Apologetics Online

[DanielJT]

What’s your opinion on engaging in apologetic discussions online?

Such as: comment boards after an obviously biased piece of new, twitter, Facebook, other non-Catholic discussion boards.

 

[Church_Militant]

Here on CAF it’s fine.

Social media is a bad joke IMO and so I avoid it because the lack of moderation makes it a free for all of the worst kind.

By and large n-C/a-C boards and forums are also a waste of time for basically the same reason.

Keep in mind that all of us have limited amounts of time to spend online and it is wise to carefully choose your internet venues for apologetics.

 

[DavidFilmer]

What’s your opinion on engaging in apologetic discussions online?

Well, since you have asked your question on the world’s largest online Catholic apologetic discussion forum, I would think that most opinions would be rather favorable. Anybody who thinks otherwise would probably not be here to respond.

 

[Lion_IRC]

What’s your opinion on engaging in apologetic discussions online?

Such as: comment boards after an obviously biased piece of new, twitter, Facebook, other non-Catholic discussion boards.

Very important and useful.

“…And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

 

[Neofight]

Well, since you have asked your question on the world’s largest online Catholic apologetic discussion forum, I would think that most opinions would be rather favorable. Anybody who thinks otherwise would probably not be here to respond.

Whoa…not so fast.

I am a frequent visitor to CAF, but I am not particularly a fan of Apologetics. Very little of what is in this forum is an example of Apologetics, but rather catechesis, which I feel is more important that Apologetics.

Apologetics has become an industry, in my opinion.

There are other Apologetic sites (mainly blogs), but by-and-large the intent of “On-line Apologetics” is to peddle books!

Saint Augustine of Hippo said something about Apologetics, which I think is applicable. He said, ***"The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it, let it loose, and it will defend itself.” ***

He seems to have been saying that catechesis (the “let it loose” part of his statement) makes Apologetics moot.

In my

 

[spedteacherita]

What’s your opinion on engaging in apologetic discussions online?

Such as: comment boards after an obviously biased piece of new, twitter, Facebook, other non-Catholic discussion boards.

I joined a group on Facebook and immediately left because I could tell it was not going to be respectful. While we get a bit fervent about our faith traditions most of us tend to be very respectful in our conversations or come back and smooth things out soon after.

I’ve learned a lot from our debates and discussions. I’ve pulled out all my college theology books and dusted them off and, have been reading as much as I can about Lutheran Confessions and I’ve set up some notebooks on my shelves that contain info about Mary and the Saints and other Catholic dogmas.

I believe that David is correct here as many of our debates are focused on teachings within the Catholic Catechism yet I also believe that there are heavy discussions in which we get deeper into theological debates - basically sharing apologetic arguments.

Good question!

God bless!!

Rita

 

[Neofight]

Rita, you misquoted David. David claimed that anyone not interested in apologetics probably shouldn’t respond to the thread.

The quote you cited was from me.

Peace!

 

[Church_Militant]

Whoa…not so fast.

I am a frequent visitor to CAF, but I am not particularly a fan of Apologetics. Very little of what is in this forum is an example of Apologetics, but rather catechesis, which I feel is more important that Apologetics.

Apologetics has become an industry, in my opinion.

There are other Apologetic sites (mainly blogs), but by-and-large the intent of “On-line Apologetics” is to peddle books!

Saint Augustine of Hippo said something about Apologetics, which I think is applicable. He said, ***"The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it, let it loose, and it will defend itself.” ***

He seems to have been saying that catechesis (the “let it loose” part of his statement) makes Apologetics moot.

In my

And then of course another great saint who also said something similar.*

“The Catholic faith is like a lion in a cage. You don’t need to defend it – you simply need to open the cage door.” – Archbishop Fulton Sheen*

One might find it of interest that that same saintly soul penned introductions to at least 2 of the volumes of the wonderful Radio Replies apologetics series. So…it’s not like the 2 do not go complimentary hand in hand, ok?

There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church - which is, of course, quite a different thing. These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics “adore statues”; because they “put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God”; because they say “indulgence is a permission to commit sin”; because the Pope “is a Fascist”; because the “Church is the defender of Capitalism.” If the Church taught or believed any one of these things it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.

As I said above…carefully pick your venue so as to sow your good seed on the best soil and not the rocky path.

 

[DanielJT]

I like the idea of picking your venue and sowing on the fertile soil.

But who is to say where the fertile soil is? Its like the whole Jesus as a doctor idea. It’s not the healthy that need one, it is the sick.

Sometimes, I see an article online and I just want to get a bunch of Catholics to flood the comments with truth. The internet feels so overloaded with either atheistic and/or anti-Catholic sentiment, I would love to have there be more of a Catholic presence.

That’s probably what I have been looking for: more of a Catholic presence online. It is becoming (already is) a large part of the culture and I hate to shirk away from it and, for lack of a better phrase, “lose ground.”

On the other hand, there is a flood out there and sometimes I want to stick it out here in the boat on CAF. It is hard to make a comment and have 6+ responses label you a bigot or irrelevant or hateful.

 

[Church_Militant]

I like the idea of picking your venue and sowing on the fertile soil.

But who is to say where the fertile soil is? Its like the whole Jesus as a doctor idea. It’s not the healthy that need one, it is the sick.

Sometimes, I see an article online and I just want to get a bunch of Catholics to flood the comments with truth. The internet feels so overloaded with either atheistic and/or anti-Catholic sentiment, I would love to have there be more of a Catholic presence.

That’s probably what I have been looking for: more of a Catholic presence online. It is becoming (already is) a large part of the culture and I hate to shirk away from it and, for lack of a better phrase, “lose ground.”

On the other hand, there is a flood out there and sometimes I want to stick it out here in the boat on CAF. It is hard to make a comment and have 6+ responses label you a bigot or irrelevant or hateful.

I understand. However, we, each of us, represents that Catholic presence that you speak of, and we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as to when and where to share our faith. This means that we all need to function in a constant attitude of prayer so that we can know when we should speak and when we should keep silent.

I agree that there is a lot of hell out there and we are called to stand against it…but remember also what Our Blessed Lord said about not casting our pearls before swine and what will happen if we do.

Matthew 7:6 says*** “Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you.” (see also Matthew 10:16)

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That is precisely what will happen in many of these cases and that is why I urge caution and discernment. See, some of us, (Myself for instance) have been born into apologetics by a sort of crucible of fire one way or another. For some it was internal, but for me it was external. It is not a path that I recommend to anyone, nor do I treasure that difficult experience that it was, though I recognize that it was the means by which God drew me home to our most holy faith and fed my own internal hunger for the truth.

However, not everyone we encounter, nor every anti-Catholic propagandist is our mission. It is, I believe much more important to help build up Christ’s church by providing Catholics with the answers to such things so that they are not deceived and proselytized away from the faith.

 

[DanielJT]

I understand. However, we, each of us, represents that Catholic presence that you speak of, and we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as to when and where to share our faith. This means that we all need to function in a constant attitude of prayer so that we can know when we should speak and when we should keep silent.

I agree that there is a lot of hell out there and we are called to stand against it…but remember also what Our Blessed Lord said about not casting our pearls before swine and what will happen if we do.

Matthew 7:6 says*** “Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you.” (see also Matthew 10:16)

---

That is precisely what will happen in many of these cases and that is why I urge caution and discernment. See, some of us, (Myself for instance) have been born into apologetics by a sort of crucible of fire one way or another. For some it was internal, but for me it was external. It is not a path that I recommend to anyone, nor do I treasure that difficult experience that it was, though I recognize that it was the means by which God drew me home to our most holy faith and fed my own internal hunger for the truth.

However, not everyone we encounter, nor every anti-Catholic propagandist is our mission. It is, I believe much more important to help build up Christ’s church by providing Catholics with the answers to such things so that they are not deceived and proselytized away from the faith.

This makes sense to me. :tiphat: