7 Quick Takes on how to use this blog for apologetics
Last week, I intended to write this post, but Friday sneaked up on me and I found myself running out of time.
So, I winged it. I'm not proud of it. But it is, what it is.
Anyway, today I'd like to talk about how I do apologetics on the internet and how I use this when I need to find quick answers to objections.
There are several websites which I use very frequently when I'm on my apologetics forays on the internet. But this blog is the one that I use the most.
Repetition
Anyone who delves into apologetics for any length of time, whether just reading about it or participating in it, will notice that it is very repetitive. We reply to and defend against the same objections, over and over. In fact, that's why I like it and use it as a means of studying my Catholic Faith. Repetition, repetition, repetition is the great admonition if one wants to cement knowledge in the brain. And apologetics has certainly helped me in that regard over the years. It also gives me the impetus I need to go out and research those things about my Faith which I would normally not care about.
Therefore, since I find myself responding to the same objections, so often, what I have found myself doing, very frequently, is cutting and pasting.
Its very difficult to go back to a website where thousands of people have commented and find one's own responses. But, generally, I have taken them and posted them here.
Bookmark it
Of course, its not enough to know that they are here. Cause the guy that writes this blog is not very organized and he's got stuff labeled all wrong. So, if you do a search of the blog, you get a thousand things that don't apply. So, I bookmark the things that I use frequently. That takes me directly to the answer that I want to use.
Label it right
Make sure to label your bookmark. What I've done is made an apologetics bookmark folder. I have in it, all the things I refer to frequently, like
Trent VI. That's on the EWTN website. And its in my apologetical folder. So is,
Praise Mary, that's on this blog.
Segues
Become proficient at writing transitions. What you'll find in apologetics, is that you get the same objections, but they are worded differently. For example, someone might just say, "You guys believe in Purgatory."
Well, that's true. But, from the context, you can tell whether that's a statement of fact or an objection. If its an objection, they usually mean they don't see the word Purgatory in Scripture. So, you help it along. Say something like,
Sure, because Purgatory is described in Scripture.
Then go to this post,
What does the bible say about purgatory? And copy and paste this portion.
Scripture points to a place of suffering in the after life:
10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned,he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
And Scripture reveals the existence of a spiritual prison where good men go to suffer at the hands of Satan:
Revelation 2:10
10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
And Scripture also reveals a place where the dead go for 1000 years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
And another where Jesus preached to spirits in prison.
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
The Catholic Church has given the name Purgatory to this spiritual prison which Scripture speaks of.
And you've got a nice rebuttal. Don't worry about attributions and references. Of course, you're free to do so, if you want. But the way I see it, we're all Catholic. What I learned, I learned from the Church and from Saints and other Catholics.
And you can do that with anything. Someone might say, "You have forgotten the Bereans. They went directly to Scripture to see if they were being told the truth. That is Sola Scriptura!"
Let's compare
You'll find that Protestant frequently mention the Bereans. They've completely misunderstood what Scripture describes that actually happened on that day. I would seg into it this way.
What? The Bereans? Why they are perfectly Catholic. Let's look at the verse:
Then I would copy and paste that which is below.
Acts 17:
10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Now, ask yourself, “why were the Bereans more noble than the Thessalonicans? The answer:
in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,
You might ask me, “Which word? Scripture is also called the word.” The answer:
The word the Apostles preached.
You might continue, “How do you know it isn’t the Scripture?” The answer:
Because they searched in the Scripture to find the Apostles word therein.
Here is what goes right past Protestants. They don’t even see it because of their presuppositions against the Traditions of Christ.
1st. The Apostles were Teaching. That is the Tradition we call “Magisterium”.
2nd. I repeat, the Apostles were Teaching. That means they were passing down the Traditions of Christ by Word. That is simply called, “Sacred Tradition”.
3rd. The Bereans looked up the Sacred Tradition in Scripture.
That is the Catholic Teaching of passing down the Faith of Jesus Christ by handing down Tradition, Scripture. That is what is depicted in the Berean episode. Not Scripture alone.
Did you do something similar?
Don't be embarrassed
We all start somewhere. Back when I first started in apologetics, I was doing a lot of "Scott Hahn says this and Steve Ray says that and St. Augustine wrote that". And after a few years, guess what? I no longer had to go back to find those sayings. I began to remember them. And I could put them in my own words. The same with the verses of the Bible which I was searching.
If you stick with it long enough, the same will happen to you.
It saves a lot of typing
Back in those days, I would copy my responses on TextEdit or Notepad so that I could refer to them again. But now I've got a blog. And copying and pasting saves a lot of typing. Feel free to use it for that purpose if you want.
The miracles of Jesus are precursors of the Sacraments.
