[ACTS] ACTS 3057: Philosophical Apologetics

ACTS 3057 Lectures 1-2: Introduction to Apologetics

Course Objectives

  1. To understand the need to defend our precious Christian faith in today's age
  2. To learn the current cultural challenges that we, as Christians, face in today's world
  3. To give a defense to everyone who asks us for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15)
  4. To know how we ought to answer each one (Colossians 4)
  5. To reason with others on matters pertaining to the Christian faith (as St Paul did in Acts 18)

Apologetics

Apologetics and Evangelism

The Seven Principles of Apologetics

  1. Apologetics does not and cannot convert people
    • Apologetics does not heal - it points to the Healer
    • People are converted by responding to the work of the Holy Spirit
    • Apologetics opens a window to the Creator by removing obstacles

  2. Do not neglect the work of the Holy Spirit in Apologetics and Evangelism
    • "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Corinthians 2:5)

  3. Apologetics must first be seen before heard
    • People must SEE Christ in your life before they hear about Him from your lips
    • Three steps:
      1. Know your faith
      2. Live your faith
      3. Share your faith

  4. Apologists are not after winning arguments, but winning souls
    • "he who wins souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30)
    • I don't care about the debate or winning, I care about you
    • If I lose the debate but I got you to think, then I have been successful
    • The goal of most arguments is to destroy your opponent; the goal of apologetics is to win your opponent.

  5. Apologists are not reapers, they are sowers
    • "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (1 Corinthians 3:6)

  6. Ask Questions
    • Expose hidden assumptions
    • Clarify the real barrier
    • Helps them articulate what they believe in
    • The Lord Jesus Christ answered almost every question with a question

  7. Avoid Contentious Argumentations
    • Anything that sounds like you're arguing or attacking the person with contention
    • Remember "with meekness and fear"
    • Remember "speak the truth, in love" (Ephesians 4:15)

Apologetic Methods and Techniques

Questions to Ponder

Why should we defend our faith?

  1. God commands it
    • 1 Peter 3:15
    • Philippians 1:17
    • Colossians 4:6
    • Jude 3

  2. The world needs it
    • The culture we live in is becoming less Christian and more secular
    • 30% of American results are "unaffiliated" - the "nones" (who choose "none of the above")
    • Many anti-theistic books on Best Seller Lists
      • The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
      • The End of Faith by Sam Harris
      • God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens
      • Not just atheistic books, but anti-theistic books
    • Christianity was seen as irrelevant many years ago... today's generation is being taught that Christianity is dangerous and should be eradicated
    • Culture Crisis
      • Death of Truth
      • Rejection of moral absolutes
        • Emergence of Moral Relativism
      • Philosophical Skepticism
        • Led by Scientism (Scientist is my only source of truth, and the vehicle from which I can derive truth)
      • Religious Pluralism
    • The Creed of our Culture:
      • Darwinian Evolution is the substitute creator and the explanation for my origin and the origin of the universe
      • The Bible is an ancient book of fictional stories
      • Jesus was a very nice man who said wonderful things, but is not God
      • The Resurrection is a nice story, but it is not true since we haven't seen anyone rise from the dead
      • It's good to be good for goodness' sake
      • Christians are intolerant, judgmental fanatics
      • You can experience God and can become god - each one of us can unlock their potential
      • We believe in Human kindness, love
      • Science is my only source of truth
      • I am spiritual but I am not religious
        • I don't believe in organized religion
        • I practice my religion in my own way
        • Churches are full of hypocrites
        • As long as you're sincere in your faith, you're okay
        • All religions have something to teach us
        • I don't go to church, I am spiritual at home
    • This is prophesied in 2 Timothy 4:3-4
      • For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
      • St Augustine says "we love the truth when it enlightens us, but we hate the truth when it convicts us"

  3. Our Purpose Demands it
    • Each person has their own unique distinct purpose that will use their own God-given gifts for the building of the Kingdom of God
    • For all Christians, their purpose in life is:
      • To know God
      • To make God known
    • You are the light of the world
      • Light gives sight
      • Light gives life
      • I am called to be the sight of the spiritually blind
      • I am called to be the life of the spiritually dead

How do we Practically Defend our Faith?

Discussion Post 1

Apologetics is providing a defense of our faith, and it is a part of our calling as Christians. My Christian Faith is more than just a "religious belief" or "something I do on Sunday" - but rather it is the source of the hope that is in me. And when I am (inevitably) asked about the reason for this hope, I must be ready to provide a defense. This is what St Peter teaches us in 1 Peter 3:15. We see that Apologetics was utilized by the Apostles in the book of Acts and in the Epistles of St Paul, by several of the Early Church Fathers, and most importantly by the Lord Jesus Christ - the Master Apologist.

As an Apologist, I must abide by seven foundational principles. To summarize them: We recognize that Apologetics does not convert people, but rather it is the Lord who gives the increase through the work of His Holy Spirit. We must acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in every step of the Apologetics and Evangelism processes. As an Apologist, I must know my faith to live my faith and only then will I be equipped to share my faith. I should ask questions to expose hidden assumptions and clarify the real barrier to faith. I should avoid contentious arguments.

There are different techniques to Apologetics. Most often used are the methods of Classical Apologetics and Evidential Apologetics. There is also Presuppositional Apologetics, Experiential Apologetics, Imaginative Apologetics. In all of them, your position is best served when you have established a relationship with the other person and built trust and credibility with them.

This introductory lecture was very easy to follow, and I got to attend the last third of it live. In my local parish, we have started an annual Apologetics Convention for Middle and High School. One thing I was really thinking about as a result of this lecture is that we are focused on giving them all the different answers, and equipping them with data and information and knowledge... but we are not equipping our youth with the methods, or even the basic principles such as "it's not an argument" or "try to win the soul" or "the Lord will bring the increase." I am looking forward to the rest of the semester to pick up these basic methods and learn how to think about Apologetics.

Discussion Post 2

We answered two questions this week: Why should we defend our faith? How do we defend our faith?

We should defend our faith for three reasons:

  1. God commands us to (as is represented throughout the Scriptures).
  2. The world needs it (as the world becomes more secular, and faces a crisis of culture, and makes for itself a Creed that opposes Christianity).
  3. Our purpose in life is to know God and to make Him known to others, and thus: our purpose demands it.

Defending our faith starts with knowing our faith. Knowing not only WHAT we believe, but WHY we believe it. This includes many different areas of apologetics. We should know why we believe that God exists. We should know why we believe the authenticity of the Scriptures. We should know what separates us from other religions. Etc. George gave 10 Topics in Apologetics that we, as Christians, should study at least to some extent.

The next step in the apologetics process is to know our enemy. In the lens of apologetics, the enemy, which is Satan, attacks on  two battlegrounds: the moral/ethical and the intellectual. We should familiarize ourselves with, and be able to give a response to, the intellectual ideologies that are plaguing our culture. George gave 12 examples of these including Atheism, Pluralism, Relativism, etc. In doing so, we will be able to respond to the growing influence of our culture on our faith, and the decreasing influence of our faith on our culture.

The third step is to know our audience. Our audience (i.e. the receiver of our message) is NOT the enemy. The audience helps shape my apologetics approach, but my goal is neither to tear them down nor to defeat them. This goes back to the fourth principle of Apologetics (from Lecture 1) which is that Apologists are not after winning arguments, but winning souls.

The last step is to refine our approach. Our approach will be determined by our audience and the enemy they are deceived by. But most importantly, our approach will only be effective if it matches our tone and our lifestyle. As Joe Aldrich wrote, "The melody  [in music] enhances the words [of the song] just as our life enhances the message"

This lecture really gave me a point of circumspection - how often did I focus on the intellectual, and learning all of the answers, and learning the methods, etc. but I ignored what I was doing in my life? Or how often did I deliver a message in Sunday School - to believers, nonetheless - and in the same sentence shout at them for being noisy or inattentive? I pray that in the future, my words be full of grace and seasoned with salt.


ACTS 3057 Lectures 3-6: Does God Exist

Questions to Ponder

Philosophical Evidence for the Existence of God

Cosmological Argument

Argument for the Origin of Life

    Teleological Argument

    The Moral Argument

    Argument from Meaning in Life

    Arguments for the Existence of God

    Argument from Destiny

    Argument from Desire

    Argument from Reason

    Pascal's Wager


    		 God exists God does not exist
    I believe in God Infinite Gain + Finite Loss Finite Loss
    I do not believe in God Finite Gain + Infinite Loss Finite Gain

    Naturalism

    Discussion Post 3

    Does God exist? This question is the root and foundation of understanding all of life's existential questions - where did I come from, why am I here, where am I going?

    We start this week by simply laying the foundation - the Universe has a Cause. The Syllogistic Format is easy to understand and frankly, very logical, I await the discussions about the atheist's usage of it for the "Problem of Pain and Suffering." Everything that exists has a cause. The Universe exists. Thus, the universe has a cause. We discussed the ONLY four potentials for the Cause of the Universe - the Universe came from nothing; the Universe came from itself; the Universe is eternal (i.e. refuting the first Premise); the Universe is Created.

    I had read about the First Cause Argument (i.e. Cosmological Argument) before in Timeless Truths and seen it elsewhere. But this is the first time that many parts of it really made sense. For example - we read in Timeless Truths that the First Cause must be "Immaterial (He transcends space)." But I had never put together that the REASON He must transcend space is because space (along with matter and time) are what compose the Universe. So since the First Cause brought about the Universe to exist, the First Cause must be outside of those things that compose it. This goes for many of the First Cause Characteristics we discussed (e.g. Supernatural, Omnipresent, Changeless, etc.)

    I also learned from the Philosophical perspective of why the Universe is not eternal... it comes down to a math problem (and I love math)... infinity has no beginning or end. So there could not have been an infinite number of moments before this very moment. Thus, there must have been a finite number of moments. Therefore, the universe is not eternal. 

    When considering the Timelessness of God, though it can't be fully comprehended - I've previously used the analogy of a Video Tape (or more appropriately today, a YouTube video). That video has a beginning, a middle and an end. At any given moment, you're watching the present. You can rewind to the past or fast-forward to the future. But none of those actions affect YOUR reality or YOUR timeline. In that way, you are OUTSIDE the "time" that exists in that video. It's not a perfect analogy, but of course we can barely come close to the reality of the One Who is Timeless.

    Discussion Post 4

    Continuing our discussion on the existence of God, we discussed three arguments this week - The Argument for the Origin of Life, the Teleological Argument (Argument from Design) and the Moral Argument.

    In the Argument for the Origin of Life, we basically concluded that life must come from a Life-Giver and this was supported by the claims of several atheist philosophers, scientists, etc. After studying the Origin of Life for decades, they all seem to conclude that life cannot arise from non-life. So we add "Life-Giver" to the characteristics of the Creator that we discussed in the previous week.

    In the Argument from Design, we briefly looked at several Universal Constants that seem to be fine-tuned to support life on earth. This is an argument we would hear a lot when we were kids "if the earth was just 10 feet closer to the Sun, we would all burn! See how great God is??" I remember questioning that statement because I knew that the earth moved in an elliptical pattern (sometimes closer to the sun than others) and because we regularly fly on airplanes 30,000 feet in the air and somehow don't get burned. But now, as an adult, seeing this argument it makes me almost want to investigate each of the 12 constants George mentioned (and find the rest of the 30/40 that Dr Hugh Ross writes about. The conclusion here was that for all this fine-tuning, there must be a Fine-Tuner... an Intelligent Designer.

    Finally, in the Moral Argument we first agreed that absolute moral values do, indeed, exist. How could one judge between two people (e.g. Hitler and Mother Theresa)? Then, we started to discuss the four explanations for the existence of absolute moral values. Morality comes from society, from reason, from evolution, or from God. We got so far as to determine that morality cannot come from society since there are variations of morality across cultures. And so those moral variations represent differences in the perception of a situation.

    Discussion Post 5

    This week's lesson started by concluding the Moral argument from God.

    George argued against evolutionary morality - it's a category mistake. Firstly, evolution is a physical process, but morality is not physical or physically measurable. Secondly, evolution is descriptive - describing physical changes. But morality is prescriptive - prescribing values and laws.

    And thus, if morality is not evolutionary and (as discussed last week) not brought about from society or from the individual, then where does it come from? From Someone who transcends it, perfects it, and is greater than us - Who Christians call God.

    The atheist may measure goodness as it relates to human welfare. But the problem with this is that the atheist's definition has no bearing on me, nor should it supersede my morals.

    This reminds me of the departure of my grandmother a few years ago. For me, a man of faith, I recognized it as something from God: something good. At her funeral, in my eulogy I said something like "this is one of the saddest days of our life, and yet it is the happiest day of hers." If I assessed this day using the definition of an atheist, I could not conclude that it was a good day. But from the perspective of God, heaven rejoiced.

    And why be good at all? Why not live in pleasures and lusts of life? If at the end we are buried and that's it, then the atheist has no reason to be good.

    Discussion Post 6

    This week we finished discussing the Arguments for the Existence of God.

    We started with the Argument from Destiny. Where am I going? What lies beyond the grave. The Atheistic view is very grim and likely feeds into their arguments that we discussed last week about meaning and purpose in life. I like the logical argument that George gave us about the Element of Hope especially in that it relates directly to the Christian foundation - hope in the Resurrection. One thing we didn't really discuss is the idea of a "legacy" - many people in the secular life are very concerned with the legacy they will leave in the world and how they will be remembered or how they will affect the world. An atheist may call this the "Hope" for life beyond the grave. I'm not really sure how to answer that.

    We then discussed the Common Consent Argument. Naturally, as Christians, we tend to think in the opposite way... like St Athanasius "Contra Mundum" who was AGAINST the world. However, George said something very important here... that we have an inclination to worship. It is so interesting to me when my friends at work who claim to be Atheists will naturally say something like "Jesus!"  or "Oh my God!" Sometimes when something isn't going your way, you might say "please God no!" or "please please please..." I think that all of these stem from our natural inclination to worship. We may say them without meaning or "in vain" - even as Christians. But maybe it's because we come from a long line of people who consent to the idea (i.e. the Truth) that God exists.

     

    ACTS 3057 Lecture 7-9 - Atheism

    What is Atheism?