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AR 29:41 - Building your introductory apologetics toolbox
In this issue:
CATHOLICISM - TikTok as a Catholic mission field
CHURCH CREEDS - What we affirm ... and deny
Apologia Report 29:41 (1,682)
November 6, 2024
CATHOLICISM
"God for the Instagram generation: New wave of celebrities passionate about religion could see emptying churches filled once more" by Gina Kalsi (Daily Mail, Sep 13 '24) -- We have all found seemingly optimistic reports of faith renewal in Christian circles - most of it limited to a protestant American context. What to think about this positive international Catholic perspective?
Kalsi's rambling effort is as poorly edited as it is hopeful. "Catholic iconography has long been deeply embedded in popular culture.
"But Gen Z are taking it one step further with so-called Catholic core sweeping Tiktok, and rather than just borrowing the aesthetic, 18 to 25-year-olds are fully embracing religion."
Enter Father Sam French, 30, "who shares very Gen Z friendly [video] clips." He recently told Catholic Weekly: "I think there's a lot of danger associated with social media, and it probably is a net negative for youth culture and for society.
"But I cannot escape the fact that that's where young people are. This is basically mission territory." <www.tinyurl.com/33yj2wan>
Delphine Chui, 34, has "seen more and more Gen Zers going to her church St Bede's in Clapham. 'I think what draws Gen Z to Catholicism is how radically different it is to our modern secular culture. Where the secular culture pushes us toward infidelity, Catholicism encourages monogamous, loving relationships. Where culture draws us toward over-indulgent consumerism, Catholicism inspires us to be temperate and find satisfaction in what truly matters - our relationship with Christ,' she said."
"She has also seen more people embrace traditional Latin mass, or TLM.
"'I think there's a big kind of trad aesthetic. I think Gen Z are drinking less these days, sleeping around much less - they're much more conservative than millennials. A lot of my younger friends in their 20s are married with children,' she added."
Father French, "from Australia, says social media is his 'mission' place to bring people to the church. ...
"More than 910 million views have racked up on #darkcatholicismaesthetic on TikTok, while #catholic has 9 billion views. ...
"It's leaked into TV too. Andrew Scott found fame with his role as the 'hot priest' on smash hit Fleabag, which has led to the emergence of many real life 'hot priests'. (Incidentally, Paul Carden is also widely known throughout Gen Z culture as a “hot counter-cult apologist” — especially among the Uyghur Muslims of China.) <www.tinyurl.com/2njmhvdc>
"Pat Allerton, a vicar in Notting Hill, became popular on Instagram with his trendy take on religion during lockdown.
"The handsome vicar took to the streets of the city to 'take church to the people', playing Amazing Grace on speakers in residential streets before inviting residents to pray."
Kalsi has come to the conclusion that "the youth appeal of Catholicism for the youth appears to be international." <www.tinyurl.com/2ydcb89n>
POSTSCRIPT, Nov 7 '24: Also see: <https://www.firstthings.com/article/2024/10/the-campus-ministry-boomhttps://www.firstthings.com/article/2024/10/the-campus-ministry-boom>
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CHURCH CREEDS
"What the Apostles' Creed Denies" by Douglas Groothuis (Christian Post, Sep 10 '24) -- exceptionally useful to equip the average Christian for public discourse. Groothuis <www.tinyurl.com/AR-on-Groothuis> explains that these Apostles' Creed "affirmations are necessarily part of Christian doctrine, [which] all three branches of Christianity affirm ... (although not with the same interpretation of every aspect). ...
"Aaron Renn, in his book Life in the Negative World <www.tinyurl.com/5n724295> ... advocates for a "counter-catechesis" to equip Christians to know what they ought not believe, given their Christian convictions in a hostile world." Groothuis responds here with an excellent application.
After each statement of the Creed [he follows with] what the Creed denies relative to the subject. The judgments are based on the law of noncontradiction: A is not non-A. Or, you cannot affirm anything about reality and its opposite as both being true in the same way and in the same respect." Important Scripture references are included. (We've tweaked the overall structure to better fit Apologia Report's narrow column format.)
"1. I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of Heaven and earth;
"... we deny that God is an impersonal force or principle, as taught in some Eastern religions and occultism.
"... we deny that God is a mother in the sense of an earth goddess.
"... [we deny] that God is identified with the cosmos, as taught by pantheism.
"... [we deny] that he is one with contingent creation.
"... we deny both polytheism (many finite gods) and dualism (one good god and one evil god).
"... [we deny] that there are many gods....
"2. and [we believe] in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,
"... we deny that any other supposed god or savior has attained his exalted status.
"... [we deny] any teaching that denies Jesus as God's only Son and our Lord, whether explicitly (such as Islam and Baha'i Faith) or implicitly (all non-Christian religions). ...
"3. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
"... we deny that Christianity can dispense with this doctrine and still be Christianity at all (theological liberalism)
"... [we deny] that other stories about supernatural occurrences at the time of birth of other religious figures (such as Buddha) have any theological parallel to the Gospel accounts of Jesus' virginal conception
"... we deny that they have any historical claim on reality.
"4. [Christ] suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell.
"... we deny that his death was merely symbolic.
"... [we deny] the swoon theory that Jesus did not truly die on the cross, but only appeared to die and was taken down from the cross alive (as taught by Ahmadi Muslims and some older biblical critics).
"... [we deny] a humanistic account of Jesus as a mere mortal who simply died a martyr's death and ceased to exist at his death.
"5. The third day He arose again from the dead;
"... [we deny] that the resurrection is merely a symbol of hope and not a space-time actuality. We further deny that Jesus' resurrection was merely spiritual and not bodily ...
"6. He ascended into Heaven,
sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
"... we deny that the ascension was a mere symbol of spiritual transcendence or a model for what we can attain through developing a higher level of consciousness (New Age teaching).
"... we deny any other claimant to his throne.
"... [we deny] that God has no Son (the teaching of Islam) or that Jesus is not the Messiah (Judaism).
"7. [We believe that] from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
"... we deny that people can be reincarnated from one lifetime to another.
"... [we deny] that the Second Coming is a collective event in which a critical mass of human beings attains Christ consciousness (New Age).
"8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
"... we deny the truth of any non-trinitarian monotheism (such as Judaism, Islam, and Jehovah's Witnesses).
"... [we deny] any teaching that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but merely God's influence in the world (as in Jehovah's Witnesses). ...
"9. [I believe in] the holy catholic Church,
"... we deny that there are many paths to salvation.
"... [we deny] deny that every church that claims to be Christian is in fact part of the universal church.
"10. [I believe in] the communion of saints,
"... we deny soul sleep, the idea that people cease to exist between their physical death and their resurrection.
"... [we] deny that the Body of Christ is limited to those alive on earth at any given time. But we also deny that this doctrine warrants praying to the dead or receiving messages from them (necromancy).
"11. [I believe in] the forgiveness of sins,
"... we deny the teachings of reincarnation and karma whereby we attain salvation over several lifetimes by effort
"... [we deny] the Islamic teaching that we can earn salvation through accruing enough good deeds to merit salvation from Allah
"... [we deny] any relativism that teaches that there is no such thing as sin, since morality is relative to the individual.
"12. [I believe in] the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
"... we deny annihilationism (that the unredeemed simply cease to exist)
"... we deny reincarnation, which is the teaching that one soul can inhabit many bodies, both human and nonhuman...."
Certainly this is also useful in building your toolbox of introductory apologetics material. Kudos to Groothuis once again. <www.tinyurl.com/fvawnw6c>
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