November 1, 2006 by gmichuta.

I don’t take much stock in polls. The questions asked are often leading. I especially don’t trust poll during an election cycle (for obvious reasons). However, this little poll came out and there are a number of ways on can interpret it.

 http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/31/061031235233.s0l4o4wy.html

 The poll breaks down certainty of God’s existance by religions. Only 64 percent of Catholics responded that they were “absolutely certain” God exists as opposed to 76 percent of Protestants and 30% of Jews. Check out the poll for yourselves.

At first, I was shock to think that anyone would join a religion without believing in God. What’s the point? Then I realized that this question was a bit more qualified. It asked whether these people were absolutely certain God exists. People may have said no just because absolute certainty made have sounded too much like “demostrated” or “proven.” Unfortunately, it would have been nice to know how many people (especially broken down by religious affiliation) would say that the are “absolutely certain” God does not exist. But why not just ask people whether they believe God exists? Why probe people’s certainty? Is there a point to this poll? I don’t know. there are other questions.  I’m not really sure what do make of this poll. I’d love to hear your feedback.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

October 17, 2006 by gmichuta.

The news broke today that the United States has reached the 300,000,000 mark. I often reflect on the effectiveness of Catholic apologetics and evangelism. When I grew up (late 60’s and 70’s) there were few orthodox Catholic publishers still in business. There were even fewer Catholic radio stations (none in my area) and no television networks. The late 80’s sparked a renewed interest in apologetics and evangelism. Radio stations (even networks) began to spring up. More and more orthodox publishers started their presses. The Eternal Word Television Network began to be beamed throughout the country. Indeed, EWTN is now seen around the world. Catholic media outlets have produced tons of books, tapes, CD’s and DVD packed with great Catholic material and I don’t even need to mention what’s happening on the Internet.

 I started doing Catholic apologetics professionally in the early 90’s. I’ve appeared on television and radio (both local and national). I’ve given talks to audiences of only a dozen people and I’ve given talks with over a thousand people in attendance. But if I added up all the people that I have addressed and all the people that other apologists and evangelists have addressed over the past couple of decades and put it all together, what would the number be in comparison with that 300,000,000 figure? Would it be a half? Quarter? Perhaps, it would only be a few percentage points. 

 Of course, fidelity to God is not measured in numbers. If all the radio networks and all the television stations, blogs and websites saved only one soul or brought one person back to the fold, the effort was worth it. Still, the 300,000,000 figure does provide us with a chance to reflect on how far we came and how much more needs to be done to bring God’s love to this nation. We can trust that God, who began this good work, will bring it to completion. 300,000,000… We’ve got our work cut out for us.

Posted in Sharing The Faith | No Comments »

October 16, 2006 by gmichuta.

If you live in South-east Michigan and you are interested in some intense and informative classes designed to sharpen your knowledge of Catholic Apologetics, come to the New E.C.R.C. Center in Bloomfield Hills (corner of Maple Rd. and Inkster). We will meet every Saturday at noon. The first classes will cover the tools of the trade or what it takes to be a good Catholic apologist. Every four sessions or so we will move on to study in depth many of the most commonly attacked Catholic doctrine. For more information, visit the HOA home website (www.handsonapologetics.com) or contact the E.C.R.C. at 248-788-2460. Stay tuned to this blog for further updates on the classes and materials.

Posted in Being There | No Comments »

October 13, 2006 by gmichuta.

Hi all,

 Sorry that I haven’t blogged in a while. Here is the update on my upcoming book Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger. The manuscript is being polished by none other than Rod Bennett author of Four Witnesses (Ignatius Press). Rod has an excellent and approachable writing style, which is exactly what my book on a potentially technical subject needs. After Rod’s done with the manuscript, it will be laid out and printed. We want to release the book by next March if not earlier. I know that there are a lot of people interested in purchasing the copy and I am grateful for your patience. Please keep this project in your prayers.  Keep posted to the blog for future updates.

Posted in Deuterocanon, Uncategorized | No Comments »

September 4, 2006 by gmichuta.

Conversion stories are popular. They give Catholics a chance to look at the Church from a different viewpoint and they give Catholics a greater appreciation of other faith perspectives and the dynamics of conversion. There is a flip side for the Catholic apologist. More often than not, an apologist encounters fallen away Catholics who either lost their faith or join another church. One thing I always try to get a handle on is the mechanics that led to this change. What failures occurred within the Catholic community and what was the person’s understanding of the Faith when they left? Usually, these failures fall into three catagories, (1) disengaged or nominal Catholic parents, (2) poor or no catechesis and evangelism, (3) the inability of some to provide an intellectually satisfying explanation as to why we believe what we believe (i.e. poor apologetics). There are others, but these seem to be the big three. That is why I’m interested in conversion stories out of the Faith because they sometimes reveal areas that need attention.

Posted in Sharing The Faith, Uncategorized | No Comments »

August 24, 2006 by gmichuta.

If you want to defend the faith, you need to have good resources. A good apologist always has a good apologetic library. When I first started doing apologetics in a serious manner, there wasn’t very many Catholic ministries out there to help me. As a result, I wasted a lot of money on books and tapes that didn’t really fit my needs. You can avoid this problem and I can help. Periodically on this blog, I’m going to give my book and tape recommendations on the best resources that I have run across. Some of them are in print and others will have to be purchased through used bookstores. All of my recommendations will be worth the effort. If you are going to discuss the Catholic Faith with Protestants, you ought to have a good handle on the history of Protestantism. The problem is that its history is very complex and no one book covers everything. Bossuet’s History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches is a good start. Bossuet (1627-1704) was a bishop and theologian who knew his history. His work chronicles the complex characters and events of the Protestant Reformation and how they interacted with one another. It is detailed and contains a lot of quotes from primary resources. The book is also very readable and it presents a good overview from a Catholic perspective. Another helpful feature is that, in its current format, each paragraph is numbered and headed with a short summary title. This is very helpful for locating people and events quickly. Trust me. There is nothing more frustrating that flipping through a thick history book trying to locate the passage where Luther denied Transubstantiation! Unfortunately, Bossuet’s History also suffers from a common drawback of books written during this era. The citations in the footnotes are cryptic and the assume that the reader is already familiar with the works cited. If you want to run down a quote, for example, you’re going to have to do some legwork. I have read this book several times and have found Bossuet to be generally accurate and reliable. Outside of the cryptic footnotes, The History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches is a classic and it deserves a spot on every serious Catholic apologist’s bookshelf.Real View Books (www.grottopress.org) has reprinted Bossuet’s History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches. It can also be purchased at used book services.

Posted in Apologetic Library | No Comments »

August 10, 2006 by gmichuta.

Everytime I begin to research an apologetic topic, I bring up the same websites. To make things quicker, I developed a simple desktop page that has all my links together so I don’t have to search through my already over-crowded favorites bin. It’s at www.handsonapologetics.com/desktop.htm  and it is open for everyone to use.

If you have a favorite site that is either loaded with good apologetic info and/or is great it offers great searchability (if that’s a word), let me know and I’ll add it to the page.

 Serious Catholic apologists may want to bookmark this page on their computer or even make it their homepage. I did.

Posted in Scripture Study | No Comments »

August 3, 2006 by gmichuta.

For those who may never heard of Ghost Hunters, it is a reality program on the Sci-Fi Channel that features the exploits of TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) who investigates possible hauntings. I probably should predicate this article with a few comments. You shouldn’t believe everything you see on TV. The material has been shot, edited and reassembled so as to keep the viewers attention. This article is going to assume that what is seen on TV reflects essentially what had occurred. What’s important is the actual evidence and since TAPS name is one the line I think it would be fair to assume that is has not be tampered. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. The other point is a warning. TAPS frequently oversteps the boundary of simply gathering empirical evidence to engaging in spiritism. While waving their electro-megnetic meters and snapping pictures, the investigators often call out, “Is there someone here with us? Could you show us some sign of your presence?” This essentially spiritism which is forbidden by the Church and Scripture. Therefore, I want to make it clear that I am not recommending this program.

This being said, I do wish to make apologists aware of Ghost Hunters because it is doing something not normally seen in the popular media. They are trying to find evidence for non-material entities. If evidence is found, it may be a good tool to use against materialism. Materialism is a philosophy that believes that all of existence is matter. They deny the existence of God, angels and any other non-material entities. Ghost Hunters aims straight at the heart of their claims.

Unfortunately, TAPS investigations rarely rise to the level of scientific investigation. However, there is one episode that comes close. It is the investigation of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The lighthouse has no exits except at the bottom and at the top (which was chain locked). There is a spiral staircase that winds up the inside of the lighthouse. TAPS placed a IR camera at the bottom facing the top and they also carried IR cameras as the investigators climbed the stairway. As they climbed, they claimed to hear talking on the top (which was not caught on audio). They then noticed a shadowy figure a couple of flights on top of them looking at them. When TAPS moved up, it moved up. When TAPS neared the top of the stairs they were struck by a blinding light. The top of the lighthouse is guarded by motion sensor detectors. What’s interesting is that they caught two shots of this figure. The investigators claim that the camera has recorded exactly what they experienced. It is opaque and it is moving, but the motion sensor never triggers until the investigators come near.

What’s interesting to me is not so much the evidence itself, but the unscientific dogmatism of materialists who have viewed the program. While these materialists often see themselves as cold and calculating men (and women) of science, they categorically refuse to accept the evidence as evidence worthy of further investigation. Instead, they attack the veracity of the producers or concoct untenable theses to explain away the evidence. They point out that the investigators go beyond the evidence by claiming that this figure is a dead person, which is true. But what about the evidence? Something is opaque, moving and yet has evaded the motion detector and the investigators who blocked the only way out. Isn’t this worthy of investigation? Against one obstinate materialist I said, “Fine! The producers could have done something with the video, but assuming that they didn’t isn’t this worthy of real scientific investigation?” The materialist answered no.

The great apologist Arnold Lunn ran into the same problem when he was an atheistic materialist. He experienced something while visiting a medium that he couldn’t explain. Arnold told his materialist friends of science about his experience and expected them to call for some sort of scientific investigation. Their response? They told him that what he experienced couldn’t have happened because nothing exists outside of the material world. Lunn was thrown for a loop by the irrational response of these rationalist and the unscientific attitude of these men of science. Lunn attributes this experience as the first steps towards theism and eventually the Catholic Church.

Blind dogmatism is alive and well outside the Church. Christians have taken their lumps in regards to some reactions to science. Perhaps the time as come to wake up these self-styled scientific moderns that they are acting more like the high priests of modernism rather than objective scientific investigators. Instead of considering the evidence from Ghost Hunters, they rule, without a trial, that it is heresy.

Posted in Atheism / Materialism | 2 Comments »

July 31, 2006 by gmichuta.

I’ll be on Relevant Radio’s new show, Searching The Word, tomorrow August 1st at 1pm (Central). Chuck Neff and I will be exploring what it takes to explain and defend the Catholic Faith. If your local Catholic radio station carries the Relevant Radio Network, please tune in. It should be a lot of fun!

Posted in Being There | No Comments »

July 31, 2006 by gmichuta.

I’m back from the Defending the Faith Conference at Steubenville, Ohio. If you haven’t attended this conference, I highly recommend it especially if you are just starting Catholic apologetics.

I would like to give a special thank you to Rob Corzine of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. The St. Paul Center is doing remarkable work in promoting good, sound, and exciting material on Scripture. I highly recommend their site which includes online classes on Scripture and many other goodies. The address is www.salvationhistory.com. Check it out.

Posted in Scripture Study | 1 Comment »