the Bible!) in the form of Articles, Quote Archives, and Study Banks to help you become, remain, and deepen your life as a Catholic: https://eternalchristendom.com/becoming-catholic/ SUBSTACK Subscribe to our Substack to get regular updates on our content, and other premium content: https://eternalchristendom.substack.com/ EXCLUSIVE BOOKSTORE DISCOUNTS https://eternalchristendom.com/bookstore/ CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction 03:58 - Roadmap 05:16 - Historical Context 11:58 - Conversion: Intro 13:32 - Family Background 15:18 - Traveling to Rome, Prejudice Against Catholics Melting 17:35 - Inspiring Thought at the Pantheon 19:59 - Desiring to Learn the Catholic Faith to Shed Prejudice 25:05 - Catholic Unity of Faith + Diversity of Opinions 28:17 - The Instability of Protestantism 30:38 - Inquiring into the Catholic Faith + Respecting Guardian Angel 32:38 - The Miracles of St. Benedict Joseph Labre 35:50 - Surrounded by Catholic Truth, But Still Unwilling to Convert 37:23 - Discovering "Manifesto of a Christian Knight Converted to the Catholic Religion" 40:40 - Deciding to Become Catholic 41:50 - Final Obstacle: Veneration of Mary and the Saints 45:23 - Greatly Changed Upon Becoming Catholic 48:52 - Conclusion of the Conversion Story 49:42 - Concluding Reflections This podcast can also be heard on Apple, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.