Questions: An apologist’s best friend
Today I wanted to talk about an apologetic strategy I use a lot: asking questions. You see, regardless of the topic, be it abortion, Christianity or Catholicism, there is always the temptation to spend most of your time telling someone what they should believe. People are rarely very receptive to being told. When I’m in that mode, it becomes very easy for me to become pompous and prideful. Questions help prevent this.
Rather than telling someone what they should believe, I find it is generally much more effective to ask the person what they believe and why. This communicates to the other person that you care what they think and you want to know more. Even though you are talking less, you have guiding control over the conversation through the questions that you ask. Not only that, but if you ask questions, it will probably encourage your friend to open up and ask you questions about what you believe. This allows you to follow the advise a wise priest once told me: “It’s best to start giving answers only once they’ve started asking you questions”
I would suggest that the goal is to ask questions which reveal the flaws in that person’s worldview. Once these are revealed, you can then present your own perspective, thereby giving you an opportunity to demonstrate the cohesiveness of your own world view.
“He who asks questions has control”
– Socrates (387 BC)
A while ago, Aggie Catholics put together a great list of questions to ask when you’re evangelizing…
A couple of months ago a reader mentioned David Bentley Hart, an Eastern Orthodox Christian philosopher. I’ve been listening to his lectures online and been quite enjoying them:
