Secret Project #4

A reader writes:

Jimmy,

Any updates on your secret projects?  I’m sure your readers would love to hear what’s going on . . .

I’m afraid that I really haven’t been able to push forward the three previously-mentioned secret projects of late. My schedule has just been too busy. (And is especially so now, which is fiscal year end for Catholic Answers, so I’ve had tons of administrative stuff to do, like budgets and planning meetings and such. The budgeting for next fiscal year has been particularly tricky since there is now the parallel organization Catholic Answers Action to take into account.)

I can, however, announce a new secret project–Secret Project #4–which has been green-lit and is going forward at a rapid pace.

This secret project is one that I have wanted to do for years, but the technology hasn’t been available and readily usable until now. It finally occurred to me, "This is what we need to pull this off!" So I went to Karl, proposed the project, and he enthusiastically approved it.

Soon we had the needed things set up, and now I and other apologists at Catholic Answers are working to get it to the point where we will be able to publicly launch it.

At which point I’ll be able to say definitely what it is.

That should be sometime this summer. 1-2 months from now would be my guess.

Once launched, Secret Project #4 will require some ongoing management, and we’ll have to refine the methodology as we go, but it has the potential to . . . what’s the right word? . . . "revolutionize"? (is that it?)  . . . the field of apologetics.

After I got the idea for it, I discovered that others have been attempting similar things, but unfortunately nobody has yet been able to bring to bear the kind of organizational muscle needed to allow this kind of project to fulfill its potential.

Catholic Answers has the muscle needed so . . . this’ll be big. (And controversial in some quarters.)

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

43 thoughts on “Secret Project #4”

  2. Wow, you have made me very curious now to find out what project #4 is! My guess is that it will be some kind of interactive apologetics application, drawing data from a large database of apologetics information. It would be something like the tracts that you currently have posted, only much more automated and interactive, rather than just being static text. That’s my guess anyway.
    For the first three projects, if it looks like you may not finish one or more of them, can you at least tell us what they are? 🙂

  3. Ok….this is too much of a cliffhanger. Jimmy can you devulge a bit more? I really am not sure I can deal with the suspense. Any more metaphors or at least what does it involve? Oviously technology, but can you name a particular mode/s of technology? For example does it relate to a database of sorts? My imagination is running wild.

  4. Well, obviously it’s a portable version of the Popery Mind Control Beam Cannon that is periodically fired from a bunker beneath Vatican City.
    I mean, come on.

  5. Hmm . . . new technology. Controversial methods.
    It’s mind control, isn’t it? ISN’T IT?
    I knew it.

  6. Whoa, Jacques! We thought the same thing at the same time.
    I guess that just about verifies it, then.

  8. Well, my interest has been piqued! But I guess I can wait a few months.
    But I bet I know what Secret Project #4 is:
    Catholic Answers Live: The Musical!
    C’mon, Jimmy . . . who’s playing you?!
    😉
    Seriously, I can’t wait to hear what it is. I’m sure it’ll be great.

  9. CAA that’s the new separate/arm of Catholic answers that was created inorder to allow CA to speak more openly regarding political matters (they were getting harassed by lawsuits arguing that they were not remaining impartial as their tax status requires. At least that’s what I got from one of Mr. Keating’s recent mailings. Sounds like a great project and I’ll be contributing to the campaign.
    Hope I got a little right. Check out catholic.com for more info.

  11. they were getting harassed by lawsuits
    No, there were no lawsuits.
    But the new organization (which is legally and financially distinct from Catholic Answers) will be able to bring Catholic moral teaching to the political sphere without the same potential nuisance complaints being made and then having to deal with the resulting inquiries from the tax folks about what was and wasn’t said and when and why.

  13. I like the idea of Catholic Answers Live: The Musical!
    My guess is it’s a robotic catholic apologist. Robocatholic! 😉

  17. My guess is Warp Drive and they are going to other planets to preach the word!

  18. My guess is that all of the CA apologists are going to get those cool flight wings in the next blog entry up. Do you think it was just a coincidence that Jimmy posted that photo immediately above this topic? I think not! Maybe that’s actually Jimmy wearing the cool “lightweight carbon fibre mono-wings.” Or maybe not. I don’t see cowboy boots. Perhaps it’s Jerry Usher or Karl Keating.
    ‘thann

  20. “Well, my interest has been piqued! But I guess I can wait a few months.
    But I bet I know what Secret Project #4 is:
    Catholic Answers Live: The Musical!
    C’mon, Jimmy . . . who’s playing you?!
    😉
    Seriously, I can’t wait to hear what it is. I’m sure it’ll be great.”
    No, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong. Its actually a Gilbert and Sullivan style operetta:
    I am the very model of an orthodox Apologist
    I spend my days conversing with opposing ideologists
    I argue with the Protestants and Atheists both day and night
    And also fight pernicious views of the quasi-devout “Catholic lite”
    In Christian love, I point out every argumental logic flaw
    Its not so hard when you have memorised the whole of Canon Law
    People come to me with questions, ’cause they know that I’m reliable
    Yes, even fundamentalists who want to know the Bible!
    I admit, I’ve always been a good bit partial to Gregor’yin Chants
    I’m afterall, in so few words, a proffesh’nal Catholic Smarty-pants!
    In short in all conversing with opposing ideologists
    I am the very model of an orthodox Apologist!

  23. I have a feeling it has something to do with text-to-speach technology. I was thinking a 24 hour automated phone apologist, but I can’t see how that would be controversial.

  25. Jimmy wrote: “especially so now, which is fiscal year end for Catholic Answers, so I’ve had tons of administrative stuff to do”.
    I suggest you get one of those high-speed cash counting machines. You can set it for 20s, 50s, 100s, whatever, and it will save you just tons of time at the end of the fiscal year, going through all those donations and whatnot.
    just a thought. good luck.

  26. A political arm would not “revolutionize” the world of Catholic apologetics. How about a computer program tries to do apologetics in the same way that a medical diagnostic program tries diagnosis an illness?

  27. A political arm would not “revolutionize” the world of Catholic apologetics. How about a computer program tries to do apologetics in the same way that a medical diagnostic program tries diagnosis an illness?
    I considered that sort of thing, but it doesn’t seem to be some sort of technology that just recently became usable. Plus Jimmy is always raving about text-to-speach…

  28. I don’t see how the “political arm” idea applies to this post. It seems that is a separate thing that no one is hiding and does not require new technology.
    All the real suggestions so far (databases etc.) don’t explain why it would be controvercial. I suspect that since it is controvercial it must have something to do with other religions or non-Catholic Christians, or with politics (yes maybe it is connected to the coming “political wing” then), or with the place of religion in public life, or something like that.
    I really hope Jimmy announces what this is soon, before this post becomes a distant memory and the suspense is gone.

  29. but it has the potential to . . . what’s the right word? . . . “revolutionize”? (is that it?) . . . the field of apologetics.
    Hmm… This rings of “hint” to me…

  31. Revolutionize. A revolution is a turning around. Or, a revolution is a overthrowing of the current power. I think it is going to be some sort of offensive, but I don’t know how…
    I could be just wildly coming up with meaningless theories, too

  32. I think Jimmy fed Karl some fake story about #4. The real project involves a violent overthrow of Karl’s leadership, led by… (come one, you know it’s coming) an albino assassin monk! This will also, somehow, tie in to Dan Brown’s next book about the Masons.

  33. Speculations:
    1. Jimmy and/or Karl are running for president and/or governor (of California).
    2. Catholic Answers will fund the creation the first nanotube Bible.
    3. Catholic Answers will form a crack team of Catholic, mono-wing fly-boys meant as the first and last line of defense against the evil forces of the Easter Bunny.

  34. Giacinto: #3 is probably the closest. I think that the entire Catholic Answers apologetics team is about to embark on a mono-wing bombing mission to take out all anti-Catholic ministries; thus making an unanswerable point that will result in ending all debate.

  35. Dear Mr. Jamie Akings,
    Is this the project that you will hire me to do? I have already resigned in my position as altar boy.
    So, Mr. Akinn, when do I start?
    Francis DS

  36. Catholic voting machines. They will double as confessionals for those that vote democrat.

  37. video pod-casting.
    Creation of patriarchies for Anglicans and Lutherans to facilitate the reunion of the Church.
    Spanglish apologetics to convert las invasoras into orthodox, devout Catholics.

  38. Catholic Answers Action only makes me think of Affirmative Action..
    I don’t know what I think about that one…

  40. “Revolutionize”
    “Hmm… This rings of “hint” to me…”
    Catholic Answers will, finally, cut all of their apologetic recordings onto record albums.
    Yee HAW!
    (I’ll finally be able to listen to their stuff…)

  41. Some of the best stuff on apologetics I’ve ever read is the Nazareth Resource Library at jimmyakin.COM. There are many books out their on apologetics which cover roughly all the issues Protestants have with Catholicism. If all that stuff on the Nazareth Resource Library were published into a book, it would be the BEST book on apologetics out there, most accessible to the general public.

  42. What is needed and what we have the technology for, is a kind of Scripture version of the Pokedex — a handheld electronic device that is basically a huge text resource.
    It would have several versions of the Bible (including Protestant and extra-Christian translations), include passages in original languages, and have copious hyperlinks to The Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Compendium (both available in their entirety), and full text texts of early Church Fathers, Luther and Calvin, Vatican II, and modern apologetics articles.
    If it were an ongoing project, it would be updateable with new articles, pictures, and encyclicals.
    I know iPods already could be configured to have such large, hyperlinked, text files but cheaper devices would obviously suffice because all they would have to do is store massive amounts of text — which does not take as much space as audio and video media. Also, it would help if they had wider screens and could display more text at a time.
    But the technology is definitely there. If no one has started on this yet, they darn well should. All it would take is time. And copyrights…

  43. Well… I certainly hope that one of the secret projects is the upgrade of Catholic.com … I think this site is already great as it is but on the other hand certain aspects need a major revamp.. especially the design.
    ^^

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