DAY 77

CHALLENGE

“Catholic ministers should not be called priests. All Christians are priests. Peter says his readers are ‘a royal priesthood, a holy nation’ (1 Pet. 2:9).”

DEFENSE

Christians are priests, but Scripture indicates that there is also a special, ministerial priesthood.

The Church agrees that, by baptism, Christians have a share in Christ’s priesthood (CCC 1141, 1268, 1546; cf. 1174, 1322). This is commonly referred to as “the common priesthood of all the faithful” (CCC 1535). However, certain members of the faithful are ordained to a greater participation in Christ’s pri…

DAY 76

CHALLENGE

“Infant baptism is an invention of men not practiced by the early Christians.”

DEFENSE

Infant baptism was practiced from the beginning of Church history. The principles behind it are articulated in the New Testament, and we have explicit documentation of it from the second century on.

We observe elsewhere the biblical principles behind infant baptism (see Day 75).

One is that baptism is the Christian initiation ritual and its equivalent of circumcision. This led some in the early Church to discuss whether baptism should be performed on the eighth day after birth— the t…

DAY 75

CHALLENGE

“Infant baptism is unbiblical. One requirement for baptism is to have belief in Jesus, which infants don’t have.”

DEFENSE

The New Testament nowhere restricts baptism to people who are above a certain age. In fact, we read of entire households being baptized, and there are indications that baptism was given to the children of believers, regardless of their age.

The New Testament never establishes an age requirement for baptism. Most of the people we see being baptized in its pages are adults, but this is because Christianity was a new movement, and most of its convert…

DAY 74

CHALLENGE

“The argument from change (see Day 73) is flawed: (1) The future already exists, so time and change are illusions; (2) some things cause themselves to change, as when an animal opens its eyes; (3) there could be an infinite regress of prior causes; (4) there could be a causal loop where an event in the future causes a change in the past; and (5) God would need a cause.”

DEFENSE

None of these objections overturn the argument from change.

First, although modern physics commonly proposes time is another dimension, like the dimensions of space, and the future already exist…

DAY 73

CHALLENGE

“What proof do you have that God exists?”

DEFENSE

One popular proof proceeds from the existence of change in the universe.

The argument can be framed this way:

1. Some things in the world change.

2. Everything that changes is caused to do so.

3. Nothing is its own cause.

4. Therefore, things that change are caused to do so by something else. 5. There cannot be an infinite regress of such causes.

6. Therefore, there is an ultimate, unchanging cause of change.

7. God is the ultimate, changeless cause of change

8. Therefore, God exists.

The premises of this argument are…

DAY 72

CHALLENGE

“The deuterocanonical books aren’t Scripture because they aren’t prophetic. None of them claim to be written by a prophet, contain predictive prophecy, or contain messianic prophecy.”

DEFENSE

The criterion by which a book is to be evaluated for the canon is whether it is divinely inspired, not whether it is “prophetic” in those senses. Further, claims about the deuterocanonicals not containing any prophecy are inaccurate.

Books are Scripture if they are divinely inspired (2 Tim. 3:16). They do not have to have someone who functions as a prophet as their author (Luke, f…

DAY 71

CHALLENGE

“The Bible has been translated over and over again in history. That’s like making a photocopy of a photocopy—eventually, the image becomes blurry. Why should we trust the Bible, considering how many times it has been translated?”

DEFENSE

Modern Bible translations are made directly from the original languages, not other translations.

There have been many translations of the Bible, but the major translations published today are not based on other translations.

The books of the Bible were originally written in three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. These are not my…

DAY 70

CHALLENGE

“Abortion is a religious issue, and those who disapprove of abortion must not impose their religious beliefs on others.”

DEFENSE

Abortion is not a “religious issue.” It is a human-rights issue.

Even if abortion were a religious issue, there is no reason why religious people should set aside their moral values on this topic or any other. Religious values have played an indispensable role in issues from caring for the poor and the sick to ending slavery and tyranny. To suggest that religious people should not bring their values to bear on public issues also misunderstand…

DAY 69

CHALLENGE

“Jesus said of the end of the world, ‘This generation will not pass away before all these things take place” (Mark 13:30; cf. Matt. 24:34, Luke 21:32). But Jesus’ generation died, and the end of the world has not happened. Therefore, Jesus prophesied falsely, and so can’t be God.

DEFENSE

“These things” does not refer to the end of the world.

Jesus gives a number of warnings concerning events that the disciples will face before the fulfillment of his words. This statement occurs after Jesus made a prediction about the temple: “Do you see these great buildings? There w…

DAY 68

CHALLENGE

“If praying to Mary is good, why don’t we see it in the New Testament?”

DEFENSE

We would not expect to.

Not every teaching has to be present in Scripture (see Day 5), and not every practice consistent with Christian liberty has to be documented in the New Testament. It took time for Christians to work out the implications of the deposit of faith Jesus gave the apostles.

Scripture shows an awareness that we can pray for the dead (2 Macc. 12:42 and, quite possibly, 2 Tim. 1:18) and an awareness that those in heaven intercede for the living (2 Macc. 15:12, 14; Matt. 18:…