Whenever Catholics talk about our faith with Protestants, the most frequently asked question is “Where is that in the Bible?” We are told over and over that this or that teaching of our faith isn’t in the Bible. These folks don’t care what the Pope says or what the Catechism says or what Vatican II says: They want to know what the Bible says—period. So if you as a Catholic are not prepared to answer the question “Where is that in the Bible?” you may not get very far when it comes to religious dialogue.
From my experience, many a Catholic holds the mistaken notion that nearly every Protestant knows the Bible better than he does. Protestants may have memorized more passages than you, but that is not the same thing as knowing the Bible better. Catholics are more familiar with the Bible than they might think they are, because they have heard it through countless Masses without necessarily realizing that they were hearing Scripture.
As Catholics, we have the magisterium of the Church as our guide when we open the Bible. Non-Catholic Christians have no such authentic guide for interpreting Scripture. They have their own personal, fallible interpretations to rely on. They have no authority, other than their own imagination, within which to interpret Scripture properly.
This results inevitably in some wackiness on the fringes when it comes to interpreting the Bible. For instance, there is a theory called “right division of Scripture” that has gained a foothold in many Baptist and Fundamentalist congregations. In a nutshell, right division of Scripture says that Jesus came for the Jews and that Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles. Therefore, since we are Gentiles, we need to listen to Paul more than to Jesus. It’s amazing what folks come up with when they don’t have an authoritative guide laying down some boundaries!
What follows are three strategies you can use when engaging in apologetics. If you learn these and adapt them to your particular situation, I guarantee you will be surprised with what you are able to do in the realm of apologetics and evangelization. You’ll be planting seeds of truth all over the place.
Strategy #1: The Ignorant Catholic
Simply put: Never be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” But always follow it with “But I will find out and get back to you.”
Example: “Where does it mention anything about purgatory in the Bible?” “You know, that’s a good question. And, right off hand, I don’t know the answer. But I’m going to find out, and I’ll get back to you on that.” Boom! You’re out of a potential jam. Don’t be afraid to be ignorant—especially if you are ignorant. There are many folks out there being taught that Catholics don’t know anything about the Bible. They expect you not to know the answers to their questions. Take advantage of that.
The worst thing you can do is to try to “wing” it. The stakes are too high for you to give it your best guess just because you don’t want to be embarrassed by not knowing the answer to a question about your faith. Especially when there is an answer out there; you just have to go find it. Or maybe you do know the answer, but you’re not quite sure on one or two details, and you want to get it down a little bit better. No harm in not answering at that moment so that you can come back better prepared.
What you accomplish by being the “ignorant Catholic” is a tactical retreat from the battlefield, a retreat where you have suffered no losses. You now have the advantage. The next time you talk about purgatory with this person will be when, where, and how you decide to do it. You’ll probably even have your Bible in hand with the relevant passages marked. And you will talk about purgatory, or whatever topic, with this person again. Once someone questions or even attacks the Catholic faith in front of you, the door has been opened. Do not let t hat door shut!
Go do your homework. Listen to a tape, read a book, do internet research—whatever you need to do. And then, when you are ready, get back to that person with further dialogue, with books, with pamphlets, with tapes, with whatever. It could be the next day, the next week, the next month, or six months later—but get back with that person! You can do it in person, you can write a letter, you can make a phone call, you can send an e-mail. You can talk to them yourself or you can give them a tape to listen to or a book to read. That’s the beauty of this: You decide when, where, and how.
Just remember: “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you.”
Strategy #2: It’s the Principle of the Thing
Learn how to establish Catholic principles from Scripture, and then use these principles to build your case for the faith.
For example, “Where in the Bible does it say anything about Mary being assumed body and soul into heaven?” Catholic response: “Well, let’s take a look at that. Is a person being assumed body and soul into heaven in direct contradiction of the teaching of Scripture? No, it’s not. We see from Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11 that apparently Enoch was assumed body and soul into heaven. Elijah, in 2 Kings 2, is assumed body and soul into heaven. The two witnesses from Revelation 11 are assumed body and soul into heaven.”
Every Christian, based on the Bible, has to agree with you that a person being assumed body and soul into heaven is not contrary to Scripture. You have established a Catholic principle. You haven’t conclusively “proven” that Mary was assumed into heaven, but you’ve put a chink in the anti-Assumption case. Now you can say, “Okay, we just established the principle that bodily assumption into heaven is not contrary to the Bible. The Bible doesn’t say that Mary was not assumed into heaven, so why can’t I believe that?”
Let’s revisit the subject of purgatory, because it comes up a lot. “Nowhere is purgatory mentioned in the Bible.”
True. But let’s look at 2 Samuel 12:13-15, 18: “David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.’ And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became sick. . . . On the seventh day the child died.” This leads us to Bible principle #1: There is punishment for sin even after one has received forgiveness.
Now look at Revelation 21:27: “But nothing unclean shall enter it” (the New Jerusalem, heaven). Bible principle #2: Nothing imperfect, nothing with the stain of sin, may enter heaven.
Now look at Hebrews 12:22-23: “But you have come to Mount Zion . . . and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” Bible Principle #3: There is a way, a process, by which the spirits of “just” men are “made perfect.”
Now look at 1 Corinthians 3:13-15: “Each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day [judgment day] will disclose it. . . . If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” When does this process occur that a man, after he dies, suffers loss, as through fire, but is still saved. Once in Hell? No. Once you’re in hell you don’t get out. Heaven? You don’t suffer loss in heaven. Hmm . . . it must occur some other time. Bible principle #4: There is a purging process after death that perfects those not yet perfected, and makes reparation for sins already forgiven, and it must happen before we may enter heaven.
The four principles we just established from Scripture make an awfully good case for purgatory which does not indicate a place, but a condition of life. You can do this with almost any Catholic teaching. It does require a little more knowledge of Scriptu re, but it is not anythi ng that is beyond your reach. Pay close attention to the Bible when you are reading it. Look for Catholic principles.
Strategy #3: But That’s My Interpretation
When you start asking questions about Scripture passages and Protestant theology, and when you start pulling Catholic principles out of Scripture, inevitably you will be hit with, “Wait a minute. That’s not a sound interpretation you’re making.” Or you’ll be told that you’re not interpreting Scripture with Scripture. Or you’ll be told that you don’t have a proper understanding of the Greek behind the text. Or you’ll be told any number of other ways that, basically, your interpretation of Scripture is wrong.
That’s when you ask this question: “Wait a minute—don’t you believe that as Christians we should go by the Bible alone? And that each person has the right to read and interpret Scripture for themselves as they feel guided by the Holy Spirit?” The Protestant will say yes, of course he believes that. “Well,” you respond, “that’s my interpretation. Are you saying that I can’t interpret the Scripture as the Holy Spirit is guiding me to do? Are you saying that your interpretation of Scripture is better than mine? How can you say that if everyone has the right to interpret Scripture? Do you really believe that or not?”
You have just made a key point. If a Protestant believes honestly that we go by the Bible alone and that each individual has the right to interpret the Bible as he sees fit, then the best he can hope to do against you is, in a sense, a tie. This is very important to understand. Ultimately, the best a Protestant can do when talking to a Catholic is to say that he believes his fallible interpretation is better than your fallible interpretation.
What he cannot say with any internal logic is that your interpretation is wrong. That would go against one of his core beliefs—the belief that every individual has the right to interpret Scripture for himself. He has to believe that your interpretation is a valid interpretation, even if he disagrees with it. Otherwise he is a hypocrite.
As Catholics, we believe that each individual has the right to read and interpret Scripture, but that any valid interpretation has to be within the parameters laid down by the Church founded by Jesus Christ. This means there are right interpretations and wrong interpretations. But, if I keep my wits about me, when speaking with a non-Catholic I cannot lose a theological debate. Neither can you. Remember, you have the right, by his theology, to your interpretation—to the Church’s interpretation.
Three Strategies, Two Foundations
These three strategies I have put forth rest on two foundational truths you must not only know, you must have them seared into your mind, heart, and soul.
The first is this: The Bible is a Catholic book. The Church gave it to the world and established its canon. You can rest assured that there is nothing—nothing!—in the Bible that contradicts anything in Catholicism and nothing—nothing!—in Catholicism that contradicts anything in the Bible. Ingrain this fact in your psyche, and you will have the confidence to go out and evangelize anyone.
The second truth: There is an answer for every intelligible question you receive about the Catholic faith. You might not know it immediately, you might have to research it—but rest assured, there is an answer. Of course, I’m talking about intelligible questions. I’ve been asked questions where the only thing I could do was to pause and wonder how such a question could have come out of the mouth of a sane human being.
People, we are standing on the shoulders of 2,000 years worth of giants defending the faith against all comers. We have John Chrysostom, Justin Martyr, Augustine, Aquinas, Theresa of Avila, and thousands more on our side. We have the holiest people who have ever lived on our side. We have a phalanx of contemporary orthodox apolo gists on our side. There are answers to the questions. Sometimes you just have to go looking for them.