Dear Tyrone,<\/p>\n
Well, your last note seems to indicate that you have finally learned your lesson.\u00a0 I won\u2019t point out how long this abandoned and imprisoned uncle has been trying to teach it to you; I will just breathe a sigh of relief that it finally got taught: \u201cConversion by concussion\u201d doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 Christ didn\u2019t use that method, the Church doesn\u2019t use it, and so you should take the hint.\u00a0 You can\u2019t FORCE someone into loving God; you just can\u2019t.\u00a0 So it\u2019s useless to get into heated arguments with people.\u00a0 It\u2019s worse than useless; it\u2019s self-defeating.\u00a0 Name one time that a heated argument has produced anything other than anger, frustration, and resentment.\u00a0 That\u2019s all they\u2019re good for.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 The proper way to engage in discussions is with \u201cmeekness and humility\u201d, as Our Lord put it.\u00a0 And the great thing about it is that we can AFFORD to be meek and humble, because the truth really is on our side, so in the end, if our MANNERS don\u2019t alienate the people we\u2019re trying to convince, they will be won over.\u00a0 Today\u2019s saint was a great example of this.<\/p>\n
Before St Justin came around, the Christians kept their doctrine off the public radar screen; they gained converts only by one-on-one exchanges, in the safety of private conversations.\u00a0 St Justin, however, was convinced that many more Romans would embrace Christ if Christians made an effort to publicize their faith and their practices.<\/p>\n
He himself, for example, had been haplessly searching for the truth about God as he tried out every school of philosophy and religion that the Roman Empire had to offer.\u00a0 Only a chance encounter with an old man on a beach spurred him to look into the teachings of Christ.\u00a0 Now, if he had found the truth he was so avidly seeking in the doctrines of Christ, he argued, surely the same process could work for many others.\u00a0 Besides, he did not want to be held responsible before God for hoarding the truth that leads to salvation.<\/p>\n
So he published explanations of Christian doctrine, worship, and morals (his two great \u201cApologies\u201d \u2013 from the Greek for \u201cexplanation\u201d), opened a school for Christian philosophy, and traveled the Empire engaging prominent teachers and philosophers in discussions about the faith.\u00a0 His efforts gave a vital boost to the Church in the Age of Persecutions.\u00a0 They also put his neck on the chopping block.<\/p>\n
When he was turned in to the Roman prefect by one of his disgruntled opponents (academic envy is not something unique to modern times, you know), he refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, boldly affirming (together with six other Christians on trial with him), \u201cWe ask nothing better than to suffer for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ and so to be saved.\u201d\u00a0 They all lost their heads, and found heaven.<\/p>\n
Tirelessly and boldly he proclaimed the truth, but it was not out of fear or desperation. \u00a0It was out of sincere love for Christ and others, and that love converted more souls than any number of \u201cconcussions\u201d would have done.\u00a0 So don\u2019t fret and don\u2019t go \u201ctoe-to-toe\u201d; control yourself and be a drop of honey \u2013 you\u2019ll catch more flies that way than you would with a whole barrel full of vinegar, as St Francis de Sales used to say.<\/p>\n
Your devoted uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Tyrone, Well, your last note seems to indicate that you have finally learned your lesson.\u00a0 I won\u2019t point out how long this abandoned and imprisoned uncle has been trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n