Catholic Answers LIVE

Questions Covered:

Joe – 06:03 – You were a huge impact on me and my journey from Calvinism to Catholicism. So thank you and never stop! Since converting, I’ve noticed when “Protestants argue like Atheists”, but I’ve also recently come to notice when “Protestants argue like Agnostics”. This usually happens when I bring up something in Scripture that denominations disagree on. The result is something like “Well, we can’t know for sure, so it’s best not to take a stance on it”, or “That’s not a main issue so I’m not going to judge anyone else for taking that stance, what’s important is that they have faith in Jesus.” Have you come across this, and how do you suggest furthing a conversation once it reaches that point? 
16:28 – Trent, I hope you are doing well today! I had a question. I was going over your “Arguing Against Abortion” course at the School of Apologetics, and I was kind of confused about something and wanted to get some clarity! In Section VI. of the course: Answering Arguments from “Hard Cases”, when rape is mentioned here there is a part where the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services speaks of being able to “Defend herself against potential conception from the sexual assault.” Is this saying that a sort of “contraception” can be used to help prevent conception or the fertilization of the egg, and if so, is this an exception and not a rule? Also, Have you found it harder to defend the Catholic church’s view on contraception after arguing this point? 
23:08 – What is a good, well rounded “elevator speech” for why be Catholic vs other Christian denominations? I’ve been trying to convert my non denominational brother and sister in law and every time I give them biblical proof or historical proof of their position being different than the early Christian’s – they don’t seem to care. 
28:18 – Hello Trent, please strictly consider the text of Mark’s Gospel Chapter 9, verse 1. If Jesus really said the words attributed to him, does that mean Jesus’ second coming is a failed prophesy? In other words, that it’s safe to say the second coming is a prediction that never came true. Thank you! 
32:08 – Hello Trent! Do you have any advice for a beginner apologist? Any advice on how to bring people to Christ through the intellectual side of Christianity, and do so with gentleness and respect? I know you do this very well, so I thought it would be worth asking. Thank you for all you do. 
35:47 – How can we get a secular person to agree that using sex for something other than “babies and bonding” is a bad thing without appealing to religion? Most secular people I talk to about sexually disordered acts believe that using sex for something other than it’s natural purposes is morally irrelevant, and I’m not sure how to convince them otherwise without bringing in theology. 
40:57 – Are nuclear weapons inherently evil? Do we as Catholics have a moral obligation to avoid working with or in companies that produce or manufacture nuclear weapons, or nuclear weapon support systems? Would you consider the proliferation of nuclear weapons a pro life topic like abortion? 
45:47 – In a psychology course, we had an online discussion board assignment where we were given this dilemma: A man’s wife is terminally ill, but there is one drug that will cure her. However, this drug is extremely expensive and they can’t afford it. Would it be morally wrong for the man to steal the drug? How would you apply Catholic moral teaching to this situation? Personally, I would not want to risk the state of my soul by doing something even potentially wrong – stealing the drug – to cure a loved one. I was surprised that almost all the students said that it would NOT be wro…