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In the middle of the third century, the Roman emperor Valerian launched a fierce persecution against the Church that resulted in the martyrdom of Pope Saint Sixtus II along with seven deacons. St. Ambrose tells us that when the Roman authorities demanded that one of the deacons, named Lawrence, hand over “the treasures of the Church,” he agreed. According to Ambrose, “On the following day he brought the poor together. When asked where the treasures were which he had promised, he pointed to the p …

There are some arguments that a pro-life advocate should not use, because they don’t directly address the key issue in the abortion debate: “What are the unborn?” Greg Koukl writes in his book Precious Unborn Human Persons, “If the unborn is not a human person, no justification for abortion is necessary. However, if the unborn is a human person, no justification for abortion is adequate." Koukl uses a story to illustrate the point that we can’t answer the question “Can I kill this?” unless we kn …

Once during a pro-life outreach at the University of New Mexico, I was confronted by not only pro-choice students but also pro-choice adult activists, who came to campus to reinforce the student efforts to oppose us. These included representatives from Planned Parenthood, an Albuquerque atheist group, and a group called the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). I was talking to a young woman when one of the RCRC volunteers interrupted us. “You shouldn’t talk to him,” she said …

At first, the apostles conducted their teaching mission in a purely oral form. Peter preached a sermon on Pentecost.He did not issue a pamphlet.By teaching orally, the apostles followed the example of Jesus, who didn’t author any books, letters, or treatises. Only once do the Gospels mention Jesus writing, and that was with his finger on the ground (John 8:6, 8). Communicating God’s word orally was the most effective way to do it. The great majority of people—even in Israel—were illiterate. …

I was sitting in a booth at a restaurant in San Diego waiting for the religious equivalent of a “blind date” to begin. A few weeks earlier, some Catholic friends of mine asked me to meet with their son while he was home from college. They wanted me to speak to him because he told his parents he wasn’t going to church with them anymore because he was now an atheist. They asked me, “Can you help him see he needs to start going back to church? Can you help him get over all this atheist stuff?” Then …