Science hasn’t dampened Church’s view,  author says during Apologetics Conference

STERLING HEIGHTS — Man, argues Peter Kreeft, has a long history of making two mirrored mistakes regarding demons. In ancient times, our ancestors obsessed about them, he says, and saw evil spirits around every unfortunate corner.

“Satan loves that. If you’re fighting a war, and your enemy’s propaganda can get you to believe your enemy is much stronger and more formidable than he is, you’re probably going to lose,” Kreeft told participants at the fourth annual Midwest Catholic Apologetics Conference at SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Sterling Heights.

But the opposite mistake, Kreeft countered, and the one most people make today, “is if your enemy can get you to believe that he is much weaker than he is, or best of all, that he doesn’t even exist.”

Kreeft, a professor of philosophy at Boston College and a renown Catholic author and apologist, was the keynote presenter at the Jan. 14 conference along with Daniel Ali, a convert to Catholicism from Islam and expert on the Middle East.

Kreeft’s two-part talk focused on the Catholic belief in angels and demons, which he said many in modern times — and often even Catholics — dismiss as “silly myths, or at least something very far away.”

One reason many people dismiss spiritual beings today, Kreeft hypothesized, is what he called “chronological snobbery,” or the subconscious belief that because modern man is more technologically advanced than the ancients, we must be wiser, too.

“Science can only deal with things that the scientific method is fit to prove. And two of the things it isn’t fit to prove are the existence of invisible spirits and the philosophy that only the things that the scientific method can prove are real,” Kreeft argued. “How can the scientific method prove the scientific method?”

Kreeft said many Catholics today believe in God without believing in angels, or in angels without demons. But Christ not only acknowledged the existence of demons, he fought with them, Kreeft said, and it’s a battle Christians continue to fight today.

While there are three levels of demonic activity — temptation, oppression and possession, with temptation being the most common — Kreeft said Christians can fight with the spiritual weapons of “the sword of the Scripture” and fervent prayers. But most importantly, Christians must fight alongside Christ, not in his place, Kreeft said.

“It’s extremely important when we’re tempted to realize that Christ was tempted. That our great high priest is not someone far away, but that our God is a Father who has compassion and sympathy for his children.”

The view of God as a father is one area where Christians differ from Muslims, said Ali, who gave the conference’s other keynote talk.

Ali’s good-humored presentation focused on the similarities and differences between the two faiths, and sought to offer Catholics the tools to evangelize their Muslim neighbors.

Another point of difference, Ali said, is that while both faiths recognize Jesus and Mary as revered and prominent figures — and Jesus even as the “son” of God — the Muslim understanding of such a relationship is vastly different.

“The Islamic understanding of the Trinity is based on a biological begetting” of Jesus from God, Ali said, while Catholics believe Jesus to be both fully God and fully man. The Muslim “trinity” also includes Mary, Ali said.

“The Islamic understanding of the sonship of Christ is not as we know it. That is point number one” when talking with Muslims about Christianity, Ali said. “You cannot escape it just like you cannot escape April 15,” he joked.

But while it’s important to know the differences in belief, it’s also important to understand that just as there are nominal Catholics, there are nominal Muslims, too, Ali said.

“We think Muslims know the Quran, that’s the assumption. And they assume Catholics know the Bible,” he said to tepid laughter. “Do we?”

Ali said Catholics can only evangelize Muslims by engaging with them, but he advised starting “with breakfast, not bingo theology,” and inviting them to church functions.

Still, he said, it is necessary to be ready to point out the differences and explain their Catholic faith if one hopes to win converts. That, he said, is how he, along with his sister and brother-in-law, came to embrace Catholicism.

“It’s not hard to talk to Muslims,” Ali said. “They wait for you. They honest to goodness wait for you.”