Apologetics in the “Age of Cancelation”, by David G Bonagura, Jr.

By David G Bonagura, Jr., The Catholic Thing, Feb. 25, 2021

David G. Bonagura Jr. teaches at St. Joseph’s Seminary, New York. He is the author of Steadfast in Faith: Catholicism and the Challenges of Secularism (Cluny Media).

Note: Robert Royal will be joining Fr. Gerald Murray and Raymond Arroyo – the Papal Posse – on EWTN’s The World Over at 8 PM ET tonight to discuss recent developments in Rome and America. Consult your local listing for times and rebroadcasts. Shows are also available shortly after broadcast via the EWTN YouTube channel.

In 2004, as a precursor to his important book A History of Apologetics, Cardinal Avery Dulles – one of the great American theologians of the 20^th century – called for a rebirth of “apologetics.” Though its specific forms have changed over the centuries, the purpose of apologetics (a technical theological term in Catholicism) has remained constant: to convince those without faith that it is reasonable to believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Due to increasing skepticism and secularism, Dulles proposed that contemporary apologetics should prioritize the personal testimony, or witness, of the apologist over the content of his arguments. This testimony, Dulles continues, is best supported by the personalist philosophy expounded by Pope St. John Paul II. By focusing “on the aspirations of the human heart for communion with the divine,” apologists can more effectively persuade “readers who suffer from the anonymity of contemporary collectivism or the isolation of contemporary individualism.”  …