Daily Defense Podcast

DAY 366 CHALLENGE “This book doesn’t include my objection to the Faith!” DEFENSE A single book can only do so much. Therefore, let me recommend some more resources that may help. The Handbook of Catholic Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli: This is an excellent survey of the general evidences for the Christian faith, written by a pair of scholars who communicate in a manner easily accessible to all. Scaling the Secular City by J.P. Moreland: This was one of the first apologetic books I read when I began studying the field. Dr. Moreland is an outstanding scholar who carries ...

DAY 365 CHALLENGE “Why should I pay attention to the Bible at all? It’s an ancient book written by people of limited understanding. Besides, other religions have their own scriptures, too. Why are they any less important?” DEFENSE The Christian scriptures are unique and valuable. The mere fact that the books of the Bible were written a long time ago is no reason to look down on or dismiss them. To do so would be chrono-logical snobbery. Just because a person wrote before you doesn’t mean that person was wrong. If it did, we would have to dismiss all works written in the past, obliter...

DAY 364 CHALLENGE “As an atheist, I may not be able to prove God doesn’t exist, but I also can’t prove there isn’t, orbiting between Earth and Mars, a teapot too small to be detected by telescopes. If I don’t have to believe in the latter, I don’t have to believe in the former.” DEFENSE This argument is subject to a number of objections. First, it was originally proposed by the philosopher Bertrand Russell as an answer to believers who felt atheists have the burden of proof regarding the existence of God (see “Is There a God?” The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, vol. 11). From th...

DAY 363 CHALLENGE “There can’t be an ‘unbroken line’ of popes going back to Peter. Look at the vacancies between popes, and at the antipopes.” DEFENSE The “unbroken line” claim may be found in the writings of individual Catholics, but it is difficult to find it in any official Church documents. Nevertheless, it expresses a truth: There is a line of popes (bishops of Rome) that we can trace in historical succession, going back to Peter. The statement that it is unbroken must be understood in the sense that those who make the claim intend, otherwise a straw man will result. This means ...

DAY 362 CHALLENGE “Why can’t there be a multiplicity of gods?” DEFENSE The answer depends on what you mean by “gods.” In classical paganism, the gods people typically worshipped were not infinite, eternal beings. Instead, they were understood to be superhuman but finite beings who came into existence at some point. (Thus Osiris’s father was Geb, Zeus’s father was Chronos, Thor’s father was Odin.) It is possible for there to be multiple superhuman beings. That could be the case even in the natural world. There might be creatures in the physical universe who are more intelligent, more po...