By this point of the conversation, you’re talking about faith and religion—you’re learning about the person’s faith background and beliefs. Maybe you’ve also shared a bit about your own. Now you’re at the part of the conversation where you can transition to proclaiming the Gospel. You’ve listened and befriended, and now you can proclaim and invite, using “One Good Reason.”
This is where you can ask the person to consider your point of view: “Can I give you one good reason why I choose to be Catholic?—or “why I believe in God?” Or “why I believe that Jesus is Lord?” Note that the phrasing there is important. You want to say “Can I give you one good reason why I choose to be Catholic,”—or “believe in God,” or “believe Jesus is Lord,”—as opposed to saying, “Can I give you one good reason why you should be Catholic” (or “believe in God” or “believe Jesus is Lord”)? The reason is, first of all, nobody likes to be told what they should do. Secondly, nobody can argue with your personal experience. They can’t say, ‘That’s not why you do that.’
When you ask someone if you can give them one good reason, nine times out of ten people are going to answer ‘yes.’ When they do, our responses need to be meaningful, truthful, and compelling.
First, meaningful: We have to tailor our reason to the person with whom we’re speaking. Obviously, if you are speaking to a Muslim, there’s usually no point in giving one good reason why God exists; and if you’re speaking to a practicing Buddhist, there’s probably no need to give a good reason to be kind to others. If you’re speaking to a Protestant, it makes little sense to share one good reason to believe that Jesus is Lord; and if you’re speaking to an atheist, giving one good reason that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist also might not make much sense.
But then again, it might. What’s meaningful to the person before you depends on the person before you, and the circumstances of the conversation. That’s why it’s important to listen to him, not accept a label for a story, and let the conversation develop naturally. For example, you might give one good reason that God exists to a Muslim if you discover that this Muslim has difficulty seeing the role reason can play in our faith in God. Or you might give one good reason to be kind to others to a Buddhist if you discover that this Buddhist doesn’t follow his own religion, but justifies anger and hatred against specific groups of people. Or you might give one good reason to believe that Jesus is Lord to a Protestant if you perceive that their faith is weak or that they could use encouragement in Christ.[1] Or you might share one good reason that Jesus is present in the Eucharist to an atheist if you perceive that this truth of the faith could be more effective in drawing the atheist towards God than arguments for God’s existence. In any case, whatever the circumstances and whoever he or she is, let your one good reason be meaningful to the person before you.
Second, truthful: Don’t base your reasons on falsehoods or factual errors. For example, many Catholics have picked up on a popular idea that there are about 33,000 Protestant denominations. They use the idea when talking with Protestants about the dangers of the doctrine of Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura). But the fact is, that number is false. It’s based on a misreading of the data contained in the World Christian Encyclopedia.[2] In fact, there are thousands of independent Protestant denominations—still an embarrassing fact for “Bible Alone” Christians—but not 33,000. When studying apologetics to develop your good reasons, have a critical mind; if something seems questionable, or even if it doesn’t seem questionable but is crucial to your argument, check your sources. Also, being truthful means not exaggerating elements of your testimony in order to surprise people into believing you. Keep it real, and be honest.
Third, let your one good reason be compelling: that means that your reason has some force behind it—it has the potential to move and even change minds. In other words, it really is a “good reason.” To make sure that your reasons are compelling, you need to spend time thinking about them, studying them, preparing them, and discussing them with others. Figure out what are the most likely objections to your arguments and examine these as well, coming up with responses. Become deeply familiar with your reasons and make them your own. The following lessons in this One Good Reason video module are good sources to help you do this.[3]
After you give your one good reason, you want to take stock of the situation and see if what you said made an impact; and so you ask more questions: “Does that make sense?” “What do you think about that?” “Any thoughts?” You should be prepared to carry on the conversation—responding to clarifying questions and objections, yes; but also willing to move on to other subjects if your “one good reason” does not get the traction that you had hoped it would.
The overall goal of this method is to invite people to change the way they look at something, whether it be God, Jesus, prayer, the Mass, etc. Whatever the issue may be, your goal is to help pave a way forward for a person towards Christian discipleship—with kindness and divine charity.
Example Dialogue: Proclaim & Invite
Now let’s continue with an example of these last stages of a conversation, picking up from roughly where we left off in the last section of this lesson (in the video portion of this lesson segment, Mark and Bob pick up from where they left off):
Tiger’s Fan: … I figure since, as I’ve heard, the bible wasn’t written until way after the fact, that Jesus probably didn’t rise from the dead. Christians a hundred years later could have made all that up.
Catholic Evangelist: Yeah! I’ve heard that line of thinking. But I don’t think that that is accurate. Where did you learn it?
TF: From what I’ve heard, that’s what the historians are saying. … Anyway, I can’t see someone rising from the dead and healing cripples anyway. It’s just not what we see around us in the world.
CE: I’ve been a Catholic all my life, but I have had times where I’ve struggled with doubt. And so I did some study into the matter of Christ’s resurrection, and as a result, my faith has gotten even stronger.
TF: Oh yeah? Well, I don’t know. … Everybody has their own opinion!
CE: Well that’s true—but there are facts to consider. Can I give you one good reason why I think that Jesus rose from the dead?
TF: [smiles] … Alright, you got me! Go ahead.
CE: Thanks! … So, here’s my reason: Because the gospels are actually reliable, biographical accounts of the life of Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, there are many scholars that challenge it like you suggest, but many others who maintain that they are reliable. But my point is not to say simply that “scholars disagree,” but to point out that, when you look at the actual arguments they bring to bear in making their cases, then you see that the main Christian claims, like that Jesus rose from the dead, are more than plausible, they are actually more probable than the alternatives—even from an historical perspective. Even unbelieving scholars are convinced, on historical grounds, that Jesus was crucified, that an empty tomb was discovered, that his disciples believed that they had seen him risen, and that they were willing to die rather than deny what they had seen. That’s the basic overview, but I can recommend some sources for you, if you’ll hear them.
TF: That’s interesting. But I don’t know. …
CE: What do you mean?
TF: Well, if you have to do all kinds of study to figure out whether or not the gospels are accurate … Why didn’t God just make it clear for us?
CE: I can’t claim to know all of God’s reasons, but I do think that at least part of the explanation is that He wants us to seek and find Him, so that we can learn to love Him. Plus, even if He made Himself obvious to everybody, I don’t think that would automatically lead everybody to believe in Him in the way He desires — with trusting love. There is a passage in the Gospel where Jesus says that “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”[4] And “If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?”[5] There’s something deeper going on than just historical evidence. It’s about whether or not we’re prepared to love and serve our Creator. Does that make sense to you?
TF: Yeah, I think so. [looks very thoughtful]
CE: [Going on a hunch] Was there a time that you can say that you did believe in Christ?
TF: Yeah there was.
CE: … Do you still believe in Him?
TF: … Maybe I still do.
CE: Can you tell me more about that?
TF: Well … [tells the story of his childhood faith, and disappointment that led to doubt of God]
CE: That’s a beautiful faith that you had! You know, it can be that way again! You can know and trust in a Good Father in heaven. Except now you can have the mature faith of an adult, not of a child. A faith that will not buckle under the stress of life. I had to go through a similar transition myself.
TF: What happened?
CE: [Tells his story]
TF: Thank you for sharing that. [looks very thoughtful]
CE: Roger, you’ve said that “maybe” you still believe. Let’s imagine, hypothetically, that you were going to move from “maybe believing” to “believing.” What would you need to make that transition?
TF: I still have lots of questions—For example: your argument was intriguing, but I’m still not sure about the reliability of the gospels. I’d like to learn more about that. I have other questions, too. … So I guess I have some studying to do.
CE: Would you like me to help you with any of that? And we can watch some Tigers’ games together, too, if you’d like.
TF: Yeah! I’d like that.
CE: But can I ask you to take one other step?
TF: What’s that?
CE: Would you consider praying?
TF: I suppose so.
CE: Good! I’d encourage you to ask God that if He exists and is good, that He will make Himself known to you. Ask Him during the studies you do, and in your life in other ways. This is important because Christians believe in a Living God, who cares about us. We don’t approach Him simply by academic study.
TF: Yes.
CE: Will you pray that way? Can we do it together right now?
TF: Yes. I think that would be good.
[Francis & Roger pray together for God to make Himself known to Roger. They exchange contact info, and Francis shares some book titles with Roger. They meet to watch a game the following week, and they discuss the reliability of the Gospels together afterward, and at the end of that conversation, they pray together.]
[1] Or it could serve the need of building common ground and befriending the Protestant.
[2] See Eric Scott Alt, “We Need to Stop Saying That There Are 33,000 Protestant Denominations,” National Catholic Register website, <https://www.ncregister.com/blog/scottericalt/we-need-to-stop-saying-that-there-are-33000-protestant-denominations>.
[3] Other reliable sources for Catholic apologetics, such as Catholic Answers, will also be very helpful.
[4] Luke 16:31, NRSVCE.
[5] John 3:12, NRSVCE.