So Robert has now become a catholic 'apologist'.
See: HERE
No doubt he means a catholic apologetic but let's not get in between Robert and common sense or good grammar.
I decided to go to that font of all knowledge - the internet and found:
Askacatholic.com
In Askacatholic.com I found a stream where the difference between apologetics and apologies is explained by some guy named Mike.
Hi Carmen,
Catholic Apologetics is the science of explaining the Catholic Faith in a rational and reasonable manner with love and patience.
The term Apologetics comes from the Greek word, apologia (απολογία), meaning:
a speaking in defense of a teaching, or
a presentation or defense for what one believes.
Many are confused by this word because in common English language it implies or suggests something different:
An apology is a justifiable or unjustifiable excuse for doing something wrong.
This different definition is not being used here. Good Catholics are never sorry for being Catholic, rather they feel blessed to be Catholic.
In the Catholic Church, the word apology takes on a secondary meaning:
the science of explaining the Catholic Faith in a rational and reasonable manner with love and patience.
Examples you will see:
The Apology of Justin Martyr.
Here St. Justin Martyr is giving his defense of the Catholic faith on a certain topic in the form of a talk or speech.
Note in both definitions whether:
one is referring to an apology in the sense of apologizing for something they did wrong or
in the sense of giving a [talk/speech] in defense of what one believes
one is giving reasons or a defense in both definitions.
Hope this helps,
Mike
No doubt I'll be able to contact Mike in the future when I need to interpret what Robert is saying in his new 'apologetic' role.
If the past is anything to go by though I suspect it'll be a lot of 'same old' with Robert banging on about the holy ghost, mass, Richard's sinning and how I and others who were educated by nuns, brothers,
If we can revisit that explanation by Mike, above though we can see a few holes in it:
"Catholic Apologetics is the science of explaining the Catholic Faith in a rational and reasonable manner" Really? Do I really need to critique this? It seems to be self-evident in its nonsense.
"An apology is a justifiable or unjustifiable excuse for doing something wrong." - Well yes, and this is an argument for saying that Robert may be right in calling himself an apologist rather than an apologetic.
"Good Catholics are never sorry for being Catholic, rather they feel blessed to be Catholic." - a possible definition of arrogance.
"Now what do I do?"
ReplyDeleteThat plaintive cry from Robert can be read two ways:
1. He's asking what can he do now that he's been rumbled or,
2. He's kind of suggesting that, that's what he does anyway.
OK. Either way he might think that he's .... "explaining the Catholic Faith in a rational and reasonable manner with love and patience" but what he fails to see is that this is a paradox with the odd oxymoron thrown in for good measure.
But then .... that's catholicism for you.