DAY 366

CHALLENGE

“This book doesn’t include my objection to the Faith!”

DEFENSE

A single book can only do so much. Therefore, let me recommend some more resources that may help.

The Handbook of Catholic Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli: This is an excellent survey of the general evidences for the Christian faith, written by a pair of scholars who communicate in a manner easily accessible to all.

Scaling the Secular City by J.P. Moreland: This was one of the first apologetic books I read when I began studying the field. Dr. Moreland is an outstanding scholar who carries …

DAY 365

CHALLENGE

“Why should I pay attention to the Bible at all? It’s an ancient book written by people of limited understanding. Besides, other religions have their own scriptures, too. Why are they any less important?”

DEFENSE

The Christian scriptures are unique and valuable.

The mere fact that the books of the Bible were written a long time ago is no reason to look down on or dismiss them. To do so would be chrono-logical snobbery. Just because a person wrote before you doesn’t mean that person was wrong. If it did, we would have to dismiss all works written in the past, obliter…

DAY 364

CHALLENGE

“As an atheist, I may not be able to prove God doesn’t exist, but I also can’t prove there isn’t, orbiting between Earth and Mars, a teapot too small to be detected by telescopes. If I don’t have to believe in the latter, I don’t have to believe in the former.”

DEFENSE

This argument is subject to a number of objections.

First, it was originally proposed by the philosopher Bertrand Russell as an answer to believers who felt atheists have the burden of proof regarding the existence of God (see “Is There a God?” The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, vol. 11).

From th…

DAY 363

CHALLENGE

“There can’t be an ‘unbroken line’ of popes going back to Peter. Look at the vacancies between popes, and at the antipopes.”

DEFENSE

The “unbroken line” claim may be found in the writings of individual Catholics, but it is difficult to find it in any official Church documents. Nevertheless, it expresses a truth: There is a line of popes (bishops of Rome) that we can trace in historical succession, going back to Peter.

The statement that it is unbroken must be understood in the sense that those who make the claim intend, otherwise a straw man will result. This means …

DAY 362

CHALLENGE

“Why can’t there be a multiplicity of gods?”

DEFENSE

The answer depends on what you mean by “gods.”

In classical paganism, the gods people typically worshipped were not infinite, eternal beings. Instead, they were understood to be superhuman but finite beings who came into existence at some point. (Thus Osiris’s father was Geb, Zeus’s father was Chronos, Thor’s father was Odin.)

It is possible for there to be multiple superhuman beings. That could be the case even in the natural world. There might be creatures in the physical universe who are more intelligent, more po…

DAY 361

CHALLENGE

“Why shouldn’t people of the same sex be allowed to marry one another?”

DEFENSE

It’s not so much a question of what should be allowed as of what is possible. Marriage involves a reality that can only exist between a man and a woman.

Marriage is a union of a man and a woman that is oriented toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring (CCC 1601). No other kind of union is a marriage.

Since before recorded history, men and women have united to care for each other and to bring up children. That happens in every culture, no m…

DAY 360

CHALLENGE

“If religion has benefits for individuals and groups, why can’t we say that evolution has favored the development of religion, even though it has no bearing on reality.”

DEFENSE

Religion does have benefits (see Day 283), but this doesn’t lead to the conclusion that religious beliefs are false.

If it were possible to dismiss a belief as having no bearing on reality simply because adopting it has benefits from an evolutionary point of view (i.e., promoting the survival and reproduction of those who hold it), then we would have to dismiss a vast number of beliefs. …

DAY 359

CHALLENGE

“Why do Catholics worship on Sunday instead of keeping the Sabbath? The (Saturday) Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments, which Catholics recognize as expressing the moral law (CCC 1962).”

DEFENSE

The Sabbath command is unique among the Ten Commandments in that it incorporates both moral and ceremonial aspects.

The Catechism of Trent states:

The other commandments of the Decalogue are precepts of the natural law, obligatory at all times and unalterable. Hence, after the abrogation of the Law of Moses, all the commandments contained in the [Ten Commandments] are ob…

DAY 358

CHALLENGE

“There is no one argument that demonstrates the Christian God exists. At most, each points to only a single aspect of the Christian God.”

DEFENSE

The arguments are not meant to be used individually. They’re meant to be combined in a cumulative case.

It would be possible to combine all the arguments into a single, highly complex argument, with many subarguments (similar to the way a computer program contains many subroutines). However, such an argument would be excessively difficult to follow. Consequently, apologists through the ages have broken the overall argument …

DAY 357

CHALLENGE

“For Christians, violence is never permitted. Jesus teaches strict pacifism when he says, ‘Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also’ (Matt. 5:39).”

DEFENSE

What Jesus teaches in one passage must be read in light of what he teaches elsewhere.

Jesus’ statement about turning the other cheek occurs in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7), but in the same discourse he draws a distinction between the natural, human response and a supernatural response that goes beyond it. The first is morally acceptable, but i…