APOLOGENICS

APOLOGETICS

What Would You Say If Someone Said This? 

• I don't believe in God- this person is called an ATHEIST

• There may be or may not be a God, but we can’t know it. -This person is called an AGNOSTIC.

• Who cares if God is out there or not?- This person is called LAZYand doesn't care about going to heaven or hell.  

THERE IS A GOD 

• 5 arguments for the existence of God by St.Thomas Aquinas. 

• 1.Uncaused cause: we live in a world of cause and effect. If you ask the question, “what caused that?” over and over again eventually you’d end up with the cause for every effect- GOD who is self- existent and independent if all causes. 

• 2. Unmoved mover: all things had to be “moved” into existence to go from not existing to existing. What gave being to this before, that before, that … etc.

• The only One who was never “moved” into existence, because he is Eternal, Is GOD:Who is the 1st over and not moved by any other thing.  

• 3. Intelligent design: some would say the world, the universe is a haphazard jumble of objects thrown together by accident. The world is not chance, but we see regularity in the movements of the planets, in types and species of living things, and in laws applying science. We are arranged with purpose and creation speaks through effects we see (order of an Intelligent Designer = GOD

• 4. Moral Order: All persons know they must do good and avoid evil.It is written on our hearts. Where does this law of what I ought to do come from? This law comes not from ourselves but from a divine law giver, GOD. 

• 5. Perfect being: In the world we see varying degrees of perfection. These degrees assume the existence of the ultimate standard of perfection therefore perfection must have a pinnacle. This pinnacle is whom we called God 

• Reason alone tells us there is a God, and if this Divine Mover and Lawgiver has taught us how to receive salvation and reach heaven, then yes, it does matter if there is a God, and I do care.   

“And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful; than to know Jesus and to speak to others of our friendship with him”

–Pope Benedict XVI 

 THERE IS A GOD… 

   WHO IS GOD

• MUHAMMED? Claimed he was Allah’s prophet. 

• SIDDATTHA GOTAMA? Founder of Buddhusm claimed to be enlightened and a spiritual leaders 

• Buddha?         

• Jewish God? Our God

• Hitler? Thought he was the perfect leader, with ideas of a perfect race.

• Oprah? She answered peoples letters and gave what they may have wanted.

• Jesus? Let's take a closer look at him  

• Uncaused case:

• The father and I are one.” (John 10:38)

• Peter said, “You are Christ, the Son of the LIving God.” “Blessed are you Simon Peter, this is revealed to you by the father.” (Matthew 16:16)

• Moral Order/Lawgiver: 

• You have heard it said, “you shall not kill, but I say to you”

•  Matt 5:21-48  

WHO DO I FOLLOW 

• Unmoved mover: “Do you believe in the son of God?” …” Who is he that I may believe?” Jesus said, “It is he who is speaking to you.” -John 9: 35 

•  If you heard these and similar phrases spoken to you, what would you do or say in response? Back then people thought he was crazy and accused him of blasphemy. But he is not that kind of king; he came to save souls. 

• What if you saw His miracles, or what if a miracle happened to you? It would have changed my mind seeing Jesus’ miracles. Because it is easy to believe when you see something.  

      WHO DO YOU FOLLOW? 

• What if this man said, “I forgive you of your sins,” in the midst of the biggest sin you'd ever committed?

• You might be tempted to think…  

• He is a liar…but liars dont die for their lives, they die to get out of traps. 

• He is a lunatic… but lunatics can't perform miracles or speak with such wisdom 

• Or, he must be the Lord and we know he is because he rose from the dead. 

     SINCE JESUS IS LORD

• Jesus gave us a church

  -Sacraments 

• Jesus gave us a way to worship 

     - Mass

• Jesus gave us a way to live so we could enter heaven

                    -Commandments/beatitudes  

• Jesus gave a way to get to heaven- He gave us the church, the sacraments, Mary, the saints-all these gifts to help us reach our final destination. 

APOLOGETICS 

• Means giving a reasoned defense for your faith 

                - Using scripture, tradition, teachings, and reason

• “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…” 1 Peter 3:15-16 

PURPOSE OF APOLOGETICS

• So you know your faith

• So you can defend your faith

• So you can spread the gospel and bring others to the faith. 

BE CONFIDENT BUT REMEMBER YOUR GOAL… GIVE THE TRUTH IN LOVE! 

•  Charity: you're a missionary not a lawyer or debater the goal is to be clear and evangelize concerned with giving truth not winning arguments. 

• The way to help another know Jesus?

• Holiness: if you're defending the faith but not living it, you'll get nowhere.   

TO BE  A GOOD APOLOGIST 

• Study: sacred scripture the ccc and the church fathers and doctors of the church. 

• Unity: Focus on what you have in common first. We are on the same side!

• Focus: Don't let them ask you a ton of questions, focus on one at a time

• Interpretation: remember the Catholic Church gave us the Bible, so don;t let them tell you our translation is wrong, or let them take it out of context.  

• Pray: don't start a heated discussion if the other person isn't open. A closed heart only feeds anger and frustration. 

  Goals in apologetics: LEARN TO EXPLAIN YOUR FAITH CLEARLY, DEFEND IT CHARITABLY AND SHARE IT CONFIDENTLY.  

YOUR WEAPONS

• Sacred Scripture: the Word of God, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 

• Memorize and highlight keys passages in your bible 

• Memorize books and chapters so you can quickly find what you have highlighted 

• Prayer

• Let the holy spirit help you because sometimes we are afraid and forget. 

•  The best argument we can give is us living a holy life 

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DEFEND

• Essentially: the TRUTH

•   Sacraments 

• Salvation

•  Church Dogmas or teachings

• Church authority

• Sacred scripture and tradition

That there is a God who loves us  

HOW DO WE KNOW THE TRUTH 

• Divine Revelation: Truths revealed by God the salvation of all men.

• Sacred Scripture 

• Old and new testament 

• Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

• Jesus = full revelation of God (nothing is more important because He is God and reveals all needed for Salvation!) 

• Tradition: truths of our faith, passed down orally from one generation to the next. 

• Mary assumed to heaven 

• The immaculate conception 

•  Why are both essential?

• Because Jesus taught the Apostles things that are not contained in sacred scripture. 

• “There are also very many things Jesus did, but if they were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” -John 21;25

• “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions, which were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.” (2 thess 2:15) 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

•  When Jesus came to earth he set up a Church, the catholic Church, and for 1000 years, this was the only christian Church 

• What is the difference between Christian and Catholic? 

• “Cristian” is a generic term which refers to anyone that believes that Jesus is God. (2.1 billion are catholic) 

• Catholic is a more specific term that refers to a certain type of Christian. (1 billion Christian are Catholic) 

• Some other types of Christians are Baptist, Mormon,Evangelical, Lutherns, Etc.   

WHY THE DIFFERENCE 

• Around 1517, Martin Luther publicly disputed the Catholic Church and its beliefs/teachings. This doubt caused many to leave the Catholic church and worship how Luther taught we should… thus began the Lutheran church. From this break has come more than 33,000 breaks, (Methodists, Evangelicals- we call these people protestants- one who openly declares protests_ They all claim they are the true church. But only ONE Church has its start with Jesus (God)- the Catholic Church