Answering attacks

[Kolbe05]

Hello, i was wondering if their has ever been a point a atheist or a member of another religion has ever raised in criticism of the catholic church which you have never been able to refute? The reason i ask is lately i have been trying to compile answers to the most common attacks on the church i know of.

M.K

 

[Spencerian]

Hello, i was wondering if their has ever been a point a atheist or a member of another religion has ever raised in criticism of the catholic church which you have never been able to refute? The reason i ask is lately i have been trying to compile answers to the most common attacks on the church i know of.

M.K

Hi, and welcome to the Catholic Answers Forums.

Rather than compile a list of common (and not so common) objections by yourself, why not get one that’s already compiled and reasoned by two of the greatest minds alive today in Catholic apologetics?

That book (which I now own and love) is , by Peter Kreeft and Ron Tacelli.The Handbook of Catholic Apologetics This tome is a powerfully-written tool that covers salvation, the existence and nature of God, subjectivism, relativism, syncreticism–you name it, it’s got an answer that will whittle most, if not all objections you encounter into sawdust. Happily and highly recommended.

 

[Kolbe05]

Thanks for your response Spencerian, I will look into byying the book. The kinds of questions i was looking for were questions that concentrated on things like the churches activity during world war 2 and its stance on slavery. Just i regularly see these points come up in debates and would appreciate a book that covers these sorts of topics.

I must add that i am aware that opinions such as ‘the cathoic church didn’t condemn slavery’ can easily be refuted with a little research.

 

[Yab_Yum]

Forgiveness is the answer to any question whatsoever.

 

[Kolbe05]

Yab although i agree forgiveness is a admirable, if criticism are constantly accepted without refutation then people will without doubt start to see these criticisms as fact. I know my own own ego and self-pride(this is not a boast) will not allow myself or my faith to mocked without reply.

 

[DPMartin]

Yab although i agree forgiveness is a admirable, if criticism are constantly accepted without refutation then people will without doubt start to see these criticisms as fact. I know my own own ego and self-pride(this is not a boast) will not allow myself or my faith to mocked without reply.

Kolbe

Yes but what was the Lord’s reply when He was mocked while on the Cross, and on the way to the Cross?

Mat:27:41: Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,
42: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
43: He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.

Could it be, the Resurrection, He showed only to those who loved Him? He did not defend with words, for He trusted the Father’s promise who is in Heaven, that is the defense.

 

[guanophore]

Yab although i agree forgiveness is a admirable, if criticism are constantly accepted without refutation then people will without doubt start to see these criticisms as fact. I know my own own ego and self-pride(this is not a boast) will not allow myself or my faith to mocked without reply.

1 Peter 3:13-18

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is right? 14 But even if you do suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than for doing wrong.

It is important to always be ready to give an account for the hope that is within you.

 

[Ignatius]

Yab although i agree forgiveness is a admirable, if criticism are constantly accepted without refutation then people will without doubt start to see these criticisms as fact. I know my own own ego and self-pride(this is not a boast) will not allow myself or my faith to mocked without reply.

Exactly, The Bible tells us we are to
Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; 1 Peter 3:15
.

 

[Spencerian]

Thanks for your response Spencerian, I will look into byying the book. The kinds of questions i was looking for were questions that concentrated on things like the churches activity during world war 2 and its stance on slavery. Just i regularly see these points come up in debates and would appreciate a book that covers these sorts of topics.

I must add that i am aware that opinions such as ‘the cathoic church didn’t condemn slavery’ can easily be refuted with a little research.

You should be able to find older threads and sources on how the Pope Pius IX and Vatican secretly hid many, many Jews away to help them escape in WWII–actions that later convinced a rabbi to become Catholic. The refutations you get are often cited or sourced from a play that characterizes, fictitiously, the opposite.

As well, search the forums on how the Church has never condoned chattel slavery (of the type seen in early America), as Scripture is quite clear that God forbids this. Slavery as mentioned in the Scriptures was often of early peoples who voluntarily indentured themselves so as not to literally die of starvation out in the streets (there was no welfare system).

 

[Kay_Cee]

A terrific, well documented book about the Church during WWII is The Myth of Hitler’s Pope by Rabbi David G. Dalin. In it Dalin not only thoroughly debunks the notion that Pope Pius XII was in league with the Nazis but shows that, instead, he rescued thousands of Jews.

 

[promethius]

Hello, i was wondering if their has ever been a point a atheist or a member of another religion has ever raised in criticism of the catholic church which you have never been able to refute?

Simple answer: no. I wouldn’t be Catholic if they had.