Hi im 18 yrs old and am really interested in becoming a serious apologetic for the Church… does anyone have any advice on how i could get into it, and any advice for how i should study and what to study? thank you god bless
First, know your faith. You should know the Catechism backward and foreward for starters. You should know your Scripture backward and foreward as well, with particular emphasis on the NT and the prophets.
Second, know your history. If you cannot place Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium in its proper historical context, you will be eaten alive by those who are either themselves ignorant of it, or whom actively seek to distort it to their own ends.
Third, know yourself. Apologetics is a perilous venture. Some are ill cut out for it because they don’t like the conflict inherent in argument. Some are not cut out for it because their own faith is not strong enough to endure hard questions being asked by non-Catholics. Some are not cut out for it because they lack charity, and engaging in apologetics actually is a near occasion of sin for them. Your soul is more important than any argument.
Fourth, pray. Let God guide you.
I very much admire your courage, faith, and ambition. When I was 18, I had only courage, and what measure of that I had simply because I was too stubborn to be afraid of anything.
You may wish to consider beginning your apologetics career with your peers. As a young person, you bring a perspective and a credibility to such discussions which would make you particularly effective there. It is also largely the young who need the most encouragement regarding their faith and whom are most easily led astray from it.
… thank you very much god bless
so he can tune his skills before sending him out to the lions 