Need some ammo :)

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SpiritFire

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I write my title in jest. I don’t want to crush people with the Church and it’s teaching, but I need some good, solid Catholic “ammo” (preferably with Bible references, because I’m talking to Protestants)
about Sola Fides (and if possible Sola Scriptura and Sola gratia).
These are (in the eyes of the Church) heresies, right? Or at least not the full truth?
I don’t believe these, but I need to defend my faith, and not sure what to use!🙂
Thanks!

The peace of Christ be with you all!
 
There are probably a million other threads here on CAF that provide dozens of quotes from the Bible and Church Fathers regarding Tradition and Sola Scriptura. A quick search should be able to find many of those older threads.

ChadS
 
I don’t mean this as an insult SpitFire. I wish you all the best and this is just my observation which I offer in the spirit of charity and good will…

I would think that while the desire to defend Catholicism is admirable, the desire to know our faith out of love for God comes first. A good solid knowledge of Catholic doctrine, the ability to navigate the Catechism and a basic understanding of Scripture is required to defend our faith but personally, I seek those things not out of the desire to defend them, but because they are the fullness of God’s truth revealed to us. I read scripture not to be able to defend Catholicsim, but becuase I love God and his word. The ability to defend my faith is secondary.

I am not questioning your love for God nor am I questioning your motives. But I think it is safe to assume that if you are asking for Bible verses to defend Catholicsim to Protestants, then you probably don’t have a deep knowledge of scripture. We can throw all the Bible verses you would ever want at you and someone who knows scripture well and has an understanding of their faith at a deeper level than just asking for some Bible verses on a website will always be able to beat you down.

Do you read scripture regularly? Do you study the catechism? You gotta know it before you can defend it.

Forgive me if I am off base here.

-Tim-
 
pray ; pray and pray for guidence and the assurance that you are searching for the right reasons. You wont get answers if all you are doing is point scoring. then read read read lol the internet is a great place but bible quotes without a full knowledge of all the facts and falacies wint help.😉
 
SpiritFire said:
I write my title in jest. I don’t want to crush people with the Church and it’s teaching, but I need some good, solid Catholic “ammo” (preferably with Bible references, because I’m talking to Protestants)
about Sola Fides (and if possible Sola Scriptura and Sola gratia).
These are (in the eyes of the Church) heresies, right? Or at least not the full truth?
I don’t believe these, but I need to defend my faith, and not sure what to use!🙂
Thanks!

The peace of Christ be with you all!
Click to expand...
From the CA page, there’s a good article.

catholic.com/thisrock/2004/0409fea3.asp
 
I would suggest you not overlook history in your presentations. Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide as doctrines were born in the 16th century Deformation. Jesus and the Apostles did not teach them.

Jim Dandy
(former Protestant, agnostic, atheist)
 
TimothyH said:
Do you read scripture regularly? Do you study the catechism? You gotta know it before you can defend it.
Click to expand...
Well said, Timothy H. I think this ought to be the last word for this thread; otherwise, the OP will walk a tightrope.
 
TimothyH and Epistemes have good advice, they are watching out for you. If you are posed with a question that you cannot answer, they are going to think they’ve “won”, or be convinced that they are right. You can’t let that happen.

But you can hold a dialogue with them AND learn more about your faith at the same time, IMO.

Just tell them that you are learning too, and that if there is anything they ask that you cannot answer, you will find out and get back to them. Then make sure you do just that. This is how I began learning more and more about my faith.

“I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you” is OK to say, and it shows your sincerity, rather than trying to make up something on the fly.

A great site for resources is www.biblechristiansociety.com . They will send you FREE CD’s on just about any apologetics topic you want, including “beginner apologetics”.

So, onward Christian soldier! Your endeavors will only deepen your faith and make you stronger for the next batch of skeptics!!

:knight1::knight2::blessyou:
 
Thanks, Timothy H!
I appreciate the advice and yes, I DO read the Bible regularly, although I am less familiar with the Catechism because I am a rather recent revert. (say that five times fast:D)
I also love God very much! I am only fifteen so I am always becoming more familiar with the
Bible, Church teachings, and the like, and have only had a few years truly devoted to my new-found Catholic faith.

One’s relationship with God should never be put above anything else.👍

and thank you all for your posts!
 
The general area that you are seeking is called apologetics. There are books for sale in this website, recommended in the salvationhistory.com website, and elsewhere.

search the web on catholic apologetics.
 
SpiritFire said:
I write my title in jest. I don’t want to crush people with the Church and it’s teaching, but I need some good, solid Catholic “ammo” (preferably with Bible references, because I’m talking to Protestants)
about Sola Fides (and if possible Sola Scriptura and Sola gratia).
These are (in the eyes of the Church) heresies, right? Or at least not the full truth?
I don’t believe these, but I need to defend my faith, and not sure what to use!🙂
Thanks!

The peace of Christ be with you all!
Click to expand...
Hi, Actually you don’t have to defend “faith only” or “Bible only” because we don’t hold this. They would need to explain that. For example, you might ask them where does it say in the bible that all a person needs is the bible only. And of course nowhere does it say that. Actually it is the tradition of their church that holds this.

As for "faith only’, just go to the Epistle of St. James where there a some very spiritual verses explaining how important “good works” are. And of course Jesus’ sermon on the mount explicitly mentions how important it is to cloth the poor, feed the hungry, and so on. It is very straight forward and easy to understand.

And importantly the Holy Spirit should be the first one that you contact for direction since He is Consoler. It is stunning how words seem to come so much easier when you put Him first. And you intention should never be to convert anyone, but just to help them to come a little closer to Jesus. You are sowing His words only. Great, an keep up the good work.
 
SpiritFire said:
Thanks, Timothy H!
I appreciate the advice and yes, I DO read the Bible regularly, although I am less familiar with the Catechism because I am a rather recent revert. (say that five times fast:D)
I also love God very much! I am only fifteen so I am always becoming more familiar with the
Bible, Church teachings, and the like, and have only had a few years truly devoted to my new-found Catholic faith.

One’s relationship with God should never be put above anything else.👍

and thank you all for your posts!
Click to expand...
Awsome. Then don’t shy away from discussions with non-Catholics about the Catholic faith. There are a few things to keep in mind though…
  • **It’s not about winning or loosing. **If you go into a discussion looking to “Win” or to “Defeat” the person with whome you are conversing, then you will eventually be dissapointed because there will always be someone who knows more than you or who will simply beat you down with Bible verses. We are all God’s children and our Father hates it when his children fight.
  • Plant a seed. What you want to do is to illustrate one or two points about the Catholic faith, showing the person with whom you are having a discussion the beauty of, scriptural basis for and truth contained on some point of Cathocism. My goal is have my “Opponent” say, “Wow, I never thought of that Bible passage that way. That’s pretty cool. Now I can see why Catholics beleive that.” and then I leave it there, change the subject to baseball or work or music. My goal is to get them to realize that Catholics arn’t as crazy as they have been told and that there is some beauty and truth in Catholicsim. God will do the rest.
  • Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” If you don’t know something, say so. Pretending to know something and looking like a fool will only convince the person with whom you are discussing the Catholic faith that everything they were ever told about Catholics is true - that we know nothing about the Bible, that our faith is not scriptural, that we worship statues, etc. Just say, “I don’t know too much about that. I’ve never studied that. But everything I have studied indicates that my faith is very scriptural and so I have no reason to doubt this.” and them promise to get back to them on it - and actually do so.
  • Pick a subject. You can’t know everything. Pick a few topics and study those, learn them well and be able to articulate them well. Steer the conversations away from things you don’t know by simply saying, “I don’t know” and then steer the conversation toward things you do know by saying, “but what do you think about such-and-such?”
I suggest starting with some good apologetic books such as "Theology for Beginners"by Sheed, “Catholicism and Fundamentalism” by Keating and “The Biblical Defense of Catholicism” by Armstrong. Remember, the greates benefit you will get from these works is a deeper understanding of your own faith. Defense of the faith is secondary.

SpitFire, I wish you well and godspeed. I waited until I was 45 to start this but you are starting young. I will pray a rosary for your continued growth and increased strength in the Faith.

-Tim-
 
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