Mark Brumley's "How NOT to Share Your Faith"

[grannymh]

Somehow, I get the feeling scanning your links that you don’t like Mike Gendron.

Nice to see your thread resurrected, C.M.

Yes. Good timing. Guess what I found yesterday on my bottom bookshelf…
My untouched book with “NOT” in huge white letters against a blazing red cover.

I have decided to start with page 97 so that I will be in step with you all…tomorrow…

 

[Church_Militant]

Somehow, I get the feeling scanning your links that you don’t like Mike Gendron.

Nice to see your thread resurrected, C.M.

It’s not personal, but so long as he talks all that crazy smack about our most holy faith, I will regularly take his stuff apart and discredit his asserted knowledge about Catholicism…that and he’s really not very good with the Bible.

Yes. Good timing. Guess what I found yesterday on my bottom bookshelf…
My untouched book with “NOT” in huge white letters against a blazing red cover.

I have decided to start with page 97 so that I will be in step with you all…tomorrow…

Well, there is a great deal of very good stuff to be gleaned from this excellent book. All his tips will make us more effective at apologetics and faith sharing…and who wouldn’t want that?

 

[PoorKnight]

Thank you for the links. I like how you take on the argument in a very matter of fact tone.

I’m trying to reply to some anti-Catholic notions of the Eucharist, in a respectful tone, and in doing so find I’m up to 12 pages already! Even though I’ve done both for some time now, I’ve recently realized that if I write a response separate from the blog I’m responding to, then cut / paste the response, I’m much less anxious.

How do we portray a respectful tone in text mediums (chat boxes, blogs etc) without over using smiley faces and flowery language?

God Bless,

 

[Church_Militant]

That can be tough because typed responses on the internet don’t convey tone very well.

Smilies are cute and all, but they can be a pain…and sometimes are not available, depending on where you’re responding.

I think the best way is to calmly and simply offer facts and information without rhetoric or polemics, which just get in the way.

Remember too, that brevity is the soul of wit, and so you want to make your offerings as concise and brief as possible so that it can be read and taken in quickly, yet without sacrificing important information. For instance, it often helps to simply put scripture references in parenthesis instead of quoting the whole verse or passage. Most folks have a Bible of their own and can do their own homework, which is a good thing because it gently draws them into the teaching without feeling like they are in alien turf.

 

[grannymh]

Thank you for the links. I like how you take on the argument in a very matter of fact tone.

I’m trying to reply to some anti-Catholic notions of the Eucharist, in a respectful tone, and in doing so find I’m up to 12 pages already! Even though I’ve done both for some time now, I’ve recently realized that if I write a response separate from the blog I’m responding to, then cut / paste the response, I’m much less anxious.

How do we portray a respectful tone in text mediums (chat boxes, blogs etc) without over using smiley faces and flowery language?

God Bless,

The matter of fact tone is very good. I just reread a recent post of mine, which said in part: “… because I trust the Catholic Church,” That is really a matter of fact.

Something to consider.
Take a look at the ratio of guests to members in the “Currently Active Users” box at the bottom of Forums. When I looked, the Apologetics Forum listed 28 members and 189 guests. At times, I have seen this ratio as more than twice the members. Not only are we replying to an individual(s) who post, but we also are replying to the needs of guests. Sometimes, when we post, we need to affirm the faith of readers, both members and guests.

Regarding a respectful tone.
One can always begin with “May I respectfully point out that…”
Just make sure you don’t follow that with …point out that you are #"?^@##

Using the third person “one” sometimes helps For example. When one considers the deeper truths of the Eucharist, one finds the reality of the Good Shepherd.

Some version of “Thank you for your thoughtful response” can be used when you want to clarify a position. For example. "Thank you for sharing this with me. While the Catholic Church teaching can often be misunderstood, I personally find that God is amazing to have found the way to bring the Gospels alive in the Eucharist. Especially, when Jesus said “I am the Way and the Truth, and the Life”. (John 14: 6)

Being respectful can also mean ignoring an outright attack; however, when this is done, the answer should appear as if nothing had happened. One can deflect an outright attack by shifting to something else that is a positive. For example. “Yes, the issue of symbolism is popular. Yet, when we read how Jesus cured the lepers, we find both the reality of the thankfulness of one man and the symbolism which teaches all of us the importance of thanking God in person. The Catholic Eucharist gives us the marvelous chance of thanking God in person.” Note that “in person” can refer to either God or ourself. Either way, it emphasizes the Presence of God in the Eucharist.

When you read a chapter of Mark Brumley’s book, reread it looking for ways that Mark is respectful toward the reader.

Be just as respectful toward your opposition as you would be toward a cranky (feminine of snarky) granny.

John 3: 16.

 

[ahs]

…
Something to consider.
**Take a look at the ratio of guests to members in the “Currently Active Users” box at the bottom of Forums. When I looked, the Apologetics Forum listed 28 members and 189 guests. At times, I have seen this ratio as more than twice the members. Not only are we replying to an individual(s) who post, but we also are replying to the needs of guests. **Sometimes, when we post, we need to affirm the faith of readers, both members and guests…

Excellent point!!!

 

[PoorKnight]

Thank you all for the info.

Yeah I have a hard time with the insults part - not that I make them, but responding in frustration and anger when they do.

These last few days have been very informative (or was that in-formative?) to me. I think part of the reason I respond as I do is how I’m trained in my job. I’m a cop. If someone is angry at us, it’s a threat and we need to show them we have control of the situation, even if it means using force.

While I see A LOT of similarities between apologia de fide and apologia de publicus, I’ve also had to realize I bleed over too much cop stuff into my apologetics.

Example: I LOVE Our Lord. I am so grateful for his Real Presence in the Eucharist. So, when I see my local anti-Catholic radio station start one of their blogs with “If you’re as disgusted at the Catholic teaching of having to eat Christ’s flesh and wafer worship as we are…” I tend to get upset… ok that’s an understatement.

This gets amplified because the station manager and host of said talk show has promised me, in person and in e-mail, numerous times that he would research Catholic topics from, at least in part, primary Catholic sources. His words to me were “Nate, I want to be fair to the Catholic Church.”

That was about 1 week before he started going extremely anti-Catholic - Lorainne Boettner style.

So what do I do? I tend to go ‘cop mode’, and blast with both barrels (Scripturally) and with an attitude. Sigh…

I got to find a way to let go the insult I feel to lying to me, but shouldn’t we be somewhat righteously upset at the ‘wafer worshiper’ and ‘disgusting practice’ comments? I mean, that’s JESUS they’re insulting… and His Body.

There I go again… (I need to) turn the page obscure reference warning.

Thanks for letting me ‘work it out’ here…
God Bless

 

[Church_Militant]

Ah…one of those guys huh.

Well you get 'em, but the very best way I’ve found to respond is to very calmly present the facts that show that said individual is talking through his hat.

The strategy here is to attack his credibility with facts and authentic Catholic teaching sources like the Catechism and other good Catholic apologetics sources.

You’re not alone in getting wound up by a-C radio types. Our friend John Martignoni actually started his Bible Christian Society in response to just such a situation. You can hear it by his free download of My Conversion Story John’s personal journey of Faith. His site is probably one of the very best out there and if you aren’t getting his Newsletters then you are really missing out on some great stuff.

As I said, the beautiful thing is when you simply use facts and scripture to show that the person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Generally, they don’t know beans about the Catholic faith and, like your said borrow from virulent and grossly inaccurate a-C sources.

I do have one thing on my blog that you may find helpful with that Boettner bunk. A buddy of mine here at CAF posted it some years back and I begged him to let me put it all on my blog and he graciously agreed, so we now have easy access to his research article called, The “Boettner List”: Fact or Fiction?

The key is not to get rattled and to keep the guy on topic. They often love to shift when they get pegged by a knowledgeable Catholic, and especially so on the air. Don’t allow it, just say “That’s not what you asked about. Let’s finish this topic and then I’ll happily help you with this other.”

The key is facts and scripture. If you don’t know your Bible, you better learn it because Sola Scriptura is the foundation for everything they crank out. It’s not viable, even by its own lights because it has no basis in scripture.
See the following threads:

• “If anyone teaches/preaches something that is not in scripture”
• It’s NOT in the Bible, okay?
• It’s NOT in the Bible, okay? (Part II)

Remember one thing that Mark’s book reiterates again and again. We are not in charge and in control…the Holy Spirit is. We calmly and charitably offer facts and scripture where needed and the rest is above our pay grade.

One thing to keep in mind is that the church has been taking fire for 2,000 years and answering and is still standing, so it’s nothing especially new and it won’t bring her down this time either.