Cross Training : Introduction to Apologetics
What is Cross Training?
FBCA's small group Bible Study for youth!
To any youth who may reading this here is the outline I used tonight for our first night of "Cross Training"! Thank you everyone who was there tongiht! I hope you guys had as much fun as I did.
-John
Cross Training:
Apologetics: What is it? Josh’s Mc Dowell’s answer: Its facts that support the faith. Since Christianity is true there are obviously facts that support it. If it was not true there would not be anything to support but luckily that is not the case with Christianity! Webster’s dictionary calls Apologetics a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity. Apologetics comes from a Greek word that meant answer.
1 Peter 3:15 says Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks of you to give the reason for the hope that is in you.
The context of this was Peter explaining to the persecuted church that they had an opportunity to share why they had hope in a when the were enduring persecution. There hope was testimony to the world. Our world is a little different and context is different but we still need to be ready to answer for the hope that in us to answer questions like why we believe in God, or that Jesus is the only in a world that isn’t even if truth exists.
Apologetics is tool too help you do that. Remember that people’s separation from God is a spiritual problem and not a intellectual one so we are not going to simply win people to the Lord by winning an argument or giving them other knowledge they may be lacking. Apologetics is tool that one can use to show that their faith is real, the bible can be trust, and you can have rationally reasons for believing God is real.
So why study Apologetics? Does it matter if we can not show that we have reason to believe? Why or why not? Paul used Apologetics! Lets look at 1Cor15:1-19. He says if our faith is not real we are men to be pitied!
In a world of many options the main thing that Christianity has going for it is that it is the truth. Imagine if we lost person just trying to pick a religion and hope it was the right one. Which one would we pick and why? Certainly not Christianity its too hard. You have to put down your will for others, turn the other cheek, be last when you may want to be first, be a servant to all. The beauty of Christianity is that is the truth. Apologetics is a tool that helps show that we have truth!
More reasons truth is important! Jesus Christ said I am the way, the truth, and the life! Truth is a person. Jesus Christ! If we don’t believe in truth we will always be separated from Jesus Christ!
The idea of Truth could be an apologetics lesson in itself! But I am going to show you how the idea of no such thing is silly concept. It just good for a consumer driven-have- your-way type of Post Modern world. It is self referentially incoherent That just big word way of saying that it doesn’t make any sense by its own definition! If some were to say There is no such thing as truth that they would obviously be wrong because wrong because if that statement was true then it would be you see? So obviously truth exists! In our 5 weeks of Cross Trainging we will be looking at a number of issues that we face everyday and have to do with pointing to the truth of Christianity!
1 God. Is there a God? How do we know? How many different ways are there to believe in God. What options are there when it comes to God? What is Theism what is atheism what are problems with atheism? What are arguments that suggest the existence of God
-Cosmological argument
-Teleological argument
-Ontological argument
- The Moral argument
- Plantinga’s idea that God is properly basic.
Responding to critics
2. Is Jesus the only way?
Are we prejudice when comes to religion? Are we just biased for the home team or do we have a reason for saying that Jesus is the only? Why do not all religions lead to God. If God is loving God how can they only be one way? Is not being a good person enough?
Who was Jesus really? Was the historical Jesus different than the Jesus we know?
3. Science and Scripture?
Why does it seem like they disagree?
Are the scriptures really perfect and with error? How do we know?
What about science? Is science ever wrong?
Creationism vs. Evolution?
- am I blindly believing in Creationism because I am supposed to because I am a Christian? Is the Theory of Evolution truly scientific?
4. Is Christianity Different?
There are some many religions out there what makes Christianity different? Is it different? Do all religions teach the same thing. How about other Christian groups are they really Christian? Can we call Catholics Christians? How about Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses? How do we know what makes some one Christian?
Having looked at these issues and seeing what Apologetics are I hope you can see the importance of Apologetics. I also your appetite is wetted are will be coming thinking, ready to learn, and questioning!
posted by John @ 6:00 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
John... are you a presuppositionalist or an evidentialist?
What role does apologetics play in trying to convince the unregenerate, dead mind?
Just a question to "muse"
I am presuppositionalist especially because of what Romans 1:21 says:For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.. You did an exellecent job of commenting on the Evangelistic implications of this verse on your blog. Continuing with that idea that there are no true atheists and what you say you believe will be based on what you say your presuppostions are. Anyway this verse suggest to me that beleif in God is of course the right and natural presuppsotion to have and that everyone would if not for our sin nature. Plus facts become meaningless if you have the wrong pressupostions and the issue becomes how do we know what pressupostions are valid to have. Continueing with this idea I agree with Plantinga's idea that belief in God is "properly basic" and not something that we need to prove especially because God's existance is not dependent on us proving it. We really don't have to prove the existance of God more than other "intangibles" such as I have thought. It would be absurd to think I'd have to prove that i have thoughts. Its properly basic for me to assume that I do with gathering evidence so I could prove it to someone else. So I am very strongly a pressupostionalist!
Having said all that I am pressupostionalist who see the value and using evidentialist approuches to strenghthen the confidence of my own pressupostions as well as tool to show others who don't have my same presuppostions that I have good reason to believe in mine.
Answering your other question. As I shared with the youth sunday night you can not think Apologetic facts alone will bring someone into the Kindom. I continued saying the reason anyone is an unbeliever is not because they search all the facts and indepently decided its smarter to not believe than to believe.Its that they simply don't want to(see Romans 3:9-18 its because of their sin nature they dont believe not because its more logical) I got to see that once first hand when I won a debate with someone but didnt win the soul. People's unbelief is a spiritual problem not a intellectual or philosophical one. So what role does Apologetics play? Its a tool to help expose the unregenerate that the reason he believes something is not because he is right but because he believes what he believes because he wants to.It testifies to the world that Christian are not clinging to "blind faith." Apologetics will never save anyone but the power of the Gospel will. The Holy Spirit draws people to Christ and not facts. Like I said before its not an intellectual problem its a spiritual one. Apologetics helps show the unregenerate that they can't say their reason for unbelief is that Christianity lacks the facts. Instead it helps expose the "honest" unregenerate that his unbelief is not scientific, factual, logical, or rational but instead is only based on his wrong personal preference not to believe.
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