How to defend the Catholic faith?

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Do some reading up on Apologetics. Defense of the faith.
 
The best way to defend the faith?

As St. Francis is attributed to have said: “Preach always, use words when necessary.”
 
speak from the heart,and learn of the saints like they did from Christ.

St Peter was the living proof of learning from Christ,even after his denials and mistakes.thats why he holds the keys to heaven.
 
DoxieMama said:
I start RCIA soon, and need to learn how to defend the Catholic faith. Some people say that since Catholics depend upon works they are not saved. The article is here, if you want to read more.

Read more: whatchristianswanttoknow.com/are-catholics-saved-and-are-they-christians/#ixzz25R1yu2Fw

Any advice on how to defend against this?
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There are plenty of good apologetic websites out there but you can pretty much find all you need right here on Catholic.com like this…

catholic.com/magazine/articles/we-can-work-it-out

And this site is very good too…

scripturecatholic.com/

And don’t forget the Catechism of the Catholic Church!
 
Hello Doxie,

Welcome!

First off, I’m recently back to Catholicism (1 year) and my wife and I went through RCIA last year. If you’ve got a good teacher, you’re going to really enjoy learning!

When I began doing appologetics last year my hope was to merely clear up the misunderstandings that many (mostly non-Catholics, but some Catholics too) have about Catholicism.

One of the biggest difficulties is that most Non-Catholics have created a false belief about what Catholics believe and stick to it, even when Catholics say “we don’t believe that”.

This is what is happening here. Catholics DO NOT depend only on works for salvation.

Paragraph 161 of the Catechism of the Catholic Chruch states "Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation.42 "Since "without faith it is impossible to please (God) " and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life ‘But he who endures to the end.’ "

Does that sound like we’re dependant upon works? No we must have Faith. Faith is absolutely necessary.

But is “Faith Alone” all we need? Let’s look at the only place in the bible where the phrase “faith alone” appears: James 2:24 “So you see that that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

There’s also the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46. Notice how BOTH the sheep and the goats call Christ “Lord”. But what is the difference between going to heaven and going to hell? What they did and didn’t DO!

Catholics DO NOT believe that works alone can save you either.

The Catholic possition is the Biblical possition: Faith and Works are BOTH needed for salvation. Faith and works CANNOT be seperated.

This is a VERY brief description of the Catholic belief on Faith and Works and also of what you’ll run into time and time and time again with non-Catholics - they create a false view of Catholicism and attack that false view.

For futher info see these Catholic Answer tracts and podcasts:
catholic.com/radio/shows/faith-and-works-4307
catholic.com/radio/shows/saved-by-faith-or-works-3680
catholic.com/magazine/articles/we-can-work-it-out
catholic.com/quickquestions/why-does-the-church-teach-that-works-can-obtain-salvation
catholic.com/quickquestions/doesnt-john-316-clearly-indicate-that-faith-alone-is-necessary-for-salvation

Hope that helps, Enjoy your journey into the Catholic Church and God Bless, :signofcross:
 
DoxieMama said:
I start RCIA soon, and need to learn how to defend the Catholic faith. Some people say that since Catholics depend upon works they are not saved. The article is here, if you want to read more.

Read more: whatchristianswanttoknow.com/are-catholics-saved-and-are-they-christians/#ixzz25R1yu2Fw
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First of all - if someone truly wants to know about Catholicism they should get their info from Catholic sources…
Any advice on how to defend against this?
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Defending the faith is comprised of two main components.
The first and most important is to truly live the faith - beginning with Love which needs to be at the very Core of our being as Catholics.
The second part is to read and learn as much as one is able…and if someone asks about something you are either not aware of or unsure of, simple respond, “I don’t know - I’ll get back to you”. Then go find the answer and give it to them.

Some things like the one above about Catholic relying on works are widely written about and answers are readily available. Other things can be more difficult to explain - more subtle.

To try to answer your question above about Catholics “depending” on works.
While this is easily refuted…Just how will depend on a couple of factors…
How does the person define “works”?
When they say “depend on works” do they mean apart from faith?

Yes Catholics “depend” on works, but they do so biblically and as described by St James in his Epistle:
James 2:14-18
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. 18 But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
So - Faith and works are tied securely together…Faith without works is dead and a dead faith cannot save. Works without faith are fruitless since We need to believe in God and in Christ for our salvation. The “Faith Alone” party will toss some quotes from St Paul and I will toss back some Gospel passages such as the Judgement scene in Mt 25 :31-46 where faith is not even mentioned but actions (works) are.
Normally these conversations eventually reduce themselves to the idea of works being a part of faith and not something separate - in short…Semantics…🤷

Peace
James
 
DoxieMama said:
I start RCIA soon, and need to learn how to defend the Catholic faith. Some people say that since Catholics depend upon works they are not saved. The article is here, if you want to read more.

Read more: whatchristianswanttoknow.com/are-catholics-saved-and-are-they-christians/#ixzz25R1yu2Fw

Any advice on how to defend against this?
Click to expand...
being here on Catholic answers forum is a great start - there are a lot of resources and you can search threads on this exact topic you bring up
 
DoxieMama said:
I start RCIA soon, and need to learn how to defend the Catholic faith. Some people say that since Catholics depend upon works they are not saved. The article is here, if you want to read more.

Read more: whatchristianswanttoknow.com/are-catholics-saved-and-are-they-christians/#ixzz25R1yu2Fw

Any advice on how to defend against this?
Click to expand...
Study. Read the treatment on justification carefully from session 6 of the council of Trent here:
history.hanover.edu/texts/trent.html

And read the treatment on justification from the Catechism here:
scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c3a2.htm#1989

Also carefully read and consider the Parable of the Talents. You should find the Catholic position to be very sound, balanced, and scriptural.
 
Hand them the Catechism and say “show me in here where the Catholic Church teaches what you claim it teaches.” Then try not to giggle at the responses.
 
snarflemike said:
Hand them the Catechism and say “show me in here where the Catholic Church teaches what you claim it teaches.” Then try not to giggle at the responses.
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Excellent suggestion.

Another thing that I have found is that they will point to some canon or other from the Council of Trent…But then if you look up the documents that contain that canon and look at the information around it and above it…you quickly find that it does not say what they claim it says…i.e. works instead of faith rather than faith with works…

Peace
James
 
DaddyGirl said:
Wow, not even there yet and already gearing up for attack!
To whom do you already need to learn to defend it?
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Don’t know about the OP but when I was on my way back home, but not decided yet, I started to face some tough questions to the things we were finding out. Could be what’s going on. It’s not like people wait for you to “declare” you’re Catholic before they start attacking you.
 
DaddyGirl said:
Wow, not even there yet and already gearing up for attack!
To whom do you already need to learn to defend it?
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I know some people who think Catholicism has too many man-made rules, blah, blah, blah. Mostly family.
 
DaddyGirl said:
Wow, not even there yet and already gearing up for attack!
To whom do you already need to learn to defend it?
Click to expand...
DoxieMama said:
I know some people who think Catholicism has too many man-made rules, blah, blah, blah. Mostly family.
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Yes - 👍

Daddy girl…often times the “attacks” begin well before a person converts.

Some non-Catholics (not all, but some) will - - - ummm…how can I say - - - - freak out… :bigyikes:- - - If you mention that you are looking into Catholicism.
They sincerely believe they are doing you a favor by telling you “what the Catholics believe”…

DoxieMama is simply doing what she should do. Get the answers from a Catholic source so she can test and see if what these people tell her is actually true.

Peace
James
 
JRKH said:
Yes - 👍

DoxieMama is simply doing what she should do. Get the answers from a Catholic source so she can test and see if what these people tell her is actually true.

Peace
James
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Thank you James! That is exactly what I’m doing 👍
 
Just use the bible against them. Almost every protestant believes that the bible is divinely inspired and without error. Tell them to read James chapter 2. Better yet tell them even the devil and his minions have faith and they are not in heaven. I believe James chapter 2 was written for people like this.

18 Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

19 You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.

20 Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?

22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.

23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.”

24 See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
 
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