For The Defense Some Roman Catholics Take Up The Cause Of Articulating The Church’s Distinctive Claims

During his college years, Jim Burnham found himself in a theological crossfire - a Roman Catholic student among zealous classmates of other religions who challenged his beliefs.

Despite nine years of Catholic school as a youth, Burnham did not know what to say when his classmates confronted him with tough questions about Catholic beliefs in Mary and the role of the church hierarchy.

“I think I got what most Catholics have gotten for the last two generations - a pretty good overview of what Catholics believe but not any real ability to articulate why we believe it,” Burnham says.

There is a move afoot in the church these days to change that - a ministry, developing mostly among the laity, that encourages parishioners to study the Bible and know their religious roots.

By extension, parishioners share their beliefs with non-Catholics willing to listen. Sometimes, that means engaging door-to-door missionaries in front-porch debates.

It’s called apologetics: the defense of the Catholic faith and the church’s claim to have been founded by Jesus Christ. Apologetics seeks to study and explain Catholic doctrines like the papacy, the sacraments and the Immaculate Conception, among others.

It is not new. During the first half of the century, it was taught during catechism and at parochial schools. But because of changes in the church, the ministry is unfamiliar to many Catholics born after 1960.

From a converted garage in his home, Burnham, a 29-year-old father of three, has co-authored works that explain apologetics to average Catholics.

“It’s designed to prepare Catholics who don’t have any other training how to respond to evangelizers who come to their doors,” he says.

“It’s not enough to just close the door. We need to prepare Catholics to be able to give answers and ask them the right questions.”

Apologetics comes from the Greek word “apologia,” meaning an apology, but the word today has split from its original context. In ancient times, it meant to offer a reasoned defense of something.

Columbus, Ohio-based Patrick Madrid has made a career as a full-time apologist. Since the late 1980s, he has delivered hundreds of apologetics seminars in English and Spanish in the United States and abroad.

Madrid also has written two books on apologetics and edits Envoy magazine, which showcases the ministry with articles, graphics and an Internet home page.

The goal, Madrid says, “is to win converts to Christ. This involves converting them to his church, the Catholic Church. The process begins with our own personal conversion.

“It’s not a standpoint of, ‘We’re great and the rest of you are losers,”’ Madrid says. “It’s that by doing the work of an apostle, we’re sanctifying ourselves as we bring others to Christ.”

It also means debunking misunderstandings about Catholics.

“When someone says, ‘I’m a Baptist and you Catholics are worshiping statues,’ you have to tell them that’s not true,” Madrid says.

Madrid and Burnham emphasize that apologetics is characterized by cool-headed argumentation and analysis.

“True apologetics is not mean-spirited,” Burnham says. “It is charitable.

“It does not attack the person. It doesn’t even attack the denomination. It seeks to correct the erroneous belief.”

There are critics. Some say apologetics runs contrary to Vatican II’s call for Christian groups to work together.

Frances Vogel, director of pastoral ministries for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, says apologetics is out of step in today’s ecumenical age.

She says her archdiocese has no structured apologetics program. She says less confrontational evangelization efforts such as the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults are preferable.

“My approach is much more through the heart into the head rather than starting with the head,” she says.

Still, the ministry has important support.

“It’s important to convince Catholics everywhere that evangelization is at the heart of the church’s mission,” says Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa, Okla.

Slattery says some church officials might not want to offend a non-Catholic. He says their reluctance stems from an American culture “which puts an overemphasis on individual freedom, sometimes to the expense of the truth.”

James Pellechia, a spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York City, praised Burnham’s call for Catholics to know their Bibles. He also says he appreciates that Burnham’s arguments are presented on a theological, and not personal, level.

Ultimately, he also welcomes Burnham’s challenge.

“We’re willing to present the facts about us and our beliefs. People can judge for themselves,” Pellechia says.

“If they’re good readers of the Bible, we believe they will agree with the interpretation of the Witnesses.”

Burnham envisions Catholic volunteers going door-to-door, just like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“They put Catholics to shame in terms of their convictions,” he says. “They’re knocking on doors and saying, ‘We believe this is the truth and we want to share it.”’