Who is the Best Apologist?

  • Thread starter Thread starter michaelgazin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

michaelgazin

Guest
Who I believe is the “best” apologist is not necessarily my favorite. But I think Sungenis takes the cake.

Just curious as to others’ thoughts out there.
 
I know he isn’t Catholic, but the one that helped me the most was C.S. Lewis.

The only other one I know on this list is Keating, who also helped me a lot, but as I don’t know the others I can’t vote.
 
<< But I think Sungenis takes the cake. >>

Well you have the same debates I do, and I think Sungenis was the most successful against White, but I have to vote Jimmy Akin now since the 2002 Sungenis fall into scientific ignoramacy.

And you’ll be glad to know I put up or edited the Wikipedia entries for the following

Karl Keating Jimmy Akin Patrick Madrid Robert Sungenis

They certainly deserve to be in an encyclopedia somewhere. 😃

And I added or edited these entries:

Pontifical Academy of Science (added)
Evolutionary Creationism (edited)
Evolution and the Roman Catholic Church (edited)
George Coyne (added)
John Haught (added)
Keith B. Miller (added)
Denis Lamoureux (added)

Phil P
 
40.png
PhilVaz:
I think Sungenis was the most successful against White, but I have to vote Jimmy Akin now since the 2002 Sungenis fall into scientific ignoramacy.
Click to expand...
I tend to give Sungenis some slack on issues undefined by the Church. While they may be outlandish, I believe his defense of defined Church doctrines is more sound and complete than much of anything else I have come across (although the Akin is certainly phenomenal as well…especially on the Bible Answer Man). As far as his scientific views, though conventional wisdom is steeped against him, I find I don’t know enough regarding the issue to formulate a sound opinion.
And you’ll be glad to know I put up or edited the Wikipedia
Click to expand...
Very nice Phil. Its great to see some of those entries in there!
 
40.png
Lazerlike42:
Tims Staples ought to be on the poll.
Click to expand...
Yes, he should. There isn’t enough room for all the greats out there…there should be an “other” option though. Pat Madrid, Tim Staples, CS Lewis, Cardinal Newman etc. etc. Anyhow, if the option isnt there, put it in the post and that should be sufficient.
 
Hey Michaelgazin,
You beat me to it, I was going to do a similar post on this forum because I did one on the water cooler and did not get much response. I used the wording If it was going to be on national TV and it was going to go a long way in proving or disproving the CATHOLIC CHURCH as the one true church started by CHRIST and spread by the HOLY SPIRIT and the APOSTLES,who would you choose? I dont care about favorites,but who is the apologist that would hands down bring the people back to the CHURCH? As someone that has just recently come back to the CHURCH and can not get enough info on the truth and the beauty of CHRISTS CHURCH, I would also have to say Robert Sungenis would be my choice. They are all good, but Sungenis to me seems to be the Apologist.
 
C. S. Lewis by far! 😃 What can I say, he’s just the man.
 
Picture them all on the same dias… as friends and all getting along again… no more jealousy, no more competition, no more “I’m right, so you must be wrong.” stuff.
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/13/13_1_213.gif

Call it “Stump an Apologist” , and challenge anybody, anybody, to bring on their tough questions.
 
You also forgot Rosalind Moss (one of my favorites)!

God Bless,
RyanL
 
I voted for Karl since, on a big picture level, he has done more to foster the rebirth of Catholic apologetics than any person living today. Through Catholic Answers and his book, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, he almost singlehandedly, in my opinion, is responsible for clearing the way for all the others.

For ths person I think is the best apologist today on an individual speaking level, I would have to go with Tim Staples. I pity the poor fool who would attempt to debate him. I’ve heard the debate with the Calvary Chapel folks and, along with Jesse Romero, he effectively cut them to ribbons.
 
PhilVazsince the 2002 Sungenis fall into [url=http://www.catholicintl.com/noncatholicissues/miller-print.htm said:
scientific ignoramacy
Click to expand...

.

I’m wondering why you refer to Sungenis’s article as ignorant considering he makes quite valid points about the lack of evidence to support evolutionary theory. Recognize that certain pieces of evolutionary theory are simply incompatible with the Catholic faith, such as the idea of the macroevolution of primates into human beings. That, in fact, is one of the more preposterous theories I’ve heard.
 
40.png
RyanL:
You also forgot Rosalind Moss (one of my favorites)!

God Bless,
RyanL
Click to expand...
Yeah…Yey Rosalind Moss!👍 I wish I had her heart… She is one of my mentors…:yup:
 
I was going to say Karl Keating but, in his book Catholism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on “Romanism” by “Bible Christians” (to a smaller extent than) and The Usual Suspects comes off a bit resentful and bitter towards certain protestants at some points in the books (which of what he said they do I don’t blame him but still, I don’t think it would be prudent idea to give to a anti-catholic) but, I still think they are great books. Go Karl.
 
The giant among them all, towering over C.S. Lewis too … was Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Indeed, it was Chesterton’s THE EVERLASTING MAN that Lewis claimed was most helpful in his conversion to Christianity.
 
Fidelis…Calvary Chapel debate that was classic wasn’t it?

“That’s calumny!”

You will have to listen to the debate to know how that relates to the debate.

Tim Staples is great, you can feel his love for the faith. That is a lesson we can all learn that plain love of our faith is a terrific witness to the truth.

I didn’t vote as I like them all.

God Bless
Scylla
 
MikeO << I’m wondering why you refer to Sungenis’s article as ignorant considering he makes quite valid points about the lack of evidence to support evolutionary theory. >>

Don’t get me started. Sungenis makes no valid scientific points against evolution in that article (or any of the anti-evolution articles he’s written to date). I’ve printed them all out in the past, and I printed this new one out last night. His main points are the following:

(1) no transitional fossils
(2) mutations are always harmful
(3) evolution is "blind chance"

All three are wrong, all three are misrepresentations of evolution, all three are tired old creationist cliches that have been demolished over and over again in at least 50 books written against creationists the past 25 years.

I answered Sungenis on the age of the earth and evolution, and so far he has ignored my response, except a little bit of the first part on theology. Now he says he won’t respond, he will only debate me publicly. I think it would be nice if someone (perhaps a Catholic geologist, biologist, etc) took my web articles, and used them to debate Sungenis in a formal debate on the science. It certainly would be interesting. But I am not trained in science. I will debate him on C vs. C++ or DirectX vs. OpenGL however.

Sungenis and theological issues
Sungenis and Age of the Earth
Sungenis and Evolution

Phil P
 
Tim Staples keeps my interest. He is a very fast thinker and funny to boot. One evening I saw him debate several, I think they might have been ministers, from different denominations at the Catholic Resourse Center, Covina, CA.

The questions and objections came fast and furious, especially the subject of predestination, and one person (minister?) kept bringing up the separating of the sheep and goats at the end of time. It was fascinating to watch Tim answer each and every one of them in rapid succession with clear, concise answers. If he couldn’t finish his point, he did not forget to return to subjects he had left in midair.

Pat Madrid, also, is excellent, and funny.

But, to be honest, I like them all: Karl, James Akin, Scot Hahn, Steve Ray, Alex Jones, etc. and all the others.

God bless them all.

Thank you, Karl, for starting this booming trend of Apologetics. I first read about your how you got started in apologetics from the articles Catholicism and Fundamentalism printed over several weeks in the Wanderer, some years ago. I have been a subscriber from the very first monthly single-page, letter you used to mail out. Thank you, also, for this CA Forum. It’s doing a lot of good in educating and re-educating Catholics and others in so many aspects of the Catholic Faith.

God Bless You.

Theodora
 
Gilbert Keith:
The giant among them all, towering over C.S. Lewis too … was Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Indeed, it was Chesterton’s THE EVERLASTING MAN that Lewis claimed was most helpful in his conversion to Christianity.
Click to expand...
Ok, so I’ll give you Chesterton. But with that one exception, C. S. Lewis is the man.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top