Apologetics Study Guide?

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SCornett

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I’m the coordinator of a student apologetics discussion group at my university, and I wanted to ask if anyone had reccommendations for an apologetics/catechism book we might use for our meetings this fall. Some specific criteria:
  • Group size is 6-10 people, about evenly divided between undergrads and graduate students. We tend to attract serious (i.e., orthodox) Catholics who have some knowledge of their faith, and are interested in a deeper understanding of major issues. “Introductory” materials are okay, but they need to have enough serious theology to keep everyone interested.
  • We’ve tried “homework”, and it doesn’t work for us. This means that anything that will be discussed in our group must be read (usually aloud) at a meeting, preferably without having to ‘spill’ material to the next week. This constrains lessons to about 2-3 (information-dense) pages to allow time for discussion and questions, and rules out somewhat longer works like the Beginning Apologetics series.
  • Personal stories (by the author) illustrating the topic are a plus, but discussion questions are a must. Straight prose not intended for discussion or deeper reflection haven’t worked well for us in the past.
  • We’re open to anything on traditional apologetics issues, the Catechism, moral/ethical issues, confronting challeges by other faiths or secular culture, etc. We’d prefer not to do Scripture study or “personal experience-sharing” activities (there are other groups at our parish for these).

    I’d appreciate any suggestions or reccommendations you might have.
Thanks,
Steve Cornett
 
I heartily second the recommendation of the *Beginning Apologetics * series. There are the basic booklets and an accompanying study guides with questions for each. Great stuff! Also, the Bible Cheat Sheet is an excellent resource. I’ve given many as gifts.

'thann
 
Lumen Verum Apologetics has some good modular material that I think would make a very helpful source for a somewhat informal study group. Check it out here.
 
Stephen Kellmeyer has an excellent book that uses scripture to defend and explain the faith. It is called Bible Basics: An Introductory Guide to the Catholic Faith. The format introduces a topic, uses examples from scripture to support it, and then has short commentary/explanations (usually drawn form the Catechism or Church documents) that clarify the Catholic belief.

I have used it for years in our Parish’s Bible Study group which I have led for 4+ years and find it to be an excellent source.
The San Juan Seminar Beginning Apologetics booklets are also very good though not complete.
 
You might find “Unabridged Christianity” by Fr. Mario Romero, published by Queenship Publishing a good choice.
 
Go to www.biblechristiansociety.com This guy, John Martignoni, has eleven tapes, each on a different apologetics topic. He is very dynamic and you might enjoy listening to the tapes as a group. John really has a knack for presenting the material in a very simple format, yet it really hits home. Mostly, when in a discussion with a “bible christian”, they are not interested in tradition, or in the CCC, they want to know …“where is that in the bible?”…John shows you how to use the bible as a tool to defend your faith. Each tape is about 45-50 minutes long. If you try them, let me know how you liked them!🙂
 
I understand Fr. Corapi has some teachings on tape.
Do you know if apologetics is included?
Are they any good?
Does he have a website?
 
I teach RCIA and besides the material provided we use the book by Father Trigillio <sp?>, Catholicism for Dummys and of course the Catachism of the Catholic Church. But the Dummys book is very good. Good luck and God Bless
 
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