Host a San Juan Catholic Seminar

Presented by Jim Burnham

Catholics need to be able to charitably explain and defend their precious Catholic faith. With passion and humor, Jim Burnham shares the simple tools and tips Catholics need so they can begin to share their faith confidently. Book your event today!


Scheduling a Seminar

To receive an event packet, email: catholic@catholicapologetics.com

Jim will happily design a seminar that fits the needs of your event, buy his typical presentations are described below.

A seminar is usually 1 to 4 topics (each about an hour) and can include a Question & Answer session (many find this is their favorite part of a seminar). Jim asks $1,800 for a one day seminar, and $800 for each additional day; plus travel and hotel costs.


Seminar Topics (Click to expand/close topic information)
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A Beginner's Guide
Many Catholics can identify with Jim: a cradle-Catholic, able to tell non-Catholics what he believed but rarely why. You'll hear how challenges from college classmates forced him to rediscover his Catholic faith, changing him from apathetic "pew warmer" to zealous evangelizer. Learn the two truths that kept Jim in the Church and will keep any Catholic anchored in his faith.
Proving the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
One of the most important doctrines to share with non-Catholics is the Eucharist. A crown jewel of the Catholic faith, it is also one of the easiest doctrines to defend. Discover how to present the abundant biblical, patristic, and historical evidence for Christ's Real Presence and how to answer the most common objections.
The Incorruptibility of the Catholic Church
Every anti-Catholic denomination has some fanciful theory about when the Catholic Church became totally corrupt. Whether it was at the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, or Pope Gregory the Great, or those "dark" Middle Ages, somewhere the original Catholic Church must have dropped the ball. Learn how the witness of the Church Fathers and history confirm that no such corruption has occurred. Demonstrate how Christ's promises to his Church make a total apostasy impossible. Master the commonsense arguments that prove if the Catholic Church was once the true Church of Christ, it is still the true Church.
The Church Fathers
Many Fundamentalist and Evangelical denominations claim to model themselves after the "primitive Christian Church." So what did the primitive Christian Church teach? How was it structured? The Church Fathers can tell us. They were the eye- and ear-witnesses to the beliefs and practices of the Apostolic and post-Apostolic Church. Jim uncovers the shocking truth: they explicitly teach Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist, the Mass as a sacrifice, the primacy of the bishop of Rome, apostolic succession, and other distinctively Catholic beliefs.
Did Jesus Make Peter the Head of the Church?
The papacy is unique to the Catholic Church. Did Jesus make Peter the head of the Church? If so, did Jesus intend for Peter's authority to pass to his successors, the bishops of Rome? Discover how to show that Jesus established his Church on Peter, the Rock. Be able to explain the difference between petra and petros, and demonstrate Peter's unique role and authority throughout the Gospels and the book of Acts. Finally, using both Scripture and the Church Fathers, learn to share how Jesus intended the apostles' (including Peter's) authority to be passed on to their successors.
Are Jesus and Mary in Competition?
Protestants often approach Scripture with an either/or mentality. They tend to divide what Catholics unite. Many Fundamentalists think that honor given to Mary necessarily detracts from honor due to Jesus. This talk demonstrates that Jesus and Mary are playing on the same team. Discover how biblical typology and the Fathers describe Mary as the New Eve, the New Ark, and the New Queen Mother. Learn how these profound roles give firm biblical support to the four defined Marian dogmas: Mother of God, Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, and bodily Assumption.
Is Sola Scriptura Scriptural?
The question of all questions is authority. What is the Christian's final authority? Is it the Bible alone or the Bible plus Tradition and the Church? Sola scriptura is the lens through which Protestants view all doctrinal questions. Learn how to help them replace the false lens of sola scriptura with the true lens of sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. In this engaging talk, Jim tackles common verses used to support sola scriptura and shows that "tradition" is not always a dirty word in the Bible.
Where Did We Get the Bible?
Discover how trusting the Bible ultimately means trusting the infallible judgment of the Catholic Church. Learn to answer questions like: Why do Catholic Bibles have seven extra books in the Old Testament? Why did the Catholic Church keep the Bible in Latin, or chain Bibles in churches, or burn certain Bibles?
How to Prove the Existence of God and the Divinity of Christ
Before we can convince non-Christians that the Catholic Church is the one, true Church established by Jesus, we must first address their more basic questions. Proving God's existence and Jesus' divinity should be child's play for Christians. But for most of us, it isn't. Rediscover the commonsense arguments from design, motion, and causality to prove that God exists. Master the classic "Lord, liar, or lunatic?" demonstration of Jesus' divinity. Learn to present the rational foundation for your faith.
How to Answer Mormons
Mormon missionaries are friendly, polite, and well dressed. They want to share with you "another gospel of Jesus Christ." But beware, they've got one goal: to pull you out of the Catholic Church. In this talk, Jim shows you how to target and refute "core" Mormon beliefs such as the great apostasy and continuing revelation.
How to Answer Jehovah's Witnesses
Like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses are among the most aggressive and successful door-to-door evangelizers. Also like Mormons, the majority of JW converts are former Catholics. Learn to identify and refute "core" JW beliefs such as "Jesus was not divine" and "Only 144,000 people go to heaven." Discover how to answer their challenges and inoculate your loved ones against their errors.
Is Purgatory Biblical?
The word "purgatory" isn't in the Bible. Doesn't that mean purgatory is unbiblical? Wasn't this doctrine "invented" by the Catholic Church as a clever scheme to sell indulgences? Doesn't purgatory add to the finished work of Christ? Learn to answer these and other misconceptions. Discover how purgatory is firmly rooted in both the Old and New Testaments-even if it isn't called by that name-and is clearly affirmed by the teaching and practices of the early Church.
Is the Mass a Sacrilege or a Sacrifice?
Protestant Reformer John Calvin condemned the Catholic Mass as a blasphemous sacrilege. He claimed that the Mass tries to add to Christ's "once for all" sacrifice on Calvary. How can the Mass be a sacrifice, as the Catholic Church teaches, and how can we reconcile this with the teaching of the book of Hebrews that Christ's sacrifice is unrepeatable? Learn to explain and defend the Catholic Church's supreme and eternal act of worship.