Philip Ludwell: The Most Unlikely Founding Father Philip Ludwell

History of the Papacy Podcast

History of the Papacy

History

4.4 • 531 Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Before the American Revolution took off, a wealthy Virginian aristocrat named Philip Ludwell III made a bold and baffling decision—he became an Eastern Orthodox Christian. In an age where Catholicism was suspect and Protestant conformity was king, Ludwell’s journey into Orthodoxy was more than unusual—it was nearly unthinkable. In this special episode, we follow Ludwell’s story from Williamsburg to London, into the Orthodox Church, and through the tangled legacies of religion, property, slavery, and family that carried all the way to Texas and the Civil War. This is the forgotten story of the most unlikely Founding Father. #OrthodoxHistory #PhilipLudwell #AmericanReligiousHistory #EarlyAmerica #HistoryPodcast #PapacyPodcast #ColonialAmerica #OrthodoxChurch #FoundingFathers

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Music Provided by:
"Sonatina in C Minor" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
"Funeral March for Brass" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
"Crusade Heavy Perfect Loop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Agnus Dei X - Bitter Suite Kevin MacLeaod (incomptech.com)
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Transcript

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0:00.0	Looking for a simple way to stay rooted in God's Word every day.
0:03.6	The Daily Bible Devotion app by Salem Media gives you morning and evening devotionals
0:08.2	designed to encourage, inspire, and keep you connected with scripture.
0:12.5	Plus, you'll enjoy Daily Bible trivia and humor, a fun way to learn and share a smile while
0:17.4	growing in your faith.
0:18.6	Get the Daily Bible Devotion app for free on both iOS and Android.
0:23.3	Start and end your day with God's Word.
0:25.4	Search for the Daily Bible Devotion app in the App Store or Google Play Store
0:29.6	and download it today. Welcome back to the history of the papacy podcast, a podcast about the popes of Rome and Christian church.
0:49.4	Prepare yourself to step behind the ropes and leave the official tour of the story of the
0:54.5	popes and Christianity.
0:57.0	I am your host, Steve Guara, and I thank you for joining me on this journey.
1:18.8	Hey, welcome back to the history of the papacy podcast. Today we are setting the stage for a brand new series exploring the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, beginning with
1:25.0	the American Revolution and continuing through the U.S. Civil War.
1:30.0	Now, if you're not from the U.S. or don't feel totally confident in your American history
1:34.8	knowledge, don't worry. I'll provide plenty of background context along the way. And if you
1:41.6	want to dive deeper, I highly recommend checking out the key battles of American
1:47.7	history podcast by Professor James Early. It's a fantastic podcast series, and I even had the
1:54.9	honor of guest hosting one of the series on the War of 1812, which, spoiler alert, will definitely come up in this series.
2:05.2	Before we jump along into Catholic-focused narrative in history, today's episode serves as
2:13.9	something of a transition, a moment to temper our historical perspective, we're bridging
2:20.5	the gap between our last series on the First Temple of Jerusalem and the world of 18th and 19th century
	...

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