Children & Apologetics

[Jaguar]

My daughter is nearly 13. She socializes at non-Catholic Christian events, because there aren’t many Catholic ones here. She also needs to have places to go and friends to socialize with.

I am concerned that sooner or later her faith will be challenged & I want her to be able to defend it.

Does anyone have ideas or know of sources, for teaching her apologitics. As I said she turns 13 next month.

We have had talks lately, but I want to be sure I do this right.

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Sabda]

I have gotten the Friendly Defender cards for my kids. My oldest is 7 right now, so younger than yours. As you can see from scrolling down there is also a second set. These are nice because they discuss things that normally come up and will give your daughter a way to answer and Bible verses to back up her answers. If you go to their website they have cards that you can download. You can look at these and see if you think they might be helpful.

I have also heard that Amy Welborn’s “Prove It!” series is really good. I have not looked at them, for myself, yet.

There series has:
Prove It! Church
Prove It! God
Prove It! Jesus
Prove It! Prayer
Prove It! Catholic Teen Bible

That’s all I can think of to start with. You might try looking at Theology of the Body for Teens. It should be really good for answering those questions that deal with sexuality.

Hopefully the others will have some other good suggestions for you.

 

[Mimi]

Theology of the Body for teens is awesome! I am organizing a chastity day for youth in our area, and this will be of great help.

It helps answer the question each of has (at some point or other, and usually significant in the teen yrs), i.e., Who Am I, and What Does God Want (how does He want us to live)?

Did Adam & Eve Have Bellybuttons by Matt Pinto is a good book too. It’s full of actual Q’s from teens and answers from an apologist. There are several available through Amazon for about $5.

I ordered this assortment of tracts from Grotto Press.
grottopress.org/Grotto_Books/Catholic_Tracts/catholic_tracts.html They are less juvenile than the Holy Defender cards (although I like those too). The cartooning is not real high quality, but they do adhere to Magisterial teaching on topics such as the Eucharist, Mary, salvation, purgatory, the papacy and more, and go into some detial complete with scripture passages noted.

It would be of great benefit to yourself (if you are not already) to be familiar with TOB teaching. Check out Christopher West’s web site for books. If your parish does not have a TOB program coming up in the fall, try getting one started!

:clapping: :tiphat: Congratulations on wanting to help your dd, Jaguar! I sure wish TOB had been around when my kids were growing up.

God bless,
Mimi
St. Maria Goretti, pray for us, and especially our youth!

 

[Church_Militant]

One simple volume that will load the both of you for almost anything that comes along is San Juan Catholic Seminars, Beginning Apologetics 1.
https://shop.catholicapologetics.com/images/1166338754852833803511.jpeg

Contents

* Letter from Bishop Donald Pelotte
* Introduction
* A Beginner's Guide to Apologetics
* Practical Points on Bible Reading
* The Eucharist
      Appendix 1: The Early Church Fathers' View of the Eucharist
* The Canon of the Bible
* The Bible Alone?
* Apostolic Authority: Peter and the Papacy
* Marian Doctrines
      Appendix 2: The Protestant Reformer's View of Mary
* Questions Asked about Mary
* Confession
* Scandals in the Church
* Prayer to the Saints
* Purgatory
* Miscellaneous Questions:

1. “Call no man father”?
2. Statue Worship?
3. Constantine and Paganism?
4. Mass a Sacrifice?
5. Baptism: Merely Symbolic?
6. Why Infant Baptism?
7. Saved by Faith Alone?
8. Insufficiency of Redemption?
9. Assurance of Salvation?
10. Tradition Condemned?
11. Changing Doctrines?
12. Why are Priests Celibate?
13. Does Denomination Matter?
14. Which Church Did Jesus Found?

 

[Other_Eric]

The best defense here may very well be a good offense. It may be a good idea for your daughter to familliarize herself with the flaws in the creeds her friends follow.