By EmmaLee Italia | Contributing Editor
“Apologetics is a strategy, or subset of evangelization – it’s about bringing people to Christ, so that he can give them the gift of faith. Don’t get attached to the argument; if apologetics isn’t work, be willing to try another avenue of evangelization.”
This clarification and more came from Dr. John Mark Miravalle, who spoke to an audience March 1 in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square, breaking down the basis of how to know and defend the Catholic faith.
An author and professor of systematic and moral theology at Mount St. Mary Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md., Miravalle appeared as part of St. Gregory the Great’s Adult Faith Formation series. His topic – “Why God? Why Jesus? Why the Catholic Church?” – explored not only the basics of knowing and defending Catholicism, but also who can be helped and served by it.
When defending the faith, said Miravalle, “You may find that you’re … desperate to win. You may find that the other person just likes arguing for the sake of argument. And the stuff we’re dealing with is too important to waste our time playing games. We do not make salvation about a little battle of wits. We do not make ultimate truth and ultimate reality about a little chess game between two people.”
Using the Bible story of Phillip and Nathaniel, Miravalle – who, prior to his position at Mount St. Mary, taught at the School of Faith in Kansas for eight years – illustrated the simplicity of making a case for Christ.
“Nathaniel is just sitting under a fig tree, and along comes Phillip,” he recounted. Upon announcing that he has found the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathaniel “doesn’t want to deal with it – he wants to start an argument for fun … so he says, ‘Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ … Phillip, instead of arguing, says ‘Come and see.’”
The ensuing encounter between Jesus and Nathaniel, Miravalle explained, ends with Nathaniel believing, because Jesus said that he knew him before he saw him sitting under the fig tree – showing that “the least encounter with Christ is much more effective than our best argument. … Only use an argument insofar as it facilitates the encounter with Christ,” he said.
The arguments, however, are important, in that they “clear away the misunderstandings and false rumors, and they show the gorgeous reasonability of what we believe as Catholics,” Miravalle continued. “Apologetics is everyone’s responsibility … St. Peter in his first letter … says, ‘Always be ready to make a defense, to anyone who asks you, for the reason for the hope that is in you.’”
One of those arguments, he said, stems from the ability to observe order in the universe. He drew attention to the regularity and recurrent patterns that happen – like gravity – that can lead people to make predictions or create technology based upon those constants. Chaos, on the other hand, is the absence of order.
“Atheists will say that this order comes from chaos … but piling up chaos doesn’t produce order,” he said. “A believer [will recognize] that the order we see is not necessary, so the cause of the order was not compelled … the cause must be intelligent and free.”
An argument for Jesus being the Son of God, Miravalle went on, is to ask ourselves, “‘Is there any evidence that God has gotten in touch with us?’ … There is only one human being in history, whom history has taken seriously, who has claimed to be God – and that’s Jesus Christ.”
As for the Catholic Church, he challenged people to find the filtering system that sets it apart from other Christian groups.
“When is the first time we see the birthday of the Church? At Pentecost,” Miravalle pointed out. “The people were united … there were men from every nation and tongue … they care about holiness in a very specific way – Baptism and the breaking of bread, the Eucharist … and the authority figures are Peter and the Apostles …
“Which group has the most unity, is the largest group of Christians under the sun? Which group unites more people from more places and cultures … and has universal as its name? What church makes the biggest deal of the Sacraments? And what group is run by one guy, with a bunch of the successors of the Apostles around him? The Catholic Church … it puts all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
Miravalle proposed that apologetics serves three classes of people – God himself, other Christians and non-believers.
“In Matthew 10, Jesus says, ‘Anyone who honors me before men, I will honor before my Father in heaven.’ If we are willing to defend God and the Church, he will defend us,” he explained. “It’s an honor to be God’s spokesperson.”
It gets discouraging, he said, hearing the way Christians and Catholics are treated in pop culture – portrayed as ignorant and bigoted. “But it’s encouraging to see a man or woman of faith who can answer questions calmly, clearly and decisively, who can ask atheists questions that they can’t answer … You won’t win every argument … but the more you practice, the better you get.”
Having debated many atheists publicly, Miravalle emphasized that he has never won a convert on the spot. “But I’m not supposed to,” he said. “I can’t produce faith. Apologetics can prepare the ground … new ideas create an intellectual churning … and maybe that can be openness.”
After a brief question-and-answer period, Miravalle joined Father Michael McClane, pastor, and other attendees for fellowship and refreshments. The overwhelming response from those who attended was that they wanted to hear more.
“It was too short!” quipped St. Gregory the Great parishioner Gaeta Iseicz, who appreciated Miravalle’s advice to “know when to back off – that it’s better to say, ‘That’s a good point – let me get back to you,’ giving them some validation.”
Charlene Tharp, parishioner of St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish, Hamilton, agreed on the advice not to argue. “[I learned] about the definition of apologetics … it was a real trip, very interesting.”
“It’s not about the argument, but about tilling the soil,” echoed St. Gregory the Great parishioner Genesius Jaromsky. “It gave me a new perspective on how to talk to people on Facebook, to feel more comfortable talking with my friend.” He also agreed that “it’s important to let the Holy Spirit guide [the conversation].”
Elaine Russo-Scheff, also a St. Gregory the Great parishioner, felt that “the length of the talk was good. It was completely appropriate; the topic was handled well, and [he offered] varied, concise pieces of information.” She agreed with many of his points, particularly that “you have to be non-confrontational with any point you’re going to make, and you have to meet people where they are.”