Christian Apologetics Advice

I was on retreat this past weekend. Although I was not off the grid, I greatly curtailed my online access. I found a site with 12 quotes about Christian Apologetics in my twitter feed and thought it was worth sharing its wisdom. Here are my favorite three quotes:

1) If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. There is no believing without some doubting, and believing is all the stronger for understanding and resolving doubt. - Os Guinness.

Sadly, so many Christians are so afraid of doubt that they become irrational in their attempts to defend the faith. They forget that God is the source of all truth and doubt is just God`s invitation to grow and to smooth the rough edges of our faith.

2) Belief is not what ultimately matters—truth is. In other words, people are entitled to their own beliefs, but they are not entitled to their own truth. Our believing something is true does not make it true. The Bible isn't true simply because I have faith. Truth is what corresponds to reality—telling it like it is. - Jonathan Morrow

I like the simple statement:" The Bible isn't true simply because I have faith". To which I would add "The Bible IS true because it was meant to tell a story that trully happened". A favorite tactic of those who argue against the Christian faith is to disregard the Bible as a reliable source of data. I have had people say to me "Prove to me that Jesus was a real person and that he resurrected from the dead, but you can not use the Bible". To which I respond:  A tribunal in which the defence lawyers are not allowed to present any evidence as well as the testimony of witnesses corroborating that evidence, is not only grossly unfair but irrational.

Apologetics is aimed at persuading doubters, not at refuting the defiant. He who demands a kind of proof that the nature of the case renders impossible, is determined that no possible evidence shall convince him.  - Edward John Carnell

This is one I need to learn. Sometimes I spend so much time trying to persuade those who are defiant that I forget I should be spending all of my energies helping those who are doubting.

"Viva Cristo Rey!!"

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Atheist Meme #3: The New Atheist World View

I found this meme in an article posted at the blog hosting site Worldpress. The blog is called "Why evolution is true”. Its simplicity caught my eye.  It presents an empty list of “Religious Discoveries” (Whatever that means). In the article this meme is contrasted with a list published by the Wired Science web site: “10 Top Scientific Discoveries and Accomplishments of the year 2012"

1. The Higgs Boson
2. The Curiosity Rover lands on Mars
3. Most human genetic variation is rare and the deleterious variants arose recently, during our expansion out of Africa
4. The sequencing of fetal genomes using non-invasive procedures, from fetal DNA floating in the mother’s blood
5. The teleportation of entangled quantum particles over a large distance: 50 miles
6. The synthesis of XNA, a new polymer that can carry information and evolve via a form of selection
7. A private company, SpaceX, launched and orbited its own spacecraft, and delivered it to the International Space Station
8. Discovery of an Earth-size exo-planet orbiting a nearby star, Alpha Centauri B
9. The reaching of Lake Vostok, an Antarctic lake, which required drilling through more than 2 miles of ice; this may lead to the discovery of unusual forms of life
10. Government policy has started to end invasive research on chimpanzees in the U.S. (yay!)

The implication in the article is obvious: religion lacks the progressiveness of science. Science is always advancing by quantifiable, concrete discoveries. Science contributes to the progress of humanity where religion is devoid of anything useful.  This is a common theme of the new atheism: Pining the usefulness of science against religion apparent sterility.

I find articles like this one disturbing, not because they present a serious threat to religion, but because they reveal a disturbing worldview. To see what I'm talking about one just needs to take a closer look at the list of scientific discoveries from Wired Science. Of the "10 Top Scientific Discoveries" 2 are from quantum physics, 3 are from astronomy, 2 are from genetics, 1 is from material sciences, and the last 2 (9 and 10) are not discoveries at all but milestones of exploration and government policy. These last two could hardly be called science, and I suspect they were added just to make the list an even 10. This seemingly innocuous fact will become significant later.

Looking at the list of scientific disciplines it is obvious that for the author only a certain type of disciplines produce any discovery worth reporting. Physics, astronomy, genetics and material sciences are part of what is known as natural or “hard” sciences. These are disciplines which rely on quantifiable data, and mathematical models to generate understanding of natural processes. There is, however, another type of scientific disciplines which cannot be placed in this group because they do not rely in repeatable mathematical process but on observation, inference, conjecture and qualitative analysis of data. Examples of these are anthropology, sociology, paleontology and archeology. These disciplines are also known as soft sciences.

Apparently for Wired Science, soft sciences did not produce any significant discoveries last year; at least significant enough to make the Top 10 List. You might be thinking "well in a 10 items list it is impossible to report everything!" but we need to remember one important fact: items 9 and 10. The reality is that these can hardly be called discoveries. To be more blunt: Are we to believe that last year, the government, changing its policy on chimpanzee research, is more significant than all the research performed by archeology, sociology, paleontology, psychology and the rest of the soft sciences?

This is the crux of the matter. For the person compiling the Wired Science list and for the atheists using it to score cheap points against religion, the only science with any significant value is the type of science which only advances our knowledge of the physical world. Science which is quantifiable and can produce repeatable data. Disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, paleontology or archeology are not worth the ink in which their scientific papers are written.

You might be asking why this worldview is dangerous; what is the big deal? Well, soft sciences, when applied to the human race, provide a view of who we are as a species, where we come from, what motivates us, what gives meaning to our existence; the things which make us unique among all the other species in this planet. Denying the validity of these disciplines makes scientific advances to be guided exclusively by utilitarian goals. Science becomes the search of just the things can be replicated, reproduced and exploited. This worldview deprives science of its humanity; and when we allow this, science, to paraphrase the great Mahatma Gandhi becomes  evil.

The new atheists would like very much to convince us that religion has nothing to offer to the human race. The problem is that it does not matter how much they wish for it to be gone, religion IS part of the human experience; it is intertwined with everything the human person does; it is part of our collective culture and art.  It follows then, that any contributions of religion to the human race will occur in the fields of science which study the human person and its development. It is in these areas of scientific study that we will find the contribution religion has offered to mankind.

There is one last thing about the “Why Evolution is True” article. In their zeal to take jabs at religion and pin it against what they consider the only valid type of Science the writers of this article place themselves in an embarrassing position. Perhaps you already noticed: The soft sciences of anthropology, paleontology, sociology, etc. are the same disciplines which have provided most of the evidence for the Theory of Evolution. The same theory they named their  site after! The irony is exquisite; they have to go to that which they disdain the most to justify their own name.

I hope you chuckled as much as I did :-)

One last thing...

Here is some homework for you. Go to Discovery's "Top 10 Archeological Finds of the 21st Century", Take a look and tell me how many of these are religious in nature. Extra credit if you can see any references to Christianity. Enjoy!

 "Viva Cristo Rey!!"

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Book Review; "Ordained to Serve: Prayers and Blessings for Permanent Deacons"

 The Archdiocese of Baltimore Deacon's newsletter published one of my book reviews. Here it is for your reading pleasure :-) (Thanks to my bride and editor for making my musings readable)

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   Last December as I was wandering the bowels of the internet in desperation, trying to find last minute presents ideas for my personal Christmas list, when I came across a very interesting little book. I always keep my eyes open for good reading bargains so at $29.99 (Amazon price), “Ordained to Serve: Prayers and Blessings for Permanent Deacons” (By Denis Robinson O.S.B) could hardly be considered in that category. However I was intrigued by the reviews I saw on-line and against my better judgment (I have been burnt before by buying books based on the sole recommendation of online reviewers later to be sorely disappointed) I decided to “bite the bullet” and make the investment. Imagine my surprise when I received it in the mail and discovered that I had been looking for this book since my ordination day! 

  You see one of my complaints about books geared specifically towards clergy is that although there is much out there for protestant pastors and Catholic priests, when it comes to the Latin rite diaconate your options are very limited; mostly books about the history of the deaconate or the theology behind this state of clerical life.  However when it comes to books about the spirituality of deacons the selections drop almost completely to zero. So I was pleasantly surprised about the amount of prayers and reflections geared at helping the deacon in their spiritual and prayer life.

   Now, do not misunderstand me; this book is NOT a 100% book about the spirituality of permanent deacons. In it you will find a variety of practical blessings for the deacon to use in their ministries.  For example you will find blessings for things like pixes, houses, furniture and kitchens; prayers for before cooking, cleaning, and before sitting down to study. It has blessings for before the pastoral council meetings, blessings for deaconate candidates, mother’s and father’s day blessings, blessings for expectant parents, and blessings for bringing home a new child. They are many more of these practical blessings in this book. I should also say that all these blessings follow the same pattern of: introductory greeting, scripture reading, prayer and benediction. So, each rite should take 5 to 10 minutes.

   In addition of the many blessings in this little book, and the reason why I think of it as a permanent deacons spirituality book also, you will also find deacon meditation aids, which will greatly enhance your prayers and spiritual life. In this book you will find a novena for deacon candidates and for those to be ordained, blessing for those leaving the formation program, Prayers to St Joseph for the sanctification of the deacon’s work, prayers for the preparation of homilies. It includes a large section with prayers to be used during personal holy hour. It also has the Deacon’s Stations of the Cross meditations, examination of conscience for deacons, deacon’s prayers and meditations for Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter,  and personal meditations for before mass and before baptism, and much, much more.

   In its 327 pages, there is a prayer or a meditation for almost every aspect of the diaconal ministry as well as enhancing the deacon’s prayer and spiritual life. To me the most moving and poignant prayers and blessings are in the section “The Death of a Deacon and General Prayers”, which includes prayers and blessings for a dying deacon, and rite for vesting a deacon after his death, a reminder that our ministry is not just something we do, but something we are for all eternity, and that the dignity of a deacon remains even after the Good Lord has called us into his presence.

   If I were to lay a criticism on this book it would be this: although it contains a great deal of prayers, blessings and meditations that would greatly enhance life of a deacon, the way these are organized is not the best. In fact the book has no index, it just presents a “Table of Contents”, which is only a list of the 13 sections into which the book is divided.  These will give you a general idea of where things are, although I have found myself looking for a specific prayer in the wrong section many times. Luckily the book comes with tree ribbons to mark pages, but these are not enough for the treasury of spiritual writings this little book possesses.

   In conclusion I would highly recommend this book for deacons that are looking to enhance their spiritual life as well as complementing their day to day ministry with ready-made prayers and blessings. I would place it in order of importance within my ministerial bookshelf, right next to my “Book of Blessings” and my “Pastoral care of the Sick”. I should add that after buying this book for myself and using it I liked it so much, I purchased another and gave it as a gift to a friend and I’m planning to give one to a soon to be ordained deacon. 

"Viva Cristo Rey!!"

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St Miguel Pro Meme

I created this meme for the feast of St Miguel Pro (Nov 23), one of my spiritual heroes.

St Miguel Pro, please pray for us.

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Pope Meme #2

Here is a meme I posted just a couple of ours after Cardinal Bergoglio became Pope Francis. I posted this in the Catholic Meme Facebook page and got 1500 likes in 5 minutes!  It took me almost ten minutes to add the tilde over the N.

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Pope Meme #1

Here is a meme I posted in Facebook. I have to admit that they idea came from my own experience. I think next time I will use bigger fonts.

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On Papal Elections and the War of (Photoshoped) Pictures

We have a Pope!

These are exciting times for faithful Catholics. The last time the Church got so much attention was when Pope Benedict was elected. I remember that time very well. I also remember how the enemies of the Church jumped at the opportunity presented to them by the fact that Benedict was German. The writing on the wall was obvious to them, if he was German and more than 60 years old then there must be a connection between him and the Nazi party.

Before Cardinal Ratzinger was elected to lead the Catholic Church there were a number of biographies which spoke freely about the fact that young Ratzinger had been, at the tender age of 14, a member of  the Hitler's Youth. Pope Benedict has long ago explained all this. It is a well known fact that he, along with many other German young men, was forced to joint this organization. It is also well know that young Raztinger found Nazism repugnant and refused to attend this organization meetings. This refusal was the cause why his family had to pay full tuition for his studies. All this is a matter of public record.

Some of those biographies included the following picture of young Ratzinger. You can see that in this image he is wearing the Hitler Youth uniform. 

Young Joseph Ratzinger at 14

When the enemies of the Church saw this picture they went on a frenzy! Finally the proof they needed!  Of course in this era of electronic media, tools like Photoshop can be used to enhance any feature in pictures.. Here is an example of this:

Of course facts such as Young Joseph's age (14), or that he was forced into joining the Hitler Youth, or the extreme dislike the Ratzinger family had for the Nazis (A fact corroborated by neighbors who knew them) are not important if the goal is to place the pope on a bad light.

Another young Benedict image which has been digitally "enhanced" in the following picture, perhaps you have seen it:

  Pretty incriminating don't you think? The critics were ecstatic! Finally a picture of Young Father Ratzinger giving the Nazi Salute!! This picture has been used to demonize the Pope and embarrass Catholics for the last eight years. In fact, even today you can find it in the most ardent anti-Catholic pages on the web. Of course critics not only enhanced this image, in their fervor to tie the Pope to Nazism, they went ahead and suspended all logic.

 Lets examine this picture with a critical eye. If you look closely Benedict is wearing the stole of a priest. This indicates that the picture was taken AFTER Benedict was ordained priest, in 1951...well after the Nazi party had been eradicated from Germany by the allies, so to accuse Ratzinger of using the "Nazi salute" is a historical anachronism. But not only this, the picture in question is a clever crop job of a larger picture, done for the exclusive purpose of raising strong negative emotions about the Pope. Here is the Original Picture:

As you can see, this is a picture of young Pope Benedict and his brother the day of their ordination back in 1951 while they are imparting their priestly blessing to friends and family at the the end of their first mass. Quite revealing don't you think?

Why am I telling you this? Well, the enemies of the Pope are at it again. As you know by now, the College of Cardinals elected Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, as the 266 successor of Peter.  It took less of 24 hours after the Cardinals elected Pope Francis for someone to send me this "very incriminating picture". The man you see here receiving communion is none other than General Jose Rafael Videla, the man who deposed Isabel Peron on a brutal Coup d'état back in 1976. The priest giving communion to Gen Videla is (claimed to be) none other than Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio.  The picture gives an impression of intimate familiarity between these two man. The humble communicant receiving the Eucharist from his priest. I received this picture with the claim, that "support (for) murderers is a bit much for a pope".

 Now I do not know the origin of this photo so I can not corroborate who these people are. Of course it is a matter of public record that Pope Francis was the provincial for all the Jesuits in Argentina during the reign of terror instituted by  Virela. As leader of all Jesuit priests he demanded the most strict neutrality in all matters political from his priests. Because of this, some people have accused him of indirectly favoring the oppressor by following this attitude of neutrality and of not doing more to speak against the government, and specifically of "abandoning" two priests in the hands of Videla's thugs
.
****UPDATE 1: One of the priests which were supposedly abandoned by then Provincial Father Bergoblio, has exonerated him from any wrong doing.

  Now, before I continue and for full disclosure, I must make something clear: I know very little of the history of General Videla or of Pope Francis during the 70s. I also have no idea where and when this picture was taken or where it came from. However I find it very suspicious, here is why:

  First of all, if this picture was taken in the 70s during the high of the Argentinian political troubles, it means that Father Bergoglio was in his early 40s. I'll ask you then does this priest look like a 40 year old man to you? In fact, I'm taking the identity of the priest in the picture at face value since you can't really see if this is Father Bergoglio or not. But lets assume this is him. Is he lending support to the Argentinian junta by giving communion to its leader? Him and General Virela look very comfortable with each other, if you ask me. Well... Once again the enemies of the Church are busy with their Photoshops. Here is the original picture:

****UPDATE 2: The man on this picture is not Pope Francis, this Argentinian article reveals the date and identity of this priest. The date is 1990, the man Father Carlos Berón de Astrada. Here is a video of the moment in which this picture was taken. It is clear this IS NOT Bishop Bergoglio

As you can see, there are a number of people in this picture. and if you are Catholic you will recognize what is going on here, we call it a communion  line. In the original picture, it is not just General Virela receiving the Eucharist. You can even see other people in other lines waiting to receive communion from other priests. I guess Virela and Bergoglio do not look as cozy or intimate as before. In fact I do not see a bishop making a statement of support by giving a political figure communion in a private and intimate setting. I see a good priest giving communion to one of dozens of other people in a public mass. Is there any sign of recognition or familiarity by Bergoglio, I do not see it. How about you?

**** UPDATE 3: Since I started working on this article I have found other sources which shed more light about Pope Francis history during this turbulent period of Argentinian history as well as, explain reasons about this smear campaign.

Article in which the Argentinian Supreme court exonerates Pope Francis from any wrong doing during that country's "Dirty War".

Article explaining the animosity some groups in Argentina have against Pope Francis.

And, another article.

"Viva Cristo Rey!!"

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