Tip for Aspiring Apologists

I have some advice for people who want to do apologetics.  First, I must ask a question.  How long have you been a member of your religion?  If it’s not five years, then I firmly believe that you shouldn’t be an apologist.  Five years from when you may ask?  Five years from the day you were formally received in is the answer.

At this point, if someone is new to the Catholic faith, he shouldn’t try to argue non-Catholics into the faith.  Apologetics takes spiritual maturity.  We may think we’re smart when we convert but believe me, we’re not that smart.  If you’re a new Catholic, you should be praying the rosary every day, going to mass at least once a week, preferably more, studying the lives of the Saints and reading the Scriptures.

If someone comes up to you and is interested in the faith, then you can always invite them to church or refer them to an apologist or someone who knows more.  I think spiritual maturity is very important and it takes a lot of time and prayer.  Also, I should mention that not everyone is spiritually mature enough after five years.  However, I would say that five years is the minimum.

Now, there are some caveats to this.  Let me give you an example.  William Lane Craig is an Evangelical who debates atheists and Muslims.  If he were to convert to Catholicism tomorrow I do believe it would be okay for him to continue his apologetics work against Muslims and atheists.  However at the same time I would put the five year marker up for debating Protestants on their theology.

Now, a lot of people I know and respect disagree with me on this.  In fact, I can think of apologists that I myself admire who didn’t follow this rule.  Still, I think this should be encouraged to weed out a lot of people who are doing apologetics that shouldn’t.

Christianity doesn’t suffer from a lack of apologists.  It suffers from a lack of holiness.  We have people going around being prideful and arrogant when they haven’t learned humility.  Grow as a Christian once you convert and don’t make debating others your primary goal.  If God calls you to apologetics down the road then that is His choice.  However, if you’ve been a formal member of your faith for less than five years, I highly doubt you’re being called to do it.