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Lesson OneWhat is Apologetics?4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoArguments from Design4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeMoral Argument4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourIdentity of Jesus4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveChristianity and Other Religions4 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 349
Discussion Questions
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Give a couple of examples from 1 Peter 3:15–16 as to why and how we should embrace apologetics in our faith journey.
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Friends and I share the Gospel on the streets and at the beach several times a week. It’s important to be able to explain, with gentleness and respect, why we trust Christ Jesus alone for eternal life.
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We should ALWAYS be prepared to answer why we follow Christ. What I like about the first video series is that it talks about where to start. Even if you do not have ALL the answers, we can at least start with answering a basic truth of WHY we follow him. And as the verse (and video) continues, we can learn how to do it with gentleness and respect.
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Be Prepared to Give an Answer (1 Peter 3:15a): The verse begins with, “Always be prepared to answer everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” This teaches us that we should be ready to explain and defend our faith with clarity and conviction. Apologetics is a way to respond to questions and challenges about our beliefs thoughtfully, helping us articulate why we trust in Christ.
Do It with Gentleness and Respect (1 Peter 3:15b-16): The passage continues, “But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience.” This emphasizes that how we engage in apologetics is just as important as the content. We are called to defend our faith not through argument or aggression but with kindness and humility, ensuring that we reflect Christ’s love even while addressing difficult questions.
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The two examples from Peter are so that others will see the good in you and others that don’t see will be ashamed.
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Worship God as our Lord and always be prepared to explain why you believe. Be kind and gentle when others ask questions about your faith and God. If people speak harshly toward you or about your beliefs, remain calm and gentle and they may be ashamed of their own behavior as you don’t retaliate.
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How is Christianity more than just a worldview? Provide some examples.
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A worldview is simply our beliefs about the world and truth, but Christianity puts those beliefs into action. Our beliefs stem from our relationship with a risen Savior, and therefore following Christ should help to change other’s worldviews when we as Christians engage the world.
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James 1:22-25 explains that we are to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Those who continue in it will be blessed in what he does. Christianity is not expected to be a spectator life but requires everyone who accepts Jesus as Lord, to be actionable and live out the word that they hear and read, trusting His Holy Spirit to give guidance and revelation as they do.
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Christianity is more than just a worldview because it’s taking truth to the world. Unbelievers have a wall between them and the cross and we live in a world that is always looking for meaning and it gives meaning by bringing truth. John 16:6 “Jesus is the way the truth and the life.”
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A worldview is just a set of ideas. Christianity is a new way of life. Coming to Christ can and will radically change a man, towards good. A set of ideas is not alive.
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Every religion needs a worldview, a kind of philosophical synopsis of a particular perspective. It depends on theology. It is a set of assumptions about the basic makeup of the world. Not all worldviews can be true, so to be an intellectually responsible person, you have to ask is there a God, do I have a soul, an afterlife, what is the good life? We should care about our beliefs and how can we support what we believe. It is a way of distilling your foundation or core beliefs into intellectual terms, but not necessarily through a sound intellectual process.
The Christian worldview is more in the sense that it is reality, Jesus did rise from the dead and there is evidence that Jesus changes lives. Other religions claim truth, but are they successful in that? We should derive our worldview from what the bible teaches. God is the creator, designer of the universe, three persons, three in one. God is eternal, He has no beginning and end. He does not depend on anything outside Himself to exist. We have the ultimate reality, the infinite, personal, triune, incarnate God. Our worldview offers a new way of life. If we follow Jesus, we have a biblical worldview, we can be freed from self-deception, we can confess our sins before God. Our worldview is a real personal relationship with God not a set of religious ideals.
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What is a simple explanation of apologetics? What is apologetics not?
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Apologetics is a defense of the truth and relevancy of Christianity to all people. It is not an effort to strongarm any person into believing in Christ. It is not a defense of Christianity as faith without reason. The listener should be invited to challenge and question the precepts of Christianity in order to have true faith. Jesus welcomed challenges and questions. So should the apologist.
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Apologetics is a defense of our Christian beliefs.
It should not be judgmental and argumentative attacks on those who do not believe what we believe.
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Apologetics is being ready and equipped to give a reason for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus.
Apologetics is not the act of apologizing for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus.
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Apologetics is NOT apologizing for being a Christian. Apologetics is being prepared, through study and prayer, in order to explain logically and with reason, why we need to be forgiven and saved!!!
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A simple explanation of Christian apologetics is to defend the truth of Christianity by showing there is a reason and truth to believe.
Apologetics is not Fideism, in which you don’t question anything but just believe.
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What is the purpose of defending truth?
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Defending truth should eventually bring unbelievers into a belief in Christ, who is the truth.
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There is an exhaustive amount of misconceptions and misinformation about God’s word. It is imperative that we know the scriptures so that the enemy, someone with limited knowledge, or with alternative motives does not have the privilege of misleading or misguiding us. We should be ready and willing to defend the truth not just to show what we know but to save and fulfill what is said in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
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If we are true Christians, we can no longer stand by idle and let others misinterpret or depict Gods Word in any way other than how God intended.
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The purpose of defending truth is to build a case by showing 3 things that the Bible is:
1. internally consistent
2. factually accurate
3. existentially viable and meaningful
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Coming to an agreement that there is something that we call truth, I think, is the first step. Let’s agree on the definition of it, and where it came from. What is the standard that we judge it against? Defending truth is the case for Gods existence. And if God exists a person has some decisions to make about who he thinks God is. Christianity is the most likely explanation from a rational standpoint.
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Why does Dr. Groothuis use the “cumulative case” as his apologetic method for Christianity?
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His method brings all the “witnesses” to court. It incorporates history, science, philosophy and human experience into the discussion.
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A “cumulative case” would show that it is internally consistent, factually accurate and existentially viable and meaningful.
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Dr. Groothuis asserts that this method is the most effective in explaining Christianity as demonstrably true. He wants to dispel the notion that Christianity is a blind faith.
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All sources are used: origin of the world, nature of the world, history, human conditions, science with philosophical arguments. We bring all this and build a case that is multi-faceted for the truth of Christianity.
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He believes the best way to make the case for the truth of Christianity is by looking at it from different viewpoints using History, science, internal consistencies, and so on to make an overall case that it makes the most sense of any religion the same way you would build a case in a courtroom with different witnesses and testimonies from different experts.