DAY 17

CHALLENGE

“Catholics shouldn’t oppose abortion. The Bible never says anything about abortion or when we get our souls.”

DEFENSE

This objection supposes that we need the Bible to address the subject. We don’t.

First, reason alone is capable of establishing that the unborn are innocent human beings and thus have a right to life (see Days 70, 88, 185, 191, and 202).

Second, Catholics are not Protestants and do not have to verify everything from Scripture alone (see Day 5; cf. CCC 2270–75).

Third, Scripture contains principles that apply to the question of abortion. The most fundame…

DAY 16

CHALLENGE

“God wants us to determine our theology by Scripture alone. Every Christian should read the Bible and decide for himself what’s true.”

DEFENSE

This is a view that couldn’t have been entertained until the early 1500s. Until then, multiple practical problems prevented it.

Among the problems are these:

If every Christian is to read the Bible for himself and do the kind of study needed to decide delicate theological questions, then he must first have a Bible. But before the invention of the printing press (in the mid-1400s), Bibles had to be hand copied, and so they were …

DAY 15

CHALLENGE

“The sacrament of the anointing of the sick has no biblical basis; it is a human invention.”

DEFENSE

The anointing of the sick is recorded in the Bible.

The practice of anointing the sick as a means of miraculous healing was already part of the Christian movement during the earthly ministry of Christ. Jesus performed many exorcisms and healings, and he commissioned the apostles to continue this miraculous ministry, us- ing anointing as one of their methods. Thus in Mark we read how Jesus sent the Twelve on a preaching and miracle-working mission and “they cast out many…

DAY 15

CHALLENGE

“The sacrament of the anointing of the sick has no biblical basis; it is a human invention.”

DEFENSE

The anointing of the sick is recorded in the Bible.

The practice of anointing the sick as a means of miraculous healing was already part of the Christian movement during the earthly ministry of Christ. Jesus performed many exorcisms and healings, and he commissioned the apostles to continue this miraculous ministry, us- ing anointing as one of their methods. Thus in Mark we read how Jesus sent the Twelve on a preaching and miracle-working mission and “they cast out many…

DAY 14

CHALLENGE

“Why should I believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah?”

DEFENSE

The answer depends on one’s viewpoint.

If one is already a believer in the Hebrew Scriptures, then one can point to various prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus. There have been a number of understandings of the Messiah in Judaism, which makes the study of Messianic prophecy complex and beyond the scope of these daily entries.

However, it is worth pointing to a particular prophecy that was fulfilled through Jesus. The prophets declare that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the wa…

DAY 13

CHALLENGE

“Original sin is unjust. How could a good God punish us for something done by our ancestors?”

DEFENSE

This misunderstands what original sin is. God doesn’t punish us because of what Adam did.

Genesis 1 and 2 depict God creating mankind in a state that was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). “As long as he remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer or die. The inner harmony of the human person, the harmony between man and woman, and finally the harmony between the first couple and all creation, comprised the state called ‘original justice’” (CCC 376). But …

DAY 12

CHALLENGE

“Jesus is not God. John 1:1 shouldn’t be translated ‘the Word was God’ but ‘the Word was a god.’”

DEFENSE

What that Gospel says about Jesus makes this translation impossible.

It is true that Greek lacks the indefinite article (“a,” “an”), and so translators must decide whether to add it in English. However, one cannot simply assert that it should be added in a particular case. One needs proof from the context.

Considered apart from its context, the Greek phrase normally trans- lated “the Word was God” (theos ēn ho logos) could be rendered a number of ways. However, th…

DAY 11

CHALLENGE

“Science cannot accept the supernatural. The natural world is all there is.”

DEFENSE

At best, this leads to a reductionistic understanding of science. At worst, it reflects intellectual prejudice.

The term “nature” is often used to refer to the visible world we see around us (i.e., the world detectible by the senses and by scientific instruments). The supernatural then would be anything that falls outside of the visible world.

On this understanding, the assertion that science can’t accept the supernatural would mean that science cannot deal with anything outside of the…

DAY 10

CHALLENGE

“Most people accept whatever religion they are raised in. This means there’s no particular reason to believe in religion. Further, it would be unfair of God to damn people simply because they believed what their parents taught them to believe.”

DEFENSE

The fact that people tend to accept the beliefs they are raised with does not give a reason to reject belief altogether. Also, God takes into account the way people are raised.

Children have a natural tendency to accept the beliefs they are taught by their parents and their culture. This is essential to our educati…

DAY 9

CHALLENGE

“Catholics should not depend on Tradition. Jesus says Tradition makes void the word of God (Matt. 15:6; cf. Mark 7:8, Col. 2:8).”

DEFENSE

Jesus did say that the Pharisees nullified God’s word for the sake of their tradition, but he did not condemn tradition itself. Indeed, Scripture’s attitude toward apostolic Tradition is positive.

Tradition is important to every person and every group of people. It represents our education, our culture, everything that has been handed on to us from previous generations. Tradition is—by definition—what is handed on. The term comes fr…