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Seriously, though. If any readers need to get in touch with me because of whatever reason, shoot me an email at taylor.wilkerson20@yahoo.com.
Thanks for reading! God bless!
Asking permission to copy your page about the Four vs. One Gospel to use in a class of four students. Class is: Jesus in The Gospels. Your material dovetails quite well with an overview I’m presenting this week.
Thanks,
Bill
You are welcome to use any of the material on this site. My only request is that you cite the source.
Good luck with your class! God bless!
Thank you so much. Citation has been duly noted.
Bleesings,
Bill
I’m so glad I found this site. I’ve been praying and considering talking to my priest to start an Apologetics for teenagers group. I’m a teen as well and have found that being able to defend the Catholic faith is crucial in this secular world. Even to hear about other children (teenagers are children…why can’t they just get over that fact and move on?) who are in love with Christ makes me rejoice. I just subscribed to this site and look forward to receiving the posts. God Bless,
Hope
That’s a great idea, Hope! In a similar vein, I’m working on starting up an ecumenical group for teenagers from the different denominations of Christianity. Perhaps if we, as teens, could learn to understand and respect each other, the future of the Christian Church will be that much brighter.
An apologetics group would be wonderful! You’re right–being able to defend your faith is definitely crucial, and it’s troubling to me that there seems to be such a huge issue with education in the Church. It’s a problem that we need to address, certainly.
Good luck with your group! Keep me posted on that, if you don’t mind. I’d be interested to know how it turns out.
God bless!
Taylor
I will definitely keep you posted. I hope it works out. My only concern is that very few people will join it. Apologetics can be a hard thing, and frankly, the Catholic teens I know simply don’t seem to care. I guess prayers and hard work are all I can do.
Apologetics can definitely 1) be hard work and 2) require infinite amounts of patience. I would suggest first going around to teens at your parish and finding out if they are interested in learning more about the defense of the faith. If nothing comes of that, you might try asking your priest and other priests for the names of people who they feel might be interested in such a group. Your diocese should have a director of youth outreach, and he/she might also be able to help you out. I’d be willing to bet you’ll find at least a few other teens who will find the idea intriguing.
You might also want to see if some of the priests or deacons from your diocese would be willing to give presentations to your group concerning different topics. For example, one might come and speak on the importance of Sacred Tradition and its role in the Church and another might speak on the origins of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Things like that would give your group a solid and secure foundation for discussion.
It’s so nice to get suggestions! Thanks, I will keep all those in mind and start asking around. If the parish pastor is okay with the idea and I find other teens, I know people that would be happy to contribute to the group. I’ve got a lot of ideas floating around in my head and have been working to put them on paper. Something I noticed, was that teens don’t know anything about Church history, which is super important to defend 1) that the Church is apostolic–authority from the apostles, ultimately given from Jesus and 2) it’s good to know what the heck the Church has actually been doing for the past 2000 years. So I think I’ll start with a little of that (heavens, not too much…people might run away!). I’m a little like you are when reading the Bible, and I like starting at the beginning. It’s good to understand the origin in order to understand the teachings now.
History is always a great place to start, especially considering the fact that many people distort historical facts. There are a few good books on Church history that I would recommend: A Concise History of the Catholic Church by Thomas Bokenkotter, Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church (this book contains as much bias as the title suggests, by the way) by H.W. Crocker III, The Popes: Histories and Secrets by Claudio Rendina, and The Teachings of the Church Fathers compiled by John R. Willis, SJ. The Teachings of the Fathers are fascinating because they are primary sources that speak to how the Church was teaching during the early centuries, so they are a great source for the earlier history of the Catholic Church.
Like you said, though, you probably wouldn’t want to hit everyone with too much Church history, and you’d also want to be careful about getting information from authoritative texts and persons. You know…you might try looking at the Catholic schools in your area and contacting some of the teachers who teach Church History to ask for their advice on how best to approach this topic.
It’s so sad to think I’ve been on this computer since maybe 4 and still working on homework, but I’m glad you answer so quickly. It gives me a quick break from school to refresh my mind. Back to what you said, I will look those books up. Books are always a good resource. I’m actually reading the first book you recommended by Thomas Bokenkotter now and it has a good, brief but informative glimpse through history. Thanks for your advice (I’ll probably be saying that a lot…but I really mean it, and will most likely take it)!
I love the book by Bokenkotter. It’s easy to understand while still providing tons of information about the history of the Church, so it is definitely a great resource.
Glad my comments have helped you! I completely identify with the need for a break from school work…sometimes I feel like all I ever do is homework! My consolation is knowing that it will all pay off in the end, but that end is sure a long way coming!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Thanks! I hope you had a great holiday.
Merry (the day after) Christmas!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas as well! Have a blessed new year! (I’m not too late for that one, at least…I’m way behind for Christmas!)