Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
"We are ultimately helpless beggars before God, and only when we realize our poverty can we grasp the true hope that all other hopes are merely a shadow of."
Sponsor: realestateforlife.org
Support the channel by visiting: brianholdsworth.ca/help
Brian Holdsworth explores the surprising surge of conversions to serious forms of Christianity—especially Catholicism and Orthodoxy—and why it’s happening now. Drawing from personal experience, cultural shifts since the New Atheism movement, and insights from Joseph Pieper, Herbert Plugge, and C.S. Lewis, Brian explains why suffering and disillusionment often lead people to the only hope that endures: God Himself.
Timestamps:
00:00 – From New Atheism to a surge of conversions
00:40 – Big names moving from ridicule to interest (Rogan, Brand, Hirsi Ali)
00:58 – Record adult Catholic converts
01:44 – Social media evangelization bearing fruit
03:34 – Generational shift: from isolated students to cheering crowds
04:33 – COVID-era despair and the turn to faith
05:04 – Joseph Pieper on “hopes” and “Hope”
07:09 – Scientific Research into Transcendent Hope
08:50 – Jesus’ teaching on poverty, beggars before God, and real hope
11:56 – Personal conversion story
13:01 – C.S. Lewis on Suffering
13:38 – Conclusion: Why people want a serious religion in serious times
Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: pauljernberg.com
Podcast Version: brianholdsworth.libsyn.com
"We are ultimately helpless beggars before God, and only when we realize our poverty can we grasp the true hope that all other hopes are merely a shadow of."
Sponsor: realestateforlife.org
Support the channel by visiting: brianholdsworth.ca/help
Brian Holdsworth explores the surprising surge of conversions to serious forms of Christianity—especially Catholicism and Orthodoxy—and why it’s happening now. Drawing from personal experience, cultural shifts since the New Atheism movement, and insights from Joseph Pieper, Herbert Plugge, and C.S. Lewis, Brian explains why suffering and disillusionment often lead people to the only hope that endures: God Himself.
Timestamps:
00:00 – From New Atheism to a surge of conversions
00:40 – Big names moving from ridicule to interest (Rogan, Brand, Hirsi Ali)
00:58 – Record adult Catholic converts
01:44 – Social media evangelization bearing fruit
03:34 – Generational shift: from isolated students to cheering crowds
04:33 – COVID-era despair and the turn to faith
05:04 – Joseph Pieper on “hopes” and “Hope”
07:09 – Scientific Research into Transcendent Hope
08:50 – Jesus’ teaching on poverty, beggars before God, and real hope
11:56 – Personal conversion story
13:01 – C.S. Lewis on Suffering
13:38 – Conclusion: Why people want a serious religion in serious times
Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: pauljernberg.com
Podcast Version: brianholdsworth.libsyn.com
