Defense Of Catholic Faith

[thessalonian]

This is a poll. I am looking for a list of what you think is easiest to defend apologetically in the Catholic faith. (looking at things that are more Catholic than protestant, acknowledging that some prots believe these things) Here is my list.

1) Eucharist Evidence is overwhelming to the open minded.
2) Papacy Evidence is overwhelming to the open minded.
3) Salvation - Faith, works, grace
4) Baptismal regeneration
5) Pereseverence in grace, fall from grace as opposed to Once Saved Always Saved, eternal security. I don't call it loss of salvation because I think that causes too much contention and is perhaps not theologically correct.

Trinity does not make my top five simply because of the difficulty of the mind to grasp it. There is ample scripture. Tradition and scripture vs. Scripture Alone didn't make it either though I think that it is amply clear.

Let's try keep discussion to a minium as it has been done in other places. I want to compile the results when people loose interest in answering.

Edited March 30, 2007 by thessalonian

[cmotherofpirl]

I find #2 the easiest. Nothing else in history has 2000 straight years of existance. That alone signifies something extraordinary.

[thessalonian]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1222980' date='Mar 30 2007, 10:22 AM']I find #2 the easiest. Nothing else in history has 2000 straight years of existance. That alone signifies something extraordinary.[/quote]

1 & 2 were awfully close for me as well. Can you give me a top 5?

[Archaeology cat]

Right now I'd say the Eucharist.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

#3, 4, and 5 are all tied into the topic of justification (I'm writing my thesis on it), so I wouldn't do apologetics on any of them separately, because they are interdependent and also depend on a general Catholic worldview on justification.

Out of the other two, I find the papacy easier to prove to the open-minded. The Eucharist is a stumbling block by nature and will always be so, even to the open-minded.

[Guest T-Bone]

1 & 5 get my vote.

[KennC]

1) Eucharist Evidence is overwhelming to the open minded.

... as well as "Mother of God" .. to deny that is to deny Emannuel, "God With Us".

[goldbug16]

[quote name='thessalonian' post='1222922' date='Mar 30 2007, 07:36 AM']This is a poll. I am looking for a list of what you think is easiest to defend apologetically in the Catholic faith. (looking at things that are more Catholic than protestant, acknowledging that some prots believe these things) Here is my list.

1) Eucharist Evidence is overwhelming to the open minded.
2) Papacy Evidence is overwhelming to the open minded.
3) Salvation - Faith, works, grace
4) Baptismal regeneration
5) Pereseverence in grace, fall from grace as opposed to Once Saved Always Saved, eternal security. I don't call it loss of salvation because I think that causes too much contention and is perhaps not theologically correct.

Trinity does not make my top five simply because of the difficulty of the mind to grasp it. There is ample scripture. Tradition and scripture vs. Scripture Alone didn't make it either though I think that it is amply clear.

Let's try keep discussion to a minium as it has been done in other places. I want to compile the results when people loose interest in answering.[/quote]

This may sound rather proud, but actually I would say the Eucharist. I have a really strong belief in all the other things, but, of course, the Eucharist is what I feel most strongly about. I also have been taught about it alot from my parents and priest, and the Bible and the Catholic Catechism. I love to talk about the Most Holy Eucharist. What a beautiful gift from God!

[Ziggamafu]

1. Theotokos. Seriously, people don't believe it tend to recognize their own silliness when you question their logic. By far the easiest to defend.
2. Proving that the Scriptures are not self-authenticating, that the canon was established by the Church, and that belief in a fallible collection of infallible books is absurd.
3. The line of popes that trace straight back to Peter and from him to Christ.
4. The Eucharist. I list this last because it is much easier to prove sound logic is right than it is to prove bad interpretation wrong. Nevertheless, short of the doctrine that God exists, I would say the Eucharist is by far and wide the most overwhelmingly and exhaustively scriptural of all Christian doctrines.

[goldbug16]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1224684' date='Mar 31 2007, 09:41 PM']1. Theotokos. Seriously, people don't believe it tend to recognize their own silliness when you question their logic. By far the easiest to defend.[/quote]

Hey, I didnt think about that when I wrote mine down. Youa re right, that is the easiest to defend.

[cathoholic_anonymous]

1. The authority of Church Tradition. [i]Sola scriptura[/i] can't stand up in the face of...Scripture. The papacy falls into this category, I suppose.

2. The Holy Eucharist

3. The rosary and the Marian doctrines.

[MIKolbe]

Papacy
Sola Scriptura

[Fides_et_Ratio]

I'd say the Papacy for me (and I agree that 3-5 could be summed "justification"). But if I had to make my own "top 5" I'd have:
1) Theotokos
2) Papacy
3) The other three Marian dogmas, and the Marian doctrine of CoRedemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate
4) Eucharist
5) Justification