Conversion to Christianity comes about not so much through the intellect’s assent to the existence of God as through the heart’s faith in the person of Jesus Christ. What the Church needs, then, is an apologetics for the heart.
The reasons of the mind which appeal to Christianity have been explored, delineated, distinguished and debated, but the reasons of the heart which appeal to Christianity are comparatively uncharted, nebulous, obscure and ignored. I often get the sense in religious debates that rational argumentation masks the intuitions of the heart which underly the debaters’ positions, and that therefore they would be better off skipping all the logical gymnastics and being forthright about why they think what they think, about what their heart tells them and why.
Religious discussions that probe the reasons of the heart offer to be not only more honest and direct but also, from the Christian point of view, more effective. For once a debate touches on matters of the heart — love, hope, desire, joy and the like — the Christian finds that he or she possesses a treasure map that is at once invisible and deeply desirable to the non-Christian.
The problem is that few Christians are taught how to read this treasure map or how to make it visible to those who cannot see it. Theology courses more readily drill into students the ontological argument than ask them to reflect on the greatness of God and how to show that greatness to others. It may be said that such reflection is the work of prayer, not study; but surely there must be something between academic apologetics and personal piety. There must be a way for a Christian to talk to a non-Christian and persuade him or her that Christianity is true, indeed, but moreover that it is a desirable way of life. This way is the way of apologetics for the heart, and it relies on a careful study (a study which incorporates both theology and prayer) of the Christian treasure map so that the map can be made visible to non-Christians.
Let me give an example of an apology for the heart: Ask yourself, “What do I hope for? What do I want? What is all this for?” Probably you want to be happy. How happy? Really happy? How about infinitely happy? Look around and see if you can identify one person on earth who is infinitely happy. I bet you can’t. So, either your desire has no way of being fulfilled, or there is some great mystery which you must enter into to unlock infinite happiness in another life (which also might be tasted in this life). This mystery is the Catholic faith. Why settle for less?
Notice that this apology speaks from and to the heart, but it does not abandon reason. It is suprarational (beyond reason), not anti-rational (against reason).
More examples of apologetics for the heart can be found in a recent Word on Fire article I contributed to in which college writers address the question, “How are God and the Catholic Church relevant to the anxious concerns and uncertain direction of college students?” Jack Figge, a former high school classmate of mine and now a columnist at Benedictine College, writes, “The Church speaks to the heart, a heart that longs for intimacy and meaning.” Caroline Kurt, the opinions editor for The Collegian at Hillsdale College, writes, “Unlike many of the popular ideologies of our time, the Church doesn’t presume to give pat answers for young people’s greatest yearnings. She offers a different kind of response: bread for our hunger, solace for our aching, wisdom and silence for our racing hearts.” The other writers and I had similar things to say. I cannot help but take this common sentiment as an indication of the need for and trend toward apologetics for the heart in the youth of the Church.
Richard Taylor is a senior from St. Louis living in Keenan Hall. He studies physics and also has an interest in theology. He encourages all readers to send reactions, reflections or refutations to rtaylo23@nd.edu.
