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? 

Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

Today I wanted to write about a perennially debated question: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

I find that there are two common points of view regarding this issue.  Let’s examine them.


Seeking Commonalities: 

The first perspective recognizes the things we share in common with Muslims regarding the identity of God.

Imagine you saw a person praying.  You approach him and ask:

 “To whom are you directing your prayers?”

He responds:

“I’m praying to the one, self-existent all-powerful God who created the universe from nothing. Who revealed Himself to Abraham and continued to interact with mankind by sending prophets.  Who is completely holy, righteous, merciful, just, and sovereign and who will judge all of mankind on the last day.”

Given that description, most Christians would reasonably conclude this man is praying to the same God they do.  Perhaps this person doesn’t have the complete story regarding God, but he’s clearly sending his prayers to creator@universe.gov.

And since God is looking to draw all people to Himself, we can be confident they are being heard. He may be like Cornelius the Centurion from the book of Acts.  He wasn't a Jew, he didn’t know about Jesus, but he did fear God.  Thus the angel said to him:

“Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God.” – Acts 10:4

Enforcing Distinctions:

The other side of this discussion also raises a good point.  Suppose I asked you:

 “Have you met my father?”

And you replied:

 “Oh yes, I’ve met your father.  He is 5’6” tall, has blond hair, works at Target, wears glasses, and is highly tattooed.” 

I would rightly reply:

 “No, I think you have someone else in mind.”

Going of this thought pattern, many Christians would point out the differences between the Islamic and Christian concept of God.  Things like:

• The God of Christianity is one being with three persons, the God of Islam is one being with one person.

• The God of Christianity took on a human nature and became present in space-time-reality as Jesus of Nazareth, the God of Islam takes offense at that notion.  (1)

• The God of Christianity wants to be regarded as a loving Father, the God of Islam regards such a notion as a species of blasphemy called "shirk". (2)

• The God of Christianity historically ordered His people into violent conquest (3.1), but the final standing orders were to “love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you” (3.2),  The God of Islam began with a message of reconciliation and nonviolence (3.3), but the final standing orders quite open to the use of force.  (3.4)

Given these rather notable distinctions, many Christians feel quite justified in saying that the Islamic concept of God is so different as to constitute a description of a different entity.

Putting the Two Together:

Both of these perspectives contain important truths, so they both must be taken into account.  

Here it is instructive to look at the case of Jewish belief.  Jews also deny such things as the Trinity and the Incarnation.  Still, very few Christians would deny that Jews worship the same God as themselves... even if they deny certain important facts about God.

So it seems reasonable to apply the same thought to Muslims.  To reprise the analogy from above, it would be like someone knows some basic facts about my father - and is clearly thinking of the right man -  but he also heard some erroneous ideas about him.

Thus, we can say to our Muslim friends that together with us they adore the one, merciful God - mankind's judge on the last day.  But then propose a serious reexamination of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.


Sources:
1. Sura 5:72 , 10:68, 19:35
2.  Surah 5:18
3.1 Num 33:51
3.2 Matt 5:44, Matt 26:52
3.3 Sura 2:256
3.4 Sura 9:5, 9:29-30