Tim Staples was raised a Southern Baptist. Although he fell away from the faith of his childhood, Tim came back to faith in Christ during his late teen years through the witness of Christian televangelists. Soon after, Tim joined the Marine Corps. During his four-year tour, he became involved in ministry with various Assemblies of God communities. Immediately after his tour of duty, Tim enrolled in Jimmy Swaggart Bible College and became a youth minister in an Assembly of God community.

During his final year in the Marines, however, Tim met a Marine who really knew his faith and challenged Tim to study Catholicism from Catholic and historical sources. That encounter sparked a two-year search for the truth. Tim was determined to prove Catholicism wrong, but he ended up studying his way to the last place he thought he would ever end up: the Catholic Church!

He converted to Catholicism in 1988 and spent the following six years in formation for the priesthood, earning a degree in philosophy from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania. He then studied theology on a graduate level at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, for two years.

Realizing that his calling was not to the priesthood, Tim left the seminary in 1994 and has been working in Catholic apologetics and evangelization ever since.

He appeared on a radio show and had a discussion with Steve Gregg. A recording of the shows can be found here:

Day 1, Dec. 18, 2006 Main topic is Authority
Day 2, Dec. 19, 2006 Main topic is Pope & Heirarchy
Day 3, Dec. 20, 2006 Main topic is Mary
Day 4, Dec. 21, 2006 Main topic is Eucharist
Day 5, Dec. 22, 2006 Main topic is further review of the 1st 4 days

Alternate host:
http://tnp.theeggbeater.net/audio/tnp20061218.mp3
http://tnp.theeggbeater.net/audio/tnp20061219.mp3
http://tnp.theeggbeater.net/audio/tnp20061220.mp3
http://tnp.theeggbeater.net/audio/tnp20061221.mp3
http://tnp.theeggbeater.net/audio/tnp20061222.mp3

UPDATE: I've just finished listening to the first MP3 of this set -- it's excellent. If you're unfamiliar with discussing these topics, I highly recommend it. Tim Staples is a Catholic who really knows his Bible. We should all labor to be as familiar with God's holy word as he is.

UPDATED UPDATE: In the second MP3 Steve Gregg misunderstands a couple of things Tim Staples says, so the two burn some valuable time clearing it up, but overall I'd say it's a good track. In the third MP3 the two spend way too much time talking about the title "Mother of God" (since Greg agrees that it's an appropriate title but doesn't like it because it could be "misleading to one new to the faith"), but if you're interested in the Nestorian controversy and why the title came about in the first place...give it a listen.