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Apologetics

RCSC 103: Apologetics

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“Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (I Peter 3:15). This course will equip students to explain and defend more persuasively the truth, goodness, and beauty of Catholicism through their words and deeds. Topics will include the perennially relevant traditional themes of natural, Christian, and Catholic apologetics, as well as more recent controversial issues. In summary, there are three main questions in our course around which the many subthemes revolve: Does God exist, and what is His nature? Is there evidence to affirm that Jesus Christ’s claims to divinity are true? Did Jesus Christ found a specific visible Church that continues to speak on His behalf and transmit His divine life today? In the first section of the course (natural apologetics) the arguments are normally philosophical and aimed at an atheistic, agnostic, or deist audience. In the second section (Christian apologetics), the arguments are normally historical and are aimed at a non-Christian theistic audience. In the third section (Catholic apologetics), the arguments are normally biblical and historical and are aimed at a non-Catholic Christian audience. When you are faced with objections peppered with ad hominem arguments, you must exercise Peter’s exhortation to defend the faith with “gentleness and reverence” in situations that will test your patience. Unfortunately, in the real world of media and watercooler conversations, your interlocutors will not always treat you with the reverence you deserve. The capacity to explain your position with calm clarity can be an important part of your overall communication as the logical truth of your content.

 

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“Ask a Priest: Was Aquinas’ Summa Theologica Considered Heresy?”

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Q: I am going through RCIA and am not great at defending the faith yet. I just had an interesting conversation with a Baptist who told me that the Catholic Church routinely condemns people to hell. This did not seem right to me, and I was under the impression that the Church teaches that, although there are people who go to hell, the only one that we can be certain of is Lucifer. If I am wrong, I apologize. He also claimed that the Summa Theologica was considered heresy by the Church for a few hundred years and then finally accepted. As a fan of St. Thomas Aquinas, this also struck me as odd. The Baptist also had a lot to say about the Catholic Church not being the historical Church and the Bible not being accurate. If you have any resources you can direct me to on these issues I would very much appreciate it. – T.S.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: It’s good to hear that you are in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. Don’t feel bad if you aren’t up to speed defending the faith. The art of apologetics, or reasoned defense of the faith, takes time to development.

Let’s turn to the points you raise.

First, the Church doesn’t condemn anyone. God alone is the judge of a soul. And if a soul rejects God through mortal sin and dies in that state, the person faces eternal damnation.

For instance, Jesus says of those who ignored the demand of charity: “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

The Church doesn’t say that any specific person is lost, not even Judas, who betrayed Jesus.

The comment about the Summa Theologica (also called the Summa Theologiae) is unfounded.

The Baptist might be thinking of the Condemnation of 1277 by the bishop of Paris, Stephen Tempier. His condemnation targeted 219 philosophical and theological theses being debated within his jurisdiction. Though St. Thomas Aquinas was not named, the condemnation was evidently aimed at some of his ideas.

Now, opinions in regard to philosophical and theological issues can shift and evolve. The upshot is that Thomas Aquinas’ name was eventually cleared, and he was canonized a saint in 1323.

And if canonization wasn’t enough to restore Thomas’ good name, Pope Leo XIII in his 1879 encyclical Aeterni Patris aimed to revive Scholastic philosophy, according to the mind of the Angelic Doctor. This cemented the works of St. Thomas as a key point of guidance for many seminaries and theologians.

As for resources about the Catholic Church as the Church founded by Jesus, you might check out:

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/one-holy-baptist-and-apostolic-church

https://www.catholic.com/tract/apostolic-succession

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-church-of-the-apostles

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-church-christ-founded

As for “the Bible not being accurate,” I’m not sure what your Baptist friend has in mind.

The Bible is a complex anthology of books with various styles of writing that need to be understood in context.

Like any text, the Bible has to be interpreted correctly. We rely on Sacred Tradition, the oral teaching of Christ and the apostles passed down through the ages, to help us here.

A document that touches on Scripture within the context of Divine Revelation is Dei Verbum. Also helpful: https://opusdei.org/en-us/article/what-sort-of-historical-credibility-does-the-bible-have/.

In any case, the Bible is the inspired word of God. What is in it, is there because God wanted it there. I hope some of this helps.

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“Ask a Priest: What If People Put Up Walls When Hearing of the Faith?”

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Q: When people are being a little aggressive or stern in a conversation about the faith, and I get to a point where I can no longer defend my position, or I can’t seem to break down their walls, or it seems to be turning into a “roasting” rather than a debate, should I still try to convince them? Or should I just let them be, and leave it to God? If I should keep talking, what is the most effective and peaceful way? – C.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Your question touches on the virtue of prudence. In this case that means saying the right thing at the right moment.

For that reason, it’s impossible to give a specific rule about what to do in all cases.

One good principle to keep in mind when it comes to talking about the faith or defending it (also known as apologetics) is that it isn’t about “breaking down walls” but rather opening hearts and minds. Nor is it in our hands to convert others — it’s really a work of the Holy Spirit.

If tensions are rising in a conversation, it is probably better not to push your viewpoint. At this point the other person has probably stopped listening. It might be better to end the conversation cordially and say, “You know, I appreciate your honesty and will think about what you have said. Let’s pray for each other, OK?”

Later, it might be good to review in your mind what made the conversation get heated. Perhaps you could have listened better, or read body language better, or could have given signals that you appreciated the other person’s insights, etc. With each conversation or debate, we can learn something about ourselves and how we might say things better the next time.

Also on a tactical level, sometimes it is more effective to ask pointed questions rather than offering all the full answers yourself. A person might try to respond and pretend he has the answer, but a good question can stick with the other person long after the conversation itself has ended.

At a deeper level you might ask what motivates you when you discuss the faith with someone. Ideally it should be love and a desire to truly help the other person and to share with him the beauty of what you see and experience in the faith.

It also helps to be intellectually prepared for discussions, since it gives the Holy Spirit more of a basis to work through you.

To that end it is good to do research on a topic if you feel as though you didn’t have good answers. The Catechism and its Compendium are good resources to use.

Resources about apologetics can be found at the Catholic Answers page. You might consider our new courses being offered online, at https://rcspiritualityclassroom.org/.

Remember, a key way to help bring someone to the fullness of the faith is through your prayers and through your charity. That opens hearts.

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest

Got a question? Need an answer?

Today’s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to [email protected] and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything – liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events… Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question…

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“Ask a Priest: What If I Don’t Speak Up for the Faith Enough?”

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Q:  Last night we were out with two couples, and one couple brought up that their butcher asked them if they were Christian. They said, “Yes,” and he said, “Me, too – I was a Catholic Christian and now I’m just Christian.” The butcher went on to say that he didn’t need all those restrictions, rules, etc. – that we just need to be good people, that’s all Jesus wants of us. Both couples agreed wholeheartedly with that (three are Protestant and one is an ex-Catholic who goes to services with his wife). And then we moved on to other conversation. It’s been bothering me ever since, that neither my husband nor I defended our Catholic faith and Jesus. We have no courage! I went to confession about it, and my priest said that I have to love Jesus enough to want to talk about him – that it’s a great joy to have/know Jesus. I agree completely, but I don’t know how! What could/should I have said? I wish there were courses on this or videos or something. I wanted to say something but did not know what. I have the same trouble with my brother and sister who are now big megachurch fans. They say God loves everybody and all faiths are on their own journey to God. What would you suggest I say/do? – E.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Your priest gave a great answer. We are enthusiastic about people we love. We talk about them. We think about them. It’s much the same with Jesus.

A short addendum to that answer would be to try to permeate your life in the Catholic faith as much as possible. Loving Christ and wanting to share your experience of him with others is the sign of a Catholic who has caught fire with the faith.

This involves different levels. The most important is your prayer life and sacramental life.

It would help, too, to give yourself the goal of learning more about your faith. Give yourself the goal of, say, reading the New Testament in full between now and the end of the year. Or reading a book of Catholic apologetics (defense of the faith) at least every three months. One suggestion: The Essential Catholic Survival Guide is a handy work.

There are lots of fine contemporary Catholic apologists and scholars such as Peter Kreeft, Karl Keating, Patrick Madrid, Jeff Cavins, Bishop Robert Barron, and Trent Horn. And they only represent the tip of the iceberg.

Look into what Catholic publishers such as Ignatius Press, Ascension Press, OSV, and Sophia (to name a few) are offering. There are hundreds of fine books that will help you delve deeper into the faith.

You might look into helping out at your parish, too. You might organize adoration for vocations and get a Bible study going.

Evangelization, like charity, begins at home. What do you and your husband talk about in the normal course of a day? Do you touch on the faith? About events going on in the universal Church or your own diocese? Do you discuss Catholic books or periodicals that you read?

If you can weave those things into daily conversation, it will be easier to speak about them with others.

If ever you run into this situation again, don’t get discouraged. Learn from your mistakes. If someone raises an objection to the Church, and you don’t have an answer, do some research. Catholic Answers is a great resource. You and your spouse can talk through ways to deal with some questions that arise.

In other words, you want to jump in the deep end of the pool when it comes to your faith. Read about it. Talk about it. Display signs of your faith proudly.

And remember – big point! – to pray for folks who either are hostile to the Church or who have left it.

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest

Got a question? Need an answer?

Today’s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to [email protected] and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything – liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events… Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question…

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“Ask a Priest: What If I Feel My Faith Fading?”

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Q: This is probably the fourth letter I have sent to you guys, but to be honest, I just feel like you are the people to turn to sometimes. For nearly a month, it feels a bit like my faith is declining. I think it might be because of how much religion is portrayed negatively on the Internet. But to be honest, I don’t even know anymore if God even listens to me. I have been trying to keep my faith, no matter how hard it seems, but really, I feel like he doesn’t respond to me. I know this might have another meaning or something, but to be honest, I don’t want to keep living this way, since at this point, it now feels like all these ways to calm me down are just excuses to keep me believing in God. I do want to keep my faith no matter what happens, but in the meantime, is there anything else I should know? -C.T.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: Faith is a gift that we need to guard and protect, as well as try to nourish through prayer and the sacraments.

You touch on a big problem: the Internet. There are all kinds of wild things on the Internet, which is why we need to be careful about what we expose ourselves to.

It might be good, then, to limit your time on the Internet to good things. The Vatican website is a great treasure of papal and magisterial documents. Lots of other sites, such as Catholic Answers and Discerning Hearts and our own RC Spirituality.org, offer material that helps build the faith.

We live in a very secular age, and that reality won’t change quickly. So we need to be prepared for the long term. This doesn’t mean living in a bunker. Rather, it means looking for ways to help share the faith with others around us. The more we share the faith, the stronger our own faith grows.

If you feel up to it, you can engage people in dialogue on the Internet. But — and this is a big but — you need to prepare yourself well in apologetics. That is where ongoing study of the faith could help (the Catholic Answers site has a lot of good resources).

As for God responding to you, he might be communicating in all kinds of ways. His ways can be very subtle, however, and we can miss the clues.

A few observations might help you. First, one way to gauge the Holy Spirit’s work in you is your life of charity. Are you more sensitive to the needs of those around you? You are growing in patience and mercy? Those are signs that God’s grace is at work in you.

Second, God might be allowing you to go through a dry period. On the positive side, he might be inviting you to have even more faith in him, to persevere in prayer even when you don’t see the fruits of it right away.

On the less positive side, you might be feeling some of the fallout of having exposed yourself too much to the wrong kinds of things on the Internet for too long. Just as ocean waves beating against a rocky cliff will eventually cause part of it to crumble, the nasty things on the Web can weaken our faith and our spirit of Christian optimism. Hence the recommendation to stick to positive things on the Internet.

You might want to look for a good regular confessor or spiritual director who can help you navigate through the rough waters. A three- or four-day retreat might be helpful too. If you can’t get to a live retreat, perhaps the “Cure for Discouragement” online retreat could suffice in the meantime.

Be confident that the Holy Spirit will help you. Stay close to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And keep up the prayer life and sacramental life. Those essentials will serve you well.

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“Ask a Priest: What If I’m Starting to Question Jesus’ Divinity?”

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Q: I am having problems with myself concluding that Jesus Christ is truly God. In today’s world, many of the atheists are very outspoken and let their opinion be known. I’m not quite sure if their point of view is starting to leak over onto me (as a lot of my good friends are atheist) or it is because my faith has become weak and I just do not believe anymore. I want to believe but with the research that I’ve done, I’m not sure I can go back to my Catholic beliefs wholeheartedly. Do you have any advice on what the next steps for me should be? How do you feel that Jesus’ presence is integrated into everyday life? Is it bad that I am questioning my religion, or is this a test that every Christian goes through? -A.T.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: It is understandable that at some point you will question the tenets of your faith. God created faith and reason, and he wants us to use our intellect in order to better understand our faith. Someone who doesn’t make an effort to learn more about his faith is probably living with a childish faith.

Now, it is good to qualify the above statement. Faith is a gift, and like other gifts it can be lost. We can lose it through laziness or habitual sin or through negligence by not guarding it.

You mention that a lot of your good friends are atheist. This sends up a red flag immediately. If you are hanging out with a lot of atheists, then it is not surprising that they will have an impact on your thinking. That is not a prudent way to protect your faith.

It is one thing to have to deal with atheists in daily life – at school, at work – but it is another to have a lot of pals who reject God. Like the ocean waves that continually pound coastal rocks, their skepticism can wear away the foundations of your faith.

So what to do? As a Catholic your working assumption should be in favor of the faith. That means if you encounter something you don’t understand, let your first response be one of faith. You can pray, “Lord, I don’t understand this, but I want to be enlightened, I want to be able to accept this.”

Then make an effort to learn more about a topic. Go to the Catechism. Read books of Catholic apologetics. Or find someone who can explain things to you. The Catholic faith is reasonable. It might go beyond reason and our ability to grasp it (such as the notion of the Trinity), but it won’t go against reason. Thus the faith has nothing to hide from intellectual probing.

Above all, maintain a good prayer life and sacramental life. Prayer and the sacraments nourish our faith. Without them and the grace they bring, our faith withers. To nourish your prayer life, consider doing the online retreats at RC Spirituality and reading The Better Part.

You always might want to start looking for another set of friends. It can be enormously helpful to be around Catholics who are trying to live their faith. The faith is best understood and best lived within a believing community. Getting involved in Church-related projects, that is, the work of evangelization, can also strengthen one’s faith.

Moreover, you might find spending time with the Gospels in front of the Blessed Sacrament to be immensely helpful. The center of our faith is a Person: Jesus Christ. Our faith can be thought of as our relationship with him. He suffered and died for you, for your redemption, for love of you. When you make time to speak to him during the day, you will more easily detect his workings in your life. This is one way to integrate Our Lord into your day.

(A helpful resource could be Peter Kreeft’s audio course “Faith and Reason”; your local library system might carry it.) I hope some of this helps. God bless.

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Alex Kucera

Atlanta

Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.

In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.

Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.

From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.

Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!