September 27, 2025

#12390 Is Faith a Gift or a Choice? Relics, Conversion, and Art - Jimmy Akin

“Is Faith a Gift or a Choice?” This episode explores the intersection of faith and popular culture, while also addressing questions about the power of relics in 2 Kings 13:21, the implications of AI-generated art, and the complexities of faith as a gift. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on these diverse topics.

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Questions Covered:

01:20 – Is Billy Batson sinning by using the powers of Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury?

06:43 – Do you think 2 Kings 13:21 could be used as proof for the power of relics?

10:00 – In a past AMA, you said that if someone were assimilated by the Borg, the state of their soul adjacent to confession would remain unchanged. If someone were assimilated, could they conceivably receive the anointing of the sick?

15:57 – Can AI generated images be considered art?

21:44 – If faith is a gift, how can someone be culpable for not having faith?

29:06 – As it pertains to the dating of the Gospel of John, I think there’s good internal evidence that it’s written before 70 AD, but I’ve heard people say that Irenaeus teaches that it’s dated in the 90-95 AD range. Is there any perspective out there that can hold that both Irenaeus is correct, and a pre-70 AD Gospel of John is correct? (For example, are people just misreading Irenaeus to make it seem like he’s saying it’s in the 90s but in reality he might not even be saying that?)

37:53 – Why is Catholicism a better option than Oriental Orthodoxy?

45:55 – As a Protestant converting to Catholicism, what duty does one have to inform family, friends, and former pastors/church members of one’s conversion to Catholicism? How should conversation be done? Any advice? Thanks!

52:42 – Has Catholic Answers thought of making a list of the De Fide statement found in Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma? I know this is a resource used by Catholic Answers and it would be great to have a bullet point list

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