The Challenge: A Year In Review (2018)

Thanks to my parent, I have always believed in God and that Christianity was the way to correctly understand true spirituality and proper theology. When I entered University in South Africa learning Science and encountering a variety of perspectives and series of worldviews collusion with mine, that is when I felt the need to know and to understand better the evidences for Christianity. The result was quite unexpected and gratifying. That is when I fell in love with Apologetic, this is how I became interested in Christian apologetic and various theological themes.

In the same vein, I have always been a Catholic Christian for as long as I can remember and I have always lived in relative peace with my protestant brothers in the Lord save for some turbulent episodes throughout the past 3 decades where I have been placed in uncomfortable position to explain and defend some aspects of the Catholic faith here and there. But usually these 'hot seat' encounters were sporadic but never as gruesome as it could have been if my inquisitors would have wanted to make it unbearable. I need to point out though that the recurrence and onslaught against some aspects of my Catholic faith  had been growing in intensity and frequency since I returned from my studies to Rwanda. Despite the recurrent intellectual confrontation, which I always welcomed with cheerfulness over the years, I have always operated with the motto, 'Live and Let live' until December 2017.

As is the custom, during major feasts of the Church someone will come up with a good humor and provocative questions or statements against the Catholic Church. I would then go into defense mode trying to explain the ins and outs of it and my interlocutors would then hit back with counter-arguments which will elicit a response from me and then back to them and so on. I was already used to this comical ritual always done out of fraternal concern from their part. December 2017 was shaping up to be the usual re-enactment for the pros and cons about Catholicism with the usual indictment: 'December 25 is a pagan feast' or 'The Christmas Tree is pure idolatry', etc. As expected the usual suspect showed up and led to a series of dialogue with arguments and counter arguments from each sides. But what was not expected though was The Challenge.

I was not expected to be challenged to a formal debate about these issues surrounding the Christmas themes. Since I do not shy away from some good Socratic dialogue about my faith, I gave my consent. Unfortunately the debate never occurred. But inadvertently something else, something good, came out of it. From the moment I was challenged for that formal debate, I took every single free time I could find to educate myself about the subject that would have been part of the debate. I watched videos, I read articles and one thing led to another and by the time it became clear that the debate would never occur I was already 'hooked' by my research. I found myself sinking deep and deep in my research and drifting from the precise aspect of the Christmas related topic to a broaden world of Catholic history first and then Catholic apologetic. I found myself falling deeply in love with my Christian Catholic faith.

I think I owed this short explanation to my family and friends who have been wondering what happened to me last year (2018) as most of my social media posts, messaging and debates were structured around Catholicism. It is not that I became Catholic in 2018 nor that I started believing deeply about the Christian Catholic faith on that year, rather as my earlier encounter with Christian apologetic, it is the year that I wanted to understand best about the evidences under-girding my Catholic faith due to the incessant and increased frequency on the attacks to which I had been subjected to for the past recent years.

The research into the primitive Christian Church beliefs and practices was gratifying and I feel that many people would certainly enjoy any of the literature that I have been exposed to throughout the year. Allow me to share some selection of books that I have read and found eye-opening about the Christian Catholic faith during the year 2018. I can't list all that the documentation that I came across throughout the year but this list is pretty much a good representation of what was covered in one way or another in other documentations that I had access to. I am only listing those books that I found outstanding:

1. 'Four Witness: The Early Church in Her Own Words' by Rod Bennet

2. 'The Apostasy That Wasn't: The Extraordinary Story of the Unbreakable Early Church' by Rod Bennet

3. 'Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical Church' by Steve Ray

4. 'Upon this Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church' by Steve Ray

5. 'The Protestant's Dilemma: How the Reformation's Shocking Consequences Point to the Truth of Catholicism' by Devin Rose 

6. 'The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ' by Brant Pitre 

7. 'Jesus and the Jewish Root of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper' by Brant Pitre 

8. 'Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah' by Brant Pitre

9. 'Jesus and the Last Supper' by Brant Pitre 

10. 'Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger: The Untold Story of the Lost Books of the Protestant Bible' by Gary G. Michuta

Special mention to an non-Catholic book that I read but which inadvertently also bolstered some fascinating historical aspects about the Catholic tradition:

'The Son Rises: Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus' by William Lane Craig

As I reflect about the year 2018, I can't help but be grateful for all those who have helped me think critically about my Christian faith once more and who by their incessant intellectual engagement pushed me to embark in this beautiful exploration of the origin of Christianity. It has made my faith even more alive than before and has even heighten my spiritual sensibilities on a day to day basis.

The Holy Catholic Church mandate seems to operate as the oracle given to the Jewish Prophet Jeremiah:

"Behold! I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." - Jeremiah 1:10 MKJV  

Some evidences uncovered have re-affirmed my faith and why I should still be a Catholic Christians (and hopefully everybody else too) and some other evidences have brought to the fore-front the reality that it is not always easy to learn something new regardless of the amount of evidences unless one is also open to unlearn some other prior views and relinquish some tightly held commitments. This later part was rather easy for me since I was already Catholic but I found it taking its toll on non-catholic who started considering the evidences and arguments being advanced for the Catholic christian faith. This reminds me of an excellent remarks by the beloved Christian apologist, Ravi Zacharias, which I paraphrase as, "An opinion is what you can change without changing who you are, but a conviction is that which if you change, you will have to change who you are." This brilliant distinction between an opinion and a conviction might explain what happens when a protestant Christian changes a denomination within Protestantism (change of opinion) with them moving from Protestantism to enter into full communion with the Church that the Lord Jesus Christ caused into existence, the Catholic Church (change of conviction).

For good or bad, this is the current state of affair with many considering Catholicism around the world. I can only wish them well and I will join the Church in praying for all separated brethren to one day find enough courage, good reason and good sense to come back Rome Home.

Happy New Year 2019 and my best wishes to all as we continue to serve the Lord Jesus with an unalterable love and with full commitment to the growth of His Kingdom here on earth.