Category: Apologetics

Apologetics is a Greek word compounded from apo and logos, meaning “to give a reason for.” St. Peter uses it in his first epistle: “But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason (apologian) of that hope which is in you” (3:15). Some of the Fathers of the Church called the treatises that they wrote in defense of the Catholic Faith “apologia.”

Brother Francis explains in his course on the subject that there is more to apologetics than having enough knowledge to defend the Faith. There is an art or science to the presentation one is making, which comes from logical thinking. Apologetics is not polemics — the latter art being the employment of authority, such as the Bible, in winning an argument.

As you will see in the articles filed in this section the authors have a certain art and logic in the way they present their sound arguments in defense of the Faith. They demonstrate the reasonableness of our holy religion and the goodness of God in revealing Himself to man through the patriarchs and prophets and, finally, through His Son. The writers, each with their own style, confront the major obstacles, lies, and fallacies that deceive people in our times into thinking that Christianity is unreasonable, or that it is an “opiate” for simple folk who put their hope in a better life to come. Such obstacles as arise from modern science (which attempts to discredit the veracity of the scriptures), from the errors of modern subjectivism, from psychological, social and political trends, as well as from the claims of the false religions in the world today, are handled with deft and intelligence by authors who all qualify as good Catholic polemicists.

Moslems Can Be Converted

The following amazing story is taken from a chapter in a book published in Bombay, India, called Love Without Frontiers. The book is a biography of a zealous Salesian missionary priest still functioning in India, Father Aurelius Maschio.

Chivalry and Our Lady

This article was serialized over two issues of our magazine, From the Housetops. Here, we present parts I and II together. —Editor Chivalry, it is said, is dead. Inasmuch as it was already being said before the rise of modern … Continue reading

Mary’s Universal Mediation

“For there is one God, and One Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2:5) In the minds of Protestant apologists, these words of St. Paul are the ultimate “talisman,” a charm which is supposed to “protect” Bible-believing Christians from … Continue reading

Beyond Dogma

“We’re beyond all that!” How common it is for a frustrated member of Christ’s faithful to hear that response from a progressivist cleric, catechist, or teacher in a nominally Catholic school. Just what we’re “beyond” is either some infallible formulation … Continue reading

Apologizing for the Rosary

Defenses against two common objections to the Holy Rosary, written, we hope, with a little humor.   “Vain Repetition” — The Big Canard This is probably the objection Protestants have to the Rosary, that “vain repetition” is condemned by God. … Continue reading