This site is extremely strong in the area that I look for most in a Web site - a lot of original apologetics material. The host of this site, who sports the pseudonym Matt1618, is a great apologist and the original essays here are some of the best around.

One item featured on this site is a formal debate on sola scriptura (the Bible-only theory) between Matt1618 and a Protestant Church of Christ pastor. I think this is one of the very best uses of the Internet; these on-line debates are often much better than the live versions since there is more time for the opponents to really think out their responses and much less opportunity for grandstanding and rhetorical points scored at the expense of substantive argumentation.

The site really shines in two specific areas. The essays on the Catholic doctrine of extra ecclesiam nulla salus (“no salvation outside the Church”) are some of the best around. This is a very common charge of doctrinal compromise posed against the Catholic Church and Matt1618 has done an outstanding job of answering these objections. And his essays in response to “ultra-traditionalist Catholics” who reject the new order of the Mass (the so-called Novus Ordo) are equally good. While these are rather specialized topics, when you need answers you generally need a fairly detailed response.

Most of the essays on this site are of an advanced level but they definitely repay careful study.

Familink
( http://www.familink.com )

The Internet has some incredibly great stuff on it. Unfortunately, the Internet also has some incredibly bad stuff on it as well. Familink is an Internet service provider (ISP) dedicated to bringing quality Internet access, minus a whole lot of morally objectionable stuff, to families who care about the content they allow into their homes.

Familink’s Internet access is filtered at the source; they draw on a service that constantly updates its database of objectionable sites and then Familink simply denies user access to those sites. I believe that no parent should ever allow a child or teenager unrestricted access to the Internet. And frankly, even with a service like Familink I don’t think it’s wise to allow a child to surf the Net unsupervised. But having a service like this is a double bonus; it’s a first line of defense against childrens’ natural curiosity and it’s also a barrier to potential waywardness that even adults have to guard against.

Familink’s Web site provides links to a bunch of family-friendly Web sites. Their site isn’t overtly Catholic, but there is distinctive Catholic material mingled in with a lot of other good stuff.

You’ll not be able to get access to Familink from everywhere in the country. But they’re expanding fast and if they do service your area you’ll get much safer Internet access at a competitive price.

Scriptural Catholicism
( http://clara.franuniv.edu/
students/skellmeyer )

If I’ve thought of doing it once I’ve thought of doing it a thousand times - going through a bunch of Catholic apologetics works and catechisms and gleaning all the Scripture references that support various Catholic doctrines. Then I’d have a ready reference when somebody challenges me to “show where the Bible teaches” some Catholic belief or practice. Well, now I don’t have to do that work. Steven Kellmeyer has done it for me and he’s posted his work on the Web for all to use.

Arranged by topic, this site provides extensive Scripture references to show where the Bible teaches or alludes to central Catholic doctrines and practices. Think holy water is just medieval superstition? Check out this site and see if you’re right. Wonder why Catholics call Mary the Ark of the New Covenant? Well find out why even Bible-only Protestants should too. There are sections on Authority, Prayer, Scripture, the Trinity, Mary, Salvation and many others.

You can get the same material from the author in a printed version as well. I think you’ll want to have the information on Scriptural Catholicism close at hand. It’ll even show you why the Bible itself doesn’t support the Bible-only doctrine that gets you into these discussions with your non-Catholic friends in the first place.

Check out Dave Palm’s Web site at www.ourworld.compuserve.com/homepage/djpalm.