Forget the Dale Carnegie course. Here's how to win skeptical friends and influence pagans. Read the second-century Letter to Diognetus. The author's name is lost to history, but his warm, winsome overture still stands as a model of apologetics — the art of explaining and defending the faith. The Letter is often counted as the last of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers — or the first of the writings of the second-century Apologists. No matter how you shelve it, it's good reading, praised by saints and popes for centuries.
Links
Free online text of The Epistle to Diognetus https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1620
Free audiobook of The Epistle to Diognetus https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/letter-to-diognetus/
An excellent study of apologetics https://www.amazon.com/History-Apologetics-Robert-Cardinal-Dulles/dp/0898709334/
More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/
Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com
Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio
Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.
55—Isidore of Seville: Last of the Red-Hot Latin Fathers
54—Maximus the Confessor: Where East and West Meet
53—Gregory and His Greatness
52—Benedict of Nursia: The Elusive Man Behind the Rule
51—St. Patrick: Paternal and Patristic
50—Peter Chrysologus: The Doctor of (Short) Sermons
49—Romanus the Melodist: Through Hymns, with Hymns, in Hymns
48—Leo the Great: Who Roared with the Voice of Peter
47—Vincent of Lerins: Believed Everywhere, Always, by All
46—Cyril of Alexandria: The Fifth-Century Man from Uncle
45—John Cassian, Monk on the Move, Solitary in the City
BONUS: Interview with Mike Aquilina
44—Prudentius, Poet Laureate of the Western Fathers
43—The Pastoral Poems of Paulinus of Nola
42—Chrysostom (Part 2): Triumph, Tragedy & Glory
41—Chrysostom (Part 1): Golden Mouth & Golden Mysteries
40—Augustine (Part 3): Last Days and the End of an Age
39—Augustine (Part 2): A Mob-Made Bishop Makes His Mark
38—Augustine (Part 1): Youth and Conversion
37—Jerome, the Choleric Commentator
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