The best Catholic apologist of our time?

Redbaron998 · #1 Jun 8, '11, 4:12 pm

I have heard many protestants think Dr. William Craig is the best apologist of our time. Whatever you may think about this it got me thinking about who is the best Catholic apologist of our time. (This is obviously about personal opinion)

This should include not only in apologetics with Protestants but also with non-Christians.

I can think of several great apologists such as:

Dr. Scott Hahn
Karl Keating (Dr?)
Jimmy Atkin (Dr?)
Patrick Madrid
and others...

So my question to you is who do you think is the best Catholic Apologist of our time? And who do you think is the Best Catholic apologist against atheists?

eddy714 · #2 Jun 8, '11, 4:24 pm

I don't know if he is the best apologist of all time but he is goood!!!.

His name is Micheal Voris he is the main guy of St. Micheal Media and he tells it like it is

and he is also very passionate about our faith.

If you guys haven't heard of him you guys can download his podcast in itunes

.

God Bless

InternetWoman · #3 Jun 8, '11, 4:32 pm

Dr. Scott Hahn get's my vote!! Amazing person, wonderful tapes and books.

Redbaron998 · #4 Jun 8, '11, 4:33 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddy714

I don't know if he is the best apologist of all time but he is goood!!!.
His name is Micheal Voris he is the main guy of St. Micheal Media and he tells it like it is
and he is also very passionate about our faith.
If you guys haven't heard of him you guys can download his podcast in itunes

.
God Bless

I like Micheal Vorris but I wouldnt say he is an Apologist, more a commentator. (Aka I dont see him getting into debates with non-Chrisitans)

Scoobyshme · #5 Jun 8, '11, 5:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbaron998

I have heard many protestants think Dr. William Craig is the best apologist of our time. Whatever you may think about this it got me thinking about who is the best Catholic apologist of our time. (This is obviously about personal opinion)

This should include not only in apologetics with Protestants but also with non-Christians.

I can think of several great apologists such as:

Dr. Scott Hahn
Karl Keating (Dr?)
Jimmy Atkin (Dr?)
Patrick Madrid
and others...

So my question to you is who do you think is the best Catholic Apologist of our time? And who do you think is the Best Catholic apologist against atheists?

I think Scott Hahn would take the prize in this group.

Not that the others aren't good. But Scott knows the Bible, hands down, and he has better oral skills.

nickybr38 · #6 Jun 8, '11, 5:29 pm

Scott Hahn is THE greatest Apologist of our time. I've heard him in discussions with non-Catholics and he talked circles around them. It was brilliant to hear. I do worry about his effectiveness though because he WAS going a bit over their heads (not deliberately I think).

PS: I wanted to add that I think Jimmy Akin might be a close second. When I gave up on Voris I started listening to some of Akin's stuff and so far I'm hugely impressed. He doesn't just know the Bible, he knows the GIRM quite well too!

jwinch2 · #7 Jun 8, '11, 5:35 pm

Father Robert Barron without a doubt. Hahn is great, Staples is great, and the rest of the names mentioned are good as well. I love them all and am happy to have them. However, Father Barron brings back the intellectual tradition of the Church in such a way that philosophy, theology, faith, and reason are all combined and we have not seen that in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXneEvcyfW0

nickybr38 · #8 Jun 8, '11, 5:37 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwinch2

Father Robert Barron without a doubt. Hahn is great, Staples is great, and the rest of the names mentioned are good as well. I love them all and am happy to have them. However, Father Barron brings back the intellectual tradition of the Church in such a way that philosophy, theology, faith, and reason are all combined and we have not seen that in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXneEvcyfW0

Oh! Thanks for the link.

I'm enjoying Akin but I wanted to find some more good apologists. I've heard pretty much everything of Hahn's that's free, and Kreeft and etc...

jwinch2 · #9 Jun 8, '11, 5:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickybr38

Oh! Thanks for the link.

I'm enjoying Akin but I wanted to find some more good apologists. I've heard pretty much everything of Hahn's that's free, and Kreeft and etc...

Fr. Barron has a ton of videos online and they are ALL excellent. I have spent hours and hours watching him. He has some where he goes back and forth with Dr. Hahn and they are also quite good.

Word on Fire's YouTube Channel

Word on Fire's Second YouTube Channel

I hope that you enjoy him!

Jason

Brywan · #10 Jun 8, '11, 6:05 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwinch2

Father Robert Barron without a doubt. Hahn is great, Staples is great, and the rest of the names mentioned are good as well. I love them all and am happy to have them. However, Father Barron brings back the intellectual tradition of the Church in such a way that philosophy, theology, faith, and reason are all combined and we have not seen that in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXneEvcyfW0

What I love about Fr. Barron is how he links Christianity to the present culture--not in an adversarial way, but in a way that is engaging and thought-provoking. Like St. Paul at Mars Hill? yes--very much like that.

We need to pray for his ministry, and for those like him who are preaching the gospel to this generation.....

JRRTFAN · #11 Jun 9, '11, 7:43 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwinch2

Father Robert Barron without a doubt. Hahn is great, Staples is great, and the rest of the names mentioned are good as well. I love them all and am happy to have them. However, Father Barron brings back the intellectual tradition of the Church in such a way that philosophy, theology, faith, and reason are all combined and we have not seen that in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXneEvcyfW0

Fr. Barron is A+, no doubt about that. With his academic and analytical talents he is nothing short of what we need to jump start the faith again in this country. Scott Hahn takes a different approach and, frankly, I think he's a better Scripture scholar than Fr. Barron. Fr. Barron, on the other hand, seems to me more rounded in his ability to articulate history and civilization. Check out their discussion on wordonfire.org, do a search for Hahn and Barron and treat yourself to an interesting discussion by these geniuses.

With 50 of these guys the Church could retake its place as a guide for society.

OscarsMama · #12 Jun 9, '11, 7:46 am

I like Jimmy Akin on Catholic Answers Live.

I like the way that he explains things and he really knows his stuff!!

Prophesy · #13 Jun 9, '11, 8:05 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwinch2

Father Robert Barron without a doubt. Hahn is great, Staples is great, and the rest of the names mentioned are good as well. I love them all and am happy to have them. However, Father Barron brings back the intellectual tradition of the Church in such a way that philosophy, theology, faith, and reason are all combined and we have not seen that in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXneEvcyfW0

I agree, he's definitely amazing. While he doesn't often debate, his apologetics in the Catholicism series is going to be amazing (quite potentially the greatest work of apologetics in the last few decades). It's just that we associate apologetics with struggle, but his calm demeanor in explaining things is definitely of apologetic nature.

-Prophesy

Irish_Polock · #14 Jun 8, '11, 6:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbaron998

I have heard many protestants think Dr. William Craig is the best apologist of our time. Whatever you may think about this it got me thinking about who is the best Catholic apologist of our time. (This is obviously about personal opinion)

This should include not only in apologetics with Protestants but also with non-Christians.

I can think of several great apologists such as:

Dr. Scott Hahn
Karl Keating (Dr?)
Jimmy Atkin (Dr?)
Patrick Madrid
and others...

So my question to you is who do you think is the best Catholic Apologist of our time? And who do you think is the Best Catholic apologist against atheists?

Dr. Robert Sungenis has always been a great apologist - from the more traditional approach. Christopher Ferrara is also a great apologist, although his forum tends to be written and not as "public" as many expect public debates to be.

Dr. Hahn and Mr. Madrid have been pretty good in the past also.

I am not aware that Mr. Keating is still doing public debates these days.

Windfish · #15 Jun 8, '11, 7:54 pm

To be honest, I think we have yet to see one that particularly stands out, and that is not at all a put down to current Catholic apologists. It is, however, an observation that there is not an apologist among them that really addresses the issues of our time with intellectual sophistication. They may be whizzes with the issues of a generation ago, but not with the issues of today. Moreover, the efforts of Catholic apologists are not happening in serious venues such as in universities.

That being said, I like that this Catholic movement, if it is a movement at all, is not on the radar of most people.