Best Catholic apologist?

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I’ve done some research on Hahn.

I like the guy. It is his method of explanation that is his appeal.

He is like the Velvet Boxing Glove of Apologetics! You don’t realise you’re being punched around until you’re staring at the ceiling, reflecting on what you just heard and waiting for your bruises to start showing!

Sungenis on the other hand is The Light Saber of Apologetics! You have to be accurate and know your defence strategy EXTREMELY well or he will leave you in burning pieces!

:cool:
 
Deconi said:
I’ve done some research on Hahn.

I like the guy. It is his method of explanation that is his appeal.

He is like the Velvet Boxing Glove of Apologetics! You don’t realise you’re being punched around until you’re staring at the ceiling, reflecting on what you just heard and waiting for your bruises to start showing!

Sungenis on the other hand is The Light Saber of Apologetics! You have to be accurate and know your defence strategy EXTREMELY well or he will leave you in burning pieces!

:cool:
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I love them both to be honest. I have said that I am a Catholic High School religion teacher, and I’d love to have a panel discussion for the students with Hahn, Sungenis, Akin, Madrid, Everett (expert on teens) —It would be great—maybe the Holy Spirit would make something like that happen. Id love for the students to be able to ask WHATEVER THEY WANT about the Catholic faith-- A NO HOLDS BARRED DISCUSSION!!! THAT WOULD BE GREAT!!!👍
 
Popes_Soldier said:
Ah, velvet.

Hey, did anyone see this on EWTN? Some of the folks we are talking about here are on iy:
youtube.com/watch?v=lMW2kHHGPa8
Sorry, I don’t mean to derail the thread.
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Interesting vid but why is there no message about how a person can be saved from going to hell?

Surely people need to know that they can be saved from going to hell by receiving the free gift of eternal life that the Lord Jesus alone can give them.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23
 
I think the video is meant as a balance against those priests who never want to talk about hell and instead just give gooey bland homilies every Sunday.

Its a fact that hell is hardly ever mentioned anymore in some parishes, if its mentioned at all. This video reminds people of how real it is
 
emeraldisle said:
Interesting vid but why is there no message about how a person can be saved from going to hell?

Surely people need to know that they can be saved from going to hell by receiving the free gift of eternal life that the Lord Jesus alone can give them.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23
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Where does it say “free gift”? :confused:

We have to be followers of Jesus, which means we have to be members of His Church. 🙂
 
jmcrae said:
Where does it say “free gift”? :confused:

We have to be followers of Jesus, which means we have to be members of His Church. 🙂
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“Take up your cross and follow me” sure doesn’t sound like an invitation to a pleasure cruise, does it?

Part of the reason it’s tough to pick the best Catholic apologist is because the weak anti-Catholic arguments make ANY Catholic apologist look like a theological genius and master rhetorician.
 
jmcrae said:
Where does it say “free gift”? :confused:
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15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Romans 5:15-18

.
 
Teflon93
Part of the reason it’s tough to pick the best Catholic apologist is because the weak anti-Catholic arguments make ANY Catholic apologist look like a theological genius and master rhetorician
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As a Catholic convert who likes Hahn, Akins, etc., I find this comment arrogant. The fact is there are very good apologists for both evangelical Christianity and Catholicism. Often the arguments are intricate and subtle. I wouldn’t undersell the opposition. We all come with biases and often it is hard to get through that with one style of argument.

Keith
 
Keith123 said:
As a Catholic convert who likes Hahn, Akins, etc., I find this comment arrogant. The fact is there are very good apologists for both evangelical Christianity and Catholicism. Often the arguments are intricate and subtle. I wouldn’t undersell the opposition. We all come with biases and often it is hard to get through that with one style of argument.

Keith
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May I presume that you would disagree that Catholic apologists, buttressed as they are by 2,000 years of Church tradition and theology and with unfettered access to the fullness of Truth entrusted to the Church, do not possess an inestimable advantage over those who, lacking such bulwarks, must make every more “intricate and subtle” arguments to justify their disobedience?

You may find anything you like to be arrogant, but I’m more interested in what you find to be true.
 
Teflon93 said:
May I presume that you would disagree that Catholic apologists, buttressed as they are by 2,000 years of Church tradition and theology and with unfettered access to the fullness of Truth entrusted to the Church, do not possess an inestimable advantage over those who, lacking such bulwarks, must make every more “intricate and subtle” arguments to justify their disobedience?

You may find anything you like to be arrogant, but I’m more interested in what you find to be true.
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You do understand that even if you have all the facts on your side, you still might not win an argument. It will still depend on how skillfully each side lays out it facts and information, and other limitations such as time or pages, etc., and the ability of the observers to comprehend those arguments. So concepts and ideas may not always be so crystal clear, and conclusions about who is right, and who is wrong may differ. I happen to believe that there are skilled people on each side and I think it unwise to belittle all of the opposition.
Keith
.
 
Keith123 said:
You do understand that even if you have all the facts on your side, you still might not win an argument. It will still depend on how skillfully each side lays out it facts and information, and other limitations such as time or pages, etc., and the ability of the observers to comprehend those arguments. So concepts and ideas may not always be so crystal clear, and conclusions about who is right, and who is wrong may differ. I happen to believe that there are skilled people on each side and I think it unwise to belittle all of the opposition.
Keith
.
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This is not the Oxford Debate Society—Truth matters.

“One man + the truth = a majority” and all that.

Apologetics is not a question of skill, but of Truth. See St Augustine’s “Confessions” for a thorough treatment of why this is so. His perspective as a former teacher of rhetoric is most illuminating.
 
Keith123 said:
You do understand that even if you have all the facts on your side, you still might not win an argument. It will still depend on how skillfully each side lays out it facts and information, and other limitations such as time or pages, etc., and the ability of the observers to comprehend those arguments. So concepts and ideas may not always be so crystal clear, and conclusions about who is right, and who is wrong may differ. I happen to believe that there are skilled people on each side and I think it unwise to belittle all of the opposition.
Keith
.
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I’m not having a go, Keith, but the problems I see with Protestant Apologetics is as Teflon describes! They are ALWAYS inadequate! Yet they manipulate the evidence to try and fit into their arguments.

It is like being told the price of a book from The Bookstore is $13.00. “They” turn up at The Bookstore to find it’s actually $130.00.

“They” then stay and argue with the store-manager about not bringing enough money, and CITING their sources for “$13.00” as some kind of authoritative validation for the book to be sold to them for “$13.00”

It’s probably an inadequate analogy, but it always looks that way to me. I don’t have to respect any argument that turns up short and then try to ascend to the higher ground, by sheer argument! I do respect the ones who realise their short falls, and not only hear the explanation, but at least reflect on the explanations and reconsider!

In this way, “they” may find, that the Shop has ‘specials’ on ‘Wednesdays’ and are giving books away for free!!..if they would JUST listen and hear!

:cool:
 
Teflon93 said:
This is not the Oxford Debate Society—Truth matters.

“One man + the truth = a majority” and all that.

Apologetics is not a question of skill, but of Truth. See St Augustine’s “Confessions” for a thorough treatment of why this is so. His perspective as a former teacher of rhetoric is most illuminating.
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Of course truth matters. On that, I think, we agree. However, at this point I think you and I are at an impasse, so I’ll let my comments stand. It will take me a while to get through St Augustine’s Confessions, so I will not be able to comment on that anytime soon. He may have some relevant words on this issue.

My best to you Teflon.

Keith
 
I would have voted for Peter Kreeft if he had been there, as he is someone I really relate to. Instead, I went for my fellow Texan, Jimmy Akin. He is extremely logical. On the other hand, the only one who had helped me personally on the list was Karl Keating, the Great.

So I guess is what it boils down to is how each type appeals to a different type of personality and they each have a place in the kingdom of God.
 
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