CATHOLIC APOLOGISTS

This link provides a "Who's Who in Catholic apologetics" listing:

http://www.kenrickparish.com/gresham/apologetics/contemporary%20catholic%20apologists.htm#Who

MY FAVORITE APOLOGISTS

Tim Staples

"Tim Staples was raised in a Southern Baptist home in Virginia.  Although he somewhat fell away from serious faith during his adolescent years, the preaching of several TV evangelists motivated Tim to give his life to Christ at the age of 18.  Shortly thereafter Staples joined the Marine Corps to gain some much-needed discipline and get some help financing his college education.  During his tour of duty he had the opportunity to participate in several Protestant ministries and bible studies. Before long, Tim enrolled in the Jimmy Swaggart Bible College and with an eye towards becoming an youth minister for the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination.

However, during his final year in the Marines, Tim met a fellow soldier named Matt Dula who really challenged Tim to examine the Catholic Faith from a biblical and historical perspective. Tim's friendship with Matt sparked a two-year search for the truth.  Though Tim was determined to prove Catholicism wrong, he wound up studying and praying his way right into the Roman Catholic Church!"

continued at:

http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_author/46/Tim_Staples.html

 

Dr. Scott Hahn

Professor of Theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville

"Dr. Hahn received his BA in 1979 from Grove City College in Pennsylvania with a triple major of theology, philosophy, and economics (magna cum laude). He obtained his MDiv (summa cum laude) from Gordon-Conwell Seminary in 1982. In May 1995, he was awarded a PhD in systematic theology from Marquette University (Phi Beta Kappa). His dissertation was titled Kinship by Covenant: A Biblical Theological Analysis of Covenant Types and Texts in the Old and New Testaments.

Dr. Hahn is a former ordained Presbyterian minister with 10 years of ministry experience in congregations, and a former professor of theology at Chesapeake Theological Seminary. Dr. Hahn entered the Catholic Church at Easter 1986 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while his wife Kimberly entered at Easter 1990 in Joliet, Illinois. Since 1990, he has served as professor of theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Dr. Hahn founded and is currently the Executive Director of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a Christian research center and think tank committed to the promotion of biblical literacy among the Catholic laity and biblical fluency among Catholic clergy. Some of the projects include online and parish-based Bible studies, a book series, pilgrimages, and a scholarly journal, Letter and Spirit. He is also the founder and director of the Institute of Applied Biblical Studies...."

Continued at:

http://www.franciscan.edu/home2/Content/Presents/main.aspx?id=261

http://www.scotthahn.com/docview/view.phtml?doc=schedule/vbio.phtml&rdoc=Hahn%20Speaking%20Event%20Information&return=/speaking.phtml

His personal conversion story:

http://www.chnetwork.org/scotthconv.htm

My mom with Scott Hahn 2002/2003?  (saw him at one of his fabulous talks in a Catholic church in Millvale, PA)!  We were SO EXCITED to meet him (like celebrity!..."we met Scott Hahn!!!!")

Dave Armstrong

MY SHORT CONVERSION STORY

My Conversion Story in a Nutshell (+ Funny Baptism Trivia)
http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/05/my-conversion-story-in-nutshell-funny.html

150 Reasons Why I Am A Catholic (revised), by Dave Armstrong

http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ103.HTM
http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2005/09/150-reasons-why-i-am-catholic-revised.html

"Dave Armstrong was a Protestant campus missionary before he became a Catholic in 1991.  He is the author of A Biblical Defense of Catholicism and has written many articles on the Faith for Catholic periodicals"

 

Carl Olson

http://www.carl-olson.com/bio_faq.html

"Carl Olson is the editor of Envoy magazine.  He was raised in a Fundamentalist home and attended an Evangelical Bible college.  Carl entered the Catholic Church in 1997.  He has written for First Things, This Rock, Envoy, and the National Catholic register."

 

STEVE RAY

http://www.catholic-convert.com/Default.aspx?tabid=69

"Stephen K. Ray was raised in a devout, loving Baptist family.  His father was a deacon and led Bible studies.  Steve himself was very involved in the Baptist Church as a teacher of Biblical studies, and he lectured on a wide range of topics.  When a best friend, an Evangelical pastor, converted to the Catholic Church, Steve and his wife Janet decided to investigate the claims of the Catholic Church, taking a thrilling journey back in time that would eventually change their lives forever.  After hundreds of hours studying the Bible and the writings of the early Church, they were convinced that the Roman Catholic Church was the Church founded by Christ, and they were received into the Church on Pentecost Sunday in 1994."

 

 

 

MARCUS GRODI

http://www.chnetwork.org/marcusconv.htm

 

KARL KEATING

http://www.catholic.com/media/keating.asp

"Karl Keating is the director of Catholic Answers, a lay organization which explains and defends the beliefs, history and practices of the Catholic Church.  He engages in public debates with leading anti-Catholics, and edits Catholic Answers, a monthly journal of apologetics."

 

 

PATRICK MADRID

http://www.envoymagazine.com/EnvoyEncore/AuthorBio.asp?Author=Patrick%20Madrid&Action=Bio

 

"Patrick Madrid is a renowned apologist and founder of Envoy Magazine, the foremost Catholic journal of apologetics and evangelization.  He has written many books that explain and defend the Faith, including Surprised by Truth and Envoy for Christ"

 

 

Al Kresta

"Al Kresta is executive editor of the award-winning Catholic weekly newspaper Credo and general manager of the Ave Maria Radio Network.  An enthusiastic convert and veteran broadcaster, he has fielded numerous questions about the Catholic faith from callers on his nationally syndicated radio talk show, Kresta in the Afternoon.  He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife, Sally, and their five children.

http://www.avemariaradio.net/christian-radio-host.php/Al-Kresta/ (bio taken from)

 

Al Kresta is a broadcaster, journalist and author who is, first of all, a missionary. He draws upon his unique faith background to create what is, arguably, the most fascinating — and most spiritually constructive — talk show on radio today.

A 1976 honors graduate of Michigan State University, Al has also done graduate work in theology at both Catholic and Protestant seminaries. He became well known in the Detroit area for his program, Talk from the Heart, one of the top-rated Christian talk shows during the 1980s and 90s. When he began the program, Al was a Protestant pastor. The questions forced upon him as pastor, however, led him to return to the Catholic Church. His profound personal conversion to Christ and return to the Catholic Church is told in the best-selling anthology Surprised By Truth.

In 1997, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan recruited Al to launch the media apostolate, Ave Maria Communications.

Over the years Ave Maria Communications has included:

1. Credo, which became Michigan’s largest religious publication and the recipient of 18 merit awards from the Catholic Press Association;
2. Ave Maria Radio which produces a number of its own programs and features including Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo, Heart, Mind and Strength with Greg and Lisa Popcak, Food for the Journey with Sr. Ann Shields, as well as Kresta in the Afternoon;
3. The local radio stations WDEO (Detroit and Ann Arbor) and WMAX (Saginaw, Bay City and Midland).

Currently heard on more than 27 stations, Kresta in the Afternoon looks at all areas of life through the lens of Scripture and the teaching of the Catholic Church and takes on all comers. Over the years, Al has engaged in vigorous discussions or debates with nationally known figures from politics, the arts, the Church, academia and business such as Jack Kevorkian, Mother Angelica, Jesse Jackson, William Bennett, Gloria Steinem, Pat Buchanan, Michael Novak, Scott Hahn, Donna Shalala, Judge Robert Bork, Richard Gephardt, Jerry Falwell, George McGovern, Steve Allen, Bowie Kuhn, Mrs. Anwar Sadat, Martin Luther King III, Cal Thomas, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Avery Cardinal Dulles, Chuck Colson, Alan Dershowitz, Ken Starr, James Earl Ray, Mary Higgins Clark, C. Everett Koop and Ollie North.

Kresta's life and spiritual journey took on a new dimension in February 2003, when he lost his left leg to necrotizing fasciitis, a virulent infection often referred to as the "flesh-eating bacteria." His extended recovery and eventual return to broadcasting have given him new insights into the realities of suffering and hope.

He is also the author of Why Do Catholics Genuflect? And Answers to Other Puzzling Questions About the Catholic Faith published by Servant Books, as well as a contributor to Shaken by Scandals: Catholics Speak Out About Priests' Sexual Abuse also published by Servant Publications, and Loving Your Neighbor published by the Capital Research Foundation.

Al and his wife, Sally, have been married for 27 years and have been blessed with 5 children on earth and two in heaven.

 

http://weblog.theviewfromthecore.com/2004_11/ind_004346.html

Al Kresta’s story

 

 

 

 

Peter Kreeft

"Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., a Professor of Philosophy at Boston College is the best-selling author of over 25 books including Prayer for Beginners, Back to Virtue, A Refutation of Moral Relativism, Heaven the Heart of Deepest Longing, and Fundamentals of the Faith."

http://www.peterkreeft.com/home.htm

Peter Kreeft’s web site

 

 

http://www.catholic.com/seminars/moss.asp

 

Rosalind Moss is a staff apologist with Catholic Answers, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Catholic faith through all forms of media. She was born and raised in a Jewish home, and in her adult years embraced Jesus as the Messiah of the Jewish people. Her initial conversion took her from a 15-year business career as a successful executive with corporations in New York and California to full-time Evangelical ministry, earning a master's degree in Ministry from Talbot Theological Seminary. A series of events in the Summer of 1990 set her on a compelling course to find out if the Catholic Church is in fact the Church Christ established 2,000 years ago. After 18 years of Evangelical Protestantism, she entered the Catholic Church at Easter 1995.

Rosalind now travels the world speaking and teaching through conferences, parish missions, women's and family retreats, and all forms of media. She is the editor of Home at Last, 11 Who found their Way to the Catholic Church, which includes her own journey to the Church. In addition to her semi-monthly radio program, "From the Heart" on Catholic Answers Live, Rosalind co-hosts EWTN's "Household of Faith" and "Now That We're Catholic!" and is the host of the brand new series, Reasons for Our Hope: A Bible Study on the Gospel of Luke, airing presently on EWTN and available on DVD for individual, group and parish use together with the book by the same title available from Catholic Answers.