First Sunday of Advent (A)

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The Unknown Day and Hour   Lectionary: 1 Reading 1 -  Isaiah 2:1-5 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 122: 1-9 Reading 2 -  Romans 13:11-14 Alleluia -  Cf. Psalm 85:8 Gospel -  Matthew 24:37-44 '... Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.' Introduction  As we gather on this First Sunday of Advent , we also mark the beginning of the Church’s new liturgical calendar and a four-week preparation period leading up to Christmas. The word Advent comes from either of two Latin words, which simply mean “to come” (Ad-venire) or “to arrive” (Ad-ventus), and as early as the fourth (4th) century, Christians have had this special time of preparation towards Christmas. Of course, Advent is not merely a countdown to Christmas; Even as we begin the material preparations for the social celebration of Christmas, the liturgical celebrations of these weeks invite us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus. But what does the co...
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Review: Mere Apologetics: How To Help Seekers And Skeptics Find Faith

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Mere Apologetics: How To Help Seekers And Skeptics Find Faith Mere Apologetics: How To Help Seekers And Skeptics Find Faith by Alister E. McGrath

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Book: ****
Performance: ****

An Excellent Discussion About Christian Apologetics

This was a very accessible book on what apologetics is, and more importantly how and with whom apologetics can be used (ref: Ch 2 & 4). The fact that the author identifies limitations to apologetics when used by itself was a new take for me and was a welcome addition to the discussion (ref: Ch 1 & 3) where we look at the need to combine this with evangelism. After that we get more of the traditional aspects and arguments of apologetics without much new (Ch 5 & 6), and this is the primary reason I didn’t give this a perfect score. That means this is more useful when addressing folks that are already believers, or at the very least open to belief. Finally, Chapter 7 provides four (4) methods for applying apologetics that was very helpful before it ends with basic challenges (questions) to faith in chapter 8 that were, once again, fairly standard in addressing suffering etc. Overall it was a solid effort with chapters 2, 4, and 7 making the whole worth the effort.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

1. Getting Started (29:56)
2. Apologetics and Contemporary Culture (27:25)
3. The Theological Basis of Apologetics (34:13)
4. The Importance of the Audience (31:13)
5. The Reasonableness of the Christian Faith (44:45)
6. Pointers to Faith [8 Clues] (76:17)
7. [4] Gateways for Apologetics (67:00)
8. Questions about Faith [2 Case Studies] (49:42)
9. Conclusion (8:53)

#MereApologetics #AudiblePlus

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