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

CULTIVATING SAINTS, SAGES, AND STATESMEN THROUGH THE GREAT TRADITION OF CHRISTENDOMIn 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 WEBSITEhttps://eternalchristendom.com/BECOME A PATRON OF THE GREAT TRADITIONAs 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 MEDIAX: https://twitter.com/JoshuaTCharlesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshuatcharles/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuatcharles/DIVE DEEPERCheck 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/SUBSTACKSubscribe to our Substack to get regular updates on our content, and other premium content: https://eternalchristendom.substack.com/EXCLUSIVE BOOKSTORE DISCOUNTShttps://eternalchristendom.com/bookstore/CHAPTERS00:00 - Introduction03:58 - Roadmap05:16 - Historical Context11:58 - Conversion: Intro13:32 - Family Background15:18 - Traveling to Rome, Prejudice Against Catholics Melting17:35 - Inspiring Thought at the Pantheon19:59 - Desiring to Learn the Catholic Faith to Shed Prejudice25:05 - Catholic Unity of Faith + Diversity of Opinions28:17 - The Instability of Protestantism30:38 - Inquiring into the Catholic Faith + Respecting Guardian Angel32:38 - The Miracles of St. Benedict Joseph Labre35:50 - Surrounded by Catholic Truth, But Still Unwilling to Convert37:23 - Discovering "Manifesto of a Christian Knight Converted to the Catholic Religion"40:40 - Deciding to Become Catholic41:50 - Final Obstacle: Veneration of Mary and the Saints45:23 - Greatly Changed Upon Becoming Catholic48:52 - Conclusion of the Conversion Story49:42 - Concluding ReflectionsThis podcast can also be heard on Apple, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.