I've read a few works of both Catholic apologetics and Protestant polemics against the Church, and while I haven't read every (or anywhere near most of) work out there from either side, what I have read has a distinct pattern. Both sides will appeal to the Bible in making their case. The Protestants will then appeal to each other with occasional citations of Saint Augustine, and sometimes will engage actual Catholic thinkers. Catholics will engage the Protestant thinkers with at least as much vigor, but then will point to actual ancient sources when explaining our beliefs--the Fathers of the Church--as well as other great authorities in the Church (the doctors, the other saints and mystics). This means that Catholic claims about Catholic doctrines can be traced, often directly to the time of the Apostles; Protestant claims cannot be so traced, and we are left with the impression that Protestant Polemicists do not trust the sincerity or honesty of any of the leaders of the early Church.
We are constantly told that so many of our Church's teachings (especially regarding Mary and the other saints) are merely "baptized paganism;" but upon actually reading the Church Fathers', we find references to Scripture and not to pagan deities, interpretation from Biblical passages and not a recommendation of Isis or Hera, appeals to the apostles and not to Diana or Athena. Simple charity on their part should mean taking the Fathers at face value, especially when those same fathers often gave their lives rather than compromising with the paganism (or heresies, for that matter) of their own times. Moreover, the inability to point to how (let alone when or through whom), exactly, paganism--as opposed to merely widespread but incorrect "personal interpretations" of Scripture (the Protestant cannot admit that these ubiquitous interpretation were correct!)--began to infiltrate the early Church leaves us with the assumption that the average Protestant Polemicist is arguing against a strawman.
Tags: Apologetics Short Philosophy Polemics
