Trent Horn - Why Were Catholic: Our Reasons for Faith, Hope, and Love

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 wasnt 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 their son, who Ill call Vincent, walked through the door. I raised my hand and he did his best to manage a half-smile before he sat down.

Hows it going? he asked.

Good, Im Trent.

Yeah, I know.

I didnt expect this to go very well and, to be frank, I understood his lack of enthusiasm about having lunch with me. Thats why I decided just to be honest with him.

You think Im here to talk you into being Catholic again?

Sure, its why my parents kept asking me to see you, he said.

Look, I dont think theres anything I can say thats going to make you change what you believe. I just think you should believe in something because you think its true, not just because its convenient for you. Does that make sense?

He nodded in agreement.

How about this. Why dont you just tell me why youre an atheist.

I know you wrote a book on atheism, so Im not going to debate you, he shot back.

I dont feel like debating anybody over a plate of mozzarella sticks, I responded. I just want to find out what you believe, thats all.

So for the next twenty minutes I asked him questions. What do you mean by the term atheist? What are the best arguments for and against God? What are the worst? What do you think are the good and bad things about the Catholic Church?

By the time our entres arrived we were having a good discussion. I gently challenged some of his atheistic beliefs but, true to my word, it wasnt a debate. It was just two guys having a deep conversation.

As I dipped my quesadilla into some salsa I said to Vincent, I think Ive got a good grasp on why youre an atheist, and I actually like talking to people like you. Youve given this issue a lot of thought, and if Im wrong about atheism Id want someone like you to show me what I dont understand.

Thanks, he said.

But its a two-way street, Vincent. Be honest. If you were wrong about the Catholic Church, would you want someone like me to show you what you were mistaken about?

He took a sip of his soda while he thought the question over, and finally said, Yeah, Id be open to that.

Okay, well, Ive spent a lot of time asking you questions, so now its your turn. Why dont you ask me about what Catholics believe and Ill tell you why we believe that stuff. You can take my reasons or leave them, but I think your parents will be happy that we at least talked about them. Vincent agreed and we kept at it for another hour.

As the check came, he said to me, I appreciate what you said. Ill definitely think about all of it.

And Ill think about what you said, I replied. Remember, its a two-way street.

A Common Desire

I dont look at people whove left the Catholic Church or who arent Catholic as potential customers. Theyre just people. They have things they love and things they hate. They may differ from me in lots of ways, but they almost certainly have one thing in common with me: they dont want to be ignorant and they do want to be happy. I became Catholic in high school because 1) I thought it was true, and 2) finding answers to my deepest questions about existence and purpose made me happy.

It would be selfish of me to keep to myself the peace and joy I receive from being Catholic, so I share this good news with others. My aim in this book is simple: to explain why Catholics believe what they believe. I havent given every explanation I can think of, because most people arent in a rush to read a book that is so thick it can double as a step stool. Instead, Ive presented the reasons that made the biggest impact on me during my conversion to the Catholic faith.

If you are Catholic, this book should give you a great starting point for discussions with your non-Catholic friends and family. If you arent Catholic, then I hope you will at least be willing to hear me out, like Vincent did. Even if it doesnt convince you, it should help you have more thoughtful conversations with Catholic friends and family because you will better understand their point of view.

Whoever you are, whether youre a believer, a skeptic, or youre just not sure what you believe, I hope at a minimum this book will encourage you to follow an ancient piece of wisdom: Test everything, retain what is good.

When someone walks toward you with clenched fists, its normal to become nervous. When I saw a student approach me in this way at a Texas university, I feared for the worst. Fortunately, he just wanted to beat me up with words.

When my presentation on the subject Why Be Catholic? was finished, he came up to me and said, You are one of the most arrogant people Ive ever met. You think youre right and everybody else is wrong. I was surprised by how angry this man was, and as I began to respond to him several students came over to see what was happening.

Youre saying its arrogant for me to think Im right about a religious truth and everyone who disagrees with me is wrong? I replied.

Yeah!

Okay, I continued, I think a few people here would probably disagree with you about me being arrogant. Are you right and those people who disagree with you are wrong?

The young man looked confused for a few seconds before asking, What are you getting at?

By now the few students watching had turned into a crowd of dozens. I explained what I meant.

Youre right. It is bad to be arrogant , but its not bad to be accurate . If we possess the truth about something, then those who disagree with that truth will be wrong. That doesnt make us better than them, it just means we have to be willing to listen to one another so that we can avoid error and find the truth.

But there is no absolute truth! he fired back. Everybody decides whats true for themselves.

The nineteenth-century French novelist Gustave Flaubert once said, There is no truth. There is only perception. Is this statement true, or is it just Flauberts perception?

What Is Truth?

Heres the problem with saying there is no absolute truth: this statement is an absolute truth. It claims, It is true in all times and all places that no statement is true in all times and all places. But that is as contradictory as saying, I cant speak a word of English. It makes no sense to claim it is true that there are no truths .