How to Talk with Fundamentalists
You surely have been through it. There is a knock
at the door. Outside is a man or woman with a big smile, an open Bible,
and a bunch of questions designed to attack the Catholic faith. Or you
are accosted on the street by someone who asks, "Have you been saved?"
Or, outside church after Mass, you find people passing out leaflets opposing
Catholic beliefs and arguing with any who object.
If you get into a discussion, it appears to go
nowhere. You end up frustrated, and no one seems at all convinced by what
you’ve said. The others walk away, apparently thinking even less of the
Catholic faith than before. You didn’t handle the situation well, and you
sense it.
The moral is that knowing how to argue is just
as important as knowing what to argue. If you have no appreciation of technique,
all the knowledge in the world won’t help you since you won’t be able to
pass it along. You can be a walking theological treatise, but if you antagonize
opponents or talk past them, you’ve wasted your time and theirs. Similarly,
it isn’t enough to be a good conversationalist. That won’t make up for
doctrinal or historical ignorance. To be an effective apologist, you must
marry delivery and content.
Scripture and Prayer
Know the Bible. No matter how fine your religious
training, no matter how well you think you know doctrines or Church history,
you need to be familiar with Scripture if you intend to make an impression
on Fundamentalists. (Of course, you should be conversant with the Bible
anyway, not just as preparation for dealing with non-Catholics.)
Concentrate on the New Testament, though not to
the exclusion of the Old. There’s no need to memorize multiple passages
of the Bible, the way Fundamentalists do, but you need to acquire a basic
knowledge of the whole of Scripture. You should be especially familiar,
though, with the Gospels—if you aren’t at ease with the details of Christ’s
life, you’re in trouble. Frank Sheed, the street-corner apologist, put
it this way: "A Catholic apologist who is not soaked in the Gospels is
an anomaly in himself, and his work is doomed to aridity."
The New Testament is short enough to be read during
the evenings of a single week. Spend several weeks with it before doing
anything else—and then read it regularly. You should not read the Bible
to the exclusion of all other books (many Fundamentalists do this and thus
lack perspective), but it has to be the ground on which your other reading
rests.
You also will accomplish little unless you have
a vibrant prayer life. A good way to pray is to meditate on biblical verses.
Read slowly, sit back, think.
Prayer is essential in winning converts. In your
heart, pray before a conversation, during the discussion, and after it.
It is helpful to write down the person’s name you spoke with, so that you
will not forget to pray for them. It is a human tendency to measure the
success of the discussion based upon how much you think the other changed
his mind. But, in reality, "the greatest things on earth are done interiorly
in the hearts of faithful souls" (St. Louis DeMontfort).
Technique
In discussions, never be afraid to acknowledge
ignorance. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so. You’ll survive,
and so will your ego. The answers you give on other points will be taken
more seriously if people you speak with see you’re not trying to bluster
your way through a discussion.
But, don’t leave the questions unanswered. Tell
the person that his question was a good one, and that you’ll bring him
the answer in one week. Then, go do your homework and follow up with him
as promised. This method will be much more effective than shrugging your
shoulders and giving a contrived response that does not even convince you.
You must be absolutely honest. Never pretend doctrines
or facts are other than they really are. Don’t avoid hard cases, and don’t
water-down doctrine just to please your listeners. There’s no need to try
to make hard truths palatable. Just state them as they are—but first know
what they are. If you can give only a one-sentence explanation of the Real
Presence, you don’t know enough to be discussing it. Admit this (to yourself,
at least), then do your homework. An embarrassment today can result in
fuller understanding—and better apologetics—tomorrow. When talk turns to
awkward points of Church history, don’t misrepresent them. Don’t hide blemishes.
Don’t falsify. There’s no need to. Put things in context, and recall that
Scripture teaches that, while the Church itself can never be overcome by
evil (Matt. 16:18), its individual members include sinners as well as saints
(Acts 20:29).
Watch Your Tongue
Sarcasm always backfires. Avoid it, even when your
opponents stoop to it. When they do, their consciences will annoy them
later; don’t allow them to justify their rudeness by exchanging wisecrack
for wisecrack.
Remember that God opposes the proud, even if they
are right. "[T]he Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to
every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness.
God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth"
(2 Tim. 2:24-25).
Familiarize yourself with anti-Catholic literature.
See what topics are emphasized: the Bible as the sole rule of faith, justification
by faith alone, the Mass, prayers to Mary and the saints, and many more.
See how the arguments, weak as they may be, are handled. You’ll at once
perceive that anti-Catholic materials are skewed, but if you can’t think
of complete and ready rejoinders, make notes and study up.
When arguing, keep your expectations modest. Don’t
expect conversions; they aren’t overnight occurrences. Count yourself successful
if your opponents leave with the feeling that there is a sensible Catholic
response (even if not acceptable to them) to each of their charges. It
would be a great spiritual triumph just to have an active anti-Catholic
withdraw from the fray and mull things over.
Avoid technical words. Even Catholics can misunderstand
what is meant by "transubstantiation," "Immaculate Conception," "Mediatrix,"
and "merit." On the other hand, don’t be monosyllabic. To oversimplify
is to sidestep fine points; that’s equally bad. Try to phrase doctrines
in language your audience is likely to understand and be sympathetic to,
but don’t change what a doctrine means in order to win a sympathetic hearing.
Try to show a doctrine in relation to other doctrines.
It’s important to see the Church as a totality.
Avoid verse-slinging. It accomplishes little. You
need to get some perspective—and you need to give your opponents some.
Enter the discussion with a plan; know what the main points should be,
then stick with them.
The most fundamental topic to discuss is that of
authority: Whose do you trust, and why should I accept yours? Since there
are tens of thousands of denominations all using only the Bible and claiming
personal guidance by the Holy Spirit, what sets your church or pastor apart
from the rest?
Fundamentalists concentrate on a few scriptural
passages they hope are damaging to Catholicism. Take the initiative. Address
their points, but don’t allow them to ask all the questions. Ask your own.
Point out the weaknesses of Fundamentalism.
Aim to Explain
Don’t argue to win. You can "win," yet drive people
further from the Church. Argue to explain. Show Fundamentalists the Catholic
position from the inside. This means reorienting them, giving them a new
perspective. Remember, they think they take their beliefs straight from
the Bible; in fact, the Bible is used to substantiate already-held beliefs.
They begin with their own "tradition," which is generally their pastor’s
interpretation of the Bible. (For many Fundamentalists, their pastor is
their pope. When confronted with hard questions, they don’t turn to the
Bible to discover the answers; they say instead, "Let us ask the pastor.")
No matter how well they have memorized it, Fundamentalists
know little other than the Bible, which they know only selectively. They
know little Church history, little formal theology. They may never have
seen a catechism (or even know what one is). You must provide the larger
picture. If the topic is the interpretation of a scriptural passage, go
to a good commentary and study up, but also go to the Fathers of the Church
and learn what they wrote about the subject.
Tell your opponents you do this because it is unlikely
that people who were writing when the Church was young and memories of
Christ were vivid would erroneously report what beliefs the Church started
with. If early Christian writers took it for granted that a sacrificial
priesthood was set up by Christ (which they did), that fact is a powerful
argument in support of the priesthood. If writers living a few years after
Christ mentioned the Real Presence (which they did), that argues in favor
of the Catholic interpretation of John 6. And so on.
Don’t Confuse Terms
Know what Fundamentalists mean by particular terms.
You can waste much time by discussing two different things while using
the same terminology. Take faith. To Catholics, faith is the acceptance
of revealed truths (doctrines) on God’s word alone. This is called theological
or confessional faith. But for Fundamentalists, faith is trust in Christ’s
promises. This is fiducial faith.
Tradition is another confusing term, as
are inspiration and infallibility. See what Fundamentalist
writers mean by the terms; compare them with Catholic definitions. If you
don’t define terms clearly, Fundamentalists will misunderstand your argument.
And don’t presume a question means what it seems to mean. Find out what
your opponents are trying to say. Take time. If the question refers to
the Virgin Birth, make sure they don’t mean the birth of the Virgin.
Fundamentalists may say, "Let’s start by admitting
that the Bible is the sole rule of faith." Translation: "Let’s admit the
Church has no authoritative role; all answers to religious questions are
to be found on the face of Scripture only." Don’t agree to it. It just
begs the question, and it’s untrue. As a counter, ask your opponents to
try to prove that the Bible was intended to be the sole rule of faith.
The Bible makes no such claim—in fact, it denies it (1 Cor. 11:2, 2 Thess.
2:15, 2 Tim. 2:2, 2 Pet. 1:20, 3:15-16)—but you have to know which verses
to cite to prove it.
Discuss the history of the Bible. You need to make
plain it was the Church that formed the Bible, not the Bible that formed
the Church. Note, too, that the New Testament wasn’t designed as a catechism.
It was written to people who were already Christians, so it couldn’t have
been intended as the sole source of religious teaching. In the early years,
teaching was oral and was under the authority of the Church, which also
decided which books belonged in the Bible and which did not.
Misunderstandings
Bishop Fulton Sheen once wrote that few Americans
hate the Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think
is the Catholic Church. You need to show Fundamentalists what the Church
really believes.
Take up a single topic at a time; look at it leisurely,
from several angles; and, don’t let the discussion wander to other topics
or it will bog down and accomplish nothing. Never presume Fundamentalists
know what you mean even by what you think are simple terms like soul,
revelation, or Mass.
If they did, they wouldn’t have such odd ideas
of what the Church stands for. You have to speak with them the way you
would speak with uninstructed Catholics.
Remember, their knowledge of the Church is based
almost entirely on what they have heard from the pulpit or in anti-Catholic
tracts. They are working in good faith, but they have been misinformed.
Perhaps they should have done more homework, but the fault isn’t theirs
completely. They trust the sources they’ve had, but now they should be
shown there is more to consider.
Remember, too, that the faith to believe is a gift.
Not a few converts to Catholicism have expressed that what drew them to
the Church was not primarily the strength of argument, scriptural proof,
or one’s ability to articulate the faith, as important as those factors
are. What drew them were Catholics whose lives gave irresistible witness
to the faith they professed. "[R]everence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared
to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that
is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence" (1 Pet. 3:15).
NIHIL OBSTAT:
I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004
IMPRIMATUR:
In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004
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