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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 …

When I was on the outside looking in at the Catholic Church, I truly believed the emphasis on Mary in Catholic theology led to a loss of focus on Jesus. My aim, in speaking with Catholics, was not only to debunk Catholic theology’s many myths about Mary, but also to point them back to what really matters for salvation: Jesus Christ. Often I would say to them words that I have since heard many times from scores of well-meaning Protestant Christians: “We can agree to disagree about Mary. Afte …

The history of Christianity is one of debate. As the Gospels reveal, Jesus was challenged right from the start. Rival schools like the Pharisees and Sadducees posed pointed questions to him, trying to trap him in his words and even to get him in trouble with the authorities. Some of Jesus’ most famous statements were responses to challenges from his critics:“What God has joined together, let man not put asunder.”“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”“Render unto Caesar what is Caesa …