My Upcoming Pro-Life Presentations

I have a mountain of writing I would usually love to do, but recently it has been put on hold.  My local parish and the leaders of the Pro-Life clubs at local high schools have asked me to put together some presentations on Pro-Life apologetics.

The course will be divided into three presentations.  The first will be on the basic arguments.  The second will focus on common objections, specifically appeals to the "hard cases".  The third will be covering basic Pro-Life facts one should have off the top of his or her head.

Here is a link to the first presentation, which covers basic arguments:  [LINK]

And the second, which covers advanced arguments:  [LINK]

And the third, which covers basic facts:  [LINK]

And the CITATIONS for the third presentation: [LINK]

Enjoy!

If Catholics Are Not Christians...

A few years ago my mother got a piece of mail from Moody Radio.  It included a pamphlet with a Q&A for new Christian believers.  Among the questions was:

Can a person continue going to the Catholic Mass after becoming a Christian?

Their answer was... no. 

Mom showed me the pamphlet and asked what on earth they meant.  She had no idea there was a contingent of Christians - particularly in America - who did not regard Catholics among their Christian brethren.  For practicallity sake, let's call these folks CNCs (Catholics are Not Christians).

Today I want to address this phenomenon and present an argument to show its absurdity. 

Short Answer: Is it OK to Kill Baby Hitler?

Dear Apologist, Recently a major pro-life presidential candidate said he would have killed Hitler as a baby.  Would that be right?

Who Counts as a Christian?

The eleventh chapter of Acts records an important moment in Christian history:

"And in Antioch the disciples were first called 'Christians'." - Acts 11:26

To be a "Christian" means you are a member of Jesus' flock, a disciple of the Lord, and a member of the New Covenant in Christ.   Inversely, if someone tells you you’re NOT a Christian, you are being told that you’re none of those things.  So it's kind of a big deal.

I thought of that a few days ago I saw this video where some guy (with amazing hair) interviewed a Catholic nun.  He opened the talk by saying a survey of his audience revealed 84% of them considered Catholics to be Christians.  Of course, this means 16% either said “no” ... or weren't sure.

I could go on about the sad (and ironic) phenomenon of people thinking Catholics aren't Christians, but not today.  Today I wanted to ask a different question:

Who counts as a Christian anyway?  

And perhaps just as importantly:

Who decides?

Short Answer: Are our good works really "dirty rags" before God?

Dear Apologist, I was told all of our good works are "dirty rags" before God.  What does that mean?

Was Jesus Wrong About the End of the World?

Today I wanted to look over a passage in the Gospel of Mark which had me a little confused back when I was in college. 

In the thirteenth chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus predicts a cataclysmic event which would be marked by signs in the sky and the “coming of the Son of Man”.  It reads:

"But be alert; I have already told you everything. But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven." - Mark 13:23-27

Many interpret this as describing the end of the world – and it certainly sounds like that.  But then folks get really confused when Jesus says:

"Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." - Mark 13:30

Wait… did Jesus say the end of the world would occur within the lifetime of His original hearers?  That’s odd….

Even the great Christian writer CS Lewis saw this verse as a scandal – a time when Jesus Christ was factually incorrect. 

What is going on in this passage?