Becoming an apologist

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I consider myself to be a newbie apologist. I’ve spent a couple of years on Yahoo! Catholic Chat, and a couple of years on Steve Ray’s board.

There are three ways to learn apologetics: READ, learn from others, and experience.
 
I second the recommendation for Karl’s Catholicism and Fundamentalism.

By the way, I encourage all to donate to Catholic Answers, Scott Hahn’s St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, local Catholic radio stations, and other such organizations, in addition to their local parishes. I am a Cradle Catholic who went through 12 years of Catholic school and never learned the faith or ever really read the Bible. Thank God for Catholic Apologists who gave me the tools I was looking for to learn my faith.

Deo Gratias!
 
Live your faith as much as you can. A picture is worth a thousand words. 🙂
 
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BobCatholic:
I consider myself to be a newbie apologist. I’ve spent a couple of years on Yahoo! Catholic Chat, and a couple of years on Steve Ray’s board.

There are three ways to learn apologetics: READ, learn from others, and experience.
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YES! Yahoo Catholic Chat serves several purposes:

great place to practice apologetics
great place to work off purgatory time 🙂
 
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kxq:
How does one become an apologist? Is there a course of study offered by Catholic universities or seminaries? Does one have to pass an exam like an accountant does to become a CPA? Is there a certifying organization?
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i have made an entire entry to answer this very question:

COMPREHENSIVE ARGUMENTS
–Apologetics
–Catholic Apologetic Method, Epistemology, and Open-Mindedness
–Apologia for Apologists and Apologetics
–A Defense of Amateur Apologetics
–Apologizing to the Masses
–Apologetics without Apology
–Apologetics as the Handmaid of Faith
–Where Have All the Apologists Gone?
–General Christian Apologetics and Worldview
–Critical Basis for Apologetics
–A New Evangelization in a New Millennium: A Call for a New Apologetics
–The Art of Teaching the Faith

more to come in another post…
 
SPECIFIC ARGUMENTS

Apologetics for Beginners
–Starting Out as an Apologist
–Twelve Painless Ways to Evangelize
–How to Start Doing Apologetics
–The Layman’s Use of Greek Bible Reference Books
–How Some Apologists Cause Major Misunderstandings
–Twelve Claims Every Catholic Should Be Able to Answer
–Because It’s True
–Can We Talk?
–First Comes Love!
–Girl Talk: Evangelizing Over Coffee
–If I Were the Catholic Media Czar
–Out of the Sandbox Into Apologetics
–Recovering Stray Catholics
–The Reluctant Evangelizer

Online Reference Material
Church Documents
–Papal Documents
–Encyclicals
–Papal Documents: All Popes
–Papal Documents of John Paull II
–Documents from Church Councils
–Episcopal Documents
–Curial Documents
–Church Documents in Alphabetical Order
–1983 Code of Canon Law
–2003 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM)
–1975 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM)
Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and Almanacs
–New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
–World Wide Encyclopedia of Christianity
–Pro-Life Encyclopedia
–Catholic Dictionary
–Catholic Glossary
–Glossary of Church Terms
–A Catholic Glossary
–A Dictionary of Orthodox Terminology
–Catholic Almanac
–Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Almanac
Other Document Archives
–Catholic Culture Library
–EWTN Document Library
–Catholic Pages Truth Directory
–The Catholic Library
–Catholic Exchange Library
–Catholic Truth Facts
–Catholic Online Library
–Catholic Educator’s Resource Center
–Internet Theology Resources
–Catholic Books on the Internet
–Fr. Saunders Library

still more to come…
 
Online Bibles
–Douay-Rheims Bible
–New American Bible
–Revised Standard Version, with Apocrypha
–Latin Vulgate
–New Latin Vulgate
–Aramaic Bible

Apologetics: Suggested Reading
Catholic
–Apologist’s Bookshelf
–Catholic Bibliography
–Top 25 General Books on Catholicism & Catholic Apologetics
–Top 10 Bible-Based Catholic Apologetics Books
–Top 25 Books on Catholic Converts and Conversion
–Top 10 Catholic Books on Protestantism
–Top 15 Books on Catholic Church History
–Top 20 Catholic Apologetics Books on Specific Doctrines
–Top 20 Books: Christian Culture vs. Secularism & Agnosticism
–Top 15 Books on Post-Vatican II Catholic Confusion
–Top 15 Catholic Books About Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus
–Top 10 Books on the Papacy and the Authority of the Church
General Christian
–Top 15 Christian Apologetics Books: Historical Arguments
–Top 25 Christian Apologetics Books: Philosophical Arguments
–Top 10 Books on Scientific Arguments for God’s Existence

hehe, not done yet…
 
The Best of Catholicism in Mass-Media
Books
–(a journal of the arts and religion) Top 100 Books of the Century*The Image *
–The Most Edifying Books of the 20th Century
–Top 20 Biographies of Famous Christians
–Top 10 Christian Fantasy Alternatives to Harry Potter
–Catholic Library Reading List
–Recommended Reading List
–Catholic Bookrack
Film
–The Fifty Best Catholic Movies of All Time
–The Most Edifying Films of the 20th Century
–USCCB Top Ten Movie List (1965-2003)
–Vatican Top 45 List
Music
–Google Directory: Catholicism–Music
–Singers and Songwriters
–Bands
–Music Festivals
–Music Publishers
–Catholic Midis
–Religious Music
–Catholic Media: Online Audio
Internet
–Apologetics: Catholic Websites
–Sources for Apologetics
–Apologetics Pages
–New Advent’s Top 50 Catholic Websites
–New Advent Catholic Links
–Catholic Apologetics Network: Links
–Catholic Information and Resources
–Best Catholic Links on the Net
–The Catholic Goldmine
–The Catholic Internet Directory
–Catholic Links Directory
–Google Directory: Catholicism
–Catholinks
–Catholic Links General Index

almost done…
 
Popular Catholic Apologists
Frank Sheed
–Frank Sheed: The Prophet of Hyde Park
–Frank J. Sheed
–Marriage and the Law of God
–Marriage Existential
–The Nature of Sex and Marriage
–The Mass and the Eucharist
–Christ in the Classroom
–Are We Really Teaching Religion?
–Marriage and the Family
–Nullity of Marriage
–A Map of Life
John Henry Cardinal Newman
–John Henry Cardinal Newman
–Top 10 Biographical Books About John Henry Newman
–Top 10 Books on The Thought of John Henry Newman
–Newman Reader: His Written Works and His Life
–Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman: The “Father” of the Second Vatican Council (242 works/articles/links)
G.K. Chesterton
–Introduction to G.K. Chesterton
–G.K. Chesterton
–Top 10 Books About G.K. Chesterton
–Chesterton’s Works Online
–The G.K. Chesterton Library
–G.K. Chesterton: The Colossial Genius (150 works/articles/links)
Ronald Knox
–Ronald Knox
–Ronald Knox: Biography
–The Great Apologists, Part 3: Ronald Knox
–Belief of Catholics
–Creed in Slow Motion
–The Essentials of Spiritual Unity
–The Priestly Life
–The Messianic Hope
–The Epistles and Gospels for Sundays and Holydays
Hilaire Belloc
–Hilaire Belloc and “All the Rest of It”
–How to Form a Catholic Mind: Read Belloc
–Hilaire Belloc: Defender of the Faith
–Belloc’s Archived Works Online
–Links to Literature: Hilaire Belloc
David Armstrong
–Personal Page
–Homepage: Biblical Evidence for Catholicism
–Books by David Armstrong
–Works Translated in Spanish
–Blog: Cor Ad Cor Loquitur
–Literary Resume
Fr. William G. Most
–Complete Biography of Fr. William Most
– Theological CollectionMost
– Apologetics CollectionMost (note: right click…“save target as”)** zip file contains 57 articles**

i can see the finish line…
 
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
–Scriptural Reference Guide
–Scripture Catholic
–Catholic Bible Verses
–Catholicism in Scripture
–Catholic Doctrinal Concordance
–Catholic Doctrine in Scripture
–The Holy Church in Holy Scripture
–Catholic Apologetics Primer
–The Bible Defends the Catholic Church
–Catholic Doctrinal Concordance of the Bible

TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
–Fathers Know Best
–The Fathers of the Church
–The Teachings of the Church Fathers
–Patristics
–Christian Classics Ethereal Library
–Guide to Early Church Documents
–Internet Medieval Sourcebook
–Summa Theologica

CATECHISMS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
–Nazareth Master Catechism
–The Catechetical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas
–The Catechism of Trent
–The Baltimore Catechism
–The Catechism of St. Piux X
–Catechism of the Catholic Church: Second Edition

AUDIO DOWNLOADS
–Catholic Answers Audio
–EWTN Audio Library

for the entire reference section at phatmass.com, go here

pax christi,
phatcatholic
 
kqx, In addition to all the other excellent posts, I would like to add a caution as to where (I.E. the forum) you choose to defend the faith. I started on various message boards and quickly found that 4+ hours a day was not enough! Needless to say I quickly found myself neglecting other responsibilities in my life. (My wife let me know before the third day I was spending too much time on line! And she was right!!!) Online is great as long as it is balanced. (I now restrict my message board time to lunch at work.)

Another forum is in the classic form of the “Controversy” as practiced by such writers as Lund, Knox, etc. (I have to plug Karl’s “Controversies: High – Level Catholic Apologetics”)

For those who are interested in writing apologetic essays, there is a group called Project Dominic you may be interested in ( http://www.projectdominic.org/) that was formed by a loose group of Catholics focused on responding to published and semi-published works that criticize the Catholic Faith.

There is also the apologetics that you give in your personal life by living the Gospel and knowing your faith. As a Father with a one year old and another due in 2 months, they will be life long objects of what I hope will be faithful Catholic-Christian witness on my part.

Pax, TK
 
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