I believe that Catholics should always go back to the basics if we haven't done so. To simply go back to the basics of our faith--why we practice what we practice, why we believe what we believe--and joyfully share the numerous treasures of our church to other nominal Catholic framily (friends and family) as well as non-Catholics brothers and sisters in Christ.
I believe one of the major reasons why we Catholics are easily turned off or many turned away from the faith and are easily persuaded by others is because we don't know, perhaps don't even care about knowing and learning the faith we grew up with. Then when other religions question us, instead of going back to seek for answers, we ended up questioning the faith along with them. It is like criticizing and judging someone for his actions, without knowing the root cause, the history of it first. We Catholics are also seemingly not very good salesmen and women of faith, either. Plagued with non-Catholic stereotype and secular social stigma don't help.
Fittingly on this ongoing lenten season, I will try to attempt to share to address some very common basic questions non-Catholics as well as nominal Catholic brethren often asked the Catholic Church-- the one, true, apostolic, universal, pioneer, oldest and largest Christian faith in the world (not just founded by some man or woman of an early or modern era who happened to have a different interpretation of the Bible, protested against the church and decidedly form his or her own religion).
First, for those who have little or no idea what "apologetic" means, let us define. According to the online definition, the word "apologetics" is derived from the Greek word "apologia" which means "to make a defense." It has come to mean defense of the faith. Apologetics covers many areas: who Jesus is, the reliability of the Bible, refuting cults, biblical evidences in the history and archeology, answering objections, etc. In short, it deals with giving reasons for Christianity being the true religion. We are called by God to give an apologia, a defense: "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;" (1 Pet. 3:15).
In my next posts (time willing), I will be sharing a 1-2 minute answers to very common Protestants, Agnostics and other denominations' questions about Mary and the saints, Papacy, confession to priest, infant baptisms, etc. I am not a theologian or a biblical scholar nor I am trying to be, I will only gather and echo historical information, facts and evidences from a few Catholic resources and links about these common questions to shed light on the subjects and maybe occasionally add a few more thoughts regarding these matters. I am also learning along the way. This is also not some kind of a divisive tactic I am writing between Catholics versus Protestants but simply a source of informational awareness about basic Catholicism understanding for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. I am a mere struggling Christian like you learning to love and serve the Lord our God with the help of His grace. As Christians specifically as Catholics, we have a responsibility to know, to learn and to live by our faith why we do what we do. Hope you tune in.
I believe one of the major reasons why we Catholics are easily turned off or many turned away from the faith and are easily persuaded by others is because we don't know, perhaps don't even care about knowing and learning the faith we grew up with. Then when other religions question us, instead of going back to seek for answers, we ended up questioning the faith along with them. It is like criticizing and judging someone for his actions, without knowing the root cause, the history of it first. We Catholics are also seemingly not very good salesmen and women of faith, either. Plagued with non-Catholic stereotype and secular social stigma don't help.
First, for those who have little or no idea what "apologetic" means, let us define. According to the online definition, the word "apologetics" is derived from the Greek word "apologia" which means "to make a defense." It has come to mean defense of the faith. Apologetics covers many areas: who Jesus is, the reliability of the Bible, refuting cults, biblical evidences in the history and archeology, answering objections, etc. In short, it deals with giving reasons for Christianity being the true religion. We are called by God to give an apologia, a defense: "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;" (1 Pet. 3:15).
In my next posts (time willing), I will be sharing a 1-2 minute answers to very common Protestants, Agnostics and other denominations' questions about Mary and the saints, Papacy, confession to priest, infant baptisms, etc. I am not a theologian or a biblical scholar nor I am trying to be, I will only gather and echo historical information, facts and evidences from a few Catholic resources and links about these common questions to shed light on the subjects and maybe occasionally add a few more thoughts regarding these matters. I am also learning along the way. This is also not some kind of a divisive tactic I am writing between Catholics versus Protestants but simply a source of informational awareness about basic Catholicism understanding for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. I am a mere struggling Christian like you learning to love and serve the Lord our God with the help of His grace. As Christians specifically as Catholics, we have a responsibility to know, to learn and to live by our faith why we do what we do. Hope you tune in.
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