-
Lesson OneWhat is Apologetics?4 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson TwoArguments from Design4 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson ThreeMoral Argument4 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson FourIdentity of Jesus4 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson FiveChristianity and Other Religions4 Activities1 Assessment
-
Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 349
Discussion Questions
-
Give a couple of examples from 1 Peter 3:15–16 as to why and how we should embrace apologetics in our faith journey.
-
Being That we are Christian. We should spend time in God’s word. This allows us to be able to grow in knowledge of his word and truth. This allows us to be able to defend the apologetics along our journey of life as we continue reading scripture.
-
Being a new creation in Christ should lead us to transform our hearts and souls and minds so that we are aligning more with the mission of God. We should want to know what we believe and why and this should propel us out towards others with sound arguments. I like the part of gentleness and respect, of forming our character and will towards God so that His love flows through us as we proclaim our faith.
-
This passage from the Bible calls us to fear God and always be prepared for a response as to why we are Christians and put our faith in Jesus. Apologetics is about growing in our faith journey with wisdom about what we believe. In doing so, we need to build relationships and make sure we are walking maturely in our faith, so we are not stumbling blocks for others. We need to have an empathy for others, so we are prepared and striving to seek opportunities to share our conviction with gentleness and love, just as Jesus first met us before we became Christians.
-
We have been set apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of God, we are being changed, transformed by the Holy Spirit and we want to share the reason for the hope we have in Jesus. We want our friends, relatives, and non-believers know they can have the joy and peace that we have. We are to be ready to share our personal story of how Jesus has blessed our lives. We are supposed to do it with gentleness and respect, and from the love that we have for our Lord.
Sharing Christ is about developing a heart for others and expose them about Jesus. Its’ serving them, engaging them in conversation. Finding out about their families, their lives, their work, their dreams and their wounds. Praying for them and for the opportunity to share Jesus in a natural way of a relationship we build with them.
-
From the outset, we “revere Christ as Lord”. This is the root of our faith. But inevitably people will question why. I Peter says to always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have. As Christ-followers this should be done with gentleness and respect. It will be better received from those who question, but additionally can change their own behavior toward you out of shame.
-
How is Christianity more than just a worldview? Provide some examples.
-
Living and showing others the Love of Jesus. Love like He does. The best example of who Jesus is and how He wants us to be!
-
While the questions of worldview are important to Christian apologetics we must not forget the whole history of and evidence for Christianity. Eyewitnesses such as Isaiah, recorded in Isaiah 6, confirm God has high, lofted and lifted up. Moses encountered God through the burning bush as recorded in Exodus 3. God instructed Moses to take off his sandals as the place he was standing was holy ground. Moses was also an eyewitness to the miracles of God, one being the parting the Red Sea (Exodus 14).
-
More than just a worldview, or the way we filter everything we know about life, Christianity provides our lives with meaning and purpose. Most worldviews, as seen through our lecture, contain many contradictions and really do not address these 2 very essential issues that all face in their daily lives. Christianity provides meaning in that it defines who we are, not just providing a way to filter our decisions or viewpoints; it even goes so far as to tell us Whose we are. When we know these things, we are able to then look at what our purpose is to bring not just the knowledge of our meaning, but also depth and breadth to our meaning. When we understand who/whose we are in God, we are now able to define our purpose, which is to bring Him glory. As we further explore Scripture, we find that the way we bring Him glory is through living uprightly, which means we are constantly changing and growing in His ways to reflect him more, and that example of upright living will lead us to bringing others in understanding of who/whose they are and that they have the same purpose. This all brings glory to God and brings so much more than just an outlook on life to those who come to know Him. This is a very basic and brief explanation, but I feel it gets to the heart without bringing too much to the table.
-
My Christian faith is based on facts of what Jesus Christ has done for me in my life. I see the Bible as books of God’s History, Character, Redemption, Salvation , and how to live the Christian life with a relation in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
-
Christianity is larger and vastly greater than just a worldview because the views of those in the world are temporary. As seasons change with “nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes reference), this world will fade away but the Christian truth is eternal and shall never fade away with the Salvation won by Jesus’ sacrifice. In other words, while Christianity is in the world (thanks to our Lord, Jesus Christ), the salvation story transcends the world. The foundations of Christianity and the eternal truth it brings gives glory and honor to that which is unseen and is not bound by what we perceive as reality in this life.
-
What is a simple explanation of apologetics? What is apologetics not?
-
Apologetics is the defense of the Christian worldview. It is the explanation of why we believe it to be true, and provable, and all important. It is not an apology for your faith, or a defense from weakness. You do not need to abandon reason to be a Christian.
-
Enough reasons to believe in God. Being afraid of defending Christ as God-Man.
-
“So if you want a formal definition, I say that apologetics is the
defense of Christianity as objectively true, compellingly rational,
and pertinent to all of life”.
-
Apologetics is the branch of theology or philosophy that aims to provide a rational defense or justification for a particular belief system, typically focusing on religious beliefs. The term “apologetics” is derived from the Greek word “apologia,” which means a defense or a reasoned argument.
In simple terms, apologetics involves presenting reasoned arguments and evidence to support or defend a specific set of beliefs, often in the context of religion. It seeks to address questions, challenges, or criticisms raised by skeptics or those who hold opposing views.
-
Apologetics is defending the Christian faith as objectively true. It is for the purpose of bringing unbelievers to belief in Christ. It is not simply an intellectual exercise whose purpose is to take out the mystery of Christianity, but rather to defend and give a case for the cause of Christ.
-
What is the purpose of defending truth?
-
Defending truth sets people free. In John 8:31 Jesus says we will know the truth by His word and it will set us free. Today in a world where truth can be twisted into different ideas, people need to know the truth. They will only find it through the Hoy Spirit, through us. People will find freedom, be saved, healed set free from futility and hopelessness. Jesus said He was the only way back to God, the way, the truth and the life, John 14:6. Either he was a liar or He was telling the truth. From experience and developing a relationship with Him, I have found this to be true. Jesus commanded us to go out and make disciples, so we need to be defending what we have found to be truth. We are inviting people into this new way of life.
-
The purpose of defending truth is to invite “someone into a new way of life, an eternal fellowship with Christ and all the redeemed.”
-
Again, according to our lecture, the purpose of defending truth, or the purpose of apologetics is “to bring unbelievers to belief, to faith in Christ, to know Him and to confess Him as Lord and to follow Him. And to provide intellectual satisfaction because people have questions about, is there a God, is Jesus the way, are there problems within the Bible and so on.”
-
We defend Christianity as truth, rational, and how it pertains to life. If I cannot defend it, then why am I believing in it?
-
The purpose of defending truth is to exercise apologetics in defending Christianity by justifying why these truths are sound foundational ideals for living a Christ-centered life. It also acts as a way to invite others into this way of life so it has an inherent evangelical quality that links Christians to the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19–20, ESV).
The Bible presents the Correspondence View of truth that links true statements to life conditions that act as a basis for Christian living that recognizes Jesus as the Son of God and our savior resulting from his sacrifice. Christians are mindful that contradictory ideas cannot both be true and that defending the Christian Worldview as objectively true, compellingly rational and pertinent is of the utmost importance.
-
Why does Dr. Groothuis use the “cumulative case” as his apologetic method for Christianity?
-
This approach is taken because it provides many avenues to the truth through science, history and philosophy and builds a case that is multifaceted.
-
Without knowing all of the other options, I see that the evidences that are brought to support the truth of apologetic understanding and study are multi-faceted. As he explains, in a courtroom, you will receive evidence from numerous sources of different backgrounds and perspectives. By accumulating all of these perspectives, one can devise the most accurate understanding of the whole picture, providing a deeper and more thorough understanding.
-
Using the Apologetic method of cumulative case is combining biblical history, various forms of science, a collective of philosophy, and human experiences to bring forth God’s truth.
-
The Cumulative Case is the multi-faceted analysis of the truth claims that encompass Christianity. It would be to take a holistic approach in exploring the foundational facts and truths pertaining to a certain aspect of Christianity and the reasonable approaches that can be employed to conduct subject research while incorporating historical context, science, philosophy, documented evidences and scholastic disciplines based on logic and reason.
-
He focuses on the laws of logic. This means that something cannot BE and NOT BE at the same time.
He states that something IS what it IS.