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APOLOGETICS 101SURPRISED BY TRUTHPrepared by Fr. John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D.RCSpirituality.orgProduced by Coronationcoronationmedia.com
OVERVIEWAPOLOGETICS 101SUMMARYThe word “apologetics” has a technical meaning. Itrefers to explaining the Catholic faith to those who disagreewith it or don’t understand it. The term comes from theGreek word “apologia”, which means explanation. Inthis use of the term, we are not talking about making anapology for some kind of offense or mistake, but ratherexplaining why the Catholic faith is true, reasonable, andredemptive. All mature Catholics needs to be able to dothis in order to fulfill their mission as witnesses of Christand missionaries in the world.This Study Circle Guide simply enables you to utilizefor small group study a series of books containingtestimonies of a wide variety of people who convertedto the Catholic faith. These people come from differentbackgrounds: Protestant, Jewish, Orthodox, Mormon,fallen-away Catholic, etc. Each chapter of these bookscontains a personal narration of how the person madehis or her way into (or back into) the Catholic Church.The series of books is called Surprised by Truth andis edited by one of our generation’s great apologists,Patrick Madrid.There are two ways to study apologetics, eitherargument by argument or through real-life casestudies. The Surprised by Truth series offers apowerful opportunity for the second way, which wehighly recommend because of its existential weight.Understanding the path taken by real converts toCatholicism equips you to help others take that pathmuch more effectively than simply understandingabstract arguments divorced from real personaljourneys.CATEGORIES OF INTERESTCatholic Doctrine; Apologetics; Apostolatethird volume contains 10. Each of those chapters couldeasily serve as the raw material for one session (whichwould make a total of 36 sessions). You could workthrough one volume at a time or also intersperse oneof these sessions among other group studies you aredoing (e.g. having an Apologetics 101 session everymonth). You could also preview the chapters anddecide which of them would be most useful for yourgroup, and limit your study to that number of sessions.MATERIALS NEEDED The study questions provided by this Study CircleGuide. Copies of the relevant volumes or the relevantchapters for each participant. These can be foundon Amazon.com or on Patrick Madrid’s website.WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?Anyone interested in the topics or in need of moreknowledge to be able to defend the Catholic faith againstcritics.HOW MUCH HOMEWORK?This depends on how you decide to arrange your study.We recommend either of two basic approaches.1. Have every participant read each chapter andanswer the study questions before your meeting.Then use the meeting time to share and discussyour answers, one by one. If this method is chosen,here are the recommended study questions thateach participant should answer while reading andstudying each chapter: RECOMMENDED NUMBER OF SESSIONSThere are three volumes in the Surprised by Truthseries. The first volume contains 11 chapters/testimonies, the second volume contains 15, and theRCSPIRITUALITY.ORG : STUDY CIRCLE GUIDEApologetics 101: Surprised by TruthWhat prejudices against Catholicism did theauthor of this chapter have before converting?Where did those prejudices come from? Doyou know or have you known anyone who hassimilar prejudices?OverviewPAGE 1
What was the first turning point in the author’sjourney? In other words, what first opened thatperson up to hearing the truth of the Catholicfaith and why? How does that experienceresonate with your own faith-journey? What were two other major turning pointsalong the way, and why were they so impactful? What factors slowed down the author’sconversion and why? In other words, whatinfluences worked against the movement ofgrace in this person’s life? What sacrifices did the author have to make inorder to be faithful to how God was acting inhis or her life? Where did the author find thestrength for those sacrifices? What rational argument (logical, biblical,historical ) that helped this person along theirjourney would you like to remember in orderto be able to use it in future conversations? What aspects of the author’s journey surprisedyou the most, and why? What aspects of the author’s journey could youmost easily identify with, and why? What lesson do you think God is trying toteach you personally through the experience ofthe author? What are you going to do this week as a resultof what you learned through studying thistestimony? Introduce your summary and evaluation bytelling the group the three main points youwould like to make. Go through whichever of the above-mentionedquestions you find most relevant to thisauthor’s journey in light of the interests andneeds of your Study Circle. Open up the session for questions andobservations from the other participants.NOTES2. Assign one chapter to each participant. Eachparticipant only reads and studies the chapterassigned, preparing a summary and evaluation forthe group. When the group meets for the StudyCircle, one participant presents his or her summaryand evaluation and then fields questions and directsthe group discussion on the chapter. If this optionis chosen, here are some additional recommendedquestions to address during the preparation anddiscussion: Briefly outline the journey narrated in thechapter.RCSPIRITUALITY.ORG : STUDY CIRCLE GUIDEApologetics 101: Surprised by TruthOverviewPAGE 2
QUESTIONSFOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION1. What prejudices against Catholicism did the authorof this chapter have before converting? Where didthose prejudices come from? Do you know or haveyou known anyone who has similar prejudices?2. What was the first turning point in the author’sjourney? In other words, what first opened thatperson up to hearing the truth of the Catholic faithand why? How does that experience resonate withyour own faith-journey?3. What were two other major turning points alongthe way, and why were they so impactful?4. What factors slowed down the author’s conversionand why? In other words, what influences workedagainst the movement of grace in this person’s life?5. What sacrifices did the author have to make inorder to be faithful to how God was acting in his orher life? Where did the author find the strength forthose sacrifices?6. What rational argument (logical, biblical,historical ) that helped this person along theirjourney would you like to remember in order to beable to use it in future conversations?7. What aspects of the author’s journey surprised youthe most, and why?8. What aspects of the author’s journey could youmost easily identify with, and why?9. What lesson do you think God is trying to teachyou personally through the experience of theauthor?10. What are you going to do this week as a result ofwhat you learned through studying this testimony?NOTESRCSPIRITUALITY.ORG : STUDY CIRCLE GUIDEApologetics 101: Surprised by TruthQUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSIONPAGE 3
QUESTIONSFOR INDIVIDUAL PRESENTER1. Briefly outline the journey narrated in the chapter.2. Introduce your summary and evaluation by telling thegroup the three main points you would like to make.3. Go through whichever of the above-mentionedquestions you find most relevant to this author’sjourney in light of the interests and needs of yourStudy Circle.4. Open up the session for questions and observationsfrom the other participants.NOTESRCSPIRITUALITY.ORG : STUDY CIRCLE GUIDEApologetics 101: Surprised by TruthQUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL PRESENTERPAGE 4
CONTACT USPlease visit our website, RCSpirituality.org for moreStudy Guides and other spiritual resources.If you liked this Study Guide on Apologetics 101:Surprised by Truth, please help sponsor future StudyCircle Guides by making a donation atRCSpirituality.org.Follow us on Facebook.facebook.com/RCSpiritualityStudy Circle Guides are a service of RegnumChristi and the Legionaries of Christ.RegnumChristi.org & LegionofChrist.orgProduced by Coronation. CoronationMedia.comRCSPIRITUALITY.ORG : STUDY CIRCLE GUIDEApologetics 101: Surprised by TruthQUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL PRESENTERPAGE 5
RCSPIRITUALITY.ORG : STUDY CIRCLE GUIDE Apologetics 101: Surprised by Truth OVERVIEW APOLOGETICS 101 SUMMARY The word “apologetics” has a technical meaning. It refers to explaining the Catholic faith to those who disagree with it or don’t understand it. The term comes fr
