Online apologetics class or course?

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I was listening to a talk the other day given by a convert to Catholicism. During his talk/testimony he mentioned a Catholic marine that he met who knew lots of scripture passages that helped him defend his faith.

Inasmuch as I am a convert to the Catholic faith (and my family is NOT Catholic), I would very much like to know if there are any good online apologetics classes.

Thanks,

Mark
 
I’m not sure whether or not they have a specific “Apologetics” course, but this place has a lot of online Catholic courses:

mycatholicfaithdelivered.com/

Of course, you can always go the less-structured route and just surf around the Catholic Answers website right here. 🙂
 
tmarkh said:
I was listening to a talk the other day given by a convert to Catholicism. During his talk/testimony he mentioned a Catholic marine that he met who knew lots of scripture passages that helped him defend his faith.

Inasmuch as I am a convert to the Catholic faith (and my family is NOT Catholic), I would very much like to know if there are any good online apologetics classes.

Thanks,

Mark
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You likely heard the words of *Catholic Answers’ *Director of Apologetics and Evangelization, Tim Staples, a former Assemblies of God minister.
 
Sounds like you may have been listening to Tim Staples? I haven’t really found anything online, but maybe others have. I’ve learned a lot here on CAF and also listening to apologists talks defending the faith such as Tim Staples, Dr. Scott Hahn, Steve Ray, Patrick Madrid, Dr. Sri and many more. Also reading apologetics on my own.

The first place I would start is studying the Catechism along with scriptures. EWTN also has a Catholic “cheat sheet” to help you get started with knowing the key scriptures for defending the faith on particular doctrines…

ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/WALLET.htm
 
Hi. I’m pretty sure the man you are speaking of is Tim Staples, former Assembly of God youth pastor. He’s a great Catholic apologist.

Catholic Apologetics Academy by Patrick Madrid but I’m not sure if they offer online classes. It might be worth checking out, though.

Homeschool Connections Online. It is a website with Catholic courses for homeschoolers. Adults cannot be in the live classes but they have a recorded class subscription for $30/month. In that catalog they have apologetic classes with Father Mitch Pacwa and Gary Michuta. Gary does a series called “Defend the Faith” and it is very good. There’s a trial period of $1 for 7 days. There’s a free online course about the Protestant Revolt.

Aquinas Connections - Online Catholic Courses for Adults: you can find them on Facebook. I have no personal experience with them…yet. 😉 They are somehow affiliated with Homeschool Connections Online.

My favorite is not an online class but the Catholic Answers Radio Show. They solely exist to defend the truth of the Catholic Faith. You can do a quick search on Google for Catholic Answers Podcast. You can listen free online to the podcast by doing a search on Catholic.com. It will give you a broadcast calendar with a different topic for every day of the week. The best ones to listen to are the shows for specifically for non-Catholics. They get many calls during the show and will answer many basic questions non-Catholics have.

I do not know how intellectual you are but when I began I needed simple, concise answers…nothing too verbose. So I suggest you visit these websites:

Steve Ray at Catholicconvert.com.
Steve Martignoni Biblechristiansociety.com. He has 2 minute apologetics and free audio downloads.

HTH!
 
Honestly, the Catholic Answers website is a phenomenal source of info.

Just choose a topic and start studying. You’ll learn tons.

Then move onto another topic.
 
tmarkh said:
I was listening to a talk the other day given by a convert to Catholicism. During his talk/testimony he mentioned a Catholic marine that he met who knew lots of scripture passages that helped him defend his faith.

Inasmuch as I am a convert to the Catholic faith (and my family is NOT Catholic), I would very much like to know if there are any good online apologetics classes.

Thanks,

Mark
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I don’t think this is exactly what you are looking for, but Catholic Distance University has two apologetics courses.

One focuses on the Resurrection, the need for salvation, and the need for religion: cdu.edu/catalog/127-online-seminars/534-apologetics-jesus-salvation-and-the-church

The other focuses on the existence of God: cdu.edu/catalog/127-online-seminars/287-apologetics-evidence-for-the-existence-of-god

That’s a little different from the kind of apologetics that answers objections from Protestants, but you might want to check out other resources offered by Catholic Distance University.
 
Personally, I do not engage in apologetics discussions with my family.

If they bring up Catholicism I simply say that I hope my actions are evidence of the veracity and efficacy of my faith, that the sacraments are a great source of healing in my life, and that the Scripture is a well of comfort I draw from daily. I try to smile always, be a source of calmness and peace when they are freaking out or in a rage, and always offer a spoken prayer whenever anyone gathers together for whatever reason.

Everyone should do what Paul did three times in Acts of the Apostles - be a witness to Christ. Many think that Christian witness is a Protestant thing but it is not. Jesus said we would be his witnesses. Paul gave his “Witness” three times.
  1. What my life was like before I met Jesus
  2. How I met Jesus
  3. What my life is like now that I know Jesus
That is Christian Witness, and Paul did it three times. More than once this has prompted a phone call after a family gathering or someone quietly taking me aside. The conversation usually starts something like, “I have been thinking about my life a lot lately. Can I ask you a question?”

But I refuse to argue with my family.

-Tim-
 
tmarkh said:
I was listening to a talk the other day given by a convert to Catholicism. During his talk/testimony he mentioned a Catholic marine that he met who knew lots of scripture passages that helped him defend his faith.

Inasmuch as I am a convert to the Catholic faith (and my family is NOT Catholic), I would very much like to know if there are any good online apologetics classes.

Thanks,

Mark
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Greetings Mark,

Check out this Online Bible Study from the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. It’s not exactly an apologetics course but is defiantly helpful (along with the other resources mentioned).

Hope this helps!

God bless,
ZP
 
TimothyH said:
Personally, I do not engage in apologetics discussions with my family…Everyone should do what Paul did three times in Acts of the Apostles…But I refuse to argue with my family.
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First of all, to equate engaging in apologetics with “arguing,” is doing a disservice to apologetics and simply is not an accurate characterization.

Secondly, the thing is, Paul “argued” with his “family” - the Jews - all the time. In fact, if you look at what he did every time he entered a new town or city, he went to the synagogue and debated with the Jews. Sometimes for weeks and months on end. That was his modus operandi. And he did it more than 3 times. So, if you really want to completely follow Paul’s example, you might want to try engaging with your family. You don’t have to “argue” with them, you can just ask them questions that cause them to pause and think. Every time they challenge you or say some crazy thing about the Catholic faith, that is God opening a door for you to plant seeds of truth…don’t pass up those opportunities…
 
I believe Patrick Madrid has an apologetics course that has a number of instructors including Frank Sheed. He is at the Envoy Institute in Ohio which you can google.
 
Well, if Frank Sheed is one of his instructors, then Patrick Madrid has figured out how to raise people from the dead! 🙂
 
rogue13 said:
Well, if Frank Sheed is one of his instructors, then Patrick Madrid has figured out how to raise people from the dead! 🙂
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Did he die ?? It was on the email that I got that he was an instructor a few months ago.
 
Frank Sheed was one of the premier Catholic apologists of the middle decades of the 20th century. He died over 30 years ago.
 
rogue13 said:
Frank Sheed was one of the premier Catholic apologists of the middle decades of the 20th century. He died over 30 years ago.
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I thought he was the teacher at Boston University. I got him mixed up with Peter Kreft. Thanks.
 
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