Hi Fred, sorry for the delayed welcome.

[quote:3r7vpya9]My current endeavor has been to study the Bible closely and learn why there are so many interpretations of it and why the Christian family has split so. This as lead me to a whole new understanding of the Bible, Christianity, Catholicism, and why I am and forever will be Roman Catholic. [/quote:3r7vpya9]
This was one of the catalysts for my faith. Studying the Bible was very important to me since so often it is used as a weapon against us.

I’ll admit, I don’t quite have it memorized like I used to, but at one time I was be able to sling verses around just as good as the Evangelicals. ” title=”Wink” />

[quote:8nzwor7h]I hope someday to be wise enough to be an Apologist and help to more correctly and accurately explain and defend our faith![/quote:8nzwor7h]
Every apologist begins his career by loving the Lord, studying the Word, and living the Faith.

Then some time later He decides to toss you into the lion’s den. ” title=”Wink” />

[quote:3ld7x0kq]After reading many apologetic books and articles I can see what you mean by “the lion’s den”. lol People do like to take shots![/quote:3ld7x0kq]
What got me fired up about my faith (and ultimately led to this website) was being thrown into the lion’s den with no experience.

I was at a friend’s housewarming party and it consisted of many Evangelicals and former Catholics. At one point someone turned to me and asked me about my religion and it became this huge 7 on 1 ordeal (with me being the 1). I was only 18 years old too! The best knowledge I had was from my Confirmation classes and other faith formation. That’s when I started my “Catholic rampage” (as another of my friends called it) and here I am today (with this website and being a youth minister). ” title=”Wink” />

Mine started on a Christian roleplaying website where I was the only Catholic (and I was only Catholic by baptism, not by practice at the time). Fortunately, everyone was nice and most had Catholic family members. I was asked a few questions about Catholicism that I had no idea about so I went to Mary Immaculate Catholic Bookstore and found the answers in a few apologetics books. I fell in love with those books.

Rural Georgia? Have you ever listened to John Martignoni of the Bible Christian Society[/url:1ftb5e09]? His ministry is in Birmingham, AL. He has six free tapes at his website and every one of them is great. I really enjoy his method of apologetics – very friendly, very basic, good for starters.

another great resource for in-depth apologetics and biblical support of Catholic doctrines is Dave Armstrong’s site (to which I would post the link, but the site appears to be down).

Shortly after my 7 on 1 experience I called my old youth minister back home (I had just left for college a few months before) and he referred me to that site as well as a few others. Then he sent me some books too – Rome Sweet Home and Suprised by Truth.

I have Theology for Beginners by Mr. Sheed. Love that man.

Dave Armstrong’s website is BiblicalCatholic.com I hope you like long articles (Dave loves to write until the job is done, either demolishing an argument entirely or presenting an unassaultable argument). Personally, I love Dave’s work. I read his weblog every day (which usually takes about an hour thanks to how much he writes).

The books I bought were:

[u:2555cmhd]Nuts and Bolts [/u:2555cmhd]by Tim Staples. With only a few minor gripes learned through much use of the text, it is an awesome book.

[u:2555cmhd]Beginning Apologetics [/u:2555cmhd]by Fr. Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham. Cheap, well organized, and excellent primers on a number of topics. I have all 8.

[u:2555cmhd]Why is that in Tradition?[/u:2555cmhd] by Patrick Madrid. Not exactly what I had hoped for (I wanted an explanation for why it was Tradition; instead, this was Where is that in Tradition) but I was not disappointed. After a quick overview of Tradition, Mr. Madrid gives several quotations from Fathers throughout the early Church period (1st to 8th centuries) on such topics as the Holy Trinity, the Eucharist, purgatory, Mary, the numbering of the Ten Commandments, and more.

I also have a few other books but they escape me at the moment.

For quick, general tracts covering a number of topics, there is always Catholic Answers at Catholic.com I have over a dozen apologetics links in my bookmarks but Catholic.com finds the most use. Dave Armstrong is great for study, not so great for a quick reference check. I suggest taking notes. ” title=”Smile” />