Why the Church?

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The subject of the course is Catholic apologetics in the generation of millennials (and Gen Z). Studies show that teens and young adults are leaving the Church in large numbers and that the ones who stay do not subscribe to Church teachings. Seeking to "meet them where they are," the course begins with an examination of contemporary trends in the religious lives of millennials, with a particular focus on Catholics. It proceeds to examine the major reasons why millennials are leaving the Catholic Church and to engage students in arguments for and against the Church's positions on: the rationality of God, science, sex and marriage, the Church's role in historical injustices, and politics. In the final portion of the course, we will pivot to a "positive apologetics" look at the case for the Church through beauty and the witness of the saints, modes of engagement that are said to appeal to the millennial generation. The course concludes with the case for the resurrection of Jesus. Taught in the political science department, the course considers the political dimension of each unit, corresponding to the politicized character each of the disputed questions in the mind of contemporary young adults who are leaving the Church, as studies of opinion demonstrate. The course will be taught with a range of students in mind: those who are confident in their Catholic faith and wish to learn how to persuade others; those who are unsure of their Catholic faith; those who are of a different Christian or religious faith and interested in learning about the Catholic faith; and those who are skeptical of the Catholic faith.