Cure of Ars Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 The following is from the book, How Not To Share Your Faith by mark Brumley. The Fourth Deadly Sin of Catholic Apologetics is plain old argumentativeness, or if you like, contentiousness. Some apologists are always looking for a fight. They go out of their way to reduce the faith to areas of disagreement with others or at least to put undue emphasis on disagreement with other or at least to put undue emphasis on disagreement. Thanks be to God that contentiousness between Catholics and non-Catholics today does not usually entail violence and bloodshed (Northern Ireland excepted). Nevertheless, contentious Catholics (and their non-Catholic counterparts), who “prowl around like lions seeking whom they may devour,” can still do damage. Unfortunately, the damage is usually to the cause of Christ and his Church, although many contentious apologists do not or will not see it. And later; The point here is that the contentious apologist goes out of his way to state things in the most polemical manner, thus pushing non-Catholics further from the Catholic faith. Rather than starting with what we have in common and seeing how far we can walk down the theological road together, a contentious apologist immediately zeroes in on what separates Catholics and non-Catholics. He formulates the Catholic position in the most anti-non-Catholic way he can think of. He may do this in an openly aggressive way or with a smile upon his face, but in either case he creates a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willguy Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 excellent post cure. I know that I've fallen prey to this before. that's one reason I try and avoid arguing about my faith. I'll discuss it, but when it turns into arguing, I just back out. Because I know that if I don't, I'll just end up getting mad and saying things that I shouldn't and doing more harm than good. Peace and God Bless, Willguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azriel Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 This is amesome. Keep these coming Cure, we all can benefit from this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cure of Ars Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 Could this be moved to the apologetics section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quietfire Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Since defending Catholicism is still new to me, thanks for reminding me what's important. :jesus: Nothing like a good fish slap to wake ya up. Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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